Our view at Stack - You definitely can't pigeon-hole SmartSuite as it does so much! It's a collaborative work management platform that enables teams to plan, track, and manage workflows, projects, and everyday tasks. With features like automations, integrations, and AI capabilities, it streamlines work processes and empowers teams to achieve their goals. It's also available in 15 languages.
Quickbase is an amazing tool to build custom apps with powerful integrations including Quickbooks and Zapier.
Expensive pricing plans, slow performance, and outdated UI make it less appealing to teams that want a scalable and affordable project management tool.
We’ve analyzed hundreds of custom reviews and researched various tools to curate this list of 10 Quickbase alternatives. Each software has unique features, strengths, drawbacks, and pricing plans.
We will walk you through each tool to help you find the best project management tool based on your goals, budget, and team size.
Before we dive in, let’s see what makes users shift from Quickbase to its alternatives.
Why Users Switch to Quickbase Alternatives?
Quickbase offers a centralized system to track, plan, and manage complex projects. Some key features that stand out include:
- Organization and management of large datasets in a central workspace.
- High-level customizations with no-code app-building functionality
- Ease of integration with accounting platforms including Quickbooks Online, and Xero without any connector like Workato or Zapier.
Despite such useful features, Quickbase stumbles on performance and affordability, making it an expensive tool, especially for teams with a small budget and a limited number of users.
Reason 1: High per-user pricing with a minimum user cap
Quickbase demands a minimum of 20 users with $35/user per month (billed annually). It brings the cost of their starting plan up to $700 per month, making it an expensive project management tool, especially for small teams.
Additionally, on their starting plan, you don’t get access to Gantt charts, which are available on their higher-tier plans.
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Reason 2: Speed issues with multiple-user access
Quickbase response rate slows down as multiple users work on the system. Any edit made by co-workers doesn’t get updated in real time.
Users have complained that due to slow loading speed, pages take longer to appear on-screen, leading to slow task execution.
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Reason 3: Basic features at a higher pricing
Quickbase pricing doesn’t justify the features offered. Many users have complained about basic form functionalities and visualization when performing analyses for different projects.
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In a nutshell, teams who want affordable feature-rich tools to manage different projects, look for Quickbase’s alternatives.
Let’s dive into the list ⤵️
What are the best alternatives to Quickbase?
Based on our research and user reviews, here’s a rundown of the best Quickbase alternatives in 2024:
- SmartSuite: All-in-one work management platform that integrates project management, task tracking, and collaboration tools into a single, customizable workspace.
- Airtable: Building and managing large databases in a spreadsheet format
- Appsheet: Building custom apps for different use cases
- Appian: Building end-to-end no-code process automation
- Teamwork: External client collaboration and project management
- Monday.com: Task and project management across various industries
- Asana: Managing projects through subtasks and automated workflows
- Wrike: Managing complex projects and cross-functional collaboration
- Jira: DevOps issue tracking and supporting IT workflows
- Smartsheet: Managing complex projects using a spreadsheet-like interface
#1: SmartSuite
SmartSuite is a comprehensive project management tool that lets you manage all your projects in a centralized platform with built-in automation and a communication center.
Full disclosure: Even though SmartSuite is our own product, we aim to provide an honest perspective on why SmartSuite is the top ClickUp alternative available.
SmartSuite ranked first due to its feature-rich, affordable pricing plans, automated workflows, and advanced reporting.
Let’s see some of SmartSuite’s core features that make it the best Quickbase alternative.
Feature #1: Robust project management
SmartSuite’s project management feature helps you plan, track, and manage simple to complex projects. To make the whole process even easier, you get a plethora of built-in intuitive features to execute your tasks with utmost perfection.
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Some of the core functionalities are:
- Task management: In SmartSuite, you can turn anything into tasks, be it a checklist item, comments, or sub-item, and assign it to the right person with a due date and priority status.
