Can You Get Your Data Out? A Checklist Before You Commit

The five levels

• full — Everything, in a usable format. You can leave and rebuild elsewhere.
• full+api — Everything, plus programmatic access. Best case: you can automate the exit, not just do it once by hand.
• api-only — Data is reachable, but only through code. Fine if you (or someone you hire) can script it; a wall if you can’t.
• partial — Some fields export, others don’t. The ones that don’t are usually the ones that took you the longest to build (custom layers, brand kits, version history).
• none — You cannot take your data with you. Whatever you put in stays in, or you copy it out by hand, field by field, forever.

The trap

A free trial with data_export: none costs you nothing until the day you want to leave — then it costs you everything you built during the trial. The vendors that gate export hardest are often the ones with the friendliest onboarding, because friendly onboarding gets you invested before you’ve checked the exit.

Checklist before you commit real setup time

1. What does data_export say for this tool — and does that match what the pricing page implies?
2. If it’s partial, which fields are excluded? (Usually buried in a help doc, not the pricing page.)
3. If it’s api-only, do you have someone who can actually call that API?
4. Would you be able to rebuild your current setup elsewhere using only what exports?

Design & Visuals tools, by export level