Best Kentico Xperience 13 Alternatives in 2026
Kentico Xperience 13 stops receiving fixes on December 31, 2026, with no paid extension. Every customer is migrating somewhere; the only question is whether it is to Kentico's successor or to someone else.
The short answer
Xperience by Kentico is the vendor's path and the right one for teams that want to keep .NET and the built-in marketing suite. For teams using the deadline to change course, Contentstack and HubSpot Content Hub rate highest: Contentstack for governed headless content with AI agents, HubSpot for marketing teams that want forms, email and automation at published prices. Storyblok suits marketers who want visual editing, Umbraco is the lowest-cost .NET route, and Optimizely is the suite upgrade.
Key takeaways
- There is no staying. Kentico has ruled out paid extended support for Xperience 13, so after December 31, 2026 the platform receives no security fixes. Two of its vulnerabilities are already in the US government's catalog of actively exploited flaws.
- Every exit is a migration, including Kentico's own. Xperience by Kentico is a rebuilt product, so templates, widgets and the content model are recreated rather than upgraded. Price that work against a move to anyone else before you assume the successor is cheapest.
- Decide what to do with commerce first. Xperience 13 ships a full e-commerce module; most destinations here do not. Commerce sites need Shopify, commercetools or a similar engine alongside the CMS, whichever CMS they choose.
- Keep the .NET team if it is good. Xperience by Kentico, Umbraco, Sitefinity and Optimizely PaaS DXP let your developers stay productive. The managed and headless platforms need a JavaScript front end or a partner.
- The marketing suite is replaceable. Xperience 13's personalization, automation and forms were the reason many teams chose it. HubSpot includes all three, Optimizely goes further, and Xperience by Kentico keeps them. The headless platforms hand them to separate tools.
Our picks at a glance
HubSpot Content HubForms, email and automation at published prices.
ContentstackDeep workflows, AI agents, no upgrades.
StoryblokClick-to-edit pages, nothing to patch.
UmbracoFree core, published cloud prices.
Xperience by KenticoSame team, same suite, monthly releases.
Optimizely SaaS CMSNative testing and personalization, fully managed.
Why this decision matters
Kentico Xperience 13 was a complete mid-market platform: workflow and versioning, a native commerce module, multi-site management, a visual page builder and an all-in-one marketing suite, on a .NET stack that agencies knew well. It is also at the end of its life. All support ends on December 31, 2026, Kentico has ruled out a paid extension, and the only way forward is a full move to another platform. The product has almost no AI, a REST-only delivery layer that is off by default, and a security history that includes two critical flaws rated 9.8 and actively exploited.
Kentico's answer is Xperience by Kentico, a rebuilt product on modern .NET with monthly releases, SaaS hosting and a marketing suite of its own. For many customers it is the right move. It is still a migration, not an upgrade, and the deadline has prompted plenty of teams to ask whether the same effort could land them somewhere with less to run, a visual editor marketers prefer, or a smaller bill.
This guide rates eight destinations. Kentico's successor sits alongside three other .NET platforms for teams keeping their developers, two managed headless platforms for teams rebuilding the front end, and two suites with marketing built in. The ratings lean on marketer self-service and speed to launch, because the clock is running, then on budget and upkeep, because mid-market teams feel both.
What to look for
- 1
Live before the deadline
Roughly three months remain. Ask each vendor and partner for a fixed-scope estimate and a date, and prefer platforms with a documented path from Xperience 13. A beautiful platform that launches in April is a security incident in January.
- 2
Marketing tools, in or out
List the Xperience 13 features your marketers use: personalization rules, automation, forms, email, A/B tests. Then check which the destination includes and which need a separate tool and a separate invoice.
- 3
Commerce has a home
If you sell through Xperience 13, decide the commerce engine before the CMS. Most platforms here have no cart or checkout; the CMS then feeds content to Shopify, commercetools or BigCommerce through an integration.
- 4
What your .NET team keeps
Xperience by Kentico, Umbraco, Sitefinity and Optimizely PaaS DXP keep the stack. HubSpot and the headless platforms need new front-end skills or a partner. The build estimate follows from this choice more than from any feature.
- 5
A bill you can forecast
Xperience 13 was a known annual license. The successor is a fixed subscription, HubSpot and Storyblok publish prices, and Optimizely and Sitefinity are quotes. Ask for three years in writing, including renewal caps.
