Monday.com vs. Smartsheet vs. SmartSuite: Which Tool to Pick?

This head-to-head comparison of Monday.com vs. Smartsheet vs. SmartSuite cuts through the marketing hype to reveal how these platforms perform in real-world scenarios. 

After extensive hands-on testing and user feedback, we’ll examine:

• Key features of each platform
• Hidden costs and limitations
• What makes each tool stand out

TL;DR: Monday.com dominates in customization and automation, Smartsheet excels in enterprise-grade project control, and SmartSuite offers the most comprehensive all-in-one solution at the most competitive price point.

Monday.com vs. Smartsheet vs. SmartSuite

SmartSuite Features

SmartSuite is a comprehensive project management tool that lets you manage all your projects on a centralized platform with built-in automation and a communication center.

Comprehensive project management

SmartSuite’s project management feature helps you plan, track, and manage simple to complex projects.

To simplify the process, you get numerous built-in intuitive features to execute your tasks perfectly.

Here’s what we have in store for you.

• Smart task management: You can turn any item field into a task—a checklist item, comments, or sub-item. With this flexibility, you can easily build a solid task list and assign it to the right person with a due date and priority status.

• Project phases and milestones: Having milestones ensures your project stays on track and moves towards the objective. With SmartSuite, you can set them, monitor through your reporting dashboard, and flag issues.

• Files and project deliverables: With SmartSuite, you can manage and organize all your documents. You can also attach project-related files, share feedback with your team, and manage version history, all within your work context.

SmartSuite supports various file formats, such as PDF, GIF, CSV, PNG, and MP4. The tool also integrates with Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, and Microsoft OneDrive, making it easy to add files to workflows.

Also, you can add images directly in SmartSuite by connecting your social media and Unsplash accounts.

• Native time tracking: Monitor and evaluate task and project completion times. Built-in tracking helps group time entries, see estimates, and segment billable and non-billable entries.

Native team collaboration

With its built-in communication and collaboration features, SmartSuite outperforms Monday.com and Smartsheet. You can connect with peers in group chats or 1:1 conversations for quick feedback and keep stakeholders updated.

SmartSuite’s members’ directory provides a holistic view of the project team by examining each teammate’s details, such as availability status, job profile, and other relevant information.

Like the other two tools, use comments and @mentions to share updates, nudge teammates, or add new people to the conversation.

Comprehensive project reporting

SmartSuites offers a dynamic project analytics tool with configurable charts and graphs.

The reporting dashboard helps you track project performance, understand resource allocation, and identify slow-moving projects. Based on these insights, you can quickly develop plans to overcome roadblocks and get the project back on track.

You can visualize reporting in Grid, Card, Kanban, Timeline, Map, Calendar, or Dashboard views. Add as many as needed to build a visual storyboard for your project’s progress.

To share reports with stakeholders or clients, you can make the report public and share the necessary access. SmartSuite also supports printing or exporting PDF, Excel, Google Sheets, or CSV format.

Advanced workflow automation

SmartSuite’s no-code automation builder is one of the most intuitive, giving a neck-to-neck competition in automation.

You can assemble automation at the task and project and automate repetitive tasks based on triggers like changing dates, sending notification emails, or updating statuses. There are six pre-defined triggers and 15+ actions, with options to build custom ones.

SmartSuite is ideal for organizations that:

✅ Require a flexible platform that adapts to diverse business processes

✅ Want to streamline team collaboration and communication

✅ Seek a cost-effective solution with comprehensive features

Consider alternatives if you:

❌ Need a more established platform with extensive market presence (SmartSuite is relatively new)

❌ Require extensive third-party integrations (SmartSuite currently offers fewer integration options than competitors like Smartsheet and Monday.com)

Monday.com Features

Monday.com is a robust project management software that helps you track, manage, plan, and organize multiple projects.

Dashboards with custom widgets

With Monday.com, you can build custom dashboards by fetching data from all your projects for a holistic view of progress. It offers 80+ widgets through integrations with apps like videos, calendars, clocks, and images, allowing flexibility in building project dashboards.

