G2

Harshith A.

Project Manager

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

10/27/2026

"Smartsheet Makes Release Planning Easy with Gantt, Dependencies, and Jira Links"

5/5

What do you like best about Smartsheet?

What I like best about Smartsheet is that it’s as easy as a spreadsheet but works as a real project planning tool. I use it as the main plan for our product releases. The Gantt view, dependencies and automatic date changes save a lot of manual work: when one task moves, the tasks after it move with it, so the timeline stays accurate. Parent and child rows make it easy to break a large release into phases and tasks while still seeing overall % complete at the top. I also like that I can add a Jira ID column to link plan items to our Jira tickets, so the team can move between the plan and the detailed work. RYG status symbols and formulas make it quick to spot risks and share a clear status with stakeholders. Stakeholders find it easy to read, even if they don’t use project tools every day. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Smartsheet?

The main thing I dislike is that some features take time to learn and don’t always work the way you expect. When dependencies are turned on, start and end dates become calculated, so you can’t edit dates on later tasks directly. You have to change the first task and let the dates update down the chain, and that confuses new users. Small handoff tasks set to “1d” can also stretch the schedule more than expected, so I have to use hours instead. Some actions are only possible in the screen, not through the API or automation. Examples are deleting a column that already has data and setting conditional colour formatting. For a team that wants to automate plan updates, these limits mean extra manual work. Larger sheets with many rows and formulas can also feel slow at times. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Smartsheet solving and how is that benefiting you?

Before Smartsheet, our release plans were split across Excel files, emails and Jira, so it was hard to see the full picture. Nobody had one clear view of where the release stood. Smartsheet gives us one shared plan for each product release, covering phases, tasks, owners, dates and dependencies in one place.

This helps me in a few ways:

One source of truth: everyone sees the same plan, so there’s less back-and-forth asking for status. Timelines stay accurate: with dependencies, a delay on one task automatically moves the tasks after it, so I can see the impact on the release date straight away. Clear progress tracking: % complete rolls up from tasks to phases to the whole release, so I always know how far along we are. Linked to Jira: a Jira ID column connects plan items to the team’s tickets, so high-level planning and detailed work stay connected. Easier stakeholder reporting: RYG status symbols show risks at a glance, and I can share a status with management quickly without making separate reports.

Overall, it saves me time on planning and reporting and makes it easier to spot risks early and keep releases on track. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.