Plane vs Smartsheet

What Plane is

Plane is open-source project management with issues, cycles and modules, available self-hosted or cloud. Self-hosting puts issue history and roadmaps inside your own network, which is the deciding factor for teams that cannot use a hosted tracker. Being younger than the incumbents, it has fewer integrations, and that is the gap to weigh.

What Smartsheet is

Smartsheet manages work in a spreadsheet-like grid with automations, dependencies and reporting layered on. The grid is deliberate: teams that already run projects in spreadsheets can move across without learning a new mental model, then gain Gantt views, approval workflows and cross-sheet reporting they could not build in a spreadsheet. It suits operational and portfolio work more than software development, where board-based tools fit the rhythm better.

What Plane is built to do

Issues, cycles and modules

Organises work into sprints and larger delivery modules.

Self-hosted option

Runs on your own infrastructure with the same feature set as cloud.

Open-source codebase

Allows inspection and modification rather than only configuration.

What Smartsheet is built to do

Grid, Gantt and card views

The same data shown as a sheet, a timeline or a board without duplicating it.

Cross-sheet reporting

Roll many project sheets into one portfolio view for reporting upward.

Automated workflows

Approval chains, reminders and status updates triggered by field changes.

Forms

Collect structured requests from people who never open the sheet itself.

Choose Plane if

• Teams that want issue tracking without a per-seat bill or third-party hosting.

Choose Smartsheet if

• Teams that think in spreadsheets but need automation, forms and dashboards on top
• Small groups: Pro starts at $9/member/month billed annually
• Trying it fully first — 30 days with no card

Skip Smartsheet if

• You need unlimited automations or timeline view; those start at Business, $19/member/month annual
• You want a free tier; Smartsheet has none, only a trial
• You are an existing customer hoping to move to Pro — the vendor lists Pro as available to new customers only

Plane: pros & cons

• Open source and self-hostable
• Familiar issue and cycle model
• No per-seat licence when self-hosted
• Younger and less polished than commercial rivals
• Self-hosting is your responsibility
• Smaller integration ecosystem

Smartsheet: pros & cons

• Familiar to anyone comfortable in spreadsheets
• Handles dependencies and resource views
• Strong automation and forms
• Interface is dense
• Per-user pricing with feature gates
• Spreadsheet metaphor breaks on complex work