Smartsheet Reviews

Pros

SmartSheet is a cloud-based tool that helps Project Managers better align their resources, cost and time. Being a part of a virtual team responsible for collaborating whilst managing critical projects, Smartsheet has been indispensable in helping us track project timeline through interactive Gantt charts, establish critical paths, manage team resources, analyze budget and costs, in addition, to document sharing through OneDrive, Skype and even the app.
It is definitely reliable, has a simple user interface, flexibility in function, offers real-time data tracking through dashboards and training additional collaborators is uncomplicated. I love how SmartSheet offers a powerful conditional formatting feature, visualization of data that is editable and printable for presentations and has a spreadsheet-like interface (like Excel) yet is straightforward, unlike its counterparts.
Another thumbs up feature is that SmartSheet offers a 30-day trial wherein full functionality can be tested and project plans produced before actually investing in the software!

Cons

Our firm works from Sunday to Thursday (unlike the USA) and though they are advised well ahead, maintenance windows don't always align with our schedule, and we have to work around that. One attribute that can definitely be improved is the option of turning on auto-save, instead of manually saving the document. Often the development of a comprehensive project plan across several collaborators is quite intense and even if one of them fails to manually save the document, it is quite a hassle.

Pros

Smartsheet has so much going for it. It truly fits the new technological world that we live in by providing more than just the basics. Being a cloud-based application (SaaS), and compatible with mobile devices, makes it more functional across the board. It mostly touts itself as a project management tool, which is very true. Most project managers utilize certain applications that require the project to be saved down to a file, which is not easily shareable. Smartsheet can handle the same project management tools and live in cyberspace that can be utilized by numerous people, which different levels of access (viewing, editing, administering) and different views (tasks, gantt, kanban, etc.), and allow people to make comments, add attachments, and more. The most use I have made of Smartsheet within my organization is using it like a spreadsheet. I'm able to have numerous sheets for different departments where they have access to only their own sheets and update only what they need to update. Then I can create a new sheet that combines information from all of the sheets that will auto-update from the original sheets. I can also create reports and dashboards (with charts, metrics, etc.) based on information from all the different sheets. It's quite functional and utilizes much of the same fundamental logic that Excel provides. The Smartsheet website has an extremely detailed (and searchable) Help section and very active Community. Even includes videos to help guide!

Cons

Smartsheet does have some limitations. Most specifically, it isn't Excel and it isn't Project, so users shouldn't expect it to do everything those applications can do. However, there are times when it seems obvious that a particular functionality should be included that isn't. With that said, Smartsheet does a great job of listening to the Community and is constantly improving the application with enhancements to help the Community with its most voted on requests. Another thing that is frustrating is when an error pops up. More often than not, the error is written in a way that doesn't tell the user how to fix the error. Again, when this happens, I just reach out to the Community and get the answers I need.

Pros

SmartSheet allows individuals and teams to work projects together, plotting milestones and critical paths, tracking tasks, creating alerts, and using gantt charts to quickly view how various team members are allocated and intersect. It does a good job of integrating with Office 365, allowing you to share links to files in OneDrive and to Skype within SmartSheet. The revamped interface makes it closer to working in Excel, which is the really the whole premise to Smartsheet: providing a familiar spreadsheet interface for working projects. To that end, there is a wealth of functionality for formatting cells to indicate project stages, task completion, etc. You can even apply conditional logic to have cells change color when a task reaches a certain stage. There are good controls for determining levels of access, so you prevent changes to your sheet except by authorized persons. Overall, it's a good tool for managing projects.

Cons

The reporting functionality we paid extra for is a joke. Instead, we've resorted to pulling data into Microsoft's Power BI to create reports and visualize data. And like many other Cloud-based services, there's a core product and then tiers of functionality that cost significantly more. Smartsheet is a capable product, but I'm frankly unsure it's cost is justified by its maturity. I've had the feeling I've been paying for what's coming, not for what's already there. But since we've invested in it, I guess we'll stay the course.

Pros

Smartsheet is an amazing product and helps keep our whole company on schedule and collaborating in real time. It is really flexible and easy to start using.

Once you have used it for a while, you will want to do more and more with it, and there never seems to be a limit to what you can do. They are also constantly adding new helpful features. One that was really useful to me was a kanban view called cardview. But there is also classic spreadsheet view, gannt view, and calendar view.

