Two big names in the project management software space. Which one is the best one for you? Wrike vs Smartsheet, let the battle begin!
Project management software has come a long way in recent times and with the plethora of options to choose from, having an objective look at some of the key players is important to make sure you pick the best fit for your team and organisation. In this blog, we want to give you that clarity by comparing some of the key features of both software so you can decide what suits your organisation best.
A Brief Overview
Wrike
Founded in 2006, Wrike is a project management software that focuses on assisting two key activities: project management and team collaboration. Through its simplistic interface, extended task management and collaboration tools and an impressive variety of integrations, Wrike has quickly become a prominent figure in the project management software space. They have particularly favourability in the agile project management space where users benefit from the in-built Kanban boards, customizable workflows and story mapping features.
Smartsheet
Smartsheets was founded in 2005 and, as the name would suggest, is a project management software with a user interface that is centred around “smart sheets” or smarter, elevated spreadsheets. With its extensive integration with Microsoft apps and services, Smartsheets quickly became a popular alternative to Microsoft Project. Its rather straightforward approach has gained traction for users that want a more simple and stripped down software that is not over bloated with features.
The Comparison
We would be reading all day if we went comparing every single feature and tool both software possess. For your convenience, we have identified seven key categories and capabilities that we believe are critical for assessing a project management software’s suitability: Usability, reporting and visualisation, collaboration, project planning, accessibility, integration, and pricing.
Let’s get started!
Wrike vs Smartsheet: Usability
While both Smartsheet and Wrike have relatively user-friendly and simple interfaces, Smartsheets intuitive spreadsheet-like format, a structure many are familiar with, allows users to make the most out of the software without much prior experience. On the other hand, Wrike does require some time to fully adapt and utilise to its full capacity.
Wrike vs Smartsheet: Reporting and visualisation
Wrike offers users five different view options (Gantt, Table, Timelog, Wrike, and Files) while Smartsheet only offers four (Calendar, Card, Gantt, Grid). Both Smartsheets and Wrike have real-time live reporting dashboard features that can visualise and summarise project progress at a single glance, however, the feature is not available on the free version of Wrike.
Exporting these visualisations into proper files and sharing them easily with external recipients is no problem for either software which helps users significantly cut down their reporting activities.
Wrike vs Smartsheet: Collaboration
Being geared towards Agile-based teams, Wrike comes with certain collaboration features that are best suited for that style of work. Wrike includes a real-time news feed feature that keeps teams in the loop constantly, a task and meeting prioritisation tool to make sure the most important agendas are discussed as well as a collaboration space that aims to significantly cut down internal team emails and over-communication.
While Smartsheets allows you to work through specified workspaces, they do not offer extensive tools that facilitate greater collaboration beyond general file sharing and reporting capabilities. You may require an external service to facilitate your full communication and collaboration needs.
Wrike vs Smartsheet: Project Planning
When it comes to project planning, time tracking is one of the most valuable tools to have in your software. Time tracking helps you visualise exactly where your project is in terms of schedule. Wrike has an inbuilt time tracking tool that integrates directly with its resource management tool to help you optimise your project. Smartsheet also has its own time-tracking tools, with predictive timesheets and real-time budget updates.
Wrike vs Smartsheet: Accessibility
Both Wrike and Smartsheet are available in desktop and mobile (for both iOS and Android) versions that give users real-time access to their app wherever they are. Both software also currently supports 8 languages – French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and English.
Wrike vs Smartsheet: Integrations
Both software has extensive integrations will all major apps, tools and software your teams may need. For example, both Wrike and Smartsheet have integrations with other enterprise systems such as Adobe, Microsoft, Google Drive, Salesforce and more. In addition, Wrike has an API that invites developers to create their own integrations to the service.
Have a look at Wrike’s full list of integrations here and have a look at Smartsheet integration list here. Make sure your important apps and services are included in those lists before selecting your software.
Wrike vs Smartsheet: Pricing
Sometimes pricing and pricing packages can be the most defining factor when picking project management software.
Smartsheet offer three subscription packages, starting from $7/month per user, with varying degrees of tools and features on offer for each version.
Wrike may take the lead here as it offers a free version alongside its three paid price packages. However, their cheapest option starts at $9.80/month per user.
The Conclusion
As you can see, both Wrike and Smartsheet are popular project management software for good reason and share many similarities in function and tools. Finding the right project management software is more than simply stacking up features and tools against each other, it’s about finding the tool that would best adapt to your practices and bring the most productivity to your team.
You need to consider factors such as pre-existing methodologies and practices, prior tools, and team culture to figure out which software is best for your team.
We believe Wrike is a particularly powerful tool for smaller teams that apply for iterative or Agile-based projects. With its Kanban boards, product roadmaps visualisations and custom workflows, your teams will not need additional third party applications to collaborate on their projects.
Smartsheet is well suited for more structured projects that would benefit from the spreadsheet structure. It is also well suited for bigger teams and organisations that might need cross-departmental collaboration tools and capabilities.
If you want to get some first-hand experience to make your decision, both Wrike and Smartsheet have free trials available on their websites.
The Alternative
What if you are a large organisation that applies Agile-based practices? You want the Agile-based features of Wrike but the interdepartmental collaboration capabilities of Smartsheet. Lucky for you, pmo365 fits the bill!
At pmo365, we build solutions that specifically address what you need, when you need them. Instead of throwing premade software at your problems, we build according to your unique context, practice and processes.
Some benefits of pmo365 include:
- Personalised and customized applications and solutions built for your specific needs
- Facilitate Agile-based practices through Azure DevOps and customised workflows
- Solutions built on your tenancy so you are always in control of your IP
- Integration with virtually any external database with Power Automate. Check out the full list of connectors here.
- Iterative deployment of your solution means we grow as you grow
- Consolidating all your project management activities onto a single platform to give you a single-source-of-truth.
- Transparent, stress-free and no lock-in pricing strategy that gives you the most flexibility and control over your solution. Forget calculating individual licensing fees and subscriptions.
If you want to find out more about how pmo365 can help get the best of both worlds, make sure to read more about our services here or talk directly to our PPM experts!
