Key facts
- Honest position: dijitul doesn't host Umbraco on its standard Plesk platform
- Umbraco 7 and 8 run on .NET Framework, which needs Windows and IIS
- Umbraco 9 and later run on modern .NET; a quoted VPS may be possible for those
- Rebuilds usually go to WordPress or Craft CMS, chosen by how editors work
- Content exported from Umbraco and imported, not retyped, where practical
- 301 redirects keep old URLs and search rankings
- After the rebuild: dijitul Complete Hosting at £1 a day + VAT
Why people look for an Umbraco alternative
Umbraco is a capable CMS, popular with UK public sector, education and charity sites. The reasons people leave are usually practical rather than about the software itself:
- The agency that built the site has moved on and finding another Umbraco developer is hard or expensive.
- An Umbraco 7 or 8 site needs a major rebuild to move to a supported version anyway, because the jump to modern .NET is not a simple upgrade.
- Windows hosting with SQL Server costs more than they want to pay for a brochure site.
- Editors want something more familiar.
If you're facing a rebuild either way, it's worth asking whether it should be on Umbraco at all.
Our honest position on hosting Umbraco
dijitul hosting is built on Linux Plesk servers running PHP. Umbraco 7 and 8 need Windows, IIS and .NET Framework, which we don't offer. Umbraco 9 and later run on modern .NET, which can technically run on Linux, but that's specialist hosting on a dedicated VPS rather than our standard plan, and it's quoted.
For most small and medium sites, the better value is to rebuild on an open PHP CMS and host it on dijitul Complete Hosting.
Choosing what to move to
- WordPress suits sites where editors want a familiar interface and there's a large pool of developers.
- Craft CMS is the closest feel to Umbraco: structured content types, clean editing and developer-controlled templates. Agencies used to Umbraco's document types often find Craft's sections and fields familiar.
- Drupal suits large, complex sites with many content types, user roles and multilingual needs.
We'll recommend one based on how your team works, not on what's easiest for us.
How an Umbraco migration works
- Content audit: we list document types, pages, media and forms.
- Export: content is pulled from Umbraco's database or a content export, and media from the media folder.
- Model and import: the new CMS gets matching content types, and content is imported by script where practical.
- Design: we rebuild the templates to match your current design, or refresh it if you'd like.
- Redirects: every old URL is mapped to its new address with a 301 redirect.
- Launch: the site goes live behind Cloudflare with SSL and daily backups.
The rebuild is quoted after the audit. See also Classic ASP alternative if you have older Windows sites too.
Your current site keeps running until launch day
Nothing changes for your visitors while the new site is built. Your Umbraco site stays on its current Windows host, and we build and test the replacement on a private address. Editors can keep publishing; we take a final content sync just before launch so nothing written in the meantime is lost. On launch day we move DNS to Cloudflare and point the domain at the new site. Only once you're happy do you cancel the old hosting.
What you get afterwards
Once live, the new site runs on dijitul Complete Hosting at £1 a day + VAT: managed Plesk hosting, Cloudflare DNS, daily backups, free SSL and a domain renewal each year. You get your own Plesk login and the site is built on open source software, so you're never tied to one developer or one host again. If you'd like ongoing changes, our agency team can quote for them, but it's your choice.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good alternative to Umbraco?
For most UK organisations, WordPress or Craft CMS. Craft CMS feels closest to Umbraco, with structured content types and developer-controlled templates. WordPress has the biggest pool of developers. Drupal suits large, complex sites. dijitul rebuilds Umbraco sites on these platforms on a quoted basis.
Can Umbraco run on Linux hosting?
Umbraco 7 and 8 can't, because they need .NET Framework on Windows. Umbraco 9 and later run on modern .NET, which can run on Linux, but they need specialist .NET hosting, not standard PHP hosting. dijitul's Plesk platform is Linux and PHP, so for Umbraco we quote a rebuild or a VPS.
How do I upgrade from Umbraco 8?
Moving from Umbraco 8 to a current version is effectively a rebuild, because later versions run on modern .NET rather than .NET Framework. Content can be migrated, but templates and custom code must be redone. Since it's a rebuild anyway, many organisations compare it with moving to a PHP CMS.
Will I lose my content if I move off Umbraco?
No. Pages, media and structured content can be exported from Umbraco and imported into the new CMS, usually by script rather than retyping. dijitul audits the content first and maps every old URL to its new page with a 301 redirect.
How much does it cost to move from Umbraco to WordPress?
It depends on the number of content types, pages, forms and integrations. A small brochure site is a modest project; a large site with members or bespoke features takes longer. dijitul gives a fixed quote after a content audit, and hosting afterwards is £1 a day + VAT.
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