ClickUp vs Smartsheet: Features, Pricing, and Who Should Pick Which

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 compare, including where Smartsheet is the better pick.

Key Takeaways

Smartsheet vs ClickUp at a Glance

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. It combines task management, docs, time tracking, goals, whiteboards, and dashboards in 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 a reputation for shipping features fast.

After working with 3,100+ clients, we’ve seen 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 spreadsheet interface. If your team thinks in rows and columns, it will feel comfortable right away. It launched in 2006 and has 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.

It looks and feels like a powerful spreadsheet with project management features layered on top. For teams migrating off Excel, that’s a real advantage. For teams that want a more flexible way to manage work, the same spreadsheet DNA can feel limiting.

ClickUp vs Smartsheet Hierarchy and Organization

ClickUp has one of the deepest hierarchies 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 has seven levels

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

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 the data however you need.

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

Smartsheet’s structure is flatter

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.)

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

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. 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

ClickUp was built as a task management tool from day one. Smartsheet was built as a spreadsheet that grew into project management. This is where that shows up most.

A ClickUp task

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

You can configure each List with its own statuses and custom fields, so your creative team’s workflow can look completely different from your operations team’s, all within the same Workspace.

A Smartsheet task is a row

Each row in a sheet can have columns (similar to custom fields), assignees, dates (start, end, duration), dependencies (predecessor/successor), attachments, and comments.

There are no custom statuses. You use a dropdown column to track state. 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.

Views and Reporting

ClickUp has more view types. Smartsheet has strong reporting and dashboards, particularly at the enterprise tier.

ClickUp has 15+ view types at any level of the hierarchy

ClickUp’s views include List, Board (Kanban), Gantt, Calendar, Table (spreadsheet-like), Timeline, Workload (capacity by person), Activity, Map, Form (intake forms that create tasks), and Dashboards.

You can create views at any level of the hierarchy, from a single List all the way up to the Everything view across your entire Workspace. 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 has fewer views but strong dashboards

Smartsheet offers Grid (the default spreadsheet view), Gantt, Card (Kanban-style), Calendar, and Dashboards.

The dashboards are 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, that’s a legitimate strength.

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

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

Automations

Both platforms have automations, but they aren’t equally capable.

ClickUp automations build multi-step workflows

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
• Availability 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. You can build real workflows with them, like automatically assigning a task to the next person in a pipeline when the previous step is complete.

ClickUp also layers AI on top of this engine, and what ClickUp Brain can actually do is worth factoring into the comparison.

Smartsheet automations focus on alerts and approvals

Smartsheet’s automation features include alert and notification workflows, approval workflows, date-based triggers, conditional logic, and integration with external tools.

They’re solid but more limited in scope: alerts, approvals, and simple row updates. 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 by plan tier, and the limits can feel restrictive on lower plans.

Winner: ClickUp. More powerful automations at lower price points.

Templates

When you’re scaling service delivery, being able to spin up a consistent project in seconds saves a lot of time.

ClickUp templates remap dates

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 feature that matters most is date remapping. When you deploy a template, ClickUp adjusts all due dates based on your new start date. If your original 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, so your whole project delivery process can be standardized and deployed in seconds.

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

Smartsheet templates are more basic

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)

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.

Control Center is legitimately useful for large organizations that need to provision standardized projects across many teams. 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: 1,000+ integrations

ClickUp’s native connections include:

• 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. If you use HubSpot for CRM and ClickUp for delivery, read up on the ClickUp-HubSpot integration.

Smartsheet: strongest in the Microsoft ecosystem

Smartsheet integrates with:

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

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 syncs data automatically between Smartsheet and tools like Salesforce, Jira, and ServiceNow. That’s a real enterprise strength.

Winner: Tie. Smartsheet leans Microsoft, ClickUp leans broader. Choose based on your existing tool stack.

Collaboration and Communication

Teams also need to communicate, share docs, and collaborate next to the work.

