Contents
Key takeawaysWhy parallel runs happenWhat dual licensing costsAtlassian migration offersWhat we saw in 2024 and 2025Avoiding double paymentHow long the window should beChecking your positionWhat to do nextFAQA Cloud migration usually means running Data Center in parallel, and that overlap is where buyers pay twice. Keep the window short, end Data Center at cutover, and secure Atlassian's extension or credits before any renewal.
- A parallel run is normal. Most Atlassian Cloud migrations keep Data Center live for a window while teams, history and apps move in phases.
- The overlap is where you pay twice. Both subscriptions run together, and user tiers that do not line up between Cloud and Data Center inflate the bill further.
- Server is gone and Data Center has an end date. Server support ended on February 15, 2024, and Data Center reaches end of life on March 28, 2029.
- Atlassian's offers are real but conditional. Migration trials, dual licensing, step up credits and the Cloud Enterprise discount are time bound, and most go only to qualified customers who ask.
- Renewal timing decides the outcome. A full year Data Center renewal signed mid migration can leave you paying for a year you never use.
- A short, funded window costs far less. A fixed cutover date with every available credit claimed costs far less than an open ended overlap.
Atlassian ended support for Server on February 15, 2024, so the live choice is Cloud or Data Center. Data Center now has an end date as well, which makes the timing of your Cloud migration a licensing decision as much as a technical one.
Most enterprises are heading to Cloud, and very few can switch in a weekend, so they run both platforms for a period. The Atlassian migration guidance treats the change as a project. The licensing question is narrower. You need to know how long you will pay for two platforms, and who funds the overlap.
- February 15, 2024. Server support ended. Server is no longer an option.
- March 30, 2026. New customers could no longer buy Data Center subscriptions or Data Center Marketplace apps.
- March 30, 2028. Last day existing customers can buy new Data Center subscriptions, Marketplace apps or user tier expansions. Renewals at your current tier continue after this.
- March 28, 2029. End of life. Subscriptions expire, the products become read only, and support and security patches stop.
Why do Atlassian parallel runs happen?
A parallel run happens because a migration takes months and both platforms must stay live until the last team switches. Few buyers choose it; it is the gap between starting a migration and finishing it.
Data and app migration
Projects, issue history, Confluence spaces and Marketplace apps move in phases. Your Atlassian Data Center licensing stays active until the last team is cut over, so both bills run together. Data Center subscriptions run for fixed terms and expire, so any renewal date that falls inside the migration forces a decision.
Marketplace app parity
Not every Data Center app has a Cloud equivalent on day one, and some have no successor at all. Teams wait for parity, as the Atlassian Cloud migration resources describe, and that wait extends the parallel run unless it is planned and time boxed.
Our note on Marketplace app licensing after Data Center end of life covers the app side in detail.
- Phased cutover. Teams migrate in waves, not all at once.
- App parity. Some Marketplace apps lag on Cloud or change behavior there.
- Data history. Large histories take time to move and validate.
- Identity mapping. Users, groups and permission schemes have to be mapped to Cloud accounts before a team can switch.
Converting Off Atlassian Data Center Before the 2029 Deadline
What does Atlassian dual licensing actually cost?
The dual licensing cost is what you pay for both platforms during the overlap, plus any user tier mismatch between them. Both parts are predictable, which means both can be controlled.
The overlap bill
During the window you pay the Data Center subscription and the Cloud subscription at the same time. The longer the window runs, the larger the double bill. A window that drifts past plan is the most common overrun we see.
Tier mismatch
The Atlassian Jira pricing page shows that Cloud and Data Center are sold on user tiers that do not line up neatly. Buying the wrong Cloud tier while you still pay for Data Center adds to the overlap cost. Our guide to Jira Cloud pricing tiers lists the Cloud bands.
The refund rules make sizing mistakes stick. Annual Cloud subscriptions can be refunded only within 30 days of the first purchase, and mid term Data Center downgrades earn no refund or credit. A Data Center upgrade from 500 to 1,000 users is pro rated to the current expiry date.
| Driver | Effect | How to contain it |
|---|---|---|
| Window length | Both bills run together | Time box and fund the window |
| Tier mismatch | Wrong Cloud tier during the overlap | Size the Cloud tier to real users |
| Data Center renewal timing | Locks in 12 months | Align the renewal to the cutover |
| Unclaimed credits | You pay full price twice | Claim migration and loyalty credits |
A worked example of a slipped cutover
Say your Data Center subscriptions cost $300,000 a year and the current term ends in month 3 of the migration. The first three months are already paid, so the question is what you pay for Data Center after month 3. The table shows four outcomes for the same project.
| Scenario | Cutover | Extra Data Center spend | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|
| On plan | Month 3 | $0 | Cutover lands before the renewal date |
| Slip, full year renewal | Month 9 | $300,000 | Paid through month 15, six months unused and 12 months past the intended cutover |
| Slip, renewal with step up credit | Month 9 | $150,000 net | Six unused months credited against Cloud, if you qualify |
| Slip, dual licensing extension | Month 9 | $0 | Data Center extended at no charge, if Atlassian grants it |
The spread between the second and fourth rows is the full annual Data Center bill. What decides which row you land in is the order of events: whether you asked for the extension or the credit before the renewal quote was signed.
