Smartsheet vs Zoho Projects

August 10, 2023 | Author: Adam Levine
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Smartsheet
Smartsheet is an online project management and crowdsourcing tool. It allows owners of information to comprehensively involve contributors through authenticated access, publicly-accessible published sheets, or via embeddable survey forms. Functionality is focused on the ability to organize, share, and update tasks and files.
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Zoho Projects
Zoho Projects is an online project management software with collaboration and bug tracking that allows project teams to collaborate and get work done faster. Planning and Tracking helps you keep your project on schedule. Collaboration helps improve the communication within the team. And the Bug Tracking module allows you to track the bugs that software projects are bound to generate and fix all bugs in time.
Smartsheet and Zoho Projects are both project management platforms, but they differ in terms of their features, customization options, and target audiences. Smartsheet is a versatile project management and collaboration tool that offers a range of features for planning, tracking, and managing projects. It provides a spreadsheet-like interface that allows users to create and customize project sheets, track tasks, set deadlines, and collaborate with team members. Smartsheet is known for its flexibility and ease of use, making it suitable for various industries and project types. On the other hand, Zoho Projects is a comprehensive project management software that offers features such as task management, document sharing, time tracking, and Gantt charts. It provides a more structured approach to project management, with predefined templates and workflows. Zoho Projects also integrates with other Zoho applications, offering a seamless ecosystem for managing projects and other business processes.

See also: Top 10 Project Management software
Smartsheet vs Zoho Projects in our news:

2020. Zoho Projects gets improved Gantt chart



Zoho has enhanced and revamped the Gantt chart feature within Zoho Projects to offer enhanced capabilities, streamlining the workflow process. Notably, in the updated user interface, unscheduled tasks are conveniently organized under the "unscheduled" tag, preceding the actual timeline. By simply dragging and dropping an unscheduled task onto the timeline, it will be automatically scheduled. Additionally, the new "Full Screen" view enables users to concentrate on crucial yet seemingly minor details by maximizing the utilization of screen space. Moreover, it is now possible to customize the displayed data within the Gantt chart's taskbars, including information such as start/end dates, task owners, overdue status, and task names.


2019. Zoho brings Zia AI assistant to its project management app



Zoho's AI-based chatbot, Zia, has now been integrated into Zoho Projects, enabling streamlined activities within the platform. With its conversational interface, Zia provides immediate responses to inquiries regarding tasks, issues, and events modules in Zoho Projects. Additionally, Zia can offer suggestions and recommendations based on your project-related activities. For instance, if you're pressed for time and need to quickly access your upcoming events, you can simply chat with Zia and request, "Zia, list my upcoming events." In response, Zia will promptly provide a list of all your upcoming events. Furthermore, you can ask Zia for task and issue details, such as information on active tasks, task status, task due dates, unassigned tasks, overdue tasks, user details, tasks within a task list, and similar issue-related information. Zia aims to enhance user productivity and efficiency within Zoho Projects by delivering instant and relevant assistance.


2019. Smartsheet acquires Slope to help creatives collaborate



Smartsheet, the renowned project management and collaboration tool, has recently completed the acquisition of Slope, a collaboration tool specifically designed for sharing creative assets. This integration of Slope into the Smartsheet platform empowers users to seamlessly share assets such as videos and photos directly within the application. Moreover, it introduces the functionality to annotate, comment on, or approve these assets. Smartsheet envisions this native integration from a broad enterprise perspective. It facilitates various scenarios, including HR teams sharing training videos, marketing departments exchanging product photos, or construction company employees inspecting a site and collaboratively addressing code violations by sharing annotated photos to highlight the issues at hand.


2018. Smartsheet got $1.9 billion valuation after IPO



Upon its debut in the public markets, online project management and crowdsourcing company Smartsheet witnessed a surge in its share prices. Smartsheet concluded at $19.50, representing a 30 percent increase from its initial price of $15, resulting in a market capitalization of $1.9 billion. Although the company recorded net losses in its financial statements, it exhibited robust revenue growth. In its IPO filings, Smartsheet disclosed a substantial user base of 3.6 million, including notable business clients such as Cisco and Starbucks. For the fiscal year 2018, the company generated $111.3 million in revenue. However, similar to many Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies, Smartsheet is going public while reporting a loss.


