In this SmartSuite vs ClickUp comparison, I will show you the key differences between these two project management software. I will compare ClickUp to SmartSuite based on features, pricing, user interfaces, my experience, and pros and cons.

I spent numerous hours with both project management tools, and I am here to share the benefits and limitations of each tool to ensure you make the right choice.

Now, let’s dive into the side-by-side comparison of SmartSuite vs ClickUp!

My ratings: SmartSuite vs ClickUp

Key differences between SmartSuite and ClickUp

Here is a short overview of the key differences I found in the SmartSuite vs ClickUp showdown:

What is SmartSuite?

SmartSuite is a collaborative work management platform that helps teams deliver projects, run more efficient processes, and streamline workflows. It has a fresh design compared to the typical project management software.

SmartSuite has a mobile version for iOS and Android devices as well, so you can track your projects anywhere.

What is ClickUp?

ClickUp is one of the most comprehensive project management platforms on the market. It is a project management software designed for teams to help them organize tasks, collaborate effectively, and manage multiple projects.

It offers a range of features, including task assignments, goal tracking, time tracking, document sharing, and integrations with other tools, making it suitable for various workflows. ClickUp allows users to customize their workspace with numerous views, such as lists, boards, or calendars, to effectively track projects and tasks.

Overall, ClickUp is a popular option for project management and to streamline work processes and improve team productivity.

Comparison: SmartSuite vs ClickUp

First, I will show you the features of both project management tools one by one. Second, I will guide you through their user interfaces, integration options, and pricing. Lastly, I will show you the pros and cons of SmartSuite and ClickUp and their alternatives and reveal my pick.

Key features

Let’s start the SmartSuite vs ClickUp review with the key features of SmartSuite!

SmartSuite’s features

Workspace

SmartSuite allows users to create and manage multiple workspaces. To select a different workspace, you only need to use the company name dropdown menu on the home page and select another one.

Once you enter your workspace, you can easily select the projects (solutions) you want to work on.

This project management software uses a different structure than others. In your workspaces, you will find your solutions. So, the workspaces are collections of different solutions. A solution can be anything from a table, records, or projects.

Under the solutions, you can access the tables. The tables include different records, which are individual entries. In the records, you have fields that store specific data about your project.

Let’s see the project management tools of SmartSuite!

Project management tools

SmartSuite implemented a drag-and-drop function, which works smoothly. During my SmartSuite review, I had a feeling that it was an upgraded and user-friendly Excel when I used its tables or sort options.

This work management tool offers numerous view options for your projects and workflows. If you click on the “Create New View” tab, you will access many view types.

It has Gantt charts, Kanban boards, a timeline, and a dashboard view, so you can easily track progress and identify bottlenecks. The dashboard view is especially efficient for proper resource management within your team, as you can get a look at your team members’ capacity.

What I particularly enjoyed is the tools you can use to display, sort, filter, and group information. They really went into the details to manage your databases with the highest efficiency. Such capabilities make SmartSuite an ideal solution to not only manage your projects, but also company-wide databases.

On the left-hand side, you can access the view options. You can easily customize it with SmartSuite’s drag-and-drop function.

Overall, SmartSuite’s key features are great for teams to manage their projects and data in an organized way. People who love Excel will definitely enjoy SmartSuite’s solutions.

Let’s see the task management features!

Task management features

If you remember the structure of SmartSuite, records are basically the tasks. With SmartSuite, you can add due dates, assignees, status, and many other parameters for your tasks. However, there are way more options when it comes to task management.

You can add custom fields to your tasks so you can customize them in-depth. For example, you can insert time-tracking logs, formulas, addresses, and many others for each task.

An additional tool that I found useful during my SmartSuite review is the color codes. Using SmartSuite’s color codes, you can get a quick look at how the projects are going.

Ultimately, SmartSuite offers a wide range of customization options for your task management. After reviewing +15 project management software, I think there is no other tool that has the same level of personalization options for tasks.

Templates

If you click on “Add solutions,” you can select the templates. SmartSuite offers many templates for teams and workflows. I tried a couple of templates, and I was quite satisfied- not only with their numbers but also their quality.

