Rocketlane vs Smartsheet (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Smartsheet grades higher than Rocketlane: 3.0 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Smartsheet grades higher on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Rocketlane
Customer onboarding and professional services automation
Smartsheet
Spreadsheet-style project and work management for teams
Which one is for you
Pick Rocketlane if
- Fits if you onboard customers and want them in a shared project space
- Makes sense if you have at least 5 people on the delivery side
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you are a small team: both paid plans need 5 team members, from $245 a month
- Watch out: resource planning, budgeting and invoicing start on Premium at $69
- Tight if you automate a lot: 200 runs per user a month on Standard, 500 on Premium
- Skip it if you want a free plan, as there is only a 14-day trial
- Watch out: the page's meta description still lists an Essential plan that the plan cards do not show
Pick Smartsheet if
- Fits if your team works in spreadsheets and wants project views on top of them
- Works for companies that need Gantt charts, reports and dashboards across many projects
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want to stay free, as there's only a 30-day trial
- Tight if you automate a lot on Pro, which stops at 250 automations a month, 20 GB and 10 Members, and is sold to new customers only
- Pricey if you need timeline view, workload tracking or the API, since those start at Business, $19 a Member with 3 minimum
- Pricey if you need single sign-on or portfolios, which are Enterprise only, from 10 Members and priced by quote
How we grade them
| 2.0GPARocketlaneFair | 3.0GPASmartsheetVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | D$49 a team member a month billed annually on Standard, $69 on Premium, with a 5-member minimum. The floor is $245 a month, and that is several times the category middle of $9. | CPro is $9 a Member a month billed yearly, between the $8 middle and the $10 dear end for project tools here, so an ordinary price. Contributors are free and unlimited, which helps. But Pro stops at 10 Members, and timeline view, workload tracking and the API all wait for Business at $19. |
| Free plan and trial | C14-day free trial, which the FAQ says can be extended by a week. No free plan, and the pages read do not say whether a card is needed. | CNo free plan. You get 30 days with no credit card asked for, and then a paid plan is the only way to carry on. |
| Features | CCustomer portal, project and sprint planning, time tracking and AI agents. Resource planning, budgeting and invoicing need Premium, and automations are capped at 200 runs per user a month on Standard. | BIt covers the whole job: one sheet shown as a grid, a Gantt chart, cards or a calendar, rolling up into reports and dashboards, with forms for intake, automated workflows and Smart Assist for formulas. Airtable, monday and Wrike, its own named rivals, cover the same ground. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. A web app where you build the onboarding projects and portals yourself. | A4.85 from about 120,000 App Store ratings, which is the top band. The sheets behave like spreadsheets, so anyone who already lives in one has little new to learn. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iOS and Android, with Slack, HubSpot, Jira, Salesforce and Zapier links and an API. | AThe full set: web, Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, with Microsoft Teams, Slack, Salesforce, Jira, Power BI and Tableau, and an API. The API is Business and up, mind. |
| Best for | teams onboarding customers with a shared portal | project plans for spreadsheet people |
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: Rocketlane and Smartsheet. How we grade
Price against what you get
Rocketlane starts at $49 a month for each person and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Smartsheet starts at $9 a month for each person and scores 3.7.
Smartsheet scores higher and starts $40 a month lower. Of the other project management tools on the chart, 57 score higher than Rocketlane for less, and none scores higher than Smartsheet 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
- Rocketlane also covers templates, time tracking and reports.
- Smartsheet also covers tasks, calendar, kanban boards and Gantt & timelines.
At a glance
| Rocketlane | Smartsheet | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $49 per team member / month, billed annually | $9 per Member / month, billed yearly ($12 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial; the FAQ says it can be extended by a week on request | 30-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Rocketlane | Smartsheet Inc. |
| Price read from | rocketlane.com | smartsheet.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Rocketlane
- Standard and Premium both require at least 5 team members.
- Resource planning and the financial tools need Premium at $69 per team member or higher.
- Custom automations are capped at 200 runs per user a month on Standard and 500 on Premium.
- The page's meta description still lists an Essential plan and different prices, but the plan cards show only Standard, Premium and Enterprise.
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.
Key features
Rocketlane
- Branded customer portal
- Clients log in to see project progress, approve work and collaborate; customer members are unlimited on every plan.
- Project and sprint planning
- Tasks can be shown as Gantt, list or kanban, with templates, epics, backlogs and sprint planning on Standard and above.
- Time tracking and timesheets
- Time capture, timesheets and timesheet approvals are included from the Standard plan.
- Resource management
- Resource planning, capacity management and utilization tracking start on Premium; soft allocations and a skills matrix are Enterprise.
- Financial management
- Premium adds budgets, rate cards, margins, invoicing and revenue recognition; multi-currency and multi-budget are Enterprise.
- AI agents and automations
- The vendor describes Nitro agents that turn statements of work into project plans and flag delivery risks, plus rule-based automations capped by 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.
Plans
Rocketlane
Standard$49
per team member / month, billed annually
Minimum of 5 team members. Unlimited projects and customer members, branded customer portal, time tracking and timesheets, and 200 automation runs per user a month.
Premium$69
per team member / month, billed annually
Minimum of 5 team members. Adds resource planning, project budgeting, rate cards, invoicing and revenue recognition, and 500 automation runs per user. Sold through sales.
EnterpriseCustom
Adds unlimited automations, custom reports, a skills matrix, multi-currency, role-based access controls and SAML. Sold through sales.
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.
Ways to pay less
Rocketlane
No public discounts listed.
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).
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Rocketlane or Smartsheet?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Smartsheet is cheaper to start with: $9 a month for each person, against $49 a month for each person for Rocketlane. Rocketlane starts at $49 per team member / month, billed annually, and Smartsheet starts at $9 per Member / month, billed yearly ($12 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Rocketlane or Smartsheet?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Rocketlane nor Smartsheet has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
Which platforms do Rocketlane and Smartsheet run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Smartsheet lists macOS and Windows apps. Both list a web app and iOS and Android apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.