DeskTime vs SmartSuite Comparison

Why choose DeskTime

• Lower estimated cost for 10 users: $70/mo vs $200/mo
• Higher Cost score (8/10 vs 6/10)
• Higher Ease of Use score (8/10 vs 7/10)
• Better fit for small business (8/10 vs 6/10)
• Better fit for startups (6/10 vs 4/10)

Why choose SmartSuite

• Higher Customization score (9/10 vs 5/10)
• Higher Integration score (7/10 vs 6/10)
• Better fit for enterprise (7/10 vs 5/10)

DeskTime

Pros

• Tracking runs automatically in the background, so staff do not have to start or stop timers, which reviewers on G2 cite most often.
• ISO 27001 and ISO 27701 certification, plus EU-based operation, helps buyers who must comply with GDPR.
• Project time tracking calculates costs from hourly rates, which helps agencies bill clients.
• Premium combines shift scheduling and an absence calendar with time tracking, so these do not need a separate tool.
• Per-user pricing starts at about 6.42 USD a month on annual billing, which is low for this category.

Cons

• Reviewers describe the URL tracking and screenshots as intrusive, and these features may need a legal basis in some jurisdictions.
• Capterra and G2 users report instability, such as tracking stopping or activity being marked as neutral.
• It has no Kanban boards, Gantt charts or task management of its own, so it depends on tools like Jira, Asana or Trello.
• Reviewers say time spent in meetings and offline work are tracked poorly.
• Screenshots and the API are only on Premium.

SmartSuite

Pros

• The same records can be shown as grid, Kanban, Gantt, timeline, calendar, map and dashboard views without duplicating data.
• Its compliance coverage is unusually strong for the category, with ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA and GDPR audits plus a choice of US or EU data residency.
• Read-only users, commenters and form submitters are free, which lowers the cost of involving stakeholders.
• It ships more than 200 templates and an AI solution builder to speed up setup.
• Reviewers describe the support team as responsive.

Cons

• Team, Professional and Enterprise carry 3-, 5- and 25-seat minimums, and there is no free plan.
• The Team plan allows only 5,000 records per solution, and automation runs plus API calls are hard-capped each month.
• SAML SSO and SCIM are available only on Enterprise and Signature plans.
• There is no team chat or whiteboard, and external access is limited to read-only shared views.
• Reviewers say complex workflows and large data imports take real setup effort, and there are no native desktop apps.