We performed a comparison between Microsoft Project and Smartsheet based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Project Management Software solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."The project tracking, resource utilization and the cost are the most beneficial aspects of this solution."
"The solution is well established and runs very accurately."
"The solution is stable."
"Microsoft Project's integrated timeline is tied to the project plan almost seamlessly, and you add whatever action item or milestone you choose. All you have to do is set up a column and click on the timeline. It will automatically put it in there and allow you to choose the type, whether it's a bar or if it's a milestone, just pointing out that single milestone"
"The solution is stable."
"The most valuable features of this solution are the scheduling, managing the resources, budgeting, tracking the progress, viewing the progress, reporting, and it is very easy to use."
"We have not had any problems with Microsoft's technical support. We are happy with the support."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is time management."
"The dashboard and the layouts are quite good."
"Smartsheet is a really good tool for collaboration."
"The ability to build a quick dashboard and give management insight into the progress of the project itself is probably one of the most beneficial pieces."
"Smartsheet is stable."
"The ability to update in real-time before meetings is great."
"To me, one of the most powerful features of Smartsheet is being able to email others."
"The solution has subtasks and a rollup."
"Smartsheet does a really good job of creating Gantt charts. Export to Excel feature was also very useful."
"I would like to see both Time and Team based options improved."
"The licensing cost is expensive and has room for improvement."
"The new version has made it a bit more complicated."
"It would be ideal if the solution integrated more with Azure DevOps and other work management platforms like Jira."
"The packaging of Microsoft Project Professional is pretty simple as a product. But, the end-to-end enterprise is complex."
"We need more integration with Microsoft Teams and other collaboration tools."
"Its user interface could be a little bit more intuitive. Not everybody has the luxury of going to training and understanding which button does what and the functionality. The user interface should be improved to make it a little bit more intuitive. It is not user-friendly. I've dealt with it for a number of years, so it is not hard for me to figure it out, but you would need a quick reference guide or something to say, "Here are the basics. This is how you do X.""
"I'd like the solution to be less expensive."
"They should improve the solution's integration with API."
"It would be beneficial to enhance user-friendliness and make it less complex while maintaining its overall excellence as a product."
"Maybe the solution could be a little bit more flexible."
"I think that the mobile interface needs to be improved. If you cannot access it through your laptop, I'd prefer to have that option on the mobile, but I don't think that it's user-friendly and easy to navigate."
"Smartsheet could be improved to be a ticketing system. It would be nice to have a system to do everything."
"Lacks the ability to edit attachments within the solution."
"The long-term timelines could be improved, especially the visuals on the projection Gantt chart."
"Smartsheet's export and print functions could be more seamless. Once I create the plan in Smartsheet, I need to import it into my corporate web presentations. This isn't always smooth. I have to save it in PDF format, then cut an image from the PDF version."
Microsoft Project is ranked 2nd in Project Management Software with 46 reviews while Smartsheet is ranked 4th in Project Management Software with 26 reviews. Microsoft Project is rated 8.0, while Smartsheet is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Microsoft Project writes "Resource leveling is useful, but it is time and manpower intensive and not at all dynamic". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Smartsheet writes "Has customization, data pulling, and cross-functional global communication features; it's a secure solution". Microsoft Project is most compared with Asana, Jira, Microsoft Project Server, monday.com and Broadcom Clarity , whereas Smartsheet is most compared with Spreadsheet.com, ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management, Adobe Workfront, monday.com and Broadcom Clarity . See our Microsoft Project vs. Smartsheet report.
See our list of best Project Management Software vendors.
We monitor all Project Management Software reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.
@Eire Zimmermann,
Smartsheet is amazingly flexible. You can configure a template project plan, and view it either as a traditional Gantt chart or as a kanban style board with multiple simultaneous swimlanes derived from any column that is configured as a drop-down list. This allows you to work with the same plan in multiple ways based upon the type of team or preference of the team.
The only thing of note that Smartsheet cannot do (or at least I did not find it yet) is to level a plan based upon resources and task priority. With the workflow engine, you can automatically send emails based upon any rule you configure. I had RACI columns for every task so I could auto-notify folks when the task was done. Very cool stuff.
Dashboards are okay but not as powerful as other tools in that each component on the page does not know about any of the other components to auto filter. Pretty limiting. I export data to another external visualization tool like Domo if the budget allows it.
Hi @Eire Zimmermann,
I helped an organization evaluate both MS-Project and Smartsheet when they were conducting their PM tool RFP.
The short of it is this, MS Project is not caught up with the modern automation and low-code capabilities that you will see in many SaaS PM tools today (Smartsheet, Asana, Workfront, etc.).
Being able to add simple automation with logic like, "If 'Project Status' = 'Red', then Alert XYZ Stakeholder" is made simple with Smartsheet. With this type of low-code functionality, you can begin to remove that robotic, manual work of typing up emails and sending messages from your day-to-day.
Moreover, Smartsheet's reporting capabilities are something that I have yet to see any other PM tool on the market compete with. Think reports for important launch dates, milestones, past due tasks, or at-risk items.
Then when you add the capabilities of the Smartsheet's logic-driven forms for project intake, you really have a system that can become a pseudo-ERP/workforce management tool. Not to mention Smartsheet's cost is much lower compared to MS Project since you only pay for licenses that manipulate data.
Hope this helps in some regard,
Ian
Unfortunately I have never used Microsoft Project so I can’t compare. My use with Smartsheet was pretty basic and more for project plans.