# SmartVault Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Is SmartVault the right File Sharing solution for you? Explore 137 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/82811/SmartVault/reviews --- SmartVault 4.3 (137) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/82811/SmartVault/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated March 13th, 2026 # Reviews of SmartVault Ease of use 4.2 Customer Service 4.1 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews RR Robert R CPAAccounting, Self-employedUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “I was able to achieve the same results by using the software I had been using for years to manage documents (Filecenter) and Google Workspace, at a fraction of the cost of SmartVault.“ March 11, 2025 Joe K AccountantAccounting, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “Sometimes it was a little cumbersome and a little slow, I think the flow of smartvault could've been a little more user friendly.“ January 26, 2026 EO ELVIS O Audit ApprenticeAccounting, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “SmartVault provides an intuitive interface that makes it easy for users to navigate and manage documents“ August 4, 2024 RR Robert R CPAAccounting, Self-employedUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “They lure new clients with their presentation, which is impressive, and use well-known tax professionals to advertise the software, but it is a big disappointment when you dive into it.“ March 11, 2025 Dylan C marketingFood & Beverages, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “I like using SmartVault because I can access documents from anywhere I am.“ October 5, 2024 TF Tim F AccountatAccounting, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “years later they discontinued the plan, and we were forced to spend 1.5x as much for widgets and features that we still don't use. Since we had JUST moved all our clients to that portal it seemed like it'd be a mistake to have to move them to another program immediately. “ August 6, 2024 TB Tatsiana B OwnerAccounting, Self-employedUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “It was a great experienced for what I used it for until the price went up significantly without addition of new features.“ November 21, 2024 FM Freyxa M Onboarding and training SupervisorMental Health Care, 201 - 500 employeesUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “The onboarding and implementation of the software can be really tedious and if not settled corrected can violate regulations“ June 2, 2025 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 137 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Sebastian P. Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer Pharmaceuticals Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Comprehensive Document Management Solution" September 27, 2024 5.0 SmartVault helps me organize, store, and protect all my sales and customer documents in one place. This allows my team to access the information they need quickly, increasing our productivity. Pros SmartVault's most notable feature is the protection of your most valuable information. Data encryption and access controls guarantee the protection of your sensitive information. Cons There are no negative aspects of this platform that I can identify. Review Source CL Christos L. Accountant Accounting Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Wouldn't use anything else" July 30, 2020 5.0 We are operating a paperless office and everything in the cloud, this is eco friendly as paper waste is minimal. Also all data is securely stored in a cloud so we do not have to worry about backups . Pros Possibly the most seamless cloud-based solution for accountants. There are a few ways to work with SmartVault depending on your circumstances, these are the portal itself, Connected Desktop and SmartVault Drive. All can be used from your main PC. SmartVault Portal You can use the portal in a web browser, this is fantastic if you are on the move and away from your usual machine when you need to access documents and all you need is an internet connection. Connected Desktop This would be used from your PC, this is where you can do tasks such as sending password protected documents, links to documents, or get documents signed by clients. SmartVault Drive This is simply a mapped drive from the cloud to your PC, it is so simple to use, where you can access files drag and drop documents in seconds. One of the most important pros is the use of 2 Factor Authentication as this does hold client records and data. Cons Only con I have found, when getting documents signed by DocuSign using SmartVault, if you select one document to sign, then drag and drop other documents, only the original selected documents get updated in SmartVault, and then you have to update the signed documents manually via drag and drop. Switched from [Revver](https://www.capterra.com/p/123400/revver/) eFileCabinet kept on corrupting files when they were checked out. I use another accountancy practice package called TaxCalc which is compatible with SmartVault and that's the main reason why we moved over. Review Source Response from SmartVault August 6, 2020 Thanks for your review Christos! Great to hear you're finding SmartVault easy and seamless to use. I'll pass along your drag and drop issue to our developer team :) -The SmartVault Team Russell B. CEO Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "An OK portal, if you only want a portal" May 28, 2021 3.0 They are a competent client portal with a price on the lower end of the spectrum. However, after 6+ years the product was quite stale so I decided to switch