Review Summary
Smartsheet is a spreadsheet that runs projects: pasting or importing our data was the easiest of any app we have tested, dependencies rescheduled tasks properly, and its AI was the only one to get everything right and create subtasks on request. But there is no free plan, recurring tasks are missing, the interface switches between a new and a classic look, and the Windows app we tested is being retired in January 2027.
+ What works
- Paste a spreadsheet and the project is built: 40 rows with phases, dates and priorities in one go
- CSV import mapped all 7 columns itself; 200 of 200 rows came back identical in the export
- Dependencies reschedule tasks automatically and skip weekends
- Smart Assist got the summary and overdue answer right, and created subtasks after asking
- Per-user install with no admin rights; uninstall removes almost everything
− What falls short
- The Windows desktop app is being retired on or after January 6, 2027
- No free plan: Pro starts at $9 per member a month, billed yearly
- No recurring tasks; workflows can remind you but not create a task
- Two interfaces: Calendar, Gantt and settings open in the older classic view, which needs saving by hand
- Gantt needs a second date column, and Ctrl+V did not paste in the new table view
- No CSV export; Excel, Google Sheets or PDF, one sheet at a time
Smartsheet Alternatives
Not sure Smartsheet is the right fit? These project management tools scored best on the same test script:
ClickUp Recommended Small teams that want lists, boards, Gantt charts, automations and AI in one free workspace and do not mind a busy, heavy app 7.4 Read reviewReview 
What is Smartsheet?
Smartsheet organizes work in sheets: spreadsheet-like grids where each row is a task, shown as tables, boards, timelines, calendars and Gantt charts. Workflows, forms, reports and dashboards build on those sheets.
It runs in the browser and, until it is retired on or after January 6, 2027, in a Windows desktop app. Smart Assist, its AI assistant, can summarise and edit sheets.
Why Smartsheet is different
A real spreadsheet underneath: paste, formulas and column types work like Excel.
Dependencies with working days that reschedule tasks automatically.
Who is Smartsheet for?
Teams who already think in spreadsheets and want Gantt charts, dependencies and automation on top, and are happy to pay and use it in the browser. Teams that already plan in spreadsheets and want project tools such as Gantt charts, dependencies and automation on top.
Skip it if
- You want a desktop app you can keep using after January 2027
- You need a free plan
- You rely on recurring tasks
Our Experience with Smartsheet
Test log
Windows 11 Pro 10.0.26300 in VMware Workstation 26H1 (4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM, no GPU passthrough), English UI, 1920×1080, clean snapshot; new Smartsheet account (EU region), which starts a 30-day Business trial
- 17:31
Installer downloaded
91 MB, signature valid
- 18:08
Account created
30-day Business trial and an AI sample project
- 18:11
Installed per user
no admin rights
- 18:13
Desktop app retiring in 2027
- 19:58
P1: 40 tasks pasted
- 20:07
P2: Gantt needs two date columns
- 20:10
P2: Gantt chart
- 20:17
P3: workflow fired
5–10 s
- 20:20
P3: dependency rescheduled
- 20:21
P3: no recurring tasks
- 20:25
P4: 200 rows from CSV
about 20 s
- 20:27
P5: 500 rows
about 12 s
- 20:30
Cold start
rows after about 14 s
- 20:33
P6: share roles
- 20:36
P7: AI summary correct
- 20:39
P7: AI added subtasks
- 20:40
P8: Excel export
no CSV
- 20:43
Uninstalled
87 MB left
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P1 · Build a project
Build a 40-task product launch project from a written brief: five phase lists of eight tasks, each with a due date and priority.
Pass ≈ 5 min
We pasted all 40 rows with phase, due date and priority from a spreadsheet in one go (right-click Paste; Ctrl+V did nothing in the new table view). Turning the columns into dropdowns and a date column took a minute, and Smartsheet built the dropdown options from the data. Weekend dates stayed as typed.
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P2 · Views
Show the project as a list, board, calendar and Gantt chart.
Partial ≈ 6 min
Table, board, timeline, calendar and Gantt all showed our tasks on the Business trial. Gantt stayed greyed out until we added a start-date column, and Calendar and Gantt open in Smartsheet's older classic interface, where changes need saving by hand. There is no free plan.
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P3 · Rules
Set up a status automation, a dependency and a weekly recurring task.
