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WordPress to Drupal migration, planned step by step

Short answer: DoodleWeb moves WordPress sites to Drupal in 12–20 weeks with a six-phase plan, a full 301 redirect map and no downtime. Typical cost: USD 35,000–200,000+.

Free migration scoping

Moving off WordPress?

Tell us about your WordPress site. We'll reply with a timeline, risks and a fixed quote within two business days.

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Why teams move

Why migrate from WordPress to Drupal?

What Drupal gives you

Granular roles and approval workflows
Multilingual at scale in core
Security posture preferred by government and universities

Considerations before you commit

Plugins need Drupal module equivalents or custom code
Editors need training on Layout Builder
Budget ongoing Drupal engineering

Stay on WordPress if a small team publishes simple content and WordPress already meets your security needs.

How the data moves

How content moves from WordPress to Drupal

WordPress
Source site
1
Export
WXR XML export, direct MySQL access, or REST API
2
Transform
Clean, map fields, rewrite links, move media
3
Import
Migrate API (source, process, destination plugins)
Drupal
New site on staging

SEO lane (runs in parallel): crawl old URLs → build 1:1 301 redirect map → carry titles, meta and schema → compare old vs new crawl → submit new sitemap to Google Search Console.

Figure 1. How content and SEO signals move from WordPress to Drupal.

Content model

What each WordPress item becomes in Drupal

We agree this map with your editors in week two. Anything without a clean match is flagged, with a recommendation to rebuild, merge or retire it, before build starts.

In WordPress		Becomes in Drupal
Posts and pages		Content types
Custom fields (ACF)		Drupal fields
Categories / tags		Taxonomy vocabularies
Users and roles		Roles and permissions
Permalinks		Pathauto + Redirect

The whole plan

The six-phase WordPress to Drupal migration plan

1
Discovery and audit
Crawl every URL, export analytics and Search Console data, inventory content types, plugins/modules/apps, integrations and users.
2
Content model and mapping
Map every field, taxonomy and template from the old platform to the new one and agree what is cut, merged or rebuilt.
3
Design and build
Build the theme or templates, components and integrations on the new platform in a staging environment.
4
Scripted content migration
Run repeatable export-transform-import scripts, move media, rewrite internal links and re-run until counts match.
5
SEO, accessibility and QA
Build the 301 redirect map, compare old vs new crawls, validate schema, WCAG 2.2 AA and Core Web Vitals.
6
Launch and hypercare
Content freeze, final delta migration, DNS cutover, sitemap submission to Google Search Console, 30 days of monitoring.

Week 1Week 20

1. Discovery and audit~3 wk
2. Content model and mapping~3 wk
3. Design and build~6 wk
4. Scripted content migration~3 wk
5. SEO, accessibility and QA~3 wk
6. Launch and hypercare~2 wk

Figure 2. Typical phase split for a 12–20 weeks project.

Protect rankings

SEO checklist for launch day

What we check before DNS cutover

Every URL with traffic or backlinks in the last 12 months has a 301 to its new equivalent
Titles, meta descriptions, canonical tags and schema carried over or improved
Internal links rewritten to new URLs (no redirect chains)
Old vs new crawl compared: status codes, word counts, headings
New XML sitemap submitted to Google Search Console on launch day
Search Console and analytics monitored daily for 30 days

Side by side

WordPress vs Drupal at a glance

Factor	WordPress	Drupal
Best for	Content-heavy marketing sites, publishers and teams that want a huge plugin ecosystem.	Government, higher education and enterprises with complex permissions, workflows and multilingual needs.
Editing experience	Gutenberg block editor; easy for marketers after a short onboarding.	Layout Builder and Paragraphs; powerful but needs training.
Hosting	Self-hosted or managed (WP Engine, Kinsta, WordPress VIP).	Self-hosted or managed (Acquia, Pantheon, Platform.sh).
Typical cost	Free core; USD 30–600+/mo managed hosting plus premium plugins.	Free core; higher build and maintenance cost because Drupal engineers are scarcer.
Extensibility	60,000+ plugins, custom blocks, REST and GraphQL APIs.	Contrib modules, custom entities, Views, JSON:API.
SEO control	Excellent with Yoast or Rank Math; full control of URLs, schema and redirects.	Strong with Metatag, Pathauto and Redirect modules.
Security	Secure when patched; plugin sprawl is the main risk.	Dedicated security team; common choice for public sector.
Multilingual	Via WPML or Polylang plugins.	Built into core, strong at 30+ languages.
Headless	Yes, through the REST API or WPGraphQL.	Yes, JSON:API and GraphQL in core or contrib.

Read the full WordPress vs Drupal comparison →

FAQ

WordPress to Drupal migration questions

How long does a WordPress to Drupal migration take?

Most WordPress to Drupal migrations take 12–20 weeks. Page count, number of content types, integrations and review cycles drive the range more than the platforms themselves.

How much does a WordPress to Drupal migration cost?

DoodleWeb's WordPress to Drupal migrations typically cost USD 35,000–200,000+, depending on content volume, design scope and integrations. You get a fixed quote within two business days of a scoping call.

Will we lose Google rankings moving from WordPress to Drupal?

Not when it is planned. DoodleWeb crawls every old URL, builds a 1:1 301 redirect map, carries over titles, meta descriptions and schema, compares old and new crawls before launch, and submits the new sitemap to Google Search Console on launch day. A short dip of a few weeks is normal while Google processes redirects.

What does not migrate automatically from WordPress to Drupal?

Plugins need Drupal module equivalents or custom code. Editors need training on Layout Builder. Budget ongoing Drupal engineering. Everything else, including content, media, taxonomy and URLs, moves with repeatable scripts.

When should we stay on WordPress?

Stay on WordPress if a small team publishes simple content and WordPress already meets your security needs.

Who can migrate WordPress to Drupal for us?

DoodleWeb, a Seattle agency (Columbia Tower) with Drupal Certified, WP Engine Advanced, Webflow Certified, HubSpot Solutions and Shopify partner status, runs WordPress to Drupal migrations for US and Canadian teams. Book a call at doodleweb.io/book.