Convert from Drupal to WordPress

If you’re running a Drupal site and weighing a move to WordPress, you’re in good company. Drupal built its reputation on flexibility and developer power, but the cost of that power has gotten harder to justify. Smaller hiring pools, steeper learning curves, expensive maintenance, and a community that’s a fraction of the size WordPress has built over the same period.

This guide walks through why a growing number of organizations are choosing to convert from Drupal to WordPress, what the migration process actually looks like, and how to handle the parts that trip up DIY teams, so you don’t lose Drupal data, search rankings, or weeks of momentum.

Why WordPress is the ideal Drupal alternative

Drupal and WordPress are both open source platforms with deep roots. The difference is the world they live in today. WordPress now powers more than 40% of the entire web and runs the most popular CMS ecosystem on the planet, with a massive plugin library, an active community, and a hiring pool that dwarfs Drupal’s by orders of magnitude. Drupal offers serious technical depth, but that depth comes with a cost that gets harder to absorb every year.

Most teams running an aging Drupal site eventually hit the same three walls: it costs more to maintain than it should, it’s harder to staff than they expected, and editing content has become slower than the modern web demands. Moving to WordPress fixes all three, while keeping the flexibility and structure that your Drupal content already depends on.

A few things WordPress does better than Drupal, every single time:

• Bigger ecosystem – The WordPress community is the largest in open source, which means more WordPress plugins, more themes, more developers for hire, and more answers to every question you’ll ever have
• Easier content editing – The block editor, paired with WordPress posts and pages, makes daily editing dramatically faster than Drupal’s content workflow
• Lower total cost of ownership – WordPress requires less specialized development time than Drupal, which means lower agency bills and easier in-house management
• Stronger SEO out of the box – With Yoast SEO or Rank Math, you get full control over meta titles, meta descriptions, meta tags, image alt text, schema, and structured data with very little setup
• Modern hosting and tooling – Managed WordPress hosting, WP CLI, performance optimization tools, and a much richer set of integrations than Drupal can match
• Faster hiring – Finding a WordPress developer is exponentially easier than finding a Drupal developer, and the rates reflect that

If your Drupal site is starting to feel like more weight than it’s worth, that’s the signal to plan the move.

WordPress vs. Drupal comparison

Here’s how the two platforms stack up once you start weighing whether to keep Drupal or migrate to WordPress:

Ready to make the move? Talk to our migration team, and we’ll map out exactly what your Drupal to WordPress migration would look like, from discovery to launch.

How do you convert your website from Drupal to WordPress?

The path to convert from Drupal to WordPress is more involved than a Wix or Squarespace migration, because Drupal sites are usually structurally richer. Custom content types, custom taxonomies, custom fields, user roles, and tightly modeled Drupal data don’t have a one-click button to move them. They have to be mapped carefully.

Here’s the high-level path:

1. Discovery phase – Audit the original Drupal site: every content type, every taxonomy, every field, every user role, every Drupal module you depend on, every integration
2. Data mapping – Build a clear map between Drupal data structures and WordPress equivalents (custom post types, custom taxonomies, Advanced Custom Fields, user roles, etc.)
3. Set up the new WordPress site – Install WordPress, choose a WordPress theme, configure permalinks, and prepare the destination structure based on the data mapping
4. Use the right migration plugin – For most projects, FG Drupal to WordPress is the go-to WordPress plugin for moving Drupal content. It comes in a free version and a premium version, with the premium version handling more complex content types and field mappings
5. Run the migration in a staging environment – Never migrate directly into a live site. Spin up staging, run the migration, validate results, then iterate
6. Import users, content, and media files – Pull users, posts, pages, taxonomies, custom fields, media files, and image alt text into WordPress, preserving relationships wherever possible
7. Rebuild design and navigation – Drupal themes don’t transfer to WordPress, so navigation menus, layouts, and styling need to be rebuilt in the new WordPress theme
8. Rebuild SEO assets – Move meta titles, meta descriptions, meta tags, schema, and internal links into WordPress through Yoast SEO or Rank Math
9. Build a complete redirect map – Every old Drupal URL needs to redirect cleanly to its new WordPress URL to preserve the site’s SEO and avoid broken links
10. Launch and monitor – Submit a new sitemap to Google Search Console, watch traffic and rankings closely, and monitor for any post-launch issues

The size of the lift depends on the complexity of your Drupal site, the version you’re running, and how much custom code is wrapped around it.

