How to Host Webflow Sites for Free on Netlify

[@jasonmorrison3935]

This is a very high quality tutorial. You are very thorough without sharing too much and I really appreciate the summary at the end. You just saved me so much $$$! Thank you!

[@dominikmoravcik1896]

It is great! I just got a bit lost with the Netlify existing project import. It would be really helpful if the GitHub integration could be covered as well.

[@lucabudgen]

Awesome tutorial! Going to try this out for my first client!

[@We.are.robots]

Nice job! I can see this being a very useful option to create fun sites that probably wouldn’t warrant paying a monthly fee, but can now live online without ad-riddled free hosting 😊

[@RuairiMcNicholasIE]

Exactly! Most of my client's sites go on Webflow as, let's be honest, the process is much easier. But for my own side-projects and for clients who just need a website up for a month (typically for an event), Netlify is a great option.

[@xterminator2121]

thanks for the intro to Udesly! Neat app, I don't know how I would've converted it to an actual app after exporting. Saved a lot of time and money! Cheers

[@patrickhogan9964]

Very insightful stuff Ruairi.

[@TheDarkAztek]

Awesome vid! Thanks for sharing your workflow, this is really useful!

[@RockstahRolln]

Thanks for creating this video, much appreciated! I am going to give this a go!

[@kaicex]

For free workplace plan I don't have access to export a code. Pls help me!! Can you sample exported code of webflow, any site(good with cms)?

[@tryderrick]

Wow need to give this a try! Thanks for sharing

[@RuairiMcNicholasIE]

Please do!

[@RealHighFive]

thank you so much for this great useful video! I am in needs of a single graphic design portfolio website where I can show my projects. I dont get clients for web design and i only need this single website to be hosted, do i need to pay for the Freelancer webflow workspace which is $16/month or i can use the free started one for this trick?

[@RuairiMcNicholasIE]

You're welcome! If it's in your budget and will bring you in work, i.e. pay for itself, a single site plan for $28 a month will be less hassle. If you want to use Netlify, yes you'll need a Workspace, such as the freelancer one, to export code. Though you'll also have to pay the $99 a year for Udesely to get the CMS working on Netlify.

[@TheNevinWinterShow]

Little confused as to why you need to use Udesely? Couldn't you take the code and just host it on Netlify? What is it that Udesely is doing in the process?

[@RuairiMcNicholasIE]

If you aren't using Webflow CMS you can drag your Webflow code straight into the 'Manual Deploy' box in 'Deploys' in Netlify. If you're using the CMS you'll need Udesely to export them, convert them to work with Netlify (with something called 11ty), and it also sets you up with an open source CMS, Netlify CMS. Hope that clarifies!

[@JordanStambaugh1]

This is epic! Definitely going to try this out on a rank and rent website. Do you know if netflify enables RSS feed?

[@RuairiMcNicholasIE]

Thanks! I haven't tried enabling RSS feeds but you might be able to do it with Zapier: zapier.com/apps/netlify/integrations/rss

[@Nelisknorren]

I see that you don't have the 'Made with udesly' badge on the published website. Do you have a paid plan for Udesly or you edited the code?

[@RuairiMcNicholasIE]

I have a paid plan - I have a few clients that I use it for and I charge them a hosting fee (less than what Webflow charge) to cover the cost of it :)

[@konohadesign1471]

Nice! If i have linked some custom JS or a CSS file to webflow from my local environment, is webflow going to export this code as well or do i have to add it manually again later?

[@RuairiMcNicholasIE]

Thanks! If you're linking to a file somewhere else, I believe Webflow will export the or but best to test that :)

[@konohadesign1471]

@@RuairiMcNicholasIE Right, thanks a lot for your response👍

[@yomismo6969]

Just one question, does the freelance plan allow you to export the webflow code?

[@RuairiMcNicholasIE]

Yes - Freelancer plan allows you to export Webflow code :)

[@Dreysimmons]

Great video. Please I wanted to ask, Is the CMS configured automatically in Netlify when you export code and follow the processes you stated here, or you have to write some code structuring how the cms pages should be? Please Im new to this please help🙏🏾

[@neoniquestudio]

Very nice! I am not familiar with the workflow Jamstack/GitHub etc - where are the files eventually stored when the site is up and running? I am asking because many clients are concerned about using Webflow in Europe because the hosting is on Amazon-Servers (because of GDPR). Thanks!

[@RuairiMcNicholasIE]

Glad you like it! The files are stored on Netlify's servers. I think you may be able to ask support to ensure the server your website is stored in is in Europe, though you may need a paid plan for this. In any case their website seems to say that they are GDPR compliant: www.netlify.com/gdpr-ccpa/

[@customtrend8493]

Technically you could bypass the udacity thing. I don't know about the webflow file structure, but the netlify cms just need a script and a config.yaml file that matches the structure of your posts within webflow

[@RuairiMcNicholasIE]

Interesting, thanks for letting me know that. I'll see can I get the CMS working without Udesely - you can export Webflow CMS content as an Excel file. I believe the posts are needed as markdown files, perhaps a CSV to markdown converter owuld work.