The ratings at a glance
Ranked by Fit score for this topic. Dots run from one (Limited) to five (Excellent); each review below spells the ratings out.
| Platform | Fit | Self-service | Speed | Budget | Upkeep | Growth tools | Compliance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1HubSpot Content Hub | 6.9/10 | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Strong | Strong |
| 2Contentstack | 6.8/10 | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Strong |
| 3Storyblok | 6.7/10 | Strong | Strong | Good | Fair | Limited | Good |
| 4Umbraco | 6.1/10 | Fair | Good | Strong | Fair | Limited | Fair |
| 5Optimizely SaaS CMS | 6.0/10 | Good | Fair | Limited | Good | Good | Good |
| 6Xperience by Kentico | 5.9/10 | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good |
7 Optimizely PaaS DXP | 5.8/10 | Strong | Fair | Limited | Fair | Good | Strong |
8 Sitefinity | 5.3/10 | Fair | Fair | Limited | Fair | Good | Good |
- 1HubSpot Content Hub6.9/10
- Marketer self-service
- Good
- Speed to launch
- Good
- Budget predictability
- Good
- Low IT upkeep
- Fair
- Campaign & growth tools
- Strong
- Security & compliance
- Strong
- 2Contentstack6.8/10
- Marketer self-service
- Good
- Speed to launch
- Good
- Budget predictability
- Good
- Low IT upkeep
- Good
- Campaign & growth tools
- Good
- Security & compliance
- Strong
- 3Storyblok6.7/10
- Marketer self-service
- Strong
- Speed to launch
- Strong
- Budget predictability
- Good
- Low IT upkeep
- Fair
- Campaign & growth tools
- Limited
- Security & compliance
- Good
- 4Umbraco6.1/10
- Marketer self-service
- Fair
- Speed to launch
- Good
- Budget predictability
- Strong
- Low IT upkeep
- Fair
- Campaign & growth tools
- Limited
- Security & compliance
- Fair
- 5Optimizely SaaS CMS6.0/10
- Marketer self-service
- Good
- Speed to launch
- Fair
- Budget predictability
- Limited
- Low IT upkeep
- Good
- Campaign & growth tools
- Good
- Security & compliance
- Good
- 6Xperience by Kentico5.9/10
- Marketer self-service
- Good
- Speed to launch
- Fair
- Budget predictability
- Fair
- Low IT upkeep
- Fair
- Campaign & growth tools
- Fair
- Security & compliance
- Good
- 7Optimizely PaaS DXP5.8/10
- Marketer self-service
- Strong
- Speed to launch
- Fair
- Budget predictability
- Limited
- Low IT upkeep
- Fair
- Campaign & growth tools
- Good
- Security & compliance
- Strong
- 8Sitefinity5.3/10
- Marketer self-service
- Fair
- Speed to launch
- Fair
- Budget predictability
- Limited
- Low IT upkeep
- Fair
- Campaign & growth tools
- Good
- Security & compliance
- Good
The shortlist, reviewed
HubSpot Content Hub
The managed replacement for the marketing half of Xperience 13. Content Hub sits on HubSpot's CRM, so landing pages, forms, email, automation, personalization and analytics are built in, nothing needs patching, and every tier is published. For a marketing team on a deadline it is the fastest route to live.
- Best for
- Mid-market B2B marketing teams that chose Xperience 13 for its marketing suite and want the same in a managed platform at published prices.
- Watch out for
- A rigid content model built around the CRM, weak headless delivery, no commerce, and a large jump from Starter to Professional. The .NET team has no role.
- What it costs
- Published. Starter from $15 per month, Professional from $450 per month (three seats), Enterprise from $1,500 per month. AI runs on HubSpot Credits.
Contentstack
The headless platform with the strongest governance for former Xperience editorial teams: workflows of up to 20 stages, publish rules by branch, language and environment, and branching for releases. Agent OS adds governed AI agents, and there is no platform upgrade to plan, ever.
- Best for
- Teams rebuilding the front end on a modern JavaScript stack that want enterprise workflows and AI operations without running servers.
- Watch out for
- Personalization, forms and email come from partner apps rather than the product, and health and payment data are contractually prohibited.