- Milestones: Divide bigger projects into multiple tasks and assign milestones to track your project’s progress over time. By doing so, you can visualize each task as a stepping stone to the finish line of the project.
- Files and project deliverables: Manage and organize all your documents within SmartSuite. You can attach files related to different projects, share feedback with your team, and manage version history all within the context of your work. And, if you want the typical way of sharing files as URLs, add links in each task’s property.
- Time tracking: Monitor and evaluate time completion for different tasks and overall project. Built-in time tracking helps you group time entries together, see estimates, and segment billable and non-billable entries.
Feature #2: In-depth workflow visualization capabilities
Manage your project’s delivery, track the task’s progress, or understand resource usage for future projects with SmartSuite’s advanced reporting. You can add/remove fields, adjust the report views, configure the column positioning, and build custom fields.
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Some other amazing features of SmartSuite’s reporting:
- Private or public reports: Share reports with public access, making it easier for everyone involved in the project to share quick access. If you want a granular view of your work, you can build private reports that are visible only to you.
- Multi-view reporting: Visualize reporting in different views–-Grid, Card, Kanban, Timeline, Map, Calendar, or Dashboard. You can add as many views as you need to present a clear and in-depth analysis of your projects.
- Easy exporting: Access your reports by printing or exporting them as PDF, Excel, Google Sheets, or CSV format.
Feature #3: No-code workflow automation
Set up simple to complex workflow automation with SmartSuite’s no-code automation builder. Let the automation take care of email notifications, status updates, and data synchronization.
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You can build simple workflows like sending a Slack message when a task status is updated or build multi-step automation to simplify processes. For each automation, you get six pre-defined triggers and 15+ actions. If you don’t find the right trigger and action, build your custom one.
Feature #4: Team Collaboration
SmartSuite offers native collaboration features to help teams manage their work and team in a single dedicated platform. The collaboration becomes seamless with the following core features:
- Real-time updates and notifications: SmartSuite updates every time someone makes a change to any field or project. So, you’ll always have access to the updated version. In addition to that, all the team members are alerted at lightning speed in their notification center about any changes made or updates posted.
- Comments and @mentions: Share feedback, loop in the right stakeholders, or assign tasks by tagging the right person for leaving a thoughtful comment. You also have the option to convert any comment into action items to work on later.
- Communication center: With a native communication center, you can chat with your colleagues in 1:1 or group chat, send or receive emails, and get to know each other through a member’s directory. Having an integrated communication tool expedites the communication process and ensures your team is working with the right material at the right time to meet the goals.
SmartSuite Pricing
SmartSuite offers a 14-day free trial and a forever-free plan with access to automation, team collaboration, authentication, and more.
As for the paid plans, there are four options:
- Team: Starts at $12/user per month, including 8+ dashboard views, 5000 automation runs, time tracking, and collaborative SmartDocs.
- Professional: Starts at $28/user per month, including two-factor authentication, Gmail & Outlook integrations, and unlimited editors.
- Enterprise: Starts at $35/user per month, including audit logs, data loss prevention, and 50,000 API calls monthly.
- Signature: Customized plan tailored to your organization’s needs and team size.
How Does SmartSuite Compare to Quickbase?
SmartSuite is comprehensive project and work management software. Its task management feature allows you to plan, create, and track each task’s progress, while the team collaboration feature helps you keep the right stakeholders in the loop.
Quickbase, on the other hand, is a handy tool for building custom project workflows across various departments. It offers advanced automation, which can automate various processes. However, its high-end pricing and speed issues limit its functionalities.
SmartSuite shines in this area as, irrespective of the database, every dashboard gets updated in real-time, and you get updates from teammates at lightning speed. We offer all these features in a budget-friendly plan starting at only $12 per user/month.
