diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5419869b..73a35692 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 #### Breaking Changes
 
-- feat: Change `LogEntry.change` field type to `JSONField` rather than `TextField`. This change include a migration that may take time to run depending on the number of records on your `LogEntry` table ([#407](https://github.com/jazzband/django-auditlog/pull/407))
+- feat: Change `LogEntry.change` field type to `JSONField` rather than `TextField`. This change include a migration that may take time to run depending on the number of records on your `LogEntry` table ([#407](https://github.com/jazzband/django-auditlog/pull/407))([#495](https://github.com/jazzband/django-auditlog/pull/495))
 - Python: Drop support for Python 3.7 ([#546](https://github.com/jazzband/django-auditlog/pull/546))
 
 #### Improvements
diff --git a/auditlog/apps.py b/auditlog/apps.py
index f6bf3fbd..aaae2768 100644
--- a/auditlog/apps.py
+++ b/auditlog/apps.py
@@ -11,3 +11,7 @@ def ready(self):
         from auditlog.registry import auditlog
 
         auditlog.register_from_settings()
+
+        from auditlog import models
+
+        models.changes_func = models._changes_func()
diff --git a/auditlog/conf.py b/auditlog/conf.py
index 2050677a..9046669a 100644
--- a/auditlog/conf.py
+++ b/auditlog/conf.py
@@ -32,3 +32,11 @@
     settings, "AUDITLOG_CID_HEADER", "x-correlation-id"
 )
 settings.AUDITLOG_CID_GETTER = getattr(settings, "AUDITLOG_CID_GETTER", None)
+
+# migration
+settings.AUDITLOG_TWO_STEP_MIGRATION = getattr(
+    settings, "AUDITLOG_TWO_STEP_MIGRATION", False
+)
+settings.AUDITLOG_USE_TEXT_CHANGES_IF_JSON_IS_NOT_PRESENT = getattr(
+    settings, "AUDITLOG_USE_TEXT_CHANGES_IF_JSON_IS_NOT_PRESENT", False
+)
diff --git a/auditlog/management/commands/auditlogmigratejson.py b/auditlog/management/commands/auditlogmigratejson.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..db27ef6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/auditlog/management/commands/auditlogmigratejson.py
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+from math import ceil
+
+from django.conf import settings
+from django.core.management.base import BaseCommand
+
+from auditlog.models import LogEntry
+
+
+class Command(BaseCommand):
+    help = "Migrates changes from changes_text to json changes."
+
+    def add_arguments(self, parser):
+        parser.add_argument(
+            "-d",
+            "--database",
+            default=None,
+            help="If provided, the script will use native db operations. "
+            "Otherwise, it will use LogEntry.objects.bulk_create",
+            dest="db",
+            type=str,
+            choices=["postgres", "mysql", "oracle"],
+        )
+        parser.add_argument(
+            "-b",
+            "--bactch-size",
+            default=500,
+            help="Split the migration into multiple batches. If 0, then no batching will be done. "
+            "When passing a -d/database, the batch value will be ignored.",
+            dest="batch_size",
+            type=int,
+        )
+
+    def handle(self, *args, **options):
+        database = options["db"]
+        batch_size = options["batch_size"]
+
+        if not self.check_logs():
+            return
+
+        if database:
+            result = self.migrate_using_sql(database)
+            self.stdout.write(
+                f"Updated {result} records using native database operations."
+            )
+        else:
+            result = self.migrate_using_django(batch_size)
+            self.stdout.write(f"Updated {result} records using django operations.")
+
+        self.check_logs()
+
+    def check_logs(self):
+        count = self.get_logs().count()
+        if count:
+            self.stdout.write(f"There are {count} records that needs migration.")
+            return True
+
+        self.stdout.write("All records are have been migrated.")
+        if settings.AUDITLOG_USE_TEXT_CHANGES_IF_JSON_IS_NOT_PRESENT:
+            self.stdout.write(
+                "You can now set AUDITLOG_USE_TEXT_CHANGES_IF_JSON_IS_NOT_PRESENT to False."
+            )
+
+        return False
+
+    def get_logs(self):
+        return LogEntry.objects.filter(
+            changes_text__isnull=False, changes__isnull=True
+        ).exclude(changes_text__exact="")
+
+    def migrate_using_django(self, batch_size):
+        def _apply_django_migration(_logs) -> int:
+            import json
+
+            updated = []
+            for log in _logs:
+                try:
+                    log.changes = json.loads(log.changes_text)
+                except ValueError:
+                    self.stderr.write(
+                        f"ValueError was raised while migrating the log with id {log.id}."
+                    )
+                else:
+                    updated.append(log)
+
+            LogEntry.objects.bulk_update(updated, fields=["changes"])
+            return len(updated)
+
+        logs = self.get_logs()
+
+        if not batch_size:
+            return _apply_django_migration(logs)
+
+        total_updated = 0
+        for _ in range(ceil(logs.count() / batch_size)):
+            total_updated += _apply_django_migration(self.get_logs()[:batch_size])
+        return total_updated
+
+    def migrate_using_sql(self, database):
+        from django.db import connection
+
+        def postgres():
+            with connection.cursor() as cursor:
+                cursor.execute(
+                    'UPDATE auditlog_logentry SET changes="changes_text"::jsonb'
+                )
+                return cursor.cursor.rowcount
+
+        if database == "postgres":
+            return postgres()
+        else:
+            self.stderr.write(
+                "Not yet implemented. Run this management command without passing a -d/--database argument."
+            )
+            return 0
diff --git a/auditlog/migrations/0015_alter_logentry_changes.py b/auditlog/migrations/0015_alter_logentry_changes.py
index a2a04dd4..ec511e23 100644
--- a/auditlog/migrations/0015_alter_logentry_changes.py
+++ b/auditlog/migrations/0015_alter_logentry_changes.py
@@ -1,17 +1,42 @@
 # Generated by Django 4.0 on 2022-08-04 15:41
+from typing import List
 