27+ task views

Monday.com offers over 27 task views to visualize task progress throughout the project lifecycle, including charts, Gantt charts, Calendars, Workloads, Timelines, Kanban boards, Tables, Forms, Cards, Files, and Blank views.

Such a wide range of task views offers flexibility and control over the project dashboard and caters to the team’s different working styles.

Workflow automation

Monday.com offers triggers, conditions, and actions to build linear to multi-step sequences. With these automated workflows, you can eliminate repetitive tasks like status updates, delete processes, or schedule calls.

Monday.com is ideal if you:

✅ Require robust automation features

✅ Need real-time data visualization and reporting

✅ Want a tool with solid integrations

✅ Use Monday.com’s CRM or dev tools

Monday isn’t the best option if you:

❌ Need advanced time tracking features (only available on higher-tier plans)

❌ Are a small team with a limited budget ( pricing scales up quickly due to group-based structure)

❌ Require robust native team communication features

Smartsheet Features

Formulas and functions

As a spreadsheet-focused project management tool, Smartshgeet offers some of the most robust and dynamic formulas and functions. It allows you to perform complex calculations and fetch relevant data within a single or multiple sheets at once.

Team collaboration

Smartsheet is loaded with team collaboration tools. You can build a library of files, loop in stakeholders for proofing, share attachments, and leave comments. Admin control to share access is flexible and allows collaboration with internal and external users.

The platform supports file types such as .jpg, .png, .gif, .pdf, .docx, .pptx, and .xlsx and lets you upload content from Brandfolder, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, and more.

Dashboards

Dashboards in a smartsheet help you consolidate your work and build a visualization for the project’s performance. You can add interactive widgets, which are the building blocks of a dashboard. Some common widgets include reports, charts, metrics, images, and web content.

You can also share dashboards with users who might not have the actual report, allowing you to maintain complete control over privacy.

Smartsheet is ideal if you:

✅ Need advanced formulas and functions to evaluate the project’s performance

✅ Need a versatile project management tool with multiple views (Grid, Gantt, Kanban, Calendar) 

✅ Require robust collaboration features for real-time teamwork and file sharing across departments

Smartsheet isn’t the best option if you:

❌ Are a small team looking for a intuitive interface with low learning curve

❌ Have a limited budget

❌ Need advanced data analysis and reporting capabilities

Integrations: Monday vs. Smartsheet vs. SmartSuite

SmartSuite Integrations

SmartSuite integrates with major platforms, from communication to social media. It offers five connectors, including Zapier, Ply, Integrately, Relay, and Make, to connect with 1000s of apps to transfer data.

Some of the notable integrations are:

• Salesforce
• Slack
• Twilio
• Jira Cloud
• HubSpot
• Intercom

Monday.com Integrations

Compared to SmartSuite, Monday.com offers 200+ integrations and apps across various categories. It provides native integrations with popular tools like Slack, Gmail, Microsoft Teams, and GitLab.

It excels in two-way synchronization with some integrations, enhancing data flow across apps, and has an open API for custom integrations.

Some standout Monday.com integrations are:

• QuickBooks
• Google Workspace
• Zendesk
• PandaDoc
• Jira
• Freshdesk

Smartsheet Integrations

Smartsheet offers two connectors, Jira and Salesforce, that enable bi-directional data synchronization.

In addition to these, there are 100+ native integrations, including Google Workspace, Microsoft Teams, Adobe Creative Cloud, and Tableau.

Other notable integrations are

• Okta
• Power BI
• Oculus
• Miro
• DocuSign

Winner: Monday.com

Monday.com offers over 200 integrations across various platforms, making it more versatile and flexible software than the other two.

Pricing Monday vs. Smartsheet vs. SmartSuite

SmartSuite Pricing

SmartSuite offers a forever-free plan, which is among the most generous. With the free plan, you get 100 automated triggers, team collaboration tools, 7+ task views (Dashboard, table, boards, cards, list, calendar, and grid), time tracking, and more.

We offer four paid plans, each with a 14-day free trial.

