Smartsheet vs Zoho
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 12.5 for Zoho, and ranks ahead in 90% of the answers that name both.
Choose Smartsheet if…
- You want the brand AI engines rank higher (20.8 vs 12.5)
- 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
Choose Zoho if…
- AI answers describe it more positively (50% vs 36% positive)
- You need ISO/IEC 27001 or ISO/IEC 27017 or ISO/IEC 27018 or SOC 2 Type II coverage
- You prefer a larger, established vendor (5,000+ employees)
- Strong value for money and low cost
AI visibility side by side
Latest weekly run · Nov 3
| Metric | Smartsheet | Zoho |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility score | 20.8% | 12.5% |
| Change vs last week | New | New |
| Rank in Project Management | #6 | #9 |
| Share of voice | 6.3% | 3.9% |
| Mentions this run | 35 | 22 |
| Positive in AI answers | 36% | 50% |
The stronger value in each row is marked with a ✓.
Visibility score trend
Weekly runs over the last 60 days
Smartsheet 0pp · Zoho 0pp over 0 weekly runs.
Engine by engine
Smartsheet leads on 3 of 3 engines
Head to head in AI answers
10 engine answers name both brands
| Prompt | Engine | Smartsheet | Zoho |
|---|---|---|---|
| What are the best Project Management tools in 2026? | Perplexity | #5 | #10 |
| Compare the leading Project Management platforms | Perplexity | #6 | #10 |
| Alternatives to the most popular project management tool | ChatGPT | #8 | #11 |
| Alternatives to the most popular project management tool | Perplexity | #7 | #9 |
| How much does a project management tool cost per month? | ChatGPT | #7 | #8 |
| Which project management tool offers a free trial? | ChatGPT | #5 | #3 |
| Which project management tool offers a free trial? | Perplexity | #2 | #8 |
| What is the typical pricing model for Project Management software? | ChatGPT | #5 | #6 |
| Official website of the top project management tool vendors | ChatGPT | #6 | #13 |
| Official website of the top project management tool vendors | Perplexity | #6 | #11 |
Features, pricing & fit
| Dimension | Smartsheet | Zoho |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Per seat | — |
| Entry price | $12 per seat / mo | — |
| Free plan | No · 30-day trial | — |
| Deployment | Cloud-based | Cloud (SaaS) |
| Compliance | SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, FedRAMP, HIPAA (BAA) | ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 27017, ISO/IEC 27018, SOC 2 Type II |
| Support | Help and learning content, Smartsheet Community, Web-based ticketing, Smartsheet University (add-on) | — |
| Founded | 2005 | 1996 |
| Headquarters | Bellevue, Washington, USA | Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Employees | 1,001–5,000 | 5,000+ |
| Funding | Post-IPO equity round | Bootstrapped |
| Best for | Organizations running project, portfolio and operational work at scale, including enterprise PMOs. | Businesses of all sizes, from startups to enterprises, wanting one suite for sales, support, finance and HR |
Plans side by side
Smartsheet
Zoho
Pricing not available.
Pros and cons
Themes from the AI answers that mention each brand
Smartsheet
- Enterprise-scale portfolio management and roll-ups
- Spreadsheet-style data grids and familiarity
- Flexible dashboards, reporting, and automation
- Critical path scheduling and resource management
- Aggregates data from other tools into one view
Zoho
- Strong value for money and low cost
- Free tier for small teams
- Broad functionality and integrated app ecosystem
- Good customization options
- Scales well as businesses grow
- Less premium user experience
- Pricing varies dramatically across products
Data collected ·ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode·coverage 100%·next run
Cite as: SlateIndex, “Smartsheet vs Zoho”, https://slateindex.ai/compare/smartsheet-vs-zoho, data of Nov 3, 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.