Guide · updated
What does an AEM 6.5 to Cloud Service migration cost?
There is no list price for an AEM migration because the work depends on your code, content and integrations. You can still estimate it well: cost is engineering hours times rate, and both can be measured.
What drives the hours
- Custom components and dialogs, especially Classic UI dialogs and Foundation-based components.
- Code that uses APIs removed from Cloud Service (since April 2026, Cloud Manager fails builds that import them).
- Repository structure: packages that mix /apps and /content, configuration under /etc, custom run modes.
- Asset processing: customised DAM Update Asset workflows move to asset microservices.
- Integrations, custom authentication and anything that relied on replication agents.
- Content volume and the number of content transfer runs and freezes the business can accept.
- Regression testing across sites, languages and templates.
Published AEM developer rates
| Region or source | Typical rate | Source |
|---|---|---|
| United States, mid to senior | USD 85–160 per hour | Flexiple hiring guide |
| Western Europe | USD 90–140 per hour | Flexiple hiring guide |
| Eastern Europe and Latin America | USD 60–110 per hour | Flexiple hiring guide |
| Freelance average (global) | USD 81 per hour | freelancermap |
Large programmes through global systems integrators are often described in public sources as running for many months; Publicis Sapient, for example, describes traditional AEM cloud migrations as taking 12 to 15 months.
A simple estimating method
- Run BPA and group findings by code.
- Assign planning hours per finding type; mechanical fixes take minutes each, workflow and authentication redesigns take days.
- Add fixed project work: Cloud Manager setup, content transfer runs, regression QA, cutover and hypercare.
- Multiply by a blended rate, then add a contingency that shrinks as more of the estate has been inspected.
The readiness scan applies this method automatically. Its numbers are planning estimates; a Blueprint replaces them with a fixed price.