SmartSuite Pros and Cons
✅ Generous free plan with access to advanced features like time tracking and 8+ dashboard views
✅ 200+ project templates ranging from one-off projects to complex cross-team projects
✅ Integrated document and file management
✅ Dynamic dashboards and reporting
✅ Comprehensive automation workflow builder
❌ Only 25 native integrations
#2: Airtable
Best for: Building and managing large databases in a spreadsheet format
Similar to: Smartsheet and Appian
Airtable is a collaborative project management tool that helps you store and organize vast amounts of data in a management database with relational capabilities.
Airtable is a low-cost, intuitive choice over Quickbase to build custom apps and dashboards for basic to detailed projects.
Who Is It For?
Creative agencies, small and mid-sized businesses
Airtable’s Top Features
- Customizable dashboards: Build dynamic dashboards to get a broad view of your project’s performance. You can choose from 7+ views to monitor deadlines, and understand resource allocation, and the team’s workload.
- Automated workflows: Create customizable trigger-action workflows using a no-code builder to cut down on repetitive tasks.
- Interface designer: Break down big databases into smaller sections by building custom interfaces and sharing only required information with the right stakeholders.
Airtable Pricing
Airtable’s free plan offers access to a single workspace with all basic dashboard views and 100 automations per month. The paid plans come in three tiers:
- Team: Starts at $24 per user/month, including timeline view, 25,000 automation per month, and Airtable AI.
- Business: Starts at $45 per user/month, including multi-source syncing and dynamic filtering.
- Enterprise scale: Includes admin reports, enterprise-level integrations, and premium support. Contact sales for a quote.
Compared to Quickbase, Airtable lets you build custom dashboards at a much more affordable price with no minimum user cap.
Airtable Pros and Cons
✅ High-level customization and flexible dashboards
✅ User-friendly interface with multiple views even upon starting plans
✅ Vast project templates
❌ Limited reporting capabilities
❌ Limited team communication
#3. Appsheet
Best for: Building custom apps for different use cases
Similar to: Appian and Airtable
Appsheet is a part of Google Suite that lets you build custom no-code apps for various use cases. Whether you want to build a project management tool for your specific use case or a real-time collaboration tool, Appsheet got you.
Compared to Quickbase, Appsheet offers a much more friendly user interface to build apps at an extremely generous pricing plan starting at only $5 per user/month.
Who Is It For?
Teams who already use Google Suite to manage their workspace
Appsheet’s Top Features
- Integrations: Appsheet connects with analytics tools such as Big Query, SQL databases, Apigee, REST APIs, and OData.
- Advanced automation: Build multi-step automated workflows using triggers, actions, conditions, and branches.
- No-code app builder: Appsheet lets you build numerous custom apps for different use cases without any coding knowledge. With Gemini AI, you can improve the way you build apps by asking for suggestions or feedback.
Appsheet Pricing
Appsheet offers free access to test apps and automation features with up to 10 users. The pricing plans include three tiers:
- Starter: Starts at $5 per user/month
- Core: Starts at $10 per user/month
- Enterprise Plus: Starts at $20 per user/month
Appsheet Pros and Cons
✅ Affordable pricing plans with a free plan allowing 10 users access
✅ Integrates with Google Suite and analytics tools such as Big Query
❌ Limited project management features
#4. Appian
Best for: Building end-to-end no-code process automation
Similar to: Appsheet and Airtable
Appian is a process management software that also helps you manage and streamline your projects through built-in advanced automation.
Compared to Quickbase, Appian is suitable for enterprise teams who want an affordable tool with advanced features such as reporting and process automation.
Who Is It For?
Software development and IT teams at enterprise-level business
Appian’s Top Features
- Reporting: Visualize the process and pinpoint inefficiencies in your process to find and fix inconsistencies and boost productivity.
- Intelligent automation: Build custom processes with advanced automation Robotic process automation (RPA), Intelligent document processing (IDP), AI, and API integrations.
- Integration: Integrates with Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, Google Workspace, DocuSign, and more.