In addition to sheets, you can also run reports off the sheets which filter the data down for particular users or departments. These reports can be editable or read-only. You can also look at your data in real time using dashboards.

We have been using Smartsheet for several years now, and we still feel like we are only scratching the surface of its capabilities.

Another great feature is that you can have unlimited free collaborators. These people can use the sheets/reports/dashboard and enter data. However, it is only the paid users who can create and maintain the sheets. Over time, you may find more people in your organisation want to be creators, and it is easy to add licenses as needed.

Cons

There's not much I can say negative about this software. On rare occasions there can be unexpected outages or loss of functionality, but that is very rare indeed. There are sometimes maintenance windows on the weekend which can last up to 4 hours at a time, but these are advised well ahead of time. I think the only business that wouldn't want to use smartsheet is one that operates 24/7. If you are a normal Monday to Friday business, smartsheet will be fine for you.

Pros

Not as complicated and cumbersome as MS Project, which tries too hard to apply complicated logic to your project plans. Smartsheet simply gives you the ability to create plans of any level of complexity. Conditional formatting allows easy review of start/finish dates and who is assigned what.

Collaboration is easy and effective as you can share with different levels of permission, and export only those elements you want others to see and work with. Having the product in the cloud makes access simple and reliable. Only once in 3 years have I not been able to access my project plan immediately, and even then it was up within 5 minutes.

Easy to learn and train others on, so you can bring collaborators in quickly. Easy to edit as it uses all the intuitive elements of cut/paste and drag/drop.

Vendor has been helpful when needed, but mostly in the background which is what I want. I just need functioning software and a place to go for help, not endless tips and promotions.

Cons

Creating a backup is a challenge. It's not intuitive and involves way too many menus and steps. There should be a simple way to create a backup offline for audit or versioning purposes.

There needs to be an auto-save feature. I've had new collaborators lose their work because they forgot to manually save. For a product that operates with the ease of Google Docs in the cloud, the expectation is that there is an auto save feature. The 10-minute reminder message is not sufficient.

Pros

Since it's based on a spreadsheet / table design, it is quick to learn and easy for team adoption. It's a great alternative for teams that have tried many of the more complex / visual project management platforms without much luck. At the end of the day, I found that project deadlines and tasks were updated and followed much more consistently in Smartsheet than several previous attempts. In addition, Smartsheet has one of the more extensive set of integrations, so virtually any sized enterprise platform or even niche software tool you use probably plays well together with it.

Cons

Though there are a variety of views and automation features embedded in the spreadsheet-like format, it ultimately is a powerful spreadsheet and generally offers somewhat less functionality than many teams expect from a fully featured project management tool, especially when it comes to visual organization. In addition, the software is overpriced in the age of comparable freemium tools (there is no free version outside of the trial). It is very difficult to justify the expense based on the feature set for moderately sized teams when there are many solid alternatives with better or more flexible pricing for smaller teams.

Pros

Smartsheet is fantastic if you are a project manager or anyone that tracks things collaboratively.
I use it daily to keep track of projects. It is like google sheets but has much more functionality with a unique blend of project management flavors. It is easy and intuitive once you get the hang of it, and doubly so if you are accustomed to using google sheets. Even if your teammates don't have licenses, you can invite them to look at and collaborate with your project, add comments, attachments, and even alerts.
As an applicant tracker, I use it to keep track of new hires. We attach their new hire paperwork to the smartsheet (instead of emailing sensitive documents) and other HR members can go in and look and progress, check off when they do their part (benefits orientation, enter into payroll etc) so i can keep track of where the employee is in the process.

Cons

There is a bit of a learning curve. When you first use it, you think that there isn't much difference to google sheets, but once you go through the training, see examples and use it for awhile, it is hard to go back to google sheets because it just doesn't have the functionality you need.
Some of the formula functionality of say, excel is missing, but they are making improvements to the platform all the time.