Atlassian Cloud Negotiation Guide
Pricing benchmarks, migration credits and the contract terms that keep a Cloud migration from costing twice.
Get the white paper →What does Atlassian offer to reduce the overlap?
Atlassian offers four programs that reduce double paying: Cloud migration trials, dual licensing, step up credits and a first year discount on Cloud Enterprise. Most apply only to "qualified customers", all are time bound, and the larger ones are granted through your account team.
| Offer | What Atlassian states | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud migration trial | Free Cloud for the rest of your Data Center term (12 months at most), at your current user tier up to 20,000 users, including selected Marketplace apps | Needs a Commercial or Academic license with 11 or more users; ends when the Data Center term ends |
| Dual licensing | Data Center subscription extended for up to 1 year at a 100 percent discount so both run in parallel | Aimed at larger customers with longer migrations; get eligibility in writing |
| Step up credits | Credit equal to the pro rated value of unused Data Center subscriptions | Limited to qualified customers; confirm the dollar amount on the Cloud quote |
| Cloud Enterprise discount | Customers buying Cloud Enterprise by June 2027 may be eligible for 10 to 20 percent off the first year | First year only; ask for the year two price before you sign |
How the trial and the extension fit together
With the migration trial you stage and test Cloud at no cost while Data Center is still under subscription. Dual licensing covers the other side, keeping Data Center running after its term would have ended. Used in that order, the two can remove most of the double payment.
Loyalty pricing from a reseller or the account team sits on top. Get it written into the quote, because a verbal credit rarely survives a change of account executive.
What have we seen in recent Atlassian migrations?
Across roughly 20 to 30 Atlassian Cloud migrations we advised in 2024 and 2025, the parallel run was the largest avoidable cost. Our engagement file holds 25 of them, and three patterns came up again and again.
- Drift. Parallel runs that slipped past plan added 10 to 25 percent to the total migration cost in double licensing, with a median uplift of about 18 percent.
- Renewal timing. Data Center renewals signed mid migration locked buyers into 12 months past their intended cutover.
- Missed credits. Migration credits and loyalty discounts went unclaimed in about 50 percent of the migrations we reviewed.
An Atlassian dual run is a calendar cost more than a technical one. Shorten the window, align the renewal, and the double bill shrinks with it.
Why we advise against a full year renewal and an unhurried migration
The common advice is to renew Data Center for a full year and migrate to Cloud at a comfortable pace. We disagree. In about half of the projects we looked at, the unhurried version produced both the drift overrun and the 12 month lock described above, because a paid year of Data Center removes the pressure to finish.
The end of life dates make that pace riskier still. After March 30, 2028 you cannot add users to Data Center, so a growing company on a slow migration hits a ceiling. Fix the cutover date instead, and secure dual licensing or a step up credit in writing before any renewal.
How do you contain the dual licensing cost?
You contain it by fixing the cutover date, ending the Data Center term at that date, and claiming every credit in writing before you sign. Timing and entitlement matter more here than the size of any discount.
Time box the window
Set a hard cutover date and fund the overlap to it. Give the window one named owner who reports slippage to the budget holder each month. The windows that drift in our engagements are the ones that had neither.
Align the Data Center renewal
Do not sign a full year Data Center renewal in the middle of a migration. Atlassian's published terms run 12 to 24 months, and a co termed renewal must match a core product bought or renewed for at least 12 months on the same quote. Cloud and Data Center cannot co term to each other.
So a Data Center term that ends at your cutover is a negotiated exception. In practice you close the gap with a dual licensing extension, or with a renewal whose unused months come back as a step up credit.
- Claim credits. Capture migration and loyalty discounts before they expire.
- Size the Cloud tier. Buy the tier that matches real active users.
- Stage app parity. Sequence cutover around Marketplace app readiness.
What will the account team say, and how should you answer?
- "Renew Data Center for a year as a safety net." Ask for the dual licensing extension instead. If you are told you do not qualify, ask for a step up credit written into the renewal quote.
- "Dual licensing is only for our largest customers." Ask for the eligibility criteria in writing and for the alternative Atlassian will offer if you fall short.
- "Match your Cloud tier to your Data Center license." Your Data Center tier is a band you bought years ago, often with inactive accounts inside it. Cloud bills on users with product access, so size it from recent login data.
- "The Enterprise discount will not last, sign this quarter." The offer runs to June 2027. Check whether Premium or Enterprise fits before taking a discount on the larger edition.
Which contract terms should you ask for?
- A Data Center end date tied to cutover. The extension or renewal should end at the planned cutover plus a short buffer, so you never own a spare year.
- The step up credit in dollars. A stated amount on the Cloud quote cannot be reinterpreted later.
