pylotik
An operational commitment management software: steering of contracts, projects and maintenance, with clients and suppliers, and team management. It suits organizations that steer teams, internal and external, and commitments to keep.
Comparison pylotik vs Smartsheet: which software to steer your projects and your commitments?
pylotik vs Smartsheet: Smartsheet structures work in sheets close to a spreadsheet, with Gantt, automations and dashboards, and extends it through resource and portfolio modules. pylotik starts from elsewhere: steering contracts, projects and maintenance with clients, milestones, committees and validations included, and managing teams, internal teams included. Both tools can track a budget and have a deliverable approved. They do not put the same object at the center.
In 30 seconds
The sheet, or the commitment.
Smartsheet
A work management tool based on collaborative sheets, completed by modules (Resource Management, Control Center, Dynamic View, Portfolios). It suits project teams, PMOs and large organizations familiar with the spreadsheet.
The difference
Smartsheet is built sheet by sheet and module by module. pylotik delivers from the start a model in which project, contract, committee and client are linked, with no sheet to design, and in which the client has its own access.
The audiences
Who each solution is for.
Smartsheet
- Project and business teams at ease with a logic of rows, columns and formulas.
- PMOs that consolidate several sheets into reports and dashboards.
- Large organizations that add resources and portfolio through modules, mostly on the Business and Enterprise plans.
pylotik
- Organizations that run projects (industry, construction, engineering, digital services, public service) and answer for a commitment to their client, external or internal.
- Project and operations directorates that run committees and must keep a record of them.
- Organizations that also provide maintenance after delivery.
- Team managers, internal teams included who follow workload, time and feedback.
Its strengths
Why organizations choose Smartsheet.
According to the vendor's public documentation, Smartsheet stands out on several specific points.
- A full Gantt with predecessors of every type, lags and critical path.
- Resource Management, as a module: workload plan, time and expense entry, budgets in time or in amount, billing rates, with fixed-price, recurring retainer and time-and-materials models.
- External validation: approvals through automation and proofing reviews open to people outside the organization.
- Free external guests on the Business and Enterprise plans, with viewer, commenter or editor rights.
- A data region in the European Union, hosted in Frankfurt, and a public REST API.
In all frankness
Where Smartsheet remains the better choice.
A critical-path schedule
Smartsheet calculates the critical path and shifts tasks according to their predecessors. In pylotik, dependencies between projects and milestones are monitored, without automatic recalculation of dates.
Teams attached to the spreadsheet
For those who think in rows and columns, Smartsheet extends a familiar practice. pylotik offers business objects rather than a free-form grid.
Simple task lists
When there is no team to manage and no commitment to keep, pylotik's steering layer weighs little against the flexibility of sheets.
A broad ecosystem of integrations and automations
Smartsheet offers an API, integrations and automations. pylotik has neither a public API nor SSO; it connects to project ticketing tools such as Jira and to the ERP, through a connector built to your needs; these connectors are optional.
Feature by feature
The comparison table.
Each cell points to the vendor's public documentation. "Via module" flags a feature sold separately; "Not documented" means the documentation does not mention it.
| Feature | pylotik | SmartsheetCloud Act |
|---|---|---|
| European sovereignty | France | Non-EUUnited States |
| Project management (tasks, milestones, schedule) | YesWork packages, tasks, phases, milestones, Gantt | YesProject sheets, Gantt, milestones, row hierarchy, critical path. |
| Multi-project steering | YesPortfolio steering and arbitration | Via modulePortfolios reserved for the Enterprise plan; Control Center as an add-on module (https://help.smartsheet.com/articles/2479066-smartsheet-control-center-create-project); multi-sheet dashboards and reports. |
| Linked or nested projects | Via moduleLinked projects, one level (Extended Project) | PartialParent/child hierarchy within a sheet; programs and project provisioning through Control Center (module). |
| Dependencies between projects | Via moduleMonitored, without recalculating dates | YesPredecessors by row number within a sheet; dependencies between sheets are not documented. |
| Resources and assignments | Yes | Via moduleResource Management by Smartsheet, an add-on module (Business and Enterprise). |
| Workload plan | Yes | YesWorkload tracking (heat map, multi-project schedule) for members on the Smartsheet, Business and Enterprise plans; advanced workload plan in Resource Management. |
| Time entry | YesWeekly, on web and mobile | Via moduleTime and expense entry in Resource Management (module), with approvals. |
| Client contracts | YesA contract for each project | Not documented |
| Maintenance contracts | YesVolume, catalogue, committee | Not documented |
| Intervention scheduling | Via moduleInterventions module | Not documented |
| Fixed-price projects | YesPayment schedule on milestones | Via moduleFixed-bid budgets and recurring retainers in Resource Management. |
| Time-and-materials projects | YesMonthly schedule, days × rate | Via moduleFees calculated from hours and billing rates, time-and-materials budgets, in Resource Management. |
| Invoice issuing | Via integrationBilling orders sent to the ERP; the invoice is issued by the ERP | Not documented |
| Financial tracking and margin | YesOrdered, invoiced, paid, margin | Via moduleBudgets in time, fees and expenses, budget reports, in Resource Management. |