Appian Pricing
Appian offers three plans–Standard, Advanced, and Premium based on per-user pricing, per app. The pricing isn’t publicly available. You need to contact their sales team to get a quote.
Appian Pros and Cons
✅ Flexible automation with an option to add custom code
✅ Connects with SQL database
✅ Extensive integrations available
❌ Slow loading while managing large databases
❌ Complex setup for non-technical users
#5. Teamwork
Best for: External client collaboration and project management
Similar to: Wrike and Asana
Teamwork is a project management software designed specifically for client-facing businesses. It has built-in tools such as budget forecasting, invoice tracking, and task tracking.
It’s a better alternative to Quickbase for teams who work with external clients and need native features like invoice generation and time tracking.
Who Is It For?
Client-service businesses of all types–marketing agencies, consulting firms, and creative agencies
Teamwork’s Top Features
- Resource management: Get an overview of your team’s workload capacity, make forecasts, and allocate resources wherever required.
- Milestones: Divide complex projects into smaller milestones by setting up goals and checkpoints to visualize the progress. Get visibility at each stage and share real-time updates with the stakeholders.
- Multiple built-in reporting dashboards: Time tracking reports, profitability reports, and project health reports enable you to get a holistic view of your projects.
Teamwork Pricing
Teamwork.com offers a 30-day free trial and a forever free plan for up to 5 users. Their paid plan is based on per-user pricing and includes the following:
- Deliver: $13.99 per user/month requires a minimum of 3 users, time tracking, client company management, and 4 project views (List, Table, Boards, and Gantt chart).
- Grow: $25.99 per user/month requires a minimum of 5 users, resource scheduling, If/then conditional logic for forms, and a custom domain with SSL.
- Scale: $65.99 per user/month requires a minimum of 5 users, unlimited retainer management, projects, and customer reports.
- Enterprise: Dedicated Customer Success Manager and advanced security. Contact sales for a quote.
Teamwork’s pricing plans require 3 user cap compared to Quickbase which demands 20 user base for their starting plan.
Teamwork Pros and Cons
✅ Customizable workflows and templates
✅ Built-in messaging, time tracking, invoicing, and budgeting feature
✅ Invite and collaborate with external users (vendors or contractors)
❌ Abundance of features and options can be overwhelming
❌ Limited native integration with heavy reliance on Zapier
#6. Monday.com
Best for: Task and project management across various industries
Similar to: Smartsheets and Wrike
Monday.com is a robust project management software that helps you track, manage, plan, and organize multiple projects.
It is a cost-effective, feature-rich alternative to Quickbase especially for enterprise-level teams.
Who Is It For?
Medium and large-scale businesses
Monday.com’s Top Features
- Automation: Build automated workflows with no-code builders and send timely alerts or update status. Save each automation as a template and use them for future projects.
- Portfolio management: Organize multiple projects within the portfolio and track overall progress to assign resources and budget.
- Work forms: Build custom forms to collect and share feedback from internal and external stakeholders. Sync form responses by adding them to relevant projects and converting requests into actionable items.
Monday.com Pricing
Monday.com offers a 14-day free trial and a free plan for up to 2 users. Their paid plans need at least 3 users and come in four tiers:
- Basic: Starts at $17 per user/month, including Kanban board view, unlimited free viewers, and unlimited boards.
- Standard: Starts at $20 per user/month, including 250 automated actions/month, 3+ dashboard views, and Zoom integration.
- Pro: Starts at $32 per user/month, including all five dashboard views, time tracking, and 2-factor authentication.
- Enterprise: Includes dedicated customer success manager, enterprise-level reporting, and administration control. Contact sales for a quote.
Monday.com offers a free plan and free trial that gives you access to almost all the features, compared to Quickbase which only has a 30-day free trial.
