Effective project management holds the key to unlocking success for organisations of all sizes and from all industries. The ability to carefully plan, execute, and oversee projects makes a difference in achieving business goals, after all. This is where project management software comes in as a reliable and comprehensive tool. PM software is used to boost team collaboration, communication, and ensure successful project delivery, while keeping a close eye on the budget.

To get businesses started (or evolving, if you're already using a solution) with a project management software, we'll explore Smartsheet vs ClickUp vs Fluid.

At a glance: Smartsheet vs ClickUp vs Fluid

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Key features: Smartsheet vs ClickUp vs Fluid

We’ve had a quick glance at some of the key offerings, but it’s a good idea to get into the nitty gritty of the features provided. The level of maturity a solution provides a feature at differs, so it’s important to make sure that it can actually help businesses achieve what they need to.

Task management:

• Smartsheet: While Smartsheet does track tasks well, it's primarily spreadsheet-based do doesn’t offer the same visual task management experience as other tools.
• ClickUp: ClickUp offers robust task management with customisable views, making it suitable for various workflows.
• Fluid: Fluid provides a comprehensive task management system with visual boards and timeline views for efficient tracking.

Workflow automation:

• Smartsheet: Smartsheet offers automation capabilities, but they might not be as advanced as ClickUp and Fluid.
• ClickUp: ClickUp provides advanced automation features with customisable triggers and actions, enhancing workflow efficiency.
• Fluid: Fluid offers powerful workflow automation, allowing users to create intricate workflows to streamline their processes.

Reporting and analytics:

• Smartsheet: Smartsheet offers basic reporting features with charts and dashboards.
• ClickUp: ClickUp provides robust reporting and analytics, this allows businesses to gain deeper insights into project data.
• Fluid: Fluid offers comprehensive reporting and analytics tools, enabling businesses to make data-driven decisions easily.

Dashboards:

• Smartsheet: Smartsheet offers basic dashboard functionalities, allowing users to create simple visualisations and reports. Smartsheet provides some visualisation options, although they may be limited compared to other solutions.
• ClickUp: ClickUp provides customisable dashboards with a wide range of widgets and views, enabling users to create detailed, interactive dashboards. Users can tailor dashboards to their specific needs, offering great flexibility.
• Fluid: Fluid offers visually engaging and customisable dashboards, allowing businesses to gain real-time insights into project progress. With an array of widgets and customisation options, Fluid's dashboards are powerful tools for tracking and visualising project data.

Resource Management:

• Smartsheet: Smartsheet offers basic resource management features, such as resource allocation.
• ClickUp: ClickUp offers robust resource management capabilities, allowing users to allocate resources, set work priorities, and monitor resource utilisation efficiently. It's suitable for teams that require precise resource planning.
• Fluid: Fluid provides advanced resource management tools, allowing users to allocate resources, track workloads, and optimise resource allocation. It offers a comprehensive view of resource availability and helps teams make informed decisions regarding resource allocation.

Financial management:

• Smartsheet: Smartsheet has limited financial management capabilities and may require integrating with other financial software for in-depth financial tracking.
• ClickUp: ClickUp offers budgeting and cost tracking features, making it suitable for project financial management. Users can monitor project expenses and budgets directly within the platform.
• Fluid: Fluid provides comprehensive financial management tools, including budget tracking, expense management, and revenue forecasting. It's well-suited for organisations that require in-depth financial control over their projects.

Portfolio management:

• Smartsheet: Smartsheet supports basic portfolio management, allowing users to organise and track multiple projects. However, it may lack some advanced portfolio management features found in other solutions.
• ClickUp: ClickUp offers portfolio management capabilities, allowing users to oversee and manage multiple projects, track progress, and make portfolio-level decisions.
• Fluid: Fluid provides advanced portfolio management features, including portfolio visualisation, alignment with strategic objectives, and real-time portfolio tracking. It's ideal for organisations that need to manage a portfolio of projects efficiently.

Industry-specific features:

• Smartsheet: Smartsheet is versatile and can be adapted for various industries, but it doesn't offer specific industry templates.
• ClickUp: ClickUp provides industry-specific templates and features tailored to different sectors.
• Fluid: Fluid offers industry-specific solutions, such as project management software for architects, providing targeted features for specialised needs.

Integrations: Smartsheet vs ClickUp vs Fluid

Project management software integrations: the ultimate matchmakers of work processes. They bring different tools together, to create a seamless stream of productivity. With these integrations, you can access and manage your data, documents, and tasks from various applications, all in one convenient platform.

With integrations being so important to make the most of every software, let’s look at what Smartsheet, ClickUp and Fluid offer.

Smartsheet integrations:

Smartsheet offers a wide range of integrations with popular tools like Microsoft Office 365, Google Workspace, and Salesforce. These integrations allow users to easily import/export data, collaborate on documents, and sync tasks. Smartsheet also provides RESTful API support to create custom integrations.

ClickUp integrations:

ClickUp has a variety of integrations, including Google Drive, Slack, Trello, and others. Users can connect ClickUp with their preferred apps to streamline work processes. ClickUp offers an API and Zapier integration for creating customised workflows.

Fluid integrations:

Fluid provides connectors for popular applications like Google Workspace, Dropbox, QuickBooks, and more. These integrations ensure smooth data exchange between Fluid and other tools, enhancing collaboration and productivity. Better still, integrations with Jira and DevOps allow all teams to work on platforms best suited to their working style (such as tech teams and project teams). Fluid also offers RESTful APIs for tailored integrations.

