Choose a Newt replacement by testing your existing content model and editorial workflow first, then comparing API changes, image delivery, cost, and migration effort. Newt closes on November 24, 2026, so preserve your data while you evaluate candidates and schedule cutover before the deadline. genko.me is one option to test against your actual articles and website requirements.
This article is written by the operator of genko.me. Newt's official information and genko.me's published documentation were checked on October 21, 2026. Recheck current terms before making a commitment.
What closes, and what happens to the data?
Newt's official closure FAQ gives the shutdown time as November 24, 2026, at 13:59. Both CMS App and Form App close, and the dashboard and APIs become unavailable. Newt says it will delete account, space, model, content, and asset information, with no subsequent viewing or restoration available. Newt says it cannot extend the closure date for any user.
Treat that deadline as the end of your recovery window. Set earlier dates for choosing a destination, completing a rehearsal, and switching production. A successful content backup also does not prove that your website can keep running: images, forms, search, and build jobs may have separate dependencies.
Preservation and selection can proceed together. You do not need to settle the final destination before making sure you have the material needed to rebuild elsewhere.
Define what must survive before comparing vendors
Write a requirements sheet before opening trial accounts. Record content types, required and optional fields, relationships, translations, draft workflows, images, and the people who publish. If you use forms, give submissions, notifications, and the replacement submission endpoint their own entries.
A simple article collection and a publication with shared authors, categories, and related articles create different migration problems. Separate requirements that must survive unchanged from opportunities to simplify. With a fixed deadline, a larger website redesign can wait.
Requirement | Evidence to collect |
|---|---|
Models and relationships | An article can use shared authors and categories correctly |
Incomplete content | Editors can save work in progress |
Body formatting | Tables, code, embeds, captions, and links render correctly |
Publishing | An editor can get a change onto the real site |
External dependencies | Images, forms, search, and build notifications have a plan |
Ownership | Someone owns configuration and troubleshooting after cutover |
Mark each requirement as essential, useful, or outside the current scope. An essential requirement should be a pass-or-fail gate. A candidate should not win on price or polish if it cannot support the website you need to keep operating.
Seven useful comparison criteria
1. Content model fit
Matching field labels do not guarantee matching behavior. Check single and multiple references, choices, localized content, repeating structures, and validation. Turning a controlled field into free text may preserve the initial import while creating more editing mistakes later.
genko.me provides list and object APIs through APIs and schemas, with supported types described in Fields. Build a representative model in each shortlisted service. Judge whether editors can maintain it comfortably, as well as whether the initial data fits.
2. API shape and frontend changes
Estimate more than an endpoint replacement. Check response wrappers, identifiers, pagination, sorting, filtering, expanded references, and draft access. A working article page does not establish that search, adjacent articles, or missing references behave correctly.
Test a list, a detail page, an empty result, an article without an image, and a draft. For genko.me, the response values and query specification describe the contract to assess. An SDK can help with integration, but frontend changes and validation still belong in the estimate.
3. Image hosting and delivery
A saved image URL is not a saved image file. Inventory cover images, inline images, downloads, and social preview images separately. Decide where each will be hosted and how you will find references to the previous delivery host.
Compare transformations, alternative text, file formats, and storage. genko.me documents media management and image transformations. If your images already have an independent hosting arrangement, include keeping it among the options. Changing fewer systems can reduce the scope of verification.
4. The editor and preview workflow
Have the people who publish try the candidates. Ask them to change a link, replace an image, edit a table, save a draft, preview it, and publish. A feature checklist cannot tell you how much friction those ordinary tasks introduce.
Preview should include the website presentation editors will rely on. genko.me's draft preview guide includes work on the site itself. Budget for the complete path from saved draft to the URL an editor opens.
5. Cost now and after growth
Model the next year of articles, media, and contributors. Storage, transfer, API definitions, and API requests measure different things. Check the consequence of exceeding each relevant limit: interruption, additional charges, or a required plan change.
