If your site is still running Drupal 10, you should no longer put off the upgrade.
Drupal 10 will officially reach the end of its life cycle on December 9, 2026. After that date, there will be no new versions of Drupal 10, and it will no longer receive security support within the project’s official life cycle. Drupal.org
This doesn't mean your site will stop working the next day. It may still load, forms may continue to function, and your team may still be able to publish content.
The problem lies elsewhere: you’ll be running on a version that is no longer being developed as part of Drupal’s official release cycle. And the longer you put off the update, the more complex it may become to maintain compatibility with modules, themes, dependencies, infrastructure, and new versions of PHP.
That’s why, if your company is still using Drupal 10, November is a good time to answer a specific question:
Are we ready to upgrade?
What does it really mean for Drupal 10 to reach the end of support?
Drupal organizes its releases into defined maintenance cycles.
The latest minor branch of Drupal 10 is 10.6.x, and the entire Drupal 10 line will reach end of life on December 9, 2026. Drupal 12 is also scheduled for release that same week. Drupal.org
From that point on, continuing to use Drupal 10 is no longer simply a versioning decision.
It becomes a decision about risk and technological continuity.
A platform without official support may progressively face issues such as:
- New vulnerabilities with no guarantee of an official fix
- Incompatibility with modules or libraries that continue to evolve
- Restrictions on adopting new versions of PHP
- Greater effort required to maintain custom developments
- Greater complexity when the decision to update is finally made
The recommendation is not to update just for the sake of updating.
It means first understanding how your site is built and what it needs to move forward safely.
Updating Drupal isn't just a matter of changing a version number
On a basic site, an update can be relatively straightforward.
On an enterprise platform, multiple components are involved, ranging from contributed and custom modules to themes, third-party integrations, and APIs. You also need to consider authentication, search engines, forms, CRM, analytics, external services, infrastructure, and deployment processes.
Therefore, before performing a major update, it is necessary to assess compatibility.
The official Drupal documentation states that to upgrade from Drupal 10 to Drupal 11, the site must be running at least Drupal 10.3.x. You must also verify that the infrastructure meets Drupal 11’s requirements and that the environment uses PHP 8.3 or higher. Drupal.org
This point is particularly important because PHP 8.2 is also nearing the end of its security support cycle, which is scheduled to end on December 31, 2026. PHP
In other words: for some projects, simply updating Drupal isn't enough.
It may also be necessary to review the environment in which it runs.
What should you check before upgrading to Drupal 10?
Before beginning the update, we recommend evaluating at least six areas.
1. The Exact Version of Drupal
The first step is to confirm which version the site is currently running.
To upgrade to Drupal 11, the official documentation specifies Drupal 10.3.x as the minimum starting point. Drupal.org
If the platform is running an earlier version, you’ll first need to upgrade to Drupal 10.
It’s also important to remember that Drupal does not allow skipping major versions in its standard upgrade path.
For example, a site running Drupal 9 should not upgrade directly to Drupal 11; it must first upgrade to Drupal 10. Drupal.org
2. Contributed Modules
An enterprise Drupal platform rarely uses only Drupal Core.
Contributed modules can add features such as SEO, forms, search, integrations, multilingual support, security, and content management.
Before upgrading, you must verify that these modules have versions compatible with Drupal 11.
Drupal provides the Upgrade Status module specifically to check a site’s readiness for a new major release, including system requirements, contributed projects, and potential incompatibilities. Drupal.org
3. Custom Code
This is where much of the real complexity tends to lie.
A site may use modules or features developed specifically for the organization’s needs.
That code must be reviewed to identify deprecated APIs, incompatible dependencies, or implementations that need to be adapted before moving forward.
Drupal maintains a deprecation policy precisely to facilitate updates between versions, but that does not eliminate the need to review custom code. Drupal.org
4. Modules and Features That Changed in Drupal 11
Drupal 11 removes some modules that were present or deprecated in Drupal 10.