[@HypeBase]

Hey man, Thanks for your nice video. It is a great walkthrough on this topic. Especially because there's not too much information about CMS and form integration. I tried WP and the Jamstack/Netfliy integration. I am having with both the same issue that the CMS items are not visible. Only the "no items found" message appears. But it has been imported and I can edit it on both systems. It just won't show up. Is it possible that it is because you need to have the upgraded Udesly plan? Or am I missing something else. Would be great to get some feedback! :)

[@RuairiMcNicholasIE]

Glad you like it! You will need Udesely to get Netlify working with the Webflow CMS; try their free trial and see how you find it :)

[@HypeBase]

@@RuairiMcNicholasIE Thanks for your reply. I do have converted it with Udesly (Free Trial version). But as mentioned, always appears "no items found". Editable but not shown on the specific page. So, I am wondering if the paid version is necessary or am I missing something?

[@RuairiMcNicholasIE]

@@HypeBase It should work - the only difference between the free and paid versions of Udesely is the paid one removes the 'Made with Udesely' badge. Is everything else working other than the CMS items? Have you added CMS items via the Netlify CMS? Did you add the config file from the Udesely chrome extension?

[@HypeBase]

@@RuairiMcNicholasIE Thanks for getting back so quickly. I see, so it's probably on me. The CMS is imported as I can edit the CMS items. I uploaded the Config-File too. It's just not showing the items and gives the notice "no items found". But they are definitely there, as I can edit them. If you have time I can send you everything in a Mail, and maybe then you will find my mistake or the problem. Would appreciate it!

[@RuairiMcNicholasIE]

@@HypeBase Drop me an email: [e-mail]

[@nobby3123]

If I don’t want e-commerce or CMS items and I want a static only site, do I need udesly? Thinking I don’t but want to make sure :)

[@RuairiMcNicholasIE]

You don't, though Udesely does give you a sitemap. But you can create one easily for free using a sitemap generator online :)

[@angelicojohnrago2878]

Can I delete the website in webflow after I hosted it in Netlify?

[@Ludvio]

how to have admin panel for cms? after i send invitation from netlify identity i just land on a homepage. can you give me a tip?

[@skemil]

It's your website url + /admin

[@techwithbube]

Nice tutorial. I have a question, can i download a paid webflow template ad integrate it to my django backend?

[@RuairiMcNicholasIE]

Thanks! You can download a paid template by making a new project from the template and exporting the code. As for integrating it with a backend: I haven't done this but I believe you can. The main issue is that anything you do outside of Webflow won't be importable back into Webflow. E.g. if you make manual changes to the exported Webflow code, you won't have these the next time you export from Webflow. Give it a go and see if it works :) Good luck!

[@durgeshwariculleechurn502]

The CMS objects say file not found on my website. Can anyone assist?

[@jedbowden4633]

Hey would this work for ecommerce website that has payment methods on your webflow site?

[@Ludvio]

I'm talking specifically about this step: 11:01 nothing is asking me to signup.

[@gibsgibus]

Amazing tutorial ! I followed every steps, could access the CMS items via the netlify CMS, modify them and push them live but the site still display the "no items found" empty standard message from webflow :( any idea ?

[@RuairiMcNicholasIE]

Glad you found it helpful Anthony! Try going into 'Deploys' in Netlify after pushing the changes; it should show a new 'deploy' after making CMS changes and that will show you if any errors are coming up, if they are email me a screenshot to [e-mail] Worth noting that these deploys take a few minutes so changes won't show up immediately.

[@gibsgibus]

@@RuairiMcNicholasIE i was simply to impatient ! thank you so much, it works indeed !!! :D

[@FriscoWebAgency]

Hey Ruairi! How can I send those form submissions to the client that is hosting with me? Thank you so much by the way. You've literally brought it hundreds of dollars a month extra for my business.

[@RuairiMcNicholasIE]

Glad to hear it! Are you charging clients for Netlify hosting? You can go to Netlify > Website > Forms > Settings and Usage from there under 'Form Notifications' you can send all forms to a list of email addresses, or each individual form to a specific address.

[@user-vk9ff9gr4x]

formspree

[@Ludvio]

Thank you!

[@jasonhebert1656]

Almost got it working buy any cms content on my homepage isn't showing up. Anyone ever have this issue?

[@RuairiMcNicholasIE]

Log into Netlify CMS and make sure your CMS content got copied over, then publish the content from inside Netlify CMS

[@skemil]

Same here, have u been able to fix this? Been 3 days now.

[@mahamudmunna5000]

wow thank you

[@ernestom.3871]

is it possible that is doesn't work anymore?

[@chideranwanyemike3215]

Yes it doesn't

[@wtvrafa]

what isn't working?

[@HupeGarrett]

@@wtvrafa it's very possible that I don't know what I'm doing, but when I follow this tutorial, I inevitably get a "page not found" result from Netlify.

[@exenstudio5639]

thank you

[@RuairiMcNicholasIE]

You're welcome

[@ludiloizsenke11]

What about interactions (animations)?