Why now is the right time to upgrade to Umbraco 17
Keeping your website up to date isn’t always top of the list. If everything’s working, it’s easy to leave things as they are.
But platforms move on. And with Umbraco 17 now available as a Long-Term Support (LTS) release, there are some clear advantages to upgrading sooner rather than later.
Better security
Security is the biggest reason to upgrade.
Umbraco 17 is built on the latest Microsoft .NET platform, so it benefits from ongoing security updates and improvements. What that means in practice is that your website stays aligned with modern standards, reducing the risk of vulnerabilities over time.
Older versions don’t receive the same level of attention forever. As support phases out, keeping things secure becomes more difficult, more manual and ultimately more costly.
Upgrading now keeps everything in a supported, stable position, so you’re not playing catch-up later.
Built for the AI-generation
The way websites are managed is changing quickly, especially with AI becoming part of everyday tools and workflows.
Umbraco 17 is designed with that future in mind. It’s faster, more flexible and better suited to integrate with modern tools and services as they evolve.
That doesn’t mean you need to be “doing AI” tomorrow. It means your platform won’t hold you back when you do want to explore it.
Put simply, it keeps your options open.
A smoother editing experience
Behind the scenes, Umbraco 17 brings improvements to performance and usability.
Content editors benefit from a cleaner, more responsive interface, making day-to-day updates quicker and easier. For teams managing content regularly, those small improvements add up.
It’s less friction, less waiting around and a more intuitive experience overall.
What about website downtime?
This is usually the first question we get, and it’s a fair one.
In most cases, upgrades are carefully planned and managed to minimise disruption. Websites can often remain live throughout the process, or experience only a short, scheduled window of downtime.
The goal is to keep everything running smoothly while the upgrade happens in the background.
What happens if you don’t upgrade?
There’s no immediate cliff edge.
Your current site will continue to work, and we’ll continue to support it.
But over time, things do get harder. Updates take longer, integrations become more limited and resolving issues can become more complex. That usually means more time, more effort and more cost.
Upgrading earlier tends to keep things more straightforward and predictable.
A simple step that protects your investment
Your website is a long-term asset. Keeping it on a supported, modern platform protects that investment and gives you room to grow.
If you’re already on Umbraco, moving to version 17 is less about change for the sake of it and more about keeping things secure, stable and ready for what’s next.