Smartsheet gained global popularity by blending the familiarity of spreadsheets with the power of project management, task tracking, and team collaboration. It’s widely used for managing projects, marketing campaigns, construction timelines, and even IT operations.

However, as work evolves in 2025, some users find Smartsheet too expensive, complex for simple needs, or missing more flexible dashboard views. Many businesses now seek cheaper, easier to customize, or more visually dynamic alternatives.

Whether you’re managing a startup project, enterprise operations, or creative workflows, here’s a breakdown of the 10 best Smartsheet alternatives to streamline your processes.

1. Monday.com – The Most Flexible Work OS

Monday.com has become one of the top Smartsheet alternatives, offering fully customizable boards, workflows, automation rules, and integrations with thousands of apps.

Its visual project management, combined with timeline, Kanban, calendar, and Gantt views, makes it a powerful choice for managing everything from marketing plans to software sprints.

Best for: Marketing teams, startups, software projects.
Why switch: Highly visual UI, automation, scalable from small teams to enterprises.

2. Asana – Clean Task and Project Management

Asana focuses on simple project management with strong team collaboration tools. It allows task dependencies, milestones, timelines, and flexible views like Kanban and calendar.

Its intuitive interface is easier to adopt than Smartsheet for fast-moving teams that don’t want heavy spreadsheet-style grids.

Best for: Creative teams, agile businesses, and remote teams.
Highlight: Smooth onboarding, easy-to-follow workflows.

3. ClickUp – All-in-One Productivity Platform

ClickUp offers tasks, docs, goals, time tracking, whiteboards, forms, and even mind maps in one app—targeting those who want to replace Smartsheet + Asana + Notion with a single solution.

It supports deep customization with multiple view options (list, board, Gantt, table) and a generous free plan.

Best for: Teams needing a unified platform for tasks, docs, and collaboration.
Strength: Huge feature set and extreme flexibility.

4. Airtable – Spreadsheets Meet Databases

Airtable combines spreadsheet simplicity with database-like power, allowing teams to link records, create custom views, and build dynamic workflows without coding.

It’s a favorite among marketing teams, product development teams, and content creators looking for highly visual, relational project management.

Best for: Marketers, event planners, product teams.
Biggest advantage: Visual spreadsheets + real-time collaboration.

5. Wrike – Enterprise-Grade Project Management

Wrike targets mid-sized and large enterprises needing advanced project visibility, customizable workflows, resource management, and reporting.

It supports dynamic request forms, proofing tools for creative teams, budgeting, and robust time tracking.

Best for: Enterprises needing highly structured work management.
Why it’s powerful: End-to-end work tracking and analytics.

6. Trello – Simple Kanban Board Management

Trello remains the easiest entry-level project management tool. It uses drag-and-drop Kanban boards to manage tasks visually and integrates with hundreds of apps via Power-Ups.

If your projects are straightforward and don’t need heavy reporting or spreadsheet views, Trello is a clean, quick solution.

Best for: Small teams, freelancers, simple workflows.
Highlight: Free to start, easy to use, mobile-friendly.

7. Notion – Documents, Projects, and Databases in One

Notion blends documents, knowledge bases, and project management into a single, customizable workspace.

While it’s less structured than Smartsheet at first, it allows users to build custom dashboards, databases, calendars, and Kanban boards from scratch.

Best for: Startups, creative teams, solo entrepreneurs.
Why it’s loved: Combines note-taking, task tracking, and collaboration seamlessly.

8. ProofHub – Unified Team Collaboration Platform

ProofHub offers project management, team communication, file sharing, time tracking, and reporting—all without per-user pricing, which can be attractive for growing teams.

Its flat-rate model makes it cheaper for mid-sized teams compared to Smartsheet’s per-seat costs.

Best for: Teams scaling fast without wanting per-user charges.
Highlight: All-in-one solution with predictable pricing.

9. TeamGantt – Focused Gantt Chart Management

TeamGantt specializes in drag-and-drop Gantt charts for planning and managing complex projects visually.

It’s less feature-heavy than ClickUp or Wrike but delivers beautiful, easy-to-understand project timelines, dependencies, and team assignments.

Best for: Project managers who live by Gantt charts.
Big advantage: Cleanest Gantt interface on the market.

10. Coda – Documents That Act Like Apps

Coda transforms documents into powerful, dynamic workspaces. Instead of basic tables and docs, Coda supports button-triggered automations, embedded charts, live data pulling, and interactive dashboards.

It’s perfect for building custom Smartsheet-like experiences without rigid templates.

Best for: Builders wanting a no-code platform for work automation.
Why it’s unique: Docs + apps + databases in one.

Conclusion:

While Smartsheet is powerful, 2025 offers smarter, more flexible tools depending on your project and team structure:

• Use Monday.com or ClickUp for all-in-one customizable project management.

• Choose Airtable for relational database-style projects.

• Try Wrike if you’re scaling to enterprise project visibility.

• Experiment with Notion or Coda for dynamic, creative workspace building.