The official documentation mentions, among others, Actions UI, Activity Tracker, Book, Forum, Statistics, and Tour.
Depending on how the site is built, it may be necessary to stop using these features or replace them with contributed alternatives before completing the update. Drupal.org
That is why an update should begin with a technical inventory, not directly with Composer.
5. PHP and Infrastructure
Drupal 11 requires PHP 8.3 or higher. Drupal.org
If the infrastructure is still using PHP 8.2, updating Drupal may also require updating:
- Servers
- Containers
- Pipelines
- Dependencies
- Configurations
- PHP extensions
This should be reviewed before making the change in production.
Updating Drupal without reviewing the infrastructure may resolve one version issue only to create another compatibility issue.
6. Testing
A major update should be tested outside the production environment.
Drupal’s own documentation recommends preparing and validating the update in a local or development environment before deploying it to production. Drupal.org
Testing should include, at a minimum:
Navigation, forms, search, users, permissions, integrations, editorial workflows, content, SEO, performance, and custom features.
On critical platforms, it is also advisable to validate rollback scenarios and backups before deployment.
Drupal 11 vs. Drupal 12
The proximity between Drupal 10’s end of life and the planned release of Drupal 12 raises a reasonable question:
Is it worth going through Drupal 11 first?
Yes, because Drupal maintains consecutive upgrade paths between major versions.
A direct jump from Drupal 10 to Drupal 12 is not supported. The intended path is Drupal 10 → Drupal 11 → Drupal 12. Drupal.org
Therefore, waiting does not necessarily eliminate the work in between. It may simply reduce the time available to carry it out in a controlled manner.
To decide when to move to Drupal 11 and when to proceed to Drupal 12, it is important to review the compatibility of modules, custom code, integrations, the PHP version, and the infrastructure. If some dependencies are not yet ready for the next version, it’s best to prioritize a safe upgrade to Drupal 11 and plan the subsequent evolution in stages.
The right decision depends on the status of each platform, but staying on Drupal 10 indefinitely should not be the strategy.
The real risk isn't always in Drupal Core
In many projects, the most complex problem isn't updating Drupal. It's figuring out everything that was built around it.
- A custom module that no one has updated.
- An integration that depends on an outdated API.
- A theme developed years ago.
- A server that’s still running obsolete versions.
- A dependency with no one responsible for it.
- Credentials known only to a former vendor.
That’s why, before starting a migration, we recommend answering the following questions:
- What version are we running?
- What modules are we using?
- What code is custom?
- What integrations depend on the portal?
- What version of PHP does the server use?
- Who manages hosting, the repository, and deployments?
- What features are critical to the business?
With these answers, it’s much easier to determine the scope, risk, and effort involved.
Update, Modernize, or Rebuild?
Not all Drupal 10 sites require exactly the same approach. In some cases, updating to Drupal 11 is the right decision.
Other sites need to take advantage of the process to modernize modules, integrations, architecture, or infrastructure. And for platforms with very high technical debt, it may be necessary to evaluate whether continuing to accumulate updates still makes sense compared to a partial or total rebuild.
The decision should be based on technical evidence, not simply on the age of the site.
A preliminary audit helps identify what can be kept, what needs to be fixed, and what should be transformed.
How can EvolutecC help you?
At EvolutecC, we work with Drupal platforms and technology modernization projects.
We can guide you from the initial review through the implementation of the update.
The process may include:
- Technical audit of the current platform
- Inventory of modules and dependencies
- Review of custom code
- Compatibility analysis with Drupal 11
- Evaluation of PHP and infrastructure
- Risk identification
- Definition of the upgrade plan
- Execution of the migration
- Testing
- Deployment
- Post-deployment support
Upgrading from Drupal 10 to Drupal 11 isn’t just about changing versions it’s about preparing your platform to continue evolving.
At EvolutecC, we audit your site, define the best upgrade path, and guide you through the entire process. Still on Drupal 10? Let’s talk before support ends.