- What it costs
- Free plan, Build at $29 per month, Growth at $299 per month plus $25 per extra user; Enterprise quote-only. AI runs on metered credits.
Storyblok
The headless CMS whose visual editor most resembles the Xperience 13 Page Builder. Marketers click components on the rendered page and rearrange them, the vendor runs hosting and delivery, and Space Blueprints and framework starters get a site connected fast. FlowMotion adds workflow automation.
- Best for
- Marketing teams with a development partner who want visual editing on a managed service and have no commerce to carry.
- Watch out for
- The jump from Growth to Growth Plus is steep, single sign-on is quote-only, and there are no built-in forms, personalization or commerce.
- What it costs
- Starter is free; Growth is $99 a month and Growth Plus $349 a month, with usage add-on packs. Premium and Elite are quote-only.
Umbraco
The free .NET CMS. The MIT-licensed core has no license fee at any traffic, Umbraco Cloud prices are published, and the 2026 AI layer lets you bring your own model from any of ten providers. Xperience 13 developers will be productive in weeks, and the bill drops to hosting.
- Best for
- Cost-sensitive .NET organizations and agencies that want low lock-in and can buy marketing features as add-ons when needed.
- Watch out for
- Segmentation, personalization, A/B testing and analytics need the paid Engage add-on, commerce needs Umbraco Commerce, and there is no real-time collaboration.
- What it costs
- Free software. Umbraco Cloud from €45 per month, Standard €280, Professional €730.
Optimizely SaaS CMS
The suite upgrade. Visual Builder edits pages, experiences and catalog entries in one place, A/B and multivariate testing are the deepest in the market, and Opal orchestrates AI agents. As fully managed SaaS it removes the operations an Xperience 13 estate carried.
- Best for
- Marketing teams that outgrew Xperience 13's personalization and want experimentation built into a managed platform.
- Watch out for
- Quote-only pricing with median contracts near $78,000 a year, rigid auto-renewing terms, and experimentation and AI as add-ons.
- What it costs
- Quote-only. Priced on traffic and feature tier, with experimentation and AI as add-ons on credits.
Xperience by Kentico
Kentico's successor, and the obvious destination. A rebuilt .NET platform with CMS, customer profiles, personalization, automation, forms and email in one product, a named Refresh every month of 2026 and a published 12-month compatibility policy. SaaS hosting is ISO 27001 certified across 20 Azure regions, and Kentico publishes a migration toolkit from version 13.
- Best for
- Xperience 13 customers that want to keep .NET, their partner and the built-in marketing suite with the least change for editors.
- Watch out for
- It is a rebuild, not an upgrade: widgets and the content model are recreated. A/B testing is not in the product, AI runs only on Kentico-managed credits with most agents in preview, and 2026 brought a run of high-severity security advisories.
- What it costs
- Quote-only. Licensed by channels, tier and cloud level as a fixed subscription, with no consumption spikes.
Optimizely PaaS DXP
For .NET teams that want a suite they can still extend in code. CMS 13 pairs Visual Builder with Content Variations and per-language publishing, the Opal agent platform is included, and a HIPAA variant is actually provisioned. Your developers keep their stack and gain the market's best experimentation.
- Best for
- Enterprise .NET teams, including content-and-commerce operations, that want to step up from Xperience 13 without leaving the stack.
- Watch out for
- Quote-only with median contracts around $83,000 a year and enterprise deals from $250,000 up. Webhooks are coarse and video is plain file storage.
- What it costs
- Quote-only. No free tier and rigid contract terms. Third-party data puts the median contract near $83,000 a year.
Sitefinity
The closest like-for-like .NET replacement: a traditional CMS with a native customer data platform, personalization, SEO tooling, forms and a HIPAA business associate agreement that names the product. The 2026 Generative CMS release adds brand and SEO agents.
- Best for
- Marketing-led mid-enterprise teams in regulated industries that want to stay on Microsoft infrastructure with marketing tools built in.
- Watch out for
- Quote-only pricing with reported renewal increases of 40 to 100 percent, five security advisories in June 2026, and self-hosted operations as heavy as Xperience 13's.
- What it costs
- Quote-only. Licensed per server or domain, with editor seats in blocks of five. Third-party estimates run $20,000 to $60,000 a year.
