Google Sheets vs. Smartsheet

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Google Sheets
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Google Sheets is the spreadsheet app available on Google Workspace, or standalone, with a free plan for personal use and accessible via mobile apps for iOS and Android.N/A
Smartsheet
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Smartsheet is an online project management and collaboration tool. It includes automated alerts, instantaneous updating and sharing across team members, resource management, nested tasks organized in a hierarchy, a Gantt chart view, exportable and automated reports, and integration with email.
$12
per month per user (up to 10 users)
Pricing
Google SheetsSmartsheet
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Pro
$12
per month per user (up to 10 users)
Business
$24
per month per user (3 user minimum)
Enterprise
Contact Sales
Advanced Work Management
Contact Sales
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Google SheetsSmartsheet
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsA discount is offered for annual billing.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Google SheetsSmartsheet
TrustRadius Insights
Google SheetsSmartsheet
Highlights

TrustRadius
Research Team Insight
Published

Users have consistently emphasized the robust project management capabilities of Smartsheet. It is widely praised for its advanced features such as Gantt charts, extensive automation, and data visualization tools, which facilitate comprehensive project tracking and management. Smartsheet is particularly appreciated in environments that require intricate planning and collaboration amongst various stakeholders, offering both project managers and team members a platform to monitor progress efficiently.

In contrast, Google Sheets is predominantly recognized for its accessibility, ease of use, and integration with other Google Workspace tools. Users value Google Sheets for tasks that require real-time collaboration and straightforward data management. While it may lack some of the advanced project management features of Smartsheet, its simplicity and seamless integration with familiar tools make it a preferred choice for users who prioritize ease of use and quick setup over detailed project tracking.

Overall, while both platforms serve fundamental data handling and collaboration needs, Smartsheet stands out for detailed project management, whereas Google Sheets offers greater simplicity and ease of adoption for general spreadsheet tasks.

