ClickUp vs Smartsheet: Which Platform Is Better for Your Team?

TL;DR: Smartsheet is a strong choice if your team lives in spreadsheets and needs enterprise-grade portfolio management and governance. But for most teams - especially agencies, professional services, marketing teams, and fast-moving ops teams - ClickUp is the better platform. It’s more flexible, more collaborative, and far more enjoyable to use day to day.

ZenPilot, ClickUp’s #1 rated Solutions Partner, has helped 3,100+ clients build their operations in ClickUp. Many of those teams evaluated Smartsheet before choosing ClickUp. Here’s how the two platforms actually compare.

Key Takeaways

• ClickUp wins for most teams - richer task management, built-in docs/chat/whiteboards, more flexible hierarchy, and dramatically better pricing at every tier.
• Smartsheet wins for enterprise PMO and spreadsheet-centric teams - portfolio governance, resource management, FedRAMP/HIPAA compliance, and deep Microsoft ecosystem integration.
• Pricing gap is dramatic - a 20-person team pays $140/mo on ClickUp Unlimited vs $380/mo on Smartsheet Business, and ClickUp includes more features at that price.
• The adoption question matters most - ClickUp’s modern interface drives higher team adoption. Smartsheet’s spreadsheet UI is familiar to Excel users but often resisted by everyone else.

TL;DR Comparison Table

Category	ClickUp	Smartsheet	Notes
Best For	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐	ClickUp fits nearly any team. Smartsheet fits spreadsheet-heavy orgs.
Ease of Use	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐	Both have learning curves - ClickUp’s is in setup, Smartsheet’s is in rigid structure.
Task Management	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐	ClickUp’s task model is far more flexible with statuses, custom fields, and multiple assignees.
Hierarchy & Organization	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐	ClickUp has 7 levels of hierarchy. Smartsheet uses sheets, workspaces, and folders.
Views & Reporting	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐	ClickUp has more view types. Smartsheet dashboards are strong at the enterprise tier.
Automations	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐	ClickUp automations are more powerful and available at lower price points.
Templates	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐	ClickUp templates include date remapping. Smartsheet templates are basic.
Collaboration	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐	ClickUp has built-in docs, chat, and whiteboards. Smartsheet has none.
Integrations	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Both have solid integrations. Smartsheet connects well with Microsoft ecosystem.
Pricing	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐	ClickUp’s free plan is generous. Smartsheet’s pricing escalates quickly.
Enterprise / PMO	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Smartsheet has stronger portfolio management and governance at the enterprise level.
G2 Rating	4.7/5	4.5/5	ClickUp leads on satisfaction and value.

What Is ClickUp?

ClickUp is an all-in-one work management platform built for teams of every type. It combines task management, docs, time tracking, goals, whiteboards, and dashboards into a single platform - so you’re not duct-taping five different tools together to run your operations.

ClickUp launched in 2017 and has grown to support over 400,000 teams. It crossed $300 million in annual recurring revenue in 2025 and has built a reputation for shipping features fast. The platform is popular across agencies, marketing teams, professional services firms, and operations-heavy organizations of all sizes.

At ZenPilot, we’ve built our entire business around helping teams implement ClickUp. After 3,100+ implementations, we’ve seen firsthand that ClickUp works for nearly any team type - as long as the setup is intentional.

What Is Smartsheet?

Smartsheet is a work management platform built on a familiar spreadsheet interface. If your team thinks in rows and columns, Smartsheet will feel immediately comfortable. It launched in 2006 and has grown into a major player in the enterprise project management space, with a particularly strong presence in IT, construction, manufacturing, and government.

Smartsheet went public in 2018 and was later acquired by Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners in a $8.4 billion deal in 2024. That gives you a sense of its enterprise positioning.

The platform’s core strength is that it looks and feels like a powerful spreadsheet - but with project management features layered on top. For teams that are migrating off Excel and want something familiar, that’s a real advantage. For teams that want a modern, flexible work management experience, that same spreadsheet DNA can feel limiting.