to a more agile portal vendor who is actually spending time and money to improve and develop their product. Pros It integrates with Lacerte fairly smoothly. SV drive and SV connected desktop facilitate working with the files on my local workstation, which is a feature that many cloud based DMS solutions lack. Always having my documents available from wherever I am. Cons They did not meaningfully improve the product at all while I was using it between 2013 and 2019. The product was literally almost exactly the same when I started using it and when I stopped. Also, their iOS app is, to put it generously, pathetic - and was never updated to fix the many glaring problems with it. Chief among those is that from day one the search function in the app is completely useless, meaning that I have to scroll through many nested folders to find each file I want, every time. Reason for choosing SmartVault Cloud based availability, integration with Lacerte, and low price point. Review Source DB Dawn B. CEO Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Reliable and Secure" November 14, 2020 5.0 I love the integrations. I cannot say enough about their vision to continue to improve it's interface. This is a super cost effective way for me to operate my tax practice as well as the work I do with other clients. Pros I love that SmartVault can integrate with other software applications I use. The security that SmartVault brings to the table is critical to the protection of my clients data. This application fits perfectly with my suite of other applications and I can count on it remaining secure. Cons The website times out too often. Maybe I am not aware of being able to extend the time-out but that is definitely something that needs to improve. I also would like to see improvements in the mobile application. Alternatives considered [Progress ShareFile](https://www.capterra.com/p/10007380/ShareFile/) Reason for choosing SmartVault Sharefile operated in a standalone capacity and was difficult to maneuver compared to SmartVault. Review Source RR Renee R. CPA Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Easy and secure" November 19, 2020 5.0 SmartVault is easy to use and secure. The price point is great. Clients find it easy to use. I really like the integration with Outlook. I can easily email links to documents, which makes SmartVault even easier for clients. It is secure, and that is very important to me. Access to files anytime and anywhere is also important. Customizable folders is an added benefit. Each year I get more clients using it. I will use it as long as am in practice. I have no need to shop for anything else. Pros Security is the number one feature. SmartVault is easy to use and secure. Clients find it easy to use. Integration is Outlook works great. Cons A function to email a third party a document without them having an account would be great. Maybe it is there and I don't know how to use it. Alternatives considered [Dropbox Business](https://www.capterra.com/p/143068/Dropbox-Business/)[Progress ShareFile](https://www.capterra.com/p/10007380/ShareFile/)[Revver](https://www.capterra.com/p/123400/revver/) Reason for choosing SmartVault Security, ratings, recommendations by IT people, price was also a smaller factor. Review Source MS Mila S. Owner Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Only document storage and not the best one" December 6, 2021 3.0 The software is only document storage and not the best one. It is supposed to integrate with Intuit tax software (Prosystems, etc.), but if you use something different (I am on CCH), you are out of luck. Customer service is horrible and not worth the time you spend contacting them. Please read my Cons section for more impressions. Pros They promise many good features, but only a few of them actually work. Cons I was originally on the tax-pro subscription for $360/year for several years. They canceled the tax-pro plans and charged my credit card $112 just for the month of November. It is almost four times the price and not something I would pay for this software. The change of plan was not communicated clearly, the specific date of change was not communicated at all, and now customer service tells me that refunds are outside of their policy even though I cancelled SmartVault immediately. There are more cons than pros to this software. My customers were receiving upload notifications after a three-week delay, which created a lot of confusion. The software was not intuitive to the customers. Individual files had to be made accessible to them even when uploaded to an already accessible folder, which was a complete waste of time and another source of frustration. Sometime last year, SmartVault had a hiccup and resorted our filing system, e.g., files from 2017 folders were randomly moved to different folders, etc. DocuSign integration worked in about 30% of the time; in most cases, I would get a file error and go directly to the DocuSign website, which defeats the purpose of this integration. I had contacted customer service for each of these issues and received no help. They now require a minimum two licenses regardless of whether you are a single-member firm. Reason for choosing SmartVault Only because of the original pricing of $360/yr, which now has been tripled. Review Source JK Julie K. CEO Financial Services Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Terrible customer service - no response during implementation" January 28, 2021 3.0 Just awful. The sales guy, \[SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN\], was nice and promised such a great solution for us. However, the implementation team has completely dropped the ball and now we are