FAQs
Getting Started questions
Setting up SheetMagic takes about 3 minutes. Install the extension from the Google Workspace Marketplace, then add your API key via Extensions → SheetMagic → Set API keys. Step-by-step guides are available in the dashboard after you sign in.
SheetMagic supports all major AI models including GPT-5.5, GPT-4o, Claude Opus 5, Claude Sonnet 5, Gemini 3.1 Pro, Llama 4, and many more. For image generation, dedicated models like GPT Image 2, DALL-E 3, Gemini 3 Pro Image, and Gemini 3.1 Flash Image are available. You can access different models depending on your API provider: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Mistral, OpenRouter, or Perplexity.
No! All paid plans include platform-managed API keys. You can start using AI features immediately. If you prefer, you can enable BYOK (Bring Your Own Key) to use your own API keys from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Mistral, OpenRouter, or Perplexity for unlimited usage at provider rates.
Yes, SheetMagic requires you to bring your own API keys from providers like OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google. Consumer subscriptions (ChatGPT Plus, Claude Pro) are separate products for their chat interfaces and don't include API access. You'll need to create API keys at each provider's developer platform, where usage is billed based on your actual usage.
No, SheetMagic only works in Google Sheets on desktop web browsers. The Google Sheets mobile app does not support add-ons or custom functions. For the best experience, use Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge on a computer.
No, SheetMagic is built exclusively for Google Sheets using Google Apps Script. It does not work with Microsoft Excel. If you need Excel support, you would need to use a different tool.
Each person who wants to use SheetMagic functions needs their own SheetMagic subscription and API key. When you share a sheet, collaborators will see the results of your formulas, but they cannot run SheetMagic functions themselves without their own subscription.
API costs vary by model and usage. As a rough guide: GPT-4o-mini costs about $0.15 per million input tokens (~750,000 words). For typical use cases like generating product descriptions, expect to spend $1-5/month for light usage, $10-30/month for moderate usage. Check your provider's pricing page for exact rates.
OpenAI is best for beginners, simple setup, reliable, and includes GPT-4o with web search. Anthropic gives you Claude models with web search support. Google offers Gemini models with strong performance and native image generation via Gemini 3 Pro/Flash Image. OpenRouter gives you access to 200+ models from multiple providers with one API key. Perplexity is great for research tasks with built-in web search. Most users start with OpenAI or Anthropic.
AI Chat Agent questions
A chat sidebar inside Google Sheets. Describe what you want in plain English: the Chat Agent reads your data, writes cells and formulas, scrapes the web, and builds charts. Anything that writes to your sheet or spends credits asks for confirmation first.
The Chat Agent is included on Solo, Team, and Business plans. The Free plan includes all custom functions with a one-time allowance of 20,000 AI tokens and 100 integration credits.
No. It uses the same AI tokens and integration credits as your formulas, a scrape costs the same whether you run it as a formula or ask the Chat Agent to do it.
AI Features questions
Use the
=aitext() function to generate AI content. For example: =aitext("Write a product description for: " & A1). You can link to cells using the & operator to create dynamic prompts.Use the
=aiimage() function to generate images. For example: =aiimage("A professional photo of a coffee shop"). The image URL will be returned directly in your cell. SheetMagic supports GPT Image 2, DALL-E 3, Gemini 3 Pro Image, and Gemini 3.1 Flash Image. With Gemini image models, you can also edit and refine images using multi-turn conversational prompts.With BYOK (Bring Your Own Key) on any paid plan, AI usage is unlimited. You pay your provider directly, at their rates. Without BYOK, AI usage draws from your plan's monthly token allowance.
Yes! You can link cells to your AI prompts using the & operator. For example: =aitext("Summarize this: " & A1) will use the content of cell A1 in your prompt.
Open the SheetMagic sidebar (Extensions → SheetMagic → Open Sidebar) and select your preferred model from the dropdown. For Claude models, select Anthropic as your AI provider. Claude, OpenAI, and Perplexity models all support real-time web search via
=AITEXT(prompt, context, TRUE). The selected model applies to all AI functions in that sheet.Absolutely! This is one of the most popular use cases. For example:
=aitext("Categorize this product as Electronics, Clothing, or Home: " & A1) or =aitext("Rate the sentiment of this review as Positive, Neutral, or Negative: " & A1)Include format instructions in your prompt. For example:
=aitext("Extract the name, email, and company from this text. Return as JSON: " & A1). For tabular data, use =ailist() to return results across multiple cells.=aitext() returns a single cell response. =ailist() returns multiple items that spill across rows (vertical) or use =ailisth() for columns (horizontal). Use ailist for generating lists, bullet points, or multiple items.Keep Formula controls what happens after your formula runs:
ON (default): Your formula is preserved as text in the original cell (with a leading apostrophe), and the AI result appears in the cell to the right. This lets you see your prompt and edit it later.