ClickUp has docs, chat, and whiteboards built in

• 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, that means you can potentially drop Notion (or Google Docs), Slack (for project-related conversation), and Loom.

Smartsheet has comments and proofing

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, and no whiteboards. For documentation you’ll need a separate tool, and team communication happens in Slack or Teams.

That isn’t necessarily a dealbreaker. Many teams prefer dedicated tools for docs and chat. But if you want everything in one place, Smartsheet falls short.

Winner: ClickUp. It’s not a contest.

ClickUp vs Smartsheet 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, 60MB storage
Core	$9/user/month	Unlimited storage, integrations, dashboards
Business	$17/user/month	Advanced automations, time tracking, workload management
Enterprise	Custom	Microsoft, Okta & SAML SSO, custom roles, audit trails, priority support

ClickUp’s free plan is usable: you get unlimited users and tasks. The Core plan at $9/user/month covers most of what teams need. For a 20-person team, that’s $180/month. Our guide to choosing a ClickUp pricing plan covers when Business is worth it.

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, more than double what ClickUp Core costs.

Monthly cost for a 20-person team.

What ClickUp and Smartsheet cost at 10 to 100 users

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

Smartsheet also doesn’t include docs, chat, or whiteboards at any tier. If you’re adding those through separate tools, the real cost gap gets wider.

Winner: ClickUp. ClickUp Core costs the same as Smartsheet Pro and includes more, and Smartsheet Business costs more than double ClickUp Core.

Where Smartsheet Wins

Smartsheet is the right choice for certain teams. Here’s who.

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. Provisioning standardized projects, tracking portfolio health, and enforcing governance across a large org is what Smartsheet does best.

Spreadsheet power users

If your team has spent years in Excel and Google Sheets, Smartsheet’s grid interface will feel comfortable right away. 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.

Construction, manufacturing, IT operations, and government

Smartsheet has deep penetration in these verticals. If your industry has standardized Smartsheet workflows and your partners and vendors use it, there’s value in staying in that ecosystem.

Where ClickUp Wins

ClickUp wins most of the categories above: task management, hierarchy, automations, templates, and collaboration. Two more points don’t fit in a feature table.

Team adoption

This is the one that matters most in practice. A tool only works if people 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 enjoy working in ClickUp once it’s set up right.

Value for money

The free plan is usable. The $9/user/month tier covers most teams’ needs. You’re not paying $19/user/month just to unlock automations.

ClickUp or Smartsheet: Which Should You Choose?

Here’s our recommendation by team type, based on what we’ve seen across 3,100+ clients:

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 adopt it.

The caveat 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. The problem is the implementation.

That’s why we exist. At ZenPilot, we design and build ClickUp Workspaces based on proven systems from our work with 3,100+ clients. If you’re evaluating ClickUp, or 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 project management tool guide.

How to Migrate from Smartsheet to ClickUp

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

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 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.
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 with ClickUp’s task relationships and rollup fields.
4. Rebuild automations. Smartsheet automations won’t transfer. Rebuild them in ClickUp, and add the ones 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 and still gives them the rest of ClickUp. Start them there and expand.

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 has a more flexible hierarchy, richer task management, built-in collaboration tools (docs, chat, whiteboards), and 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.

Smartsheet vs ClickUp: what’s the main difference?

Smartsheet is a spreadsheet with project management features layered on top, and ClickUp was built as a task management tool from day one. In Smartsheet a task is a row in a sheet. In ClickUp a task has custom statuses, multiple assignees, time tracking, subtasks, and dependencies, and it sits in a seven-level hierarchy you can view at any level.

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 Control Center. If you’re making the switch, design 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 has the features that make Smartsheet compelling, at more than double the cost of ClickUp’s Core 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. It’s familiar to Excel users, but it limits how teams interact with their work. There are no custom task statuses and no built-in docs or chat, and the collaboration experience is dated compared to ClickUp. Teams that want a more visual way to manage work often find Smartsheet too rigid.

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

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 reduces migration risk and time to value.