Best for
Best for European teams that need GDPR-compliant, German-hosted task management with time tracking included.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Project Management Comparison
MeisterTask vs. Smartsheet
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for operations and PMO teams that run structured, spreadsheet-style projects at scale.
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | MeisterTask | Smartsheet |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free; Pro from €13.50 / user / month Business from €24 per user and month, Enterprise on request. The free Basic plan covers up to 3 projects, 5 notes and 5 Content Manager seats; viewer seats are unlimited on every plan. | From $12 / member / month Pro billed monthly; $9 per member per month billed yearly, for 1 to 10 members. Business is $24 monthly or $19 yearly with a minimum of three members. Enterprise and Advanced Work Management are quoted. |
| Free trial | Free Basic plan, free forever | 30-day trial, no free plan |
| API | Yes, full API access from the Pro plan | Not stated |
| Hosting | Germany | Not stated |
| Made in | Not stated | USA |
| Task planning | Yes, Kanban project boards with unlimited tasks, checklists, comments, recurring tasks and automations; subtasks, custom fields and a Gantt timeline from Business | Yes, grid, Gantt, board and calendar views |
| Resource planning | Workload planner and portfolios with cross-project timelines on Enterprise | Yes, workload tracking; Resource Management available |
| Time tracking | Yes, built-in time tracking on every plan including the free Basic plan | Yes, timesheets and expense tracking, but only in Resource Management by Smartsheet, an upgrade on top of the core plans |
| Reporting and controlling | 5 preset reports on every plan; custom reports and a team overview of task volume and capacity from Business | Yes, dashboards and cross-sheet reports |
| Integrations and API | Full API access from Pro, integrations with MindMeister, Slack, Google, Microsoft Teams, Zendesk and GitHub, plus a MeisterTask MCP server in beta | Yes, REST API and an official MCP server |
| AI features | Yes | Yes |
| MCP-ready | Yes | Yes |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | Email helpdesk, Phone | more entries Email helpdesk, Phone, Chat, Community forum |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base, Personal consulting | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials, Live online demos and webinars, Personal consulting |
| Company size | more entries Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | MindMeister, Slack, Google Workspace, Microsoft Teams, Zendesk, GitHub | Google Workspace, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Salesforce, Box, Dropbox |
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The short version
Key Differences
- Starting price MeisterTask Free; Pro from €13.50 / user / month Smartsheet From $12 / member / month
- Free trial MeisterTask Free Basic plan, free forever Smartsheet 30-day trial, no free plan
- Company size MeisterTask Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise Smartsheet Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
- Support MeisterTask Email helpdesk, Phone Smartsheet Email helpdesk, Phone, Chat, Community forum
- Task planning MeisterTask Yes, Kanban project boards with unlimited tasks, checklists, comments, recurring tasks and automations; subtasks, custom fields and a Gantt timeline from Business Smartsheet Yes, grid, Gantt, board and calendar views
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
MeisterTask
Strengths
- Hosted in Germany, ISO 27001 certified and GDPR-compliant
- Time tracking included on every plan, including the free one
- Unlimited viewer seats on all plans, so stakeholders cost nothing
Limitations
- Free plan is capped at 3 projects, 5 notes and 5 Content Manager seats
- Subtasks, custom fields and the Gantt timeline only from the Business plan
- Workload planning and portfolios are reserved for Enterprise
Smartsheet
Strengths
- Familiar spreadsheet interface with Gantt, board and calendar views
- Strong dashboards, reporting and workload tracking
- Official MCP server for AI assistant access
Limitations
- Steeper learning curve for advanced features
- No free plan, only a trial
Plans
Pricing
MeisterTask
- Basic €0 Free forever. Unlimited tasks, up to 3 projects, 5 notes and 5 Content Manager seats, 20 Meister AI credits per month, time tracking and 5 preset reports.
- Pro €13.50 From, per user and month. Unlimited projects and notes, 75 AI credits per month, recurring tasks and automations, full API access and email support.
- Business €24 From, per user and month. Adds 350 AI credits, Gantt timeline, subtasks, custom fields, custom reports, roles and permissions and priority email and phone support.
- Enterprise Not stated Contact sales. Adds workload planner, portfolios, SAML single sign-on, compliance exports and a dedicated Customer Success Manager.
Smartsheet
- Pro $12 Per member per month billed monthly, $9 billed yearly. 1 to 10 members, unlimited contributors.
- Business $24 Per member per month billed monthly, $19 billed yearly. Minimum three members, unlimited guests and contributors.
- Enterprise Not stated Quoted, from 10 members. Adds 24x7 global phone support and Smartsheet University.
- Advanced Work Management Not stated Quoted, for large-scale portfolio management.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
MeisterTask
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Smartsheet
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Where this comes from
Where this comes from
MeisterTask https://www.meistertask.com · no check date recorded yet
Smartsheet https://www.smartsheet.com · no check date recorded yet
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.