SAP ECC End of Support 2027: Your Options, Deadlines and Costs

Short answer: SAP ends mainstream maintenance for SAP Business Suite 7, the ERP most people call ECC, at the end of 2027. Extended maintenance is available to the end of 2030 at a premium of two percentage points on the maintenance base. After that, systems fall to customer-specific maintenance, unless they qualify for SAP’s paid transition option, which runs from 2031 to 2033. Your real choices are to convert to SAP S/4HANA, start a new S/4HANA implementation, move selected data, buy time with extended maintenance, or replace SAP altogether.

Last updated: 14 November 2026. Dates and terms checked on SAP’s own pages on that date.

The 2027 date has been public since 2020, yet many companies are still deciding. This guide sets out the dates, what each one actually changes, the options open to you, what drives the cost of each, and the questions that settle the choice.

In this guide: The dates · What changes after each date · Your options · What drives the cost · How to decide · FAQ

The SAP ECC support dates

Date	What happens
December 31, 2027	Mainstream maintenance ends for SAP Business Suite 7 core applications, including ECC
2028 to December 31, 2030	Optional extended maintenance, at a premium of two percentage points on the maintenance base
From 2031	Customer-specific maintenance, unless you are on SAP’s transition option
2031 to 2033	SAP ERP, private edition, transition option: a paid subscription for qualifying customers whose move is under way
Until at least 2040	SAP commits to keeping at least one SAP S/4HANA release in maintenance

What changes after each date

ECC does not stop working on January 1, 2028. What changes is the help SAP provides and what it costs.

• In 2028 to 2030, on extended maintenance, support continues, but your maintenance bill rises by two percentage points of the maintenance base.
• Under customer-specific maintenance, SAP’s support is limited to your existing setup. In an October 2026 update, SAP said it does not consider customer-specific maintenance a sustainable long-term model for business-critical systems.
• If ECC runs on a non-SAP database, the end of 2030 matters even more. SAP says its support arrangements with major third-party database providers end then, and that tooling to convert such systems to S/4HANA or SAP Cloud ERP is only available before the end of 2030. After that, only a new implementation is supported.

Your options

Option	What it means	Best when
System conversion (brownfield)	Convert your existing ECC system to S/4HANA, keeping data, configuration and much of your custom code	Your processes are sound and you want continuity
New implementation (greenfield)	Start a fresh S/4HANA system on SAP’s standard processes and move only the data you choose	Processes have drifted and customizations have piled up
Selective data transition	Move chosen parts, such as some company codes or a run of history, into a new S/4HANA system	Large estates where some areas deserve keeping and others do not
Stay on ECC for now	Use extended maintenance to 2030, then decide	Value of S/4HANA is unclear and the business needs time
Replace SAP	Implement a different ERP	SAP no longer fits the size or shape of the business

One constraint narrows the choice: SAP states that S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition supports only a new implementation, not a system conversion (SAP Learning). If you want to keep your existing system and convert it, you are choosing a private or on-premise edition. Our guide to choosing an ERP migration strategy explains how these routes compare in general.

The 2031 to 2033 transition option

For customers whose move is under way but will not finish by 2030, SAP offers the SAP ERP, private edition, transition option (SAP News). According to SAP:

• It is a time-bound subscription for business continuity from 2031 to 2033.
• Systems must be moved to SAP ERP, private edition on SAP HANA before December 31, 2030.
• It is priced as an uplift on private edition pricing. Customers signing up in 2026 get a standard 20 percent uplift when they switch in 2031; terms for later sign-ups have not been published.
• It requires SAP HANA, a minimum system size, and SAP’s max success plan, billed on top.

SAP updated that page in October 2026 to say subscriptions may run to December 31, 2035 with further prerequisites. Check the current terms, and SAP Note 3591251, with your SAP account team before planning around them.

What drives the cost

Published SAP prices are scarce, and every estate is different, so cost is better understood through what drives it:

• Custom code. In a conversion, every custom program has to be checked and fixed or retired. The more custom code, the bigger the bill.
• Data volume and history. Large databases take longer to convert and test. Archiving before you move can cut both.
• The database you run on. A non-SAP database adds a database migration, and after 2030 removes the conversion route altogether.
• Scope. Company codes, countries, modules and integrations each add design and testing.
• Maintenance while you wait. Extended maintenance adds two percentage points to the maintenance base each year from 2028, and the transition option is priced as an uplift.

For a sense of scale, one SAP pricing guide puts a standard mid-market S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition implementation at USD 150,000 to 600,000 in services (ERP Pilot). Conversions of large, heavily customized estates usually cost far more. Our ERP cloud migration cost guide shows how to build a budget line by line, including the period you run both systems.

How to decide

1. Which database does ECC run on? If it is not SAP HANA, the end of 2030 is a hard planning line for any conversion.
2. How much of your custom code is still used? Measure it. Heavy, rarely used custom code favors a new implementation.
3. Are your processes worth keeping? If yes, conversion preserves them. If they are habits shaped by old limits, start fresh.
4. Can you put a number on the value of S/4HANA? If not, staying on ECC under extended maintenance while you build the case is a legitimate decision, as long as it is a decision and not a drift.
5. Does SAP still fit the business? If you have shrunk, simplified or changed shape, a different ERP may serve you better than any SAP route.

You would not be alone in taking time. Gartner estimated in early 2025 that more than 60 percent of SAP customers were still on ECC on-premises with no decision yet to move (The Register). But every year of waiting shortens the runway, and partners and SAP experts get busier the closer the deadlines get.

Frequently asked questions

When does SAP ECC support end?

Mainstream maintenance for SAP Business Suite 7, including ECC, ends on December 31, 2027. Optional extended maintenance runs to December 31, 2030, at a two percentage point premium. After that, customer-specific maintenance applies unless you qualify for SAP’s transition option.

Will ECC stop working after 2027?

No. The software keeps running. What changes is the level of support SAP provides and what you pay for it.

What is the SAP ERP, private edition, transition option?

A paid, time-bound subscription that gives qualifying customers business continuity from 2031 to 2033. Systems must be on SAP ERP, private edition on SAP HANA before the end of 2030, and SAP’s max success plan is required.

Can we convert ECC to S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition?

No. SAP states that Public Edition supports only a new implementation. A system conversion leads to a private or on-premise edition.

How much does moving from ECC to S/4HANA cost?

It depends on custom code, data volume, database, scope and the route you choose. One SAP pricing guide puts a standard mid-market Public Edition implementation at USD 150,000 to 600,000 in services; conversions of large, customized estates usually cost more.

Making the right call on your ECC future

The 2027 date starts the clock, but 2030 is the line that matters for most plans, especially if ECC runs on a non-SAP database. Check your database, measure your custom code, decide whether your processes are worth keeping, and choose a route with enough runway to test it properly.

Appson Technologies runs full ERP implementations, from scoping and data migration through integrations, testing and go-live support. Tell us how you run ECC today, the modules and integrations involved and your timeline, and we will tell you how we would approach the move and what our proposal would cover. Discuss your ERP project.