Migration
AEM 6.5 core support ends 28 February 2027: upgrade to 6.5 LTS, move to AEM as a Cloud Service, or replatform to Sanity?
Short answer
Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) 6.5 LTS (long-term support) is the smallest supported step for AEM 6.5 on premises, because it's an in-place upgrade Adobe recommends (Adobe's LTS FAQ, October 2026). AEM as a Cloud Service is a migration (Adobe, October 2026), and Sanity wins only where content must leave AEM's pages anyway. Core support for classic AEM 6.5 on premises ends 28 February 2027; critical fixes end 28 February 2028 (Adobe, October 2026).
- AEM 6.5 core support ends
- 28 February 2027Extended support, critical fixes only, runs to 28 February 2028; Service Pack 26, targeted for 19 November 2026, is the last 6.5 service packSources: Adobe (AEM 6.5 On-premise support timelines and service pack policy, Adobe Experience Manager releases roadmap, Products and technical support periods)
- Adobe's recommended path
- An in-place upgrade to AEM 6.5 LTSFrom Service Pack 19 or later straight to any LTS service pack, on Java 17 or 21; some legacy features were removed, and the AEM Analyzer sizes the workSources: Adobe (AEM 6.5 LTS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), AEM 6.5 On-premise support timelines and service pack policy)
- AEM 6.5 LTS end of support
- Adobe's pages disagreeAdobe's knowledge base gives 6.5's dates; its support matrix gives open-ended support by service pack; its roadmap targets LTS service packs to 18 November 2027Sources: Adobe (AEM 6.5 On-premise support timelines and service pack policy, Products and technical support periods, Adobe Experience Manager releases roadmap)
- Sanity Growth plan
- $15 per seat a monthEnterprise is custom pricing; Content Releases, custom roles and Media Library sit on Enterprise, as of October 2026Sources: Sanity (Plans that scale with you, Sanity for Startups, Scheduled Drafts: Stop manually publishing content at midnight); Sanity Docs (Media Library introduction, Roles and permissions)
Deploi’s call
Upgrade on-premises AEM 6.5 to 6.5 LTS before 28 February 2027, unless your content already has to leave AEM's pages. The deadline forces a version decision, not a new CMS. Most AEM estates built around Adobe's other products should stay on Adobe; Sanity wins where you'd rebuild the front end anyway and the content serves apps or several brands.
UpgradeUpgrade to AEM 6.5 LTS when
- You run Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) 6.5 on premises at Service Pack 19 or later, so you can move straight to a 6.5 long-term support (LTS) service pack, and the AEM Analyzer finds little removed code.
- Authors depend on Multi Site Manager live copies, Launches or AEM workflows, because Sanity's nearest features are on Enterprise (Content Releases and Media Library as add-ons, custom roles included) or in early access (Workflows) as of October 2026.
- Adobe Target, Analytics or Forms are wired into your AEM pages, so leaving AEM means rebuilding those integrations too.
- Adobe confirms the 6.5 LTS end-of-support date in writing, because its own pages disagree as of October 2026.
SanityReplatform from AEM to Sanity when
- The same content must feed apps, several brands or a JavaScript front end, so content held in AEM pages and components blocks reuse.
- Your AEM work is already a rebuild, such as a redesign, so you'd pay for a new front end either way.
- Few authors rely on Multi Site Manager, Launches or the Adobe products around AEM.
- Your developers will own schema code, import scripts and the front end after launch, because Sanity stores content and doesn't render pages.
What do the AEM 6.5 support dates mean for your budget cycle?
Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) 6.5 on premises leaves core support on 28 February 2027 and gets critical fixes only until 28 February 2028 (Adobe knowledge base; Adobe support periods, October 2026), so fund any move in the current budget cycle (Deploi's judgment). From 24 October 2026, that's 127 days to the first date and 492 to the second (Deploi arithmetic from Adobe's dates). Any move that isn't live by 28 February 2027 leaves the site on critical fixes only until it ships. Each service pack is supported for about 18 months from release, never past those dates (Adobe knowledge base, October 2026). Teams running Drupal too face the same choice on Drupal's own deadline.
| Date | Event | What stops |
|---|---|---|
| 28 February 2025 | 6.5 LTS (long-term support) generally available | Nothing; LTS is Adobe's recommended branch |
| 31 August 2026 | Managed Services support for 6.5 ended, per Adobe's roadmap | Adobe-hosted classic 6.5 |
| 19 November 2026, targeted | Service Pack 26, the last 6.5 service pack | New 6.5 service packs |
| 28 February 2027 | Core support ends | Regular fixes |
| 28 February 2028 | Extended support ends | Critical fixes |
What does staying on AEM involve: 6.5 LTS or AEM as a Cloud Service?