Hierarchy and Organization

ClickUp has one of the deepest hierarchy structures of any work management platform. Smartsheet’s structure is simpler - which can be a strength or a limitation depending on your needs.

ClickUp’s Hierarchy

ClickUp gives you seven levels to organize work:

1. Workspace - your entire organization
2. Space - a major division (e.g., Client Delivery, Internal Ops)
3. Folder - a grouping within a Space (e.g., a specific client or department)
4. List - a container for tasks (e.g., a project or retainer)
5. Task - a unit of work
6. Subtask - a smaller piece within a task
7. Checklist - lightweight items within a task

This hierarchy is what makes ClickUp so powerful for service-based teams. You can structure your workspace to mirror your actual org - with Spaces for departments, Folders for clients, and Lists for individual projects. Then you can build views at any level to slice data however you need.

For a deeper look at how to set this up, check out our ClickUp hierarchy guide.

Smartsheet’s Structure

Smartsheet organizes work into:

• Workspaces - top-level containers
• Folders - for grouping sheets
• Sheets - the core unit (looks like a spreadsheet with rows and columns)
• Rows - individual items (tasks, line items, etc.)

Smartsheet’s structure is flatter. A “sheet” is essentially a spreadsheet with project management features. You can link sheets together using cross-sheet references, but you don’t get the deep, nested hierarchy that ClickUp provides.

For enterprise PMO teams managing a portfolio of projects, Smartsheet’s Control Center (available on higher-tier plans) adds governance and portfolio-level management. That’s a real strength. But for individual teams managing day-to-day work, the flat structure means you end up creating a lot of separate sheets and manually connecting them.

Winner: ClickUp - the hierarchy is deeper and more flexible for most teams. Smartsheet’s enterprise portfolio management is strong, but for daily work management, ClickUp’s structure is better.

Task Management

This is where the two platforms diverge significantly. ClickUp was built as a task management tool from day one. Smartsheet was built as a spreadsheet that grew into project management.

ClickUp Task Management

Every task in ClickUp has:

• Custom statuses (fully configurable per list)
• Multiple assignees
• Due dates with start dates
• Time estimates and time tracking
• Priority levels
• Custom fields (text, number, dropdown, date, formula, relationship, and more)
• Dependencies
• Subtasks and checklists
• Attachments and linked docs
• Activity log and comments

The flexibility here is significant. You can configure each List with its own set of statuses and custom fields, so your creative team’s workflow looks completely different from your operations team’s workflow - all within the same workspace.

Smartsheet Task Management

Smartsheet handles tasks as rows in a sheet. Each row can have:

• Columns (similar to custom fields)
• Assignees
• Dates (start, end, duration)
• Dependencies (predecessor/successor)
• Attachments
• Comments

The spreadsheet model means you’re working in rows and columns rather than task cards. There are no custom statuses - you use a dropdown column to track state. There are no subtask relationships in the way ClickUp handles them. Smartsheet does have row hierarchy (indent rows under parent rows), but it’s not as structured as ClickUp’s task/subtask model.

For teams used to managing work in Excel, this is comfortable. For teams that want rich task detail with built-in time tracking, docs, and multiple views - it’s limiting.

Winner: ClickUp - it’s not close. ClickUp’s task model is significantly richer and more flexible.

Views and Reporting

Both platforms offer multiple ways to view your data. ClickUp has more view types. Smartsheet has strong reporting and dashboards - particularly at the enterprise tier.

ClickUp Views

ClickUp offers 15+ view types including:

• List - a flat task list
• Board - Kanban-style cards
• Gantt - project timeline with dependencies
• Calendar - date-based view
• Table - spreadsheet-like view
• Timeline - horizontal scheduling
• Workload - capacity management by person
• Activity - audit trail
• Map - location-based tasks
• Form - intake forms that create tasks
• Dashboard - custom reporting widgets

You can create views at any level of the hierarchy - from a single List all the way up to Everything view across your entire workspace. This is incredibly powerful for management. You can look at one project in detail, then zoom out to see all projects across a client, a department, or the whole company.

