Stuck on AEM 6.5? Here are 3 options

Support for AEM 6.5 on Adobe Managed Services ends August 31, 2026. On-prem core support ends February 2027. Upgrade to 6.5 LTS, rebuild on AEM as a Cloud Service, or migrate to Sanity. This hub gives you honest cost ranges and a calculator for all three.

The deadline is weeks away, not years

If a renewal quote or an Adobe deprecation notice brought you here, the plain version is this. Support for AEM 6.5 on Adobe Managed Services ends August 31, 2026. Core support for on-premise 6.5 customers ends in February 2027. After those dates you are running unsupported, unpatched software — a serious problem for any regulated or customer-facing site — unless you move.

Adobe's own path forward is AEM as a Cloud Service, and Gartner benchmarks a complex 6.5-to-Cloud migration at $500K to $5M. AEM 6.5 LTS buys more runway on the same heavyweight stack. And for the many AEM sites that are, underneath, content and publishing sites, there is a third door: replatform to Sanity and leave the Adobe license and infrastructure bills behind. Three honest paths, each with a real price tag — and with the AMS date this close, the one you can rule out is doing nothing.

Decision hub

Three honest paths off AEM 6.5

Answer a couple of quick questions to see which route fits your situation — then compare all three branches with real cost ranges, timelines, and the honest trade-off for each.

Find your path

How entangled is your Adobe footprint — Assets/DAM, Target, Analytics, Workfront, Commerce?

Weigh what you actually run in production, not everything you license.

Start hereAEM 6.5 support is ending. What now?

Upgrade to AEM 6.5 LTS

Extend support on the stack you already run.

One-time: $150k–$600k
Ongoing: Adobe license + infra
Timeline: 3–6 months

Best for

Deep Assets/DAM use
Adobe marketing stack
Compliance / residency needs
Buy runway to plan

The honest trade-off: AEM 6.5 LTS extends support but keeps you on the same heavyweight stack and Adobe licensing. It is a runway, not a destination — the cost model does not change.

Explore AEM options

Rebuild on AEM as a Cloud Service

Move to Adobe's continuously-updated cloud platform.

One-time: $500k–$5M
Ongoing: Adobe cloud subscription
Timeline: 9–18 months

Best for

Committed to the Adobe roadmap
Enterprise DAM at scale
Global compliance & governance
Want continuous cloud updates

The honest trade-off: Gartner benchmarks complex 6.5-to-Cloud migrations at $500K–$5M. A major program — the highest cost and longest timeline, and unlikely to complete before the AMS deadline.

AEM as a Cloud Service

Migrate to Sanity

Replatform a content-driven site and cut run cost to near zero.

One-time: $60k–$250k
Ongoing: Near $0 — often free
Timeline: Weeks to a couple of months

Best for

Content / publishing site
Tired of AEM license + infra
Want fast, static, edge-served pages
Editors want modern authoring

The honest trade-off: Built for content-driven sites. Heavy DAM workflows, Target personalization, or Commerce extend the scope — we will tell you honestly if you are a fit.

Alternatives to AEM

ROI calculator

What will each path actually cost you?

Adjust what you spend on AEM 6.5 today — Adobe licensing, hosting/infrastructure, and maintenance. We model the one-time investment, ongoing run cost, and three-year total for each path so you can see the trade-offs side by side.

Your current annual AEM 6.5 spend

Adjust each line to match your reality. The total is what every path is measured against.

Adobe license / subscription?

Annual AEM 6.5 license or Adobe subscription fees.

Hosting & infrastructure?

AMS fees or self-managed author/publish/dispatcher infrastructure and environments.

Maintenance, upgrades & dev?

Patching, service packs, upgrades, and your AEM development team or partner.

Total annual spend$800k

Stay on AEM 6.5$2.4MDo-nothing cost over 3 years — and 6.5 support is ending.

3-year total cost, side by side

Bars show the range (low to high) for each path. Shorter is cheaper.