Features
Google SheetsSmartsheet
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
Google Sheets
-
Ratings
Smartsheet
9.0
Ratings
16% above category average
Task Management00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Resource Management00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Gantt Charts00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Scheduling00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Workflow Automation00 Ratings8.10 Ratings
Team Collaboration00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Support for Agile Methodology00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Support for Waterfall Methodology00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Document Management00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Email integration00 Ratings9.90 Ratings
Mobile Access00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Timesheet Tracking00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Change request and Case Management00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Budget and Expense Management00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Professional Services Automation
Comparison of Professional Services Automation features of Product A and Product B
Google Sheets
-
Ratings
Smartsheet
9.1
Ratings
19% above category average
Quotes/estimates00 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Invoicing00 Ratings9.70 Ratings
Project & financial reporting00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Integration with accounting software00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Google SheetsSmartsheet
Small Businesses
Stackby
Stackby
Score 9.0 out of 10
Stackby
Stackby
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel
Score 8.7 out of 10
InEight
InEight
Score 8.3 out of 10
Enterprises
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel
Score 8.7 out of 10
InEight
InEight
Score 8.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Google SheetsSmartsheet
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.5
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Availability
8.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(0 ratings)
8.1
(0 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Configurability
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Google SheetsSmartsheet
Likelihood to Recommend
Google Sheets is a great tool mostly for people in the finance department such as accountants who have to analyze hundreds of transactions. The software makes it easy to organize data and handle some analysis. Also, when it comes to data presentation, Google Sheets offers some of the best features. However, this is not to sat people outside the finance docket cannot benefit from this software. It is a great tool to have when handling data.
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The Smartsheet platform is extremely similar to Microsoft Excel, so if you are familiar with Excel, you will pick Smartsheet up quickly. Even if you aren't Smartsheet has a relatively simple user interface, meaning just about anyone can learn it. One thing to note is that the interface is that some may consider the interface so simple that they feel the need to look for more robust platforms. If you have a small to medium project that needs to be manages in a central hub, Smartsheet would be a great fit. If you have a very large project, I might consider looking into more advanced platforms.
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Pros
  • It is a cloud-based platform.
  • You can work in the same file simultaneously with your colleagues.
  • It allows you to share files much faster.
  • It allows you to access your Google Sheet files whenever you like and wherever you like if you have stable internet connection.
  • It has great integration with other Google software.
  • Google Sheets is very user-friendly and very intuitive to use.
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  • The easy to use dashboard has enabled us get comprehensive view of projects across the entire business.
  • It has streamlined internal communication with ease of sharing information across different teams.
  • Smartsheet automates our workflows, enhances collaboration and ensures there are no data silos.
  • I like that it saves time for us and ensures we spend less time switching between apps.
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Cons
  • Shifting to Sheets after years and years of Excel is like learning to crawl after I've been running for years. Some sort of translator document. Such as if you use XYZ in Excel, the same function can be found here in Sheets
  • Functionality shuts down after 5K or so lines are used. I work in finance. We have hundreds of thousands of transactions we need to analyze.
  • If Big Query is the answer to large amounts of data, it needs to be as easy to use as Sheets is.
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  • Smartsheet set up is similar to Excel, yet when you upload an Excel file, things like conditional formatting are lost. Smartsheet has its own conditional formatting, and you have to reinstate the rules. It would be great if those would apply automatically once a file is uploaded
  • Some Smartsheet management and access rules can take some tweaking to work properly. This may be a case of offering more info to admins so they can apply these better and with more efficiency
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Likelihood to Renew
I am not involved in the purchase/selection process, but my organization is a Google shop, and Sheets meets most of our spreadsheet needs and works seamlessly with our other tools. I don't anticipate our switching anytime soon.
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Smartsheet has made my work life easier. Reduced my email significantly. Smartsheet and SaneBox have got me leaving the office with 0... Yes 0 emails in my inbox. My inbox would reach 150-250 email per day. Smartsheet brought that number down significantly and SaneBox took it the rest of the way. Do yourself a favor and check out SaneBox, too.
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Usability
Overall the formula functions could improve but there's workarounds for them. Utilzing different formulas or approaches for building out accounting schedules. While collebrating with multiple team members and different departments being able to go in and see where others are on the sheets is helpful. Google Sheets overall is a great product
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Smartsheet is very easy to learn. However, while I have been able to pick it easily, Microsoft Excel and Project super users that I have trained on Smartsheet get bogged down in the differences and can find it frustrating. Explaining the differences ahead of time and why Smartsheet is being chosen instead of a different software seems to counteract those reactions
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Reliability and Availability
Like most Google products, Google Sheets rarely has outages or slowness, and when it does, connection is always momentarily restored. I can't recall a time when I've been unable to access Google Sheets but able to access other sites just fine. That said, errors aren't uncommon when handling large data volume. You know what they say about using spreadsheets as databases, but sometimes it's just the most convenient option, especially for smaller or one-off projects, and not being able to store large amounts of data hampers our ability to move quickly with scrappy prototypes or full solutions. It would be great if we could better integrate our data manipulation (Apps Script) with big data in the sheet.
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No answers on this topic
Performance
Again, Google Sheets is no exception to Google's general high speed and reliability, but load times can be slow for larger amounts of data. I've used Sheets with Zapier and have used the Python API, and speed has never been an issue.
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No answers on this topic
Support Rating
I have never contacted Google Sheets support, but Google Sheets makes it very easy to report an issue or suggest a feature from Sheets itself (Help > Help Sheets improve), and I've had mostly good experiences with support for other Google products.
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They're a smaller company but they've always given great service when we rarely need to reach out. Pretty good online content but a bigger user base would help to produce more content in a self-sufficient community much as we see with Salesforce. To be fair we haven't needed their direct customer support very often. The sales guys are nice and not too pushy!
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Implementation Rating
No answers on this topic
Work with the Smartsheet support team to get the best overall. If no one in your organization has used Smartsheet before, the support team will get things started. We had a couple of people who had used this product before and it was a great help in getting our framework together how we wanted to use it.
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Alternatives Considered
Microsoft Excel and Numbers on Mac. Used the first reiteration of the Windows 365 and was terrible. It stacks up well against excel due to power of two other Google products 1) Google search and 2) YouTube. If you cannot find an article or video to help you might be disappointed but keep looking.
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Smartsheet is a dedicated project management tool that is built on spread sheet principles. When compared to Microsoft's own offering, Smartsheet came out on top in some areas like dedicated project management features vs having to build custom features to Microsoft 365. However when you compare them on price, Microsoft 365 definitely has more value than Smartsheet.
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Scalability
Google Sheets works very well with multiple users. It's convenient to see in real-time who is collaborating in a sheet, down to the specific cell that they're viewing/editing. Linking Sheets across departments is convenient with the IMPORTRANGE function.
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No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
  • We've used it to prepare quick budgets, presentations for funds that have helped raise money
  • It has helped us quickly analyze raw data, collaboratively.
  • it has helped us work more efficiently by making it easier to work from one sheet and not lose track of versions by passing around attached documents
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  • Our positive ROI has decreased the overall cost in project management as it reduced the amount of MS project licenses we needed.
  • We have also seen a positive ROI on using the cloud storage and it automatically supports proper version control.
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ScreenShots