People look for Smartsheet alternatives for a few predictable reasons. The pricing page lists member-based plans with minimums, the best features sit on the higher tier, and two of the four plans have no price at all. If you run an online store and your “project” is really a launch checklist, a supplier onboarding list, and a content calendar, you may be paying for more tool than you need. I teach ecommerce and high-ticket dropshipping at Ecommerce Paradise, I run my own stores, and my team builds stores for clients, so I judge every project tool by one number: what does it cost per year for a small team, and does it save more time than it costs?
Everything below comes from each vendor’s own pricing page as I reviewed it in October 2026. Where a page does not show a number, I write “not shown” instead of guessing, and where a vendor’s page conflicts with itself, I say so. Prices change often, so confirm them before you sign up. Some links in this article are affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you sign up, at no extra cost to you.
Before you pick a tool, decide what the work is. If the work is building a business, my guide to what high-ticket dropshipping is shows the model I teach, and the right tool is whatever keeps that checklist moving.
Smartsheet Alternatives at a Glance
| Tool | Starting price | Free option | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| monday.com | Basic at $9 per seat a month, billed annually | Free for up to 2 seats | Visual boards and simple automations |
| Zoho Projects | Paid plan prices not shown | Free for up to 5 users | Small teams that already use Zoho |
| Asana | Starter at $10.99 per user a month, billed annually | Free for up to 2 users | Task lists and timelines |
| ClickUp | Page shows two conflicting price sets | Free Forever plan | Teams that want many features in one tool |
If your biggest project is launching a store, skip the project software and let my team build it. We recruit 10 US supplier brands and set up the store for you. See the done-for-you store build →
What Smartsheet Costs and Where It Falls Short
The Smartsheet pricing page lists four plans. Pro shows two figures, $12 and $9 per member a month, for 1 to 10 members. Business shows $24 and $19 per member a month for 3 or more members. Enterprise and Advanced Work Management are custom priced.
The page does not label which figure is monthly and which is yearly, so I read the higher one as monthly billing and the lower one as yearly billing. That is my inference and not a stated fact. A 30-day free trial with no credit card is listed, and Pro is described as available only to new customers. No free forever plan is shown.
Where Smartsheet Gets Confusing
Pro is listed for 1 to 10 members and Business for 3 or more, so both cover teams of 3 to 10, and the page does not explain which to choose. The Enterprise card says 10 or more members while the comparison table says custom. The Business plan adds Timeline view, workload tracking, baselines, and guests, which Pro leaves out.
Limits matter too. Pro lists 250 automations a month and 20 GB of storage, while Business lists unlimited automations and 1 TB. Add-ons such as Dynamic View start from $125 a month and Data Shuttle from $100 a month, so the real cost of a feature-heavy setup can rise past the plan price.
How to Pick a Smartsheet Alternative
Start with the team size and the seats you will actually pay for. Per-seat pricing grows fast, so count the people who need to edit and treat everyone else as viewers where the tool allows it.
Next, list the three jobs you need the tool to do. For most store owners that is a task list, a calendar, and a simple dashboard. If a tool does those three jobs on its free plan, you can wait before paying.
Finally, check where your data lives and whether you can export it. A tool you cannot leave is a tool you rent. My guide to project management software for small ecommerce teams shows how I think about this for stores.
1. monday.com
monday.com is the option I would test first if you like visual boards. The pricing page lists a Free plan “free forever” for up to 2 seats, 3 boards, and 3 Docs. Basic is $9 per seat a month, Standard is $12, and Pro is $19, all billed annually.
Standard adds Timeline, Gantt, and Calendar views plus guest access, with 250 automation actions and 250 integration actions a month. Pro raises those to 25,000 and adds private boards and time tracking. Enterprise is custom priced, and the FAQ offers a 14-day free trial of Pro.
The page conflicts with itself in a few places. The Free plan says up to 2 seats while the FAQ says plans start from 3 users, and monthly prices are not shown, with the FAQ saying monthly billing is not discounted. My monday.com alternatives guide goes deeper. For a head-to-head, read my monday versus Asana comparison.
2. Zoho Projects
Zoho Projects is the pick if your team already uses other Zoho tools. The pricing page lists a Free plan “always free” for up to 5 users, with 3 projects and 5 GB of storage. Premium, Enterprise, and Ultimate are the paid plans, and a 15-day free trial with no credit card is listed.