Pros

Smartsheet is my all time favorite marketing software! Not only can you include and integrate project management, sales and other departmental functions but for marketing alone Smartsheet allows you to easily manage campaigns, events, content calendars, website and allows for initiative tracking (i.e. - results). Within each of these functions, you can assign users who are in charge of projects, enhance the internal communications by parties seeing where one is in the process and collaborate amongst many different departments. It truly allows for multiple business functions to be able to come together in one place for a strong marketing, sales and project management platform.

Cons

Smartsheet can operate very slowly when there is a large amount of data in a certain sheet. It decreases the strong user experience and also can make the process more cumbersome at times. The sheets can also be deleted with one click of a button and never be recovered again so you have to be mindful of your actions on the sheet and know all users who are using the platforms have been properly onboarded.

Pros

Smartsheet brings the familiarity of using a spreadsheet and transform the way you manage your projects through their grids. Smartsheet is a complete suite of tools that allows your business, big or small, to manage and deliver on your products efficiently. Its list of features is quite extensive:

Dashboards provide full visibility of the project and its status. With key metrics represented for the entire project, you can visually see the progress your teams are making with each project. This allows for quick response and adjustments where needed without having to dive too deep into the details. You can display your projects in one of various ways, each with their own unique set of advantages: from a Gantt chart view, to a cards (Kanban) view, to a calendar view. Provide portals for team collaboration and generate forms to capture the information you seek. Add to that attachment capabilities, notifications, alerts and reminders, plus reporting and so much more... and you have a well rounded complete suite of applications that helps you manage your projects and your business more effectively.

Cons

Smartsheet has no inherent cons. And the only thing I may consider as such would be that of bringing a spreadsheet-like format of its grid into use when trends are deviating from this format slowly. Other than that, Smartsheet does offer what its name implies... "smart" use of its various components to effectively manage a business.

Pros

+ I appreciate the way Smartsheet is organized and it is extremely user-friendly. There are a ton of templates and tutorials available but if all else fails, the customer service is on point!
+ The reporting features are amazing and ideal for status reporting
+ There are many apps that can be integrated in to the Smartsheet, so whatever a team uses whether it be Google Drive, Slack, Evernote, Docusign, etc, the work great with the Smartsheet platform
+ Conditional formatting is useful

Cons

- Our portfolio is large and has many moving parts and sometimes our Smartsheet has become excessively large
- Linking sheets into a larger sheet to feed into a dashboard would be amazing if it were only that easy. Linking can be quite a chore. This may be simply due to user error and may be I need to look at a few more tutorials

Pros

Smartsheet has some really great features for project management and peer collaboration. You can easily nest tasks under goals and set a timeline that can be viewed in several different ways. You can add attachments to line items and allow comments from users. IT also has some great automated features such as automatic email updates and reminders, and color coding based on item contents. I have used it to manage large projects. create shared calendars, collect data from internal and external users, and create automated processes. The best feature is that users do not need licenses. You just need one main license to be able to create sheets and then all users can access those sheets without needing to pay for many licenses.

Cons

I feel that Smartsheet could be used as a solution for more items with just a few extra features. It nearly has everything to be used to make approval processes but is lacking responsive emails. It also has a great form feature but it does not allow multi select questions. I have tried to build a ticketing process in this also, but again the email features are limited. It also has the ability to be embedded into web pages but the look is not customizable and does not look good as is.

Pros

The web based interface looks like excel, and response much better than even Google Docs. The main focus is project management - allowing you to create tasks, timelines, milestones and completion notifications. These are all shareable - invite a user to the sheet and they can enter or edit data - which might just be clicking the COMPLETE box, or it could be entering a large portion of data. Even with multiple users in the sheet at once, the system keeps sync with ease. It is the main tool we use for cross department and external partnerships. It has the main functionality that you want out of Microsoft Project, but is cloud based and anyone familiar with excel will be able to use it.

Cons

The sheets have similar functions to excel, but the means of editing those formulas are not good. Thus will not replaced excel, but it does replace Project for a fraction of the cost and a drop of the training required to use it. The alerts can be annoying at time, sending you multiple alerts if you don't set them up just right. The limitation on the number of rows will eventually force you to create duplicate archive sheets if you use them as a tracking/complaint type log.

