Why This Matters Now

Drupal 7 reached end of life in January 2025, meaning:

• No more official security updates or patches from Drupal.
• Modules and integrations will become unsupported, increasing maintenance overhead.
• Hosting providers and agencies will phase out support, raising costs and risks.
• Compliance and data protection vulnerabilities may arise if unpatched.

Staying on Drupal 7 after end of life doesn’t mean your site stops working, but it does mean you’ll be running on borrowed time.

Your Main Options

Option 1: Upgrade to Drupal 10

Best for: Organisations with heavy Drupal customisation and internal Drupal expertise.
Pros: Continuity of ecosystem; retains existing data models; improved security and performance.
Cons: Full rebuild required; high migration complexity; limited flexibility for non-technical teams.

Option 2: Move to a Modern Headless CMS (e.g. Contentful, Builder.io, ContentStack)

Best for: Businesses wanting faster marketing control and future-proof architecture.
Pros: Enables composable architecture, easier integrations, faster content publishing, and better scalability.
Cons: Requires some replatforming effort and mindset shift towards API-first workflows.

Option 3: Rebuild on a Simpler, Marketing-Friendly Platform

Best for: Smaller sites or teams prioritising ease of use over enterprise scale.
Pros: Quicker to launch, lower total cost of ownership, built-in tools for marketing and analytics.
Cons: Less flexibility for complex digital experiences.

The Risks of Standing Still

• Security exposure: Outdated PHP versions and unpatched vulnerabilities create open attack surfaces.
• Lost agility: Marketing teams rely on developers for every update.
• Integration issues: Modern tools (CRM, analytics, personalisation) may stop working smoothly.
• Rising maintenance costs: Legacy specialists become harder (and more expensive) to find.
• SEO and performance decline: Older sites often fail Core Web Vitals and accessibility standards.

The Path Forward

Whether you upgrade or replatform, use this moment as a chance to modernise your stack not just replace it.

A well-planned migration can:

• Improve page performance and SEO.
• Reduce maintenance overhead.
• Give marketing teams autonomy.
• Enable faster iteration and innovation.

How RAD Helps

RAD are experts in website replatforming. We help organisations replatform legacy CMSs like Drupal 7 to modern, composable architectures.

We focus on:

• Migrating without content disruption.
• Building headless setups that scale.
• Empowering marketing and product teams to manage content independently.

Want a quick assessment of your Drupal 7 setup and your best next-step options?

We can provide a 30-minute migration review no commitment required.