stuck on January 28th not being able to send out tax organizers or engagement letters to our clients. Pros It seems like it would be a good solution, but we can't seem to get anyone to help up get our files migrated from Dropbox Business and help us work out integration with Drake Tax softward Cons No help and no ability to figure things out for ourselves. Our QuickBooks is also down due to this horrible implementation process where we can't get in touch with anyone at SmartVault. Reason for choosing SmartVault It seemed to offer a better solution for us. But, again, we can't even get started. Switched from [Dropbox Business](https://www.capterra.com/p/143068/Dropbox-Business/) We thought this would be more efficient and secure, but haven't even been able to use it due to our implementation being ignored by SmartVault. Review Source Response from SmartVault February 3, 2021 Hi Julie, Thank you for reaching out, we value your feedback! Our customer success team has informed us that you are back on track to getting your documents migrated. Again, we are sorry for the delay. Please don't hesitate to reach out for anything! RP Ryan P. Managing Member Accounting Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Customer service is terrible and getting worse" May 17, 2022 2.0 It started off well for the first year. It's gotten progressively worse with bugs and software issues. The customer service went from good the terrible. Pros Works with Intuit tax prep software and DocuSign Cons The customer service is awful. You will often be ignored. When someone looks into an issue, the tendency is to blame Windows, Outlook, or any product other than SmartVault. To date, the issue has always been with SmartVault. Switched from [Progress ShareFile](https://www.capterra.com/p/10007380/ShareFile/) The ability for SmartVault to connect with Intuit products and DocuSign Review Source JH Jessica H. CEO Accounting Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Great Idea not the best implementation" December 7, 2021 3.0 It was great at the beginning but having a lot of customers to migrate was kind of a headache and not so easy to use for my liking Pros Is a good concept, nice storage capabilities Cons not so easy to implement, did not like that is kind of confusing to use Alternatives considered [ATOM](https://www.capterra.com/p/176137/ATOM/) Reason for choosing SmartVault It was the cheapest and looked really nice at the beginning. Switched from [OneDrive](https://www.capterra.com/p/161304/OneDrive/) I was looking for something more secure but as easy as one drive. Review Source KG Kristi G. Owner Accounting Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Much to learn" November 12, 2020 4.0 I mainly use SmartVault for storing and sharing financial reports and other files that need to be safely sent to/from my clients. The user interface is professional looking and a step up from what I was using. At some point I need to take the time to meet with someone and really gain a better understanding of how some of the features work. Pros It is great for securely sharing financial reports. Cons There is a pretty big learning curve to the software. Alternatives considered [Progress ShareFile](https://www.capterra.com/p/10007380/ShareFile/) Reason for choosing SmartVault SmartVault was highly recommended by my peers Switched from [Dropbox Business](https://www.capterra.com/p/143068/Dropbox-Business/) I have more confidence in the security of SmartVaut and it is also has a more professional appearance. Review Source JC Jérôme C. Data analyst Computer & Network Security Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Good tool on cloud for document management " February 8, 2025 4.0 Pros Light solution on cloud to document management very well designed Cons Sometimes not enough space and speed to load eavy files Review Source JS Jeremy S. CPA Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Excellent portal for Intuit tax users" November 13, 2020 5.0 I haven't used other portals, but researched several and think that Smartvault is likely the best standalone portal for Lacerte/ProSeries users. Overall a great experience and can't imagine life before Smartvault. Pros We started using Smartvault for our small firm four years ago. It has been great at helping us move to a more paperless environment. The best feature is the tight integration with Lacerte (it also integrates with ProSeries). If you print returns from Lacerte you can choose Smartvault and the returns go straight to the correct folders so you can save a copy and the clients have a copy. There's also good integration with scanners. The connected desktop app is great to use. The client facing portal was previously clunky but much improved this year. The software is quite easy to use and relatively affordable. When we've had issues support is helpful at resolving. Cons I wish there was a way to make a request from a client for a specific document like more modern practice software has. Wish accounting folder templates were included in the "tax plan" at the same price...doesn't seem like that feature should cost extra. This year we decided to add workflow management and I looked at competitors like TaxDome/Canopy which offer a lot in one but in the end have added Karbon through IPM. I must say however that TaxDome seems to offer a ton at a much better value than Smartvault. Would love to see Smartvault get to that point and would gladly pay more to include other features. E-signatures are just ok, we got a trial to use some free this year but without KBA. The price for the e-signatures especially with KBA is too high and we're going to use Intuit's e-signature product going