After you insert the template you want to use, you can easily personalize its parameters and build up your projects and databases.

Let’s take a look at the team collaboration features!

Team collaboration features

Real-time collaboration tools are the heart of every project management tool. SmartSuite did not let me down in this.

Using SmartSuite, multiple team members can view and edit the projects at the same time. Also, you can see other team members where they work exactly at the table or records. I appreciated the option to send a link to any page, record, or report as an email attachment.

If you open the member directory, you can invite team members and add teams. This team collaboration feature provides an overview of who is online, including basic data about their role, interests, skills, and location. You can reach out to them no matter where they are working.

Essentially, team members can create profiles, and SmartSuite allows them to share the information they want about themself using the member directory.

If you click on the notifications, you can access the unread comments, mentions, and tasks assigned to you. It is a useful tool for getting real-time updates about the tasks and projects you are involved in.

Permissions and roles

Let’s talk about permission and roles. These help you make your data secure and accessible to the people who want to work with it. SmartSuite has two levels of permissions.

Role-based access determines the maximum permission level that can be assigned to you or your team members. You can find this in the settings menu under your workspace information.

However, you can also provide people with guest access, so they can view the records that you assigned to them. The number of guest accesses depends on the subscription.

Furthermore, you can add solution permissions for your team members. With this type of permission, you can control who can view, create, modify, or delete records in your solutions (i.e., projects).

During my SmartSuite review, I also checked the workflow automation features, which are key aspects for many of you. Let’s see what I found!

Automation

With SmartSuite, you can create workflow automation to accelerate your work by eliminating manual steps and repetitive tasks. To access the workflow automation, just click on the top of the solution you entered and select this option.

It is very smooth to set up automated workflows. It follows the “when and then” logic, and you can add further conditions. You can create automation for events like creating or updating records, submitting forms, and more.

Thanks to SmartSuite’s email integration with Outlook and Gmail, you can set up workflow automation for events when you receive an email.

ClickUp’s features

Let’s check ClickUp’s features now!

Central hub

Whenever you enter into your ClickUp account, it will take you to the homepage that serves as a central hub and includes your custom dashboards. Here, you can manage your cards, which allows you to customize what you want to see in your central hub.

For example, I have a calendar view, a card showing the task assigned to me, my recent activities in ClickUp, and more. You can easily drag and drop these cards, leaving the most crucial stuff at the top of your homepage.

It’s time to look at the key project and task management tools!

A comprehensive project management software

During my ClickUp review, I put a huge emphasis on how it works both as a project management software and a task management app. Let’s start with the project management tools!

Similarly to your home page, you can move, add, and remove cards, so your dashboard view will only concentrate on the workflows that matter the most to you. Personally, I used the default setup for my cards, as it shows all the key information about my tasks.

Since I work alone, there is not much of a breakdown in terms of assignees. However, it still shows the information I need to track the project’s progress.

I discovered that during my ClickUp review, there are many other project view options from which you can choose. Just click on the “+ View” icon, and you will see numerous other view options like list, Kanban board, calendar, or Gantt chart views.

Each view has its advantages. For example, when using the list view, you can filter on status, assignees, priorities, tasks, due dates, or task types. Or, with a Gantt chart, you can filter on periods.

I know that resource allocation tools are critical for many of you managing teams. To access the relevant metrics, you can select the workload, box, and team views. With these views, you can get a quick understanding of who has free capacity and who is overcommitted, so you can optimize resource utilization and capacity planning in your team.

Based on my experience, ClickUp has easy-to-use work management tools that cover all the information you need for efficient resource management.

Moreover, if you click on the customize tab, you can further personalize your views and choose from layout options, filters, permissions, and more.

But let’s face the truth – putting together complex projects takes time. Fortunately, ClickUp offers some templates that you can access even in the free plan.

Overall, I was satisfied with the project management tools during my ClickUp review. Now, it is time to check the task management tools!

Task management tools

No matter if you are in your projects or space, you can create new tasks with a click. If you click on the add task on the right side, you can add a new task.

When creating a task, you can add descriptions and sub-tasks and select priority levels, assignees, due dates, tags, and reminders. It is super easy.