Drupal to WordPress migration process

Most online guides treat the Drupal to WordPress migration as a quick “install a plugin and click import” exercise. That’s roughly true for a small Drupal blog with one content type. For anything bigger, the work is significantly deeper, especially if you’re moving from an older version of Drupal to the latest version of WordPress.

Here’s what’s actually involved.

What FG Drupal to WordPress handles well:

• Drupal content types mapped to WordPress posts or custom post types
• Drupal taxonomies mapped to WordPress categories, tags, or custom taxonomies
• Users and user details mapped to WordPress users with appropriate user roles
• Media files moved into the WordPress media library
• Featured image assignments preserved where possible
• Internal links rewritten to point to new WordPress URLs

What still needs manual work:

• Complex Drupal modules without WordPress plugin equivalents
• Custom code, custom themes, and custom layouts
• Highly structured content with deeply nested fields
• Custom views, blocks, and Drupal-specific rendering logic
• Performance optimization for the new platform
• Final SEO transfer, including schema, structured data, and detailed metadata

This is where DIY Drupal migrations usually break down. You install a migration plugin, run the import, see content appear in WordPress, and then realize the structure is half-broken, the layouts don’t exist, and your site’s content needs days of cleanup.

A complete Drupal to WordPress migration project covers:

• Discovery and data mapping – Map every Drupal content type, custom taxonomy, and custom field to its WordPress equivalent before any code is written
• FG Drupal to WordPress migration – Run the migration plugin against your Drupal database, validate results in staging, and iterate until everything maps cleanly
• Custom field migration with Advanced Custom Fields – Recreate Drupal’s custom fields in ACF so the structure carries over without losing data fidelity
• User migration and user roles – Import users with the right user roles assigned in WordPress
• Media migration – Move media files into the WordPress media library, including image alt text
• Design rebuild – A new WordPress theme paired with custom styling to match or improve the original Drupal site’s design
• Navigation menus rebuild – Recreate every menu structure cleanly in WordPress
• Redirect map – Map every old Drupal URL to its new WordPress URL to preserve the site’s SEO
• SEO transfer – Move meta titles, meta descriptions, meta tags, image alt text, schema, and internal links using Yoast SEO or Rank Math
• Performance and hosting setup – Move to managed WordPress hosting tuned for performance, with WP CLI access for ongoing maintenance

If your old site is an established Drupal website with years of content, complex content modeling, real SEO equity, and serious traffic, a DIY migration is rarely the right answer. The risk of broken links, lost custom fields, missing taxonomies, and dropped search rankings is simply too high.

You’ve completed your migration, what’s next?

Migration is the starting line. Once your Drupal content is fully imported into your new WordPress website, the real work begins:

• Verify imported content end-to-end – Walk through every post, page, taxonomy, and custom field to confirm Drupal data imported cleanly into WordPress
• Validate users and user roles – Confirm all users came over with the right user roles and access levels
• Confirm media migration – Verify all media files live in the WordPress media library and that image alt text and featured image assignments transferred properly
• Confirm your redirect map is live – Every old Drupal URL should redirect cleanly to its new WordPress URL
• Submit a new sitemap to Google Search Console – Help search engines re-crawl your site under the new structure
• Watch SEO rankings closely – Track rankings, indexing, and organic traffic in the first 30 to 60 days
• Polish the design – A new WordPress theme paired with WordPress design services gives you the chance to upgrade the experience, not just replicate the old Drupal design
• Layer in new features – With migration complete, you can finally take advantage of the WordPress community’s plugin library and add features that were too painful to build in Drupal

This is also the time to lock in managed hosting, security hardening, and ongoing WordPress maintenance so your new WordPress site stays fast, secure, and supported long-term.

Hire Freshy to manage your WordPress migration

WordPress gives you all the tools to leave Drupal behind, but planning, scoping, and executing a clean CMS migration is real work. Freshy handles the full Drupal to WordPress migration for you, so you can focus on running your organization instead of debugging field mappings, hunting down missing taxonomies, and rebuilding navigation menus from scratch.

