Unito vs. Smartsheet Bridge: Which Integration Do You Need?
Data makes for better decisions, more effective projects, and stronger alignment across your organization. With Smartsheet as the powerhouse for that data, you get visibility on valuable work, seamless collaboration, and deep reporting. But the data you need isn’t always in Smartsheet. That’s when you need a software integration.
Smartsheet offers its own integrations through Smartsheet Bridge, allowing you to bridge the gap between this essential tool and other platforms. Unito’s Smartsheet integration, meanwhile, creates a two-way flow between Smartsheet and other tools, powering smoother collaboration across tools.
Here’s your guide to picking the right option for your team.
| Smartsheet Bridge | Unito | |
| Integration type | One-way event-based workflows | Two-way live data sync |
| Setup complexity | No-code, but technical know-how needed | No-code, user-friendly setup |
| Supported tools | Three pre-built connectors (ServiceNow, Google Translate, SharePoint) Developer platform for any tool with an API | 60+ connectors, like Jira, Azure DevOps, and ServiceNow |
| Cost of ownership | Additional cost on top of your Smartsheet Enterprise subscription | One subscription price, low setup and maintenance cost |
| Time to deploy | Complex and slow | Short |
| Customization | Flexible, but manual and technical | Visual, easy to configure, auto-mapping supported |
| Scalability | Flexible, depending on custom design | Enterprise-ready, built for high-volume syncs |
What is Smartsheet Bridge?
Smartsheet Bridge is a low-code option for teams needing to build automations that support even complex workflows both within Smartsheet and between Smartsheet and other tools. Its simple drag-and-drop interface means you don’t need advanced technical skills to set up basic automations. But if you do have technical resources, you can use HTTP calls, API calls, and Javascript to build your own automations with any tool that supports these methods.
What is Unito?
Unito is a no-code integration solution with some of the deepest two-way integrations for popular tools like Asana, Jira, ServiceNow, and Salesforce. These integrations build two-way relationships between rows in Smartsheet and work items in other tools, automatically updating fields, creating new work items, and archiving work items as you work.
Say, for instance, that you’re tracking project deliverables in Asana but the projects themselves are managed in Smartsheet. Unito can pair Asana tasks for those deliverables with rows in Smartsheet, so anyone in Asana knows exactly when those deliverables will be completed, who’s working on them, and how they’re prioritized around other work.
Unito vs. Smartsheet Bridge: How they compare
Let’s break down the differences between Unito and Smartsheet Bridge in more detail.
Integration type
Smartsheet Bridge uses trigger-based “if this then that” logic, which can be triggered with either specific events or on a schedule. This structure can support a wide variety of activities, so no matter what business function you’re building workflows for, Smartsheet Bridge can automate those actions. Note, however, that these automations only work in one direction by default. That means data is pushed from an initial trigger to an action, and onward from there. You can link up enough automations to push data back to the tool or project involved in the initial trigger, but that can get complex quickly.
Conversely, Unito sets up a two-way relationship between blocks of work (e.g., projects, spreadsheets, or workspaces) and the work items (e.g., tasks, rows, or records) in them. A single flow can connect two individual blocks of work and any number of work items in them, syncing data back and forth in real-time. No building chains of automations. Just one flow and you have a two-way sync, ready to go.
Setup complexity
You don’t need to learn how to code to set up Smartsheet Bridge’s automations, but you do need a certain level of technical knowledge to understand what’s happening behind the scenes. Otherwise, you run the risk of encountering issues like infinite loops and broken automations.
Most Unito users don’t have a technical background, and they deploy their first Unito integration within a few days, if not less. Whether you have a small team or you’re an enterprise organization, you can deploy Unito integrations without any developers or third-party consultants.
Supported tools
Smartsheet Bridge offers three pre-built connectors: ServiceNow, Google Translate, and Sharepoint. While these connectors can support specific, critical workflows, they’re not enough to support your team’s work holistically. Bridge also allows you to build your own connectors with any tool that has an API—but that involves development work.
Unito offers over 60 pre-built connectors for tools like Smartsheet, ServiceNow, Jira, and Asana, supporting workflows like ticket escalation, software development, project management, and record syncing. That means you can rely on a single platform for most—if not all—of your integration needs.
Cost of ownership
With Smartsheet Bridge, you’ll have to pay an additional cost on top of your Smartsheet subscription. You’ll also need to budget for technical resources for building custom connectors, whether you’re relying on your own developers or external consultants.
With Unito, your total cost of ownership is summed up in a single subscription fee. No extra expenses for development and no hidden fees.
Time to deploy
Smartsheet Bridge can be a complex integration solution to deploy. Even if you’re using its pre-built connectors, you’re looking at a technical, lengthy process before your integrations are live. This isn’t a problem if you have the time and the resources, but it can make already problematic workflows get more complex.
Unito’s integrations deploy in days, not weeks or months. And since you don’t need a technical background to deploy these integrations, anyone in your team can own that deployment. You’ll see the impacts of your Unito integration quickly, without disrupting the way your teams work.
Customization
Smartsheet Bridge is a deeply customizable integration solution. But that customization comes at a cost. Because making the changes you need is a deeply manual process, you need technical resources to do so. This isn’t the kind of integration where anyone on your team can make the changes they need on the fly.
Unito’s integrations are both deeply customizable and easy to customize. Deep field mappings allow you to send data exactly where it needs to go, while rules allow you to fine-tune how much data gets through. With Unito’s visual interface, you can modify your integrations on the fly with no technical knowledge.
Scalability
No matter how effective your Smartsheet Bridge integrations are, they’re limited by the amount of custom development work you put into them. That means any time you need to add support for other connectors or extra functionality, you need to budget for that work. Your ability to scale Smartsheet Bridge integrations depends on how much of that work you can do.
Unito is built with enterprise organizations and their integration needs in mind. A single Unito flow can sync hundreds of work items in real-time, scaling with you as you grow.
When you should use Smartsheet Bridge
Smartsheet Bridge works best for workflows that only need straightforward, trigger-based automations to work right. Processes with multiple approvals and clear dependencies are well-suited to Smartsheet Bridge, since data only needs to move in one direction.
If you have the development resources to build and deploy custom connectors to cover your tool stack, then Smartsheet Bridge’s deep customization is a natural fit for your team.
When you should use Unito
Unito is the single best option for powering seamless collaboration across tools. It’s as close as you can get to working in two tools at the same time without actually needing to switch back and forth between them.
Unito’s real-time, two-way sync keeps all your work updated in real-time, allowing organizations to collaborate across departments and even across time zones, no matter what tools they use.
Whether it’s for managing projects, escalating tickets, or enhancing AI agents in your tools, Unito is the best choice.
Ready to get more out of your tools?
Meet with a Unito product expert to see what a Unito flow can do for your workflows.