How to Choose an Umbraco Partner? What Does Gold Partner Mean?
How to Choose an Umbraco Partner? What Does Gold Partner Mean?
When choosing an Umbraco partner, look first at the partner level, then at the evidence behind that level. According to Umbraco's program, the Gold level requires at least one active Certified Expert on the team; Silver requires one Certified Professional, and Platinum requires one Certified Master or two Certified Experts. The level is a starting point: references, processes, and security practices complete the picture.
Umbraco projects live for years. Choosing a partner determines not only the launch date but also the maintenance, upgrade, and security workload of the next five years. That's why, instead of looking at lists of the "best Umbraco developers," asking the partner for evidence is a sounder path.
In this article, we've gathered what Gold Partner means, the difference between the levels, and the questions you should ask an Umbraco development company. If you're not yet familiar with Umbraco, you can start with our article What Is Umbraco?
Criteria to look at when choosing a partner
Criterion | What to look at | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
Partner level | Silver, Gold, or Platinum; the profile in Umbraco's directory | Shows that the team includes certified developers |
Certified developer | Name and certification level (Professional, Expert, Master) | The level is tied to a person; someone leaving can affect the level |
Similar project experience | Industry, scale, integrations, and multilingual structure | In corporate projects, risks change with scale |
Upgrade and maintenance approach | Version tracking, update plan, maintenance contract | An unsupported version creates security and compliance risk |
Security and process | Certifications such as ISO 27001 and their scope | Part of supplier evaluation for a corporate buyer |
Community and contribution | Contributions to the Umbraco community, events, open-source work | Can indicate a team that knows the platform deeply |
Contract and handover | Handover of source code, documentation, and access | Reduces dependency if you ever need to switch partners |
What does Umbraco Gold Partner mean?
Umbraco groups its partners into three levels according to the certified developers on their teams. To be a Gold Partner, the team must have at least one active Certified Expert.
Level | Certified developer Umbraco requires |
|---|---|
Silver | At least 1 active Certified Professional |
Gold | At least 1 active Certified Expert |
Platinum | At least 1 active Certified Master or 2 active Certified Experts |
In addition, Umbraco separately marks partners who contribute to the project with a "Contributing Partner" badge. This badge is independent of level; it shows that the partner approaches the platform not only as a user but as a contributor.
Source: Umbraco partner directory, partner profile pages (21.10.2026).
How do you choose between Gold, Silver, and Platinum partners?
As the level goes up, the certification requirement goes up, but it would be wrong to say "Platinum is always the better agency." The level measures the team's certification level; it doesn't measure fit for your type of project.
A simple rule works: the more custom development, integration, and sustainability your project requires, the more the number of certified developers and the project history matter. For a small corporate presentation site, Silver or Gold may be enough. For a multilingual, long-lived platform integrated with several systems, look more carefully at team depth and the maintenance model alongside the level.
What questions should you ask an Umbraco development company?
How many active certified developers does your team have, and at what level? Can you share their names and certifications?
Which projects of a similar scale and with similar integrations have you completed? Can I have a reference call with the client?
Which Umbraco versions do you work with, and how do you manage the upgrade plan?
Which certifications document your security processes, and what is their scope?
How are response times defined in the maintenance and support contract?
Will the source code, documentation, and access be handed over to me when the contract ends?
Who will be the software architect and who the project manager on the project? Does the team change during the project?
The concreteness of the answers shows the partner's real experience more clearly than the level does. Instead of "Yes, we can do it," ask for examples and documents. If you'd like to carry the same logic over to agency selection as a whole, take a look at our article How to Choose a Web Design Agency.
What are the practical aspects of choosing an Umbraco partner in Türkiye?
For corporate buyers looking for .NET and Umbraco developers in Istanbul, two practical issues stand out: communication in Turkish and working in the same time zone, and having data processing responsibilities under KVKK (Türkiye's data protection law) clearly written into the contract. For legal matters concerning KVKK, get your legal counsel's opinion.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Umbraco Gold Partner mean?
An Umbraco Gold Partner is an agency that has at least one active Certified Expert on its team in Umbraco's partner program. The level shows the team's certification level; it doesn't by itself guarantee the quality of your project, so it should be evaluated together with references and process evidence.
What is the difference between a Gold and a Platinum partner?
According to Umbraco's criteria, Platinum requires at least one active Certified Master or two active Certified Experts; for Gold, one active Certified Expert is enough. Platinum doesn't automatically mean a better-suited agency; the scale of your project and team depth are also decisive.
Should I ask about the number of certified developers when choosing a partner?
Yes. The level depends on individuals' certifications, so ask who the certified developers on the team are and whether they will work on your project.
Can I hand my Umbraco project over to another partner?
Because Umbraco CMS is open source, continuing with another partner is technically possible. Still, have it written into the contract that the source code, documentation, and access will be handed over to you; otherwise the transition becomes difficult.
How does Clockwork work on Umbraco projects?
Clockwork is an independent digital and creative agency based in Istanbul with 25 years of experience; it is Türkiye's first and only Umbraco Gold Partner and is certified to ISO 27001 and ISO 12207.
Conclusion
When choosing an Umbraco partner, use the level as a filter, not as a decision criterion. Ask for the certified developer's name, a similar-project reference, the upgrade plan, and the handover terms.
Clockwork is an independent digital and creative agency based in Istanbul with 25 years of experience. We design, develop, and maintain corporate web projects on Umbraco. If you'd like to evaluate your project with us, take a look at our Umbraco services or get in touch with us.