ClickUp vs SmartSuite
We give ClickUp a 3.0 GPA and SmartSuite a 2.4, out of 4.0. ClickUp grades higher on features, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money and the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
ClickUp
Work platform combining tasks, docs, chat and dashboards
SmartSuite
No-code work platform built on linked tables, views and automations
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAClickUpVery good | 2.4GPASmartSuiteFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$7 a person a month on yearly billing, or $10 monthly, which sits below the $8 middle here but outside the $5.10 cheapest quarter, so it's ordinary money. For that you get unlimited storage, Gantt charts, time tracking and guests. Timeline view and dashboards need Business at $12, and AI is a separate bill. | CTeam is $15 a seat a month billed yearly, $20 monthly, above this category's dear quarter but short of its dearest tenth. It bills at least 3 seats, so you pay for three even on your own. Viewers, commenters and people filling in forms are free, which softens it. |
| Free plan and trial | CUnlimited tasks and unlimited members for nothing is rare and genuinely useful. Then you meet the caps: 60MB of storage, which a few slide decks fill, 5 spaces, 1 form, 3 whiteboards, and the fancier features only there to try. | CNo free plan, but a 14-day trial of Professional with no card and no automatic charge. If it ends without a plan, the account is switched off, though your data is kept. |
| Features | ATasks in 15-plus views, list, board, Gantt, calendar, table, then docs and wikis, chat, whiteboards, dashboards, goals, native time tracking and automations in the one workspace, with Brain AI over the top. The breadth is what sets it apart: nothing here is left to a second app. | BThe whole job and more: 40+ field types in linked tables, grid, kanban, calendar, timeline, Gantt and map views, dashboards, multi-step automations, branded forms and an AI copilot that builds tables from a prompt. Team does cap a Solution at 5,000 records. |
| Ease of use | B4.68 from nearly 10,000 App Store ratings, just under the 4.7 an A needs, and the written reviews are why it goes no higher. Work lives in spaces, then folders, then lists, and one reviewer was still lost after a week of how-to videos. | CNo rating on record, and this is a kit you build before you use: tables, links, views and automations. The 200+ templates and the copilot get you a first draft quickly. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, Android and a Chrome extension, which is the longest list in this category. There's a public API, and it hooks into Slack, GitHub, GitLab, HubSpot, Google Drive, Figma, Zoom and Microsoft Teams. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Slack, Microsoft Teams, Jira, Salesforce, HubSpot, Gmail, Zapier and Make, and a REST API. No desktop app, which is what keeps it off an A. |
| Best for | teams that want everything in one app | building your own tracker from tables |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: ClickUp and SmartSuite. How we grade
Price against what you get
ClickUp starts at $7 a month for each person and scores 3.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. SmartSuite starts at $15 a month for each person and scores 2.7.
ClickUp scores higher and starts $8 a month lower. Of the other project management tools on the chart, none scores higher than ClickUp for less, and 26 score higher than SmartSuite for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- ClickUp starts at $7 per user / month, billed yearly ($10 billed monthly). SmartSuite starts at $15 per seat / month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly).
- ClickUp has a free plan. SmartSuite does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only ClickUp lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps.
- Only ClickUp lists a browser extension.
- ClickUp also covers tasks and time tracking.
- SmartSuite also covers databases and no-code.
At a glance
| ClickUp | SmartSuite | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $7 per user / month, billed yearly ($10 billed monthly) | $15 per seat / month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Free Forever plan: unlimited tasks and members, 60MB of storage, 5 spaces, 1 form and 3 whiteboards, with trial-only access to advanced features. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 14-day free trial of Professional, no credit card required and no automatic charge |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | ClickUp (Mango Technologies, Inc.) | SmartSuite Holdings, Inc. |
| Price read from | clickup.com | smartsuite.com |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
ClickUp
- Teams that want tasks, docs and chat under one subscription
- Workspaces that need many different views of the same work
- Small teams starting on a free plan with unlimited members
SmartSuite
- Teams that want Airtable-style tables with project views and automations
- Risk, compliance and IT teams starting from ready-made templates
- Organizations with many viewers and form submitters who should not need paid seats
Worth knowing
ClickUp
- The Free Forever plan is capped at 60MB of storage, 5 spaces, 1 form and 3 whiteboards.
- AI is billed separately: Brain AI is listed at $9 and Everything AI at $28 per user / month.
