Smartsheet and Airtable are two software-as-a-service (SaaS) options that are often used to manage projects or keep track of other data such as expenses or customer feedback. Each can integrate with other tools and be customized to unlock more capabilities and different types of uses. Both Smartsheet and Airtable can be considered basic project management (PM) tools as well as more robust and advanced operational tools. Read on to learn more Smartsheet vs Airtable to find which is best for your business.
Airtable vs. Smartsheet: At a Glance
Both Smartsheet and Airtable are excellent project management tools that can be customized to unlock advanced capabilities. Each caters to individuals and businesses that want a little bit more out of their PM tool than just keeping track of tasks. Smartsheet is best for those wanting more advanced project management features while Airtable is best suited for those who are looking to customize a complete solution.
Starting price $7 per user per month (billed annually) Free version available Yes (30 days)
Integrations available Skype, Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft Power BI, Slack and more
$7 per user per month (billed annually)
Yes (30 days)
Skype, Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft Power BI, Slack and more
Smartsheet is spreadsheet-based cloud software that aims to help teams plan, track and manage their projects. It offers an array of traditional project management tools in an easy-to-use interface that many people will find familiar. The tool offers a number of collaboration tools to help project managers and teams work efficiently on similar tasks and specific subtasks. Whether you’re looking for a simple or more robust project management tool, Smartsheet could potentially be the right solution. While it can work pretty well right out of the box, it also has a number of integration and customization options that can help take your project management to the next level.Smartsheet
Airtable
Starting price
$10
per user per month (billed annually)
Free version available
Yes (limited but forever)
Integrations available
Basecamp, Google Workspace, GitHub, Asana, Dropbox, Slack, Mailchimp and more
$10
per user per month (billed annually)
Yes (limited but forever)
Basecamp, Google Workspace, GitHub, Asana, Dropbox, Slack, Mailchimp and more
Airtable is a cloud-based solution that targets small to midsized businesses, individuals or smaller teams within a larger business. The product focuses on collecting, organizing and collaborating on specific data. The spreadsheet format for collecting and organizing the data is familiar to many and is easy to maneuver.
Where Airtable really shines is its ability to be customized to fit your needs. The software integrates with numerous other products as well as offers a huge variety of templates to choose from that have been built by the company and by Airtable’s large community. While it can be difficult to learn how to properly customize the software, once you do, it’s easy to use and a very powerful and satisfying tool to use.
- Large database and community of templates
- Easy to use, once you learn it
- Powerful customization and capabilities
- Less project management-specific features
- Learning curve to get the most out of it
How Smartsheet and Airtable Stack Up
| Smartsheet | Airtable | |
|---|---|---|
|
Starting Price
|
$7 per user per month with annual billing, or $9 per month with monthly billing
|
Free; $10 per user per month with annual billing, or $12 per month with monthly billing
|
|
Free Trial
|
30 days
|
Free forever plan
|
|
Project Management Features
|
Task Prioritization, Individual Assignment, Recurring Tasks, more robust PM features
|
Task Prioritization, Individual Assignment, Recurring Tasks
|
|
Drag and Drop
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Customization
|
Can customize sheets and the appearance of a form
|
Strong customization options that unlock more capabilities than sticking to a single sheet of data
|
|
Templates
|
Offer a number of pre-built templates and you can create your own
|
You can unlock the power of the Airtable community and access hundreds of templates
|
|
Customer Support
|
24/7 global phone support, excellent customer reviews
|
No phone support, will respond within one to two business days via email
|
Both Smartsheet and Airtable are strong project management options. Both offer free trials so you can play around with each tool to see which one might fit your needs a bit better. Each interface is intuitive, powerful and simple to use out of the box. Both offer drag-and-drop features and the basic capabilities of project management.
Smartsheet excels in customer service where you can get access to a live person via phone at any time of any day. This is huge compared to Airtable, which only offers email support. Plus, just about every customer review across the web speaks highly of the help they have been able to receive from that live support team.
On the other hand, Airtable excels at customization and the ability to get access to a template for just about any use case for the software. Airtable has a community of collaborators who are continually adding to its template database to fit everyone’s potential needs. If you want customization but don’t want to build something from scratch, then this is very tough to beat. It should be noted that Smartsheet also has some templates available but the database isn’t as large.
Bottom Line
Choosing the right software for you is going to depend on a number of factors, all unique to your own business or individual needs. Both Smartsheet and Airtable can be great tools that are helpful to a number of different use cases, and discovering the right software for your situation might take some time and effort trying each out before making a final decision.
With that said, Smartsheet is going to typically be a good fit for those who need a robust project management tool only. Anyone wanting advanced PM capabilities will find it to be a strong solution. Airtable, on the other hand, is a better fit for those needing to customize the software to fit their unique needs. Airtable can customize a solution that takes your data from collection to an organized data set that you can collaborate with and use.
Further reading: Explore more Airtable alternatives.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why do you need project management software?
Project management software helps you to plan, organize, budget and track the progress of a company project. It also unites a team around shared goals so all are working toward successful project completion. In dispersed teams, growing businesses or across multiple departments, this can be difficult to do without software people can join and access from their own devices wherever and whenever they work.
Does Airtable integrate with Smartsheet?
Yes, Airtable and Smartsheet can actually integrate together through the use of Zapier, which helps you send information back and forth. This is helpful for teams to work together on a single project if each uses one of the tools. Zapier can be connected and ready to go within a few minutes.
Is Airtable or Smartsheet better?
This is going to depend on a number of factors that are unique to you and your business. We find Airtable to be a better overall solution that will benefit the most people, businesses and situations.
What are some alternatives to Smartsheet and Airtable?
Depending on what you’re wanting to use the software for, there are a number of alternatives such as monday.com, Wrike and Zoho Projects. You can check out our article on the best project management software to learn about the best alternative options.