Similarly to the projects, you can use templates for your tasks. When it comes to task templates, ClickUp offers different templates for different teams. Once you have added a template, you can make the changes you want and use it later.

After you create a task, there are other options that you can use for efficient task management. ClickUp allows you to attach files, write comments, add relationships, and more.

To summarize the task management features, I think ClickUp has all the tools you need to track task progress.

ClickUp permissions

You can easily share your workspaces or projects with others. If using the free plan, you can not access permission levels. This means that if people join, they can edit and create elements.

If choosing the paid plans, you can choose permission levels for your team members. With the view-only permission, users can only read the content. However, you can give them comment-level permission, which allows them to post and reply to comments.

If you add them to the edit level of permission, they can share and make changes, but it is not possible to delete items. Giving them full access, they can create, edit, delete, and share items with others.

Collaboration tools

In addition to assigning tasks and sharing projects and workspaces with others, ClickUp has some powerful collaboration tools for teams.

Whiteboards

The whiteboard is a useful tool, particularly for remote teams. On the right side, you see who is currently working on the same project and show the cursor movements.

ClickUp allows you to drag and drop all parts of the elements and move them around. On the button, you can choose from numerous options depending on what you want to insert on the whiteboard.

For instance, you can insert items like tasks and documents, but you can draw and add sticky notes, images, shapes, and more.

Ultimately, I enjoyed using the whiteboard during my ClickUp review. There was only one issue I experienced: ClickUp was quite slow sometimes when I opened the whiteboard. It is an easy-to-use tool designed for agile teams and is also useful for brainstorming ideas.

Chat

ClickUp offers a chat feature as well to enhance team communication. It helps to centralize their communication, project management, task management, and other workflows into one single place.

Utilizing ClickUp’s chat tool, you can create tasks directly from messages and easily share documents. So, it could be a useful tool for small teams, such as those that do not want to invest in project management software and team communication apps at the same time.

Collaborative Docs

Docs offer a great way to take notes, create company wikis, knowledge bases, and more. So, it works like a note-taking app and information management tool.

You can share documents with your team members so you can edit those in real-time. This is one of the most helpful collaboration features of ClickUp, as you can build numerous types of documents together.

Its writing system works similarly to Notion or Coda. When you hit the splash, you can add different types of items to your document, such as tables, buttons, embed bookmarks, etc.

Furthermore, ClickUp offers templates for your documents, which makes it easy to create new ones quickly. Similarly to other templates for projects or tasks, you can find the templates categorized and personalized for each team.

It is also great that you can smoothly move and organize your documents. If you drag one of your pages and drop it on another page, ClickUp will create a sub-page.

Automation features

It was not easy to find the automation options, but after a short research, I managed to find them. If you go to your spaces on the left and hit on it, there will be a tab that says space settings, and you can check the automation there.

ClickUp uses “when” and “then” logic when creating automations. You can create automation for actions related to task management, communication, dates, and more.

I was pleased during my ClickUp review that it also has templates for automation. Honestly, I just do not like setting up rules and testing, so the templates make it easier for people like me.

For example, you can create an automation to move the the parent task to the next phase once all the sub-tasks are completed, but there are great automation for Calendly or Google Calendar as well.

You can set rules for nearly anything, and ultimately, ClikcUp’s feature helps you to automate repetitive tasks related to your projects.

AI assistant

If choosing the paid plans of ClickUp, you can access its AI feature called ClickUp Brain. You can ask questions about your projects, tasks, and documents, and it will give you answers pretty fast.

Moreover, there are many other use cases on how you can implement ClickUp Brain into your daily workflows. It can help you to automatically transcribe meetings recorded by ClickUp, check your spelling, and accelerate other workflows like creating tables or content.

All in all, ClickUp’s AI tool is a good addition to this project management software and helps team members further improve their effectiveness and productivity.

Time tracking tools

ClickUp has a native time-tracking tool to track how much time you spend on your tasks. You can record your time from your desktop, mobile, or web browser as well.

Using time tracking with the timesheet tool, you can get some insights about your time management and that of your team members. It is also cool that you can filter on specific projects and workflows and build customized reports.

