Google Sheets
Smartsheet
| Feature | Google Sheets | Smartsheet |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $6/mo | Free / from $9/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.4 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Best For | teams, students, startups, google-workspace-users | enterprise, project-managers, operations-teams, it-teams |
| Founded | 2006 | 2005 |
| Formulas | ✓ | ✗ |
| Pivot Tables | ✓ | ✗ |
| Charts | ✓ | ✗ |
| Macros | ✓ | ✗ |
| Add Ons | ✓ | ✗ |
| Real Time Collaboration | ✓ | ✗ |
| Sheets | ✗ | ✓ |
| Gantt Charts | ✗ | ✓ |
| Automation | ✗ | ✓ |
| Dashboards | ✗ | ✓ |
| Forms | ✗ | ✓ |
| Resource Management | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Google Sheets Pros
- Free
- Real-time collaboration
- Extensive add-ons
- Google ecosystem
✗ Google Sheets Cons
- Slower with large datasets
- Fewer advanced features than Excel
- Formatting limitations
✓ Smartsheet Pros
- Familiar spreadsheet interface
- Powerful automation
- Enterprise-grade
- Good dashboards
✗ Smartsheet Cons
- Can be confusing
- Expensive for small teams
- Learning curve
The Verdict
Google Sheets is built for teams and students, with a focus on formulas and pivot-tables. Smartsheet targets enterprise and project managers and leads with sheets and gantt-charts.
Pricing is close: Google Sheets starts at $6/mo versus $9/mo for Smartsheet — not a deciding factor on its own.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.