OFF: The formula is replaced entirely by the result. The original formula is not preserved.
To re-run a kept formula, simply delete the apostrophe at the beginning of the cell.
ON (default): Your formula is preserved as text in the original cell (with a leading apostrophe), and the AI result appears in the cell to the right. This lets you see your prompt and edit it later.
OFF: The formula is replaced entirely by the result. The original formula is not preserved.
To re-run a kept formula, simply delete the apostrophe at the beginning of the cell.
Web Scraping questions
SheetMagic offers 63 custom functions across AI, web scraping, and page data. AI functions:
=AITEXT(), =AILIST(), =AIIMAGE(), =AIVIDEO(), =AISPEECH(), =AITRANSLATE(), =GPTV() (vision). Scraping & page data: =VISIT(), =SERP(), =GETSELECTOR(), =GETMETATITLE(), =PAGEDATA(), and more, plus 42 platform scrapers like =AMAZONSEARCH() and =GSEARCH(). See the full function reference.The
=SERP() function returns up to 20 search results per query as rows containing title, snippet, and URL. Use =BULKSERP() for horizontal results. Both support region and time filtering parameters.Scraping runs on your plan's monthly integration credits. Each scrape has a fixed credit cost, so you always know what you're spending. Google Sheets also has its own URL-fetch quotas (20,000 calls/day for consumer accounts, 100,000/day for Google Workspace).
SheetMagic can scrape most publicly accessible websites. However, some sites may block automated requests or require JavaScript rendering. For best results, respect robots.txt and avoid aggressive scraping rates.
Use
=GETSELECTOR(url, selector) with a CSS selector. For example: =GETSELECTOR("https://example.com", ".product-price") extracts all elements matching that class.Basic scraping fetches the initial HTML, which may not include JavaScript-rendered content. For dynamic sites, the =visit() function uses a headless browser that can render JavaScript. Results may vary depending on the site.
Use Cases questions
Yes! SheetMagic is popular with SEO professionals. Use
=serp() to analyze search results, =GETMETATITLE() and =GETMETADESCRIPTION() to audit competitor meta tags, and =aitext() to generate optimized content and meta descriptions at scale.Absolutely. Scrape company websites with
=visit() to extract contact info, use =aitext() to summarize what each company does, categorize leads by industry, or generate personalized outreach messages based on scraped data.Yes, this is one of the most common use cases. Create a column of topics or product names, then use
=aitext() to generate descriptions, blog outlines, social posts, or any content type. Drag the formula down to process hundreds of items.Yes. Combine scraping and AI: Use
=visit() to pull competitor page content, =serp() to see who ranks for your keywords, then =aitext() to summarize and analyze the data.Popular workflows include: (1) Bulk product description generation from titles, (2) SEO audits - scraping meta tags across hundreds of URLs, (3) Lead enrichment - scraping and summarizing company websites, (4) Content ideation - generating blog topics from keywords, (5) Data categorization - using AI to classify and tag existing data.
Yes! Use AI to standardize messy data. For example:
=aitext("Standardize this address to proper format: " & A1) or =aitext("Extract just the company name from: " & A1)Privacy & Security questions
Your prompts are sent directly to your chosen AI provider (OpenAI, OpenRouter, Anthropic, Google, Mistral, or Perplexity) using your own API key. SheetMagic does not store, log, or have access to your prompts or responses. We are simply a bridge between Google Sheets and your AI provider.
SheetMagic does not use your data for any purpose. Regarding the AI providers: API usage is generally not used for training (OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google all have policies against using API data for training). Check your specific provider's data policy for details.
SheetMagic processes minimal data - we do not store your prompts, responses, or spreadsheet content. Your data flows directly between Google Sheets and your AI provider. For enterprise compliance requirements, please contact us to discuss your specific needs.
SheetMagic can only access the specific spreadsheet where you run the functions. It cannot access other files in your Google Drive. The extension requests only the minimum permissions needed to function within the active sheet.
Your API keys are stored securely in Google Apps Script's Properties Service, which is encrypted and tied to your Google account. Keys are never transmitted to SheetMagic servers - they go directly from your browser to your AI provider.
SheetMagic collects minimal data: your email for license validation, and basic usage analytics (function calls, not content). We do not collect, store, or have access to your spreadsheet data, prompts, or AI responses.
Troubleshooting questions
This happens when Keep Formula is enabled. When you run a formula with Keep Formula ON, the original formula is preserved as text (with a leading apostrophe) and the result appears in the cell to the right. This is intentional. It lets you keep your prompts visible while seeing results. To re-run the formula, simply delete the apostrophe at the beginning of the cell. To change this behavior, toggle Keep Formula OFF in the sidebar.
