Complete guide to migrating your Ghost website to 11ty. Leave Ghost's limited to blogs and newsletters behind and get ships zero javascript to the browser by default. Free migration tool included.
You can migrate from Ghost to 11ty for free using LeaveWP. Enter your site URL, choose 11ty 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: Ghost Documentation
Modern publishing platform built for professional content creators. Professional writers, journalists, and newsletter creators who want to monetize content, but these limitations push teams toward modern alternatives.
Limited to blogs and newsletters — not a general CMS
This is the most common reason teams migrate away from Ghost. 11ty eliminates this issue entirely.
Small theme ecosystem compared to WordPress
With 11ty, ships zero javascript to the browser by default — pure html.
Self-hosting requires Node.js server expertise
Modern architectures like 11ty are designed to avoid this from the ground up.
Managed hosting (Ghost Pro) is relatively expensive
After migrating, you'll no longer need to worry about this — 11ty takes a fundamentally different approach.
Zero-config JavaScript SSG that ships zero client JS by default. Built with JavaScript (multiple template languages), it's performance-focused sites that need minimal client-side javascript.
Ships zero JavaScript to the browser by default — pure HTML
Supports 10+ template languages (Nunjucks, Liquid, Markdown, etc.)
Framework-independent — use any or no JS framework
Fast builds and simple mental model
11ty 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.
Side-by-side comparison based on real platform characteristics
| Metric | Ghost | 11ty |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of Use | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5 | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5 |
| Performance | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5 | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5 |
| Flexibility | ⭐⭐⭐ 3/5 | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5 |
| Cost | ⭐⭐⭐ 3/5 | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5 |
| Scalability | ⭐⭐⭐ 3/5 | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5 |
| Ecosystem | ⭐⭐ 2/5 | ⭐⭐⭐ 3/5 |
| Language | Node.js | JavaScript (multiple template languages) |
| Pricing | Free (self-hosted) / $9-199/month (managed) | Free (open-source) |
| Open Source | Yes | Yes |
Ratings are based on publicly available data, documentation, and community consensus as of 2026. Individual experience may vary.
A detailed breakdown of how your Ghost content maps to 11ty
What may need manual attention
Custom server-side logic, third-party integrations, and platform-specific plugins will need equivalent solutions in 11ty. The core content (text, images, metadata) transfers cleanly.
Migrate your content in three simple steps
Enter your Ghost site URL — LeaveWP connects automatically.
Select 11ty as destination and choose content options.
Download your migrated content or preview it in your browser.
Migrating from Ghost to 11ty makes the most sense if you're experiencing limited to blogs and newsletters — not a general cms or outgrowing Ghost's architecture. 11ty is best for performance-focused sites that need minimal client-side javascript.
You should migrate if: your Ghost 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 Ghost site benefits from beautiful, focused writing experience (markdown + rich editor) and you don't have JavaScript developers on your team. Ghost is genuinely easy to use, and that simplicity has value.
The migration itself is straightforward with LeaveWP — enter your Ghost URL, select 11ty, and download your content. The more important question is whether 11ty's architecture fits your team's skills and your project's long-term needs.
Explore more migration paths from Ghost or to 11ty
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