Customer support: Smartsheet vs ClickUp vs Fluid

Good customer support is crucial in project management software. Responsive and supportive customer service can greatly improve project efficiency. Let's explore customer support in project management software and compare how Smartsheet, ClickUp, and Fluid perform in this area.

1. Customer support channels:

Smartsheet: Smartsheet offers customer support through email and phone. Users can contact their support team for assistance with technical issues, product inquiries, or guidance.

ClickUp: ClickUp provides customer support through email and a chat feature within their platform. They also offer a knowledge base and community forum for self-help.

Fluid: Fluid offers a wide range of customer support options, including email, phone, and chat support. They pride themselves on offering personal, responsive support to their users.

2. Knowledge base and resources:

Smartsheet: Smartsheet provides an extensive knowledge base with articles, webinars, tutorials, and templates to help users learn and troubleshoot independently.

ClickUp: ClickUp offers comprehensive resources, including guides, tutorials, webinars, and a community forum where users can share tips and solutions.

Fluid: Fluid's website includes a knowledge base with detailed articles and guides to assist users in navigating the platform effectively.

3. Responsiveness and availability:

Smartsheet: Smartsheet is known for its prompt and helpful customer support. They typically respond to inquiries within a reasonable timeframe.

ClickUp: ClickUp aims to respond quickly to user inquiries through email and chat. Their chat feature allows for real-time assistance during business hours.

Fluid: Fluid takes pride in its personal touch with customer support. Users can expect a high level of responsiveness and support tailored to their needs.

4. User community:

Smartsheet: Smartsheet has an active user community where users can share best practices, ask questions, and get advice from experienced users.

ClickUp: ClickUp's community forum is a valuable resource for users to connect, share tips, and seek solutions to common challenges.

Fluid: Fluid maintains a user community where members can collaborate, share insights, and receive support from the Fluid team.

5. Pricing tier support:

Smartsheet: The level of customer support can vary based on the pricing tier, with higher tiers often receiving more dedicated support.

ClickUp: ClickUp provides support across all pricing tiers, ensuring that users at every level have access to assistance.

Fluid: Fluid offers personalised customer support to all users, regardless of their pricing tier.

Pricing plans: Smartsheet vs ClickUp vs Fluid

Each software solution offers a range of pricing options. Exploring these plans will enable you to make a well-informed decision that aligns perfectly with your budget and specific needs.

Smartsheet pricing plans 

ClickUp pricing plans

Fluid pricing plans

Ease of use: Asana vs monday.com vs Fluid

The ease of use is an important factor to consider when selecting project management software. A user-friendly interface and intuitive navigation significantly impacts the efficiency of your team.

Smartsheet:

• User-friendly interface: Smartsheet is known for its user-friendly and intuitive interface. Its spreadsheet-style layout is familiar and easy to navigate, making it accessible to users of all levels of technical expertise.
• Customisation: Smartsheet allows users to customise their workspace with various templates, columns, and views. This flexibility makes it easier to tailor the platform to your specific needs.
• Learning curve: Smartsheet generally has a relatively low learning curve, which means teams can start using it quickly without extensive training.
• G2 Ease of Use Score: 8.4

ClickUp:

• Flexible workspace: ClickUp offers a highly customisable workspace. While this provides adaptability, it can also make the platform appear complex for new users. However, ClickUp offers templates and onboarding resources to help users get started.
• Learning curve: ClickUp's extensive features and customisation options may result in a steeper learning curve compared to simpler tools. However, once users become familiar with the platform, it can be a powerful tool for project management.
• G2 Ease of Use Score: 8.5‍

Fluid:

• Intuitive design: Fluid is designed with a focus on simplicity. Its interface is user-friendly and easy to navigate. This is particularly beneficial for teams that want a straightforward project management experience.
• Minimal learning curve: Fluid's streamlined approach means that users can quickly grasp its features and functionality. This makes it an excellent choice for teams looking for a hassle-free project management solution.
• G2 Ease of Use Score: 9.5

Alternatives to Smartsheet, ClickUp and Fluid

If these great solutions don’t cut it for you (although you’d be hard pressed to find they don’t!), or you just want to demo some more, here are a few alternatives:

Microsoft Project: Microsoft Project is a comprehensive project management solution that has been around for years. It provides tools for project planning, scheduling, resource management, and reporting.

monday.com: A versatile work operating system, monday.com combines project management and team collaboration features. It offers customisable workflows, project tracking, and team communication.

Asana: A popular project and task management platform designed for teams. Asana enables users to create projects, assign tasks, set priorities, and track progress.

Choosing the right project management software

Careful consideration should be made when choosing project management software. The most important thing to ensure is that a business understands what their needs are so they can understand which solution can live up to expectations. The following are other factors to consider:

·  Assess industry fit: Consider if any of the three options have specialised tools tailored to your industry.

·  Check integrations: Ensure your chosen software seamlessly integrates with your existing tools and apps for a smooth workflow.

·  Examine usability: Evaluate the user-friendliness and customisation options. An intuitive interface is essential for quick adoption.

·  Think scalability: Choose software that can grow with your organisation to avoid switching in the future.

·  Consider value: Beyond initial costs, weigh features, customer support, and potential efficiency gains.

·  Test with trials: Use free trials and demos to experience each software first-hand.

·  Evaluate support: Review the level and quality of customer support, including response times.

·  Prioritise security: Ensure the software meets your security and compliance needs.

·  Unique features: Consider unique offerings; for instance, Fluid provides direct human customer service support, regardless of which tier you go for.