ToolStack
Migration Guide

Migrating from Jira to Smartsheet

Jira supports 3,000+ integrations — 2,850 more than Smartsheet. If integration breadth is a factor in your switch from Jira to Smartsheet, this guide covers how to reconnect your stack after migrating.

At a Glance

Jira
4.3/5 · 7,500 G2 reviews
  • Industry standard for software development teams — most PMs will encounter Jira in their career
  • Deepest configurability of any project management tool with custom fields, workflows, and screens
  • 3,000+ marketplace integrations covering virtually every tool in the product stack
Smartsheet
4.4/5 · 21,000 G2 reviews
  • 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
Full side-by-side comparison: Jira vs Smartsheet

You gain with Smartsheet

  • +Gantt charts

You leave behind

  • roadmapping
  • sprint planning
  • backlog management

Migration Steps

1

Audit and export your current workspace

Before touching Smartsheet, document what lives in Jira: issues, epics, and sprints, 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.

2

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 $1.0899999999999999/user/mo more per user. Run with a single pilot team before migrating everyone.

3

Map your workflow equivalents

Find the closest Smartsheet equivalent for each Jira feature your team relies on. issues, epics, and sprints in Jira maps to tasks and projects in Smartsheet. Smartsheet supports custom fields — recreate your Jira field schema here first. Gantt-style timeline views are available if your team used them in Jira. Prioritise the critical path: task creation, status tracking, and assignment.

4

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 Jira. Start with your most active project rather than importing everything at once.

5

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.

6

Run Jira in parallel for two weeks

Keep Jira 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 Jira, archive the workspace and make Smartsheet the official home.

Ready to switch?

Read the full Smartsheet review for pricing, integrations, and team fit details.

Read Smartsheet Review →Compare Jira vs Smartsheet