project management tool · head to head
ClickUp vs Smartsheet
Comparison Summary
ClickUp scored 7.4 and Smartsheet scored 6.0 on our project management tool test script.
ClickUp and Smartsheet both cover views, dependencies, automation and AI, but ClickUp has a Free Forever plan and Smartsheet has no free plan at all. Our Smartsheet results come from the 30-day Business trial a new account starts with.
Smartsheet was the easier one to fill: our 40 tasks pasted in from a spreadsheet, its CSV import kept every value, its dependencies rescheduled tasks and its AI answered all three questions correctly. ClickUp has recurring tasks, which Smartsheet lacks, and a desktop app that is not being retired; Smartsheet's Windows app ends on or after January 6, 2027.
Choose ClickUp for a free plan, recurring tasks and a lasting desktop app. Choose Smartsheet if your team works in spreadsheets, will pay, and is happy to use it in the browser.
Key differences
ClickUp
Smartsheet - Our 8 scripted tasks
- ClickUp:6 passed, 2 partial
- Smartsheet:4 passed, 4 partial
- Free plan
- ClickUp:Free Forever: list, board, calendar and Gantt
- Smartsheet:None; Pro from $9 per member a month
- Dependencies
- ClickUp:Free
- Smartsheet:Rescheduled tasks automatically, skipping weekends
- Recurring tasks
- ClickUp:Yes
- Smartsheet:No; scheduled reminders only
- CSV import
- ClickUp:200 and 500 rows with all fields
- Smartsheet:200 and 500 rows, every value kept
- AI
- ClickUp:Chat trial: summary, subtasks, overdue
- Smartsheet:Smart Assist: all three right, asked before editing
- Memory and cold start
- ClickUp:1.7–2.2 GB; about 14 s
- Smartsheet:1.1–1.6 GB; about 14 s
- Desktop app
- ClickUp:Supported
- Smartsheet:Retiring on or after January 6, 2027
- Export
- ClickUp:CSV
- Smartsheet:Excel, Google Sheets or PDF; no CSV
- Left after uninstalling
- ClickUp:About 275 MB and a broken startup entry
- Smartsheet:About 87 MB updater folder
Editor's Verdict
Choose ClickUp if…
Best for: Small teams that want lists, boards, Gantt charts, automations and AI in one free workspace and do not mind a busy, heavy app.
- Every view we needed is free: list, board, calendar and Gantt, with no upgrade prompt
- Automation, dependency and recurring task all worked on the free plan
- Pasting a multi-line list creates one task per line
Choose Smartsheet if…
Best 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.
- 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
Head to Head
Task by task
The same prompts, pasted word for word into each app on a clean Windows 11 PC. On the 8 tasks both apps were graded on, ClickUp completed 6 and Smartsheet completed 4.
| Task | ClickUp | Smartsheet |
|---|---|---|
| P1 · Build a project | Pass≈ 200 actions | Pass≈ 5 min |
| P2 · Views | Pass≈ 2 min | Partial≈ 6 min |
| P3 · Rules | Pass≈ 7 min | Partial≈ 12 min |
| P4 · 200-row import | Partial≈ 12 min | Pass≈ 2 min |
| P5 · Scale | Pass< 2 min import | Pass≈ 2 min |
| P6 · Permissions | Pass≈ 5 min | Partial≈ 3 min |
| P7 · AI | Pass≈ 1–1.5 min each | Pass≈ 4 min |
| P8 · Leave | Partial≈ 7 min | Partial≈ 4 min |
ClickUp ran on its Free Forever plan; a new Smartsheet account starts on a 30-day Business trial, and Smartsheet has no free plan.
Measured on the same PC
| Measurement | ClickUp | Smartsheet |
|---|---|---|
| On disk | 643 MB | 379 MB |
| Admin rights | Not needed | No |
| Starts with Windows | Yes, by default | No |
| 40-task project | ≈ 200 actions | ≈ 5 min |
| Cold start | ≈ 14 s | ≈ 14 s |
| Memory | 1.7 – 2.2 GB | 1.1 – 1.6 GB |
| Left after uninstall | ≈ 275 MB | ≈ 87 MB |
Pros and cons
ClickUp
+ What works
- Every view we needed is free: list, board, calendar and Gantt, with no upgrade prompt
- Automation, dependency and recurring task all worked on the free plan
- Pasting a multi-line list creates one task per line
- 500-row CSV import in under two minutes, and the 500-task board opened in under a second
- Brain² summarised our project accurately, answered “what is overdue?” correctly and asked before adding subtasks
- Full CSV export in under a minute: all 771 tasks, with comments and subtasks
- Removing someone's access took effect immediately
− What falls short
- Heavy: about 14 seconds from launch to a usable list and 1.7–2.2 GB of memory
- The CSV import matched none of our seven columns automatically and needed status values mapped by hand
- The import offers to invite everyone whose email is in the file
- Starts with Windows by default and leaves about 275 MB and a broken startup entry after uninstalling
- Free AI chat is a one-off trial that does not reset
- The export drops dependencies and recurrence settings
- Busy setup: nine onboarding screens, a phone-number request, an invite nudge and an AI pop-up for every new list
Smartsheet
+ 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
Privacy and security
What we saw on our own test PC. Each review also lists what the vendor states about data handling, training and certifications.
