monday reviews is our latest blog series where we provide the facts about different project management tools—no BS and no hyperbole needed. Keep scrolling for our analysis and to learn more about all the project and resource management tools out there. Enjoy! 😊
Running a business and managing a team can be time-consuming. Without organization, delegation, and time tracking, asks can be overlooked.
This leads to costly delays and you sitting at your desk at the end of the month, 3 cups of coffee down at 9:15am and bags under your eyes.
If you’re looking for a solution to your project management woes, consider investing in a work management software subscription. You may already be familiar with Smartsheet, but is it the right collaboration tool for your needs?
In the following Smartsheet review, we’ll chat about the top features and walk you through feedback from other users.
Plus, we’ll put Smartsheet and a few of its competitors in the ring for a battle of the brands.
What is Smartsheet?
You can describe Smartsheet as a more modern spreadsheet.
It’s a pumped-up alternative to the Excel spreadsheet platform many small businesses and large corporations have been using to organize their work for the past 20 years.
The cloud-based solution launched in 2006 and is a solid option to manage teams and groups. In fact, it is trusted by over 70% of the Fortune 500.
Smartsheet has a central tab style dashboard for administrators who can assign tasks directly to any user. From there, they can also track project statuses and manage reports to make sure their team is all on the same page.
They offer a number of integrations including Dropbox, GSuite, and Slack.
What does Smartsheet offer?
- Solution center
- Reporting
- Gantt, card, and calendar view
- Alerts and reminders
- Compatible mobile apps
- Customizable colors and logo
- Live chat
- Attachment sharing
What feature stands out?
Automated workflows are one of Smartsheet’s key features. This is not uncommon for project management software, but automation certainly is a time saver.
With an automated workflow, most repetitive tasks can be performed without user intervention. This might include updates, activity logs, notifications and reminders, and approval requests.
Independent Smartsheet reviews from real users
We have compiled a selection of genuine reviews from people who love Smartsheet and those who found some faults using data from Capterra and G2:
What do people like about Smartsheet?
- People who have tried Smartsheet like the cloud-based platform as it gives you real-time updates and added security.
- Because it is color-coded, customizable, and has Gantt chart views, it does seem fancier than a traditional spreadsheet.
- Users were satisfied with the collaboration features, with support for cross-teams and external staff members.
- Data organization, file attachments, project scheduling, on-demand reports and dashboards were also positives.
What are people frustrated by with Smartsheet?
- Formatting issues that occur when trying to export to an Excel doc or Google sheet frustrated many of the users. And, there are a few data sorting bugs that need to be addressed.
- Archiving can be clunky, and the platform does have a steep learning curve with very few opportunities for training.
- Those using Smartsheet wanted more in-app functionality, graphs, extra widgets, additional rows, and columns.
What are the best Smartsheet alternatives?
monday.com
monday.com is a complete Work OS — a platform for work.
With intuitive, user-friendly, and customizable workflows, templates, and apps, monday.com is a visual platform for organizing projects and teams.
There are 40+ user integrations including Outlook, Microsoft Teams, Dropbox, Gmail, and Slack.
Before we get to the ins and outs of monday.com and how it rates against Smartsheet — which we’ll do in a second — you may be wondering what other task management options are available.
Here is a quick comparison of Trello and Todoist…
Trello vs. Smartsheet
Trello has similar features to Smartsheet. It uses kanban board and card views to help you prioritize tasks.
Assign jobs to members and take advantage of automated reminders and notifications. Trello is a solid option for small to medium, non-technical teams.
Trello is a steady option but it doesn’t offer you the same flexibility as monday.com.
monday.com is built for teams of all sizes and can handle the demands of large projects and corporations. The software excels at reporting and collaboration and doesn’t skip a beat.
Todoist vs. Smartsheet
Todoist is a basic solution, as a daily to-do list with collaboration options. It can be easy to navigate for smaller goals, such as meal planning and travel itineraries.
Todoist has a few dashboard integrations including mail and calendar.
Todoist has its place as a checklist app for smaller tasks and individual plans.
But, unlike monday.com it isn’t really built for project management, and definitely not for business plans for large-scale or enterprise growth..
So, is Smartsheet right for you?
After analyzing reviews and looking at the features of Smartsheet, it doesn’t quite tick all of the boxes for us. If you’re serious about project management and want a solution that works seamlessly with other products, Smartsheet doesn’t quite stand out.
While it has its strengths, there is nothing unique that we couldn’t find in competing products.
Now, it is time to put monday.com in the ring to see how it measures up…
What is monday.com?
As promised, here’s everything you need to know about monday.com!
The project management tool gives you a variety of totally customizable workflow views, including kanban, calendar, timeline, Gantt chart, map and more.
The monday.com Work OS runs seamlessly on multiple platforms and our mobile app to support a remote workforce.
What else does monday.com offer?
- Customizable column types, with features like conditional formatting.
- File sharing
- Real-time updates
- Excellent customer service
- 40+ integrations with the tools you already use
- Easy data imports and exports
- Automation
- Ability to create web forms within the platform
Let’s get into that last one…
With monday.com, automation for repetitive tasks is the way of the… present!
Automation can reduce your team’s work loads, speed up processes, and reduce stress away.
Here’s a breakdown of how it works:
What is the difference between monday.com and Smartsheet?
Smartsheet is based on spreadsheets and has a similar feel to Microsoft Excel.
monday.com is known for being easy to learn and has a range of unique views for a customizable user experience. While both task management platforms have integrations, monday.com has more.
Plus, monday.com has a stronger focus on training, templates, and learning opportunities.
monday.com is for businesses of all sizes and teams, while Smartsheet is more for enterprises stuck in the outdated world of spreadsheet-exclusive organization.We have compiled independent reviews from leading sites including Capterra, Trustradius, and Techradar. The consensus for monday.com is –
- Visually appealing
- Powerful organizational software
- Central location
- Customizable
- Clean interface
- Intelligent automation
- Updated regularly
- Runs smoothly under pressure
Users praised Monday.com for its impressive templates. For example, we recommend the client manager template.
A real-world case monday.com study
Entrepreneur is a media and print company. Since starting with monday.com, they have saved 11 hours a month in processes and had a 23% increase in digital sales.
They have a work-from-home salesforce and use monday.com to log client communication, automate processes, and generate sales reports.
You can check out the full case study by clicking here.
The wrap up
Do you want to maximize productivity? Are you serious about managing teams and taking advantage of integrations and templates?
Smartsheet is a great tool — particularly for enterprises — don’t get us wrong, but monday.com offers the flexibility and scalability for businesses of any size and teams working on any project.
Get started