Migrate from Drupal to Headless

Replace Drupal's monolithic architecture with a headless CMS and modern frontend for faster pages, better DX, and lower hosting costs.

Migration: Drupal to Headless

From Drupal to Headless CMS + React

Why Migrate

  • Performance: Static generation and CDN delivery replace Drupal's server-rendered pages, delivering sub-second load times globally.
  • Developer Experience: Modern JavaScript frameworks replace Drupal's PHP templating, attracting better talent and enabling faster development.
  • Lower Hosting Costs: JAMstack hosting on Vercel or Netlify costs a fraction of managed Drupal hosting with better performance.

Migration Roadmap

  1. Content Audit (1–2 weeks): Catalog all Drupal content types, views, taxonomies, and custom modules. Select a headless CMS and design the content model.
    • Content type inventory
    • CMS selection recommendation
    • Content model design
  2. Build & Migrate (4–8 weeks): Build the frontend in Next.js, configure the headless CMS, and migrate all content with metadata and media assets.
    • Next.js frontend application
    • CMS configuration with content types
    • Migrated content with SEO metadata
  3. Testing & Cutover (1–2 weeks): Validate content parity, implement redirects, test forms and integrations, and execute zero-downtime DNS cutover.
    • Content parity validation report
    • Redirect mapping (301s)
    • Production deployment

Risks & Mitigation

  • Complex Drupal Views and custom modules are hard to replicate: We analyze each View and module to determine if the logic moves to the CMS, the frontend, or a serverless function — ensuring feature parity.
  • Content editors lose familiar Drupal admin interface: We select a headless CMS with an intuitive editorial experience and provide training sessions to ensure a smooth transition for content teams.

Estimated Scope

Hours: 160–320 | Cost: $320–$640 | Timeline: 6–12 weeks

Frequently Asked Questions

Which headless CMS should we use?
We recommend Contentful for enterprise needs, Sanity for developer flexibility, or Strapi for open-source self-hosting — depending on your team size, budget, and content complexity.
Will we lose Drupal's content editing flexibility?
No. Modern headless CMSs offer structured content modeling, preview, scheduling, and workflows that match or exceed Drupal's editorial capabilities.
Can we keep some Drupal functionality during migration?
Yes. We can use Drupal as a headless CMS temporarily via its JSON:API, allowing gradual frontend migration without disrupting content workflows.