Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
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
Trello
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
Trello from Atlassian is a project management tool based on a Kanban framework. Trello is ideal for task-management in a to-do list format. It supports sharing boards and cards across users or teams. The product offers a free version, and paid versions add greater automation, collaboration, and administrative control.
$12.50
per user/per month
Pricing
SmartsheetTrello
Editions & Modules
Pro
$9
per month per user
Business
$19
Per User / Per Month
Enterprise
Contact Sales
Premier
Contact Sales
Business Class
$12.50
per user/per month
Enterprise
$17.50
per user/per month
Free
Forever Free
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
SmartsheetTrello
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
SmartsheetTrello
Considered Both Products
Smartsheet
Chose Smartsheet
Trello is great for the visual person, but it doesn't have the simple spreadsheet capacity that Smartsheet has. If you are proficient in Excel, you don't need much training to use Smartsheet, whereas, Trello is a whole different environment.
Chose Smartsheet
Ultimately, Smartsheet was a middle ground between Jama (cumbersome and not very user friendly) and Trello (simple, pretty, easy to use, but less functionality). Smartsheet could be used successfully in more scenarios. Also, it has a card-view that looks like Trello anyways, …
Chose Smartsheet
The dynamic nature of SmartSheet can do the same things as the other tools I've used (Trello, Asana, Basecamp, etc.), but you are not locked into a single methodology or format. You have the flexibility to create the type of project tracking tool that works best for your …
Chose Smartsheet
All the products seemed to perform the project and task management function adequately. The following factors were the keys to our selection:
  1. Ease of use - so similar to Excel everyone can figure it out.
  2. Flexible architecture lends itself to many different use cases beyond …
Chose Smartsheet
Smartsheet is a must to companies that are in need of automating key business processes that will save them time and eliminate productivity killers. This software enables teams identify bottlenecks early on tasks and projects that are due so that they are able plan on a course …
Chose Smartsheet
Smartsheet is a unique data and project management collaboration tool that sets itself apart from its competitors. Teams have the ability to create extremely customized dashboards that have data flowing to and from multiple worksheets and workspaces. Smartsheet has the ability …
Chose Smartsheet
I liked Smartsheet for the ease of use and simplicity. Having a view in Gantt chart is great and very helpful. Being able to invite multiple people and have everyone collaborate was useful. It made my life as a manager of projects much much easier and saved me a lot of time …
Chose Smartsheet
Smartsheet is very robust, and allows much more customization. It is not as user friendly, and takes more time to understand and get used to. Smartsheet integrates with just about all of these other tools. One of the best things about Smartsheet is that it can integrate with …
Chose Smartsheet
Which software we use for project management is often determined by the team we interact with or the client's choices. I prefer Smartsheet for process management due to the ease of setting up alerts and attaching necessary documentation. It was also fairly easy to set up and …
Chose Smartsheet
It matches other platforms when it comes to overall project management needs. Permissioning and ways that you can limit access help, but its flexibility when it comes to using different types of overall project management really put it over the top. Being able to not use a …
Trello
Chose Trello
For our purposes and my role in the business, Trello is simpler and easier to use. I found Jira very hard to navigate to individual projects, and the process of creating a card was very time-consuming. That said, I think Jira performs a number of roles that Trello doesn't, and …
Chose Trello
Much more flexible, but lacking the project plan creation capabilities
Chose Trello
I find Trello to be more visual than other products. As mentioned, the graphics are better visually and easier to use. It was the easiest to learn and get started with. Five stars! I learned it because some teams and clients used it previously.
Chose Trello
Todoist is a good to-do list app but I found it a bit more confusing to use than Trello because it feels like it does too much. Wunderlist was great until Microsoft bought it and stopped providing support. I used it before I switched to Trello and it would easily compete with …
Chose Trello
Very similar layout to Trello, but without the same amount of customization.
