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Database & Data Management · head to head

Amazon Redshift vs Smartsheet

Amazon Redshift logo

Amazon Redshift

Database & Data Management

Fast, scalable cloud data warehouse from AWS

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Smartsheet logo

Smartsheet

Construction

The platform for dynamic work

From
$9/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Amazon Redshift has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Amazon Redshift on-demand pricing runs up to 75% higher than competitors like Snowflake and BigQuery; Smartsheet formulas lack Excel robustness; complex data manipulation hits performance limits
  • They diverge on capability: Amazon Redshift covers Columnar Storage, Smartsheet covers Grid, card, Gantt & calendar views.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Amazon Redshift and Smartsheet actually diverge.

Attributes where Amazon Redshift and Smartsheet differ
AttributeAmazon RedshiftSmartsheet
Starting priceFree$9/month
Pricing modelusage-basedUnknown
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android
CategoryDatabase & Data ManagementConstruction
Founded20122005

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Amazon Redshift

  • Columnar Storage
  • Massively Parallel
  • Machine Learning
  • AQUA Acceleration
  • Data Sharing
  • Federated Query
  • Concurrency Scaling
  • S3

Only in Smartsheet

  • Grid, card, Gantt & calendar views
  • Automated workflows
  • Forms & data collection
  • Resource management
  • Dashboards & reporting
  • Proofing & approvals
  • Document generation
  • Integration platform

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Amazon Redshift

  • Business intelligencenot Smartsheet
  • Data warehousingnot Smartsheet
  • Real-time analyticsnot Smartsheet
  • Reportingnot Smartsheet
  • Machine learningnot Smartsheet

Smartsheet

  • Project portfolio managementnot Amazon Redshift
  • IT project managementnot Amazon Redshift
  • Marketing campaignsnot Amazon Redshift
  • Product launchesnot Amazon Redshift
  • Process automationnot Amazon Redshift

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Amazon Redshift

  • On-demand pricing runs up to 75% higher than competitors like Snowflake and BigQuery
  • Requires significant manual tuning including managing concurrency scaling costs and configuring Workload Management queues
  • Performance degrades without proper design of distribution keys and sort keys
  • Limited elastic resize options - can only halve or double current cluster size
  • AWS lock-in makes it unsuitable for multi-cloud architectures

Smartsheet

  • Formulas lack Excel robustness; complex data manipulation hits performance limits
  • Gantt chart customization is limited with poor handling of part-time resource allocation
  • Expensive pricing compared to other project management tools; collaboration features are paid-only
  • Limited offline access and minimal mobile functionality compared to modern competitors

Pricing, plan by plan

Amazon Redshift

Free
  • Free TrialFree
    • 750 DC2.Large hours
    • 2 months free
    • Full features
  • On-Demand$0.25/hour
    • Pay per node hour
    • All features
    • Standard support

Smartsheet

$9/month
  • Pro$9/month
    • Core project management
    • Automation
    • 1-10 members
  • Business$19/month
    • Advanced automation
    • Portfolio management
    • 3+ members

Which should you pick?

Choose Amazon Redshift if

  • You need columnar storage.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want massively parallel.
Amazon Redshift review

Choose Smartsheet if

  • You need grid, card, gantt & calendar views.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want automated workflows.
Smartsheet review

Questions people ask

Is Amazon Redshift or Smartsheet better?
Neither clearly leads. Amazon Redshift starts at Free and Smartsheet at $9/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amazon Redshift or Smartsheet?
Amazon Redshift has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Amazon Redshift and $9/month for Smartsheet.
Does Amazon Redshift or Smartsheet run on more platforms?
Amazon Redshift runs on Web. Smartsheet runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Amazon Redshift for free?
Yes. Amazon Redshift has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Smartsheet starts at $9/month.
What is Amazon Redshift best used for?
Amazon Redshift is most often used for business intelligence, data warehousing, real-time analytics, reporting. Of those, business intelligence and data warehousing are not what Smartsheet is typically brought in for.
What can Amazon Redshift do that Smartsheet cannot?
Amazon Redshift covers Columnar Storage, Massively Parallel, Machine Learning, AQUA Acceleration. Smartsheet covers Grid, card, Gantt & calendar views, Automated workflows, Forms & data collection, Resource management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Amazon Redshift: What deployment options does Amazon Redshift offer?

Redshift offers Provisioned Cluster (with RA3 or DC2 nodes) and Serverless options to match varying workloads. The new Redshift RG instance family, powered by Graviton, delivers 2.4x faster performance than RA3 at 30% lower cost per vCPU.

Source
Smartsheet: What is Smartsheet pricing for a construction team?

Smartsheet Pro starts at $9 per user per month (annual billing) for 1-10 members. A construction company can deploy Business plan for 18 licensed users at $19 per user plus unlimited free collaborators (subcontractors, clients) for a typical monthly cost around $576.

Source
Amazon Redshift: What does Amazon Redshift cost?

Provisioned cluster pricing: RA3 on-demand starts at $1.086/hour for ra3.xlplus. Serverless costs approximately $0.375 per RPU-hour with 4-RPU minimum (roughly $1.50/hour active workload). Managed storage costs $0.024/GB-month.

Source
Smartsheet: Does Smartsheet work offline?

No. Smartsheet has minimal offline access and requires internet connectivity for full functionality.

Source
Amazon Redshift: Does Redshift work with data lakes?

Yes, Redshift's integrated data lake query engine processes workloads on Apache Iceberg tables and other supported formats in Amazon S3, allowing you to run SQL analytics across your data warehouse and data lake from the same engine.

Source
Smartsheet: What integrations does Smartsheet support?

Smartsheet integrates with Slack, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Jira, Salesforce, Dynamics 365, Tableau, Power BI, DocuSign, Box, Dropbox, plus Zapier and Make for no-code automation.

Source
Amazon Redshift: Is there a free tier for Amazon Redshift?

AWS offers a free trial with $300 USD in Serverless credits valid for 90 days, but Redshift is not part of the permanent AWS Free Tier.

Source
Smartsheet: Can I use Smartsheet formulas like Excel?

Smartsheet formulas lack the robustness of Excel. Complex nested functions or large-scale data manipulation often hit performance limits, requiring multiple helper columns.

Source
Smartsheet: Does Smartsheet have a free plan?

No. Smartsheet Pro starts at $9 per user per month (annual billing). There is a free trial available, but no perpetual free plan.

Source
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