Monday.com Pros and Cons
✅ Advanced reporting and analysis
✅ Built-in social media management system
✅ 200+ dashboard templates
❌ Requires a minimum team size to buy or upgrade plan
❌ Automation available only on high-tier plans
#7: Asana
Best for: Managing projects through subtasks and automated workflows
Similar to: Trello and Monday.com
Asana is a project management tool that lets you organize, plan, and track work via subtasks and dependencies.
Asana’s intuitive automation builder and reasonable pricing make it a compelling choice for teams who plan to have a limited number of users with admin access.
Who Is It For?
Creative agencies, small and medium-sized businesses
Asana’s Top Features
- Automation bundles: If you use repetitive automation, package them in automation bundles and apply them to multiple projects at once.
- Time tracking: Measure your team’s time for different tasks and compare it against the estimate to assess roadblocks.
- Portfolios: Organize and track multiple projects in a centralized dashboard. Customize each dashboard with widgets and multiple dashboard views. You also have the option to nest portfolios under related portfolios to organize your work.
Asana Pricing
Asana offers a free plan for up to 10 users and four pricing plans with a 30-day free trial. Pricing for paid plans is as follows:
- Starters: Starts at $13.49 per user/month, with up to 500 teammates collaboration, Asana AI, and workflow builder.
- Advanced: Starts at $30.49 per user/month, with 25,000 automation per month, scaled security, advanced reporting, and goal tracking.
- Enterprise: Advanced integrations, unlimited seats, custom branding, and premium support. Contact sales for a quote.
- Enterprise+: Audit log API, HIPAA compliance, and data loss prevention integrations. Contact sales for a quote.
Asana doesn’t have a minimum user cap and offers a generous free plan with unlimited file storage and activity logs. Quickbase, on the other hand, has no free plan.
Asana Pros and Cons
✅ Subtasks and dependencies
✅ Automated templates for repetitive use
✅ 270+ native integrations
❌ Basic reporting
❌ Can get expensive for smaller teams
#8: Wrike
Best for: Managing complex projects and cross-functional collaboration
Similar to: Smartsheet and Monday.com
Wrike is a project management tool that helps you collaborate across teams, manage projects, brainstorm ideas, and achieve goals.
Wrike is an affordable solution over Quickbase for large enterprise-level teams that juggle multiple projects at once and need built-in cross-team communication functionality.
Who Is It For?
Agencies and enterprise-level businesses
Wrike’s Top Features
- Advanced reporting: Wrike’s reporting feature lets you build custom reports to visualize your project’s performance, resource allocation, and budgetary spending. For each report, you can add widgets or integrate with analytics tools like PowerBi and Tableau to fire up your reporting.
- Budgeting: Estimate and track financials across all your projects in one place and in real-time.
- Cross-tagging: Add multiple tags which makes the same project visible to different teams. With cross-tagging, you can get rid of duplicating the projects across various teams and work in a more centralized space.
Wrike Pricing
Wrike offers a generous forever-free plan including email integration and enterprise-grade security. There are five paid plans with a 14-day free trial:
- Team: Start at $9.80 per user/month, including custom workflows, 20 free collaborators, and unlimited request forms.
- Business: Start at $24.80 per user/month, includes up to 200 users, Adobe Creative Cloud Extensions, and nested projects.
- Enterprise: You get access to unlimited users with advanced reporting and integrations. Contact sales to get a quote.
- Pinnacle: Native integration with PowerBi, locked spaces, and budgeting features. Contact sales for a quote.
Compared to Quickbase, Wrike offers affordable and diverse pricing plans starting at only $9.80 per user/month.
Wrike Pros and Cons
✅ 400+ integrations
✅ Generous free plan with unlimited users
✅ Library of customizable project templates
❌ Learning curve due to overwhelming features
❌ Budgeting feature only available for pinnacle plan users
#9: Jira
Best for: DevOps issue tracking and supporting IT workflows
Similar to: Monday.com
Jira is a robust project management software, part of Atlassian’s product suite, made primarily for software development teams.