Stay on AEM 6.5$2.4M

Upgrade to 6.5 LTS$2.4M–$3.2M

AEM as a Cloud Service$2.4M–$7.9M

Migrate to Sanity$60k–$562k

Upgrade to 6.5 LTS

Extend support on the same stack.

One-time investment: $150k–$600k
Ongoing / year: $760k–$880k
3-year total: $2.4M–$3.2M

vs. Stay on AEM 6.5 (3 yrs)+$30k–$840k to invest

6.5 LTS extends support but keeps the same Adobe license and infrastructure footprint — the run cost does not drop.

Explore AEM options

AEM as a Cloud Service

Adobe's cloud platform (Gartner: $500K–$5M).

One-time investment: $500k–$5M
Ongoing / year: $640k–$960k
3-year total: $2.4M–$7.9M

vs. Stay on AEM 6.5 (3 yrs)+$20k–$5.5M to invest

Gartner benchmarks complex 6.5-to-Cloud migrations at $500K–$5M; the cloud subscription replaces infra but licensing continues.

AEM as a Cloud Service

Lowest 3-yr cost

Migrate to Sanity

Replatform a content-driven site; run cost near zero.

One-time investment: $60k–$250k
Ongoing / year: $0–$104k
3-year total: $60k–$562k

vs. Stay on AEM 6.5 (3 yrs)Save $1.8M–$2.3M

Assumes a content-driven site. Heavy DAM, Target, or Commerce workflows add scope.

Alternatives to AEM

Get a firm number for your site

Estimates are directional. AEM as a Cloud Service figures reflect Gartner's $500K–$5M benchmark for complex 6.5-to-Cloud migrations; your numbers depend on scope, DAM footprint, and integrations. Book a scoping call for a firm figure.

How to read these numbers honestly

Cheapest is not automatically right. If your business genuinely runs on Adobe Assets/DAM at scale, Target personalization, or Commerce, AEM 6.5 LTS or a Cloud Service rebuild keeps capabilities a content-first replatform would not replace. That is a real reason to keep investing, and we will say so.

But a large share of AEM 6.5 sites are, underneath, content and publishing sites running on an extremely expensive engine. If that is you, migrating to Sanity typically pays for itself well inside the first year and then costs almost nothing to run. With the AMS deadline weeks away, it is also one of the few paths that can realistically be completed in time — a full Cloud Service program cannot.

Straight answers

Is AEM 6.5 really end of life?

For Adobe Managed Services customers, support ends August 31, 2026. For on-premise customers, core support ends in February 2027. After those dates you are on unsupported, unpatched software unless you move to 6.5 LTS, AEM as a Cloud Service, or a new platform. AEM 6.5 LTS is Adobe's way to extend life on the existing stack, but it does not change your cost model.

What does moving to AEM as a Cloud Service cost?

Gartner benchmarks a complex 6.5-to-Cloud migration at $500K to $5M, plus the ongoing Adobe cloud subscription. Simpler implementations land lower, but it is consistently the largest and longest of the three paths. Use the calculator above with your real spend to see the three-year picture side by side.

Do we lose our DAM and Assets if we leave Adobe?

It depends on how much you truly use. Many AEM sites license a heavy DAM and marketing stack but run a fraction of it in production. If that describes you, a content-first migration loses little of real value, and assets move to a modern pipeline. If Assets at scale, Target, or Commerce genuinely drive your business, staying in Adobe is the honest call — and we will tell you which side of that line you are on.

Can we actually move before the deadline?

A 6.5 LTS upgrade typically runs 3 to 6 months. A Cloud Service rebuild is a 9-to-18-month program and will not finish before the August 2026 AMS date. A content-driven Sanity migration is measured in weeks to a couple of months. With the deadline this close, 6.5 LTS (to buy runway) and a Sanity migration (to leave for good) are the two paths that can realistically land in time.

Not sure which path is yours?

Tell us about your AEM 6.5 site and we will give you an honest recommendation and a firm number — 6.5 LTS, AEM as a Cloud Service, or Sanity — in time to act before the deadline.