Smartsheet Reviews

“helpful access review tracking”

Pros

This has been a reliable way for our company to stay on top of access reviews. It helps us confirm that people who still need access to internal tools don't end up getting deactivated by mistake.

Cons

Handling bulk approvals can be pretty tiring and time-consuming. I've had to review access for as many as 14 associates at once and when a single access point includes 10 or more variables, that can turn into 140+ clicks just to finish one review.

“Liked it”

Pros

Using it feels very simple which makes it especially useful as a check log. It's also really nice that multiple people can be working in it at the same time without getting in each other's way.

Cons

At times it can be a bit glitchy and there are moments when newly added updates don't show up right away unless the page is refreshed.

“Brilliant AI”

Pros

Picking this up was quick and using it has been genuinely exciting. I actually enjoy working in it. It feels like Excel on steroids and the AI is easily my favorite part. It's incredibly helpful whenever I get stuck or need a little extra guidance on how to build charts for my dashboards.

Cons

Honestly I do not have many complaints. My one small pet peeve is that you cannot color-highlight specific selected text within the sheets.

“decent custom dashboards”

Pros

One thing that worked well for me was the range of customization options especially when putting together executive dashboards. It also includes plenty of features that help with both internal teamwork and client collaboration which made it useful as a project management tool. The spreadsheet-style layout is a plus too since it feels familiar right away and doesn't really require much onboarding.

Cons

Pricing just doesn't feel justified to me. While it does offer some strong features, a lot of it still comes across as a dressed-up spreadsheet. Much of what I used the platform for could also be handled in a shared online Excel file.

“pricing changes are catastrophic”

Pros

Back in 2014, we chose this tool because it offered collaboration features that Excel simply didn't have at the time. The interface felt more polished, the overall UI/UX was better and it came across as adaptive to work with. For a while, the collaboration side of it served us well and the webform builders were also effective in the beginning.

Cons

For an organization mainly relying on it for Excel-style workflows and team collaboration, the pricing is very hard to justify when we are already paying for Microsoft 365. The recent overhaul of their subscriptions and categories has been devastating for our not-for-profit, taking us from about $600 a year to roughly $4,000. This comes after we have already built many of our business operations around it, including processes involving external suppliers. With an extremely tight IT budget, billing changes on this scale are disastrous especially when there is very little notice or time to move away. If this can hit a smaller organization this hard, I can only imagine how disruptive it would be for larger businesses that depend on it for critical systems.

“centralized workflows”

Pros

It is very simple to work with and has helped bring a lot of our workplace processes into one central hub. We use it for everything from calendars and requests to updates and tracking the work we're doing.

Cons

There was definitely a bit of a learning curve at the beginning when it came to understanding all the controls and what the platform could do. Once you spend some time with it and get the dashboards configured though, it starts to feel very manageable. It just takes a little while to catch up with the full range of features since there's a lot packed into it.

“dashboards are nice”

Pros

Quite effortlessly, it replaced my PowerPoint slides with dashboards which made things much more practical. I can also run reports across all of my projects every month and every week and that has been really valuable.

Cons

Using it collaboratively was harder than I expected. Compared with working on my own, it can feel a bit tiring when several people are involved.

“great for daily use”

Pros

Across our operations, it has become a core tool we rely on every day. We use it to track external vendor projects through task updates, issue hundreds of ePTWs (Electrical Permits To Work) each day across multiple facility clusters with automated workflows and approval logic and document and share daily shift handovers clearly so teams stay aligned. Its automation and integration features handle even complex processes really well.

Cons

Under heavier usage, the mobile app tend to run a bit slower. Performance can also dip when spreadsheets become especially complex.

“Awesome platform”

Pros

Working with a team remotely feels much more connected thanks to the sharing capabilities and the platform is simple to use while still offering plenty of other useful features.

Cons

The interface has a spreadsheet-like look so there is a bit of a learning curve at first. Also some automation options feel limited or still need manual workarounds.

