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Framer · Sites to ship

Take the Framer site past Framer hosting into a place you ship from

Sites already look right on the canvas. Production is different: CMS collections you can export as data, form endpoints that keep working when the editor is closed, custom code that builds from a clean checkout, and a Publish habit that is not the only way the public URL updates. Framer does not offer an HTML export for self-hosting. If you leave Framer hosting, plan a rebuild. This page puts that ship path on paper so someone else can release a known version from ground you control.

30 min · senior team · leave with a clear next step

In plain words

The short answer

To-production here means CMS collections, form endpoints, and custom code answer from a host you run. Site-settings secrets rotate into a vault, you can name which rebuild is live, and you know how to undo a bad Publish without living inside the editor. Sites hosting stays useful for design iteration — visitors deserve a ship path that survives a closed laptop.

Content updated

What living on Framer hosting still hides

Sites are great at a page you can show

That is the right first job. The second job is what visitors feel when the happy path fails — whether you wrote it down or not.

  • Hiding a form button is not the same as protection

    If spam or paid API routes only look blocked on the canvas, someone can still hit them. Production checks forms where they count.

  • Check which integration settings reach the browser

    Check whether form and authentication credentials are client-visible or accessible to unauthorized editors. Rotate exposed keys; restricted server-side settings are not inherently leaked.

  • A Framer-hosted preview is not a release record

    Production answers simple questions: what changed, which rebuild is live, what checks passed, and how to undo.

  • One-click Publish is not a ship process

    When uptime matters, a reviewed rebuild on a host you run beats hitting Publish from the canvas alone.

The handoff we actually run

Score the Sites build as something people can rely on

Keep the layouts. Stop relying on Sites hosting to run the site.

01

Map CMS collections and custom code that must survive a rebuild

Document schemas and overrides before the first owned publish.

02

Move form and Auth secrets onto the destination host

Fresh values. Named in a vault. Fail closed when missing.

03

Stand a publish path that works with the editor closed

Second person can release a known tree.

04

Name the primary journey and how to roll back

Browse → CMS page → form. Prior version ready.

How to

How to take a Framer site past hosting into a real ship

Own a rebuild, secrets, and publish. First useful ship — not a full exit.

  1. Step 01

    List what still only works on Framer hosting

    CMS edits, custom code, forms, Publish toggles.

  2. Step 02

    Own a rebuild you can run again

    Lockfiles or static tooling pinned.

  3. Step 03

    Inject destination secrets and re-check breakpoints

    Mobile and CMS pages on the new origin.

  4. Step 04

    Ship a known version with the editor closed

    Logs tag the release.

  5. Step 05

    Keep Sites hosting for design until the facts say leave

    Document which model production uses.

Read next

Related guidance and next steps

Use these guides to check your requirements and prepare the questions you want to discuss.

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Related pages

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Before you book

Practical answers

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Why does Sites hosting alone fail a published-URL check?

It proves Sites, CMS, and breakpoints render. It does not prove you own a rebuild on a host you run, can rotate form secrets without every editor opening the project, or can roll back without republishing from the UI.

What must be true of CMS and custom code before a custom-domain cutover?

Collection schemas documented. Custom code builds from a clean checkout. Form webhooks and Auth redirects list only your production domain. Breakpoints re-checked on the destination — not assumed identical to preview chrome.

How should Framer Publish vs a rebuild on your host be chosen?

Use Framer Publish while design risk is fine. Prefer a rebuild on your host when a second engineer must ship without the canvas.

How do you prove production-grade without redesigning every frame?

Run browse → CMS page → form on the custom domain with production secrets. Confirm logs tag a release, forms fail closed when env is wrong, and closing the editor does not stop the destination host.

Keep the Sites. Give visitors a ship path past canvas Publish.

Bring CMS collections, form paths, and who can Publish today. We put owned ship first — and we leave the canvas for design until the facts say leave.

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