A Smartsheet alternative for the Jira Gantt job
Plenty of teams run Jira for day-to-day work but export it into Smartsheet just to get a proper Gantt view: dependencies, a critical path, baselines, a timeline leadership can read. That works, but it costs you a second per-seat license, a connector to maintain, and a copy of your plan that drifts out of date the moment Jira changes. If the only reason Smartsheet is in your stack is the Gantt layer on top of Jira, Simple Gantt does that job natively, inside Jira, on live data.
TL;DR
- ✓ No sync tax: Simple Gantt reads your live Jira issues. There's no connector to configure and no synced copy to fall out of date.
- ✓ No second seat: Smartsheet bills per user (from roughly $9/user/month). Simple Gantt is free to get started and lives in the Jira you already pay for.
- ✓ Forge-native: Your project data stays on Atlassian infrastructure instead of being copied into a separate SaaS platform.
- ! Honest caveat: Smartsheet is a full work-management platform. If you use its grids, forms, automation, dashboards, or portfolio features, Simple Gantt is not a one-to-one replacement (see "When to keep Smartsheet" below).
Different category, one overlapping job
Let's be clear up front: Smartsheet and Simple Gantt are not the same kind of product. Smartsheet is a broad work-management platform: spreadsheet-style grids, intake forms, automation, dashboards, proofing, and portfolio management. Simple Gantt is a focused Gantt chart that runs inside Jira.
They overlap in exactly one place, and it's the place a lot of Jira teams care about: visualizing Jira work on a Gantt timeline with dependencies, a critical path, milestones, and baselines. This page is only about that one job. If that's the reason Smartsheet sits next to your Jira instance, read on. If you depend on the rest of Smartsheet, this isn't the comparison for you — and we'll say so plainly.
For the Jira Gantt job, side by side
Scoped to teams using Smartsheet for Gantt views on top of Jira issues.
| For the Jira Gantt job | Simple Gantt | Smartsheet + Jira sync |
|---|---|---|
| Lives inside Jira | Yes | No — separate app |
| Works on live Jira data | Yes — reads issues directly | Synced copy (connector + lag) |
| Setup for a Jira Gantt | Minutes | Connector config + field mapping |
| Per-seat cost | Free to start | From ~$9/user/mo (Pro) |
| Dependencies (all 4 types) | Yes | Yes |
| Critical path | Yes | Yes |
| Baselines & variance | Yes (up to 10) | Yes |
| Project health dashboard | Yes (0-100 risk score) | Via custom dashboards |
| Data location | Atlassian (Forge) | External SaaS |
| Full work management (grids, forms, automation, portfolio) | No | Yes |
That last row matters: for the broader platform, Smartsheet wins by design. For a Gantt on top of Jira, the sync and the second license are pure overhead.
The hidden cost is the sync, not the license
To put Jira work into a Smartsheet Gantt, you connect the two with a sync, typically Smartsheet's Jira connector or a third-party integration. Now you maintain a pipeline: which projects sync, which fields map to which columns, how often it runs, what happens on conflict. Every new field or workflow change is another mapping to keep current.
And because it's a sync, the Smartsheet view is always a copy of Jira as of the last refresh. Someone reschedules a task in Jira; the Gantt your stakeholders are looking at still shows the old date until the next sync runs. Decisions get made on stale data, and "the Gantt says something different from Jira" becomes a recurring conversation.
Simple Gantt removes the pipeline entirely. It reads your Jira issues directly through a JQL query, so the timeline is your Jira data, not a snapshot of it. Move a date in Jira and it's reflected in the Gantt. Move it in the Gantt and it writes back to the issue. One source of truth, no reconciliation.
You're already paying for Jira
Smartsheet is licensed per user, starting at roughly $9/user/month on the Pro plan and around $19/user/month on Business, usually billed annually with minimum seat counts. To get Jira work in front of stakeholders, you end up buying Smartsheet seats for people who only need to see the timeline. That's on top of the Jira licenses you already pay for.
Simple Gantt lives inside Jira and is free to get started. Viewers see the Gantt with the Jira access they already have. There's no second platform to license, and no per-seat charge just to look at a chart.
Your project data doesn't leave Atlassian
Syncing Jira into Smartsheet means a copy of your project data (task names, dates, assignees, dependencies) lands in a separate SaaS platform with its own security model, access controls, and data residency. For some organizations that's an extra vendor review and an extra place sensitive plans live.
Simple Gantt is built on Atlassian Forge. Your data is processed and stored entirely within Atlassian's cloud and inherits your existing Jira permissions and data residency settings. Nothing is copied to a third-party platform, because there's no copy at all.
When to keep Smartsheet
We'd rather you make the right call than swap tools and regret it. Stay on Smartsheet if you rely on what makes it a platform rather than a Gantt chart:
- •You plan work that doesn't live in Jira at all — marketing calendars, ops trackers, cross-department intake.
- •You depend on Smartsheet grids, intake forms, automation rules, proofing, or roll-up dashboards.
- •You run portfolio management across many teams via Control Center or similar.
Simple Gantt replaces the Jira Gantt layer, not the platform. If that layer is the only reason Smartsheet touches your Jira workflow, you can retire the sync and the seats and keep planning where the work already lives.
Plan in Jira, not a copy of it
Free to get started. No connector, no second license, no stale snapshot. Install from the Atlassian Marketplace in under a minute.
Get Started with Simple Gantt