Shortcut vs Smartsheet — Which One Wins?
Pick Shortcut if: Software teams that outgrew Trello but find Jira suffocating — the sweet spot for 10-100 engineers
Pick Smartsheet if: Teams that live in spreadsheets but need real project management features layered on top
Our take: Shortcut for simplicity, Smartsheet for power users.
| Shortcut | Smartsheet | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free for up to 10 users | Team $8.50/user/mo | No free plan (30-day trial) | Pro $9/user/mo |
| Features | Kanban and timeline views built for dev sprints, Deep GitHub, GitLab, and Sentry integrations, Docs and wikis inside the project tool, Iteration planning with velocity tracking, Milestones that group epics across teams | Spreadsheet-style project management, Gantt, card, and calendar views, Automated workflows, Resource management, Dashboards and reports |
| Best for | Software teams that outgrew Trello but find Jira suffocating — the sweet spot for 10-100 engineers | Teams that live in spreadsheets but need real project management features layered on top |
| Learning Curve | Medium | Medium |
The Real Difference
Both offer free tiers, so the real question is what you get when you start paying.
Shortcut stands out with Kanban and timeline views built for dev sprints and Deep GitHub, GitLab, and Sentry integrations. Smartsheet counters with Spreadsheet-style project management and Gantt, card, and calendar views.
Shortcut's Achilles heel: non-technical teams struggle with the developer-centric terminology and workflow assumptions. Smartsheet's: it’s a spreadsheet pretending to be a pm tool — power users love it, everyone else gets confused. Pick whichever weakness you can live with.
Bottom Line
If you value kanban and timeline views built for dev sprints and software teams that outgrew, go with Shortcut. If teams that live in matters more, Smartsheet is your pick. Neither is a bad choice — but one will fit your workflow better.