Airtable has a native Smartsheet importer: export the sheet or report as .xlsx, then Import, Smartsheet, upload, and confirm field types in the wizard. Gantt dependencies and workload views are rebuilt.
Quick verdict: Move to Airtable if your sheets have become a database that other work depends on, most of your team only views it, or you want a free plan and viewer-free billing.
Most buyers only budget for the new subscription. This estimates the hidden labor, data-cleanup, and retraining cost of actually making the switch.
Estimate assumes: 1 hour of data-mapping/cleaning labor per 2,000 records, a blended $75/hr ops rate, tiered migration & cleaning tooling fees, and 4 hours of retraining per seat at a $45/hr fully-loaded rate.
Airtable reads Smartsheet .xlsx exports directly.
Only editors are billed, at any team size.
Linked records, interfaces, sync and 25,000 automation runs a month on Team.
Team costs $20 a seat against Pro’s $9; Smartsheet’s Gantt dependencies, workload tracking and portfolio views have no direct Airtable equivalent; SAML SSO starts at Business ($45).
| Step | What you do |
|---|---|
| 1Export from Smartsheet | Export the sheet or report as an .xlsx file so Airtable’s Smartsheet importer can read it. |
| 2Set up your Airtable workspace | Create the workspace and add people as editors only if they will change records; viewers and commenters are free. |
| 3Run the Smartsheet importer | On the Airtable home screen click Import, choose Smartsheet, upload the .xlsx and verify each column’s field type in the wizard. |
| 4Rebuild links, interfaces and automations | Recreate linked-record fields between tables, then interfaces and automations; check the Team plan’s 50,000-record and 25,000-run limits. |
| 5Reset sharing and permissions | Re-invite your team and set workspace, base or sheet-level permissions; none of this carries over. |
| 6Cancel the old plan | Once your team is working day-to-day in the new tool, cancel the old subscription. |
What this path doesn’t do for you:
The importer carries rows, columns and multiple tabs; predecessors, workload views, cross-sheet formulas and automations are rebuilt in Airtable.
| Plan | Smartsheet | Airtable |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing basis | Per Member; Contributors free | Per editor seat; viewers free |
| Entry price | Pro $9/Member/mo (yearly), 1-10 Members | Team $20/seat/mo (annual) |
| Free plan | None; trial only | 5 editors, 1,000 records per base |
| Core strength | Gantt, dependencies, workload, portfolios | Relational database, interfaces, automations |
| Importer for the other tool | None (Excel/CSV import) | Native Smartsheet importer; CSV for Notion |
Prices checked on each vendor’s pricing page on September 24, 2026.
| Capability | Smartsheet | Airtable |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing basis | Per Member | Per editor seat |
| Free plan | None | 5 editors |
| Importer | None | Native Smartsheet importer |
| Price | $9/Member/mo | $20/seat/mo |
Going the other direction, or want the full comparison first?
Read the Airtable vs Smartsheet comparison Switching from Airtable to Smartsheet instead?Yes. Export the sheet or report from Smartsheet as .xlsx, then in Airtable click Import, choose Smartsheet and upload; the wizard shows each column’s field type before you confirm.
Per editor, yes: Team is $20/seat/mo against Pro at $9/Member/mo. Airtable does not bill viewers or commenters, which narrows the gap for read-heavy teams.
No. Airtable has Gantt and timeline views but Smartsheet predecessors arrive as plain columns; recreate the dependencies in Airtable.
Expect to rebuild them. CSV carries rows and columns; links between tables, formulas, automations, views and permissions are recreated in the new tool by hand.
Every pricing fact, rating, AI billing model and switching guide we hold on each tool, on one page, with the date each figure was last verified.
Prices on this page were recorded from each vendor’s own pricing page on the date shown at the top of the page. Vendors change pricing often — check the live source before you buy.
Every figure is also in our open dataset (JSON and CSV, CC BY 4.0), with its source page and verification date. See how we research pricing.
Verified prices costed for your team size, a check against your must-have requirements, the questions to settle before you sign, and a source for every figure. Print it, or paste it into an email to whoever approves the spend.
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