For a full breakdown, see our ClickUp views guide.

Smartsheet Views

Smartsheet offers:

• Grid - the default spreadsheet view
• Gantt - project timeline
• Card - Kanban-style view
• Calendar - date-based view
• Dashboards - reporting and KPI tracking

Smartsheet’s dashboard functionality is strong, especially on the Business and Enterprise plans. You can pull data from multiple sheets into a single dashboard with charts, metrics, and summaries. For PMO teams tracking portfolio health across dozens of projects, this is a legitimate strength.

The downside is that you get fewer view types and less flexibility in how you slice and filter your data compared to ClickUp. Smartsheet’s reporting requires more manual configuration and often depends on cross-sheet formulas.

Winner: ClickUp for view variety and flexibility. Smartsheet’s enterprise dashboards are competitive, but ClickUp’s ability to create views at any hierarchy level is more versatile.

Automations

Automations save time and reduce human error. Both platforms offer them, but they’re not equally powerful.

ClickUp Automations

ClickUp’s automation engine includes:

• Trigger-based automations (when status changes, when due date arrives, when task is created, etc.)
• Conditional logic
• Multi-step automations
• Integrations with external tools via automation triggers
• Pre-built automation recipes
• Available starting on the free plan (limited) with more on paid plans

ClickUp automations can move tasks, change statuses, send emails, update custom fields, create tasks, and more. They’re flexible enough to build real workflows - like automatically assigning tasks to the next person in a pipeline when the previous step is complete.

Smartsheet Automations

Smartsheet’s automation features include:

• Alert and notification workflows
• Approval workflows
• Date-based triggers
• Conditional logic
• Integration with external tools

Smartsheet automations are solid but more limited in scope. They’re focused on alerts, approvals, and simple row updates. You won’t find the same depth of multi-step workflow building that ClickUp provides. More advanced automations often require Smartsheet’s Bridge add-on or third-party tools like Make or Zapier.

Smartsheet also limits the number of automations based on your plan tier, and the limits can feel restrictive on lower plans.

Winner: ClickUp - more powerful automations available at lower price points.

Templates

Templates matter more than most teams realize. When you’re scaling service delivery, being able to spin up a consistent project in seconds saves enormous time.

ClickUp Templates

ClickUp’s template system is one of its biggest strengths. You can templatize:

• Individual tasks
• Entire Lists (with all tasks, statuses, and custom fields)
• Folders (with multiple Lists)
• Spaces

The real killer feature is date remapping. When you deploy a template, ClickUp automatically adjusts all due dates based on your new start date. If your original project template had tasks spread across four weeks, deploying it with a new start date shifts everything accordingly.

You can also save views, automations, and custom fields within templates. This means your entire project delivery process can be standardized and deployed in seconds.

For agencies running repeatable services (retainers, onboarding, campaigns), this is massive. Check out our ClickUp templates guide for more detail.

Smartsheet Templates

Smartsheet offers:

• Sheet templates from a gallery
• The ability to save your own sheets as templates
• Control Center for enterprise-level template management (Business and Enterprise plans)

Smartsheet’s templates are more basic. You’re essentially duplicating a sheet. There’s no automatic date remapping on lower-tier plans - that feature lives in Control Center, which is only available on higher plans.

The Control Center is legitimately useful for large organizations that need to provision standardized projects across many teams. But for most teams, ClickUp’s template system is faster and more flexible out of the box.

Winner: ClickUp - date remapping alone makes this a clear win for teams running repeatable work.

Integrations

Both platforms integrate with a wide range of tools, but they lean in different directions.

ClickUp Integrations

ClickUp offers 1,000+ integrations including native connections with:

• Slack, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive
• HubSpot, Salesforce
• GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket
• Figma, Miro
• Zoom, Google Calendar
• Zapier, Make

ClickUp also has an open API for custom integrations. For agencies using tools like HubSpot for CRM and ClickUp for delivery, the ClickUp-HubSpot integration is a game-changer.