Pros

Where do I start? I used to rely on MS Project to manage my projects, but I hated it. MS Project is designed as a one-size-fits all program for all projects. The only problem is it is a poor design to solve that problem. MS Project is way too complex and difficult to use. It is feature rich, sure, but you need to read a manual to learn how to leverage all of the features. Smartsheet solves all those problems, for me anyway. It is simple to use. If you know how to use Excel, you can learn Smartsheet's and become fluent in navigating its interface and product in 1 week of regular use. I rely on Smartsheet everyday to help me manage complex projects, budgets, and timelines. I do not know what I would do without having access to the tool anymore. It is my #1 needed tool on the job period.

Cons

The only thing I dislike about the tool is that it is associated with hard work! That being said it solves many of my challenges, and is a fantastic product that enables me to manage complex projects with ease. There is nothing that I truly dislike about SS.

Pros

Smartsheet is everything. Knowing the features and functionality help me dream up new and exciting ways to gain all sorts of productivity gains at work. The collaboration features are out of this world. My work is so fast paced, I cannot afford to revert to manual ways of doing work. The interface is super intuitive, the training resources and 2nd to none (serious, most companies like this sell you training...Smartsheet WANTS to set you up for success). My Customer Success Manager has always been in the thick of it with us! She is committed to making sure we ALL win!

Cons

Smartsheet is configured at the enterprise IT Level for our company. I have often wished that some of its AMAZING out-of-the-box features were available to our team. This is not a fault of Smartsheet though...just my personal wish :)

Pros

Device independence and cloud storage allow for full-team collaboration without purchasing extra copies of an application.

Cons

I would like it even better if a file were able to have several sheets, like in Excel

Pros

I'm not an expert by any stretch on Gantt charts and project management but I was forced into a position to do a large project management plan that required spreadsheets Gantt charts and all the necessary tools of a robust project management proposal. I love the ease of use and the visual user interface of smartsheet. I initially tried to use Excel only to be frustrated with formatting cells and a big messy fragman fragmented plan. Smartsheet was relatively quick to learn easy to go back and edit and save and also easy to create a copy of a master plan that you may have created to reuse again. I would have never gotten through my project management crisis without smartsheet I can't say enough of how invaluable it is. It will make a project management newbie like myself look like a total Pro and the more you use it the more fun it actually becomes as you start to see your data be brought to life in a way that is easy to see easy to edit and easy to print. If you are a project management professional you cannot afford not to use Smart cheap it's that good.

Cons

Well there's a very generous 30-day trial and I love the fact that there's no credit card required it would be great if there was some use plans were a little less expensive for Less usage.

Pros

What I like about Smartsheet is the fact that you are not bombarded with so many complex and complicated ways to get things done. This software takes that all away and thus lets you start actually getting your ideas down quickly without the need of wasting time learning something difficult. This allows you to collaborate with other users quickly and easily. If you have a large file and don't want to show off everything that you have you can quickly export those elements and with different types of level permission. Since this software is not entirely saved on your computer you can move around with ease since this is Cloud based.

Cons

I do like Smartsheet, but there can be improvements made to this to make if better and faster. Like creating a backup can be made easier and thus it is not. It can be daunting at times trying to get this backed up. This is Cloud based and it should already have an auto backup feature or at least and easier way. The same goes for saving too. Auto-save should be an easy fix, right? Well I hope that this will be taken care of.

Pros

I do enjoy that I can share files out with anyone. I like that they can edit and I can see them immediately. The workspace is clean and it is far more powerful than I need it for. I'm sure I could get tricky with it and make it do flips and jumps, but I have heretofore not needed to make it do that.

Cons

I'll be honest in that this is nitpicking. The scroll-wheel on my mouse doesn't like the scroll down a smartsheet. It is by far and away the worst thing about this program I've found. It's so infuriating when I have a few hundred rows and I can't accurately scroll to a needed place. The side bar works well, but everything in the world allows a scroll now.

Please laugh at this and then do it... you'll understand what I'm saying.

Aside from that, this is less of a Con than maybe a pro but I feel like there's a bit of overkill under the hood here. I could easily be wrong in my limited scope so I hate to even list this as a Con, except that you're paying for it. I feel like if you use the full breadth, you win but it's just not super-needed or warranted if you're expecting a bunch of collaboration with people who don't want to be bothered.

