Tool profile
Smartsheet: cost, fit and limits
Smartsheet is a work management and portfolio platform made by Smartsheet Inc. that organizes projects in spreadsheet-style sheets, boards and dashboards, with AI tools such as Smart Assist and Smart Columns. Portfolios roll up many projects for leaders. It is aimed at business teams and PMOs that already think in grids and forms.
What to know first
Smartsheet scales in layers. Pro and Business cover sheets, automation and AI for teams, but the portfolio layer starts at Enterprise, and Resource Management is an add-on without a printed price. That means a buyer who needs a true portfolio view will meet a quote, not a card form. The trust page is unusually specific about regions and about customer data not training third-party models.
Smartsheet at a glance
| Maker | Smartsheet Inc., United States |
|---|---|
| Free plan | Free trial only |
| Entry price | $9 per member per month (Pro, billed yearly) |
| API access | Yes |
| Category | Best AI Project Portfolio Management Software in 2026, rank 5 of 10 |
| Website | smartsheet.com |
Who Smartsheet is best for
Teams that already live in spreadsheets
Smartsheet keeps the grid as its base, so project managers who plan in Excel can move plans over without learning a new object model, and then add dashboards on top.
European buyers who need regional hosting
The trust page lists a choice of US, EU and Australia regions, with the EU environment on AWS in Germany and Ireland, which helps buyers who must keep project data in Europe.
Organizations with a written AI policy
Smartsheet states that customer data is not used to train third-party foundation models and that AI actions can be explained, audited and traced, which maps to common governance checklists.
Companies that want to connect external AI tools
Business and above can connect Smartsheet to outside AI tools through MCP-enabled integrations, so a team can query project data from an assistant it already approves.
Smartsheet plans and pricing
| Plan | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Pro | $12 monthly or $9 per member per month billed yearly | For new customers only, one to ten members, with the AI tools listed on the comparison table and no portfolio views. |
| Business | $24 monthly or $19 per member per month billed yearly | Three or more members, workload tracking, and MCP-enabled connections to outside AI tools. Resource Management can be added for a fee. |
| Enterprise | Custom quote, ten or more members | Includes Portfolios, with Advanced Portfolios as an add-on, plus Resource Management as an optional add-on. |
| Advanced Work Management | Custom quote | Includes Advanced Portfolios and is eligible for the Resource Management add-on. Pricing is set through a demo. |
Checked October 2026.
What Smartsheet does
- Portfolios
- Portfolios group sheets and projects for leadership roll-up and are available from Enterprise. Advanced Portfolios is a separate add-on on Enterprise and is included in Advanced Work Management, so check which one a use case needs.
- Smart Assist and Smart Columns
- The pricing page lists Smart Assist, Smart Columns, an AI dashboard builder, intelligent form fill, formula generation and data analysis. Conversational AI features are available even on the entry plan, which is unusual.
- Resource Management add-on
- Workload tracking is included from Business, but the fuller Resource Management product is a premium add-on for Business, Enterprise and Advanced Work Management. The page prints no price for it.
- Regional data choice
- Smartsheet Regions lets customers choose between US, EU and Australia, and a separate government region exists in AWS GovCloud. Region choice is therefore a contract topic rather than a technical afterthought.
- 30-day trial
- The page offers 30 days free with no credit card. The trial is long enough for a pilot portfolio, though portfolio features start at a tier that a trial may not show.
How Smartsheet handles your data
Smartsheet's trust page says customer data is not used to train third-party foundation models, that data is kept separate from other customers and that third parties may not train on it. It adds that every AI action or recommendation can be explained, audited and traced to its source. It lists SOC 2, ISO 27001, ISO 27701, ISO 42001 and FedRAMP, and data regions on AWS in the US, EU (Germany and Ireland) and Australia. The privacy policy says Smartsheet acts as a processor of customer content and was not clear on AI training, so retention of customer content beyond the contract was not checked.
Where Smartsheet falls short in practice
- Portfolio views are not in the mid tiers. Pro and Business have no Portfolios. A team that outgrows one project board has to move to a quoted Enterprise plan, so the $19 price says little about what a PMO will pay.
- Resource planning is a paid extra. Workload tracking helps spot overallocation, but capacity planning by role sits in the Resource Management add-on. Its price was not shown, so budgets need a demo before approval.
- Pro is closed to existing customers. The Pro plan is for new customers only and tops out at ten members. Teams that grow past that, or an existing account that wants Pro, will be moved to Business.
Works with
Alternatives to Smartsheet
Smartsheet: common questions
Which Smartsheet plan has Portfolios?
Portfolios are included in Enterprise and Advanced Work Management, and Advanced Portfolios is an add-on to Enterprise, as of November 2026. Pro and Business do not include them. Because Enterprise needs ten or more members and a quote, a small PMO should confirm the minimum before building around it.
Does Smartsheet train AI on customer data?
The trust page states that customer data is not used to train third-party foundation models and that third parties are never allowed to train on it. It does not say what Smartsheet does with data for its own models, so ask in writing whether any in-house training exists.
Is Resource Management included in Smartsheet?
No. Resource Management is a premium add-on that can be bought with Business, Enterprise and Advanced Work Management. Workload tracking, which shows availability and overallocation, is included from Business upward, so decide whether that lighter view covers your planners before paying for the add-on.
Can Smartsheet host my data in Europe?
The trust page lists AWS EU regions in Germany and Ireland, and Smartsheet Regions lets customers choose US, EU or Australia. Which plans can choose a region was not stated on the page, so check that your plan and your contract include it.
Can I connect ChatGPT or Claude to Smartsheet?
The pricing page says Business and above can connect Smartsheet to external AI tools through MCP-enabled integrations. It does not name which assistants are supported, so confirm the specific tool and the permissions it gets before turning it on for portfolio data.