A call I get fairly often starts like this: “Our site runs on DNN, the person who built it has left, and we are not sure whether to keep investing in it.” There is no universal answer. DNN is still maintained and still a good fit for some sites, and for others a move makes more sense. Here is how I decide, with clients, whether to stay on DNN or move away.
Where DNN stands today
DNN Platform is not abandoned. DNN 10.0.0 arrived in 2025, and the open-source project has kept shipping 10.x releases since. It is still a Windows platform: the project’s documentation lists .NET Framework 4.8, Windows Server 2016 or later with IIS (or Azure App Service), and SQL Server 2017, 2019 or 2022 as the requirements. If you are running 9.x on that kind of hosting already, you are not stranded.
What changed is that DNN 10 is not a routine update. The DNN community describes it as a significant release with breaking changes. It removes every API that was deprecated before DNN 9.0.0, and it removes the Telerik components that earlier versions bundled, which previously could be left in place.
What decides whether upgrading is easy
In my experience the platform version matters less than what is installed on top of it. Before quoting any upgrade I check four things:
- Your current version. The community’s suggested upgrade path goes through DNN 9.13.x before moving to 10.x, and older sites need several steps to get there. A site on 7.x or 8.x is a longer job than one on 9.13.
- Third-party modules. Ask each vendor whether a DNN 10 version exists. Popular extensions have mostly been updated, but small or abandoned modules are where upgrades stall.
- Custom code. Anything built by a former developer may call APIs that no longer exist, and may need recompiling or rewriting.
- Telerik dependence. If your forms, editors or custom pages lean on the old Telerik controls, that code needs attention first.
When to stay on DNN
Staying makes sense when the site does real work that would be expensive to rebuild: member areas with role-based permissions, intranet or portal features, integrations with other Windows or .NET systems, or years of content with a tangled structure. If your hosting is already set up for DNN, your team knows the admin area, and the modules you rely on have DNN 10 versions, a planned upgrade is usually cheaper and less risky than starting over.
When a move is the better call
I suggest moving when the site is mostly a marketing site with a blog and a contact form, when hosting costs and specialist developer time are out of proportion to what the site does, or when key modules are abandoned and cannot be replaced. WordPress is the usual destination for content sites, and Shopify when the real purpose is selling products. Moving is also a good moment to fix things that were never right, such as page speed and accessibility.
A move does cost something. Content and URLs need to be mapped, redirects set up so you keep your search rankings, forms and integrations rebuilt, and users trained on a new admin. Done carefully, it is a project of weeks, not months, for most small business sites.
What not to do
The riskiest option is doing nothing. An unpatched DNN site on an old version accumulates security exposure. The community notes that the 9.13.10 hotfix contains security patches through 10.2.0, so a site stuck on 9.13 should at least be brought up to that point while the bigger decision is made. And whichever way you go, take a full backup of files and database, and test the upgrade on a copy before touching the live site. The same habit applies to any platform’s routine maintenance.
A simple way to decide
Start with an audit: DNN version, hosting, module list with vendors, custom code, and a list of what the site must do. Then compare two honest quotes, one for upgrading to DNN 10 and one for a rebuild, against what the site earns or saves your business. If the numbers are close, I lean towards whichever option leaves you with fewer moving parts.
I have worked with DNN for many years and can handle either path: upgrades and repairs on existing DNN sites, or a planned move to WordPress. See my DNN services, or send me your site details and I will tell you which route I would take. If accessibility is part of the picture, my guide to ADA, the Equality Act and WCAG is a useful companion.
Version details are based on the DNN community documentation at the time of writing and may change. Check the official DNN release notes before you upgrade.
