The verdict in three sentences
A Toronto organisation still running Drupal 7, without official support since January 2025, pays every year in growing security risk or extended support at EUR 2,000 to 6,000. For 300 to 800 pages, a migration to Next.js and a headless CMS costs EUR 6,000 to 15,000 excluding tax on the 2026 market and takes 8 to 14 weeks, with content migration alone at EUR 3 to 8 per page. The project succeeds or fails on four checkpoints: 301 redirects, SEO preservation, editor accounts and English and French bilingualism.
Stay on Drupal 7 or migrate: the three-year math
Staying on Drupal 7 is not free. Contributed modules no longer get fixes, PHP 7 is no longer maintained by most hosts and every security audit flags the version as critical.
| 3-year scenario | Upfront cost | Annual cost | 3-year total | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stay on Drupal 7 without support | EUR 0 | EUR 1,500 to 3,000 in ad hoc fixes | EUR 4,500 to 9,000 | Unpatched flaw, site down |
| Drupal 7 with paid extended support | EUR 0 | EUR 2,000 to 6,000 | EUR 6,000 to 18,000 | Problem postponed, not solved |
| Migrate to Drupal 10 or 11 | EUR 8,000 to 20,000 | EUR 1,500 to 3,000 | EUR 12,500 to 29,000 | Major upgrades every 2 years |
| Next.js and headless CMS migration, market | EUR 6,000 to 15,000 | EUR 1,200 to 2,500 | EUR 9,600 to 22,500 | Content migration quality |
| Next.js migration with Kolonell | EUR 3,810 to 10,670 | EUR 2,160 Premium maintenance | EUR 10,290 to 17,150 | Same, framed by the redirect plan |
The Kolonell row follows the 2026 custom application grid: 2,500,000 to 4,000,000 FCFA for a simple migration (300 pages, one main language), 4,000,000 to 7,000,000 FCFA for 500 to 800 bilingual pages with an editorial workflow. Premium maintenance costs 120,000 FCFA per month, about EUR 180, so EUR 2,160 a year. Other rows are 2026 market orders of magnitude. Amounts are in EUR; multiply by roughly 1.5 for CAD.
Steps and risks to control
An institutional site migration follows five steps: content and URL inventory, modelling in the headless CMS, automated then manual migration, editor and SEO acceptance, switchover with monitoring. The table below lists risks specific to a bilingual Toronto site.
| Risk | Common cause | Preventive measure | Cost if ignored |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEO traffic loss | URLs changed without redirects | Exhaustive 301 redirect plan, tested before switchover | 30 to 60 % of organic traffic for 3 to 6 months |
| Broken content | Custom Drupal fields, tables, linked PDFs | Migration script + manual check of the 50 most viewed pages | EUR 3 to 8 per page fixed by hand |
| Editor accounts | Drupal roles not mapped | Role matrix and approval workflow in the CMS | Publishing blocked at launch |
| English and French bilingualism | Translations linked by node, not by page | Bilingual content model and en and fr hreflang tags | French pages deindexed |
| Files and media | Hard-coded /sites/default/files paths | Storage migration and link rewriting | Dead links in published documents |
| Accessibility | Templates rebuilt without checks | WCAG and AODA check of templates before migration | Non-compliance for a public body |
The 8 to 14 week timeline breaks down as: 2 weeks of inventory and modelling, 3 to 6 weeks of development and migration, 2 to 4 weeks of acceptance, 1 week of switchover and monitoring.
Mini case study
Sarah, communications manager at a 60-person organisation in Toronto, runs 520 pages on Drupal 7, 180 of them in French. Her host offers extended support at EUR 4,200 a year.
Over three years, staying costs EUR 12,600 without solving obsolescence. A Next.js migration at EUR 8,500, plus EUR 2,160 in annual maintenance, costs EUR 14,980 over the same period. Content migration is 520 pages × EUR 5, so EUR 2,600 included in the package. The EUR 2,380 gap over three years buys a maintained, fast, properly bilingual site, with no end-of-support deadline to manage. This calculation is an estimate based on 2026 ranges.
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FAQ
How much does a Drupal 7 to Next.js migration cost?
The 2026 market sits between EUR 6,000 and 15,000 for 300 to 800 pages. With Kolonell, the budget runs from EUR 3,810 to 10,670 depending on volume, languages and editorial workflow.
How long does the migration take?
Allow 8 to 14 weeks, acceptance included. A site under 300 pages in one language can migrate in 6 to 8 weeks.
Will we lose our rankings?
The risk is real, with 30 to 60 % of traffic lost if redirects are forgotten. A 301 redirect plan tested page by page before switchover limits the drop to a few percent for 2 to 4 weeks.
Will our editors have to change habits?
Yes, the interface changes, but a headless CMS is usually simpler than Drupal 7. Plan half a day of training per group of 5 editors and a publishing guide.
What happens to the French pages?
They are migrated with their translation link and en and fr hreflang tags. Each French page keeps its URL or gets a dedicated 301 redirect.
Let's scope your project. Send us the number of pages, languages and editors on your Drupal 7 site: we will price the Next.js migration between EUR 3,810 and 10,670, delivered in 8 to 14 weeks. Detailed quote within 48 h via our quote form. 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.