Smartsheet Integrations

Smartsheet integrates with:

• Microsoft 365, Google Workspace
• Slack, Teams
• Salesforce, ServiceNow
• Jira, Azure DevOps
• Tableau, Power BI
• Zapier, Make

Smartsheet has a particularly strong connection with the Microsoft ecosystem. If your organization is deeply embedded in Microsoft 365, Teams, and Power BI, Smartsheet slots in more naturally than ClickUp does.

Smartsheet’s Connectors feature (available on higher plans) also allows for automated data syncing between Smartsheet and tools like Salesforce, Jira, and ServiceNow. This is a real enterprise strength.

Winner: Tie. Both platforms have strong integration ecosystems. Smartsheet leans Microsoft, ClickUp leans broader. Choose based on your existing tool stack.

Collaboration and Communication

Modern work management means more than just tracking tasks. Teams need to communicate, share docs, and collaborate in context.

ClickUp Collaboration

ClickUp goes all-in here:

• ClickUp Docs - full document editor with real-time collaboration, nested pages, and the ability to embed tasks directly in docs
• ClickUp Chat - messaging built into the platform
• Whiteboards - visual brainstorming with the ability to convert sticky notes into tasks
• Comments - threaded comments on every task with @mentions, reactions, and file attachments
• Proofing - annotate images and PDFs directly in tasks
• Clips - screen recordings attached to tasks

For teams trying to consolidate tools, ClickUp’s built-in collaboration features mean you can potentially drop Notion (or Google Docs), Slack (for project-related conversation), and Loom.

Smartsheet Collaboration

Smartsheet’s collaboration is more limited:

• Comments on rows and sheets
• @mentions
• Proofing - available on Business plans and above
• Conversations - basic messaging on sheets

There are no built-in docs, no chat, no whiteboards. For documentation, you’ll need a separate tool. For team communication, you’re going to Slack or Teams anyway.

This isn’t necessarily a dealbreaker - many teams prefer dedicated tools for docs and chat. But if you value having everything in one place, Smartsheet falls short.

Winner: ClickUp - it’s not a contest. ClickUp’s built-in collaboration tools are significantly more comprehensive.

Pricing

This is where Smartsheet can get painful - especially as your team grows.

ClickUp Pricing

Plan	Price	Key Features
Free Forever	$0	Unlimited users, unlimited tasks, 100MB storage
Unlimited	$7/user/month	Unlimited storage, integrations, dashboards
Business	$12/user/month	Advanced automations, time tracking, workload management
Enterprise	Custom	SSO, advanced permissions, dedicated support

ClickUp’s free plan is genuinely usable. You get unlimited users and tasks. The Unlimited plan at $7/user/month unlocks most of what teams need. For a 20-person team, that’s $140/month.

Smartsheet Pricing

Plan	Price	Key Features
Free	$0	1 user, 2 sheets, 100 automations/month
Pro	$9/user/month	Unlimited sheets, Gantt, calendar, 250 automations/month
Business	$19/user/month	Unlimited automations, Control Center, proofing
Enterprise	Custom	Advanced governance, Connectors, premium support

Smartsheet’s free plan is barely functional - one user and two sheets. The Pro plan at $9/user/month is competitive, but the jump to Business at $19/user/month is steep. And many of the features that make Smartsheet compelling (Control Center, Connectors, advanced dashboards) live on the Business or Enterprise tier.

For the same 20-person team, Smartsheet Business costs $380/month - nearly 3x what ClickUp Unlimited costs.

Real-World Cost Comparison

Team Size	ClickUp (Unlimited)	Smartsheet (Pro)	Smartsheet (Business)
10 users	$70/month	$90/month	$190/month
25 users	$175/month	$225/month	$475/month
50 users	$350/month	$450/month	$950/month
100 users	$700/month	$900/month	$1,900/month

And remember - Smartsheet doesn’t include docs, chat, or whiteboards at any tier. If you’re adding those capabilities through separate tools, the real cost gap widens further.

Winner: ClickUp - significantly cheaper at every tier, with more features included at lower price points.

