BigTime Software vs. Smartsheet

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
BigTime Software
Score 7.3 out of 10
N/A
BigTime IQ is time and expense tracking software from Chicago-based BigTime Software.
$20
User per Month
Smartsheet
Score 8.2 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.
$9
per month per user
Pricing
BigTime SoftwareSmartsheet
Editions & Modules
Essentials
$20
User per Month
Advanced
$35
User per Month
Premier
$45
User per Month
Projector
$60
Pro
$9
per month per user
Business
$19
Per User / Per Month
Enterprise
Contact Sales
Premier
Contact Sales
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
BigTime SoftwareSmartsheet
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
BigTime SoftwareSmartsheet
Considered Both Products
BigTime Software
Chose BigTime Software
BigTime is much easier to use and available online and on mobile.
Smartsheet

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
BigTime SoftwareSmartsheet
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
BigTime Software
-
Ratings
Smartsheet
8.7
125 Ratings
13% above category average
Task Management00 Ratings9.7122 Ratings
Resource Management00 Ratings9.0104 Ratings
Gantt Charts00 Ratings8.8105 Ratings
Scheduling00 Ratings9.6107 Ratings
Workflow Automation00 Ratings8.596 Ratings
Team Collaboration00 Ratings9.6118 Ratings
Support for Agile Methodology00 Ratings7.378 Ratings
Support for Waterfall Methodology00 Ratings8.076 Ratings
Document Management00 Ratings7.797 Ratings
Email integration00 Ratings9.296 Ratings
Mobile Access00 Ratings8.292 Ratings
Timesheet Tracking00 Ratings9.159 Ratings
Change request and Case Management00 Ratings8.765 Ratings
Budget and Expense Management00 Ratings8.771 Ratings
Professional Services Automation
Comparison of Professional Services Automation features of Product A and Product B
BigTime Software
-
Ratings
Smartsheet
7.9
63 Ratings
5% above category average
Quotes/estimates00 Ratings7.141 Ratings
Invoicing00 Ratings7.834 Ratings
Project & financial reporting00 Ratings8.257 Ratings
Integration with accounting software00 Ratings8.331 Ratings
Best Alternatives
BigTime SoftwareSmartsheet
Small Businesses
HaloPSA
HaloPSA
Score 8.9 out of 10
Stackby
Stackby
Score 9.3 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Planview AdaptiveWork
Planview AdaptiveWork
Score 7.2 out of 10
Planview AgilePlace
Planview AgilePlace
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Planview AdaptiveWork
Planview AdaptiveWork
Score 7.2 out of 10
Planview AgilePlace
Planview AgilePlace
Score 9.5 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
BigTime SoftwareSmartsheet
Likelihood to Recommend
9.9
(32 ratings)
9.7
(143 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.8
(4 ratings)
10.0
(23 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(3 ratings)
9.0
(13 ratings)
Availability
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(1 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
9.0
(5 ratings)
8.1
(45 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.9
(2 ratings)
10.0
(6 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
BigTime SoftwareSmartsheet
Likelihood to Recommend
BigTime Software
I'd like to start by saying, I rarely give 10's on anything, almost always 9's, the main reason for my 10 rating is the support I've received from this team/company. BigTime Software has been well suited for our company b/c it's giving a window into the project budget and time frames to our Project Managers to proactively manage their projects and look for areas to improve and celebrate with support staff. I would say efficiency in time management. BigTime Software is not an accounting software and I love that about it. We were looking for a tool for staff to manage their projects and stay on budget and track time and generate invoices all in one place and we've found that with BigTime Software.
Read full review
Smartsheet
For teams and users who are very familiar with Excel and its mode of operation, Smartsheet will feel like a walkover. If you have a number of users who use Excel or Google Sheets for their personal project management then you will find this tool to be very useful and somewhat familiar.
Teams that may be used to other project management suites or styles would find Smartsheet a bit challenging to adapt to, as formulas and formatting can be challenging to adapt to.
Read full review
Pros
BigTime Software
  • I like the functionality of being able to make payments electronically and the amount of banks and payment methods that are available.
  • Another very useful feature of this tool is that the system allows to set a parameter to perform automatic invoices.
  • I also really like the amount of templates that this tool has. Since it allows us to make customizable reports to our clients.
Read full review
Smartsheet
  • 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.
Read full review
Cons
BigTime Software
  • For some types of projects, we are unable to use BigTime's invoicing feature. It would be nice if we could further customize invoices to fit our needs. We still have to use Quickbooks to complete certain invoices.
  • Being able to create Purchase Orders in BigTime would be extremely useful to us. We currently use Quickbooks for this.
Read full review
Smartsheet
  • 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
BigTime Software
Its been a huge help in saving time and making billing more efficient. Would like to see the product grow and be able to continue to use it.
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Smartsheet