• Team: Starts at $12/user/month, including 8+ dashboard views, 5000 automation runs, time tracking, and collaborative SmartDocs.
• Professional: Starts at $28/user/month, including two-factor authentication, Gmail & Outlook integrations, and unlimited editors.
• Enterprise: Starts at $35 per user/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.

Monday Pricing

Monday.com offers a free plan for up to 2 users, including shareable forms, 500MB storage, a 1-week activity history, and one board per dashboard.

Monday.com pricing plans have four tiers and require a minimum of 3 user seats:

• Basic: Starts at $17/user/month, including Kanban view, unlimited free viewers, and unlimited boards.
• Standard: Starts at $20/user/month, including 250 automated actions/month, 3+ dashboard views, and Zoom integration.
• Pro: Starts at $32/user/month, including all five dashboard views, time tracking, and 2-factor authentication.
• Enterprise: Includes dedicated customer success manager, cross-project analytics, and resource allocation insights. Contact sales for a quote.

Smartsheet pricing

Smartsheet doesn’t offer a free plan or trial. For pricing plans, Smartsheet charges based on the number of users and offers three paid plans:

• Pro: Starts at $12 per member/month, including private sheet creation and unlimited form access with a 10-user limit.
• Business: Starts at $24 per member/month with a minimum of 3 user seats, including unlimited automated workflows, PowerBI, Tableau, and Adobe Creative Cloud integration.
• Enterprise: Unlimited storage, enterprise plan manager, and AI tools. Contact sales for a quote.
• Advanced work management: Portfolio management and premium support package. Contact sales for a quote.

Winner: SmartSuite

SmartSuite comes across as the best contender due to its generous free plan and lower entry point for paid plans. Additionally, the price-to-feature ratio is well distributed across tiers compared to the other two tools.

Lastly, it offers flexible per-user pricing, not locking you in unused seats, unlike Monday.com and Smartsheet. But Smartsheet and Monday.com’s group-based pricing might reduce the average cost for a large number of users.

What are Customers Saying about Monday.com, Smartsheet, and SmartSuite?

SmartSuite Reviews

G2 rating: 4.8/5

What users love:

• Intuitive interface and quick setup
• Built-in communication features
• Flexible customization options
• Value for money compared to competitors

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Common complaints:

• Limited integration options compared to established competitors
• Some advanced features are still in development
• Newer platform with a smaller user community
• Occasional performance issues with larger datasets

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Monday.com Reviews

G2 rating: 4.7/5

What users love:

• A highly visual interface with multiple view options
• Extensive customization capabilities
• Strong automation features
• Large template library

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Common complaints:

• Steep learning curve for new users
• Group-based pricing can be expensive for small teams.
• Interfaces sometimes feel cluttered and overwhelming due to loads of features
• Mobile app performance issues reported

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Smartsheet Reviews

G2 rating: 4.4/5

What users love:

• Customizability and adaptation to user’s business processes
• Ease of collaboration across the organization
• Ease of use due to spreadsheet-like interface

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Common complaints:

• Complicated automation setup with no version history to track changes
• Performance issues when working on dashboards
• Limited native integrations

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Each platform has great pros and cons. The best choice depends on your needs and budget:

• Smartsheet users praise the customizability and collaborative features.
• Monday.com users appreciate the visual customization and automation capabilities.
• SmartSuite users value its all-in-one project management solution and pricing.

Making your Final Decision

The best project management tool isn’t about features alone—it’s about finding the right fit for your team’s unique workflow and growth trajectory.

✅Choose Monday.com if visual workflow management is your priority and you’re willing to invest in a platform that scales with your project’s growth.

✅Go with Smartsheet for a familiar spreadsheet-like interface and when enterprise-grade project control and detailed reporting capabilities are non-negotiable.

✅Select SmartSuite if you want to consolidate your tech stack with an all-in-one solution that won’t break the bank, especially for growing teams that need built-in collaboration tools and advanced automation builders.

Start your journey with SmartSuite by signing up for its free plan. 

If you want to explore all the advanced features, schedule a demo call or sign up for a free trial.

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