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Migrate from Forestry to VuePress

Complete guide to migrating your Forestry website to VuePress. Leave Forestry's discontinued behind and get excellent default theme for documentation sites. Free migration tool included.

20-40 minutes
Medium
100% Free
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TL;DR

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

No longer receiving updates or new features

With VuePress, excellent default theme for documentation sites.

Limited scalability for large content volumes

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

What VuePress Brings to the Table

Vue-powered SSG optimized for technical documentation. Built with JavaScript (Vue.js), it's technical documentation sites in the vue.js ecosystem.

Excellent default theme for documentation sites

Vue components work in Markdown files

Built-in search, sidebar navigation, and versioning

Optimized for developer documentation out of the box

VuePress 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, or use managed platforms like Vercel and Netlify for zero-config deployments.

Forestry vs VuePress at a Glance

Side-by-side comparison based on real platform characteristics

MetricForestryVuePress
Ease of Use⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5
Performance⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5
Flexibility⭐⭐⭐ 3/5⭐⭐⭐ 3/5
Cost⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
Scalability⭐⭐ 2/5⭐⭐⭐ 3/5
Ecosystem⭐⭐ 2/5⭐⭐ 2/5
LanguageJavaScript (Git-backed)JavaScript (Vue.js)
PricingDiscontinued — migrated to TinaCMSFree (open-source)
Open SourceNoYes

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 VuePress

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 VuePress. The core content (text, images, metadata) transfers cleanly.

How It Works

Migrate your content in three simple steps

1

Connect

Enter your Forestry site URL — LeaveWP connects automatically.

2

Configure

Select VuePress as destination and choose content options.

3

Export

Download your migrated content or preview it in your browser.

Is Forestry to VuePress the Right Move for You?

Migrating from Forestry to VuePress makes the most sense if you're experiencing discontinued — users must migrate to tinacms or outgrowing Forestry's architecture. VuePress is best for technical documentation sites in the vue.js ecosystem.

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 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 VuePress, and download your content. The more important question is whether VuePress'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 VuePress?
Most migrations from Forestry complete in 20-40 minutes. Content is exported from Forestry, then structured for VuePress. 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. VuePress actually tends to improve Core Web Vitals scores, which can boost rankings over time.
What Forestry content can be migrated to VuePress?
Forestry content types like markdown files, data files, images are all migrated to VuePress. Content is converted to Markdown/MDX files or structured for your chosen headless CMS.
Do I need JavaScript experience to migrate?
No coding experience is required for the migration itself — LeaveWP handles the export and conversion automatically. However, customizing your VuePress site afterward will benefit from JavaScript (Vue.js) 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 VuePress site after migrating from Forestry?
VuePress sites can be deployed to Vercel, Netlify, Cloudflare Pages, or any Node.js host — often on generous free tiers. static VuePress 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 VuePress?
Yes. Custom fields, metadata, and taxonomies from Forestry are preserved during migration. In VuePress, 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 Forestry or to VuePress

Forestry to VuePress Guides

In-depth guides and tutorials to help with your migration

Ready to Migrate?

Start your free migration from Forestry to VuePress today.

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