Partial ≈ 12 min
Our workflow set the phase to Launch about 5 to 10 seconds after we saved the change. With dependencies switched on, lengthening one task moved the next one automatically and skipped the weekend. There are no recurring tasks: workflows can send a reminder on a schedule but cannot create a task.
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P4 · 200-row import
Import a 200-row CSV with statuses, assignees, dates, priorities, tags and special characters.
Pass ≈ 2 min
Smartsheet took our CSV as it was, detected all 7 columns and suggested contact and date types. All 200 rows arrived in about 20 seconds, and the exported file matched our source exactly, including commas, quotes and an emoji. Status and priority stayed as plain text, tags as one text cell, and the import left an empty first row.
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P5 · Scale
Import 500 rows, then open and scroll a 500-task board.
Pass ≈ 2 min
500 rows imported in about 12 seconds and the sheet scrolled to the end without waiting. The app used 1.1 to 1.6 GB of memory and took about 14 seconds from a cold start to show rows.
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P6 · Permissions
Invite a second user, check what they can see and change, then restrict them.
Partial ≈ 3 min
A sheet or a whole workspace can be shared, with Admin, Editor (can share), Editor (cannot share), Commenter or Viewer. We invited our second address as an editor who cannot share, then removed them in two clicks. We did not test the second user's view.
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P7 · AI
Ask the built-in AI to summarise the project, write subtasks for one task and say what is overdue.
Pass ≈ 4 min
Smart Assist's summary had every figure right: 40 tasks from November 2 to December 11, one done, ten high priority. It correctly said nothing was overdue. Asked for five subtasks, it proposed them, explained how the parent's dates would change and added them only after we said yes.
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P8 · Leave
Export everything to CSV, delete the workspace and uninstall the app.
Partial ≈ 4 min
The Excel export was complete, with dates, predecessors and the AI's subtasks indented, but there is no CSV option and each sheet exports on its own. We left deleting the account to its owner. Uninstalling took 2 seconds and removed the app and its profile, leaving an 87 MB updater folder.
How we tested Smartsheet
Smartsheet is the eighth app in our project-management category and ran the same eight-step script as ClickUp, Asana, Notion, Linear, Trello, monday.com and Wrike: build a 40-task project from a written brief, show it in four views, set up rules, import 200 and then 500 rows from a CSV file, invite a second user, use the built-in AI, export everything and leave.
We installed Smartsheet's Windows desktop app on a clean Windows 11 virtual machine. Smartsheet has no free plan; a new account starts a 30-day Business trial, so most features were available, and we checked them against Smartsheet's pricing page. Everything was done on October 30, 2026.
The desktop app is being retired
The first thing the Windows app shows, on its sign-in screen, is a warning: the Smartsheet desktop app is being retired on or after January 6, 2027, and users should start using Smartsheet in the browser. The app is essentially the web version in its own window, so our results should carry over to the browser, but if you specifically want a desktop app, this one has about two months left.
Installation and setup
The 91 MB installer is signed by Smartsheet Inc and installs for the current user by default, without admin rights. It suggests a browser extension that opens Smartsheet links in the app. It added no startup entry, services or listening ports, and took 292 MB plus an 87 MB updater folder.
Sign-up in the browser asked for our name, company size and industry, then offered to set up a workspace with AI. We closed that, but the account still opened on an AI-made sample project full of invented people and 2025 dates.
Building the project
Smartsheet is a spreadsheet at heart, and that made building our project the quickest so far. We pasted all 40 rows, with phase, due date and priority, in one go; Ctrl+V did nothing in the new table view, but right-click Paste worked. Turning Phase and Priority into dropdown columns and Due date into a date column took a minute, and Smartsheet created the dropdown options from the data. About five minutes in total.
Views and rules
Table, board, timeline and calendar showed our tasks straight away. Gantt stayed greyed out until we added a second date column for start dates. Calendar, Gantt and the settings open in Smartsheet's older classic interface, which looks different and needs saving by hand, while the new table saves automatically.
Our workflow, “when Status changes to Done, set Phase to Launch”, fired 5 to 10 seconds after we saved the change. After switching on dependencies, we made “Survey launch” follow “Survey draft”; lengthening the draft to three days moved the launch to the next working day automatically, skipping the weekend. There are no recurring tasks: a workflow can send a reminder on a schedule, but none of its actions creates a task.
