monday.com vs SmartSuite
We give monday.com a 2.8 GPA and SmartSuite a 2.4, out of 4.0. monday.com grades higher on ease of use and platforms. SmartSuite grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan and features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
monday.com
Board-based work management with automations and dashboards
SmartSuite
No-code work platform built on linked tables, views and automations
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAmonday.comGood | 2.4GPASmartSuiteFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DBasic is $9 a seat and has no automations, integrations or timeline, so most teams end up on Standard at $12, half again this category middle of $8, and time tracking waits for Pro at $19. On top of that you cannot buy fewer than three seats, so a pair pays for an empty chair. | 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 | CTwo seats, three boards, three docs and no automations. That is a cap you hit on day one as a team, though a single freelancer with a couple of clients could sit there. The 14-day Pro trial is the only other way in. | 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 | BBoards of typed columns, timelines, Gantt, calendar, dashboards, docs, forms, automations, time tracking, 850+ integrations and a row of AI helpers. Nothing missing from the job. Nothing here its rivals lack either, and the pieces are parcelled out across four plans with the automations counted. | 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 | A4.8 on the App Store from 48,096 ratings, which is the top of this category. A diesel repair shop and a couple doing up a 1976 house both say it just made sense, and there are 200+ templates to start from. | 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, iPhone and Android, with an API and 850+ integrations and apps behind it. The holes are Linux, which has no app, and the phone app itself, which reviewers say cannot do everything the website can. | 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 | flexible boards any team can pick up | 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: monday.com and SmartSuite. How we grade
Price against what you get
monday.com starts at $9 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.
monday.com scores higher and starts $6 a month lower. Of the other project management tools on the chart, none scores higher than monday.com 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
- monday.com starts at $9 per seat / month, billed annually (3-seat minimum). SmartSuite starts at $15 per seat / month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly).
- monday.com has a free plan. SmartSuite does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only monday.com lists macOS and Windows apps.
- monday.com also covers tasks and time tracking.
- SmartSuite also covers databases and no-code.
At a glance
| monday.com | SmartSuite | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $9 per seat / month, billed annually (3-seat minimum) | $15 per seat / month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Free plan for up to 2 seats: up to 3 boards and 3 docs, 200+ templates, 8 column types, and the iOS and Android apps. | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of the Pro plan | 14-day free trial of Professional, no credit card required and no automatic charge |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | monday.com | SmartSuite Holdings, Inc. |
| Price read from | monday.com | smartsuite.com |
| Checked | Oct 4, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
monday.com
- Teams that want boards, dashboards and automations in one tool
- Companies that also want CRM, dev or service products from one vendor
- Eligible nonprofits, which get their first 10 seats free
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
monday.com
- The Free plan is limited to 2 seats, 3 boards and 3 docs.
- Paid plans start at 3 seats, and the price is set by the team size selected rather than by individual seats.
- Timeline, Gantt and calendar views, automations and integrations start on Standard; time tracking and private boards need Pro.
- Plan totals itemize the bundled AI credits at $10 per 1,000 a month, currently cancelled out by a "special offer" discount of the same amount.
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
monday.com
- Boards and views
- Work is tracked on boards made of items and typed columns. Timeline, Gantt and calendar views start on the Standard plan.
- Automations and integrations
- Both are metered by monthly actions: 250 each on Standard and 25,000 each on Pro. The integrations page lists 850+ integrations and apps.
- Dashboards
- Dashboards bring data from boards together into charts and summaries for reporting on progress.
- Docs and forms
- Built-in documents and forms sit next to boards. The Free plan allows up to 3 docs, and private boards and docs need Pro.
- AI credits and agents
- The Sidekick assistant, AI agents and a notetaker draw on a monthly credit pool: 1,000 credits on Basic, 2,000 on Standard and 3,000 on Pro.
- Portfolio and resource management
- The Enterprise plan adds portfolio management, resource management and multi-level permissions.
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
monday.com
Free$0
Up to 2 seats with up to 3 boards and 3 docs, 200+ templates and 8 column types.
Basic$9
per seat / month, billed annually
Unlimited items and unlimited free viewers, with 1,000 AI credits a month. Paid plans start at 3 seats.
Standard$12
per seat / month, billed annually
Adds timeline, Gantt and calendar views, guest access, and 250 automation and 250 integration actions a month.
Pro$19
per seat / month, billed annually
Adds private boards and docs, time tracking, advanced columns, and 25,000 automation and 25,000 integration actions a month.
EnterpriseCustom
Portfolio and resource management, multi-level permissions, enterprise security and governance, and 250 workflows.
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
monday.com
- Annual discount
18% discount with yearly billing
monday.com's pricing FAQ says choosing a yearly plan instead of paying monthly gives an 18% discount.
- Nonprofit
First 10 seats free for eligible nonprofits
Eligible nonprofits get their first 10 seats free and 70% off each seat from the 11th, sold in lots of 5, or 33% off per user on Enterprise.
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.