The paid plan prices are not shown in the text I read. The page lists project templates, workflow actions, and storage by plan, for example 5,000 workflow actions a month on Premium and 50,000 on Enterprise. The Free plan says 3 projects in the tables, but the FAQ says a downgrade gives access to two projects, so confirm that before you rely on it.
Because I cannot give you a yearly cost, check the live page for your team size. The free tier is generous for a very small team, which makes it a low-risk first test.
3. Asana
Asana is a long-standing task and project tool. The pricing page lists Personal at $0 for 2 users, Starter at $10.99 per user a month, and Advanced at $24.99. The monthly prices appear in one section only: $13.49 for Starter and $30.49 for Advanced.
Starter adds timeline and Gantt views, reporting dashboards, forms, custom fields, and unlimited free guests. Advanced adds portfolios, goals, resource management, and approvals. Enterprise is custom priced. No free trial is mentioned on the page, which I note because competitors list one.
The page repeats its plan sections with slightly different details, so read the compare table before you decide. My Asana alternatives guide covers how it stacks up for stores.
4. ClickUp
ClickUp packs a lot into one tool. The pricing page shows two different price sets. One lists Unlimited at $10 monthly or $7 yearly and Business at $19 monthly or $12 yearly. The other lists Core at $9 yearly and Business at $17 yearly, with struck-through regular prices of $12 and $25.
Both sets list a Free Forever plan with unlimited tasks and free members, and limits such as 60 MB of storage and 5 Spaces. Automation limits conflict too, with Business listed at 5,000 in one place and 10,000 in another. I could not read the whole page, so confirm the numbers on the live site.
ClickUp suits someone who wants every feature in one tool and does not mind a longer setup. My ClickUp alternatives guide covers the trade-offs.
What Each Option Costs for a Team of 5
These figures are my own math from the listed prices, and they assume annual billing and five paid seats, so treat them as a rough guide and not a quote. Smartsheet Business at the lower figure of $19 is $95 a month, or $1,140 a year, and at $24 it is $120 a month, or $1,440 a year.
monday.com Standard at $12 is $60 a month, or $720 a year. Asana Starter at $10.99 is $54.95 a month, or $659.40 a year. ClickUp comes to $420 a year at the $7 figure or $540 at the $9 figure, and Zoho Projects cannot be priced from its page.
| Tool and plan | Per seat | 5 seats a month | 5 seats a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smartsheet Business (lower figure) | $19 | $95 | $1,140 |
| monday.com Standard | $12 | $60 | $720 |
| Asana Starter (annual) | $10.99 | $54.95 | $659.40 |
| ClickUp (two price sets) | $7 or $9 | $35 or $45 | $420 or $540 |
| Zoho Projects | Not shown | Not shown | Not shown |
Which Tool Fits Which Team
If you like visual boards and want a free tier to try, start with monday.com. If you already use Zoho, or you are a solo owner with a few helpers, try the Zoho Projects free plan. If your team lives in task lists and timelines, Asana is a steady option.
If you want the most features and can tolerate a longer setup, ClickUp is worth a look. If your needs are simple, any free plan above can carry you for a while, and I would not pay until the free limits start to cost you time.
Features Worth Paying For
Automations come first. A rule that assigns a task or posts a reminder saves real time, and the limits differ a lot: Smartsheet Pro lists 250 a month, monday.com Standard lists 250 automation actions, and Zoho Projects Premium lists 5,000 workflow actions.
Views come second. Timeline and Gantt views matter once a project has dependencies, and they sit on higher tiers in Smartsheet, monday.com, and Asana. Guests come third, since outside helpers such as freelancers need access without a full seat.
Using a Project Tool for a Store Launch
A store launch has the same steps every time: pick a niche, choose suppliers, build the store, set up email, and start ads. My high-ticket niches list covers the first step. My guide to finding suppliers for high-ticket products covers the second.
Make one board with those steps, assign owners, and review it weekly. You do not need an enterprise tool for that, and a free plan is often enough to prove the habit before you pay.
A Simple 30-Day Test Plan
Pick one tool and use its free plan or trial. In week one, move one real project into it and invite the one or two people who work on it. In week two, set up one automation and one view, and see whether anyone uses them.
At the end of the month, count the hours the tool saved and the dollars it costs. Cancel any trial before it converts, and export your data before you drop a tool.
Costs to Watch as You Grow
The first cost is the seat count, because per-seat plans scale with every person you add. The second cost is the plan jump, such as Smartsheet Pro to Business or monday.com Standard to Pro. The third cost is add-ons, such as Smartsheet’s Dynamic View from $125 a month.