It definitely meets our needs as far as organizing and archiving our tasks and files. As we train more staff to view it, I see opportunities for more improvement, which I am sure this program can handle. I look forward to seeing continued improvement from Smartsheet on their capabilities and functionality.
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Usability
BigTime Software
Overall most areas of the software are easy to use. I tend to spend a lot of time in analytics and reports. Those are not as user friendly, in my opinion, and could use some improvements. I think it just takes time to get familiar with where items are stored in the program and what changes affect what.
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Smartsheet
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
BigTime Software
BigTime is available 99% of the time. At times there are bugs, but most are resolved quickly
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Smartsheet
No answers on this topic
Performance
BigTime Software
have not noticed a slow integration issue using QBO
Read full review
Smartsheet
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
BigTime Software
The support is amazing! They are always available through the chat interface in the program. Each support person has fully answered my questions the first time. I have had a positive experience with each inquiry. It is very important to me that I am able to get instant access to help so that I can make the most of the software and all of its capabilities.
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Smartsheet
I give this rating because it fills a niche in the market. MS Project scares many away from proper task management but there are limited tools our there, especially cloud-based that are mobile-friendly. Smartsheet fills this market gap, especially for small to medium-sized businesses. IT is not fair to compare it to MS Project, but fairer to see what gaps it fills.
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Implementation Rating
BigTime Software
I touched on this briefly, in another survey section, but my implementation manager, Kevin, was exceptional. The actual implementation process took 3 months, not 1 before I was comfortable rolling it out to staff. We also had to wait/schedule time and coordinate for our custom xml. invoice to be generated and in a place we felt comfortable sending it out to clients. In the end I was very satisfied, but during the first few months it was challenging.
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Smartsheet
It's absolutely paramount to take a few minutes to actually play with the software. It's nearly impossible to do anything wrong or make a mistake which cannot be fixed easily. Under the help menu is Live Training option. After you familiarize yourself with the commands, watch the live training for some in depth understanding of how to make the software fit your needs perfectly.
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Alternatives Considered
BigTime Software
I liked the client management, but it didn't do time tracking, billing or syncing with quickbooks. It was too robust for my needs. I tried it for the client management and thought I might use it along with bigtime, but it was too cumbersome and would involve too much double entry. And it didn't track time or bill which are necessary functions
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Smartsheet
Jira and Redmine are much more robust and technologically advanced project management solutions. I enjoy using either when managing a very large project. However, I prefer to use Smartsheet for my smaller to medium sized projects. As for Google Drive - I would say that Google sheets and Smartsheet are almost identical in my opinion when it comes to functionality. Personally I prefer to manage smaller projects via Google Drive, but it is a personal preference!
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Scalability
BigTime Software
The product is useful for faster billing and efficient timesheet logs. I do like the report features however there are many options and can be overwhelming for the user. It is most helpful to set up reports speaking to an agent to ensure the right fields are set, etc.
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Smartsheet
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
BigTime Software
  • Before BigTime, we were using Excel to track everything, creating invoices, and run reports. Getting on BigTime has saved us tons of time and effort which equates to dollars saved on labor.
  • From a legal standpoint, BigTime has allowed us to be organized and prepared in the event we would need to present financial details to anyone.
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Smartsheet
  • This has really opened up collaboration across teams. A lot less working in silos.
  • It hasn't fully replaced any one tool so it means having to go to another place. Hopefully, we can eliminate a tool or two in the next six months.
Read full review
ScreenShots

BigTime Software Screenshots

Screenshot of BigTime Wallet provides clients with a personalized experience to pay on time from anywhere, in one click.Screenshot of A big-picture view into operational insights to make adjustments to how resources are managed.Screenshot of Real-time, actionable insights for professional services firms.Screenshot of The platform is designed to work within existing workflows and software stack, acting as a single source of truth for data.Screenshot of BigTime's invoicing engine supports dozens of industry-standard billing scenarios and enough options to satisfy exacting customer needs.