PrestaShop upgrade: 1.6, 1.7 and 8.x to 9.1, without losing the store on the way.
A PrestaShop upgrade is not a button. Between an old 1.6 or 1.7 store and PrestaShop 9.1 sit years of modules, overrides, theme changes and database growth that each have to survive the move. We've been inside PrestaShop's codebase for most of its life and have done every migration path between its versions, including the ones that were started by someone else and left half-finished. Fixed price, set after we have seen the code, delivered on a staging copy with a rollback path.
The problem
PrestaShop 1.6 is end of life, with no security fixes. 1.7 is no longer maintained. 8.x gets critical bugs and security fixes only. Most agencies dropped PrestaShop when Shopify got easy, so the merchants still doing serious volume on it have almost nowhere to go when the upgrade is due. Attempt it with the built-in tool on a store with a custom theme and thirty modules and the usual result is a half-upgraded store, a broken checkout and no way back.
Where does your version stand?
| Your version | Status |
|---|---|
| 1.6 and earlier | End of life. No security fixes. |
| 1.7.x | No longer maintained: PrestaShop 8 and 9 replaced it |
| 8.0 – 8.2 | Extended support. Critical bugs and security only. No new features. |
| 9.0 | Supported |
| 9.1 | Current. Ships Hummingbird 2.0 as the default theme. |
What's included
- Audit and baseline: code, database, server; your speed baseline captured with Google's own tools before any change.
- PHP brought to a current version alongside the platform.
- The PrestaShop upgrade itself, to 9.1, done on a staging copy.
- Module triage: keep, replace, remove or rewrite. Abandoned third-party modules that matter to your business are rewritten.
- Theme and override work so what your store does today still works after the upgrade.
- Database work: indexes, slow queries, bloated tables that grew over the years.
- Front-end performance, then a move onto a dedicated server we manage.
- Handover: staging environment, deploy process with rollback, backups, monitoring, written documentation. Repository access is yours from day one.
How it works
- Technical Review, $750. Fixed price, 3 business days from receipt of access. We go through your code, database and server and you get written findings ranked by business impact, the upgrade path for your version, and the fixed quote. Credited in full against the rescue if you proceed. You are never quoted an upgrade before we have seen the code.
- The upgrade, as a Store Rescue. 30 working days on a staging copy: PHP and platform upgrade, module triage, database work, performance, security and load testing, then a planned cutover with a rollback path. 50% on start, 50% on delivery.
- Monitoring or Managed Engineering. Your upgraded store runs on a dedicated server we manage, month to month with no minimum term, with the speed guaranteed in writing.
Price
The review is $750. The upgrade is delivered as a Store Rescue with three public tiers, set by how much store there is to move, not by your revenue:
| Store Rescue one-off, 30 working days | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Essentials — from $4,500 | Up to ~1,000 products, standard theme, up to ~30 modules, no custom integrations |
| Standard — $7,500 | Up to ~10,000 products, a custom or heavily modified theme, or a few integrations (ERP, shipping, accounting) |
| Complex — $9,500 | A larger catalog, custom code, multiple integrations or multistore |
Your exact fixed price is set in the review, before you commit, and the $750 comes off it. Afterwards: Monitoring at from $395/month, or Managed Engineering from $950/month, no minimum term. Everything, with the guarantee in full, is on the pricing page.
The guarantee
If your store doesn't reach a mobile Lighthouse Performance score of 80 or more within 30 days of the rescue being finished, the next month is free. Measured with Lighthouse mobile via Google's PageSpeed Insights from a US test location: the median of three consecutive runs on your home page, your top category and your top product page, against a baseline captured before any change. Kozelj.net, a PrestaShop store we upgraded and now maintain, went from 41 to 94 on that test; both the old and the new store are online.
Questions
How much does a PrestaShop upgrade cost?
It starts with a $750 Technical Review. The upgrade itself is delivered as a Store Rescue with three public tiers: Essentials from $4,500 (up to ~1,000 products, standard theme, up to ~30 modules, no custom integrations), Standard $7,500 (up to ~10,000 products, a custom or heavily modified theme, or a few integrations) and Complex $9,500 (a larger catalog, custom code, multiple integrations or multistore). Your exact fixed price is set in the review, and the $750 is credited against it.
How long does an upgrade to PrestaShop 9 take?
30 working days, counted from the day we have SFTP or SSH, database, admin, DNS and repository access, not from signature. Week 1 is the audit and baseline; weeks 2 and 3 are the upgrade and module work on a staging copy; week 4 is performance, security and load testing; week 5 is cutover, verification against the guarantee and handover.
Can you upgrade from PrestaShop 1.6 or 1.7 directly to 9?
Yes. We do 1.6, 1.7 and 8.x migrations to PrestaShop 9.1, and we recover stores where a previous upgrade attempt failed or was left half-finished. The path depends on your version, your modules and your theme; the review maps it before anything is promised.
What happens to my modules?
Every module is triaged: keep, replace, remove or rewrite. Modules that have been abandoned by their author and matter to your business are rewritten; modules that only cost you page speed are removed with your agreement. The list is in the review, before you commit.
Will my store go offline during the upgrade?
The upgrade is done on a staging copy, not on your live store. The cutover is planned, with a rollback path and a backup taken before anyone touches anything. You also get the staging environment, a deploy process with rollback and written documentation at handover.
What happens after the upgrade?
Your store runs on a dedicated server we manage, on Monitoring (from $395/month) or Managed Engineering (from $950/month). One of the two is part of every rescue, month to month with no minimum term, and that is what lets us guarantee the speed: a mobile Lighthouse Performance score of 80 or more within 30 days of the rescue being finished, or the next month is free.
Related
- PrestaShop: everything we do on the platform.
- Store Rescue: the full scope and timeline the upgrade is delivered in.
- PrestaShop speed optimization: when the store is slow but not due for an upgrade.
- PrestaShop maintenance and managed PrestaShop hosting: what happens after the upgrade.
- Pricing: every price and the guarantee in full.
Start with the review
Or request the $750 Technical Review and we come back to you with the upgrade path and the fixed quote in 3 business days.