Where Smartsheet Wins

I want to be fair here. Smartsheet has genuine strengths that make it the right choice for certain teams.

Enterprise PMO and Portfolio Management

If you’re running a formal Project Management Office with 50+ concurrent projects, Smartsheet’s Control Center and portfolio-level dashboards are legitimately best-in-class. The ability to provision standardized projects, track portfolio health, and enforce governance across a large org is where Smartsheet shines.

Spreadsheet Power Users

If your team has spent years in Excel and Google Sheets, Smartsheet’s grid interface will feel immediately comfortable. There’s no learning curve for the basic UI. For teams that resist change or have deeply ingrained spreadsheet habits, that familiarity is a real advantage.

Resource Management

Smartsheet’s Resource Management (formerly 10,000ft) add-on is a strong resource planning tool. It handles capacity planning, utilization tracking, and resource forecasting at a level that ClickUp’s workload view doesn’t fully match yet.

Compliance and Governance

For organizations in regulated industries (government, healthcare, financial services), Smartsheet offers stronger compliance features: audit logs, granular permissions, HIPAA and FedRAMP compliance, and enterprise-grade admin controls.

Specific Verticals

Smartsheet has deep penetration in construction, manufacturing, IT operations, and government. If your industry has standardized Smartsheet workflows and your partners/vendors use it, there’s value in staying in that ecosystem.

Where ClickUp Wins

Modern Task Management

ClickUp’s task model is simply more capable than Smartsheet’s row-based approach. Custom statuses, multiple assignees, native time tracking, relationships between tasks, and rich task detail pages make ClickUp the stronger platform for teams that need real task management - not just tracking rows in a spreadsheet.

Flexibility and Customization

ClickUp is one of the most customizable work management platforms available. Every List can have its own statuses, views, and custom fields. You can build completely different workflows for different teams within the same workspace. Smartsheet is more rigid by comparison.

All-in-One Consolidation

ClickUp combines tasks, docs, chat, whiteboards, goals, and time tracking in one platform. For teams tired of toggling between five different tools, that consolidation is a major productivity gain. Smartsheet doesn’t come close on this front.

Team Adoption

This is the one that matters most in practice. A tool only works if people actually use it. ClickUp’s modern interface, mobile app, and real-time collaboration features drive higher adoption rates than Smartsheet’s spreadsheet-centric UI. We’ve seen this play out across thousands of implementations - teams genuinely enjoy working in ClickUp once it’s set up right.

Value for Money

At every price point, ClickUp delivers more features per dollar. The free plan is usable. The $7/user/month tier covers most teams’ needs. You’re not paying $19/user/month just to unlock automations.

Which Should You Choose?

Here’s the honest recommendation based on what we’ve seen across 3,100+ implementations:

Choose Smartsheet if:

• Your team thinks in spreadsheets and won’t adopt a different interface
• You need enterprise PMO and portfolio management with governance controls
• You’re in construction, manufacturing, or government where Smartsheet is the industry standard
• You need FedRAMP or HIPAA compliance out of the box
• Your organization is deeply embedded in the Microsoft ecosystem

Choose ClickUp if:

• You want a modern, flexible work management platform
• You need built-in docs, chat, and collaboration tools
• You’re an agency, professional services firm, marketing team, or any operations-focused organization
• You want to consolidate multiple tools into one platform
• Budget matters and you want more features at a lower price
• You value team adoption and actually want people to enjoy using the tool

Team Type	Recommended Tool
Agencies and professional services	ClickUp
Marketing and creative teams	ClickUp
Operations and admin teams	ClickUp
Cross-functional service teams	ClickUp
Enterprise PMO (50+ projects)	Smartsheet
Construction or manufacturing	Smartsheet
Spreadsheet-dependent teams	Smartsheet
Government or highly regulated	Smartsheet

For most teams reading this, ClickUp is the better choice. It’s more flexible, more affordable, and your team is more likely to actually adopt it.

