Excel suits analysis: formulas, PivotTables, XLOOKUP and now Copilot to clean and explore your data. Smartsheet suits running work: shared trackers with owners, Gantt and board views, forms, automations and many people updating rows at once. Keep numbers and models in Excel, and move a tracker to Smartsheet once several people are editing it and you're chasing updates by email.
Smartsheet looks like a spreadsheet, which is exactly why people compare it with Excel. But they solve different problems. Excel is where you work things out. Smartsheet is where a team keeps track of who's doing what by when. I read Microsoft's Excel help hub and Smartsheet's home and plans pages.
Excel and Smartsheet compared
| Excel | Smartsheet | |
|---|---|---|
| Best at | Analysis, models and calculations | Shared project and process tracking |
| Key tools | XLOOKUP, IF, PivotTables, Copilot | Gantt, table, board and calendar views |
| Automation | Formulas and Copilot help with data | 250 automations a month on Pro, unlimited on Business |
| People who only update | Need access to the file | Unlimited free Contributors on Pro |
| Forms | Not covered on the help page I read | Unlimited forms on Pro |
| Free option | Not stated on the page I read | No free plan listed, a free trial |
Check your Excel version first
Microsoft's Excel help hub carries a notice many small businesses haven't acted on: end of support for Excel 2016 and Excel 2019. If your team still runs trackers in those versions, you're due a change anyway, so it's a natural moment to decide which files should stay in Excel and which belong in a shared tool.
What Excel still does better
For working with numbers, Excel is hard to replace. Microsoft's help hub highlights XLOOKUP, IF and the full list of functions, PivotTables and PivotCharts for summarising data, drop-down lists, freeze panes, stocks and geography data types, and Copilot in Excel to analyse data and clean it up. Forecasts, reconciliations and anything with layers of formulas are Excel jobs.
What Smartsheet adds for teams
Smartsheet turns the grid into a work tracker. Its Pro plan includes Gantt, table, board and calendar views, rich formulas, unlimited sheets, forms and reports, and 250 automations a month, while Business adds timeline view, workload tracking, unlimited automations and 1 TB of attachment storage. The detail that matters for busy teams is that Pro includes unlimited free Contributors, so people who only update their own rows don't need a full member seat.
Signs a tracker has outgrown Excel
- Several people edit the same file and changes get overwritten.
- You chase status updates by email every week.
- You want reminders or approvals to happen automatically.
- Managers ask for a timeline view that takes you an hour to build.
If two or more of those sound familiar, that tracker is a Smartsheet job. Before you move, try my project timeline spreadsheet template to get the structure right, and if you're polishing your Excel skills for the files that stay, here's how to divide in Excel.
How to move a tracker without chaos
- Pick one tracker that causes the most chasing, not your whole drive.
- Clean up the columns in Excel first so each one holds one kind of information.
- Import it into Smartsheet and add owners and due dates to each row.
- Invite the people who only update rows as Contributors and set one automated reminder.
- Keep the original Excel file read-only for a month in case you need to check history.
My advice on Excel or Smartsheet
Don't move everything. Keep analysis and financial models in Excel, and move only the shared trackers that cause chasing and version confusion. Start a Smartsheet trial with your most painful tracker, invite the people who update it as Contributors, and judge it after two weeks of real use.
Do you make spreadsheet or project tracking software? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place in comparisons like this one.
Frequently asked questions
Is Smartsheet just an online spreadsheet?
It looks like one, but Smartsheet adds project views such as Gantt, board and calendar, plus forms, automations and dashboards for teams.
Want AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.
Is Excel 2016 still supported?
Microsoft's Excel help hub carries a notice about end of support for Excel 2016 and Excel 2019.
Can Smartsheet replace Excel?
For shared trackers, often yes. For analysis, formulas and PivotTables, most teams keep Excel.
Does Smartsheet have a free plan?
Its plans page lists Pro, Business and Enterprise with a free trial. I didn't find a free plan.
Should I keep my forecasts and models in Excel?
For detailed models with many formulas, yes. Excel's functions, PivotTables and Copilot tools are built for that kind of analysis.
Can Smartsheet send automatic reminders?
Yes. Its plans page lists 250 automations a month on Pro and unlimited automations on Business, which covers reminders, alerts and approvals.
What are free Contributors in Smartsheet?
Smartsheet's Pro plan includes unlimited free Contributors, so people who only update rows can take part without a member seat.
