monday.com vs Smartsheet: Work Management Software Compared (2026)
monday.com and Smartsheet are both mature work management platforms for operations and project teams.
- Verified 27 Oct 2026Sources are dated on this page
- 7 sourcesLinked, typed and dated
- No winner declaredFit depends on your criteria
- Not tested by Stack18Editorial summary of documented facts
monday.com vs Smartsheet: the short answer
monday.com and Smartsheet are both mature work management platforms for operations and project teams. monday.com is a board-based platform sold per seat in a free plan and four paid plans, with a three-seat minimum on paid plans. Smartsheet is built around a spreadsheet-style grid with Gantt, card and calendar views, sold per member in Pro, Business, Enterprise and Advanced Work Management plans, with free viewers.
The sources reviewed describe the trade-off as visual flexibility against structured grid control. monday.com is described as easier to learn and more flexible, with a free plan and built-in time tracking. Smartsheet is described as stronger for formula-driven planning, approvals and governance, and is reported to carry a government compliance edge, but has no free plan for new sign-ups and sells resource management separately.
We compare what independent 2026 sources support and mark the rest Unknown. One source is written by a monday.com implementation partner, so we treat its verdict as partisan and use it mainly for plan details. No winner is declared: the better fit depends on how your team works with data.
Choose monday.com if you- Teams that want visual boards and fast adoption by non-technical staff
- Small teams that want a free plan to start
- Teams that want time tracking inside the product
Choose Smartsheet if you- PMOs and operations teams that want grid, Gantt and formulas
- Organisations that need free viewers and guests for many stakeholders
- Teams moving shared spreadsheets into a managed system
monday.com and Smartsheet at a glance.
One card per product, drawn from each full profile. Open a profile for features, pricing plans, limits and sources.
monday.com
monday.com Ltd. · Project Management Software
monday.com Work Management is a board-based work and project management platform from monday.com Ltd., sold per seat in Free, Basic, Standard, Pro and Enterprise plans.
- Pricing
- Free plan for up to 2 seats; paid plans reported from $9 per seat per month billed annually (3-seat minimum).
- Best for
- Teams that want a flexible visual board-based tool
Smartsheet
Smartsheet Inc. · Project Management Software
Smartsheet is a cloud work management and project management platform that combines a spreadsheet-like grid with Gantt, board, calendar and timeline views, forms, reports, dashboards, workflow automation and AI features.
- Pricing
- No free plan for new sign-ups; Pro reported at $9 per member per month billed annually.
- Best for
- PMOs and project managers who want Gantt and dashboards in a spreadsheet-style tool
monday.com vs Smartsheet: feature-by-feature comparison.
Every row is drawn from the sources listed below. Rows that differ are marked, and you can filter the table to show only those.
- YesDocumented
- PartialAvailable with limits or on some plans
- NoDocumented as unavailable
- UnknownNot documented in the sources reviewed
| Dimension |  monday.com |  Smartsheet |
|---|---|---|
| Product | ||
| Core approach | YesVisual boards of items and columns, reshaped for projects, operations and CRM-style tracking. | YesSpreadsheet-style grid with card, calendar and Gantt views, forms, dashboards and workflows. |
| Pricing | ||
| Free planDiffers | PartialFree for up to two users and three boards, without Gantt or automation. | NoNo free plan for new sign-ups; a 30-day trial is reported. |
| Entry paid price (annual) | YesBasic at $9 per seat per month, with a three-seat minimum. | YesPro at $9 per member per month, for one to ten members. |
| Mid-tier price (annual) | YesStandard at $12 and Pro at $19 to $20 per seat per month billed annually. | YesBusiness at $19 per member per month; one guide reports $39 for the top self-serve tier. |
| Enterprise | PartialCustom pricing, reported with a minimum 12-month term. | PartialCustom pricing for Enterprise and Advanced Work Management. |
| Views | ||
| Gantt and dependencies | YesGantt with dependencies; one guide reports full critical path. | YesGantt with dependencies and critical path. |
| Automation | ||
| Automation allowance | PartialReported at 250 actions a month on the entry tier, with more on higher plans. | PartialReported at 250 automations a month on Pro; one guide credits Smartsheet with unlimited automations on higher plans. |
| Time tracking | ||
| Time tracking | PartialBuilt in per guides, though plan placement differs: Standard and above in one guide, Pro in another. | PartialReported as not native; one guide lists it with the Resource Management add-on. |
| Resources | ||
| Resource management | PartialResource allocation reported built in on some plans. | PartialA separate Resource Management product on G2; one partner source reports a $19 per user add-on, which is not vendor-confirmed. |
| Access | ||
| Viewers and guestsDiffers | PartialGuest access reported from Standard; viewer pricing was not documented. | YesViewers are free; unlimited free guests on Business and Enterprise. |
| AI | ||
| AI features | Partialmonday AI assistants; sources differ on which plans include them. | PartialAI credits and the Sidekick assistant listed, with formula generation and summarisation; plan availability not documented. |
| Ease of use | ||
| Learning curveDiffers | YesDescribed as visual, intuitive and easy to learn. | PartialDescribed as familiar to spreadsheet users but heavier, with setup that may need admin support. |
monday.com vs Smartsheet pricing.