- Timeline view, unlimited dashboards and mind maps start on the Business plan.
- SAML SSO, SCIM provisioning and audit logs are limited to Enterprise.
SmartSuite
- There is no free plan; Team needs at least 3 billable users and Professional at least 5.
- Team is capped at 5,000 records per Solution; at the limit you cannot add records until you upgrade.
- Two-factor authentication starts on Professional, and SSO, SCIM, audit logs and HIPAA support are Enterprise only.
- When the trial ends without a plan, the account is disabled, though its data is kept.
Key features
ClickUp
- Tasks in 15+ views
- Show the same tasks as a list, board, Gantt chart, calendar, table and more. Gantt charts are unlimited from the Unlimited plan; timeline view needs Business.
- Docs and wikis
- Collaborative documents that link to tasks and can serve as wikis or standard operating procedures inside the same workspace.
- Chat
- Real-time team messaging that sits inside the workspace, next to tasks and docs.
- Automations
- Rules that update tasks when conditions are met. Business includes 5,000 automation runs a month and Enterprise 250,000.
- Dashboards, goals and time tracking
- Dashboards chart project progress, goals roll up from linked tasks, and a built-in timer records time against tasks. Native time tracking starts on Unlimited.
- ClickUp Brain
- An AI assistant that works across tasks, docs and chat. The paid AI plans, Brain AI and Everything AI, are priced per user on top of the workspace plan.
SmartSuite
- Solutions and linked tables
- Model work as tables of records with more than 40 field types and links between tables, grouped into Solutions that can start from 200+ templates.
- Grid, kanban, Gantt and other views
- Show the same records as a grid, kanban board, calendar, timeline, Gantt chart or map, and build dashboards from widgets.
- Automations
- Triggers, conditions and multi-step actions run routine work; plans allow 25,000, 100,000 or 500,000 automation runs and API calls a month.
- AI copilot and agents
- The Workflow Builder Copilot creates tables, fields and views from a written prompt, and AI agents can make choices and generate content inside workflows.
- Forms and collaboration
- Branded forms collect records from people who are not billed, and comments with @mentions, record following and notifications keep discussion on the record.
- Permissions and history
- Account, Solution and record permissions on every plan, field and view permissions from Professional, and change history kept 1, 2 or 3 years by plan.
Plans
ClickUp
Free Forever$0
Unlimited tasks and members with 60MB of storage, 5 spaces, 1 form and 3 whiteboards.
Unlimited$7
per user / month, billed yearly ($10 billed monthly)
Unlimited storage, spaces, forms and Gantt charts, plus native time tracking, guest permissions and integrations.
Business$12
per user / month, billed yearly ($19 billed monthly)
Everything in Unlimited, plus unlimited dashboards, timeline view, mind maps and 5,000 automation runs a month.
EnterpriseCustom
SAML SSO and SCIM provisioning, audit log, custom roles, data residency and 250,000 automation runs a month.
SmartSuite
Team$15
per seat / month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly)
Minimum 3 billable users. 5,000 records per Solution, 50 GB of storage, 25,000 automation runs and API calls a month, 1 year of history.
Professional$32
per seat / month, billed annually ($36 billed monthly)
Minimum 5 billable users. 100,000 records per Solution, 100 GB, 100,000 runs a month, folders, Gmail and Outlook, advanced permissions.
EnterpriseCustom
400,000 records per Solution, 500 GB and 500,000 runs a month, with SSO, SCIM, audit logs, DLP, EU data residency and a HIPAA BAA.
SignatureCustom
Priced per solution rather than per user, for organizations rolling a solution such as GRC or ITSM out to hundreds or thousands of people.
Ways to pay less
ClickUp
- Annual discount
Yearly billing lowers the per-user price
Unlimited is $7 per user / month billed yearly against $10 billed monthly, and Business is $12 against $19.
- Nonprofit
Nonprofit discount on request
ClickUp's pricing FAQ says nonprofits can claim a discount through its nonprofit page. The size of the discount is not published.
- Education
Academic discount for students and educators
The pricing FAQ says students, educators and administrators can claim an academic discount. The amount is not published.
- Startups
Startup credit by application
The pricing FAQ says startups can apply for a startup credit through a form. The amount and eligibility rules are not published.
SmartSuite
- Annual discount
Lower per-seat rates on annual billing
Billed annually, Team is $15 per seat a month instead of $20 and Professional is $32 instead of $36.
