The verdict in three sentences
Migrating a 180-page WordPress site to headless Next.js costs 9,000 to 28,000 EUR with a nearshore team in 2026, while Berlin agencies billing 110 to 150 EUR per hour typically quote 20,000 to 55,000 EUR. The project takes 6 to 12 weeks and targets an LCP below 2 seconds, down from 4.2 s, with 600 to 1,500 EUR per year less spent on plugins. The main risk is not technical: it is the 301 redirect map, which determines whether you keep your organic traffic.
Why leave WordPress, and when to stay
WordPress is still a good tool for a simple editorial site. It becomes a bottleneck when the site stacks 25 to 40 plugins, a heavy page builder, technical product sheets and international traffic. Typical symptoms for a Mittelstand company: mobile LCP above 4 seconds, updates that break pages, security holes in abandoned extensions and a growing annual licence bill.
Next.js, paired with a headless CMS (Sanity, Strapi or even WordPress kept as a back office), generates static or server-rendered pages served from a CDN. Marketing teams keep an editing interface and pages load in under 2 seconds. In Germany, GDPR and the TTDSG also push for fewer third-party scripts, which a rebuild makes easier.
Stay on WordPress if the site has fewer than 30 pages, organic traffic is low and nobody complains about performance.
| Migration scenario | Scope | Nearshore 2026 (EUR) | Berlin agency 2026 (EUR) | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WordPress kept headless | Next.js front end, WordPress back office via API | 9,000 to 14,000 | 20,000 to 30,000 | 6 to 8 weeks |
| Move to Sanity | Automated migration of 180 pages, new back office | 14,000 to 20,000 | 30,000 to 42,000 | 8 to 10 weeks |
| Full migration and UX redesign | New design, technical catalogue, DE/EN | 20,000 to 28,000 | 42,000 to 55,000 | 10 to 12 weeks |
| Product catalogue add-on | Data sheets, PDFs, filters | 2,500 to 5,000 | 5,500 to 10,000 | +1 to 2 weeks |
| Extra language add-on | FR or PL version with hreflang | 2,000 to 4,500 | 4,500 to 9,000 | +1 week |
| 301 redirect plan | Mapping, testing, Search Console follow-up | 1,200 to 2,500 | 2,500 to 5,000 | included in schedule |
SEO gains and savings: the numbers to expect
Core Web Vitals are a ranking signal and, above all, a conversion factor: every second saved on mobile reduces bounce rate. Here is a 2026 order of magnitude for a 180-page industrial site.
| Metric | Current WordPress | Next.js after migration | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile LCP | 4.2 s | 1.4 to 1.9 s | AVIF images, static rendering, CDN |
| INP | 320 ms | 80 to 150 ms | Less third-party JavaScript |
| Lighthouse mobile score | 45 to 60 | 90 to 98 | Measured on the 20 key pages |
| Plugins and licences | 900 to 1,800 EUR/year | 150 to 400 EUR/year | Saving of 600 to 1,500 EUR/year |
| Hosting | 25 to 60 EUR/month | 0 to 40 EUR/month | Vercel or EU hosting in Frankfurt |
| Organic traffic at 6 months | Baseline | +10 to +30% | If the 301s are clean |
The redirect plan is built before development: export every indexed URL and every URL with backlinks, map them one to one, run automated tests before the switch, then monitor 404 errors in Search Console for 90 days.
Berlin agency or nearshore team
At 110 to 150 EUR per hour, a 320-hour migration costs 35,000 to 48,000 EUR in Berlin. A French and English-speaking nearshore team like Kolonell, based in Dakar, works at 40 to 55 EUR per hour, one to two hours behind CET, so 13,000 to 18,000 EUR for the same hours. In every case, check references of migrations with a documented 301 plan and post-launch monitoring for at least three months.
Mini case study
Need a professional website?
Kolonell builds websites that attract clients, optimized for the Sénégalese market. Free quote in 2 minutes.
Jonas, marketing manager of a 120-employee Berlin company making industrial sensors, runs a 180-page site with 34 plugins and a 4.2 s mobile LCP. The site generates 60 quote requests per month.
He chooses a nearshore move to Sanity at 18,500 EUR with the catalogue add-on, versus a 39,000 EUR local quote. Licences drop from 1,400 to 300 EUR per year, so 1,100 EUR saved every year. With a 1.7 s LCP, the visit-to-quote conversion rate rises from 1.2% to 1.5%, or 15 extra requests per month. If 5% of them become orders with an average margin of 12,000 EUR, the gain reaches about 9,000 EUR of margin per month. The migration pays for itself in just over two months (2026 order of magnitude).
FAQ
How much does a WordPress to Next.js migration cost in 2026?
From 9,000 EUR nearshore for WordPress kept headless to 28,000 EUR for a full migration with redesign and multilingual support. For 180 pages, the median range is 14,000 to 20,000 EUR nearshore.
Will we lose rankings during the migration?
A temporary dip of 5 to 10% is possible for 2 to 4 weeks. With a complete 301 plan and identical metadata, traffic recovers and then grows 10 to 30% within 6 months.
Can the marketing team still edit pages?
Yes, through the headless CMS: Sanity or WordPress as a back office provides an editing interface. A 2 to 3 hour training session is usually enough.
How long does it take to migrate 180 pages?
Allow 6 to 12 weeks depending on the scenario. Content migration is 80 to 90% automated, the rest covers complex pages built with a visual page builder.
Do we have to host on Vercel?
No: Next.js also runs on a server in Germany or elsewhere in the EU. Hosting costs 0 to 40 EUR per month for a site of this size.
Let's scope your project. Send us your site URL, page count and Search Console metrics, and we will price your migration between 9,000 and 28,000 EUR with a 301 plan and a 6 to 12 week schedule. 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.
