WordPress to Next.js migration.
We consolidated four WordPress properties into one Next.js platform, launched it in 2025, and still run it today. If you are weighing the same move, here is what it actually involves — including when not to make it.
Not a proposal. A platform in production.
ReelAbilities is North America's largest disability-focused film festival. Four WordPress properties, 15 affiliate city festivals, a streaming platform and a licensing marketplace — rebuilt on Next.js and Directus, and operated by us since launch.
4 → 1
WordPress properties consolidated onto one Next.js codebase
15
city festival sites running from that single codebase
5×
faster page loads, measured at launch in 2025
97
Lighthouse accessibility on the live homepage, measured Aug 2026
When this migration is worth it — and when it is not.
We have run both stacks in production for a year. Most agencies will only tell you the first half of this.
Move off WordPress if
- You are running several WordPress installs that should be one product, and every change has to be made several times.
- You need multi-tenant or per-site permissions that WordPress Multisite fights you on.
- Performance or accessibility is a business requirement you are currently failing, not a nice-to-have.
- You have React or TypeScript developers, or you are hiring them, and the plugin ceiling is now your roadmap ceiling.
Stay on WordPress if
- You have no developers and no budget to retain any. WordPress is battle-tested and your team already knows it.
- Your site is a straightforward brochure or blog. The plugin ecosystem already solves what you would otherwise pay to rebuild.
- Your performance problem is really a hosting or image problem. That is far cheaper to fix than a rebuild.
The long version, with code and the problems nobody warns you about, is in our 12-month write-up of running both stacks.
What the migration covers.
Scoped before anything is built, fixed-quoted before you commit.
Content modelling and migration
Your posts, pages, taxonomies, media and custom fields mapped into a real content model rather than copied across as-is. On the ReelAbilities rebuild that was 400+ content items across 15 sites.
URL preservation and redirects
Every indexed URL either kept or redirected. This is the part that decides whether your search traffic survives the move, and it is the part most migrations get wrong.
A CMS your editors will actually use
Headless CMS chosen against how your team really works — we run Directus in production and will tell you where it is rough as well as where it is good.
Rendering and caching strategy
Static, ISR or server-rendered, decided per template against your publishing cadence — not applied uniformly because it was easier to build.
Accessibility, not as a cleanup pass
The ReelAbilities platform was built accessibility-first rather than retrofitted, and still measures 97 on Lighthouse accessibility a year after launch. Performance is measured at launch against the numbers we start from, so the gain is a fact rather than a feeling.
One section first, fixed-quote
The smallest sensible first step is migrating one real section end to end for a fixed quote, before anyone commits to the whole site. It surfaces the genuine surprises while they are still cheap. Ask any agency for this, not only us.
We keep running it
We have operated the platform we migrated since it launched in 2025. Migrations are judged on the second year, not on launch week.
What it costs.
The bands we quote, derived from engineering hours rather than plucked from the air. Page count barely moves the number; plugin count moves it enormously.
Brochure site
Under 50 pages, no logins
$8,000–16,000
3–6 weeks
Content site
200–2,000 posts, custom fields
$20,000–45,000
8–16 weeks
WooCommerce or membership
Store, logins, subscriptions
$45,000–90,000
4–8 months
Multisite or multilingual
WPML / Polylang estates
$90,000+
6–12 months
The hours behind each band, and the things that reliably break, are in our full cost breakdown. Your own number is fixed-quoted after scoping.
Frequently Asked Questions
Tell us about your WordPress site.
How many sites, roughly how much content, and what is actually going wrong. We will tell you whether migrating is worth it — including when it is not.