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OpenText Project and Portfolio Management vs Smartsheet vs Trello comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
4.5
Users are uncertain about ROI from OpenText PPM, anticipating potential value post-full implementation despite current mixed opinions.
Sentiment score
6.7
Smartsheet boosts efficiency and collaboration, streamlining project management with Excel-like simplicity, enhancing productivity, and offering cost-effective solutions.
Sentiment score
4.4
Trello enhances task organization and communication efficiency, resulting in significant perceived value and time savings for users, despite ROI challenges.
Sometimes we can have a back-and-forth conversation in the comments, which helps minimize some meetings.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.4
OpenText support is inconsistent, with mixed reviews on responsiveness, satisfaction, bug fixing, and technical expertise ratings between 5-9.
Sentiment score
7.1
Smartsheet customer service is praised for responsiveness and training but criticized for ticket management and inconsistency.
Sentiment score
2.1
Most Trello users find it user-friendly, with satisfactory support, except occasional delays causing frustration for some.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
OpenText Project and Portfolio Management is highly praised for its scalability, accommodating growth seamlessly for various business sizes.
Sentiment score
7.4
Smartsheet effectively scales for diverse user needs, with strong integration capabilities, despite some advanced feature limitations and cost concerns.
Sentiment score
6.2
Trello suits small to medium teams with flexibility but lacks features needed for larger teams, prompting some to switch.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
OpenText PPM is stable, especially on Windows, though some users report version-specific issues and infrastructure-related downtimes.
Sentiment score
7.9
Smartsheet is a reliable, stable cloud-based platform for project management, with minimal disruptions and frequent improvements enhancing its performance.
Sentiment score
6.8
Trello is stable and reliable with minor slowdowns, good for handling multiple users with room for timeline flexibility.
While it is generally stable, there is still some room for improvement.
 

Room For Improvement

OpenText needs improved reporting, user interface, resource management, integration, and security, alongside better mobile, database, and automation features.
Smartsheet needs a more intuitive interface, better integration, robust features, and enhanced support for an improved user experience.
Trello requires enhanced time tracking, better integration, simplified onboarding, flexible pricing, improved performance, and intuitive UI with robust features.
OpenText Project and Portfolio Management could improve in several areas such as portfolio planning and resource allocation.
I have a novice understanding of Smartsheet, so I sought a solution more suited to repeatable projects and process-oriented governance.
It would be beneficial to have a search system that can pull up topics using keywords or AI-driven capabilities, making it easier to find relevant cards.
Each card move or addition results in a new email, so a digest or a better way to receive notifications would be helpful.
More control over email notifications would also be helpful.
 

Setup Cost

OpenText pricing is seen as high by SMBs, but offers transparency with separate licenses and no hidden costs.
Smartsheet offers flexible, competitively-priced licensing options appealing to various users, providing value through extensive functionality and customization.
Trello offers fair pricing with a scalable free version, though opinions on the value of paid plans vary.
It is not overly expensive and provides a fair value for the features offered.
 

Valuable Features

OpenText PPM offers a user-friendly interface with real-time data, integration flexibility, and tools for efficient project and financial management.
Smartsheet excels in real-time data sharing, automation, integration, and customization, making it a favored alternative to Microsoft Project.
Trello offers intuitive, versatile task management with features like Kanban boards, facilitating collaboration and productivity across devices.
The workflow is amazing and highly effective in streamlining processes.
We were looking for a tool that allowed for repeatable projects and process-oriented governance.
What I appreciate best about Smartsheet is the straight Gantt chart and its flexibility.
Trello's interface is aesthetically pleasing for project management, and it enhances collaboration with other team members.
It replaces ping-ponging emails back and forth with a board where people can follow a task from start to finish and see when it's done.
We are able to customize the labels, both the text and the color, so when looking at a board, we can easily filter or see cards related to specific tasks or team members.
 

Featured Reviews

Aphiwat Leetavorn. - PeerSpot reviewer
Useful for resource and financial management but needs to change Oracle database
The solution helps with tech management. It has a work plan similar to Microsoft Project for tracking progress anywhere. It can synchronize with Microsoft Projects for updating and rebooting tasks. They can also assign tasks to team members who can update progress using timesheets without a sheet. It includes a Project dashboard for managing multiple projects simultaneously and program management for overseeing groups of projects. It offers various data metrics. It has project entities for controlling risks, issues, and protections. It can calculate costs based on resource tasks and compare actual and planned costs. The tool has features for scenario comparison, allowing us to optimize scenarios based on various factors. Additionally, we can manually optimize by managing resource availability, creating staffing profiles, and making payments to optimize in any situation.
PaulDiaz - PeerSpot reviewer
Needs to improve baselines and changing dates can be frustrating
I like the dashboarding feature best, as it lets me assemble a workspace with source sheets, dashboards, and reports simultaneously. The standard reports and worksheets are most useful for team collaboration. People look at dashboards during presentations, but they go to the sheets to update projects, add comments, or make notifications. It's automated, so changes come to me or whoever needs to see them. I can send notifications from specific line items. The worksheet is key for tracking project progress, though we track it at a higher level rather than detailed work breakdown structures. Subject matter experts say when they'll deliver things, and that's what we track.
Ariel Lindenfeld - PeerSpot reviewer
Customizable labels and the ability to modify cards streamline task management and save time
There can be bugs sometimes. When more than one person tries to edit the description at the same time, it can do some unexpected things. I would like to see that improved. Sometimes they add new features, which can be either welcome or odd. More control over email notifications would also be helpful.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
21%
Government
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Performing Arts
6%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Government
10%
Healthcare Company
9%
University
7%
Educational Organization
12%
Insurance Company
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Retailer
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Any experience with Strategic Project Portfolio Management Solutions?
Hi, @Cheryl Joseph Micro Focus Project and Portfolio Management solution could be a good candidate, see my review on ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Micro Focus Project and Portfolio Management (PPM)?
The price of this solution is reasonable. It is not overly expensive and provides a fair value for the features offered.
What needs improvement with Micro Focus Project and Portfolio Management (PPM)?
OpenText Project and Portfolio Management could improve in several areas such as portfolio planning and resource allo...
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 thei...
What do you like most about Smartsheet?
The tool creates shareable dashboards. These dashboards allow us to display project deliverables' status, their posit...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Smartsheet?
The pricing is great and reasonable enough that I maintained my copy and bought it for my team independently.
What do you like most about Trello?
The solution is very user-friendly, where you have everything you need.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Trello?
I do not have information on pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Trello because it was set up by my manager and st...
What needs improvement with Trello?
Having special fields for users such as members, testers, and verifiers would be beneficial, as it would be much easi...
 

Also Known As

Micro Focus Project and Portfolio Management (PPM), HPE Project and Portfolio Management PPM
No data available
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bank Simpanan Nasional, Smart Communications, Aareon AG
Sony Music, ESPN, Hilton, Unisource, Colliers, Extreme Networks, Groupon, Netflix
Pixar, Google, PayPal, Kickstarter, National Geographic, Viewbox Holdings
Find out what your peers are saying about Atlassian, Asana, Microsoft and others in Project Management Software. Updated: August 2025.
865,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.