Overall, ClickUp has quite advanced time-tracking tools compared to many other project management software. These time-tracking features help you to improve your team management, and by utilizing these tools with the resource management features, you can get a full overview of your team’s workload.

AI note-taker for meetings

ClickUp also offers an AI note-taker feature for your online meetings on Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet. It automatically transcribes and summarizes your calls, allowing you to stay present during meetings.

What makes ClickUp an especially powerful solution is that it automatically turns every action item from your calls into a trackable task in your workspace. Additionally, it can automatically post summaries and action items in your chat channels.

With the AI note-taker feature, ClickUp made a massive step toward becoming an all-in-one app for organizations and not only a project management software.

User interface

Now, let’s take a look at both SmartSuite’s and ClickUp’s user interfaces!

SmartSuite’s user interface

SmartSuite has an intuitive and user-friendly interface and follows a structure different from most project management software. But once you understand its logic, it will be easy to find the tools you need.

That said, SmartSuite has a learning curve. It took time for me to understand what I could and could not do with SmartSuite.

ClickUp’s user interface

ClickUp has a clean user interface. You can access your projects, documents, and whiteboards on the left with a few clicks. On the right top, you can see some additional tools like reminders, recording, and notepad.

Since ClickUp has numerous additional tools compared to many other project management software, it might have a slightly longer learning curve. For me, it was a great help that it has a search bar, so every time I did not find a feature like the time tracking tools, it just helped me to locate them.

Integrations

It is time to check the integration options in the ClickUp vs SmartSuite battle!

SmartSuite’s integrations

SmartSuite offers some native integrations, so you can connect this work management tool with Google Drive, Salesforce, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Hubspot, and more.

In addition, you can connect SmartSuite with Zapier, which allows you to access an additional +7,000 third-party apps.

ClickUp’s integrations

ClickUp is quite massive in terms of integration options. Thanks to its Zapier integration, you can connect ClickUp with over 7,000 third-party apps, including Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Google Calendar.

Pricing

Here, I will show you both productivity apps’ pricing models to see which one is better in the ClickUp vs SmartSuite comparison.

SmartSuite’s pricing

Let’s see what I found during my ClickUp vs SmartSuite review when it comes to pricing.

Free plan

Using the Free plan, a maximum of three users and one guest user can utilize SmartSuite. With the free version, you can create five solutions and have 1,000 records per solution. Also, you will access 100MB of file storage, a 14-day recycle bin, and activity history.

When I looked at the features included in the Free Plan, I was surprised. SmartSuite’s free version has numerous tools you can use for free.

You can access all the real-time collaboration tools, many project view options, basic permissions, workflow automation, and all the task management features. However, you can use SmartSuite’s email integration, and some of the features have limits.

Overall, SmartSuite has an outstanding Free plan compared to other project management tools.

Team Plan

The Team plan is $12 per user per month if you choose the yearly billing. If you want to have monthly billing, it is $15 per user per month.

Using SmartSuite’s Team plan, you can have unlimited users, one quest user per paid user, unlimited solutions, 5,000 records per solution and table. You will access a 1-year activity history and a 30-day recycle bin.

This plan covers almost all the view options except the resource management view and the folders. You can utilize all the collaboration features and get more extensive workflow automation.

Based on my experience, the Teams plan is ideal for small businesses.

No matter which paid plans you want to try, you will get a 14-day free trial, so you can make sure that SmartSuite is the best software for you.

Professional plan

If you opt for the Professional plan, it will cost you $30 per user per month when choosing the annual billing. In the case of monthly billing, it is $34 per user per month.

The Professional plan has all the features included in the Team plan, plus 100,000 records per solution, 100GB of file storage, and a 45-day recycle bin. With this plan, you will access all the view options, email integration, and more advanced permissions.

The Professional plan was designed for small and mid-sized businesses that need more advanced permissions and higher limits on the features.

Enterprise plan

Furthermore, SmartSuite offers an Enterprise plan for organizations that need advanced features, security, and support. It is $45 per user per month in the case of annual billing. If you want to choose the monthly billing, the Enterprise plan is $50 per user per month.