If microCMS is a candidate, use its official pricing page. For genko.me, use Plans and limits. Compare the plans that satisfy your requirements, then add implementation and ongoing maintenance time separately. A smaller subscription does not automatically mean a less expensive move.
6. Migration and verification effort
An accepted import is an intermediate result. Your estimate should also include schema adjustments, body conversion, media relocation, frontend changes, link checks, and editorial practice.
Try an older article, a long article, an image-heavy article, and one with relationships. Classify issues as automatically repairable, suitable for a batch edit, or requiring individual review. That gives you a more useful estimate than counting the number of records alone. Decide what can be simplified after you understand the actual failures.
7. The next exit
Ask what you could extract if you needed to move again. Content, schemas, media files, identifiers, translations, and publication state are separate concerns. An export checkbox does not establish that everything needed for reconstruction is included.
genko.me documents JSON and CSV content exports in Import and export. Those exports do not include image or file binaries or revision history. Evaluate limitations as carefully as strengths, and plan how to retain source files and transformed data under your own control.
Compare candidates using the same evidence
Keep the shortlist small and test the same articles, pages, and publishing tasks. Services such as microCMS and genko.me are candidates to evaluate, rather than positions in a universal ranking. What matters is the fit for this website and this deadline.
You can assign weights to model fit, API changes, images, editing, cost, effort, and future portability. A tight deadline may justify giving effort a larger weight. A publication run by non-developers may put more weight on everyday editing. Keep essential requirements outside the score so that a high total cannot hide a disqualifying gap.
Record concrete reasons for the decision: a relationship works, an editor can preview and publish, or the team has enough time to complete the remaining changes. Treat unknowns as open questions with owners and dates.
A timeline working back from November 24
This is a suggested schedule for a small website starting on October 21, 2026. It is our planning advice, rather than a schedule issued by Newt. A more complex site may need additional people or a narrower scope.
Dates | Goal | Evidence needed to move on |
|---|---|---|
October 21–25 | Preserve data, inventory requirements, shortlist | You know where content and files live and what is essential |
October 26–November 1 | Test representative articles and select | You can compare rendering, editing, cost, and remaining work |
November 2–8 | Rehearse the complete website | Counts, bodies, relationships, images, and key URLs agree |
November 9–15 | Get editorial acceptance and switch production | The responsible people can update and publish successfully |
November 16–23 | Fix issues and inspect dependencies | Remaining connections to the old service are understood |
November 24 | Closure date | The destination already supports normal operation |
Agree on an editing freeze or a method for capturing changes around cutover. Assign responsibility for the final update. Also plan recovery using the destination and your own backups, since returning to the old service will not remain an option indefinitely.
If the buffer is disappearing, defer optional improvements and protect the work required to keep the website operating.
A decision checklist
Essential models and relationships work with real content.
Lists, detail pages, drafts, and empty values behave correctly.
Inline images and downloads have a destination hosting plan.
Editors have personally completed save, preview, and publish tasks.
Normal and growth costs, including over-limit behavior, are understood.
Forms, notifications, search, and rebuilds have been inventoried.
Final updates, cutover, and recovery have owners and dates.
Exportable data and separately retained files are clearly distinguished.
Once you choose genko.me, use the dedicated Newt migration guide for the procedure. This article focuses on selection and planning; establish your scope and acceptance criteria before following the implementation steps.
FAQ
Can I retrieve data after Newt closes?
Do not plan on that. The official FAQ describes deletion without subsequent viewing or restoration. Follow Newt's data export guide and preserve data and files even if your destination is still undecided.
Should I choose the service with the most similar API?
API similarity can reduce frontend work, but also test relationships, body content, images, drafts, and editorial tasks. Evaluate compatibility across the operation you need to preserve.
Is staying within a free plan enough to decide?
Include future articles, images, and contributors, along with over-limit behavior and maintenance effort. A workable plan needs to remain practical after the initial move.
What should I test before choosing genko.me?
Use representative articles containing body formatting, references, and images. Check field behavior and plan conditions, then follow the migration guide after making the decision.