The Future of Kentico 13 & the move to Xperience by Kentico
For digital leaders, forced platform migrations often feel like a frustrating compliance exercise. But with Kentico 13 support officially ending on 31st December 2026, we need to reframe this deadline as a clear opportunity to modernise.
If you are running Kentico 13 (K13), then you are no doubt aware that the clock is officially ticking and support ends on 31st December 2026.
For digital marketing teams, this date is often met with a mix of frustration and urgency, but handled with the right perspective, it’s more than a compliance tick-box, it’s a clean moment to modernise your digital experience and unlock new growth.
So, what’s the story, and how do you navigate this change with confidence?
Your website won’t switch off after 2026…
Before the alarm bells ring too soon, let’s be clear about what happens on January 1st, 2027, your site isn’t going to suddenly stop working.
You can continue hosting it and renew your existing licensing.
However, you won’t receive regular fixes, security patches, or feature updates from Kentico.
This creates a slow creep of risk in the form of security exposure, harder vendor support conversations, and a growing "we can’t touch that" backlog as the technology ages.
In practice, organisations can keep running K13 if needed, but most will find that moving to Xperience by Kentico (XbyK) avoids these unnecessary risks as well as unlocking new opportunities with the new capabilities that XbyK provides.
The "Middle Path" - Security now, Roadmap tomorrow
We know that many organisations don't want to rush into a new platform build under pressure. That’s why we offer a practical bridge.
At Brand Potential, we can provide secure, managed hosting provision specifically for legacy Kentico environments. By moving your KX13 site into our secure, monitored environment now, we can help protect it past the deadline and keeping it stable and safe as best we can while we simultaneously work with you to create a strategic migration roadmap.
We see this as being about removing the "deadline panic" so you can focus on making the right platform decisions, not just the fastest ones.
If you want to discuss securing your current site while planning your next move, get in touch with our Digital team.
Why is this change happening?
This isn’t just a Kentico decision. It’s driven by a wider technology shift as Microsoft retires older technology that legacy content management systems are built on.
Kentico 13 is built on Microsoft .NET 6 which reached end of support in November 2024. Microsoft’s faster release cycle means older frameworks also fall out of security coverage more quickly and Kentico can’t provide long-term support on an ongoing basis for software built on unsupported technology.
However, with this change Kentico saw an opportunity to stay future-proof, and develop a new platform from the ground up to align with modern standards - Xperience by Kentico (XbyK).
For teams searching for their next long-term platform, XbyK offers three critical shifts:
- Evergreen Updates: Continuous monthly updates for features and security. No more disruptive "big bang" upgrade projects every few years.
- Hybrid-Headless Architecture: Manage content centrally and deliver it anywhere; your site, your app, or third-party screens; without losing the visual editing tools marketing teams love.
- Modern SaaS Option: A cloud-first route that handles infrastructure for you, allowing your team to focus on marketing outcomes rather than server maintenance.
In short, it’s all good news for the long term.
Migration vs Upgrade It doesn’t actually matter…
Teams often lose weeks arguing over terminology ... “Is this a migration? An upgrade? A rebuild?” and the truth is, it doesn’t matter.
At Brand Potential, we reframe the conversation, so you don't focus on the technical label. Instead, focus on the outcomes you need. Whether you want to replicate your current site to stay supported or use this as a moment to simplify and modernise, the path should be driven by your marketing ambition, not a dictionary definition.
Don’t move house and take the clutter
There is a temptation to "lift and shift" and move every template, piece of content, and historic work around exactly as it is.
It feels like the low-risk route, but it’s often anything but. Moving everything means moving your technical debt: slow pages, redundant content, and clunky workflows.
If you’re moving house anyway, leave the clutter behind. Refuse to carry debt. Use the move as an opportunity to simplify content types, retire dusty features, and keep only what actually drives value for your users.
A new era: Toolkits and AI-accelerated delivery
The "migrate then iterate" angle of the past is evolving. People now rightly expect us to use modern tools to make the transition easier.
By leveraging migration toolkits and AI tools like KentiCoPilot, we can reduce the manual grind of content modelling and QA. This doesn't just speed up the process; it frees up our human specialists to focus on the things that matter, the strategy, CX, and brand impact.
Focus on the opportunity
Your website is your most strategic growth engine. It’s no longer just a digital brochure, it’s a lead-gen platform and a brand experience.
Our approach helps you move from "Why do we have to do this?" to "What can we unlock?". By transitioning to XbyK, you gain a future-ready content management and marketing tech stack that can integrate with modern AI and marketing tools.
Partnering for Possibility
Migration is as much about change management as it is technology. As a marketing collective, we fuse deep craft with diverse perspectives and machine intelligence to ensure your transition is as seamless as possible.
Whether you need to secure your current KX13 site in our hosting environment today, or you're ready to start mapping your move to Xperience by Kentico, we can help.
Let’s unlock the potential of your next digital chapter.