Staying on Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) means one of two moves of very different size: an in-place upgrade to AEM 6.5 LTS (long-term support), or a migration to AEM as a Cloud Service.
- AEM 6.5 LTS. Adobe recommends that organizations plan this upgrade. The branch runs on Java 17 and Java 21 and gets new AEM features (Adobe's LTS FAQ, October 2026). A 6.5 site upgrades straight to any LTS service pack (Adobe's LTS FAQ, October 2026), from Service Pack 19 or later per Adobe's knowledge base (Adobe knowledge base, October 2026). Some legacy features were removed, so Adobe tells you to size the work with its AEM Analyzer (Adobe's LTS FAQ, October 2026).
- AEM as a Cloud Service. Adobe calls it a migration journey, in readiness, implementation, go-live and post go-live phases (Adobe, migration journey, October 2026). Its Best Practices Analyzer reports code that must be refactored and 6.x features that aren't supported on Cloud Service (Adobe, Best Practices Analyzer, October 2026), so choosing between AEM as a Cloud Service and leaving AEM gets its own page.
Headless AEM isn't a third move: it's AEM serving Content Fragments to any app over GraphQL (Adobe, Headless for AEM, October 2026), which AEM headless against a dedicated headless CMS (content management system) weighs.
When does AEM 6.5 LTS support end?
Adobe's own pages disagree on when Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) 6.5 LTS (long-term support) loses support, so get the date from Adobe in writing before you budget for it. The date matters because 6.5 LTS is the path Adobe recommends to on-premises customers, and an upgrade that shares classic 6.5's end dates is a different investment from one with no published end.
Both answers can't hold. If 6.5 LTS core support ended on 28 February 2027, the three LTS service packs targeted after that date would ship into a critical-fixes-only window. Until your Adobe account team confirms the LTS date in writing, fund against the earlier one, 28 February 2027 (Deploi's judgment about risk, not a finding about which page is right).
When does replatforming to Sanity win over staying on AEM?
Replatforming from Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) to Sanity wins when you'd rebuild the front end anyway and the content has to serve more than one website. Sanity stores content and serves it through APIs (application programming interfaces); it doesn't generate web pages (Sanity's Drupal guide, October 2026). Three situations favor the move:
- The same content feeds apps, several brands or a JavaScript front end, the case for running several brands from one Sanity setup.
- Your AEM work is already a rebuild, such as Cloud Service refactoring or a redesign, so you'd pay for a new front end either way.
- Few authors rely on Multi Site Manager, Launches or the Adobe products around AEM.
Sanity says Tata Digital found that AEM Headless "posed insurmountable roadblocks" (Sanity, Tata Digital story, October 2026). That's a vendor customer story, not a benchmark. Sanity's migration skill for AI agents includes an AEM guide (Sanity agent toolkit, October 2026), and Sanity calls the skill "agent-scaffolded, not fully automated" (Sanity blog, October 2026); the AEM to Sanity playbook covers the move itself.
Which exit from AEM 6.5 wins for your estate?
Upgrading in place to Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) 6.5 LTS (long-term support) wins for an on-premises estate at Service Pack 19 or later with little removed code (Deploi's judgment). Three of the five exits keep you on Adobe: that upgrade, AEM as a Cloud Service and waiting on extended support; Sanity and another content management system (CMS) leave it. Sanity's content is "never stored locally", because Studio "always connects to a dataset in the hosted Content Lake" (Sanity Docs, October 2026), so a self-hosting policy points to another CMS.
| Verdict | What you do | When it wins |
|---|---|---|
| UPGRADE | Upgrade in place to 6.5 LTS on Java 17 or 21 | Service Pack 19 or later, little removed code, and Adobe confirms the LTS dates |
| UPGRADE | Move to AEM as a Cloud Service | You want Adobe to run AEM and accept refactoring |
| SANITY | Replatform to Sanity | Content feeds apps or several brands and the front end is being rebuilt |
| ELSEWHERE | Replatform to another CMS | Policy needs a content database you host, or non-developers build pages (Deploi's judgment) |
| WAIT | Stay on 6.5 under extended support | A funded rebuild ships before 28 February 2028 and critical fixes will do until then |
When should you stay on AEM instead of moving to Sanity?
Stay on Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) when your authors depend on its built-in multi-site and release tools. Multi Site Manager keeps live copies of source content in sync across sites (Adobe, Multi Site Manager, October 2026), and Launches let authors edit a future version of pages while the current ones stay published (Adobe, Launches, October 2026). Sanity's nearest features sit on Enterprise or are still in early access, as of October 2026:
- Content Releases is an Enterprise add-on (Sanity pricing; Sanity blog, October 2026).
