Microsoft Project vs Smartsheet comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

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.
To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Project vs. Smartsheet Report (Updated: March 2024).
763,955 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"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."

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"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."

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Cons
"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."

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"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."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "I am not involved with this."
  • "I do not have personal experience with pricing or licensing of this product."
  • "You do not have to invest much in terms of configuring this solution to suit your needs."
  • "It gets expensive when having to add all of the plugins and everything that you need."
  • "It probably was $30 per license on a monthly basis. There is no additional fee."
  • "I do not remember the exact cost we paid but usually, they charge per user per month."
  • "Its price could be reduced a little."
  • "It was a three-year license deal that was reconciled on a quarterly basis. It is a reasonably priced product, and I consider that we got good value for money."
  • More Microsoft Project Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "This licensing is straightforward and they charge per user."
  • "Its licensing is on a yearly basis. I was responsible for negotiating the price with the Smartsheet team, but I don't remember what the price was. Its standard license probably was around 5,000 to 6,000 a year. The enterprise version is significantly more expensive."
  • "Smartsheet only requires licenses for project managers. When we were using Asana, we had to purchase a license for everyone who wanted to access their tasks and use the system. That gets costly fast. It was one of the main reasons we left Asana. As Asana and these other tools scale, they become way more expensive."
  • "There would be more extensive usage if the solution were cheaper. It's really expensive right now, and that's why we provide a few licenses for admins. The rest of them are just users without admin privileges."
  • "I would assume there is a licensing fee. I don't think that it is free."
  • "It is less expensive than Microsoft Project for enterprise or Oracle Primavera by an order of magnitude. If you buy a Microsoft Project license, it's probably $300 or so by itself, whereas Smartsheet is probably less than $50 per head."
  • "For a normal license, like the one I had: I had my own Smartsheet because I wanted to play with it and I didn't want to mess with what I was doing in Verizon, so I paid $200 monthly, and it gave me all the same functionalities, so I could do whatever I wanted for $200. The problem is if you have anyone else working on it or deploying on it, it's $200 a month for every single person who's deployed on it, that's working on it as an owner or an administrator, so owners and administrators are the only ones who can change, edit, and add data to worksheets and columns. Depending on the size of your organization, Smartsheet can be costly. As for implementing its Control Center, Smartsheet forces you to have three people come in: it's a minimum of three people from Smartsheet for three months who will provide you the solutions for the Control Center side, and that's $150 an hour, so it can become very expensive. For my company, not having the Control Center would save on the setup fees and then the $20,000 a year, because the Control Center of Smartsheet is a yearly subscription of $20,000."
  • "Smartsheet has many licensing models. You need to add the package that best suits your requirements. The license is paid per user and it is monthly. The cost was approximately $7 per PC, $15 for professional, and $33 for the enterprise plan."
  • More Smartsheet Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Answers from the Community
    Eire Zimmermann
    James John Wilson - PeerSpot reviewerJames John Wilson
    Real User

    @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. 

    Donee Damore - PeerSpot reviewerDonee Damore
    Real User

    Unfortunately I have never used Microsoft Project so I can’t compare. My use with Smartsheet was pretty basic and more for project plans.

    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer: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… more »
    Top Answer:The most valuable feature of Microsoft Project is status reporting.
    Top Answer:Smartsheet is a really good tool for collaboration.
    Top Answer:The solution is too expensive. For what I use it for, it's too expensive. I wouldn't pay for it myself. I would prefer to buy Microsoft Project or use Zoho Projects.
    Top Answer:I do not like the solution. From a project management and planning point of view, it's awful. The product must adopt some of the functionalities that are already in Microsoft Project. They must adopt… more »
    Ranking
    Views
    10,002
    Comparisons
    3,879
    Reviews
    46
    Average Words per Review
    407
    Rating
    7.9
    Views
    6,508
    Comparisons
    2,416
    Reviews
    26
    Average Words per Review
    693
    Rating
    8.2
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Project Pro, MS Project
    Learn More
    Smartsheet
    Video Not Available
    Overview

    Microsoft Project helps you get started quickly and execute projects with ease. Built-in templates and familiar scheduling tools help project managers and teams stay productive.

    Smartsheet is the enterprise platform for dynamic work. A leading cloud-based platform for work management, Smartsheet empowers organizations and teams to dynamically plan, execute, and report on work at scale, resulting in more efficient processes, innovative solutions, and better business outcomes.

    Today over 90% of Fortune 100 companies and over 75% of Fortune 500 companies rely on the secure, scalable Smartsheet platform to connect the entire enterprise. The single Smartsheet platform gives people a solution flexible enough to adapt to the changing needs of dynamic work across a broad array of departments and use cases.

    Sample Customers
    Aston Martin, ABANCA, Airbus Group, Capita, Cardiff University, City of Saskatoon, Intel, Pegasus Airlines, South Australia Power Network (SAPN), Israeli Ministry of Construction and Housing
    Sony Music, ESPN, Hilton, Unisource, Colliers, Extreme Networks, Groupon, Netflix
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm15%
    Government13%
    Computer Software Company10%
    Comms Service Provider10%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization58%
    Computer Software Company5%
    Government4%
    Manufacturing Company4%
    REVIEWERS
    Pharma/Biotech Company16%
    Financial Services Firm11%
    Computer Software Company11%
    Insurance Company11%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization36%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Healthcare Company6%
    Computer Software Company6%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business39%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise45%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business10%
    Midsize Enterprise62%
    Large Enterprise28%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business42%
    Midsize Enterprise3%
    Large Enterprise55%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business15%
    Midsize Enterprise41%
    Large Enterprise45%
    Buyer's Guide
    Microsoft Project vs. Smartsheet
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Project vs. Smartsheet and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    763,955 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    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.