Read the setup guideSetup

Google Sheets™ add-on · import data from a URL

LoadLane — Import CSV, JSON and APIs into Google Sheets

The data lands in your sheet, and stays fresh.

LoadLane imports a CSV file, a JSON feed or the answer of an API from a web address into the tab and cell you choose. Add parameters and headers such as an API key, preview the first rows and pick the columns. Import now with one click, or, with Pro, every hour, every few hours, daily or weekly, even while the spreadsheet is closed.

  • Import now free, API keys included
  • Your keys stay in your own Google account
  • No BiLingoPlus server in between

Version 1.0updated 12 Nov 20265 Google permissions, none restricted

Illustration, not a screenshot.

How it works

From a URL to a tab in three steps

Set up a source once. After that it is one click, or no click at all with a schedule.

  1. 1Add a source

    In a Google Sheets spreadsheet: Extensions → LoadLane → Open LoadLane → New source. Paste the address of a CSV file, a JSON feed or an API, and add parameters and headers if the API needs them.

  2. 2Preview and pick the columns

    Preview shows the first 20 rows and writes nothing. Nested JSON becomes columns such as customer.name: tick the ones you want, rename them and put them in order.

  3. 3Choose where it goes, and import

    Pick a tab and a start cell and press Import now, free. With Pro, it imports every hour, every few hours, daily or weekly by itself.

Your API keys

Your key stays in your account, and goes only where you sent it

Header values and parameters marked secret are kept in your own Google account, not in the spreadsheet.

  • You · Authorizationsaved ••••••abcd — empty keeps it
  • A colleague · AuthorizationNeeds your own value for: Authorization
  • The address moved to another siteYour keys are not sent until you open and save this source

Panel wording of LoadLane 1.0.

  • Not in the spreadsheetPeople you share the sheet with see the source and its header names, not the values. To run it themselves, they type their own, which stay in their account.
  • Only to the site you saved it forIf someone changes the address to another site, or the site redirects elsewhere, LoadLane stops instead of sending your key there.
  • Errors you can readWhen a site refuses, you see the HTTP code and the first 200 characters of its answer, with your keys removed. A failed run never goes quiet.

Features

Made for the data you actually pull

Nested JSON, flat columns

Point LoadLane at the list you want with a path such as data.items, or click one of the lists it found after Preview. Nested objects become columns such as customer.name, and lists of values are joined.

Replace, Append or Snapshot

Replace clears exactly the block LoadLane wrote last time and writes fresh data, free. With Pro, Append adds new rows and can skip IDs already in the sheet, and Snapshot keeps a history with an Imported at time.

Pages, followed for you (Pro)

A next-page link or cursor in the JSON, a page number or offset parameter, or the Link header. LoadLane follows up to 50 pages and stops at an empty page or when there is no next one.

And more

  • CSV with commas or semicolons, TSV and JSON, detected by themselves
  • Parameters and headers, with Bearer token and API key shortcuts
  • Choose, rename and reorder columns; Keep values as text
  • POST with a JSON body (Pro)
  • Every hour, every 2 to 12 hours, daily or weekly, in your time zone (Pro)
  • A busy site (429 or 5xx) asked twice more before a run fails
  • Text that looks like a formula written as text
  • A LoadLane log tab of every run (Pro)

Compared

Ways to get API or CSV data into Google Sheets

Scroll the table sideways →

WayAPI keys and headersJSONWhen it refreshesCost
IMPORTDATA formulaNoNo, CSV and TSV onlyWhen Google Sheets recalculates it; you cannot set the timeFree
Copy and paste, or File → ImportWhatever the site’s own export allowsNoOnly when you do it againFree
Your own Apps Script with a timerYes, in your codeYes, once you write the parsingYes, with a time-driven triggerFree, plus your time
LoadLaneYes, kept in your own Google accountYes, flattened into columnsImport now; hourly to weekly with ProFree · Pro $4.99/month or $39/year

The formulas and a script you can copy, step by step: how to import JSON or an API into Google Sheets.

Pricing

Importing is free. Pro keeps it fresh.

Start free. Upgrade from the LoadLane panel when you want schedules, history and pages.

