Wrike vs. Smartsheet: which project management tool is best for your team?

task management toolSmartsheet and Wrike are both project management software options that simplify team collaboration.

At first, their features look eerily similar, but the devil is in the details, right?

We put our detective hats on and went about digging up their finer differences: what their workspace looks like, who they’re best for, and the level of support they offer.

Get excited! You’re about to find out if Smartsheet or Wrike (or another app like monday.com) is the answer to your project management woes.

Try monday.com

What is Smartsheet?

Smartsheet gives your regular spreadsheet a facelift (well, obviously) and powers it up with project management capabilities. Teams can collaborate, track progress, and provide feedback.

They also have unique automated workflows for processes such as mergers and acquisitions and client onboarding.

It looks a little something like this:

What is Wrike?

In short, Wrike is also a task management tool.

Its boards look like this:

source: https://try.wrike.com/

What are the differences between Smartsheet and Wrike?

TL;DR — Smartsheet is better for enterprise companies looking to scale and automate processes, while Wrike is better suited for simple collaboration. 

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to project management software. Each team and manager has a unique working style.

When looking at a potential team collaboration tool, think about the following:

• Which features are most important to you? Collaboration, analytics, project views (such as a Gantt chart)?
• Will you need assistance with setting up workflows? If so, you’ll want a tool with customizable templates such as, ahem, monday.com.
• What kind of customer support do you need?
• How easy will it be to onboard your team to a new project management tool?

Armed with answers to these questions, take a look at what Smartsheet and Wrike have in store for you:

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Smartsheet features: built for large teams, but with a learning curve

All projects in Smartsheet start in a spreadsheet. Within each, you can assign work, visualize projects as Gantt charts, Kanban-style boards, or as a calendar, and create reports.

It’s more powerful automation features are reserved for Enterprise users, at an added cost. This includes custom integrations for construction, engineering, sales, and IT.

Related: Smartsheet project management

Wrike features: ideal for small teams

Wrike has a busy workspace: there are projects for related tasks, folders for related projects, and spaces for related projects and tasks.

Organization ninjas may find Wrike very appealing. Others might find it a tad complicated.

Wrike allows you to visualize work, approve projects, and automate workflows. You can also collect data through forms. PS, we also have the ability to create, customize, and share forms 🙂

So, what if you want a Smartsheet or Wrike alternative that adapts to your team at scale, offers automated workflows, but is easy on the eyes and grows with your team? Check out monday.com! (More on our offerings below.)

Pricing: Smartsheet is more expensive than Wrike (and monday.com!)

Wrike has a wide range of plans for teams of all sizes, while Smartsheet offers limited options for small teams.

Smartsheet pricing and plans:

Smartsheet offers two types of plans, Standard and Enterprise.

Here’s what’s included in each:

• Individual: This standard plan costs $14 per month. Individual users can create a maximum of 10 sheets, visualize projects, and integrate with G Suite.
• Business: At $25/user per month, this standard plan offers more customization, reporting, and user management options. It has integrations with Slack and Skype.
• Enterprise: With an unlisted price, it offers unlimited sheets, premium add ons, support, and integration with Tableau and Adobe Creative Cloud. Even on this plan, several add ons are paid.
• Premier: This is the only plan that includes every Smartsheet feature by default. This means integrations with Salesforce, Jira, and custom apps such as Data Mesh.

Wrike pricing and plans:

Take a look at what Wrike’s plans offer:

• Free: This base plan is for small teams, with up to 5 members. It offers a board view for task management, file sharing, and basic integrations such as Google Drive.
• Professional: This plan costs $9.80/user per month, for teams with up to 15 people. It offers a shareable dashboard, Gantt chart views, and advanced integrations such as Microsoft Project.
• Business: This one is for teams with 5–200 members. It sets you back by $24.80/user per month. Additional features include report templates, calendar view, request forms, and Salesforce integration
• Enterprise: Meant for large teams, this plan offers more control with passwords and user access, plus it has resource management. Pricing is unavailable.
• Wrike for Marketers: This combines the Business plan with Wrike Proof (approval for creative deliverables) and an integration with Adobe Creative Cloud.
• Wrike for Marketers Performance: This includes advanced reporting and integrations with Salesforce and Marketo.
• Wrike for Professional Services: Combines Business plan features with automated workflows and time tracking.
• Wrike for Professional Services Performance: This one also includes integrations with Quickbooks and Salesforce.

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What about customer support and integrations?

Smartsheet customer service: email for all, phone for some

The only free support options for Individual users are community forums, the learning center, and email.

Support by phone and instructor-led training is available only to Enterprise and Premier users by default, while Business users can pay to access it. Individual users can pay for on-demand training too.

Wrike customer service: premium support for sale

The best kind of support they offer is available for purchase.

Everyone, including users on the free plan, gets email support, but only five days a week.

Paid users get 24/5 email, chat, and phone support, with a 24-hour response time.

Finally, premium support is available at an undisclosed price. It’s available 24/7, with a one hour response time, phone, and chat support.

Smartsheet integrations: more if you pay more

Smartsheet offers basic integrations such as Box, Zapier, Microsoft Office and Slack.

Business and enterprise users have options such as Microsoft Teams, Adobe Creative Cloud and Tableau. Salesforce and Jira are available exclusively to premier users.

Wrike integrations: (Business) members only

Wrike Integrate lets you connect to 400 apps, but is only available to Business users and above.

It has custom integrations for popular work apps such as Gmail, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Outlook, Github, and JIRA. Business users also get integrations with Salesforce, MS Project, Excel, and RSS.

Smartsheet customer reviews: 4.2 out of 5 on G2

Software review site G2 lists the average user rating for Smartsheet as 4.2 out of 5, based on 2,135 reviews in all.

Wrike customer reviews: 4.2 out of 5 on G2

Wrike performs as well as Smartsheet on G2, but has fewer reviews (1,318 user reviews).

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So which one, Smartsheet or Wrike?

Smartsheet is a better fit for you if you want automations, though it is more expensive than many of its competitors.

Wrike offers simpler, affordable options for small teams, but is somewhat complex.

Smartsheet and Wrike both have solid offerings for small to mid-sized teams.

But, if you’re really looking for automation and flexibility for teams of all sizes and kinds, we suggest you give monday.com a try.

Meet monday.com: the Wrike and Smartsheet alternative for all teams

Want to check out what you can do with monday.com? Here’s a quick sneak peek:

• Create a board for each of your projects and teams. Assign tasks, due dates, and track progress in a simple and clear way.
• Automate tasks, such as sending notifications, with “if” and “then” rules, no coding needed.
• Choose from templates for projects of all kinds: content planning, construction, events, social media, holiday planning, and recruitment.
• Visualize your work as a calendar, Kanban board, chart, or timeline.
• Get 24/7 customer support, no matter what plan you’re on. Our first response times are less than an hour and we also offer live chat, webinars, and tutorials to empower our users.
• Integrate with your favorite work apps such as Gmail, Mailchimp, Google Drive, Box, Zoom, and Hubspot.
• View your team’s workload, so they’re not overwhelmed at any point.

Here’s just one of the MANY boards you can create with monday.com:

Don’t take our word for it, take monday.com for a spin and see for yourself!

Your team can get up and running in minutes, and our customer support crew will be there with you every step of the way!

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