Automate Basics

ClickUp vs Notion vs Smartsheet vs Airtable

Pick up to 4 tools and see their free plans, entry prices, platforms and limits in one table. Every fact comes from each vendor's own pages, checked 23 September 2026.

Written head to head: Notion vs ClickUp · Airtable vs Smartsheet, with when to choose each side.

Compared on
ClickUp

Free plan · from $7/user/mo

Notion

Free plan · from $10/member/mo

Smartsheet

Free trial · from $9/member/mo

Airtable

Free plan · from $20/seat/mo

What it isWork management app combining tasks, docs, chat and AI in one workspaceWorkspace for docs, wikis, databases and projects with built-in AISpreadsheet-style work management for projects, programs and processesSpreadsheet-style database for building team apps, with AI built in
Free plan60 MB storage, unlimited tasks, unlimited free plan members, 1 form; AI limited to trial access.Pages and blocks unlimited for individuals but limited for workspaces with 2+ members; file uploads up to 5 MB; 7-day page history; up to 10 external guests; 1 chart; Notion AI as a limited trial only.NoUp to 5 editors; 1,000 records per base; 1 GB of attachments per base; 100 automation runs; 500 AI credits per editor per month; 1,000 API calls per workspace per month; 2 weeks of revision history.
Cheapest paid plan$7/user/mo billed annually (Unlimited)ClickUp pricing$10/member/mo billed annually (Plus)Notion pricing$9/member/mo billed annually (Pro)Smartsheet pricing$20/seat/mo billed annually (Team)Airtable pricing
What it coversAI is a separate add-on: Brain AI from $9 per user/month.Notion AI is only a limited trial on Plus. Full Notion AI starts on Business: $24 per member/month billed monthly, or $20 billed yearly.1 to 10 members with unlimited free contributors; 250 automations per month.Seats are charged for users with edit permissions; read-only collaborators are free. Includes 15,000 AI credits per paid user per month.
Free trialNone statedNone stated30-day free trialNone stated
PlatformsWeb, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, Chrome extensionWeb, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Chrome extensionWebWeb, API
Integrations (vendor's figure)Not statedNot statedNot statedNot stated
Open sourceNoNoNoNo
Good for
  • Running client projects with tasks, deadlines and Gantt timelines
  • Keeping team docs, chat and task lists in one place
  • Automating routine status changes and assignments
  • Keeping a team wiki, meeting notes and project tracker in one shared workspace
  • Building simple databases for clients, content calendars or hiring without code
  • Summarising meetings and drafting documents with AI on the Business plan
  • Planning a project on a Gantt timeline shared with clients as contributors
  • Collecting requests through forms into a tracked sheet
  • Reporting on several projects in dashboards
  • Tracking clients, inventory or content calendars in a shared database
  • Building a simple internal app or dashboard for a team without code
  • Automating notifications and record updates
Watch out for
  • Free Forever is capped at 60 MB of storage and 1 form
  • AI beyond a trial needs a paid add-on ($9 or $28 per user/month) on top of the workspace plan
  • SAML SSO, SCIM and audit logs are limited to Enterprise
  • Notion AI is only a limited trial on Free and Plus; full access starts on Business ($20 per member/month billed yearly)
  • Free plan limits file uploads to 5 MB and page history to 7 days, and block storage is limited once a workspace has 2+ members
  • Custom Agents and premium AI models use Notion credits, which are charged separately
  • No free plan; a 30-day free trial only
  • Pro is limited to 10 members and 250 automations per month
  • SAML SSO, portfolios and scenario planning require Enterprise
  • Free plan caps each base at 1,000 records and 1 GB of attachments, with up to 5 editors
  • On paid plans, every user with edit access to a base is billed as a seat
  • SAML single sign-on and two-way sync require the Business plan
Made byClickUpNotion Labs, Inc.Smartsheet Inc.Airtable

Entry prices are the cheapest paid plan, as each vendor publishes it; “What it covers” says what that price is per (a user, a channel, a brand, a number of contacts). The sources are listed on each tool's page.

Every tool in AI productivity and scheduling tools and AI spreadsheet and data tools is on their category pages, with the written head-to-heads on Compare.