The caveat - and this is important - is that ClickUp only works well if it’s set up correctly. We’ve seen hundreds of teams try ClickUp, set it up poorly, and assume the tool is the problem. It’s not. It’s the implementation.

That’s exactly why we exist. At ZenPilot, we design and build ClickUp workspaces that actually work - based on proven systems from 3,100+ client implementations. If you’re evaluating ClickUp, or if you’re already on ClickUp and it’s not working the way you need it to, let’s talk.

For more on choosing the right PM tool for your team, check out our comprehensive project management tool guide.

How to Migrate from Smartsheet to ClickUp

If you’ve decided to make the switch, here’s how to approach the migration:

1. Audit your Smartsheet workspace. Document every sheet, workspace, and dashboard. Identify which are active, which are reference-only, and which can be archived. Most teams find they have more sheets than they actually need.
2. Design your ClickUp hierarchy. This is the most critical step. Smartsheet’s flat sheet structure doesn’t translate directly to ClickUp. Map your sheets to ClickUp’s Spaces, Folders, and Lists based on how your team actually works - not how Smartsheet forced you to organize.
3. Migrate your data. ClickUp supports CSV imports, so you can export your Smartsheet data and import it into ClickUp Lists. For complex sheets with cross-sheet references, plan to rebuild those relationships using ClickUp’s task relationships and rollup fields.
4. Rebuild automations. Smartsheet automations won’t transfer. Rebuild them in ClickUp - and take the opportunity to add automations that Smartsheet couldn’t handle, like multi-step workflows and external tool integrations.
5. Replace your supplementary tools. If you were using separate tools for docs, chat, or time tracking alongside Smartsheet, consolidate those into ClickUp’s built-in features.
6. Train your spreadsheet users. The team members who loved Smartsheet’s grid view will appreciate ClickUp’s Table view - it feels familiar while giving them access to all of ClickUp’s other capabilities. Start them there and expand from there.

ZenPilot has guided hundreds of platform migrations. If you want expert help making the switch, book a call with our team.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is ClickUp better than Smartsheet?

For most teams, yes. ClickUp offers a more flexible hierarchy, richer task management, built-in collaboration tools (docs, chat, whiteboards), and significantly better pricing. Smartsheet is the stronger choice for enterprise PMO teams, spreadsheet-heavy organizations, and industries like construction and government where Smartsheet is the standard. But for agencies, professional services, marketing teams, and operations-focused organizations, ClickUp is the better platform.

Can ClickUp replace Smartsheet?

Yes. ClickUp can handle everything Smartsheet does for project and task management, plus it adds built-in docs, time tracking, chat, and whiteboards. The one area where Smartsheet has an edge is enterprise portfolio management and governance through its Control Center feature. For teams making the switch, we recommend designing your ClickUp workspace structure before migrating any data - that’s the step most teams skip and later regret.

Is Smartsheet worth the price?

It depends on what you need. Smartsheet’s Pro plan at $9/user/month is reasonable but limited. The Business plan at $19/user/month unlocks the features that make Smartsheet compelling - but at nearly 3x the cost of ClickUp’s Unlimited plan. If you need enterprise governance, resource management, and portfolio-level dashboards, Smartsheet’s pricing may be justified. For most small to mid-sized teams, ClickUp delivers more value at a lower cost.

What is the biggest drawback of Smartsheet?

The spreadsheet-first interface. While it’s familiar to Excel users, it limits how teams interact with their work. There are no custom task statuses, no built-in docs or chat, and the collaboration experience is dated compared to modern platforms like ClickUp. Teams that want a dynamic, visual work management experience often find Smartsheet too rigid.

How long does it take to switch from Smartsheet to ClickUp?

Migration timelines depend on team size and complexity. A team of 10 to 20 people with straightforward workflows can typically complete the transition in two to four weeks. Larger organizations with complex Smartsheet setups, cross-sheet references, and custom automations may need four to eight weeks. The most critical step is designing your ClickUp hierarchy and workflow structure before importing data. Working with an experienced implementation partner like ZenPilot significantly reduces migration risk and time to value.