The fourth cost is switching later. Move early, while your data is small, and keep a copy of your projects in a format you can open anywhere.
Moving Away From Smartsheet Safely
Do not cancel on the day you start something new. Export your sheets, reports, and attachments, and check which automations you will need to rebuild. Keep the old account until your first clean month.
Rebuild your most-used project first and test it with the people who use it daily. If something is missing, you will find out while you still have the old tool as a fallback.
When Smartsheet Is Still the Right Pick
Smartsheet may still be the right pick if your team works in spreadsheet-style sheets and needs features such as baselines, workload tracking, and reports on the Business plan. The 30-day trial lets you test that with no credit card.
If most of your work fits that description, test the numbers before you switch. A tool that fits how your team works is worth more than a cheaper one that does not.
Hiring Help to Run Your Projects
Projects run on repeatable tasks like status updates, task creation, and reminders. A virtual assistant from OnlineJobs.ph can handle those from a short written guide. Write your standards first, then hand the work over.
For a one-off job such as a template or a logo, a freelancer on Fiverr can save you time. Share access carefully and remove it when the job ends.
Common Mistakes With Project Tools
The first mistake is paying for seats nobody uses. The second mistake is judging a tool by its feature list and skipping the free trial, since a tool you do not open is a wasted subscription.
The third mistake is starting before the business exists on paper. If you have not formed your company, read my guide to business formation for high-ticket dropshipping. To file an LLC quickly, Bizee is one option I recommend.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best alternative to Smartsheet?
It depends on your team. For visual boards and a free tier, start with monday.com, and for a team already on Zoho, try Zoho Projects. For task lists and timelines, Asana is a steady choice.
How much does Smartsheet cost?
The pricing page lists Pro at $12 and $9 per member a month and Business at $24 and $19, without labeling which figure is monthly. Enterprise and Advanced Work Management are custom priced.
Is there a free alternative to Smartsheet?
Yes. monday.com lists a free plan for up to 2 seats, Zoho Projects for up to 5 users, Asana for 2 users, and ClickUp lists a Free Forever plan.
Does Smartsheet have a free plan?
No free forever plan is shown. The page lists a 30-day free trial with no credit card.
Do I need project management software to launch a store?
Not always. A simple checklist can carry a launch, and if you want the launch handled for you, my done-for-you build sets up the store and suppliers.
Final Verdict on Smartsheet Alternatives
monday.com is the pick for visual boards, Zoho Projects is the pick for a very small team or a Zoho user, Asana is the pick for task lists, and ClickUp is the pick if you want many features in one tool. Smartsheet is worth keeping if your team already works in sheets and needs the Business features.
Start with a free plan or trial, confirm the current price on each live page, and price the full seat count. Then put your attention on the work, because no tool can fix a project nobody owns.
Want a high-ticket store with the products, suppliers, and pages already set up? Let my team build it for you. Get your store built →
Prefer to learn the model yourself? Start with my free mini course, or go deeper in the masterclass and coaching. Free mini course → Masterclass → Coaching →
Related Articles
If you found this useful, these guides go deeper on related topics:
- monday.com Alternatives: 5 Project Management Tools Compared for Store Owners (2026)
- ClickUp Alternatives: 5 Project Management Tools Compared for Store Owners (2026)
- Best Asana Alternatives in 2026: 4 Project Management Tools Compared by Price, Free Plans and Fit
- 5 Best Project Management Software for Small Ecommerce Teams in 2026
- Best Simple Project Management Tools for Small Teams in 2026
Trevor Fenner is an ecommerce entrepreneur and world traveler from Seattle, Washington, and the founder of Ecommerce Paradise, a platform focused on helping entrepreneurs build and scale profitable high-ticket ecommerce and dropshipping businesses. With over a decade of hands-on experience, Trevor specializes in high-ticket dropshipping strategy, niche and product selection, supplier recruiting and onboarding, Google & Bing Shopping ads, ecommerce SEO, and systems-driven automation and scaling. Through Ecommerce Paradise, he provides free education via in-depth guides like How to Start High-Ticket Dropshipping, advanced training through the High-Ticket Dropshipping Masterclass, and fully done-for-you turnkey ecommerce services for entrepreneurs who want a faster, more hands-off path to growth. Trevor is known for emphasizing sustainable, real-world ecommerce models over hype-driven tactics, helping store owners build scalable, sellable, and location-independent brands.
He maintains homes in Seattle and Bali, spends most of the year overseas, and usually returns to Seattle for about a month each summer.
