Drupal migration in 2026 means moving supported sites to Drupal 11 before Drupal 10 ends on December 9, 2026. Rebuilding leftover Drupal 7 sites on Drupal 11 is the other urgent path. Drupal is an open-source content management system for complex, structured websites. This update covers deadlines, technical standards, migration tools, and current adoption.
Table of Contents
- Why December 2026 forces action
- What Drupal 11 requires
- How do you leave Drupal 7?
- What changes in Drupal 12?
- Should you choose Drupal CMS or plain Drupal core?
Why December 2026 forces action
Drupal.org states in the core release schedule that Drupal 10 reaches end of life on December 9, 2026. Drupal 12.0.0 and 11.5.0 are scheduled for the week of December 7, 2026.
That timing leaves Drupal 10 owners little room for delay. Sites that stay on Drupal 10 after December lose community security coverage. Move to Drupal 11 now to stay supported.
What Drupal 11 requires
Pantheon explains in its Drupal 11 upgrade guide that Drupal 11 needs PHP 8.3 or later and is built on Symfony 7. Composer handles core and dependency updates, while Drush runs database updates.
Check hosting, custom modules, and themes against those standards first. Upgrade Status can flag incompatible code before you change environments. Budget time for PHP upgrades and dependency cleanup.
How do you leave Drupal 7?
Drupal.org and the Bulcode 2026 guide report that Drupal 7 reached end of life on January 5, 2025. Remaining Drupal 7 sites get no community security updates and cannot upgrade in place.
The standard Drupal 7-to-11 path rebuilds on Drupal 11, then migrates content with core Migrate API plus contributed Migrate Plus, Migrate Tools, and Migrate Upgrade. Practical steps include:.
- Audit content types, users, files, taxonomies, and redirects.
- Rebuild structure and theme on Drupal 11.
- Map fields, run test migrations, then migrate and verify.
What changes in Drupal 12?
Drupal.org notes in the 12.0.0-beta1 release notes that Drupal 12 removes Migrate Drupal and Migrate Drupal UI for Drupal 6 and 7 imports. No contributed replacement is provided.
The general Migrate API module remains in core. That makes 2026 the safer window for direct Drupal 7 imports. Sites that wait may need custom migration work.
Should you choose Drupal CMS or plain Drupal core?
The Drupal Association launched Drupal CMS 2.0 on January 28, 2026, on Drupal core 11.3. It adds Drupal Canvas visual building, AI-powered tools, and site templates for faster branded launches. W3Techs reported in October 2026 that Drupal powers 0.6% of all websites and 0.9% of sites with a known CMS.
Use concentrates in large organizations, government, and universities. Adoption trackers counted 168,857 reporting sites on Drupal 11 in the week of August 23, 2026, or 36.0% of version-reporting sites, with over 215,000 still on Drupal 10. Choose Drupal CMS for faster editorial setup, and plain core for highly custom builds.