We’ve supported over 2,400 clients since 2011, and our team handles everything from the technical WordPress migration work to the design refresh that comes with it. A typical Drupal to WordPress migration project covers:

• Discovery and data mapping – Full audit of your Drupal site, all custom content types, custom taxonomies, custom fields, and Drupal modules in use
• FG Drupal to WordPress migration setup – Premium version configuration to handle complex content models, with custom development for anything the plugin can’t handle
• Custom WordPress theme design or theme selection – Built around your brand, not a generic template
• Complete user migration – Import users with the right user roles, with secure password handling and clean account transitions
• Full media migration – Every image, video, and document pulled into the WordPress media library with proper metadata and image alt text
• Full redirect map – Every old Drupal URL pointed to its new WordPress URL to preserve search rankings
• SEO setup – Yoast SEO or Rank Math configuration, schema, sitemap submission, search engine optimization, and Google Analytics setup
• Performance optimization – Caching, image optimization, code cleanup, and WP CLI-friendly infrastructure
• Managed hosting, SSL, and security – Ready for traffic from day one
• Training and documentation – So your team can confidently manage WordPress without needing Drupal-level technical skills

If you’re ready to leave Drupal behind and build on a platform with the largest community in open source, get in touch with our team to scope your migration.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does a Drupal to WordPress migration take?

A typical Drupal to WordPress migration takes 8 to 16 weeks from kickoff to launch. Smaller Drupal sites with a few content types and limited custom fields can move in 6 to 8 weeks, while large enterprise Drupal sites with deep content modeling, complex Drupal modules, and high traffic can run 16 to 24 weeks. The discovery phase usually accounts for 2 to 4 weeks on its own.

Will I lose SEO rankings when I convert from Drupal to WordPress?

Not if the migration is handled properly. Building a complete redirect map from every old Drupal URL to its new WordPress URL is the single most important step for protecting site’s SEO. Most sites stabilize within 4 to 8 weeks and often see SEO rankings improve, since WordPress with Yoast SEO or Rank Math gives you stronger SEO tooling than most Drupal setups.

Can I keep my Drupal site online during the migration?

Yes. Professional migrations always build the new WordPress site in a separate staging environment, so your existing live site stays online and functional. The final cutover happens in a single planned window to minimize downtime.

What tool do you use to migrate Drupal content into WordPress?

The most reliable WordPress plugin for Drupal migrations is FG Drupal to WordPress. The free version handles basic content migrations, while the premium version supports custom fields, taxonomies, complex content types, and user role mapping. For especially complex sites, we layer custom code and WP CLI scripts on top of FG Drupal to handle anything the plugin doesn’t cover natively.

What happens to my custom content types and custom fields?

They get mapped to WordPress equivalents during the discovery phase. Drupal content types typically become WordPress posts or custom post types, Drupal taxonomies become WordPress categories, tags, or custom taxonomies, and custom fields are recreated using Advanced Custom Fields. The goal is a one-to-one structural match wherever possible, with thoughtful improvements where Drupal’s structure was unnecessarily complex.

Can you migrate users and user roles from Drupal to WordPress?

Yes. We import users and user details from your Drupal database into WordPress, with appropriate user roles assigned based on a clear mapping defined in the discovery phase. Users typically need to reset passwords on first login for security reasons, but otherwise, the transition is seamless.

Will my Drupal modules have WordPress equivalents?

Most do. The WordPress plugin ecosystem is larger than Drupal’s, so for the vast majority of Drupal modules, there’s an equal or better WordPress plugin available. For anything truly custom, our team scopes a WordPress equivalent during the discovery phase, either through an existing plugin or through custom development.

Do I need technical knowledge to manage my new WordPress site?

No. One of the biggest benefits of moving from Drupal to WordPress is the dramatically easier editing experience. The block editor, combined with a clean WordPress dashboard, means non-technical team members can manage content, swap images, and publish posts without needing developer help.

Can I use a free migration plugin instead of hiring an agency?

You can, especially for small Drupal sites. The free version of FG Drupal to WordPress will get you most of the way for a basic blog or small content site. The trade-off shows up on larger sites, where data mapping, custom fields, user roles, design rebuild, redirect mapping, and SEO transfer become the work most free tools can’t fully handle.

What about my Drupal-specific design and theme?

Drupal themes don’t transfer to WordPress, but the design can be recreated or improved in a new WordPress theme. During the migration, we either match the old design closely in a custom WordPress theme or use the migration as an opportunity to upgrade the experience, depending on what your team prefers.

Ready to convert from Drupal to WordPress?

Drupal earned its reputation. But for most organizations running it today, the math has shifted, and the move to one CMS with a larger community, easier editing, and lower long-term cost is the smart call.

We’ve helped organizations across the country complete the Drupal to WordPress migration without losing content, custom fields, user data, or search rankings. If you’re ready to leave Drupal behind and build on a platform that’s easier to staff, easier to maintain, and faster to evolve, we’d love to help.