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Migrate from Forestry to Jekyll

Complete guide to migrating your Forestry website to Jekyll. Leave Forestry's discontinued behind and get native github pages integration. Free migration tool included.

20-40 minutes

Medium

100% Free

Start Free Migration

TL;DR

You can migrate from Forestry to Jekyll for free using LeaveWP. Enter your site URL, choose Jekyll 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 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. Jekyll eliminates this issue entirely.

No longer receiving updates or new features

With Jekyll, native github pages integration — deploy by pushing to a repo.

Limited scalability for large content volumes

Modern architectures like Jekyll 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 — Jekyll takes a fundamentally different approach.

What Jekyll Brings to the Table

Ruby-based SSG that powers GitHub Pages. Built with Ruby (Liquid templates), it's developer blogs hosted on github pages with minimal setup.

Native GitHub Pages integration — deploy by pushing to a repo

Mature and battle-tested for blogs and documentation

Large library of themes and plugins

Simple mental model — content in Markdown, layouts in Liquid

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

Forestry vs Jekyll at a Glance

Side-by-side comparison based on real platform characteristics

Metric	Forestry	Jekyll
Ease of Use	⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5	⭐⭐⭐ 3/5
Performance	⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5	⭐⭐⭐ 3/5
Flexibility	⭐⭐⭐ 3/5	⭐⭐⭐ 3/5
Cost	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
Scalability	⭐⭐ 2/5	⭐⭐ 2/5
Ecosystem	⭐⭐ 2/5	⭐⭐⭐ 3/5
Language	JavaScript (Git-backed)	Ruby (Liquid templates)
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 Jekyll

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 Jekyll. 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 Jekyll as destination and choose content options.

Export

Download your migrated content or preview it in your browser.

Is Forestry to Jekyll the Right Move for You?

Migrating from Forestry to Jekyll makes the most sense if you're experiencing discontinued — users must migrate to tinacms or outgrowing Forestry's architecture. Jekyll is best for developer blogs hosted on github pages with minimal setup.

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 Ruby 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 Jekyll, and download your content. The more important question is whether Jekyll'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 Jekyll?

Most migrations from Forestry complete in 20-40 minutes. Content is exported from Forestry, then structured for Jekyll. 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. Jekyll supports clean URL structures that maintain your existing SEO equity.

What Forestry content can be migrated to Jekyll?

Forestry content types like markdown files, data files, images are all migrated to Jekyll. Content is converted to Markdown/MDX files or structured for your chosen headless CMS.

Do I need Ruby experience to migrate?

No coding experience is required for the migration itself — LeaveWP handles the export and conversion automatically. However, customizing your Jekyll site afterward will benefit from Ruby (Liquid templates) 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 Jekyll site after migrating from Forestry?

Jekyll sites can be deployed to Vercel, Netlify, Cloudflare Pages, or any Node.js host — often on generous free tiers. static Jekyll 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 Jekyll?

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