Last updated: July 14, 2026
If your site still runs on Ektron, you are maintaining software the rest of the web left behind. Here is what changes when you move to WordPress, and how to plan the migration without overwhelming a lean marketing team.
What is a CMS migration?
A CMS migration is the process of moving your website’s content, assets, forms, and functionality from one content management system to another, such as from Ektron to WordPress. A good migration is not a like-for-like copy: it is the moment to restructure content, retire what no longer serves you, and rebuild your site on a platform your team can run day to day.
Should you migrate from Ektron to WordPress?
Yes, in nearly every case, moving off Ektron is the smart call, because Ektron is a legacy platform with no active development behind it. Ektron was acquired in 2015 (by EPiServer, now Optimizely), and its current owner openly tells remaining users that Ektron’s active development has ceased. According to Optimizely (Ektron’s current owner), its active development has ceased and the broader community has moved to newer platforms. Staying put means paying enterprise license fees to maintain software that is no longer evolving, while your competitors ship faster on modern tools.
WordPress is the most widely used CMS in the world, which means a deep pool of developers, plugins, integrations, and documentation you can tap at any time. For a lean marketing team, that ecosystem is the difference between waiting on a specialized vendor and getting updates live this week.
How is the cost of WordPress different from Ektron?
WordPress dramatically lowers your software cost because the platform itself is free and open-source. Your real costs become predictable: hosting, a domain, and any premium themes or plugins you choose. Ektron, by contrast, is proprietary enterprise software that carries recurring annual licensing fees on top of hosting and implementation, a meaningful line item to keep funding a platform that is winding down.
The savings are not only the license. Because WordPress talent and pre-built solutions are everywhere, you spend less on specialized development hours and avoid the “only one vendor can touch this” tax that legacy platforms create.
Ektron vs. WordPress: a side-by-side comparison
WordPress wins on the factors that matter most to an under-resourced marketing team: cost, control, ease of use, and longevity. The table below maps the practical differences.
| Factor | Ektron (legacy) | WordPress (open-source) |
|---|---|---|
| Software licensing | Recurring annual enterprise license fees | Free, open-source core |
| Active development | Ceased; customers being migrated off | Continuous; global contributor community |
| Day-to-day editing | Traditional, developer-dependent workflow | Visual, marketer-friendly editing |
| Customization | Proprietary; changes often need the vendor | Thousands of themes, plugins, and integrations |
| Talent availability | Scarce, specialized | Largest CMS developer pool in the world |
| Long-term risk | High (end-of-life platform) | Low (modern, widely supported) |
A migration is also the natural moment to fix what never worked on the old platform, the slow page, the clunky template, the form that breaks. Treating the move as a website development project, rather than a like-for-like copy, is how you come out the other side with a faster, easier-to-run site.
Will WordPress be easier for a non-technical team to manage?
Yes, WordPress is built so marketers can update content without filing a developer ticket for every change. Editing is visual and intuitive: you add and arrange text, images, and sections directly, then publish. That matters because limited access to update the website is one of the most common frustrations for marketing managers, and it slows down every campaign.
In our work with Lando & Anastasi, a Boston intellectual property law firm, we migrated the firm off a hard-to-use proprietary CMS (ExpressionEngine) onto WordPress, moving 576+ pages and giving their marketing team an admin experience they could finally run themselves. The result was 40+ hours per month saved on content work and a 20% year-over-year gain in SEO visibility, a concrete picture of what leaving a legacy platform can free up. The Ektron-to-WordPress move follows the same pattern: get off software that fights you, and give your team back its time.
This is exactly where a partner earns their keep. The right agency configures WordPress around your team’s real workflow, then stays on to handle the technical work you would rather not own. If you are weighing that kind of relationship, Red Flags in a Web Vendor Relationship (and How to Switch Smoothly) is a useful gut-check before you commit.
How do you plan an Ektron-to-WordPress migration?
Plan the migration in clear phases so nothing important gets lost in the move. A dependable sequence looks like this:
- Inventory every page, asset, form, and integration on the current Ektron site.
- Prioritize what to keep, improve, or retire, instead of copying everything 1:1.
- Architect the WordPress build and content model around how your team actually works.
- Migrate content and assets, then rebuild forms and third-party connections.
- Test redirects, SEO, performance, and accessibility before launch.
- Launch and support with a plan for ongoing updates and monitoring.
If your marketing team is one or two people deep, sequencing is everything, you cannot do it all at once. How to Prioritize Website Tasks When You’re a Team of One (or Two) breaks down how to triage a project like this without burning out. For broad design-and-build questions beyond development alone, the Build hub covers strategy, design, and development together.
How long does an Ektron-to-WordPress migration take?
Timeline depends on scale: the number of pages, the depth of integrations, and how much you redesign versus migrate. A small marketing site can move in a few weeks, while a large site with thousands of pages and complex forms runs several months. The biggest variable is content volume, so an early inventory is the fastest way to a realistic schedule.
Should you redesign during the migration or after?
When you are already rebuilding on a new platform, folding a redesign into the migration usually costs less than doing two separate projects. The exception is scope: if a full redesign would stall an urgent move off an end-of-life platform, migrate first onto a clean WordPress foundation, then iterate on design once you are safely off Ektron.
Update your CMS to upgrade your business
Migrating from Ektron to WordPress is a practical upgrade in cost, control, ease of maintenance, and long-term stability. You move off a platform that has stopped evolving and onto one your team can actually run, supported by the largest ecosystem in the CMS world. Done as a thoughtful website development project rather than a copy-paste, the migration becomes the moment your website finally keeps pace with your business.
Coming from Drupal instead of Ektron? Our guide to migrating from Drupal to WordPress walks the same decisions from the Drupal side.
And before you request quotes for any migration, see how to scope a WordPress development project so the numbers match reality.
