Upgrading to Umbraco version 17

More 

Published by:
Neil
Owner

read more

If you've landed here because someone mentioned Umbraco 13 is being retired, here's the short version: it's real, it's happening this December, and you should know what that means for your attraction website if you're on Umbraco.

What "end of life" actually means

Umbraco 13 was released as an LTS version, short for Long Term Support. That's Umbraco's way of marking a release as stable and safe to build on for years, rather than something you're expected to move off within months. Umbraco 13's LTS window ends on 14 December 2026.

After that date, no more security patches, no more bug fixes, nothing.

The software keeps running exactly as it did the day before.

It just stops being looked after.

Is there an immediate risk?

Not really, at least not on day one. Nothing about your site changes on 15 December. It's more like a ride's safety certificate expiring: the ride doesn't stop running the moment the paperwork lapses, but nobody's checking for new faults anymore, and if a fault turns up a few months later, there's no one coming to fix it.

That's the real risk with Umbraco 13, not a sudden failure, but a slowly growing list of unpatched issues that nobody's watching for.

With AI and increasing numbers of security issues and attacks, that's not a chance worth taking with your Umbraco attraction website.

Why Umbraco 17, and not something smaller

Umbraco has spent the last few releases rebuilding the platform from the ground up.  The backend codebase is updated, the admin area interface has been rebuilt, and Umbraco 17 is where that all comes together.

It's a completely rebuilt CMS underneath, not a coat of paint on the old one, which is exactly why this particular upgrade takes real work rather than a quick patch.

You might not notice the difference (and in many ways, that's the whole idea) but it's important to know what's happening and how important it is to keep your site upgraded and secure.

What are your options?

  • Do nothing for now. Your site keeps working, but the clock's running and the risk grows the longer you leave it, along with the size of the eventual job.
  • Pay to upgrade your current site. A well-understood, fixed-price piece of work. We've broken down what that typically costs in our Umbraco V17 upgrade cost guide.
  • Move to a platform where this is handled for you. If you'd rather never have this conversation again, perhaps LOOP would be a better approach (upgrades are all just built into the packages).

What to do before 14 December

Whichever route you take, don't leave it to the last few weeks. Upgrade projects like this get booked up as the deadline nears, and a rushed migration is a worse outcome than a planned one.

Start by confirming which Umbraco version you're actually on then get a conversation booked in.

Not sure where to start - get in touch and we can help.