What to do when your Craft CMS agency closes or goes quiet

When a Craft CMS agency closes, your site keeps running for a while. Nothing breaks on the day the agency stops trading. The risk comes later, when a renewal lapses, a server needs an update or something goes wrong and nobody has the keys.

So the first job is to secure access to the things you own. Fixes and new work come after that.

This post is for the person left holding the site. You may be a marketing manager or a founder. You did not build it and you may never have logged in to the server. That is normal.

The first week is about access, not fixes

Start by making a list of every account the site depends on. Then find out who controls each one. Clients usually come to me after an agency has closed and only then find out how much was held in the agency's name.

These are the accounts that matter most.

• The domain name. Find out which registrar holds it and whose account it sits in. If the domain expires, the site and your email go offline.

• The hosting. This is the server the site runs on. Check who pays the bill and who can log in.

• The code. Most Craft sites live in a code store such as GitHub or Bitbucket. Ask whose account owns it.

• The database and file backups. A backup you cannot reach is no help.

• Email sending, analytics, payment and other outside services the site uses.

• The Craft control panel. Make sure at least one admin account belongs to someone inside your business.

If the agency still answers email, ask for all of this in one message. Be specific. Ask them to transfer each account to you, not to send passwords.

If they do not answer, work through the list with each provider. Most registrars and hosts have a way for you to prove you own the business behind an account. It is slow, so start early.

Your Craft licence should be in your name

Craft CMS has paid licences for the core system and for many plugins. A plugin is an add-on that gives the site an extra feature. These licences live in an online account called Craft Console.

Often the agency bought the licences under its own account. That is not a problem while the agency exists. Once it closes, nobody can renew the updates on them.

Craft's own guide explains how to release and claim a licence. The current owner releases the licence key, then the new owner claims it. If the agency has gone, ask Craft's support team how to move the licence to you.

Once you hold the licences, keep them in an account your business owns. Then the next change of developer is a five minute job.

Check which version of Craft the site runs

The version matters more than most owners realise. Craft publishes the dates when each major version stops getting fixes on its supported versions page.

Craft 4 stopped getting security fixes on 30 April 2026. Craft 3 stopped two years before that. A site on either version still works, but any new security hole will stay open.

If your site is on Craft 4 or older, plan an upgrade. It does not have to happen this week. It should be on the list for this year. I wrote about the real costs of moving from Craft 4 to Craft 5 if you want to know what is involved.

Do not let a new developer start with changes

The next developer will want to look at the code before touching it. That is a good sign.

A site that has run for years without an owner often has small surprises. There may be plugins nobody uses, custom code with no notes, or settings that only make sense to the person who wrote them. Changing things before you understand them is how a small job turns into a rebuild.

A proper takeover starts with a look at the whole site. I described the stages in what a Craft CMS takeover includes. In short, the developer secures access, checks the code and the plugins, writes down what they find and gives you a plan.

If you want a written view of the site before you hire anyone, my site health report costs £495 plus VAT. It covers speed, security, plugins and hosting and it tells you what needs attention first.

If something is broken right now

Sometimes the agency closes at the worst moment. The site is down, a form has stopped sending or the shop cannot take payments.

In that case, access still comes first. A developer cannot fix a server they cannot log in to. Gather whatever logins you have, then get help. I offer emergency support for this kind of problem.

Once the site is working again, go back to the access list. Fix the cause of the panic, then fix the ownership gap that made it worse.

Decide how the site gets looked after next

When access is safe and you know the site's condition, you have three broad options.

1. Hire another agency. This suits you if you have a steady flow of new work and a budget for account management.

2. Hire a freelance developer for a monthly retainer. A retainer is a fixed monthly fee for a set amount of care. This suits most small business sites that need updates, backups and the odd change.

3. Pay for work only when you need it. This is the cheapest in quiet months. It is also the riskiest, because nobody watches the site in between.

For most sites I see, the middle option works best. Someone who knows the site checks updates on a test copy, keeps backups and answers when something goes wrong. That is what my Craft CMS support and maintenance covers.

What to ask before you sign with anyone new

You have just learned how much depends on one supplier. Use that lesson when you choose the next one.

• Ask where the code will live and make sure it lives in your account.

• Ask for all licences to stay in your name.

• Ask for a short written record of the hosting setup, the plugins and any custom code.

• Ask what happens to your site if they stop working with you.

A good developer will agree to all four without fuss. If someone resists, treat that as an answer.