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As more companies advise their employees to work from home, project teams are faced with more challenges in meeting their goals. Not all organizations have a policy or experience to set up and manage remote teams. Luckily, those who have are sharing their knowledge and experience. Among the recommendations in managing remote project teams is to use project management and collaboration tools like Smartsheet and ProofHub.
In this Smartsheet vs. ProofHub analysis, we compare features of the two software and the best way to take advantage of them. These general project management solutions can be used by businesses of all sizes, and some industries are better suited with one or the other. If you are looking to find the right set of features for your needs, use our Product Selection Tool to get a short list of recommendations.
Smartsheet
Smartsheet Inc., is a publicly traded American company based in Bellevue, WA with offices in Boston, London, and Edinburgh. It was founded in 2005 to provide companies an enterprise platform to help manage and automate collaborative work. Today, over 83,000 companies and their teams use the software to plan, manage, and track projects wherever they are.
Smartsheet is a cloud-based platform that lets you organize work, use different views, allow collaboration, capture information, track progress, and report on status. You can share the right information to both internal and external partners to improve communication and speed up the work process. It also works well with other third-party applications such as Excel, Power BI, and Tableau. Google named it as one of the first solutions recommended for G Suite.
ProofHub
ProofHub, LLC is a privately held software company based in Walnut, CA. It was founded in 2011 to help teams have access to all the tools they need in one software to get work done. It lets you work with your team, managers, and clients together collaboratively and be updated in real time. More than 85,000 businesses use the software to work together faster towards a common goal.
ProofHub brings together features that let managers set the controls, agenda, and workflow while communicating with the team for priorities and generating reports for stakeholders. Teams are notified which tasks they should prioritize and are provided with tools to manage their work and communicate with their teammates. Clients are able to communicate with the team, provide feedback and approval, and get notified of updates across devices.
Features comparison of Smartsheet vs. ProofHub
Task management and project organization
Smartsheet lets you create task lists easily in a familiar spreadsheet-like grid view and then visualize them in other views like card view, calendar view, or Gantt chart view. The flexible grid view lets you customize multiple column types with automatic organization features. In the calendar view, you can view and edit dates and reminders directly, sync with other calendar programs, and securely publish schedules or share to others. Drag and drop elements to create and edit the Gantt chart and use dependencies to highlight the critical path. Other features include a card view with custom fields, cell linking across sheets, and data-collecting forms.
ProofHub task management lets you add task lists and assign tasks to one or multiple people. You can break down big tasks into smaller subtasks and add custom labels to help you differentiate and organize tasks. Tasks can have start and due dates as well as estimates. You can create recurring tasks and events through the calendar and merge it with other calendar programs. View tasks using a Kanban board or a Gantt chart. The software also lets you import tasks, use email to add tasks, and mark progress percentage. Other features include Notes for recording information, minutes, or ideas, Project Manager for clear project ownership, and online Request Forms.
Collaboration
Smartsheet lets you attach files from online file storage services directly to a row or attach it to the sheet. Content collaboration is possible with teammates, clients, and vendors who can provide feedback through pinned annotations, conversations, and approvals. You can create conversations in context with work by leaving comments on a row or a sheet. Other tools include a notification center, customizable team portal, configurable reminders, and the ability to share a dynamically updating published sheet, report, or dashboard.
ProofHub has a proofing tool that lets you review files, proof, collaborate, and approve with markup tools and threaded comments. You can review multiple versions of a file and approve in one click. You can create topics in Discussions and add comments with your team and clients. It has a built-in chat for one-to-one or group chat where you can attach files, use emojis, and @mention people. Other features include a dedicated Announcements space and email integration.
Reporting
Smartsheet has an activity log that provides an audit trail of changes made on sheets, reports, and dashboards. You can build customizable dashboards with widgets that display dynamic data, charts, and metrics. Reports allow you to view data across multiple sheets that you can also update, share, send, and publish to inform the rest of your team. You can export reports in PDF, Excel, Google Sheets, and other formats and apps. When publishing a sheet, report, or dashboard, a unique URL is generated that is accessible to anyone without having to log in to Smartsheet.
ProofHub lets you create a variety of customizable reports easily. You can track task progress with a burn-up chart, get a detailed list of open and overdue tasks, and generate visual reports based on labels and assignee. Get workflow task reports as well as time reports with the built-in time tracking and timesheet features. Other available reports in ProofHub are workload report, a roadmap timeline report, and daily, weekly, and monthly project progress reports.
Ready to make your decision on Smartsheet vs. ProofHub?
Smartsheet and ProofHub are both online project management tools that are highly accessible for all your remote teams.
Smartsheet is more popular with companies in the technology, government, construction, and education industries. It has strong workflow features, auditing, and tracking for project and work management. Communication tools seem limited for some users. A 30-day free trial is available.
ProofHub is more popular with teams in the advertising, marketing, and digital agencies due to its strong proofing and collaboration tools. It is also used by PSA companies for its built-in time tracking tools. Integration with other tools is fewer compared to other PM software. It offers a free 14-day trial of plans that do not have per user fees.
Ready to find the right project management for your needs? Use our Product Selection Tool to get a free list of the top project management software to get started right away.