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Migrate from Concrete5 to SolidStart

Complete guide to migrating your Concrete5 website to SolidStart. Leave Concrete5's very small ecosystem compared to other php cms options behind and get solidjs fine-grained reactivity. Free migration tool included.

20-40 minutes
Medium
100% Free
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TL;DR

You can migrate from Concrete5 to SolidStart for free using LeaveWP. Enter your site URL, choose SolidStart as the destination, and download your content — posts, pages, and media — in minutes. No API keys, passwords, or CLI tools required. Difficulty: Medium. Estimated time: 20-40 minutes.

Why Teams Leave Concrete5

In-context editing CMS for marketers. Marketing teams who want to edit pages visually without developer help, but these limitations push teams toward modern alternatives.

Very small ecosystem compared to other PHP CMS options

This is the most common reason teams migrate away from Concrete5. SolidStart eliminates this issue entirely.

Performance is poor without server-side caching

With SolidStart, solidjs fine-grained reactivity — updates dom without virtual dom diffing.

Limited developer documentation and community support

Modern architectures like SolidStart are designed to avoid this from the ground up.

Fewer modern integrations and headless capabilities

After migrating, you'll no longer need to worry about this — SolidStart takes a fundamentally different approach.

What SolidStart Brings to the Table

Full-stack framework for SolidJS with fine-grained reactivity. Built with JavaScript/TypeScript (SolidJS), it's performance-focused developers who want react-like syntax without virtual dom overhead.

SolidJS fine-grained reactivity — updates DOM without virtual DOM diffing

Top benchmark performance — often faster than Svelte

JSX syntax makes it approachable for React developers

File-based routing with SSR and SSG support

SolidStart is open-source and free to use. You own your code and data with no vendor lock-in. Deploy to any host that supports JavaScript/TypeScript, or use managed platforms like Vercel and Netlify for zero-config deployments.

Concrete5 vs SolidStart at a Glance

Side-by-side comparison based on real platform characteristics

MetricConcrete5SolidStart
Ease of Use⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5⭐⭐⭐ 3/5
Performance⭐⭐ 2/5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
Flexibility⭐⭐⭐ 3/5⭐⭐⭐ 3/5
Cost⭐⭐⭐ 3/5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
Scalability⭐⭐ 2/5⭐⭐⭐ 3/5
Ecosystem⭐⭐ 2/5 1/5
LanguagePHPJavaScript/TypeScript (SolidJS)
PricingFree (self-hosted)Free (open-source)
Open SourceYesYes

Ratings are based on publicly available data, documentation, and community consensus as of 2026. Individual experience may vary.

What Gets Migrated

A detailed breakdown of how your Concrete5 content maps to SolidStart

Content Types from Concrete5

  • pages
  • blocks
  • files
  • users
  • express objects

Technical Details

Export Method
Database export or REST API
Source Language
PHP
Destination Format
Markdown/MDX files with frontmatter, organized by content type
URL Handling
301 redirect map generated automatically to preserve SEO equity

What may need manual attention

Custom server-side logic, third-party integrations, and platform-specific plugins will need equivalent solutions in SolidStart. The core content (text, images, metadata) transfers cleanly.

How It Works

Migrate your content in three simple steps

1

Connect

Enter your Concrete5 site URL — LeaveWP connects automatically.

2

Configure

Select SolidStart as destination and choose content options.

3

Export

Download your migrated content or preview it in your browser.

Is Concrete5 to SolidStart the Right Move for You?

Migrating from Concrete5 to SolidStart makes the most sense if you're experiencing very small ecosystem compared to other php cms options or outgrowing Concrete5's architecture. SolidStart is best for performance-focused developers who want react-like syntax without virtual dom overhead.

You should migrate if: your Concrete5 site is slow, your hosting costs are climbing, you need developer flexibility, or you want to adopt a modern JAMstack architecture.

You might want to stay if: your Concrete5 site benefits from true in-page editing — edit content directly on the live page and you don't have JavaScript/TypeScript developers on your team. Concrete5 is genuinely easy to use, and that simplicity has value.

The migration itself is straightforward with LeaveWP — enter your Concrete5 URL, select SolidStart, and download your content. The more important question is whether SolidStart's architecture fits your team's skills and your project's long-term needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to migrate from Concrete5 to SolidStart?
Most migrations from Concrete5 complete in 20-40 minutes. We pull content via Concrete5's Database export, then structured for SolidStart. Complex sites with extensive custom fields may take longer.
Will I lose my SEO rankings when migrating from Concrete5?
No. We help you set up proper 301 redirects from your old Concrete5 URLs to preserve search rankings. SolidStart actually tends to improve Core Web Vitals scores, which can boost rankings over time.
What Concrete5 content can be migrated to SolidStart?
Concrete5 content types like pages, blocks, files, users are all migrated to SolidStart. Content is converted to Markdown/MDX files or structured for your chosen headless CMS.
Do I need JavaScript/TypeScript experience to migrate?
No coding experience is required for the migration itself — LeaveWP handles the export and conversion automatically. However, customizing your SolidStart site afterward will benefit from JavaScript/TypeScript (SolidJS) knowledge. For teams without that expertise, the generated code is well-structured and documented, making it approachable for developers of any level.
How much does it cost to host a SolidStart site after migrating from Concrete5?
SolidStart sites can be deployed to Vercel, Netlify, Cloudflare Pages, or any Node.js host — often on generous free tiers. static SolidStart sites can be hosted for free on Vercel or Netlify (up to generous bandwidth limits), which is significantly cheaper than running a PHP server.
Can I migrate Concrete5 custom fields and metadata to SolidStart?
Yes. Custom fields, metadata, and taxonomies from Concrete5 are preserved during migration. In SolidStart, these become frontmatter fields in your Markdown/MDX files, which you can extend or restructure to fit your content model.

Related Migration Guides

Explore more migration paths from Concrete5 or to SolidStart

Concrete5 to SolidStart Guides

In-depth guides and tutorials to help with your migration

Ready to Migrate?

Start your free migration from Concrete5 to SolidStart today.

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