- A Cloud start date after the trial. Paid Cloud should begin when trial coverage ends, not when the order is signed.
- A price hold for year two. A first year discount means little if the renewal resets to list.
- Tier headroom. Room to add users inside the Cloud tier while the last waves move.
The negotiation side of the Cloud order is covered in our guide to negotiating an Atlassian Cloud migration.
How long should an Atlassian migration window be?
The right window is the shortest one your teams can actually deliver. Every extra month is a month of paying for two platforms.
Plan back from the cutover date
Work back from a fixed cutover date. Sequence teams by complexity and app dependency, hold the date, and align the Data Center renewal so it expires at or just after cutover. Our Atlassian Cloud migration guide covers the technical wave plan.
How does the window change with company size?
A 500 user company with one Jira and Confluence instance and a few apps can often migrate in one or two waves. The trial covers Cloud for the rest of the Data Center term, up to 12 months, so the aim is to finish before that term ends and never renew.
A company with 10,000 or more users, several instances and dozens of apps usually needs a window measured in quarters. Dual licensing is designed for that case, and there the extension and the credit are worth more than any percentage off Cloud.
| Before renewal | What to do |
|---|---|
| 12 months | Fix the cutover date, inventory apps, and pull active user counts per product |
| 6 months | Start the Cloud migration trial and ask the account team in writing about dual licensing and step up credits |
| 3 months | Compare the cutover forecast with the renewal date and get the extension or credit terms onto a quote |
| 1 month | Sign only a quote whose Data Center end date matches cutover, with every credit stated in dollars |
How do you check your own position before the parallel run?
Pull four things: license end dates, real active users, the app inventory and your credit eligibility. Most of it sits in tools you already have.
- License dates. my.atlassian.com lists each Data Center license, its tier and its expiry, and is also where the migration trial is activated.
- Active users. The Jira user browser shows last login per user, and Confluence records successful logins in its logininfo table.
- Apps. The Jira Cloud Migration Assistant and Confluence Cloud Migration Assistant include an app assessment that flags which apps have a Cloud version and a migration path.
- Cloud billing. admin.atlassian.com shows who has product access on the Cloud site, which is what the Cloud bill counts.
Our notes on Data Center end of life and Data Center price increases set out the cost of staying.
What to do next
- Before the migration starts. Set a fixed Cloud cutover date.
- Same week. Map every Data Center renewal date against that cutover.
- Before any renewal quote. Ask in writing for dual licensing, a Data Center term that ends at cutover, or a step up credit for the unused months.
- Before buying Cloud. Size the Cloud tier to real active users, not the Data Center count.
- At signature. Claim Atlassian migration and loyalty credits before they expire, stated in dollars on the quote.
- During the migration. Sequence team waves around Marketplace app parity.
- Now. Run the software spend health check to size your dual run exposure.
- Before renewing Data Center. Talk to our independent Atlassian licensing advisors.
Frequently asked questions
What is Atlassian dual licensing?
It is an Atlassian program that extends your Data Center subscription for up to a year at a 100 percent discount, so Data Center and Cloud can run side by side during migration. It targets larger customers with long migrations and is granted through the account team, so request it before a renewal falls due.
Why do Atlassian migrations require a parallel run?
Because the work happens in phases. Projects, history and Marketplace apps migrate team by team, and Data Center stays live until the last team cuts over to Cloud. For that period you hold, and usually pay for, licenses on both platforms.
How much does running Atlassian Cloud and Data Center in parallel cost?
It costs both subscriptions for the length of the overlap, plus the effect of any tier mismatch. In our engagements a drifting parallel run added 10 to 25 percent to the total migration cost, so the length of the window matters more than the headline Cloud discount.
Is Atlassian Server still an option?
No. Server support ended in February 2024, so Cloud and Data Center are the only supported choices. Data Center reaches end of life on March 28, 2029, which leaves Cloud as the long term destination for almost every enterprise.
How do you avoid double paying during an Atlassian migration?
Combine the free Cloud migration trial for the rest of your Data Center term with a dual licensing extension or step up credit after it. Then hold a fixed cutover date and make sure no Data Center quote runs past it.
Should you renew Data Center during a migration?
Only if the renewal ends at or near your cutover or carries a written credit for unused months. A standard full year renewal signed mid migration can lock you in for 12 months past the date you meant to leave.
Do Cloud and Data Center user tiers match?
No. The two platforms use different user bands. Your Data Center tier is a fixed band that often carries inactive accounts, while Cloud bills on users with product access, so cleaning out inactive accounts before you buy can put you in a lower Cloud tier.
Are Atlassian migration credits worth claiming?
Yes. They can offset a meaningful share of the overlap, yet roughly half of the migrations we reviewed left them on the table. They expire and are rarely applied automatically, so ask for them by name and have the amount printed on the quote.
How long should an Atlassian parallel run last?
As short as your teams can deliver. A small single instance can often finish inside the trial period; large multi instance setups usually need a few quarters, and the window should close before any Data Center renewal you would otherwise need.