Upgrade if the site still fits how your business works; rebuild only if it does not. The test is not how old the code is, it is whether the content structure, design and functionality still serve the people using it. A structurally sound Umbraco 13 site should almost always be upgraded, and our fixed price for that is £8,999 plus VAT. A rebuild is the right call when the site has been outgrown: the content model fights your editors, the design no longer matches the business, or years of patches have left code nobody can safely change. Be wary of agencies that always recommend rebuilding; it is the answer that pays them most. We will tell you which one you actually need, even when that is the cheaper answer.
This is the most expensive question on this page to get wrong in either direction. Rebuild a site that only needed upgrading and you have spent several times more than necessary. Upgrade a site that has been fundamentally outgrown and you have polished something you will replace in eighteen months anyway.
Upgrade when the bones are good: the content structure still matches how your team publishes, the design still represents the business, and the custom functionality still does what the business needs. Age alone is not a reason to rebuild. An Umbraco site with a sound structure can move through major versions for many years; we have taken sites through every version since v4 doing exactly that. For Umbraco 13 sites the upgrade to 17 is a fixed £8,999 plus VAT with a 21 day timeline, which is a fraction of any rebuild quote.
Rebuild when the site fights the business. The signs are consistent: editors need developer help for routine changes because the content model never matched how they work, the design is visibly a previous era of the company, accumulated quick fixes have made every change risky, or the platform decisions taken years ago now block things the business needs. In these cases upgrading preserves the problems at a newer version number.
Notice the incentive problem: a rebuild might be a five-figure project, an upgrade is not, and the person you are asking often sells both. Ask whoever you consult to name the specific things a rebuild would fix that an upgrade would not, with examples from your own site. Vague answers about modern foundations are a red flag. If it helps, our site audit looks at the actual state of your code, content model and performance and gives you the evidence to decide, whichever way it points. Most sites we audit need less work than their owners feared.
Tell us what you're working on and we'll come back within one working day.
An Umbraco Silver Partner agency in Llandudno, North Wales and the Isle of Man, building and looking after Umbraco and .NET websites for businesses and agencies across the UK and beyond. Simon Antony is a brand of Simplepage Ltd.
Maesgwyn, 3 Claremont rd,
Llandudno, North Wales, LL30 2UF