- Custom roles are Enterprise only (Sanity Docs, Roles, October 2026).
- Media Library, the nearest counterpart to AEM Assets, is an Enterprise add-on (Sanity Docs, Media Library, October 2026).
- Sanity Workflows is in early access (Sanity Docs, Workflows, October 2026), so it doesn't replace AEM workflows yet.
The AEM to Sanity playbook maps each AEM feature to a Sanity plan.
How do you compare the cost of staying on AEM with the cost of leaving?
Compare staying on Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) with leaving over the same horizon, counting one-time and recurring costs separately, because no published total exists. Adobe doesn't publish AEM prices; its AEM Sites page offers a demo, not a price (Adobe, AEM Sites, October 2026). Sanity's Growth plan is $15 per seat a month and Enterprise is custom pricing (Sanity pricing; Sanity for Startups, October 2026). AEM Sites as a Cloud Service is licensed against content requests, which the Cloud Service page explains, and the Sanity and AEM comparison goes line by line.
| Cost driver | AEM 6.5 LTS (long-term support) | AEM as a Cloud Service | Sanity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software fees | Adobe quote | Adobe quote, on content requests | Growth at $15 per seat a month, or Enterprise custom |
| One-time work | Upgrade and removed features | Refactored code, OSGi (Java module framework) configuration as code | Content model, import scripts, new front end |
| Hosting | Your servers, or Adobe Managed Services | Adobe runs AEM | Sanity hosts content; you host the front end |
| Next forced event | The LTS end date Adobe confirms | Monthly feature releases | Not published |
Deploi’s point of view
- Where we disagree
- The common pitch says AEM 6.5's end of support pushes you to AEM as a Cloud Service or off Adobe altogether. Adobe's own advice to on-premises customers is an in-place upgrade to 6.5 LTS. The second mistake is calling AEM as a Cloud Service an upgrade: Adobe's analyzer reports code to refactor, repository items to move and features Cloud Service doesn't support, which makes it a replatform of code and operations, not a version upgrade. The third is reading a vendor's total-cost claim as a finding; it's marketing until your own cost drivers say so.
- What we suggest you do first
- Run Adobe's AEM Analyzer and its Best Practices Analyzer against the same 6.5 code before anyone talks about replatforming. The first sizes the 6.5 LTS upgrade, the second sizes AEM as a Cloud Service, and together they tell you whether you're paying for a rebuild anyway. Then ask Adobe, in writing, when 6.5 LTS support ends.
- What we refuse to promise
- We won't quote hours, a timeline or a total for leaving AEM from a call. Our view of AEM rests on Adobe's documentation and public sources. Adobe publishes no AEM prices to compare against, and the drivers swing too much between estates for a rule of thumb.
When this answer changes
- Adobe publishes one end-of-support date for AEM 6.5 LTS, or brings its knowledge base and support matrix into line
- Service Pack 26 ships, or slips from its 19 November 2026 target
- Adobe moves AEM 6.5's 28 February 2027 core support date or its 28 February 2028 extended support date
- Sanity publishes an AEM migration course or importer, adds AEM to its MCP server's guided migration paths, or changes how it describes its migration skill's AEM guide
- Sanity moves Content Releases, custom roles or Media Library below Enterprise, or changes Growth's $15 per seat a month
Follow-up questions
Sources
Every source opened and checked on 25 October 2026.
- Adobe, AEM 6.5 On-premise support timelines and service pack policy
- Adobe, Adobe Experience Manager releases roadmap
- Adobe, AEM 6.5 LTS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- Adobe, Products and technical support periods
- Adobe, Getting Started with the Migration Journey to AEM as a Cloud Service
- Adobe, Overview to Best Practices Analyzer
- Adobe, Notable Changes to Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) as a Cloud Service
- Adobe, Understand Cloud Service Content Requests
- Adobe, Adobe Experience Manager Sites
- Adobe, Introduction to Headless for AEM
- Adobe, Reusing Content: Multi Site Manager and Live Copy
- Adobe, Using Launches to develop content for a future release
- Sanity, Plans that scale with you
- Sanity, Sanity for Startups
- Sanity, The Drupal developer's introduction to Sanity.io
- Sanity, Scaling a multi-brand e-commerce mobile app
- Sanity Docs, Media Library introduction
- Sanity Docs, Roles and permissions
- Sanity, Scheduled Drafts: Stop manually publishing content at midnight
- Sanity Docs, How early access works
- Sanity Docs, Studio development
- Sanity, August releases 2026
- Sanity on GitHub, sanity-migration skill