Admin Roles but Unlicensed

WinaHath

Will each user that I designate as Admin to a workspace/sheet use a license or can they be unlicensed?

Do each of the users who submit data through an intake form need an account?

Marcela

Hello @WinaHath

To respond to your first question:

On a Business and Enterprise plan, free users (unlicensed) can view, edit, and update sheets and reports within the platform and can be shared to unlimited sheets. Creating, owning, administering, or driving a process, program, or project in Smartsheet requires a paid license. Here you can confirm which sharing access level they were assigned.

Now, addressing your second question:

By default, all forms are available to anyone with the link.

When you use Require people to log in to Smartsheet to access this form:

• Users who access your form(s) will have to log in with their Smartsheet account
• Users do not need a Smartsheet license, a valid username and password will do
• Users who don’t have a Smartsheet account can create a free account to log in and access your form(s)

If you have further questions, please let me know. I will be glad to look into it.

Marcela

Paul Newcome

You can share a sheet to an unlicensed user with Admin permissions. They will not be able to own any Smartsheet items (to include automations if I remember correctly), but they can still be shared to a sheet with Admin permissions.

WinaHath

@Paul Newcome and @Marcela

Thank you for your response!!! that clears it up for me! the links work great too!

Paul Newcome

Happy to help. 👍️

RxStrategic

Hi @Marcela, I have a Pro Plan (~$90 a year).

You said in your earlier comment that "free users can edit sheets shared with them". (And I'm pretty certain free users could edit sheets, previously)

However, I have shared a sheet with 1 collaborator and it I get the message above that "Collaborators will have View Only Access unless they have a license on the owner's Pro Plan".

My intent is to use Smartsheets to project-manage small admin tasks around the home. Literally, share under ten sheets with 1-3 close family members. If I would need to buy each of these family members (collaborators) a $90 license in order to collaborate with them... then Smartsheets is not a viable solution for personal use, only Business/Enterprise use.

Please let me know if I am missing anything. Thank you for your guidance.

Andrée Starå

Hi @RxStrategic

I hope you're well and safe!

Unfortunately, it's correct.

I hope that helps!

Be safe, and have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

✅Did my post(s) help or answer your question or solve your problem? Please support the Community by marking it Insightful/Vote Up, Awesome, or/and as the accepted answer. It will make it easier for others to find a solution or help to answer!

Marcela

Hello, @RxStrategic

That is correct for the Pro Plan. If you want collaborators to edit shared objects (sheets, reports, or dashboards), they must be licensed users on your Pro plan and have Editor or above permission. To learn more about Smartsheet plans, see the Pricing page.

More information about this can be found in our Help Center article: Dashboard widgets and sharing in the Pro plan

Cheers!

RxStrategic

Hi @Marcela,

Long-time Smartsheets advocate. Per my recommendation, my employer also adopted Smartsheets at Business/Enterprise level.

Checking the Pricing page you listed, I see that on a Free Plan I could collab with up to two Free Editors, whereas on a paid Pro-Plan I can collab with 0 Free Editors. It makes no sense a paid account has less features than a free account.

I feel like your earlier comment on this thread (now edited) and others in Community, led me to purchase a Pro Plan thinking I could collab with other Free Accounts.

Please let me know if there is any solution possible. Otherwise, I have to conclude Smartsheets his cost-prohibitive for personal/home use. (and would also politely request a refund, as I feel these terms were not clear)

Thanks.

Admin Roles but Unlicensed — Smartsheet Community.pdf

Genevieve P.

Hi @RxStrategic

Jumping in here to help clarify: Marcela's original comment/response was specific to WinaHath, as that account is on a Business plan. After your follow-up, I asked Marcela to edit her comment for others landing on this post that her response was intended for someone on a Business or Enterprise plan, since plan types aren't visible for other Community members as they are for Admins.

It is correct that on a Pro Plan collaborators need to have a license on the same plan in order to edit sheets. This is outlined on the Pricing page, the Help Center with an article specific to Pro Plan sharing (the one Marcela shared), other Community posts, and in the app itself when going to purchase a plan:

I understand it can be frustrating to not get what you're expecting. We would appreciate hearing your suggestions for other ways to ensure this is clear for Pro Plan purchasers, or if you believe there could be better phrasing on these pages. I'd be happy to pass this feedback to the Product and Sales teams.

Thank you,

Genevieve

RxStrategic

@Genevieve P.
Thanks for the answer!

I'm just so surprised Smartsheets would make a paid Pro Account less useful than a Free Account (with which you can actually collab with at least two others)…

I do remember there was a time not that long ago where I had a paid Account, and was able to collab on sheets with my wife who had a Free Account. This obviously was changed as now all Pro Accounts can only collab with Licensed Sub-Accounts (ie, if you want to collab with one other person, it doubles the price to $168/year).

Even in this attached article, it says that as a Free User you can "edit sheets that have been shared with you."

It may be that I have become aware of this update to the paid Plan features now because didn't apply to "legacy sheets" created years ago, but only to sheets created beyond a certain date—and I just feel like I was not given clear notice and the opportunity to proactively consent to this change before my Subscription Anniversary auto-renewed.

Therefore, could you kindly help me submit a request for a refund and downgrade to Free Account (that I could actually use)? I submitted one last week and haven't received even a confirmation message. Thank you.

Get Started as a Free User _ Smartsheet Learning Center.pdf

Genevieve P.

Hey @RxStrategic

It sounds like potentially you may have been on one of the legacy plans from a few years ago (such as the Individual plan that's no longer supported). Then changing the subscription to your new Pro plan, your account would have been updated with the new permissions enforced on this plan instead.

You are welcome to cancel and change to a Free plan if you only need two sheets for your personal work and no other items! It's a great option for collaboration on a very minute scale.

I am unable to help with any sort of refund request, however you can contact the Finance team here: https://help.smartsheet.com/finance-support

Cheers,
Genevieve