If Keep Formula is ON (the default), your result appears in the cell to the right of your formula. The original cell shows the formula as text so you can see and edit your prompt later. Check the adjacent cell for your result! If you prefer the result to replace the formula directly, turn Keep Formula OFF in the sidebar.
When Keep Formula is ON, formulas are preserved as text with a leading apostrophe (
'). To re-run: (1) Click the cell with the formula, (2) In the formula bar, delete the apostrophe at the very beginning, (3) Press Enter. The formula will execute again and update the result in the adjacent cell.Common causes: (1) Invalid or missing API key - check via Extensions → SheetMagic → Set API keys, (2) API quota exceeded - check your provider's dashboard, (3) Malformed formula - ensure proper syntax with quotes around text. Documentation with specific error codes is available in the dashboard.
SheetMagic caches results by default to save API costs and improve speed. If your input hasn't changed, you'll get the cached result. To force a refresh, slightly modify your prompt or clear the cell and re-enter the formula.
You can clear the cache by going to Extensions → SheetMagic → Clear Cache. Alternatively, make any small change to the prompt (even adding a space) to generate a new request. This design prevents accidental API charges from repeated calculations.
Check that: (1) You copied the full key without extra spaces, (2) The key is for the correct provider (OpenAI keys start with "sk-"), (3) Your API account has credits/payment method, (4) The key hasn't been revoked. Try generating a new key from your provider's dashboard.
Rate limits come from your API provider, not SheetMagic. Solutions: (1) Wait a few minutes and retry, (2) Reduce concurrent requests by processing fewer rows at once, (3) Upgrade your API tier with your provider, (4) For OpenAI, new accounts have lower limits that increase over time.
AI and scraping functions are slower than normal spreadsheet functions due to API calls. Tips: (1) Process data in batches rather than all at once, (2) Use a faster model like GPT-4o-mini for simple tasks, (3) Keep prompts concise, (4) Results are cached, so subsequent views are instant.
This usually means: (1) Your API credits ran out - add payment to your provider account, (2) The website you're scraping changed or blocked requests, (3) Google's daily quota reset hasn't happened. Check your provider dashboard for account status.
Billing & Support questions
Every plan, including Free, gives you every formula and every AI model: AI text, images, video, speech, web scraping, SERP, and more. Paid plans add the AI Chat Agent and monthly allowances: Solo ($20/mo - 3.25M tokens, 10K credits), Team ($80/mo - 15M tokens, 50K credits, 5 licenses), Business ($200/mo - 37.5M tokens, 135K credits, 15 licenses). On Team and Business the allowance is one shared pool rather than a fixed slice per license, and you set a spending cap for each license from your dashboard. Caps start split evenly and you can change them any time, so one busy license can draw more than the rest. Seats are an account-wide total rather than a per-license number: Team includes 100 seats and Business 500, and you spread them across your licenses however you like. Free includes a one-time allowance of 20K tokens and 100 credits.
Save 30% with annual billing. Solo: $14/mo (billed yearly), Team: $56/mo (billed yearly), Business: $140/mo (billed yearly). Switch anytime on our pricing page.
Yes! Our free tier includes 20,000 AI tokens and 100 integration credits as a one-time free allowance, enough to explore all features and see real results. No credit card required. Upgrade whenever you need more.
We want you to love SheetMagic. Due to the digital nature of our product, subscriptions are non-refundable. That's why we offer a generous free tier: try it first to make sure it's right for you. Cancel anytime to prevent future charges.
BYOK (Bring Your Own Key) is included in all paid plans. Connect your own API keys from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, or any provider to get unlimited AI usage, billed by that provider at their rates. Perfect for power users who want to exceed their token allowance without limits.
All users get email support. Team and Business plans get priority support with faster response times. Business plans also include a dedicated account manager. Visit our contact page or check the help docs.
Absolutely! Upgrade instantly for immediate access to higher limits. Downgrade takes effect at your next billing cycle. Cancel anytime, no contracts, no hidden fees, no hassle. If you cancel, you keep access until your billing period ends.
We'll notify you as you approach your limits, no surprises. When you hit them, you can upgrade instantly for more capacity, or simply wait for your monthly reset. Either way, your data stays safe and your formulas remain in place.
No! Your AI usage (AITEXT, AIIMAGE, GPTV, etc.) is completely unaffected when you use BYOK (Bring Your Own Key). Integration credits only apply to web scraping (VISIT, GETSELECTOR) and SERP features (SERP). With BYOK, you get unlimited AI at provider cost.
Yes! Paid subscribers (Solo, Team, Business) can purchase Credit Packs for extra AI tokens and integration credits. Packs are one-time purchases that are valid for 12 months and don't reset with your billing cycle - perfect for busy months or specific projects. Buy packs from your Billing dashboard.