Complete guide to migrating your Makeswift website to Gatsby. Leave Makeswift's next.js only behind and get rich plugin ecosystem for data sources (cms, apis, databases). Free migration tool included.
You can migrate from Makeswift 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: Easy. Estimated time: 10-20 minutes.
Official docs: Gatsby Documentation
Visual builder for Next.js sites. Next.js teams needing visual editing for marketing pages, but these limitations push teams toward modern alternatives.
Next.js only — no support for other frameworks
This is the most common reason teams migrate away from Makeswift. Gatsby eliminates this issue entirely.
Very new platform with a small user base
With Gatsby, rich plugin ecosystem for data sources (cms, apis, databases).
Limited documentation and community resources
Modern architectures like Gatsby are designed to avoid this from the ground up.
Feature set is still maturing compared to established tools
After migrating, you'll no longer need to worry about this — Gatsby takes a fundamentally different approach.
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.
Side-by-side comparison based on real platform characteristics
| Metric | Makeswift | Gatsby |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of Use | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5 | ⭐⭐⭐ 3/5 |
| Performance | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5 | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5 |
| Flexibility | ⭐⭐⭐ 3/5 | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5 |
| Cost | ⭐⭐⭐ 3/5 | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5 |
| Scalability | ⭐⭐⭐ 3/5 | ⭐⭐⭐ 3/5 |
| Ecosystem | ⭐ 1/5 | ⭐⭐⭐ 3/5 |
| Language | React / Next.js | JavaScript/TypeScript (React) |
| Pricing | Free / paid plans | 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.
A detailed breakdown of how your Makeswift content maps to Gatsby
What may need manual attention
Visual layouts and custom animations built in Makeswift's editor will need to be recreated in Gatsby. The content and text transfers, but the visual design is platform-specific.
Migrate your content in three simple steps
Enter your Makeswift site URL — LeaveWP connects automatically.
Select Gatsby as destination and choose content options.
Download your migrated content or preview it in your browser.
Migrating from Makeswift to Gatsby makes the most sense if you're experiencing next.js only — no support for other frameworks or outgrowing Makeswift's architecture. Gatsby is best for content-rich sites pulling data from multiple sources via graphql.
You should migrate if: your Makeswift 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 Makeswift site benefits from native next.js integration — edits your actual next.js pages and you don't have JavaScript/TypeScript developers on your team. Makeswift is genuinely easy to use, and that simplicity has value.
The migration itself is straightforward with LeaveWP — enter your Makeswift 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.
Explore more migration paths from Makeswift or to Gatsby
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