| Calendars | YesPersonal, project, client | Yes |
| Meetings and minutes | YesAgenda, minutes | Not documented |
| Decision log | Yes | Not documented |
| Action tracking | Yes | Not documented |
| Risk register | YesShared or internal | Not documented |
| Client access | Yes | PartialSheets can be shared with external guests; Dynamic View (module) to expose a filtered view to third parties. |
| Client access without a license | YesExternal client organizations | PartialFree external guests on Business and Enterprise only (not on Pro); they cannot create anything. Contributors (viewing) are free on all plans. A guest who creates an item becomes a provisional member. |
| Client validation | YesMinutes, amendments, interventions | YesProofing reviews open to any e-mail address, including outside the organization (free account required), with approval or change requests; approval requests through automation (https://help.smartsheet.com/articles/2479276-request-approval-from-stakeholders). |
| Dashboards | Yes | YesReports and dashboards. |
| Mobile app | YesInstallable web app | YesiOS and Android. |
| Connectors and API | PartialProject ticketing (Jira) and ERP; optional connectors depending on needs; no public API | YesPublic REST API and integrations. |
| French-language interface | YesAnd in English, chosen by each user | YesFrench among the 8 languages of the app according to a 2022 release note. |
Information checked in October 2026, against the vendors' public documentation. It changes: see the sources. The flag shows the vendor's country; the Cloud Act badge flags a vendor under US law, or owned by a US group, subject to the CLOUD Act; Non-EU, a vendor established outside the European Union.
The right use case
Where pylotik is a relevant alternative.
When several needs meet around a single client commitment, with no module to assemble.
- Contract and project in the same object Smartsheet tracks budgets and fees in a separate module; its documentation does not mention client contracts. In pylotik, each project has its contract, and the project financial tracking shows ordered, invoiced, paid, amount still due and margin.
- Traced committees Smartsheet's documentation describes neither meetings, nor decisions, nor actions, nor a native risk register. pylotik holds the agenda, minutes submitted to the client, decisions, actions and risks, shared or internal: project governance in one place.
- A validation that applies to the commitment Smartsheet's proofing has a file approved. In pylotik, the client validates minutes or accepts an intervention through its signature, and this validation stays attached to the project.
- Team management, internal teams included Workload plan, weekly time entry, weekly report, reviews, leave and feedback whose author chooses the recipient: team steering, with no module to add and without rating anyone.
- Maintenance Maintenance contract management tracks period, volume, catalogue and committee; in addition, the Interventions module schedules by the half day on the real workload.
- Several projects, several parties Multi-project steering links projects, including that of another supplier of which you are the client.
Client access
Smartsheet's guests, the client in pylotik.
According to Smartsheet's documentation, external guests are free on the Business and Enterprise plans, not on the Pro plan, and they cannot create anything: a guest who creates an item becomes a provisional member. Simple viewing access is free on every plan. Proofing reviews are open to any e-mail address, with a free account. To expose a filtered view to third parties, Dynamic View is an add-on module.
In pylotik, access for the external client organization is free on every tier. The client follows what concerns it and validates what is submitted to it, without seeing your margins, your workload or your internal steering, and without modifying your production data.
A collaborative sheet remains a sheet: you often end up drawing a slide deck from it for the committee and confirming decisions by e-mail. pylotik puts commitments, decisions, validations and reporting on a single reference data set. The spreadsheet can still be used to analyze; it is no longer the system of record.
Frequently asked questions
What we are asked about Smartsheet.
Can pylotik replace Smartsheet?
To steer projects and teams, internal teams included, with their contract, their committees and their workload plan, yes. For very flexible no-code sheets, custom automations or a critical-path schedule, Smartsheet remains the better choice.
Does Smartsheet manage fixed-price and time-and-materials projects?
Yes, in its Resource Management module: fixed-bid budgets, recurring retainers and fees calculated from hours and rates. pylotik includes it in the contract of each project, with no module to add.
Does either of them issue invoices?
No. Smartsheet's documentation describes no invoice issuing. pylotik does not issue any either: it connects to the ERP, through a connector built to your needs, to send it the billing orders, and tracks the ordered, invoiced and paid amounts.
Does the client pay to access pylotik?
No, if it is an external client organization, whatever the tier. The Pilot and Contributor seats are detailed on the pricing page.
Where is the data hosted?
pylotik is designed and hosted in France. Smartsheet offers a European region in Frankfurt, subscribed through its sales team, each region requiring its own subscription.
Next
To go further.
- Comparison of project delivery software: managing the work or steering the delivery.
- pylotik vs Wrike: another enterprise-oriented tool, facing commitment management.
- pylotik vs monday.com: no-code boards facing the contract and the committee.
- Project software with a client portal: what the client sees, what the client validates.
- The product tour: contracts, projects, maintenance and committees in one path.
- The pylotik pricing: Pilot and Contributor seats, three tiers.
- Request a demo: on your own projects.
- All the project steering software comparisons: PSA, PPM, work management, interventions.