monday.com pricing
Per seat per month by plan, with a free plan and a three-seat minimum on paid plans. Enterprise is quote-based with a minimum 12-month term.
- Free$0
- Basic$9 per seat per month billed annually; about $12 billed monthly
- Standard$12 per seat per month billed annually; about $14 billed monthly
- Pro$19 per seat per month billed annually; about $22 billed monthly
- EnterpriseCustom
Figures reported consistently by independent sources; vendor page not reviewed directly. Checked 15 Oct 2026.
All monday.com plans and sources
Smartsheet pricing
Per member per month by plan (Pro, Business, Enterprise, Advanced Work Management), billed annually or monthly. Viewers are free, and guests are free on Business and Enterprise.
- Pro$9 per member per month billed annually; $12 billed monthly
- Business$19 per member per month billed annually; $24 billed monthly
- EnterpriseCustom pricing
- Advanced Work ManagementCustom pricing
Figures reported consistently by independent sources; vendor page not reviewed directly. Checked 17 Oct 2026.
All Smartsheet plans and sourcesFor small teams Smartsheet Pro is the cheapest paid entry, and at the mid tier the two cost the same. Our arithmetic on reported annual prices for 10 people gives about $1,080 a year on Smartsheet Pro ($9 x 10 x 12) against $1,440 on monday.com Standard ($12 x 10 x 12) and $2,280 on monday.com Pro ($19 x 10 x 12) or Smartsheet Business ($19 x 10 x 12). For 25 people, monday.com Standard is about $3,600 a year ($12 x 25 x 12), while monday.com Pro and Smartsheet Business are both about $5,700 ($19 x 25 x 12).
Plan limits matter more than headline prices. Smartsheet Pro is limited to one to ten members, so a larger team moves to Business, and its viewers are free, so many readers cost nothing. monday.com has a three-seat minimum and a free plan for two users, so it suits very small teams that want to start free.
Check what each plan unlocks. Time tracking and resource management are reported inside monday.com plans but as an add-on on Smartsheet, though sources disagree on plan placement. Prices changed on both sides in 2026, so confirm current terms with each vendor.
Prices and plans change. Confirm current terms with each vendor before you decide.
monday.com vs Smartsheet: implementation, ecosystem, AI and security.
Ease of implementation and usability
We did not test setup or migration for either product. Guides describe monday.com as quick to adopt for non-technical teams and Smartsheet as natural for spreadsheet users but sometimes needing administrative support for larger setups. Pilot one real plan in each.
Integrations and ecosystem
Smartsheet is described as strong on Jira, Salesforce and Microsoft Teams connectors and Microsoft Office and Azure integration. monday.com offers native integrations that vary by plan. Integration counts were not independently verified, so check the specific tools you use.
AI capabilities
Both vendors list AI on paid plans. Smartsheet lists AI credits, a Sidekick assistant, formula generation and content summarisation, while monday.com lists AI assistants whose plan placement varies by source. We did not test output quality, so run both on a real project before treating AI as a deciding factor.
Security, deployment and administration
Smartsheet lists enterprise plan management and access controls on Enterprise, and one partner source credits it with a government compliance advantage. monday.com positions Enterprise for governance and security. We did not review certifications or data residency for either product, so request current security documentation.
monday.com and Smartsheet: each option, in balance.
monday.com
Strengths and limitations from the profile
- A free plan and clear Basic, Standard and Pro steps make it easy to start small.
- Timeline, calendar and guest access arrive at the mid-priced Standard plan.
- Automation allowances scale from 250 to 25,000 actions a month by plan.
- Paid plans require a minimum of three seats, which penalises very small teams.
- Enterprise pricing is quote-based and reported to carry a minimum 12-month term.
- monday CRM, dev and service are priced separately, so multi-product use costs more.
- The free plan is limited to two seats and three boards in at least one source.
