Our pick for most teams
90.7/ 100
- Price
- From $4/user/mo · $36/user/yr
- Free plan
- Up to 5 users, 5GB storage, 50 workflow executions/month (project count stated inconsistently: 3 vs 2)
Smartsheet vs Zoho Projects: Zoho Projects fits most teams of 5
Start here: Zoho Projects
Small to medium businesses and startups wanting a low-cost full-featured tool
47.1/ 100
- Price
- From $12/user/mo · $108/user/yr
- Free plan
- No free plan
Add more tools to this comparisonCompare a different set
Which one fits your team
- Checked 2026-10-14
- 2 sources
The score is worked out from the facts below. How we score tools. What we earn is not part of it.
Zoho Projects: who it fits and who it does not
- Good for
- Small to medium businesses and startups wanting a low-cost full-featured tool
- Teams of roughly 5-50 people
- Businesses already using Zoho products or Zoho One
- Not for
- Large enterprises with complex, high-budget projects
- Teams wanting a modern, highly intuitive interface
- Industries needing niche features such as crew management
- The catch
- Affordable and strong inside the Zoho ecosystem, but the interface feels dated and has a learning curve.
Data last verified: 2026-10-14
Smartsheet: who it fits and who it does not
- Good for
- Operations, marketing and PMO teams managing complex cross-functional projects
- Mid-sized and enterprise companies (construction, healthcare, IT)
- Spreadsheet-comfortable teams needing more automation and control
- Not for
- Freelancers, very small teams and early-stage startups
- Sales teams (CRM work feels clunky)
- Teams wanting plug-and-play simplicity
- The catch
- Spreadsheet-style work management made for larger companies, but setup isn't intuitive and advanced automation and reports take time to learn.
Data last verified: 2026-10-14
What each one costs over five years
Same team size, cheapest plan of each, paid monthly or yearly.
Zoho Projects
Five years for a team of 5, paid yearly: $900
On the Premium plan, at today's price. We do not assume a rise.
- Paid monthly, one year
- $240
- Paid yearly, one year
- $180
Paying yearly saves $60 a year (25%).
Change the number to see your own total. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Vendor pricing page · checked 2026-10-18Smartsheet
Five years for a team of 5, paid yearly: $2,700
On the Pro plan, at today's price. We do not assume a rise.
- Paid monthly, one year
- $720
- Paid yearly, one year
- $540
Paying yearly saves $180 a year (25%).
Change the number to see your own total. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Vendor pricing page · checked 2026-10-18The four facts that decide it
| Zoho Projects | Smartsheet | |
|---|---|---|
| Score out of 100 | 90.7 | 47.1 |
| Cheapest plan | Premium | Pro |
| Free plan | Up to 5 users, 5GB storage, 50 workflow executions/month (project count stated inconsistently: 3 vs 2) | No free plan |
| Works with (apps) | 5 | 9 |
Every figure comes from the vendor's own pages, listed under Sources.
Zoho Projects
- Score out of 100
- 90.7
- Cheapest plan
- Premium
- Free plan
- Up to 5 users, 5GB storage, 50 workflow executions/month (project count stated inconsistently: 3 vs 2)
- Works with (apps)
- 5
Smartsheet
- Score out of 100
- 47.1
- Cheapest plan
- Pro
- Free plan
- No free plan
- Works with (apps)
- 9
Feature by feature, on the same list
Open a row for the vendor's own wording and the page we read it on.
Task managementZoho Projects: Not verifiedSmartsheet: Yes
- Zoho Projects
- Not verified: the vendor gives no detail. Not verified
Board view (Kanban)Zoho Projects: YesSmartsheet: Not verified
- Smartsheet
- Not verified: the vendor gives no detail. Not verified
Timeline view (Gantt)Zoho Projects: YesSmartsheet: Yes
Time trackingZoho Projects: Not verifiedSmartsheet: Yes
- Zoho Projects
- Not verified: the vendor gives no detail. Not verified
- Smartsheet
- Time logs and timesheets on Premium; multi-user timesheets on Ultimate Vendor page · checked 2026-10-14
Recurring tasksZoho Projects: Not verifiedSmartsheet: Yes
- Zoho Projects
- Not verified: the vendor gives no detail. Not verified
File sharingZoho Projects: YesSmartsheet: Yes
- Zoho Projects
- File library: 20GB Pro, 1TB Business, unlimited Enterprise Vendor page · checked 2026-10-14
Invite clients or guestsZoho Projects: YesSmartsheet: Yes
- Smartsheet
- 10 read-only users on Enterprise; 100 on Ultimate; none on Free/Premium Vendor page · checked 2026-10-14
Does routine steps for youZoho Projects: YesSmartsheet: Yes
- Zoho Projects
- 250 triggers/month on Pro; unlimited on Business and above Vendor page · checked 2026-10-14
- Smartsheet
- Workflow actions: 50/month (Free), 5,000 (Premium), 50,000 (Enterprise) Vendor page · checked 2026-10-14
ReportingZoho Projects: YesSmartsheet: Yes
- Zoho Projects
- Dashboards and reports on all plans (Pro limited to 10 widgets and 1 sheet per report) Vendor page · checked 2026-10-14
- Smartsheet
- Basic reports on Free; portfolio dashboard on Enterprise; unlimited custom dashboards on Ultimate Vendor page · checked 2026-10-14
Mobile appZoho Projects: YesSmartsheet: Yes
What you risk by starting
Zoho Projects
Trial, refunds and getting your data out of Zoho Projects.
Smartsheet
Trial, refunds and getting your data out of Smartsheet.
- Getting your data out
- Sheets and reports can be exported to Excel and Google Sheets on all plans
- Vendor page · checked 2026-10-18
Where these facts come from
What to do next
- Work out the cost for your own team size
- Compare the runner-up, Smartsheet
- See how we score, so you can check our work
You can leave now. Nothing here expires.
Data last verified: 2026-10-14