Kentico – Why Companies Are Choosing WordPress

/why-companies-are-running-away-from-kentico

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Kentico Outage | Migrating From Kentico 13 | Migrating From Azure

Web Experts have experience with a multitude of CMS systems. Many of our clients have existing websites. Recently we have seen an influx of clients with Kentico systems asking to migrate to WordPress. With the recent Azure outage on January 25th, 2023, some websites built on Kentico 13 and hosted on Azure went offline for a period of time. This outage has prompted some companies using Kentico and Azure to consider migrating to alternative platforms like WordPress in order to have more support and flexibility.

As digital technology continues advancing rapidly, the cost of operating website management systems is becoming prohibitively high for some companies. Surprise upgrade fees, being locked into using expensive agencies, and other factors are causing frustration with platforms like Kentico. Many organizations are deciding to move away from Kentico for several reasons:

• High operational costs – Maintaining a Kentico website requires paying license fees, ongoing maintenance and support costs. Additionally, upgrading to new versions of Kentico requires purchasing a new license which can be very expensive.
• Difficulty finding developers – The pool of available Kentico developers is smaller than more widely used platforms. This makes finding qualified and affordable developers to build and maintain a Kentico site challenging.
• Limited design options – Kentico provides less design flexibility compared to open source platforms like WordPress. The design and layout options are more constrained and customizations can be costly and complex.
• Surprise upgrade costs – As mentioned previously, upgrading Kentico versions requires purchasing a new license, which frequently catches companies off guard with unplanned costs.
• Clunky functionality – Kentico’s administrative backend and content editing experience is not as smooth or user-friendly as some other platforms. This can make managing and updating site content frustrating.

Many organizations are opting to move to open source platforms like WordPress which provide more affordable operations, design flexibility, abundant developer resources, predictable costs, and a better overall content management experience. As issues like the recent Azure outage demonstrate, companies are increasingly wary of being locked into rigid proprietary systems like Kentico.

Kentico is not as widely used as other major content management systems like WordPress or Drupal. As a result, the pool of available Kentico developers is much smaller compared to more mainstream platforms. This shortage of qualified Kentico developers can cause significant challenges for companies needing to make updates or add new features to their Kentico sites. Tasking developers unfamiliar with Kentico to work on a site leads to delays and mistakes. Even finding affordable freelance Kentico developers can be extremely difficult due to the niche skillset required.

The limited design options available with Kentico’s templates and theming can also be problematic for companies wanting a highly customized website visual appearance. Kentico provides a more constrained set of design tools and customization capabilities compared to open source competitors. Designers have a harder time breaking free from the restrictive Kentico templates to create a truly unique look and feel. Implementing significant visual customizations also requires complex and costly development workarounds. This design inflexibility leaves companies frustrated with the resulting website aesthetics.

Additionally, being forced to purchase new Kentico licenses to upgrade to the latest version hits companies with surprise and unplanned costs. Unlike open source platforms with free upgrades, Kentico’s proprietary license model means major upgrades require sizable new license purchases. Companies often fail to budget for these large periodic upgrade fees. The sudden cost spikes to upgrade Kentico can negatively impact budgets and perception of the platform’s value.

Finally, the overall functionality and user experience within Kentico can feel clunky and unintuitive. Both content editors and developers frequently struggle to navigate Kentico’s confusing backend and complete basic management tasks. The administrative interface often lacks polish and can be difficult to figure out without formal training. Needed content, configuration options, and site features are not always easy to locate. This leads to frustration for users trying to effectively update and maintain a site using Kentico’s platform.

While Kentico offers a comprehensive website management system, an increasing number of companies are opting to move away from the platform. The high operational costs, scarcity of developers, restrictive design options, surprise upgrade fees, and subpar usability all contribute to growing dissatisfaction. As digital technologies continue rapidly evolving, organizations want web solutions that are affordable, flexible, and easy to use. Kentico’s proprietary model and closed-off approach no longer align with these requirements. This is pushing companies to explore more open and user-friendly options like WordPress to better manage their websites going forward. The recent Azure outage merely affirmed the concerns many already had about relying on rigid systems like Kentico long-term.

Contact our team if you need help migrating from Kentico to WordPress. Our Web Experts are always ready to help!