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Migrate from Forestry to Gatsby

Complete guide to migrating your Forestry website to Gatsby. Leave Forestry's discontinued behind and get rich plugin ecosystem for data sources (cms, apis, databases). Free migration tool included.

20-40 minutes

Medium

100% Free

Start Free Migration

TL;DR

You can migrate from Forestry to Gatsby for free using LeaveWP. Enter your site URL, choose Gatsby 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.

Official docs: Gatsby Documentation

Why Teams Leave Forestry

Git-backed CMS for Hugo, Jekyll, and static sites (now TinaCMS). Legacy projects — new projects should use TinaCMS instead, but these limitations push teams toward modern alternatives.

Discontinued — users must migrate to TinaCMS

This is the most common reason teams migrate away from Forestry. Gatsby eliminates this issue entirely.

No longer receiving updates or new features

With Gatsby, rich plugin ecosystem for data sources (cms, apis, databases).

Limited scalability for large content volumes

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

Git-based workflow can be slow for non-technical editors

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

What Gatsby Brings to the Table

React-based SSG with GraphQL data layer. Built with JavaScript/TypeScript (React), it's content-rich sites pulling data from multiple sources via graphql.

Rich plugin ecosystem for data sources (CMS, APIs, databases)

Unified GraphQL data layer pulls from any source

Excellent image optimization with gatsby-plugin-image

Pre-renders pages for fast initial load and good SEO

Gatsby 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.

Forestry vs Gatsby at a Glance

Side-by-side comparison based on real platform characteristics

Metric	Forestry	Gatsby
Ease of Use	⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5	⭐⭐⭐ 3/5
Performance	⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5	⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5
Flexibility	⭐⭐⭐ 3/5	⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5
Cost	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
Scalability	⭐⭐ 2/5	⭐⭐⭐ 3/5
Ecosystem	⭐⭐ 2/5	⭐⭐⭐ 3/5
Language	JavaScript (Git-backed)	JavaScript/TypeScript (React)
Pricing	Discontinued — migrated to TinaCMS	Free (open-source)
Open Source	No	Yes

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 Forestry content maps to Gatsby

Content Types from Forestry

markdown files
data files
images

Technical Details

Export Method: Files are already in your Git repo
Source Language: JavaScript (Git-backed)
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 Gatsby. The core content (text, images, metadata) transfers cleanly.

How It Works

Migrate your content in three simple steps

Connect

Enter your Forestry site URL — LeaveWP connects automatically.

Configure

Select Gatsby as destination and choose content options.

Export

Download your migrated content or preview it in your browser.

Is Forestry to Gatsby the Right Move for You?

Migrating from Forestry to Gatsby makes the most sense if you're experiencing discontinued — users must migrate to tinacms or outgrowing Forestry's architecture. Gatsby is best for content-rich sites pulling data from multiple sources via graphql.

You should migrate if: your Forestry 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 Forestry site benefits from clean, user-friendly admin ui for git-based content and you don't have JavaScript/TypeScript developers on your team. Forestry is genuinely easy to use, and that simplicity has value.

The migration itself is straightforward with LeaveWP — enter your Forestry URL, select Gatsby, and download your content. The more important question is whether Gatsby'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 Forestry to Gatsby?

Most migrations from Forestry complete in 20-40 minutes. Content is exported from Forestry, then structured for Gatsby. Complex sites with extensive custom fields may take longer.

Will I lose my SEO rankings when migrating from Forestry?

No. We help you set up proper 301 redirects from your old Forestry URLs to preserve search rankings. Gatsby actually tends to improve Core Web Vitals scores, which can boost rankings over time.

What Forestry content can be migrated to Gatsby?

Forestry content types like markdown files, data files, images are all migrated to Gatsby. 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 Gatsby site afterward will benefit from JavaScript/TypeScript (React) 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 Gatsby site after migrating from Forestry?

Gatsby sites can be deployed to Vercel, Netlify, Cloudflare Pages, or any Node.js host — often on generous free tiers. static Gatsby sites can be hosted for free on Vercel or Netlify (up to generous bandwidth limits), which is significantly cheaper than running a Forestry instance.

Can I migrate Forestry custom fields and metadata to Gatsby?

Yes. Custom fields, metadata, and taxonomies from Forestry are preserved during migration. In Gatsby, these become frontmatter fields in your Markdown/MDX files, which you can extend or restructure to fit your content model.