+from django.conf import settings
 from django.db import migrations, models
 
 
-class Migration(migrations.Migration):
-    dependencies = [
-        ("auditlog", "0014_logentry_cid"),
-    ]
+def two_step_migrations() -> List:
+    if settings.AUDITLOG_TWO_STEP_MIGRATION:
+        return [
+            migrations.RenameField(
+                model_name="logentry",
+                old_name="changes",
+                new_name="changes_text",
+            ),
+            migrations.AddField(
+                model_name="logentry",
+                name="changes",
+                field=models.JSONField(null=True, verbose_name="change message"),
+            ),
+        ]
 
-    operations = [
+    return [
+        migrations.AddField(
+            model_name="logentry",
+            name="changes_text",
+            field=models.TextField(blank=True, verbose_name="text change message"),
+        ),
         migrations.AlterField(
             model_name="logentry",
             name="changes",
             field=models.JSONField(null=True, verbose_name="change message"),
         ),
     ]
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+    dependencies = [
+        ("auditlog", "0014_logentry_cid"),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [*two_step_migrations()]
diff --git a/auditlog/models.py b/auditlog/models.py
index 880d71b6..23ba1443 100644
--- a/auditlog/models.py
+++ b/auditlog/models.py
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 import ast
+import contextlib
 import json
 from copy import deepcopy
 from datetime import timezone
-from typing import Any, Dict, List, Union
+from typing import Any, Callable, Dict, List, Union
 
 from dateutil import parser
 from dateutil.tz import gettz
@@ -66,7 +67,7 @@ def log_create(self, instance, force_log: bool = False, **kwargs):
                 kwargs.setdefault("additional_data", get_additional_data())
 
             # Delete log entries with the same pk as a newly created model.
-            # This should only be necessary when an pk is used twice.
+            # This should only be necessary when a pk is used twice.
             if kwargs.get("action", None) is LogEntry.Action.CREATE:
                 if (
                     kwargs.get("object_id", None) is not None
@@ -225,7 +226,7 @@ def _get_pk_value(self, instance):
         pk_field = instance._meta.pk.name
         pk = getattr(instance, pk_field, None)
 
-        # Check to make sure that we got an pk not a model object.
+        # Check to make sure that we got a pk not a model object.
         if isinstance(pk, models.Model):
             pk = self._get_pk_value(pk)
         return pk
@@ -358,6 +359,7 @@ class Action:
     action = models.PositiveSmallIntegerField(
         choices=Action.choices, verbose_name=_("action"), db_index=True
     )
+    changes_text = models.TextField(blank=True, verbose_name=_("change message"))
     changes = models.JSONField(null=True, verbose_name=_("change message"))
     actor = models.ForeignKey(
         to=settings.AUTH_USER_MODEL,
@@ -411,7 +413,7 @@ def changes_dict(self):
         """
         :return: The changes recorded in this log entry as a dictionary object.
         """
-        return self.changes or {}
+        return changes_func(self)
 
