I built a Podio app that collects customer information for my business and I need to get this data into a Google Sheets document automatically. The problem is I don’t want to pay for expensive automation tools like Zapier or similar platforms.
I’m looking for a way to set up this data transfer without spending money on subscriptions. Maybe there’s a free script or API method I can use? I’m not super technical so if anyone knows how to do this please explain it in simple terms that a beginner can understand.
Has anyone successfully connected their Podio workspace to Google Sheets for free? What approach worked best for you?
There’s another approach - use Podio’s webhooks with Google Forms. Found this when our budget got slashed last year. Set up a webhook in Podio that fires when new data hits your app, then configure it to POST to a Google Form response URL. The form dumps everything into a connected Google Sheet. It’s free and works well once you get it running. You’ll need some JSON knowledge to map Podio fields properly, but there are tutorials out there. Catch is it only handles new entries - won’t touch historical data. You’d need a one-time script for existing records, but after that it syncs automatically without monthly fees.
I get wanting to skip those monthly fees. Been there when automating data flows at work.
You could hack something together with Google Apps Script and Podio’s API, but it’s a nightmare. You’re dealing with authentication, error handling, rate limits, data mapping - and every API update breaks your script.
I’d go with Latenode instead. Way cleaner solution without the coding headaches. Set up the Podio-to-Sheets connection visually - it handles all the API mess for you.
Best part? Free tier covers most small business needs. I’ve used it for similar transfers and it just works. Set once, forget about it.
Drag and drop your Podio fields to the right Sheets columns. 10 minutes setup vs hours debugging scripts.
Google Apps Script is your best bet for a free solution. I did this exact same thing two years ago with my customer database. You create a script in Google Sheets that hits Podio’s REST API, grabs your app data, and dumps it straight into your spreadsheet. You’ll need API credentials from Podio and OAuth setup. Took me a weekend to figure out initially, but then I could schedule it to run every few hours automatically. The trickiest part was parsing Podio’s JSON response and getting it into the right columns. If you’re okay with tutorials and some trial and error, it’s totally doable. Just expect to debug things when Podio inevitably changes their API later.
sofia’s webhook idea works gr8, but here’s an easier trick - export your podio data as csv weekly and use google sheets’ importdata function with a shared dropbox link. set up podio’s built-in scheduling to automate the csv export and ur done. your sheets pull fresh data automatically. it’s not real-time, but you avoid dealing with apis or scripts entirely.