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Migration Cost Estimate Calculator

Work out migration cost estimate instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Migration Cost Estimate Calculator

Migration cost splits sharply between rehosting, which is largely mechanical and priced per server, and refactoring, which is software engineering priced per application at an order of magnitude more. Eighteen refactored applications can cost more than 240 rehosted servers, which is why the standard advice is to migrate first and modernise afterwards.

Formula

Migration cost

lift and shift = servers x per-server cost; refactoring = applications x per-application cost; total = both

Worked example

With the default values below, Migration Cost Estimate Calculator returns Total migration cost of $1,482,000. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Servers to migrateminimum 1
240
Cost per server migratedminimum 0
2,800
Applications requiring refactoringminimum 0
18
Cost per refactored applicationminimum 0
45,000

Results

Total migration cost
$1,482,000
Lift-and-shift migration
$672,000
Application refactoring
$810,000
Share of cost from refactoring
54.7%

Step by step

  1. 1Values used
  2. 2Migration cost
  3. 3Total migration cost= 1,482,000
  4. 4Lift-and-shift migration= 672,000
  5. 5Application refactoring= 810,000
  6. 6Share of cost from refactoring= 54.7

Assumptions and limits

  • The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
  • In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax or compounding frequency into account.
  • Figures are rounded for display to 1 decimal place, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should everything be refactored during migration?

No. Doing both at once multiplies risk and schedule. Rehost to establish the platform, then modernise the applications where the business case justifies it.

What is usually underestimated?

Discovery and dependency mapping. Undocumented integrations surface during cutover, and each one adds unplanned work at the worst possible moment.

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