forward. Alternatives considered [Progress ShareFile](https://www.capterra.com/p/10007380/ShareFile/) Reason for choosing SmartVault Integration with Lacerte Review Source LH Lydia H. CPA/Owner Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "SmartVault used everyday " November 12, 2020 5.0 I have been using SmartVault for over 5 years, when I first started with SmartVault it was because Intuit decided to no longer offer Document Management System and they partnered with SmartVault, you could say I grew up with SmartVault, over the years they have added additional features to enhance and not only allow me to be paperless but now automated too. Pros Love the integration with my tax software, ProSeries and also DocUSign which I depend on immensely. With the Pandemic and having to social distance this ability allowed me to continue to work and stay in business. Cons difficult to understand how to set functions up and utilize the more advanced features Alternatives considered [Progress ShareFile](https://www.capterra.com/p/10007380/ShareFile/) Reason for choosing SmartVault Integration with ProSeries Review Source LM Lisa M. President Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "5-2023 Microsoft Issues" July 12, 2023 3.0 Terrible customer service. Pros Ability to share and save documents with clients. Cons Inability to access any Microsoft Documents - Word or Excel.Since May 2023 (over 2 months), I have been contacting customer service as well as my rep, \[sensitive content hidden\], begging them to help us with this problem. The software does not allow us to retrieve or save any Excel or Word documents to SV. This is a massive problem for my firm and our record keeping services. Review Source DS Daniel S. Accountant Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Easy and effective document management system" November 13, 2020 5.0 Pros I use this software on a daily basis since all our documents are stored on it. Thus, I am constantly "checking out" and "checking in XL and PDFs. Once I am done working on something I just save it, close it, and ot automatically is updated and checked back in to the software storage. Cons The one thing that would be nice to have (which I was able to do with our prior software filing system) is to be able to "check out" a document in a "view only" manner. Technically, of someone else has already checked out a document and you subsequently check out the same one, this is what happens to your version, but if you want to do this with an unchecked out file, you cannot. This would be helpful for cases that you know you do not want to have any changes made to a file but still want to view it. It would allow a peace of mind knowing that you are not going to accidently change anything. Review Source HC Heather C. Administrative Assistant Libraries Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Functional software but outdated and difficult design and features" February 15, 2023 4.0 Overall, SmartVault serves its purpose with our organization, for sharing bank documents with our accountant and providing employee benefit enrollment documents to the correct managers while protecting sensitive information such as social security numbers and health records. We would use it for all accounting document sending, including scanned invoice transfer, if the site were more up to date and easy to use. As it is, it is far easier to drag and drop scans into our email provider than into SmartVault. It is useful for its intended functions but design and UX prevent it from being a mainstay of our entire accounting process. Pros Secure file sending, Protecting sensitive bank and employee data, secure storage location with trusted provider, access for all necessary admins, two-factor authentication for sign in. Cons Drag and drop uploads are not intuitive. Requires several clicks to reach location to upload. Add button at top is not an upload feature but pins folders to taskbar. Design of home portal is outdated/not intuitive to use. Two factor authentication not required on each sign in/uses email only rather than options for text code. Review Source NV Nic V. Office Manager Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great Software for Users and Clients" April 29, 2022 5.0 Excellent. Customer support is always easy to speak with and the software is a great fit for our company. Pros Simplicity for our internal users and our clients. Easy to organize files neatly in their respective folders for a clean presentation for clients. Cons Software still needs some small tweaks, but overall, I believe the developers put their hearts into the projects. Seems like any time there is something in the software that I think needs to be addressed, the staff comes out with an update and fixes it. Review Source HM Helen M. Owner Accounting Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Happy Customer" November 12, 2020 5.0 Overall I am happy and glad I found them. Pros The price is affordable for a boutique firm like mine. It also puts me at ease for the security for confidential information sharing with clients. It's also easy to organize and I don't have to worry about clients who always ask for the same information over and over again. I just simply tell them to go to the portal. Cons The tech support is helpful but not as responsive as I'd like since one reason I became their customer is because I was told their tech can be my tech for my clients so I don't need to waste my time to assist my clients. Reason for choosing SmartVault Affordability while the security is still there. Customer service is great, attitude wise. Review Source BS Beth S. Administrator Financial Services Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Excellent