Migrating from GitHub to Smartsheet
Smartsheet fits scaleup and enterprise teams best and has a moderate learning curve. If you're moving from GitHub, the first week is the hardest — new UI, different terminology, rebuilt automations. This guide compresses that learning curve with a step-by-step migration plan.
At a Glance
- 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
- 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
You gain with Smartsheet
- +Gantt charts
You leave behind
- −roadmapping
- −sprint planning
- −backlog management
Migration Steps
Audit and export your current workspace
Before touching Smartsheet, document what lives in GitHub: 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 Smartsheet workspace
Create your Smartsheet workspace and replicate your project structure using tasks and projects. Smartsheet starts at $9/user/mo/user/mo with a free tier available — budget $5/user/mo more per user. Run with a single pilot team before migrating everyone.
Map your workflow equivalents
Find the closest Smartsheet equivalent for each GitHub feature your team relies on. projects and tasks in GitHub maps to tasks and projects in Smartsheet. Smartsheet supports custom fields — recreate your GitHub field schema here first. Gantt-style timeline views are available if your team used them in GitHub. Prioritise the critical path: task creation, status tracking, and assignment.
Import your data
Smartsheet supports CSV import for tasks and projects and has 20+ native integrations. After importing, rebuild your key automations — Smartsheet's automation engine can replicate most rules you had in GitHub. 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 tasks and projects, 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 project hierarchy.
Run GitHub in parallel for two weeks
Keep GitHub read-only while your team works primarily in Smartsheet. 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 GitHub, archive the workspace and make Smartsheet the official home.
Ready to switch?
Read the full Smartsheet review for pricing, integrations, and team fit details.