Umbraco 13 End of Life

If your website runs on Umbraco 13, there’s an upcoming date you can't ignore: December 2026. That’s when Umbraco 13 hits the “end of life” (EOL) stage, and if you’re a CTO, digital lead or marketing manager, this is one deadline you can’t extend.

What’s actually happening?

Umbraco 13 is a Long-Term Support (LTS) release, which means it’s been a safe and stable choice for a lot of organisations. After December 2026 Umbraco will stop releasing security patches and updates for version 13. This means there will be no more bug fixes, no more help from HQ and no guarantees that your site will keep playing nicely with the rest of your tech stack.

Why should you care?

It is always tempting to ignore EOL warnings, especially when our lives are busier than ever. You may have also run old software before, and nothing bad happened. But the world has changed. Here’s why running Umbraco 13 past its EOL is a much bigger deal than just being “a bit behind”:

• Security risks: No more patches means every new vulnerability is a risk you can’t fix. Hackers know this, and so do auditors.
• Compliance headaches: ISO 27001, GDPR, cyber-insurance and others. They all expect you to run supported and patched software. EOL means you’re on the wrong side of the rules.
• Operational pain: Integrations break, packages stop working and every small change runs the risk of becoming an expensive problem.
• Marketing slowdown: Want to launch a new campaign, try a new tool or redesign your site? If you are running on old software this becomes much more difficult and time consuming.

What are your options?

There are a few options available:

1. Stick with version 13: Basically take the risk and hope everything will be OK. Not the best option!
2. Upgrade or move to the next Umbraco LTS (e.g. v17): This is the smoothest path for most organisation as it retains the familiarity and features of Umbraco. The choice as to whether to upgrade or rebuild depends on your individual website. If you are using features that are not native to Umbraco (e.g. bespoke modules) then a move may make more sense rather than having to rebuild large features. If you are using native Umbraco tools, then an upgrade will make more sense, meaning you keep your content, your team stays familiar with the platform, and you get another few years of support.
3. Replatform: If you’re ready for a bigger change (like going headless or composable), EOL is a natural time to make the leap. This is a larger project, and takes longer to plan and implement.

Either way, don’t wait until the last minute. Even a straightforward upgrade can take months once you factor in planning, testing and content migration. And as the EOL date gets closer, agencies and internal teams will get booked up fast.

What should you do now?

• Take stock: List your Umbraco 13 sites, integrations and key dependencies.
• Get a health check: Find out what’s involved in upgrading or migrating and get a code/platform audit.
• Talk to your stakeholders: Make sure everyone understands the risks of doing nothing.
• Book your delivery team: Talk to an Umbraco partner (hopefully us) about the next steps for the project.

Need help?

As an Umbraco Gold Partner, Quba has helped loads of organisations upgrade smoothly and avoid last-minute panics. We can run a quick health check, do a code audit, map out your options and handle the upgrade or replatform from start to finish, all with ISO 27001-certified security and a focus on making your next move as painless as possible.

Don’t let December 2026 sneak up on you. Start planning now and turn EOL into an opportunity to level up your digital platform.