     @property
     def changes_str(self, colon=": ", arrow=" \u2192 ", separator="; "):
@@ -459,7 +461,7 @@ def changes_display_dict(self):
                 changes_display_dict[field_name] = values
                 continue
             values_display = []
-            # handle choices fields and Postgres ArrayField to get human readable version
+            # handle choices fields and Postgres ArrayField to get human-readable version
             choices_dict = None
             if getattr(field, "choices", []):
                 choices_dict = dict(field.choices)
@@ -546,7 +548,7 @@ class AuditlogHistoryField(GenericRelation):
     A subclass of py:class:`django.contrib.contenttypes.fields.GenericRelation` that sets some default
     variables. This makes it easier to access Auditlog's log entries, for example in templates.
 
-    By default this field will assume that your primary keys are numeric, simply because this is the most
+    By default, this field will assume that your primary keys are numeric, simply because this is the most
     common case. However, if you have a non-integer primary key, you can simply pass ``pk_indexable=False``
     to the constructor, and Auditlog will fall back to using a non-indexed text based field for this model.
 
@@ -585,3 +587,24 @@ def bulk_related_objects(self, objs, using=DEFAULT_DB_ALIAS):
         # method.  However, because we don't want to delete these related
         # objects, we simply return an empty list.
         return []
+
+
+# should I add a signal receiver for setting_changed?
+changes_func = None
+
+
+def _changes_func() -> Callable[[LogEntry], Dict]:
+    def json_then_text(instance: LogEntry) -> Dict:
+        if instance.changes:
+            return instance.changes
+        elif instance.changes_text:
+            with contextlib.suppress(ValueError):
+                return json.loads(instance.changes_text)
+        return {}
+
+    def default(instance: LogEntry) -> Dict:
+        return instance.changes or {}
+
+    if settings.AUDITLOG_USE_TEXT_CHANGES_IF_JSON_IS_NOT_PRESENT:
+        return json_then_text
+    return default
diff --git a/auditlog_tests/test_two_step_json_migration.py b/auditlog_tests/test_two_step_json_migration.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8470cbf7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/auditlog_tests/test_two_step_json_migration.py
@@ -0,0 +1,151 @@
+import json
+from io import StringIO
+from unittest.mock import patch
+
+from django.core.management import call_command
+from django.test import TestCase, override_settings
+
+from auditlog.models import LogEntry
+from auditlog_tests.models import SimpleModel
+
+
+class TwoStepMigrationTest(TestCase):
+    def test_use_text_changes_first(self):
+        text_obj = '{"field": "changes_text"}'
+        json_obj = {"field": "changes"}
+        _params = [
+            (True, None, text_obj, {"field": "changes_text"}),
+            (True, json_obj, text_obj, json_obj),
+            (True, None, "not json", {}),
+            (False, json_obj, text_obj, json_obj),
+        ]
+
+        for setting_value, changes_value, changes_text_value, expected in _params:
+            with self.subTest():
+                entry = LogEntry(changes=changes_value, changes_text=changes_text_value)
+                with self.settings(
+                    AUDITLOG_USE_TEXT_CHANGES_IF_JSON_IS_NOT_PRESENT=setting_value
+                ):
+                    from auditlog import models
+
+                    changes_dict = models._changes_func()(entry)
+                    self.assertEqual(changes_dict, expected)
+
+
+class AuditlogMigrateJsonTest(TestCase):
+    def make_logentry(self):
+        model = SimpleModel.objects.create(text="I am a simple model.")
+        log_entry: LogEntry = model.history.first()
+        log_entry.changes_text = json.dumps(log_entry.changes)
+        log_entry.changes = None
+        log_entry.save()
+        return log_entry
+
+    def call_command(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        outbuf = StringIO()
+        errbuf = StringIO()
+        call_command(
+            "auditlogmigratejson", *args, stdout=outbuf, stderr=errbuf, **kwargs
+        )
+        return outbuf.getvalue().strip(), errbuf.getvalue().strip()
+
+    def test_nothing_to_migrate(self):
+        outbuf, errbuf = self.call_command()
+
+        msg = "All records are have been migrated."
+        self.assertEqual(outbuf, msg)
+
+    @override_settings(AUDITLOG_USE_TEXT_CHANGES_IF_JSON_IS_NOT_PRESENT=True)