Pros

I love how easy smartsheet is to use and track things. I use this to make detailed calendars for specific operations tasks that need to be completed each day, and love utilizing the alert feature so the responsible party is sent a reminder email on the specified date. Project collaborators can also leave comments on the tasks they are responsible for, or you can use conditional formatting to check off tasks that are complete. There is a lot of flexibility in how you use the software - whether it is for project management, checklists, or tracking any kind of info like a budget as well.

Cons

There are some limitations with the functionality of formulas, but I prefer the simple interface and other functions over excel.

Pros

Smartsheet would not deny they are little more than a glorified spread sheet, but what they lack in sophistication they make up for in flexibility. There is a good reason so many office workers end up building ad-hoc tracking and analysis tools in Excel. It is simple enough and flexible enough you can throw something together quickly for a wide variety of needs. Smartsheet takes this to the next level allowing users to quickly build lists and data driven sheets, link them together in interesting ways, and then gives them simple tools to share and collaborate with others. The additional of a Gantt chart and Kanban board view of item lists allows teams to quickly develop a simple set of tools to manage projects and collaborate. For many small teams, this may be all they need.

Cons

While the TCO is compelling for smaller teams, larger teams will likely be underwhelmed with the fairly shallow set of features. Also, from a cost perspective larger teams will not find much of a price difference between this and more robust offering from other competitors.

Pros

- Smart sheet basically allows every team member to work on the same project together. If you are in upper management then this product will be great for you to keep track of process of every project, meeting agenda, progress on new development
- It is simple and almost like Microsoft excel. But have lots more functionality and features compare to excel
- It is very reasonable even available on monthly basis plans.
- Smart sheet is cloud-based service which available on your device and on the web from anywhere in the world. besides this they constantly update the features to make it more useful every time.

Cons

- There should be an auto save option but anyway, it is good if you have habit to save excel manually every time.
- It works slow sometimes when some sheet contains large of data. it takes more than usual time.
- I don’t remember any major cons of Smart sheet besides these basic things, but anyway they are improving with every step, so it will be removed after a certain stage.

Pros

So much easier to use than Project with much more useful functionality. The ability to assign tasks to people and have them add the detail of when and how it was completed is awesome - especially since it doesn't require any training as you can setup email check boxes. The ability to attach 10 files to each line is amazing - especially if the deliverable is a file. It's also very similar in appearance and use as excel - something almost everyone is comfortable with typing into. You can also interact with 3rd parties easily - giving them access to view, edit, respond, attach, etc. on projects. Multiple people are also able to interact in the sheet at the same time!

Cons

The web interface doesn't support all the good keyboard shortcuts as excel does, nor do you have access to all the wonderful and powerful formulas that excel does. Will only support so many items in a sheet - meaning if you have a long running log (like an interactive customer issue log) you have to create new sheets periodically.

Pros

I love that SmartSheet allows for multiple tabs to organize data. You can also choose who has access to certain tabs. I also find the feature of attaching documents, images and notes EXTREMELY useful in the work that I do. We compile lots of information/documents on person's files that we work with, and we can include all of the information in 1 place, and anyone can add notes and information to the person's file. This is extremely useful for documentation among many people who are interacting with a customer we have. It is also easy to access and use from the iPhone app, which allows me to be more efficient as I am often on-the-go with clients and do not have my computer out.

Cons

For the business that I do, I can't think of a better priced program or more user-friendly program. It serves all of our needs, and is very user-friendly and safe for storing confidential information...no cons that I can think of except sometimes when you change tabs, it will not save information you put into the tab you switched from.

Pros

It's great software, kind of like a cross between Excel and an online project management platform. If you've worked with spreadsheet software in the past, it will feel intuitive. It has a ton of features that are excellent for project management and team work. Some of my favorite features are update requests (you can send an update request to anyone in your organization and it will ask them to update you on their progress in the context of your sheet or a cell within your sheet), as well as scheduling helpers and functions like SUM, AVERAGE, etc. I use it for keeping track of my scientific data AND managing my projects. Really great tool!

Cons

This is both a pro and a con -- the software development team is very on top of stuff, and they seem to make a lot of changes and updates. Fundamentally this is a good thing, but it's sometimes annoying to have to figure out a new UI all the time. There also isn't support for as many functions as Excel. For example, there's no standard deviation function.