The verdict in three sentences
Since 5 January 2025, Drupal 7 has had no official security fixes: every month on it increases the risk for an exposed public website. For 1,800 pages and 6,000 PDFs, migrating to Drupal 10/11 costs EUR 25,000 to 50,000 excl. VAT, the headless Next.js + CMS option EUR 30,000 to 60,000, with a 4 to 7 month timeline. Paid extended support (EUR 4,000 to 9,000 a year) is only a 12 to 18 month bridge, not a strategy.
Three options, three risk profiles
There is no simple upgrade from Drupal 7 to Drupal 10: the architecture changed (Symfony, Twig, YAML configuration), contributed modules must be replaced and the theme rewritten. Whatever the target, this is a content migration into a new site.
| Option | 2026 cost (excl. VAT) | Timeline | Security | Annual cost afterwards | For whom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stay on Drupal 7 without support | EUR 0 | Immediate | Critical | Potential incident | Nobody |
| Paid extended support (third party) | EUR 4,000 to 9,000 a year | 2 weeks | Critical fixes only | EUR 4,000 to 9,000 | 12 to 18 month bridge |
| Drupal 10/11 migration | EUR 25,000 to 50,000 | 4 to 6 months | Maintained to 2028 and beyond | EUR 6,000 to 12,000 | Editorial team used to Drupal |
| Headless Next.js + CMS (Sanity, Strapi) | EUR 30,000 to 60,000 | 5 to 7 months | Smaller attack surface | EUR 5,000 to 10,000 | Bodies wanting performance and design freedom |
| Migration to WordPress | EUR 18,000 to 35,000 | 3 to 5 months | Depends on plugins | EUR 4,000 to 8,000 | Small team, simple workflow |
The real cost driver: content, not code
On a public sector website, development rarely exceeds 40% of the budget. The rest goes to inventory, clean-up and content migration. Across 1,800 pages, 30 to 45% are commonly outdated or duplicated: migrating them costs money and dilutes SEO. An upfront content audit often brings the scope down to 1,000 or 1,200 pages.
The 6,000 PDFs raise a specific issue: the EU Web Accessibility Directive, transposed in Ireland by S.I. 358/2020, requires public bodies to publish accessible documents, and an untagged PDF does not comply. You must decide what becomes an HTML page, what gets re-tagged and what is archived with a notice.
| Work package | Typical volume | 2026 cost (excl. VAT) | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Content audit and URL inventory | 1,800 pages | EUR 3,000 to 6,000 | Removes 30 to 45% of scope |
| Automated migration script | Structured content | EUR 6,000 to 12,000 | News, pages, media, taxonomies |
| Manual rework of complex pages | 150 to 300 pages | EUR 4,000 to 9,000 | Tables, forms, special layouts |
| PDF handling (triage, conversion, tagging) | 6,000 files | EUR 5,000 to 15,000 | Depending on the share made accessible |
| 301 redirect plan | 1,800 URLs + PDFs | EUR 1,500 to 3,500 | Essential to keep SEO |
| WCAG 2.1 AA audit and fixes | Full site | EUR 4,000 to 8,000 | Accessibility statement to publish |
| Theme, components, editorial workflow | New site | EUR 10,000 to 20,000 | Multi-level approval included |
Redirect plan and service continuity
A public body receives traffic from old links: decisions quoted by the press, PDFs shared by partners, pages indexed for ten years. Every Drupal 7 URL (/node/1234, path aliases, files under /sites/default/files/) must be 301-redirected to its new address or to the closest parent page. The plan is built from the alias export, 12 months of server logs and Search Console. After launch, monitoring 404 errors for 90 days catches the gaps.
For continuity, cutover relies on a 5 to 10 day editorial freeze: editors stop publishing on Drupal 7, the final migration is rerun, then DNS is switched. Irish public procurement often requires a tender through eTenders above EUR 25,000: allow 6 to 8 weeks before kick-off.
Mini case study
Niamh, head of communications at a public body in Dublin, runs a Drupal 7 site of 1,800 pages. Her supplier offers extended support at EUR 7,000 a year. Over three years, staying costs EUR 21,000 in support, plus an incident risk estimated at EUR 15,000 to 40,000 (restoration, crisis communication, Data Protection Commission notification).
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After the audit, scope drops to 1,100 pages and 2,500 useful PDFs. The Drupal 11 migration is priced at EUR 38,000 excl. VAT, with EUR 8,000 a year of maintenance. Over three years: EUR 62,000 versus EUR 21,000 for support alone, but the body escapes the dead end, gains an accessible site and cuts publishing time by 30% thanks to the new workflow, around 220 staff hours saved per year.
FAQ
Is Drupal 7 really dangerous since 2025?
Yes for a public website: new vulnerabilities get no official fix and contributed modules are no longer maintained. Public sector sites are a classic defacement target.
Can we migrate straight from Drupal 7 to Drupal 11?
Yes, the Migrate module goes directly from Drupal 7 to Drupal 10 or 11 with no intermediate step. The theme and some modules still need rebuilding, which explains the 4 to 6 months.
Headless or Drupal 11: how do we decide?
If editors know Drupal and rely on advanced features (workflow, fine permissions, multilingual), Drupal 11 limits change management. If the priority is performance and a Lighthouse score above 90, headless is worth its extra EUR 5,000 to 10,000.
What should we do with 6,000 PDFs?
Triage first: usually fewer than 40% are still viewed. The most viewed become HTML, regulatory documents are re-tagged and the rest is archived with a non-compliance notice.
How long should 301 redirects stay in place?
At least 12 months, ideally permanently: their maintenance cost is close to zero.
Let's scope your project. Send us your page count, PDF count and the modules in use: we will price the content audit, the migration and the redirect plan, with an indicative budget and a timeline compatible with your procurement process. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
