SheetMagic now works right after install
Install SheetMagic, click Activate once, and AI formulas work with 100,000 free AI tokens. No account, no API key, no setup.
Phil Nguyen · 4 min read
We changed what happens between installing SheetMagic and running your first formula. It used to take an API key or a dashboard account. Now it takes one click.
What changed
Install SheetMagic from the Google Workspace Marketplace, open Extensions > SheetMagic > Activate, and click Activate. Google shows one permission screen: SheetMagic needs it to write AI results back into your sheet. Approve it, and =AITEXT() and every other formula work immediately.
Install
Get SheetMagic from the Google Workspace Marketplace.
Click Activate
Open Extensions > SheetMagic > Activate. One Google sign-in popup confirms your account.
Run a formula
Type a formula into any cell. No account and no API key to paste in first.
Formula
=AITEXT("Summarize in one line", A2)Reads the text in A2 and writes a one-line summary into the formula cell.
| A (input) | B (=AITEXT result) |
|---|---|
| "Q3 review: revenue up 12%, churn flat, support tickets down 8% after the new onboarding flow shipped." | "Revenue grew 12% in Q3 while churn held steady and support tickets fell." |
| "Team stand-up notes: backend migration on track, two bugs found in the payment retry logic, fix shipping Thursday." | "Backend migration is on track, with a payment retry bug fix due Thursday." |
That's the whole setup. No developer console, no environment variable, no copying a key from a provider's dashboard.
What you get
Activating starts your free trial: 100,000 AI tokens and 100 integration credits, one time, no expiry. If you already had a free SheetMagic account, you were topped up to 100,000 tokens automatically. You do not need to do anything to get the increase.
When your free trial runs out, the cell tells you directly: "Your free trial is used up. Upgrade at sheetmagic.ai/pricing to keep going." The sidebar shows a running trial meter, something like "82K of 100K free tokens left," with an Upgrade button that opens your billing page.
Note
The free trial is usage-based, not time-based. There is no countdown and nothing expires while you are not using it. You only see the used-up message once the 100,000 tokens are spent.
How it's billed
Activating does not spend any tokens by itself. The 100,000 tokens come from the same subscription_tiers free allowance every free account has always had, just raised from the old amount. Every AI formula (AITEXT, AILIST, AIIMAGE, and the rest) draws from that pool the same way it always has. Integration credits are unchanged at 100.
Who gets it
This applies to free accounts. If you are on a paid plan, a lifetime deal, or a seat under someone else's license, nothing changes for you: your allowance, billing, and sign-in stay exactly as they were.
Limits
- If you pick a different Google account in the sign-in popup than the one you use in the spreadsheet, you will see a message asking you to choose the matching account and click Activate again.
- One free trial per Google account. Activating a second time on an account that already used its trial does not grant a second one.
- If the request to start your trial fails, the screen asks you to check your connection and click Activate again. It never fails silently.
- The 100,000 tokens are one time. Once they are spent, formulas stop returning results until you upgrade.
See the full history of what shipped this year on the changelog.
Every formula in this article runs on the free allowance. Install from the Google Workspace Marketplace, no card, no expiry.
Install free for Google SheetsAbout the author
Phil NguyenPhil builds SheetMagic, the Google Sheets add-on that brings AI and web scraping into the spreadsheet, used by 6,300+ people. He writes these guides from the formulas he runs on his own sheets.