Importing 200 and 500 rows
Smartsheet imported our CSV as it was. It detected all 7 columns, suggested a contact type for assignees and a date type for due dates, and brought in all 200 rows in about 20 seconds. When we exported the sheet again, every title, status, assignee, priority, tag and description matched our source, including commas, quotes and an emoji. Status and priority stay as plain text rather than dropdowns, and the import left an empty first row.
The 500-row file imported in about 12 seconds.
Speed and memory
The 500-row sheet scrolled to the end without waiting. The app used 1.1 to 1.6 GB of memory with it open. From a cold start the window appeared after 6 seconds and the rows after about 14, with a reminder that launching the app means accepting its privacy policy and licence.
Sharing and permissions
You can share one sheet or a whole workspace. Each person gets one of five roles: Admin, Editor who can share, Editor who cannot share, Commenter or Viewer. We invited our second address as an editor who cannot share, saw it listed with a role dropdown, and removed it in two clicks. We did not test what the second user sees.
Smartsheet's AI
Smart Assist was the most accurate AI we have tested in this category. Its summary had every figure right: 40 one-day tasks from November 2 to December 11, one done, and the ten high-priority tasks by name. It correctly said nothing was overdue.
Asked to add five subtasks to “Billing integration”, it proposed five, explained that the parent task's dates would then be calculated from them, and waited for our answer. When we said yes, it added them as indented rows. Smartsheet lists AI features on all paid plans and shows no usage meter in the panel.
Leaving Smartsheet
A sheet exports to Excel, Google Sheets or PDF, not CSV, and one sheet at a time. Our Excel export took about 10 seconds and was complete, with real dates, predecessors and the AI's subtasks indented. We did not delete the account. Uninstalling took 2 seconds and removed the app and its profile, leaving only the 87 MB updater folder.
What we have not tested yet
We did not test the second user's view, reports and dashboards, forms, integrations, the browser version on its own, the mobile apps or Smartsheet after the trial. We did not test Smartsheet offline, and we ran each step once.
Smartsheet Screenshots
Taken during our own test run on a clean Windows 11 machine.
What we checked
Every item in our project management tool test plan and how Smartsheet did. Scan for the ones you can't live without.
Installation
- Pass Download size91 MB
- Pass Signed installerSmartsheet Inc, valid
- Pass Admin rightsper-user install by default
- Pass Asks before running at startupdoes not add itself to startup
First use
- Pass Sign-up without a card
- Fail Starts on the free planno free plan; 30-day Business trial
Core tasks
- Pass Build a 40-task projectpasted from a spreadsheet
- Fail List, board, calendar and Gantt on the free planno free plan
- Pass Status automation5–10 s
- Pass Task dependencyreschedules, skips weekends
- Fail Recurring taskreminders only
- Pass CSV import keeps the data200 / 200 identical
- Pass CSV import maps columns itself7 columns with suggested types
- Partial Permissions and rolesfive roles; second user's view not tested
- Pass AI summary and answersall correct
- Pass AI asks before changing dataasked before adding subtasks
Performance
- Pass Large board (500 tasks)smooth
- Partial Cold startabout 14 s
- Partial Memory use1.1–1.6 GB
Privacy and security
- Pass No pressure to share contacts
- N/A Access removed immediatelysecond user's view not tested
Integrations
- Pass Import from other toolsExcel, CSV, MS Project, Google Sheets, Trello
- N/A Connected appsintegrations not tested
Offline and sync
- N/A Behaviour without internet
Pricing traps
- Fail Free plan limitsno free plan
Cancel and uninstall
- Partial Complete exportExcel, complete; no CSV
- N/A Delete the workspaceleft to the account owner
- Partial Clean uninstall87 MB updater folder left
Test Results
- Ease of use6.0
Pasting and importing are the easiest we have seen, but two interfaces, manual saving in classic views and a few stubborn controls slow you down.
- Views & flexibility7.0
Table, board, timeline, calendar and Gantt all work; Gantt needs a second date column.
- Speed6.0
Fast imports and big sheets, but a 14-second cold start and up to 1.6 GB of memory.
- Automation & AI7.0
Rules fire, dependencies reschedule, and the AI edits correctly; no recurring tasks.
- Integrations6.5
CSV and Excel import with column detection, plus Trello, MS Project and Google Sheets; export only to Excel, Google Sheets or PDF.
- Value for money4.0
No free plan, Pro from $9 per member a month, and the desktop app ends in January 2027.
