Migrating from Smartsheet to GitHub
GitHub scores 4.7/5 on G2 — 0.3 points ahead of Smartsheet (4.4/5). If you're making the switch, here's how to migrate your team from Smartsheet to GitHub step by step.
At a Glance
- Spreadsheet-familiar interface makes adoption easy for teams transitioning from Excel — minimal training needed for basic use
- Extremely powerful Gantt chart and dependency tracking capabilities, ideal for traditional project management and waterfall methodologies
- Robust automation engine with conditional logic, approval workflows, and automated notifications that scale across the organization
- Dominant platform for source control and collaboration — used by 100M+ developers, making it the de facto standard for open-source and most commercial software teams
- GitHub Copilot is the leading AI coding assistant, deeply integrated into the platform with code completion, PR summaries, chat, and workspace planning
- GitHub Actions provides powerful, flexible CI/CD built directly into the repository with a massive ecosystem of community-authored actions
You gain with GitHub
- +roadmapping
- +sprint planning
- +backlog management
You leave behind
- −Gantt charts
Migration Steps
Audit and export your current workspace
Before touching GitHub, document what lives in Smartsheet: projects and tasks, custom fields, automations, integrations, and team permissions. Export a full CSV backup — most tools support this from Settings → Export. Pay particular attention to any custom fields and workflow automations that your team relies on daily.
Set up your GitHub workspace
Create your GitHub workspace and replicate your project structure using epics, stories, and sprints. GitHub starts at $4/user/mo/user/mo with a free tier available — $5/user/mo less than your current Smartsheet spend. Run with a single pilot team before migrating everyone.
Map your workflow equivalents
Find the closest GitHub equivalent for each Smartsheet feature your team relies on. projects and tasks in Smartsheet maps to epics, stories, and sprints in GitHub. GitHub supports custom fields — recreate your Smartsheet field schema here first. Prioritise the critical path: task creation, status tracking, and assignment.
Import your data
GitHub supports CSV import for tasks and projects and has 20+ native integrations. After importing, rebuild your key automations — GitHub's automation engine can replicate most rules you had in Smartsheet. Start with your most active project rather than importing everything at once.
Onboard your team
Run a 30-minute walkthrough covering the daily workflow: how to create epics, stories, and sprints, update status, and find your board. Expect a moderate ramp — most engineers and PMs hit their stride within a week. The biggest adjustment is usually the sprint ceremony workflow.
Run Smartsheet in parallel for two weeks
Keep Smartsheet read-only while your team works primarily in GitHub. This reduces risk and lets people reference historical context — old decisions, archived tickets, past sprint data — without slowing the migration. After two weeks with no new work going into Smartsheet, archive the workspace and make GitHub the official home.
Ready to switch?
Read the full GitHub review for pricing, integrations, and team fit details.