Chose Trello
Both are great for details and reporting... Trello is just easy to use and GETS USED, which is a huge advantage for buy-in from our teams. When you are a slave to data, that is a choice that costs time and effort. Trello keeps that from happening and is fun to use.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
SmartsheetTrello
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
Smartsheet
9.0
129 Ratings
17% above category average
Trello
8.6
219 Ratings
12% above category average
Task Management9.8126 Ratings9.5219 Ratings
Resource Management9.8108 Ratings9.3183 Ratings
Gantt Charts9.0109 Ratings7.273 Ratings
Scheduling9.7111 Ratings8.9167 Ratings
Workflow Automation9.0100 Ratings8.1141 Ratings
Team Collaboration9.9122 Ratings9.6215 Ratings
Support for Agile Methodology8.481 Ratings8.6146 Ratings
Support for Waterfall Methodology8.779 Ratings7.5114 Ratings
Document Management8.8101 Ratings8.3157 Ratings
Email integration9.1100 Ratings8.4144 Ratings
Mobile Access8.196 Ratings9.1191 Ratings
Timesheet Tracking9.662 Ratings9.587 Ratings
Change request and Case Management8.269 Ratings8.9101 Ratings
Budget and Expense Management8.275 Ratings7.972 Ratings
Professional Services Automation
Comparison of Professional Services Automation features of Product A and Product B
Smartsheet
8.0
66 Ratings
7% above category average
Trello
5.9
71 Ratings
23% below category average
Quotes/estimates7.844 Ratings6.149 Ratings
Invoicing7.637 Ratings5.242 Ratings
Project & financial reporting8.560 Ratings6.557 Ratings
Integration with accounting software7.932 Ratings5.643 Ratings
Best Alternatives
SmartsheetTrello
Small Businesses
Stackby
Stackby
Score 9.2 out of 10
Stackby
Stackby
Score 9.2 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Planview AgilePlace
Planview AgilePlace
Score 9.5 out of 10
Planview AgilePlace
Planview AgilePlace
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Planview AgilePlace
Planview AgilePlace
Score 9.5 out of 10
Planview AgilePlace
Planview AgilePlace
Score 9.5 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
SmartsheetTrello
Likelihood to Recommend
9.4
(147 ratings)
9.4
(219 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
(24 ratings)
9.9
(6 ratings)
Usability
9.2
(17 ratings)
9.4
(57 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
10.0
(1 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
8.1
(45 ratings)
9.9
(81 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
7.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(6 ratings)
8.0
(2 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
5.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
SmartsheetTrello
Likelihood to Recommend
Smartsheet
Smartsheet shines for collaboration. When you have multiple people involved with planning events Smartsheet makes it easy to share and collaborate. For instance, multiple people can be in Smartsheet working at the same time. Also setting permissions for exactly those who need to know is quite easy with Smartsheet. For data analytics and general spreadsheet purposes Excel is better but for project management and event planning Smartsheet is superior
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Atlassian
Trello is great for cross-team communication and intra-team organization. It's simple to get setup, with flexible tools that give businesses control over how to make Trello work the best for them. It is an amazing platform for operations tracking, project management, and even organizing customer service requests for a smaller business.
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Pros
Smartsheet
  • Its hard to overstate the value of familiarity. Being able to use a tool that has some familiarity takes away the time needed to train and orient employees on a new tool and allows an organization to hit the ground running.
  • Smartsheet covers most of the basics of a project management tool, the usual tasks, milestones and project viewing options.
  • For data viewing, you get multiple data viewing options including a calendar view (good for marketing teams and those who work around scheduling), Kanban, Gaant etc
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Atlassian
  • Helps track employees "to do before hire", "to do after hired," and "to do when employee leaves"
  • Provides important information on each employee like personal information along with data collected during the time of hire and during employment time
  • Allows more than one person to be assigned to a task per employee and will remain open until everyone involved has completed their task
Read full review
Cons
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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Atlassian
  • I use colour coding a lot so I would like a wider range of colour options.
  • Also as a visual thinker I would like to be able to easily add images to cards.
  • I would like to be able to attach a wider range of file formats to cards.
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Likelihood to Renew
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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Atlassian
I am very likely to renew Trello, because it doesn't cost anything to do so. I am also very likely to use Trello's upgraded features in the future because a lot of my team's data is stored on there and they have already gotten used to the platform. Trello is very easy for new team members to pick up, making the onboarding and usability very streamlined.
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Usability
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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Atlassian
I am technology illiterate, it's my Achilles heel and this program is so easy to use. I have been utilizing it for a decade now. It makes organizing and prioritizing my life, my work, my business, my kids life, etc so much more manageable and without having to hold on to a bunch of into in my head. I can find it and locate it quickly and easily in Trello.
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Reliability and Availability
Smartsheet
No answers on this topic
Atlassian
yes always support available when I need it!
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Performance
Smartsheet
No answers on this topic
Atlassian
Never experienced issues with the above!
Read full review
Support Rating
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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Atlassian
I haven't reached out to their support very often and their support is very limited anyway for the free users. They do have tons of great articles and videos in their Help Center and constantly send emails with updates and add-ons to the product. The fact that I've barely ever had to contact their support team means that they've developed a great product.
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In-Person Training
Smartsheet
No answers on this topic
Atlassian
It was helpful and informative! It was back before the pandemic in 2019 so I'm not sure if they still do it but I really enjoyed the experience
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Implementation Rating
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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Atlassian
For our small business, getting a few of us started well on Trello was the key, I think. As long as a couple of us were really comfortable with the interface, we could lead others and help them with any questions. From now on, anyone who works with us just naturally uses Trello for information sharing - it's just part of what we do.
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Alternatives Considered
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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Atlassian
I also use Whatsapp chat as a task management tool. Whatsapp group chat is very convenient for assigning tasks and making follow-ups. Trello currently lacks here. Whatsapp chat is also way more handy and user-friendly than Trello, because of its better interface and engagement. But Trello has better task organization than WhatsApp chat task management.
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Scalability
Smartsheet
No answers on this topic
Atlassian
Feels like anyone across the org (no matter their location) can use the tool easily!
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Professional Services
Smartsheet
No answers on this topic
Atlassian
Not sure if we use those
Read full review
Return on Investment
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.
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Atlassian
  • Trello keeps me organized, focused, and on track. I could filter the Trello board to only see my issues and understand what I needed to work on and when.
  • Trello helped our team implement an agile structure. It's a very simple kanban method of viewing all of your team's tasks and statuses. You can completely customize the columns to your team's specific workflow and create tags relevant to your work.
  • Trello helps reduce unnecessary communications between teams. When I want to request translations, I simply create a card on the localization Trello board -- no need to directly message anyone on the team, and I can watch the status of the card change from "in progress" to "in review" to "translated," all without having to directly ask for updates.
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ScreenShots