Asana vs Smartsheet Comparison
Compare Asana vs Smartsheet features, pricing, and more.
Last updated: November 2026
Asana
6.9/10
Work management platform for teams to plan projects, assign tasks, automate workflows, and track goals and portfolios, with AI agents on paid plans.
Smartsheet
6.8/10
Spreadsheet-based work management platform that teams and enterprises use to plan projects, automate workflows, and report on portfolios.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 6.9/10 | 6.8/10 |
| Scalability | 8/10 | 9/10 |
| Security | 8/10 | 9/10 |
| Analytics | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Cost | 4/10 | 4/10 |
| Customization | 7/10 | 8/10 |
| Ease of Use | 8/10 | 6/10 |
| Integration | 8/10 | 7/10 |
| Support | 6/10 | 6/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Cheapest paid plan | $13/user/mo Starter | $12/user/mo Pro |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | $135/mo Starter | $120/mo Pro |
| Features | ||
| App integrations | ||
| Client collaboration | ||
| Collaboration tools | ||
| Dashboards | ||
| Gantt charts | ||
| Kanban boards | ||
| Reporting | ||
| Scheduling | ||
| Task management | ||
| Timeline view | ||
| Workflow automation | ||
| File sharing | Not listed | |
| Goals and OKRs | Not listed | |
| Spreadsheet interface | Not listed | |
| Task lists | Not listed | |
| Time tracking | Not listed | |
Asana vs Smartsheet cost by team size
Asana costs less at 1 user; Smartsheet costs less from 5 to 10 users; Asana costs less from 25 users.
| Team size | Asana | Smartsheet |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | FreePersonal | $12/moPro |
| 5 users | $67/moStarter | $60/moPro |
| 10 users | $135/moStarter | $120/moPro |
| 25 users | $337/moStarter | $600/moBusiness |
| 50 users | $675/moStarter | $1,200/moBusiness |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Which One Should You Choose?
Why choose Asana
- Has a free plan (Smartsheet does not)
- Higher Ease of Use score (8/10 vs 6/10)
- Higher Integration score (8/10 vs 7/10)
- Better fit for freelancers (5/10 vs 2/10)
- Better fit for marketing teams (8/10 vs 6/10)
Why choose Smartsheet
- Lower estimated cost for 10 users: $120/mo vs $135/mo
- Higher Scalability score (9/10 vs 8/10)
- Higher Security score (9/10 vs 8/10)
Pros & Cons
Asana
Pros
- Starter includes unlimited automations, forms, and timeline views, which covers most team project needs without upgrading to Advanced.
- Unlimited free guests on paid plans let teams bring in clients and contractors without buying extra seats.
- Advanced connects to Salesforce, Tableau, and Power BI, so project data can feed existing reporting tools.
- Enterprise+ offers data residency, SIEM integration, and audit logs for regulated organisations.
- Reviews are consistently high, with Capterra showing 4.5 from more than 13,000 reviews.
Cons
- The free Personal plan now allows only 2 users, so most teams have to pay from the start.
- Portfolios, goals, and time tracking are only on Advanced, which costs more than double the Starter price.
- Seats are sold in blocks of 5, 10, 25, or 50 as teams grow, and AWS Marketplace reviewers have criticized these rigid user blocks.
- AI usage beyond the included allowances is billed per request, which makes costs harder to predict.
- A critical Gartner review from 2026 cited high enterprise pricing and limited workflow customization.
Smartsheet
Pros
- The spreadsheet grid feels familiar to Excel users and supports strong formulas across sheets.
- One sheet can be viewed as a grid, Gantt chart, board or calendar.
- Its compliance record is strong, including SOC 2, ISO 27001, ISO 42001, FedRAMP and HIPAA support under a BAA on Enterprise.
- Dashboards can be shared with stakeholders who cannot open the underlying sheets.
- Bi-directional Jira and Salesforce connectors plus a well-documented API suit larger IT estates.
Cons
- There is no free plan, and reviewers on Capterra repeatedly call pricing high and restrictive for small teams.
- The 2024 to 2025 move to paid Member licensing ended free collaborators and raised costs for many existing customers.
- Advanced automations are complex to set up, according to reviewers.
- Key capabilities such as Dynamic View, Data Shuttle and Resource Management are sold as extra-cost add-ons or held for top tiers.
- Some users report slow dashboards and performance problems on large sheets.
- Pro allows 250 automations per month and caps teams at 10 Members.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
Asana scores higher on our Project Management criteria: 6.9/10 against 6.8/10 for Smartsheet. The largest gap is in Ease of Use: 8/10 for Asana and 6/10 for Smartsheet.
Smartsheet costs less for 10 users: about $120/mo on its Pro plan, against about $135/mo on its Starter plan for Asana, billed monthly.
Asana has a free plan; Smartsheet does not list one.
Asana is the better fit for freelancers: we rate it 5/10 for them, against 2/10 for Smartsheet.