Compared to the Professional plan, it has more advanced security features, and you will get a dedicated customer success manager.

Signature plan

Finally, SmartSuite has a Signature plan that offers full flexibility to customize features, usage limits, and more. You need to contact their sales team for this.

ClickUp’s pricing

ClickUp offers free and three paid plans. Let’s check them closer!

Free Forever Plan

ClickUp has a robust free plan. The free version covers 100MB storage, unlimited tasks, unlimited free plan members, two-factor authentication, and numerous project views. However, the list of features you see in the picture is not full.

With the free plan, you can also use time-tracking tools, automation, and many collaboration tools. Basically, you can access all the features I show you in this ClickUp review, except for its AI tool.

Considering the features included in the free plan, it is ideal for professionals or personal use.

Unlimited Plan

The Unlimited plan covers all the features in the free version, plus you will access unlimited storage, integrations, dashboards, chat messages, and others. This plan costs you $7 monthly if choosing the yearly billing. However, if you choose the monthly billing, it is $10 per user per month.

The Unlimited plan is an excellent choice for small teams. If we compare it with other project management software’s pricing, I would say they offer a fair price.

Business Plan

ClickUp’s Business plan is $12 per user if you opt for the yearly plan. Alternatively, if you choose the monthly billing, it is $19 per user.

This plan includes all the advanced tools that even larger businesses need. For example, timesheets, workload management features, advanced time tracking, and automation.

ClickUp designed this plan for mid-sized businesses.

Enterprise Plan

Lastly, ClickUp offers an Enterprise plan for large businesses as well. Nevertheless, they apply customized pricing here.

Related article: ClickUp Pricing 2025 | Why Is EVERYONE Choosing It?

My experience with SmartSuite

What I realized first during my testing was SmartSuite’s performance. It is super fast and has almost zero loading time.

I loved how they implemented this Excel-like approach when working with tables. You can easily link records to each other and save time with this solution.

The reason why I think it is one of the best software for teams is the level of focus they put on the permission levels. It has all the options you need to control who can access your data and projects.

During my SmartSuite review, I started to feel like it is more than just a project management software. It is a combination of a project and data management software. It combines aspects of databases, spreadsheets, and project visualization to manage your workflows.

Overall, SmartSuite was a huge surprise for me, and I think it is definitely among the top project management tools when it comes to work management.

My experience with ClickUp

Overall, I had a pleasant experience during my ClickUp review. Although I found some glitches and encountered some performance issues, I think it is a great project management app.

It is great that they have a generous free plan, and you can access numerous features, even collaboration tools, for free.

At first, ClickUp might be overwhelming since it has many features. However, there is a lot of content and tutorials on the web, such as ClickUp University, that can help you master this productivity app quickly.

SmartSuite’s pros and cons

At this point of my SmartSuite vs ClickUp review, let’s take a look at SmartSuite’s pros and cons!

SmartSuite’s pros

First, SmartSuite has a generous free plan that includes numerous advanced features. I think it has one of the most extensive free versions I’ve tried.

Secondly, SmartSuite is not only a project management software but a data management tool as well, and it fantastically combines spreadsheets with other project management tools.

Moreover, I loved the level of detail of the permissions and roles. You can fully customize who can access your projects with this feature.

Lastly, SmartSuite has many pre-built templates for marketing campaigns, product development, etc., that you can use to create projects faster.

SmartSuite’s cons

My only con was SmartSuite’s mobile app. It was quite slow, and it still has some bugs. However, the good news is that SmartSuite’s team regularly launches new updates to improve the experience and broaden its features.

Clickup’s pros and cons

Considering all the factors, let’s summarize the pros and cons I discovered during my SmartSuite vs ClickUp review!

ClickUp’s pros

First, I appreciate that ClickUp has a generous free plan. It is great that you can invite your team members and access numerous tools for free, so you have a chance to see whether this is the right project management platform for you.

Furthermore, ClickUp offers numerous features to manage projects and tasks. I think ClickUp is very solid in terms of features. It has many advanced tools for time tracking, visualizing projects, and, ultimately, managing projects with high efficiency.