Three exits from Xperience 13, by who you want to keep
Every migration off Xperience 13 lands in one of three places. The choice depends less on features than on which team you want to keep: the .NET developers, the marketers who run the suite, or neither because the front end is being rebuilt anyway.
Stay on .NET
Xperience by Kentico keeps the partner, the suite and the editors' habits. Umbraco keeps the stack at a fraction of the cost. Sitefinity and Optimizely PaaS DXP keep the stack and add a customer data platform or market-leading experimentation. Take this exit if your developers are an asset.
Move to a managed suite
HubSpot Content Hub replaces the marketing half of Xperience 13 with nothing to run and published prices. Optimizely SaaS CMS does the same at enterprise scale with the best testing in the market. Take this exit if the marketing team is the one that will live in the platform every day.
Go headless
Contentstack and Storyblok turn the CMS into a content service and let developers build the front end in any framework. Personalization and forms come from separate tools, and commerce from a commerce engine. Take this exit if you have the engineering to own the front end and want content that reaches more than the website.
What to settle in the next month
Pick a date, then a platform
Work backwards from December 31. Content freeze, launch, redirects and a month of parallel running fit in the time left only if the platform decision is made now. A shortlist of two is enough.
Inventory the widgets and the rules
Count the Page Builder widgets, the personalization rules and the automation flows in use. Most sites use a fraction of what was built. The list sets the rebuild estimate on every destination, including Kentico's own.
Settle commerce separately
If Xperience 13 runs your store, choose the commerce engine first and the CMS second. A commerce migration on the same deadline is the riskiest part of the project and deserves its own plan.
Price the rebuild, not just the license
Ask two partners for a fixed-scope estimate per platform. The license difference between destinations is often smaller than the difference in rebuild effort, and the successor is not automatically the cheapest.
Harden what you have
Apply every remaining Xperience 13 hotfix, put a web application firewall in front of the site and restrict the admin interface by IP. If the migration slips past the deadline, these are what keep an unsupported platform out of the headlines.
Frequently asked questions
When does Kentico Xperience 13 reach end of life?
December 31, 2026. After that date Kentico Xperience 13 receives no security fixes, and Kentico has ruled out paid extended support. Two of its vulnerabilities are already listed in the US government's catalog of known exploited flaws, so running it unsupported is a real risk rather than a theoretical one.
Is Xperience by Kentico an upgrade from Kentico Xperience 13?
No, it is a migration. Xperience by Kentico is a rebuilt product on modern .NET with a different content model and page builder, so templates, widgets and content are recreated rather than upgraded. Kentico publishes a migration toolkit and a Refresh ships every month. It is the natural destination, but it costs real project effort, like any other move.
What is the best alternative to Kentico Xperience 13?
Xperience by Kentico for teams that want to keep .NET, their partner and the marketing suite. For teams changing course, Contentstack is the strongest headless option and HubSpot Content Hub the strongest managed suite for marketing teams. Umbraco is the lowest-cost .NET route, Storyblok the best visual editor, and Optimizely the suite upgrade for experimentation.
What happens to our Kentico 13 e-commerce?
Most destinations here have no cart or checkout, and Xperience by Kentico's commerce is still maturing. Plan a commerce engine such as Shopify, commercetools or BigCommerce alongside the new CMS, and treat the commerce migration as its own project with its own date. Optimizely PaaS DXP is the one shortlisted platform with a full content-and-commerce suite.
Can we migrate off Kentico 13 before the end of 2026?
Yes, if the platform decision is made now. A marketing site with a partner and a documented migration path, such as Xperience by Kentico or HubSpot, can launch in eight to twelve weeks. Headless rebuilds take longer. Freeze content early, run the old and new sites in parallel for a month, and harden the old site in case the date slips.
How we rated these platforms
Each rating combines the relevant criteria from our independent scorecards into a five-point scale. The Fit score blends the ratings below, weighted for this topic, into one number out of 10. Ratings are recalculated whenever a scorecard is updated, so the order above always reflects current evidence. The written analysis was last reviewed on October 3, 2026.
Scorecards and platform inclusion are unsponsored: no vendor pays to appear in this guide or to change a rating. Full criteria, weights and evidence are in the methodology and on each platform’s scorecard. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
Still deciding?
Answer seven questions for a shortlist built around your team, or put the top two side by side.