Updated March 2026. Comparing Kintone and Smartsheet? Both are popular platforms, but they solve different problems in fundamentally different ways. This guide gives you an honest, side-by-side analysis so you can make the right choice for your Philippine business.
| Factor | Kintone | Smartsheet |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy Speed | Days to weeks | Days (for project management) |
| Technical Skills | None (no-code) | Medium (spreadsheet-oriented) |
| Pricing | Per user, all-inclusive | Per user, tiered |
| Best For | Custom business apps (CRM, inventory, HR, any workflow) | Project management + Gantt charts |
| Customization | Drag-and-drop + optional JavaScript | Spreadsheet-based + Bridge automation |
| Local PH Support | ✅ edamame (Pasig City, trilingual) | ❌ Global support only |
| AI Features | ✅ AI App Creator, AI Process Creator | ⚠️ Limited AI features |
| Year 1 Cost (10 users) | ₱300,000 - 450,000 | ₱240,000 - 480,000 (10 users + add-ons) |
📊 Want to see Kintone in action? Get a free demo customized to your business needs. For more details, see our guide to project management tools for Philippine businesses. For more details, see our guide to workflow automation in the Philippines.
Free Demo →Smartsheet is a spreadsheet-based project management platform known for its Gantt charts, resource management, and portfolio-level project oversight. It's popular with PMOs and engineering teams.
Smartsheet enhances spreadsheets. Kintone replaces them entirely with proper database apps. Build CRM, inventory, HR — not just project trackers.
Smartsheet's core is affordable, but Bridge (automation), DataMesh (cross-sheet data), and Dynamic View (portals) are paid add-ons. Kintone includes automation, cross-app relationships, and custom views in the base price.
Smartsheet's power comes with complexity. Kintone's drag-and-drop builder is simpler — non-technical staff can build and modify apps independently.
edamame provides dedicated Philippine support. Smartsheet's support is US-based with no PH presence.
Your primary need is project management with Gantt charts, your team thinks in spreadsheets and rows, you need portfolio-level project oversight, or you're managing construction/engineering timelines.
You need business apps beyond project management, want to replace spreadsheets entirely (not enhance them), need CRM/inventory/HR alongside project tracking, prefer simpler drag-and-drop building, or want local PH support.
Smartsheet's strength is also its limitation — it thinks in rows and columns. This makes it instantly familiar to anyone who uses Excel, and its Gantt chart, calendar, and card views are well-implemented. For project timelines, resource allocation, and status tracking, the spreadsheet paradigm works well.
But business processes aren't spreadsheets. A purchase approval workflow needs conditional routing (different approvers based on amount), attached documents, automated notifications, and audit trails. A customer service system needs linked records (customer → tickets → resolutions), SLA tracking, and escalation rules. These require a database architecture, not a spreadsheet.
Kintone provides true relational database capabilities — lookup fields that pull data from other apps, record linking for complex relationships, process management for multi-step workflows, and custom JavaScript for advanced business logic. For Philippine businesses managing complex operations, this architectural difference is critical.
Smartsheet offers automated workflows triggered by cell changes, date conditions, or row creation. These work well for simple automations like sending notifications when a project status changes or creating reminders before deadlines.
Kintone's process management engine is designed for business process automation — multi-step approval chains, conditional routing based on form data, parallel approval paths, and role-based assignments. A purchase order can route through department head → finance review → GM approval → procurement team, with different paths based on amount, urgency, and department.
For Philippine businesses in regulated industries — healthcare, financial services, manufacturing — process management with full audit trails isn't optional. Kintone's built-in process management satisfies compliance requirements that Smartsheet's cell-based automations cannot address.
For spreadsheet-style project management with Gantt charts and resource management, Smartsheet is excellent. For building custom business applications beyond project tracking — CRM, inventory, HR, procurement workflows — Kintone is far more capable. Choose based on whether your primary need is project management or operational automation.
Yes, for most Philippine business use cases. Kintone handles task tracking, project milestones, team assignments, and status reporting. You lose Smartsheet's advanced Gantt charts and resource management views, but gain the ability to build unlimited custom business apps on the same platform — eliminating the need for separate CRM, inventory, and HR tools.
Smartsheet Pro costs $9/user/month (₱510). Smartsheet Business is $32/user/month (₱1,810). Enterprise pricing is custom. Kintone starts from ₱1,000/user/month. Smartsheet Pro appears cheaper, but most businesses need Business tier for automations and integrations. When you factor in that Kintone replaces multiple tools (CRM + project management + HR + inventory), Kintone typically costs less overall.
For Philippine construction firms, Kintone is generally the better choice because it handles project tracking plus the operational workflows construction companies need — material procurement, subcontractor management, safety compliance tracking, progress reporting, and billing. Smartsheet handles project scheduling well but requires additional tools for these operational processes.