Every project management tool runs the same script. How we test →
Key Features
ViewsTested by us
Table, board, timeline, calendar and Gantt for the same sheet.
Gantt needs two date columns.
WorkflowsTested by us
Trigger-and-action automations on rows and dates.
Our rule fired in 5–10 s; no task creation.
DependenciesTested by us
Predecessors, durations and working days.
Rescheduled our tasks automatically.
ImportTested by us
CSV and Excel with column detection, plus MS Project, Google Sheets and Trello.
200 of 200 rows kept exactly.
Smart AssistTested by us
AI that answers questions about a sheet and edits it.
All three answers right; asked before adding subtasks.
Additional Features
Reports and dashboardsVendor-stated
Roll-ups across sheets and dashboards for status reporting.
Smartsheet at a glance
- Version tested
- Windows app 1.0.54 (October 30, 2026)
- Platforms
- Web, Windows (until January 2027), macOS, iOS and Android
- Installer
- 91 MB; per user, no admin rights
- Account
- Work email, Google, Microsoft or Apple; US or EU data region
- Free plan
- None; 30-day Business trial
- Import
- CSV, Excel, MS Project, Google Sheets, Trello
Is Smartsheet secure?
We did not review Smartsheet's privacy policy or security certifications for this test. Below are only the things we saw on our test PC and in the app.
-
Signed installerTested by us
The installer is signed by Smartsheet Inc with a valid certificate.
-
No background servicesTested by us
The app added no startup entry, services or listening ports.
-
Clear sharing rolesTested by us
Admin, two kinds of Editor, Commenter and Viewer, per sheet or per workspace.
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EU data regionTested by us
Sign-up offered a European Union data region (app.smartsheet.eu), which our account used.
Pricing
Free plan
No
Paid plans from
$9 / member / month, billed yearly
-
Pro
$9/member/mo
Billed yearly ($12 monthly). 1 to 10 members, 250 automations a month. New customers only.
-
Business
$19/member/mo
Billed yearly ($24 monthly). 3+ members, timeline view, unlimited automations. New accounts get a 30-day trial.
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Enterprise
Contact sales
For 10+ members, with advanced admin and security.
-
Advanced Work Management
Contact sales
Enterprise plus portfolio and resource tools.
From Smartsheet's pricing page, checked Oct 30, 2026.
Who makes Smartsheet?
- Company
- Smartsheet Inc.
- Headquarters
- Bellevue, Washington, USA
- Founded
- 2005
- Founders
- Brent Frei
- Funding
- Listed on the NYSE in 2018; taken private by Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners in 2025.
Smartsheet timeline
- 2005Founded in the Seattle area.
- 2018Listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
- 2025Taken private by Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners.
- Oct 30, 2026We tested the Windows app 1.0.54.
- Jan 6, 2027Desktop app retirement date shown in the app.
FAQ
Is Smartsheet free?
No. There is no free plan; Pro costs $9 per member a month billed yearly and Business $19. New accounts start a 30-day Business trial without a card.
Is the Smartsheet desktop app being discontinued?
Yes. The Windows app we tested says it is being retired on or after January 6, 2027, and asks users to switch to Smartsheet in the browser.
Can Smartsheet import a CSV file?
Yes. It detected all 7 columns of our CSV and imported 200 and 500 rows in seconds, with every value intact.
Does Smartsheet have Gantt charts and dependencies?
Yes. Gantt needs a start and an end date column. With dependencies on, changing one task moved the next one automatically and skipped the weekend.
Does Smartsheet support recurring tasks?
Not as such. Workflows can send reminders on a schedule, but none of their actions creates a new task.
How good is Smartsheet's AI?
Smart Assist was the most accurate we have tested: its summary and overdue answer were right, and it added five subtasks after asking first.
Can I export my data?
Yes, to Excel, Google Sheets or PDF, one sheet at a time. There is no CSV export.
Final Verdict
Smartsheet did the core jobs better than most apps in this category: the fastest project setup, a CSV import that kept everything, dependencies that reschedule, and an AI that was right every time and asked before editing.
Its weak spots are cost and polish: no free plan, no recurring tasks, two interfaces side by side, and a Windows app that stops on or after January 6, 2027.
Our advice: choose Smartsheet if your team thinks in spreadsheets and will pay, and plan to use it in the browser. If you want a free plan or a lasting desktop app, ClickUp remains our pick.