ClickUp
Starts with Windows
The installer adds ClickUp to Windows startup without asking. It adds no services or scheduled tasks and only listens on the PC itself.
Contacts are pushed, not required
Setup asks for a phone number for promotional calls and messages, and the CSV import pre-fills the file's email addresses as invitations. Both can be skipped.
Full deletion is opt-in
Deleting a workspace keeps it recoverable unless you tick a separate box to delete it and its third-party data permanently.
Left after uninstalling
A 133 MB profile folder, a 143 MB updater cache, the clickup:// link handler and a startup entry pointing at the removed program.
Smartsheet
Signed installer
The installer is signed by Smartsheet Inc with a valid certificate.
No background services
The app added no startup entry, services or listening ports.
Clear sharing roles
Admin, two kinds of Editor, Commenter and Viewer, per sheet or per workspace.
EU data region
Sign-up offered a European Union data region (app.smartsheet.eu), which our account used.
Features & Pricing
| ClickUp | Smartsheet | |
|---|---|---|
| Web | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows | ✓ | ✓ |
| macOS | ✓ | ✓ |
| Linux | ✓ | — |
| iOS | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free plan | ✓ | — |
| Paid from | $9/mo | $9/mo |
ClickUp plans
- Free Forever$0
- Core$9/user/mo
- Business$17/user/mo
- EnterpriseCustom
From ClickUp's pricing page, checked Oct 29, 2026.
Smartsheet plans
- Pro$9/member/mo
- Business$19/member/mo
- EnterpriseContact sales
- Advanced Work ManagementContact sales
From Smartsheet's pricing page, checked Oct 30, 2026.
Cost for your team
- ClickUp$540per year
- Smartsheet$540per year
Cheapest paid plan × seats × 12, at list price. Annual discounts and volume deals not included. ClickUp also has a free plan.
Who makes them
- Company
- ClickUp:ClickUp (Mango Technologies, Inc.)
- Smartsheet:Smartsheet Inc.
- Headquarters
- ClickUp:San Diego, California, USA
- Smartsheet:Bellevue, Washington, USA
- Founded
- ClickUp:2017
- Smartsheet:2005
- Funding
- ClickUp:$400 million Series C in October 2021 at a reported $4 billion valuation.
- Smartsheet:Listed on the NYSE in 2018; taken private by Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners in 2025.
Timelines, official links and sources are in each review: ClickUp · Smartsheet.
FAQ
Which is better, ClickUp or Smartsheet?
ClickUp scored higher overall, mainly because it has a capable free plan and recurring tasks. Smartsheet did better on importing data, rescheduling dependencies and AI accuracy, but costs money from the first user.
Which has the better free plan?
ClickUp. Smartsheet has no free plan, only a 30-day trial.
Which AI is more accurate?
In our test Smartsheet's Smart Assist answered all three questions correctly and asked before adding subtasks.
Read the full reviews
This page compares the two side by side. Each full review has the complete test log, every screenshot, the scoring notes, pricing, security and company details.
ClickUp reviewRecommended 7.4 ClickUp passed every step of our project-management test on the free plan: all the views, a working automation, dependencies, recurring tasks, a 500-row import and an AI that got the facts right and asked before changing anything. It is heavy, though: the Windows app needs about 14 seconds and up to 2 GB of memory, and the import and setup make you do more by hand than they should. Read the full review → Smartsheet reviewSituational 6.0 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. Read the full review → Project Management Alternatives
Notion Situational Individuals and small teams who want tasks living next to their docs and wiki, and who are happy to build their own setup 6.9 Read reviewReview 
Airtable Situational Teams who want a flexible database behind their projects, with automations and reliable CSV in and out 6.8 Read reviewReview 
Asana Situational Teams ready to pay for Starter or Advanced who want a polished, fast-to-learn project tool with strong import and export 6.7 Read reviewReview 