2018. Zoho Projects gets enhanced Gantt chart


Zoho has introduced several enhancements to its project management application, Zoho Projects. These upgrades include an advanced Gantt chart that supports all four types of task dependencies, the ability to create custom views for tasks, and much more. The integration with Zoho People allows for the seamless incorporation of vacation or time-off details of team members into Projects, ensuring that tasks or bugs are not delayed when they are unavailable. Additionally, task and bug timers can now be paused and resumed, eliminating the need to restart from the beginning. The integration with Zoho Meeting enables users to conveniently initiate online team meetings by simply clicking "Meet Now" on the Task Details page, facilitating effective communication for clarification, problem-solving, or decision-making. It's worth noting that Zoho had previously launched another project management tool, Zoho Sprints, in October of the previous year.


2017. Zoho Projects 6 brings new customization opportinities


Zoho has introduced an updated version of its project management tool, Zoho Projects 6, designed to provide greater flexibility in meeting various project needs. This release incorporates several new features, including the ability to create custom fields and custom statuses for tasks, the availability of layouts as project templates, options to set custom logos and domain names, advanced task reporting capabilities, a revamped task details page, a consistent design across all modules, an improved and searchable setup page, reports based on custom fields, a Kanban view organized by task status, and enhanced task filtering functionality. These updates enable users to tailor Zoho Projects 6 to their specific project requirements while improving the overall project management experience.


2017. Collaboration service Smartsheet gets $52M



The spreadsheet software service, Smartsheet, has recently secured $52 million in funding. With approximately 70,000 businesses currently subscribed to its product, ranging from small and medium-sized businesses to large enterprises, Smartsheet has amassed around 550,000 licensed customers. Additionally, there are "a few million" individuals who utilize the service free of charge. Since its establishment in 2006, Smartsheet has positioned itself as an early entrant in the market, offering an alternative to Google Docs, Excel, and other spreadsheet applications. Its distinctive focus lies in facilitating collaboration among multiple users within these documents, allowing for dynamic utilization and efficient teamwork.


2016. Zoho Projects adds staff-based billing



Project management service Zoho Projects has offered billing based on project hours since its inception, and it has now expanded its capabilities to include billing based on staff hours as well. You now have the ability to assign a specific rate to each of your employees, and this rate will be reflected in your invoices. For instance, in a project like organizing a concert where multiple users with different skill levels are involved in various tasks, it is essential to bill the client based on the staff hours. You can set different rates for each employee based on their skills and the nature of their work, ensuring that you accurately bill your clients for the services provided.


2016. Zoho Projects adds gamification layer



Zoho is introducing Gamescope, a gamification layer integrated across various products, starting with Zoho Projects. This exciting addition aims to transform mundane tasks into an engaging game for users. By completing tasks, closing tickets and deals, and resolving bugs, users can earn points, which are tracked in a scorecard. Similar to a basketball game, each game has a specific time frame. At the end of the game, individuals who accumulate the highest points are awarded trophies. Additionally, users can earn badges by achieving specific targets. The winners have the opportunity to proudly showcase their badges and trophies on their scorecard or individual profile pages, enabling them to share their accomplishments with others.


2015. Zoho Projects gets the power of Zoho Docs



The Documents module within the project management application, Zoho Projects, has received a significant enhancement. Users can now create and collaborate on rich documents, spreadsheets, and presentations directly within the platform. This update, powered by Zoho Docs, brings several benefits to users. One notable advantage is the ability to co-create documents, allowing multiple team members to work on them simultaneously. Additionally, users can engage in real-time chat with collaborators directly within the document window. Obtaining feedback is made easy, as comments can be added to individual letters in text documents and cells in spreadsheets. Moreover, an integrated versioning system enables users to track the changes made to a document over time and, if necessary, revert to a previous version. These enhancements empower teams to collaborate efficiently and streamline their document management processes within Zoho Projects.

Author: Adam Levine
Adam is an expert in project management, collaboration and productivity technologies, team management, and motivation. With an extensive background working at prestigious companies such as Microsoft and Accenture, Adam's in-depth knowledge and experience in the field make him a sought-after professional. Currently, he has ventured into entrepreneurship, owning a thriving consulting and training agency where he imparts invaluable insights and practical strategies to individuals and organizations, empowering them to achieve their goals and maximize their potential. You can contact Adam via email adam@liventerprise.com