Secure Storage Software" November 19, 2020 4.0 Pros I love how easy this software is to use! We first started using it when i had a chromebook, so i was even more impressed when i got a normla laptop and could use the desktop app for saving/downloading files! It gives our clients a sense of security, and it's very easy to set up a folder structure, add engagements, and invite clients to use it! Cons My number one complaint is that you cannot edit documents in Smartvault. You have to download them, edit them, and then reupload them, which makes things difficult when both us and the client need to update something Alternatives considered [Progress ShareFile](https://www.capterra.com/p/10007380/ShareFile/) Reason for choosing SmartVault The price was cheaper Switched from [Google Drive](https://www.capterra.com/p/161425/Drive/) Drive is not as secure Review Source MK MIRANDA K. Director of Communications Telecommunications Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Proud Member of the SmartVault Fan Club" September 11, 2019 5.0 We have been very satisfied with smart fault, which allows us to organize and archive securely an enormous amount of client files to be shared. Pros Smartvault is ridiculously easy to use, and provides a ridiculous amount of storage for the price. Our organization has set up branded portals and client folders for exchanging large files, and set up and transfer of terabytes of information took only one day. It is easy to manage customer access from the administrative tool, and support is always available when we need it. Cons The tool is extremely secure, but there is one things that I have found frustrating. It is difficult to create top-down permissions for subfolders. This will only slow you down a minute or two, but it can be mildly frustrating. Review Source Response from SmartVault September 12, 2019 Thanks for your review Miranda! We love to hear how we're helping our customers and appreciate your feedback! -Team SmartVault LC Leslie C. Sales Engineer Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Smartvault user" November 13, 2020 5.0 Pros This is a very easy tool to save all documents, organized and able to share with the colleagues and available always online. Cons So far I have no negative comments on the uses that I give to this application. Review Source Mark D. Owner Accounting Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Horrible customer service, not as advertised" November 15, 2019 2.0 Not good at all. The service did not work as it was originally described to me and then the reps would not respond to me to resolve the issue. I have seen similar comments on Facebook saying the same thing. Pros I liked that they appeal specifically to the accounting industry. Many services serve multiple different industries, but SmartVault is trying to work specifically within tax preparation. Cons I was originally told that SmartVault integrated with my tax preparation software (Proconnect), but it does not. I was also told that I would have a 30 day money-back guarantee. I tried to cancel my service and claim the refund, but they ignored all of my messages (more than 10) and continued to bill me every month! Switched from [Progress ShareFile](https://www.capterra.com/p/10007380/ShareFile/) I was just testing out SmartVault. Review Source Response from SmartVault November 18, 2019 Hi Mark, We apologize for your experience. We do integrate with the Intuit ProConnect products (Lacerte & ProSeries) and you can also print from Intuit ProConnect Online to SmartVault. If this value has not been communicated to you properly, we apologize. We do have record that your account manager has been in contact with you over the past several weeks to get this issue resolved. He contacted you again last Friday. -The SmartVault Team NM NICOLE M. ADMIN Financial Services Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "KEEPS WORK FLOW MOVING " August 5, 2021 5.0 SmartVault is an amazing tool & continues to help our workflow evenly. Pros It made tax season a lot easier while dealing with COVID-19 pandemic by clients being able to submit their documents to a safe & secure place. Cons I don't like that you do have to refresh clients manually rather than auto-refresh. Review Source RB Rabiha B. Administrative assistant Financial Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Amazing and Easy to use " November 12, 2020 5.0 Pros I thoroughly enjoy using smartvault on a daily basis for work it's easy to use and I can access it from work or home on my phone or laptop. Cons There used to be a functionality which would show a user's access to a folder. When we would allow clients to obtain online access we would be able to see which ones were accessing which files. We can no longer see that anymore even if they have existing online access Review Source ND Nicole D. Owner Accounting Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Smart Working" November 12, 2020 5.0 Pros What I like most is the organization of files and the security behind the product. I know for a fact that my customers and company’s files are safe. Cons I enjoy everything about Smartvault. They are always evolving. Switched from [Google Drive](https://www.capterra.com/p/161425/Drive/) Was not as secured or organized Review Source Similar Products Featured ## Related categories [File Sharing](https://www.capterra.com/file-sharing-software/)[Legal Document Management](https://www.capterra.com/legal-document-management-software/)[Document Management](https://www.capterra.com/document-management-software/) ## Send me user reviews about this product ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox.