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Adobe Workfront vs Smartsheet comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
5.6
Adobe Workfront boosts efficiency and productivity significantly, saving time and resources while enhancing collaboration and user growth.
Sentiment score
6.9
Smartsheet enhances productivity and collaboration, automates processes, manages timelines, and is cost-effective compared to Microsoft Project alternatives.
We tracked all of the savings through Adobe Workfront, and at the end of the year, for those 2,500 users, we saved over 1,200 hours, or 1,200 man hours.
Manager, Enterprise Workfront Team at Capital One
Compared to Microsoft Project, which is more expensive, we save costs using Smartsheet.
Project Manager at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.0
Adobe Workfront's support is well-rated for expertise and responsiveness, though complex issues can experience longer response times.
Sentiment score
6.8
Smartsheet's customer service feedback is mixed, with praise for responsiveness and resources but concerns over response delays and ticket management.
They provide answers and guidance on how to resolve issues, such as clearing cookies and cache, and assist in best practice configuration and optimization of the platform.
Senior Software engineer at HCLSoftware
It is considered a citizen admin system, and you don't need to be an IT professional to be an administrator.
Workfront Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
If L5 does not understand, it moves to L4. If they can't solve it, it moves to a higher level.
Programmer at Labcorp
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.7
Adobe Workfront scales well for midsize to enterprise businesses, offering flexibility, customization, and strategic planning with manageable scalability challenges.
Sentiment score
7.4
Smartsheet is praised for scalability, integration features, and cost-effectiveness, with some concerns over task tracking in larger projects.
We have gone from two or three marketing teams up to over 40 marketing teams and 6,500 users in a few years.
Manager, Enterprise Workfront Team at Capital One
The solution is really scalable.
Programmer at Labcorp
Smartsheet is pretty flexible and scalable.
Project Manager at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
6.8
Adobe Workfront is praised for its stability, with issues resolved quickly and performance consistently rated highly by users.
Sentiment score
7.9
Users find Smartsheet stable, with minor issues, high reliability ratings, and minimal disruptions enhancing overall satisfaction.
Adobe Workfront provides a stable foundation for project management.
Senior Software engineer at HCLSoftware
Overall, I would rate the stability and reliability of Adobe Workfront a ten.
Manager, Enterprise Workfront Team at Capital One
I have not faced any challenges with the stability of Adobe Workfront.
Workfront developer at IBM
 

Room For Improvement

Adobe Workfront users want improved reporting, integration, and interface customization for better usability, efficiency, and data visualization.
Users want better data management, UI, integration, security, support, and Excel-like features in Smartsheet.
We can enhance integrations, such as ensuring Adobe Workfront integrates more seamlessly with other Adobe products like Experience Manager and Creative Cloud.
Senior Software engineer at HCLSoftware
If I have issue-level data and project-level data that I need to see, with some custom coding, you can do some of it in a report, but in general, if you have a lot of that blended data between levels, you need to use a dashboard, which requires two different reports due to the difficulty in pulling data at the different levels into one thing.
Manager, Enterprise Workfront Team at Capital One
Integration with Azure DevOps could be improved to facilitate better communication between the two systems.
vp at a insurance company with 5,001-10,000 employees
I have a novice understanding of Smartsheet, so I sought a solution more suited to repeatable projects and process-oriented governance.
Strategic Programs Vice President, Project Management Office at a financial services firm with 11-50 employees
 

Setup Cost

Adobe Workfront's pricing is high but offers flexibility, discounts, and value for large remote teams with efficiency improvements.
Smartsheet pricing is user-based, varies by plan, and advanced features can increase costs compared to competitors like Microsoft Project.
This can include items such as mileage, supplies, software, licenses, and travel costs.
Senior Software engineer at HCLSoftware
The per-user cost in the ultimate plan of Adobe Workfront is approximately $1,232 when purchasing 800 to 1,000 licenses.
Adobe Workfront Specialist at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Licensing might be cheaper per user.
Project Manager at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

Adobe Workfront offers customizable tools for effective project management, enhancing collaboration, automation, integration, and workflow flexibility for users.
Smartsheet offers real-time collaboration, customizable dashboards, automation, and integration, making it ideal for efficient project management.
It provides comprehensive features with built-in integration for creative tools, addressing the pain point of creative collaboration in the content supply chain.
Consultant at Deloitte USI
Reporting is a major part of Adobe Workfront, making it not just a workflow management tool but also a tool where we can get data and present it to executives through comprehensive reporting.
Adobe Workfront Specialist at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
The system aids in supporting demand management and producing high-level status reports.
vp at a insurance company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Automation helps by simplifying some manual work, saving time and facilitating communication.
Project Manager at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
We were looking for a tool that allowed for repeatable projects and process-oriented governance.
Strategic Programs Vice President, Project Management Office at a financial services firm with 11-50 employees
What I appreciate best about Smartsheet is the straight Gantt chart and its flexibility.
Solution Architect at Think People
 

Categories and Ranking

Adobe Workfront
Ranking in Project Management Software
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
Digital Asset Management (1st)
Smartsheet
Ranking in Project Management Software
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
43
Ranking in other categories
Project Portfolio Management (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Project Management Software category, the mindshare of Adobe Workfront is 2.0%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Smartsheet is 2.8%, down from 5.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Project Management Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Adobe Workfront2.0%
Smartsheet2.8%
Other95.2%
Project Management Software
 

Featured Reviews

Chris French - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager, Enterprise Workfront Team at Capital One
Enhanced project management and automation simplify reporting and approval processes
I think that Adobe Workfront could be improved in several areas, including reporting, which I've already mentioned. There are very specific things within the custom forms that I think could be improved, such as having different labels within forms instead of system-wide. The ability to hide options in a drop-down at the custom form level instead of system-wide would be another improvement. There are times we have to create brand new fields because we need slightly different wording within the label. If we had the capability, we could easily trim down from over 1,000 custom fields to about 400 custom fields if we had the ability to have individual labels by form. So reporting is a big one, and I think there are some not huge changes needed, but improvements to custom forms and custom fields would be beneficial. My experience with reporting in Adobe Workfront so far is that the reporting could be better. The ability to report is great, but I think it is too difficult. Regarding dashboards, they are crucial to be able to pull information from different levels, but that's also a negative because it is very difficult to do that on a report. If I have issue-level data and project-level data that I need to see, with some custom coding, you can do some of it in a report, but in general, if you have a lot of that blended data between levels, you need to use a dashboard, which requires two different reports due to the difficulty in pulling data at the different levels into one thing.
DS
Project Manager at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Automation simplifies manual tasks and facilitates team communication
There are many useful features in Smartsheet. One can easily share plans with the entire team, and it functions similarly to Microsoft Project. Creating dependencies across all tasks is smooth, and team members can make adjustments if necessary. Automation helps by simplifying some manual work, saving time and facilitating communication.
report
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879,259 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Healthcare Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Media Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Government
10%
Healthcare Company
10%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise30
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise22
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Workfront?
The per-user cost in the ultimate plan of Adobe Workfront is approximately $1,232 when purchasing 800 to 1,000 licenses. The ultimate plan includes Fusion, which is an excellent automation tool. In...
What needs improvement with Workfront?
The platform could benefit from additional customization features. The external lookup field, which allows custom API calls to fill data, is limited to two thousand results, which is insufficient f...
What is your primary use case for Workfront?
We specifically implement Adobe Workfront for other clients as Deloitte is a partner of Adobe. We work with different clients to implement Workfront and streamline marketing resource management wit...
Has anyone moved from Microsoft Project to Smartsheet? How has your experience been with Smartsheet?
Hi @Eire Zimmermann, I helped an organization evaluate both MS-Project and Smartsheet when they were conducting their PM tool RFP. The short of it is this, MS Project is not caught up with the mo...
What do you like most about Smartsheet?
The tool creates shareable dashboards. These dashboards allow us to display project deliverables' status, their position in the queue, expected delivery timelines, and more. The best part is that t...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Smartsheet?
Licensing might be cheaper per user. I rate it as seven or eight due to its demanding nature. For personal use, I have a monthly subscription, while the company uses an annual basis.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

AtTask, Workfront DAM
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Advance Autoparts, Emerson, Covario, Cisco, Caroma, TREK, Sapient Nitro, ATB, LexisNexis, CarPhone Warehouse
Sony Music, ESPN, Hilton, Unisource, Colliers, Extreme Networks, Groupon, Netflix
Find out what your peers are saying about Adobe Workfront vs. Smartsheet and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,259 professionals have used our research since 2012.