Both Quickbase and Jira are suitable for software and IT teams. But, Jira’s ease of use and affordable plans with a higher number of integrations make it a much more attractive choice over Quickbase.
Who Is It For?
Software development and IT teams
Jira’s Top Features
- Roadmaps: Get a high-level overview of planned sprints with individual tasks (epics in Jira) to monitor sprints’ progress and identify any roadblocks.
- Advanced reporting: Get contextual insights through burndown charts, velocity charts, cumulative flow diagrams, resolution time reports, and sprint reports.
- Bug and issue tracking: Built-in robust bug and issue tracking capabilities allow you to report, track, and manage bugs and issues throughout the development lifecycle.
Jira Pricing
Jira offers both a free plan and a 7-day free trial for three paid plans. The paid plans are based on a maximum user cap. For up to 100 users, access pricing is as follows:
- Standard: Starts at $8.15 per user/month, including audit logs, unlimited customizable workflows, and project templates.
- Premium: Start at $16 per user/month, including unlimited storage and cross-project management.
- Enterprise: Unlimited automation, Atlassian Analytics, Atlassian intelligence (AI). Contact sales for a quote.
Jira offers a more affordable entry-level pricing plan and a forever-free plan compared to Quickbase.
Jira Pros and Cons
✅ Easy to configure dashboards
✅ 1000+ third-party integration via the Atlassian marketplace
❌ Limited team collaboration options
❌ Out-dated and non-intuitive user interface
#10: Smartsheet
Best for: Managing complex projects using a spreadsheet-like interface
Similar to: Airtable and Asana
Smartsheet is an advanced enterprise-level work and project management software that helps you plan, track, and manage basic to high-level projects.
Smartsheet is a better Quickbase alternative when it comes to managing a large dataset without impacting the dashboard’s performance.
Who Is It For?
Enterprise-level teams who manage complex and large numbers of projects
Smartsheet’s Top Features
- Formula and functions: Perform simple to complex analysis of your database using built-in formulas and functions.
- Workload heatmap: Get a granular view of your team’s workload and availability to identify members who are overallocated and under-allocated work.
- Automation workflow: Build no-code automation with triggers and actions to get rid of mundane tasks. Send upcoming deadline reminders, request signatures through integration with DocuSign, or perform calculations.
Smartsheet Pricing
Smartsheet offers three paid plans with no free plan or trial.
- Pro: Starts at $12 per member/month, includes private sheets creation and unlimited form access.
- Business: Starts at $24 per member/month, includes unlimited automated workflows, and requires at least 3 users.
- Enterprise: Unlimited storage and enterprise plan manager. Contact sales for a quote.
Smartsheet doesn’t demand a minimum user cap for its Pro plan but there is a minimum limit of 3 users for their Business plan. Despite that, Smartsheet’s pricing is a lot cheaper than Quickbase.
Smartsheet Pros and Cons
✅ High level of customization
✅ Huge library of project templates
✅ Powerful analytics and reporting tools
❌ Steep learning curve for spreadsheet novices
❌ Data doesn’t get updated in real-time
Manage Your Projects With SmartSuite
The big question: Which project management tool is the best for you?
Well, it depends on your team size, budget, project size, and goals you want to achieve.
Every tool mentioned has some core functionality that caters to a specific user base.
For instance, Smartsheet and Airtable are perfect for spreadsheet enthusiasts, Appian and Appsheet work best for teams who want to build custom apps and dashboards, while Teamwork and Wrike are best for managing projects with external vendors and contractors.
However, you can’t achieve your goals with certain features alone. You need a complete suite of tools, from management to team collaboration.
In that case, SmartSuite is the ideal choice for you.
With SmartSuite, you can create dynamic dashboards, automate workflows, monitor project performance, and collaborate with your team. All of this starts at just $12 per user/month, or you can try SmartSuite for free with up to three users’ access.
If Smartsuite is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.
Credit: Original article published here.