Pro

Pro · schedules, history and pages

$4.99/ month

or $39 a year · cancel anytime

  • Every hour, every few hours, daily or weekly
  • Append, with skipping of rows already there, and Snapshot
  • POST requests, and pages up to 50
  • Up to 25 sources and a run log tab
  • Everything in Free
How Pro works

Free

$0forever

Import now as often as you like, for up to 3 sources per spreadsheet.

  • CSV, TSV and JSON from any https address
  • Parameters and headers, API keys included
  • Preview, and choose, rename and reorder columns
  • Replace: fresh data on every import
Read the setup guide

Pro is bought inside the add-onPaddle is our Merchant of Record14-day refund on any charge

Privacy & permissions

Your data goes from the address straight into your sheet

ReadsThe addresses you set up, when you press Preview or Import now or a schedule is due. And only the spreadsheets you set LoadLane up in: the tab names, and for Append the rows under the start cell. Google words its spreadsheet permission as “all your Google Sheets spreadsheets”, because scheduled imports (Pro) open your spreadsheet while it is closed. LoadLane remembers which spreadsheets have schedules from your account and opens no other.
SendsYour request, with its parameters and headers, to the address you typed, and your saved keys only to the site you saved them for. Nothing is sent to BiLingoPlus. The add-on asks Paddle whether your email has an active Pro subscription.
Permissionsspreadsheets · script.external_request · script.scriptapp · script.container.ui · userinfo.email

Header values and secret parameters are kept in your own Google account, never in the spreadsheet. No Google Drive™ or Gmail™ permission. No ads, no selling of data and no AI reading your data.

Full privacy policy →
Made by BiLingoPlus LLC, Wyoming · support from the people who build it

Questions

Questions about importing data into Google Sheets

Why not just use IMPORTDATA?

IMPORTDATA cannot send headers or API keys, cannot read JSON, gives you no say over the columns, and refreshes when Google Sheets decides to. LoadLane sends the request you set up, when you set it, and shows what happened: rows written, pages read and, when a site refuses, the HTTP code and the first 200 characters of its answer.

Who sees my API key?

Only you. Header values and parameters you mark secret are stored in your own Google account, not in the spreadsheet. People you share the sheet with see the source and its header names, not the values; to run it themselves they type their own. Your values are sent only to the site you saved them for: if the address is changed to another site, LoadLane does not send them until you save the source again.

Does it run when the spreadsheet is closed?

With Pro, yes. One check runs every hour from your account and imports whatever is due. If a run fails, the source shows the error in the panel, and in the run log tab if you turned it on.

How much data can it bring in?

Up to 10 MB per request and 50,000 cells per run of one source. For bigger APIs, ask for fewer rows per page and let Pro follow the pages, up to 50.

What happens to old rows?

Replace clears exactly the block LoadLane wrote last time and writes the new data; cells outside it are never touched. Append (Pro) adds rows under the old ones and can skip rows whose ID is already in the sheet. Snapshot (Pro) adds every run under the last one with the time it was taken, so you can chart how a price or a stock level changes.

Which APIs work?

Any https address that answers with CSV, TSV or JSON: store platforms, ad and analytics APIs, public data feeds, your own backend. If it needs a key in a header or in the address, LoadLane can send it. Sign-in flows (“Sign in with…”) are not supported in version 1.0: use an API key or a personal access token.

Is LoadLane free?

Import now is free, for up to 3 sources per spreadsheet, with parameters, headers, the column picker and Replace. Pro, for schedules, Append and Snapshot, POST requests, pages and up to 25 sources, is $4.99 a month or $39 a year, bought from the LoadLane panel.

What can LoadLane see in my Google account?

The spreadsheets you set it up in and your email address. Google’s screen says it can see, edit, create and delete all your Google Sheets spreadsheets, because scheduled imports have to open your spreadsheet while it is closed. LoadLane itself opens only the spreadsheets you set it up in. It has no Drive or Gmail permission, so it cannot open your other files or read your mailbox.

More in Help →

Guides

Guides for importing data

Get LoadLane

Fresh data in your sheet, without copy and paste.

Read the setup guide
  • Import now free, API keys included
  • Your keys stay in your own Google account
  • No BiLingoPlus server in between

More tools from BiLingoPlus

Other tools from the same studio

Google Sheets™, Google Apps Script™, Gmail™, Google Drive™ and Google Workspace™ are trademarks of Google LLC. LoadLane is an independent add-on, not made or endorsed by Google.