+    def test_nothing_to_migrate_with_conf_true(self):
+        outbuf, errbuf = self.call_command()
+
+        msg = (
+            "All records are have been migrated.\n"
+            "You can now set AUDITLOG_USE_TEXT_CHANGES_IF_JSON_IS_NOT_PRESENT to False."
+        )
+
+        self.assertEqual(outbuf, msg)
+
+    def test_using_django(self):
+        # Arrange
+        log_entry = self.make_logentry()
+
+        # Act
+        outbuf, errbuf = self.call_command("-b=0")
+        log_entry.refresh_from_db()
+
+        # Assert
+        self.assertEqual(errbuf, "")
+        self.assertIsNotNone(log_entry.changes)
+
+    def test_using_django_batched(self):
+        # Arrange
+        log_entry_1 = self.make_logentry()
+        log_entry_2 = self.make_logentry()
+
+        # Act
+        outbuf, errbuf = self.call_command("-b=1")
+        log_entry_1.refresh_from_db()
+        log_entry_2.refresh_from_db()
+
+        # Assert
+        self.assertEqual(errbuf, "")
+        self.assertIsNotNone(log_entry_1.changes)
+        self.assertIsNotNone(log_entry_2.changes)
+
+    def test_using_django_batched_call_count(self):
+        """
+        This is split into a different test because I couldn't figure out how to properly patch bulk_update.
+        For some reason, then I
+        """
+        # Arrange
+        self.make_logentry()
+        self.make_logentry()
+
+        # Act
+        with patch("auditlog.models.LogEntry.objects.bulk_update") as bulk_update:
+            outbuf, errbuf = self.call_command("-b=1")
+            call_count = bulk_update.call_count
+
+        # Assert
+        self.assertEqual(call_count, 2)
+
+    def test_native_postgres(self):
+        # Arrange
+        log_entry = self.make_logentry()
+
+        # Act
+        outbuf, errbuf = self.call_command("-d=postgres")
+        log_entry.refresh_from_db()
+
+        # Assert
+        self.assertEqual(errbuf, "")
+        self.assertIsNotNone(log_entry.changes)
+
+    def test_native_unsupported(self):
+        # Arrange
+        log_entry = self.make_logentry()
+
+        # Act
+        outbuf, errbuf = self.call_command("-d=oracle")
+        log_entry.refresh_from_db()
+
+        # Assert
+        msg = "Not yet implemented. Run this management command without passing a -d/--database argument."
+        self.assertEqual(errbuf, msg)
+        self.assertIsNone(log_entry.changes)
+
+    def test_using_django_with_error(self):
+        # Arrange
+        log_entry = self.make_logentry()
+        log_entry.changes_text = "not json"
+        log_entry.save()
+
+        # Act
+        outbuf, errbuf = self.call_command()
+        log_entry.refresh_from_db()
+
+        # Assert
+        msg = f"ValueError was raised while migrating the log with id {log_entry.id}."
+        self.assertEqual(errbuf, msg)
+        self.assertIsNone(log_entry.changes)
diff --git a/docs/source/index.rst b/docs/source/index.rst
index bf58a72d..d4f1a469 100644
--- a/docs/source/index.rst
+++ b/docs/source/index.rst
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ Contents
 
    installation
    usage
+   upgrade
    internals
 
 
diff --git a/docs/source/upgrade.rst b/docs/source/upgrade.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..19410252
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/source/upgrade.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+Upgrading to version 3
+======================
+
+Version 3.0.0 introduces breaking changes. Please review the migration guide below before upgrading.
+If you're new to django-auditlog, you can ignore this part.
+
+The major change in the version is that we're finally storing changes as json instead of json-text.
+To convert the existing records, this version has a database migration that does just that.
+However, this migration will take a long time if you have a huge amount of records,
+causing your database and application to be out of sync until the migration is complete.
+
+To avoid this, follow these steps:
+
+1. Before upgrading the package, add these two variables to ``settings.py``:
+
+    * ``AUDITLOG_TWO_STEP_MIGRATION = True``
+    * ``AUDITLOG_USE_TEXT_CHANGES_IF_JSON_IS_NOT_PRESENT = True``
+
+2. Upgrade the package. Your app will now start storing new records as JSON, but the old records will accessible via ``LogEntry.changes_text``.
+3. Use the newly added ``auditlogmigratejson`` command to migrate your records. Run ``django-admin auditlogmigratejson --help`` to get more information.
+4. Once all records are migrated, remove the variables listed above, or set their values to ``False``.