It is also awesome that you can integrate ClickUp with many third-party apps. And this support is more valuable when you implement automation.

I love that you can create customized dashboards so you can track key projects and tasks more easily.

Lastly, ClickUp has really good collaboration tools. Its whiteboards, collaborative docs, and other collaboration features make ClickUp an ideal project management software for teams.

ClickUp’s cons

When it comes to the cons of ClickUp, the first issue I encountered was that this project management platform was slow sometimes. I particularly had this issue more time when using the whiteboards.

Second, its mobile app still has bugs and is slow many times. Don’t get me wrong – it is great that ClickUp has a mobile version as well, but it would still be great if it worked smoothly.

Finally, I read numerous complaints about ClickUp’s customer support team. Personally, I did not have a chance to experience it during my ClickUp review, but this is definitely something you should be aware of.

Alternatives to ClickUp and SmartSuite

If you are still unsure about your pick after this SmartSuite vs ClickUp battle, here are some great alternatives:

• Monday.com: An intuitive project management app with advanced features for teams.
• Taskade: An AI-powered workflow and lightweight project management app.
• Wrike: A more robust project management platform with advanced features.
• Coda: An all-in-one app that is similar to Notion, however, with more massive project management tools
• Notion: It provides a centralized workspace where you can organize your thoughts, notes, tasks, projects, and documents in one place.
• Motion: It is an AI calendar app, but it also works as a project management software.
• Asana: A popular and easy-to-use project management tool.
• Hive: A project management app for small teams with advanced collaboration and AI features.
• Teamwork.com: An excellent project management software solution for client-facing teams.

Related article:

• 5 Best ClickUp Alternatives | +20 Apps Tested (2025)

My pick: SmartSuite vs ClickUp

While ClickUp has more features, SmartSuite is a better workflow management tool for me. SmartSuite is more focused on the data and has a spreadsheet-driven approach compared to ClickUp. So, it works a bit similarly compared to other project management apps.

On the other hand, ClickUp is a more comprehensive project management tool that has all the tools you need to collaborate and manage work. It is an ideal pick for managing more complex projects and gives great value for its price.

The main reason why SmartSuite worked better for me is the performance. While ClickUp has more tools than SmartSuite, it can be very slow sometimes. However, I did not experience any performance issues when using SmartSuite.

I hope I was able to help you guys. As always, I will update this ClickUp vs SmartSuite article over time so you guys have up-to-date information about these project management tools.

Related articles:

• My Honest ClickUp Review After Using It For +3 Months (2025)
• Notion Vs ClickUp: What I Discovered in 90 Days! (2025)
• Asana Vs ClickUp: This will save you $300 (2025)
• SmartSuite Review 2025: A Hidden Gem

Why you can trust our reviews

At thebusinessdive.com, our team tests, reviews, and compares hundreds of productivity apps every year — from project management tools to note-taking apps. We dive deep into real-world use cases to help you find the right tools that actually improve your workflow, not just add noise.

Our mission? No fluff, no shortcuts—just honest, hands-on insights from productivity pros.

Have a question or suggestion? I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to reach out anytime at aronkantor@thebusinessdive.com.

Frequently asked questions

Which is better than ClickUp?

It depends on your preferences, but I think Coda, Monday.com, Taskade, Teamwork.com, and SmartSuite could be ideal ClickUp alternatives. They offer a flexible solution with numerous collaborative tools to manage projects and streamline processes.

Is SmartSuite better than Asana?

If you read my review (rage) about Asana, you probably know what I think about that project management tool. However, staying objective, I think both tools have completely different feature sets for managing projects.

While Asana has a shorter learning curve and offers some cool features to manage projects, SmartSuite has an Excel-like approach for the projects. My pick would be SmartSuite, but it totally depends on your preferences.

What is the difference between SmartSuite and Notion?

SmartSuite is a collaborative work management platform; Notion is an all-in-one app. If you want to have a project management tool, SmartSuite is your pick, as Notion has only basic features to manage projects.

Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself, and all opinions expressed here are our own. This post may contain affiliate links that, at no additional cost to you, may earn a small commission. Read the full privacy policy here.