Smartsheet
Strengths and limitations from the profile
- A spreadsheet-style grid with Gantt, board, calendar and timeline views lowers the learning curve for teams coming from Excel.
- Documented AI features cover plain-language formulas, charts, summaries and intelligent form fill.
- Free viewers, and free guests on Business and Enterprise, let stakeholders follow progress without a paid seat.
- Integrations with Jira, Salesforce, Microsoft Teams, Slack and Tableau suit enterprise tool stacks.
- Pro and Business have published per-member prices of $9 and $19 billed annually.
- The free plan is legacy and closed to new sign-ups, so new teams start with a trial rather than a free tier.
- Pro is limited to one to ten members and Business requires at least three, which constrains plan choice for very small or growing teams.
- Enterprise and Advanced Work Management are custom-quoted, so enterprise costs are not published.
- Reviewers note a steeper learning curve for enterprise features, and advanced automation such as Bridge is a separate module.
- Smartsheet is privately owned by Blackstone and Vista funds since January 2025, so future pricing and packaging may change.
monday.com or Smartsheet: which fits which situation?
No overall winner is declared. The better choice depends on the criteria that matter most to you, so test both against your own requirements.
Choose monday.com if you…
- Teams that want visual boards and fast adoption by non-technical staff
- Small teams that want a free plan to start
- Teams that want time tracking inside the product
Choose Smartsheet if you…
- PMOs and operations teams that want grid, Gantt and formulas
- Organisations that need free viewers and guests for many stakeholders
- Teams moving shared spreadsheets into a managed system
Switching between monday.com and Smartsheet.
Moving between monday.com and Smartsheet means converting boards and items to sheets and rows (or the reverse), rebuilding formulas, automations and dashboards, and recreating forms. Export a sample project, rebuild it in the other tool, and run one live project in parallel before cutting over.
- Export a sample of your data and test an import into the other product.
- List the automations, integrations and permissions you would need to rebuild.
- Pilot with one team before a full cut-over.
- Check contract terms and notice periods with both vendors.
General guidance, not specific to either vendor. Confirm migration options with the vendors.
monday.com vs Smartsheet: questions and answers
Is monday.com or Smartsheet cheaper?
Smartsheet Pro is the cheaper entry at $9 per member for one to ten members. At the mid tier both are about $19 per seat per month billed annually, and monday.com Standard at $12 is cheaper still.
Does monday.com or Smartsheet have a free plan?
monday.com has a free plan for two users and three boards. Smartsheet has no free plan for new sign-ups; a 30-day trial is reported.
Which is better for Gantt charts?
Both offer Gantt with dependencies. Guides describe Smartsheet as stronger for detailed project tracking and grid-based planning.
Does Smartsheet have time tracking?
Guides report it is not native and sits with the separate Resource Management product, while monday.com includes time tracking. Plan placement differs by source.
Are Smartsheet viewers free?
Yes. Viewers are free, and Business and Enterprise add unlimited free guests.
Which is easier to learn?
Guides describe monday.com as easier and Smartsheet as familiar to spreadsheet users but needing more setup.
Which is better for governance and compliance?
One partner source credits Smartsheet with a government compliance advantage, which we could not verify. Request current security documentation from both.
Where this comparison comes from.
- monday.com vs Smartsheet in 2026: Project Management Features & Pricing Compared Cloudwards Third-party Accessed 27 Oct 2026
- Smartsheet vs monday.com: Comprehensive Comparison TechRepublic Third-party Accessed 27 Oct 2026
- Smartsheet vs Monday.com: Which Project Management Tool Is Right for You? LaunchNotes Third-party Accessed 27 Oct 2026
- Smartsheet vs monday.com [2026] (TaskRhino implements monday.com) TaskRhino Third-party Accessed 27 Oct 2026
- monday.com Pricing for 2026: Project Management Cost & Value Cloudwards Third-party Accessed 15 Oct 2026
- General Smartsheet FAQs Smartsheet Official Accessed 17 Oct 2026 Used for views, AI features and integrations.
- How much does Smartsheet cost in 2026? Automation Atlas Third-party Accessed 17 Oct 2026
Comparison rows summarise the sources listed and the two profiles. Confirm current details with each vendor. Stack18 has not tested either product. One or both profiles are secondary-source profiles: vendor pages were not reviewed directly, so verify figures with the vendors.
Ready to test monday.com and Smartsheet?
Check each vendor's current pricing and terms, run both against a real scenario from your business, or talk to Stack18 if off-the-shelf software is not the answer.
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