What Does Webflow's Code Export Include, and Can You Host It Elsewhere?

Yes. Webflow's code export gives you real, static HTML, CSS and JavaScript that you can host anywhere, with no attribution required. But it only ships on paid Workspace plans, it doesn't include your CMS database, ecommerce data, working forms, site search, password protection, or localized content, and several of those pieces need a separate export or a third-party replacement before you can safely leave Webflow's hosting. This is what the export actually contains, sourced from Webflow's own help documentation, and what to do about the parts it leaves out.

What plan do I need to export code?

Code export is a Workspace-level feature, not a site-level one. Webflow's help center states that on paid Workspace plans, you can export your site's HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and assets to back up your code, provide it to a client, or host it anywhere you like, with no attribution required (Webflow). Webflow is explicit that Site plans do not include code export; it comes with paid Workspace plans. To run it: open the site, go to Main menu > Code export (the "W" logo, upper left) or press Shift + E, click Prepare ZIP, and download the file.

What's actually in the zip?

The export package contains:

• Static HTML for every page, plus CMS Collection templates (the layout, not the live database)
• CSS, including your custom styles and Webflow's base/Normalize CSS
• JavaScript needed for interactions and animations
• An images folder with everything uploaded to the site's Assets panel

Interactions and animations that run in the visitor's browser — scroll effects, hover states, click triggers, tabs, sliders, accordions — are exported as working JavaScript and continue to function on the new host.

What does the export leave out?

Webflow's own export documentation lists the exclusions plainly: CMS content (the database, not the template), User Accounts, Ecommerce content, code components and their functionality, and localized pages, elements, and content are not included in the exported code (Webflow). Two of these deserve more detail:

• Site search and native forms stop working entirely. Webflow says this is to comply with GDPR: forms (including file upload and reCAPTCHA) and site search will not work on exported sites, because they depend on Webflow's backend APIs, which an exported site no longer has access to (Webflow). A form element will still render, but submitting it does nothing until you wire it to something else. Submissions you already collected are not in the zip either; export them separately.
• Localization exports only the primary locale. If you use Webflow Localization, the exported files contain just your default-language pages and content — every localized version is left behind and needs a separate plan.

How do I get my CMS content out separately?

CMS content isn't in the code export because it's a live database, not a set of files. Take it out as CSV instead, one Collection at a time: open the Collection in the Designer and click Export. Webflow supports CSV export for CMS Collections, Ecommerce Collections, and User Accounts, including localized Collection content — so budget time to do this once per Collection (Webflow). Image and file fields export as URLs pointing back to Webflow's asset hosting, not as attached files, so download those assets separately before you cancel hosting.

How do I host the export on another host?

1. Export the code. Main menu → Code export (or Shift + E), then download the zip.
2. Export every CMS Collection you use, individually, as CSV. Do this before you touch hosting — the templates in the zip are useless without the content that used to fill them.
3. Download your media library assets you'll need going forward; CSV exports only link to Webflow-hosted URLs, which stop resolving once you leave.
4. Unzip and inspect the folder. You'll see per-page HTML files, a css/ folder, a js/ folder, and an images folder.
5. Pick a static host (Netlify, Vercel, Cloudflare Pages, or a plain web server) and upload the folder as-is, or connect it through Git if you convert it to a repository first.
6. Replace the form element with a third-party form service. Webflow's own guidance for exported sites is to point the form at a third-party provider or embed a form built with one, then republish before exporting again so the new site talks to that provider instead of Webflow (Webflow).
7. Re-add reCAPTCHA yourself, following Google's own integration guide, since Webflow's built-in reCAPTCHA element does not carry over to exported sites.
8. Rebuild anything CMS-driven as static pages or a separate headless setup, using the CSVs from step 2 as your content source.
9. Set up redirects on the new host for any URL that changes, especially CMS item URLs that Webflow generated. Webflow's own 301 settings stop applying the moment your domain points elsewhere, so the redirects have to live on the host that will serve the domain. Our redirects guide covers building the map.
10. Point your domain's DNS at the new host once you've verified the static export renders correctly, and keep the Webflow project live until you've confirmed the new one works end to end.

What still won't work after I move it?

• Site search needs a separate implementation (a hosted search service, or a client-side index you build yourself) — there is no toggle that restores it.
• Ecommerce doesn't export as functioning checkout code at all; only the product Collections come out, as CSV, for you to rebuild against a different commerce platform.
• Password-protected pages become public. Webflow states that protected pages "will no longer be protected after code export." Delete them from the exported folder, or move them behind your new host's access control, before you upload anything.
• User Accounts (Webflow's built-in membership feature) export as CSV data only; the login/session system itself needs a replacement.

What if something goes wrong after the move?

Keep the original Webflow project and its hosting active — don't cancel it — until the exported site has been checked end to end: every page loads, every form submits somewhere real, every CMS-driven page that used to exist still resolves at its old URL or redirects correctly, and images display. If a page is missing or a redirect is wrong, you can still pull the missing CSV or re-export the code from the live Webflow project, because nothing about exporting deletes or disables the original site. Only cancel Webflow hosting after the new host has been live and verified for a period you're comfortable with.

If you're leaving Webflow for a Figma-based workflow instead of a hand-coded static host, our Webflow to Figment migration guide covers that path, and how to create a website from Figma explains the plugin used to publish it.