Hive vs Smartsheet

Hive

• Marketing and creative teams that review and approve documents
• Teams that want chat, notes and email next to their tasks
• Groups of up to 10 people who can use the Free or Starter plan

Smartsheet

• Teams that are comfortable working in spreadsheets
• Project offices that need Gantt charts, reports and dashboards
• Enterprises standardizing portfolio reporting across many projects

Hive

• Free and Starter are both capped at 10 workspace members, and Starter is also limited to 10 projects.
• Proofing, timesheets, resourcing, advanced dashboards, external users and SSO are add-ons on Teams and are included only in Enterprise.
• The Free plan has 200 MB of storage and no Gantt view.
• Time tracking, shareable forms, portfolios and custom fields need the Teams plan.

Smartsheet

• There is no free plan; a paid plan is needed once the 30-day trial ends.
• Pro is limited to 10 Members and is only available to new customers; Business requires at least 3 Members.
• Pro is capped at 250 automations a month and 20 GB of storage.
• The API is offered from the Business plan, and SAML single sign-on needs Enterprise.

Hive

Flexible project views

Projects and tasks can be shown as Kanban, Gantt, timeline, calendar, table, list and portfolio views. Gantt view starts on Starter and portfolios on Teams.

Buzz AI assistant

Buzz is an AI assistant inside the workspace that sets up workflows, summarizes work data and analyzes proofs. Plans include 1,000 to 5,000 AI credits a month.

Chat, notes and email

Native chat messaging, collaborative notes and email inside Hive are part of every plan, including Free.

Workflows and automations

Automations run repeatable steps, such as sending a Slack message or creating a project when the status of an action changes.

Time tracking and resourcing

Time tracking is included from the Teams plan. Timesheets and hour-by-hour team resourcing are optional add-ons, listed at $5 each in the Teams price calculator.

Proofing and approvals

An add-on for proofing, marking up and approving documents. External users, advanced dashboards and SSO are sold the same way on the Teams plan.

Smartsheet

Sheets with multiple views

Work is stored in spreadsheet-like sheets that can be switched between grid, Gantt, card and calendar views. Timeline view starts on the Business plan.

Reports and dashboards

Reports pull together and filter rows from sheets, and dashboards summarize the results for stakeholders.

Forms

Forms gather structured input such as requests, field reports and feedback. Forms are unlimited on the Pro plan and above.

Automated workflows

Workflows can be built from templates or from scratch for tasks such as reminders. Pro allows 250 automations a month; Business and above are unlimited.

Resource management

Shows who is assigned to what, so managers can even out workloads and plan for upcoming demand. Workload tracking is listed from the Business plan.

AI tools

Smart Assist and Smart Columns help with formulas and data analysis, and Business adds connections to external AI tools through MCP.

Hive

• Free$0

  Up to 10 workspace members, 200 MB of storage, 1,000 AI credits a month, unlimited tasks and collaborative notes, email in Hive and chat.

• Starter$5

  per user / month, billed yearly ($7 billed monthly)

  Up to 10 members and 10 projects, unlimited storage, 3,000 AI credits a month, Gantt view, in-app calendar, and Zoom and Slack from Hive.

• Teams$12

  per user / month, billed yearly ($18 billed monthly)

  Unlimited members, 5,000 AI credits a month, shareable forms, time tracking, portfolios, and custom fields, labels and statuses. Add-ons cost extra.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Custom AI credits, add-ons included, enhanced security and permission controls, an Enterprise API and a dedicated customer success manager.

Smartsheet

• Pro$9

  per Member / month, billed yearly ($12 billed monthly)

  1 to 10 Members with unlimited free Contributors. Gantt, table, board and calendar views, 250 automations a month and 20 GB of storage.

• Business$19

  per Member / month, billed yearly ($24 billed monthly)

  3 or more Members. Adds timeline view, workload tracking, unlimited automations, proofing, admin controls and 1 TB of storage.

• EnterpriseCustom

  10 or more Members. Adds SAML single sign-on, portfolios, scenario planning, directory integrations and unlimited attachment storage.

• Advanced Work ManagementCustom

  Everything in Enterprise, plus Control Center, Dynamic View, Data Shuttle, DataMesh, connectors and premium support.

Hive

• Annual discount

  Save up to 33% with yearly billing

  Teams is $12 per user / month billed yearly against $18 billed monthly, the 33% saving the pricing page advertises. Starter is $5 against $7.

• Nonprofit

  Nonprofit discount on Hive Teams

  Hive's pricing FAQ says non-profit teams are eligible for a discount on the Teams plan. The amount is not published and has to be requested from Hive.

Smartsheet

• Annual discount

  Lower per-Member price with yearly billing

  Pro is $9 per Member / month billed yearly against $12 monthly (25% less), and Business is $19 against $24 (about 21% less).