Linear vs Smartsheet

Which one do AI engines recommend, and how do they differ on price, fit and features?

The short answer

Smartsheet is the stronger AI pick in Project Management: it has a visibility score of 20.8 versus 7.9 for Linear, and ranks ahead in 60% of the answers that name both.

Choose Linear if…

You want a free plan to start
AI answers describe it more positively (54% vs 36% positive)
You need SOC 2 Type II or HIPAA (BAA available) or ISO/IEC 27001:2022 coverage
Fast issue tracking for software engineering teams

Choose Smartsheet if…

You want the brand AI engines rank higher (20.8 vs 7.9)
You need SOC 2 or ISO 27001 or FedRAMP or HIPAA (BAA) coverage
Enterprise-scale portfolio management and roll-ups
Spreadsheet-style data grids and familiarity

AI visibility side by side

Latest weekly run · Nov 3

Metric	Linear	Smartsheet
Visibility score	7.9%	20.8%
Change vs last week	New	New
Rank in Project Management	#12	#6
Share of voice	2%	6.3%
Mentions this run	11	35
Positive in AI answers	54%	36%

The stronger value in each row is marked with a ✓.

Visibility score trend

Weekly runs over the last 60 days

Linear 0pp · Smartsheet 0pp over 0 weekly runs.

Engine by engine

Smartsheet leads on 3 of 3 engines

ChatGPT

7.8%

25.6%

AI Mode

8.2%

17%

Perplexity

7.8%

19.8%

LinearSmartsheet

Head to head in AI answers

5 engine answers name both brands

2Linear ranked higher

3Smartsheet ranked higher

Prompt	Engine	Linear	Smartsheet
How do I choose a project management tool for a mid-market team?	Perplexity	#7	#5
What are the best Project Management tools in 2026?	AI Mode	#7	#4
Top project management tool options for B2B SaaS companies	Perplexity	#3	#8
Alternatives to the most popular project management tool	AI Mode	#6	#9
Alternatives to the most popular project management tool	Perplexity	#10	#7

Features, pricing & fit

Dimension	Linear	Smartsheet
Pricing model	Per seat	Per seat
Entry price	Free; paid from $10 per seat / mo	$12 per seat / mo
Free plan	Yes	No · 30-day trial
Deployment	Cloud-hosted SaaS; workspace data can be stored in the European Union or the United States	Cloud-based
Compliance	SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, HIPAA (BAA available), ISO/IEC 27001:2022	SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, FedRAMP, HIPAA (BAA)
Support	Priority support (Enterprise plan), Account manager (Enterprise plan)	Help and learning content, Smartsheet Community, Web-based ticketing, Smartsheet University (add-on)
Founded	2019	2005
Headquarters	San Francisco, California, United States	Bellevue, Washington, USA
Employees	—	1,001–5,000
Funding	Series C · $134M raised	Post-IPO equity round
Best for	Product and engineering teams that build software and want humans and AI agents working in one shared system	Organizations running project, portfolio and operational work at scale, including enterprise PMOs.