Smartsheet vs Trello

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

The short answer

Trello is the stronger AI pick in Project Management: it has a visibility score of 24.7 versus 20.8 for Smartsheet, and ranks ahead in 50% of the answers that name both.

Choose Smartsheet if…

You need SOC 2 or ISO 27001 or GDPR or FedRAMP or HIPAA (BAA) coverage
Enterprise-scale portfolio management and roll-ups
Spreadsheet-style data grids and familiarity
Flexible dashboards, reporting, and automation

Choose Trello if…

You want the brand AI engines rank higher (24.7 vs 20.8)
You want a free plan to start
AI answers describe it more positively (38% vs 36% positive)
You need SOC 2 Type 2 or ISO/IEC 27001 or ISO/IEC 27018 or PCI-DSS coverage

AI visibility side by side

Latest weekly run · Nov 3

Metric	Smartsheet	Trello
Visibility score	20.8%	24.7%
Change vs last week	New	New
Rank in Project Management	#6	#5
Share of voice	6.3%	5.8%
Mentions this run	35	32
Positive in AI answers	36%	38%

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

Visibility score trend

Weekly runs over the last 60 days

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

Engine by engine

Trello leads on 3 of 3 engines

ChatGPT

25.6%

31.7%

AI Mode

17%

21.5%

Perplexity

19.8%

20.9%

SmartsheetTrello

Head to head in AI answers

16 engine answers name both brands

8Smartsheet ranked higher

8Trello ranked higher

Prompt	Engine	Smartsheet	Trello
What is a project management tool and when does a company need one?	ChatGPT	#1	#4
What is the difference between a project management tool and task management software?	ChatGPT	#7	#2
What are the best Project Management tools in 2026?	ChatGPT	#6	#8
What are the best Project Management tools in 2026?	AI Mode	#4	#5
What are the best Project Management tools in 2026?	Perplexity	#5	#6
Top project management tool options for B2B SaaS companies	Perplexity	#8	#9
Which project management tool has the best reviews?	ChatGPT	#6	#5
Compare the leading Project Management platforms	Perplexity	#6	#7
Alternatives to the most popular project management tool	ChatGPT	#8	#4
Alternatives to the most popular project management tool	Perplexity	#7	#5
Which Project Management vendors do analysts recommend?	AI Mode	#1	#8
How much does a project management tool cost per month?	ChatGPT	#7	#1

Features, pricing & fit

Dimension	Smartsheet	Trello
Pricing model	Per seat	Per seat
Entry price	$12 per seat / mo	Free; paid from $5 per seat / mo
Free plan	No · 30-day trial	Yes
Deployment	Cloud-based	Cloud-only, accessed through the web, desktop and mobile apps
Integrations	—	200+
Compliance	SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, FedRAMP, HIPAA (BAA)	SOC 2 Type 2, ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 27018, PCI-DSS
Support	Help and learning content, Smartsheet Community, Web-based ticketing, Smartsheet University (add-on)	Help resources with articles and FAQs, 24/7 Enterprise admin support
Founded	2005	2011
Headquarters	Bellevue, Washington, USA	—
Employees	1,001–5,000	—
Funding	Post-IPO equity round	Series A · $10M raised
Best for	Organizations running project, portfolio and operational work at scale, including enterprise PMOs.	Individuals, small teams and teams of any size that want a simple visual way to track tasks and projects