{"id":694,"slug":"migration-pricing-bands-2026","title":"Candid migration pricing bands 2026: $3.5-7K brochure / $8-18K 50-page+100-post / $20-45K 200-page content-heavy; ACF/Elementor/WooCommerce multipliers","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","smb-owner","candid-team"],"topics":["migration-mechanics","pricing-models"],"reference_body":"**Realistic fixed-fee bands for WP → modern-stack migrations (Candid Creative 2026 pricing):**\n\n| Site profile | Fixed-fee range | Timeline | Notes |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| 10-page brochure, no blog, Astro + Keystatic | **$3,500 – $7,000** | 2-4 weeks | High-margin if templated |\n| 50-page site + 100-post blog, Astro + Sanity | **$8,000 – $18,000** | 4-8 weeks | The sweet spot for productization |\n| 200-page content-heavy site, Next.js + Sanity, multilingual-capable | **$20,000 – $45,000** | 8-16 weeks | Often needs a content audit phase first |\n| Headless WordPress (keep WP, replace frontend with Next.js) | **$12,000 – $28,000** | 5-10 weeks | Cheaper content migration; more expensive ongoing infra |\n\n**Aligns with industry benchmarks:**\n\n- Multidots (published WP agency pricing): *\"Basic business sites, i.e., informational pages built with premium themes and standard plugins, typically cost $3,000-7,000.\"*\n- Seahawk Media entry point: *\"$499 and fully customizable\"* for content-only migrations.\n- Enterprise multi-thousand-article migrations: $80K-$150K.\n\n**What blows up the timeline (multipliers to budget for):**\n\n- Elementor / Divi / Bricks page-builder content: **×1.5-1.8**\n- ACF-heavy custom layouts (>20 custom field groups): **×1.3**\n- WooCommerce of any complexity: **×1.5-2.0**\n- Multilingual (WPML/Polylang): **×1.5-2.0**\n- Membership / gated content: **×1.4**\n- LearnDash / Tutor LMS courses: **×2+** (genuinely consider not migrating)\n- 1,000+ blog posts with image-heavy bodies: **×1.3** for image-rewrite scripting alone\n\n**Always lead with [[rule-lead-with-paid-migration-audit]] ($1,250). Quote the build fixed-price only after the audit completes.**","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"page-builder-cost-catalogue","title":"Reference: what page builders cost a small-business site — 10 categories ranked by long-term impact","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"rule-lead-with-paid-migration-audit","title":"RULE: Lead WordPress migration sales with a $1,250 fixed-price Migration Audit. Quote the build fixed-price only after the audit completes.","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"rule-lead-with-paid-migration-audit","title":"RULE: Lead WordPress migration sales with a $1,250 fixed-price Migration Audit. Quote the build fixed-price only after the audit completes.","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}]},"created_at":"2026-05-22T21:24:18.445Z","updated_at":"2026-05-22T21:24:18.445Z"}