“easy to use”

Pros

It feels a lot like working in a spreadsheet but with much more capability behind it. We use it to track clinical documentation workflows and vendor timelines and it's simple to share with both our internal teams and external partners.

Cons

Permissions setup can be a little tiring. At times, team members can't access sheets I expected them to have or they end up with edit permissions when they shouldn't.

“impressive document sharing hub”

Pros

Gives us a practical way to keep documents accessible whenever they need to be shared, signed or looked up again later.

Cons

At first, it can be a little confusing to understand where different documents are stored and how to get to them since that depends a lot on how each person organizes their setup. That said, this is not really a problem with the tool itself.

“project tracking done right”

Pros

Really shines when it comes to organizing projects and managing projects and tasks. It makes those parts of the job feel much more manageable.

Cons

A few parts of the software can feel a little tiring. Sometimes dealing with every tiny detail of project management can become a bit overwhelming.

“automations are good”

Pros

One thing that really helps is how its automation rules handle reminders and approvals which cuts down a lot on manual follow-ups for status updates. The Gantt timeline is also genuinely useful for tracking dependencies and the dates automatically adjust when tasks get moved around.

Cons

Performance can get pretty slow when working with heavily connected sheets or large sets of formulas. Also, complex cross-sheet references sometimes don't stay fully up to date.

“helps us alot”

Pros

Biggest benefits has been reusing the solutions I already built to support other teams with similar needs. Having those repeatable processes in place saves a huge amount of time and has let me help far more people and teams than I originally expected. The Smartsheet Community has also been really valuable for collaboration and peer support especially since it's available at no cost.

Cons

No downsides to report!

“recommended from me”

Pros

The more time I spend with it, the more ways I discover to use it. I rely on it for volunteer management, capacity tracking and even as a portfolio for graphic design work. The searchable, time-stamped setup is fantastic and overall it's the best.

Cons

Getting new people comfortable with it can be a lot since some are intimidated at first and worry it's going to feel like using Excel.

“my review...”

Pros

There are plenty of features that help keep to-do lists, projects and just about any other task organized and easy to track in a structured way.

Cons

It does take a bit of time to get comfortable with it and there's a learning curve when it comes to finding and using all the available options for the task you're trying to manage.

“custom dashboards save time”

Pros

Compared with juggling Excel, Word and OneDrive for the same work, it feels far more flexible and customizable. We're able to build designed reports and dashboards so we can quickly see exactly the information we need, without scrolling around, digging through files or setting up meetings just to get answers.

Cons

One limitation I keep running into is with sorting. Reports can be set to sort automatically but sheets still can't be configured the same way. That means we have to sort them manually or right-click and reset the sort filters every single time. I understand automatic sorting could create problems when multiple people are working with live data but it would still help a lot if the sort settings could at least be saved instead of being recreated each time.

“fantastic working”

Pros

It feels like a dynamic, collaborative spreadsheet built for team workflows and it goes well beyond basic sheets with forms, reports and dashboards. It's especially well suited for all the small details and moving parts that come with project management.

Cons

What I'd like to see is more functionality for saving presets when expanding or collapsing sections and applying filters. That said, the platform does so much already that it's possible the option exists and I just haven't come across it yet.

“collaborations done right”

Pros

The Gantt chart and the collaboration features have been the biggest highlights for me. The chart is especially useful because it clearly shows who should be working on what at any given time.

Cons

A minor annoyance is that the date setting can be a little glitchy at times. For instance, when I choose a specific date, it sometimes shifts it to the previous day. It's not a major problem though.

“useful automation”

Pros

Being cloud-based makes it very convenient to use and the platform feels extremely user-friendly overall. Its automation tools and tracking features are especially strong and make managing work much more efficient.

Cons

Lately, its licensing changes have made it far more expensive than it should be especially when some don't actually require a full subscription.