K2 Workflow Replacement: How to Migrate Away From Legacy K2

The best K2 workflow replacement depends on which K2 product you're running and what you're trying to achieve.

K2 blackpearl (version 4.7) reached end of support on 31 December 2025 and is now unsupported, so those customers face an immediate migration decision. K2 Five (5.9) and K2 Cloud remain supported, giving those customers time to plan.

For most K2 customers moving to Microsoft 365, a native no-code platform like FlowForma is the practical replacement, though a direct lift-and-shift to another Nintex product may suit customers whose priority is minimum re-platform disruption rather than modernization.

In this article I'll cover which K2 versions remain supported and which don't, why organizations are actively replacing K2 workflows, what to look for in a K2 replacement, and how FlowForma handles the specific migration path from legacy K2 to Microsoft 365-native no-code process automation.

K2 blackpearl vs K2 Five

Confusion about K2 support status usually comes from the fact that there are several K2 products, each on a different support track. Here's the picture as of August 2026.

K2 blackpearl (4.7)

End of life and end of extended support reached 31 December 2025. Nintex no longer provides fixes, patches, or security updates. Any organization still running K2 blackpearl is operating on unsupported software.

K2 Five (5.9)

The current on-premises release, launched in December 2025 and currently being rebranded as Nintex Automation On-Prem. Under Nintex's on-premises support policy, each release is supported for a minimum of two years, which places K2 Five's support window into 2027. Customers on K2 Five have time to plan a migration rather than face an immediate compliance issue.

K2 Cloud

A distinct cloud-hosted product with its own support track. In early 2023, Nintex removed the previous 2027 end date for K2 Cloud, and the product is now supported indefinitely as part of the Nintex portfolio.

For related context on the Microsoft 365 side, Microsoft's SharePoint 2013 workflow engine was fully retired in April 2026, and extended support for SharePoint Server 2016 and 2019 ended in July 2026.

Any K2 workflows depending on those SharePoint components have already been affected by those Microsoft-side changes, regardless of K2's own support status.

Why organizations are replacing K2 workflows

Whether the migration is urgent or planned depends on which K2 product you're running, but the underlying drivers of change overlap.

1. Running unsupported software

For K2 blackpearl customers, this is the immediate issue. Unsupported software creates security exposure, compliance risk, and blocks any vendor conversation that requires vendor-supported infrastructure. In regulated industries, this alone forces a migration.

2. Legacy on-premises infrastructure

K2 blackpearl and K2 Five both run on-premises. Even where the software itself is supported, maintaining Windows Server, SQL Server, and the surrounding infrastructure adds ongoing cost that cloud-native alternatives don't carry.

Organizations already committed to Microsoft 365 typically want their workflow platform in the same environment as everything else.

3. Uncertainty about the K2 roadmap

Since Nintex's acquisition of K2 in 2020, the product line has been progressively rebranded, and future investment is likely to concentrate on Nintex's core platforms rather than the K2 legacy.

That's a reasonable business decision by Nintex, but for K2 customers, it makes the medium-term product outlook harder to predict.

4. Rising total cost of ownership

As K2 customers approach renewals, the combined cost of platform licensing, infrastructure, support contracts, and specialist developer resource typically compares unfavorably against modern no-code platforms that bundle those elements into a single per-user fee. TCO alone often triggers the initial replacement conversation.

What to look for in a K2 replacement

When evaluating K2 replacement options, you should prioritize four capabilities.

Microsoft 365 and SharePoint native deployment

Any modern K2 replacement should run inside your existing Microsoft 365 tenant. This eliminates a separate infrastructure layer, keeps data inside SharePoint rather than a new database, and reduces the number of vendor systems your IT team has to secure.

K2's on-premises heritage is the reason so many customers are looking for M365-native alternatives.

No-code process rebuild

The most important question when replacing K2 is whether business users can rebuild and maintain the process logic themselves once the migration is done.

A replacement that still needs the same specialist developer resource K2 required delivers a lateral move rather than genuine modernization.

Migration and onboarding support

K2 workflows can be complex, with years of accumulated business logic embedded in the process definitions.

Any credible K2 replacement should offer structured migration support, including workflow inventory, prioritization by business criticality, rebuild guidance, and parallel testing before cutover.

Total cost vs staying on legacy K2

The cost of staying on K2 includes support contracts (where still available), infrastructure maintenance, specialist developer resource, and the operational risk of running unsupported software (for K2 blackpearl specifically).

A replacement platform should present a clearly lower total cost of ownership over three to five years, not just a lower initial license fee.

How FlowForma replaces K2 workflows

For K2 customers migrating to Microsoft 365, FlowForma is designed to slot into the same architectural position K2 previously occupied.

The migration path involves rebuilding K2 workflows as no-code FlowForma processes, rather than porting the K2 platform itself. And there are three specific reasons this works well for K2 customers.

Native Microsoft 365 architecture

FlowForma runs inside your existing M365 tenant with data stored in SharePoint. The infrastructure question K2 raised (Windows Server, SQL Server, on-premises hosting) doesn't apply, because FlowForma inherits the M365 environment your organization already operates.

No-code process rebuild

K2 process logic that previously required a specialist developer to modify can be rebuilt in FlowForma as no-code drag-and-drop workflows owned by the business users who own the process.

The rebuild is usually where K2 customers experience the biggest change, with workflows that were locked in developer queues becoming maintainable by the finance manager, HR business partner, or operations lead who actually uses them.

AI Copilot for accelerated rebuild

FlowForma Copilot builds working processes from a plain-language description or an uploaded workflow diagram. For K2 customers with documented process inventories, that means the rebuild is materially faster than manually recreating each workflow, and the AI can interpret K2 process documentation directly.

For teams looking at adjacent legacy migration questions, our InfoPath replacement page covers the K2-adjacent InfoPath forms migration, and our workflow automation overview covers the broader platform. If you're specifically comparing FlowForma against staying inside the Nintex product family, our Nintex alternatives page sets out those options.

Key differences between K2 and FlowForma

Here's how K2 and FlowForma compare on the criteria most K2 customers are evaluating during a migration decision.

Talk to us about your K2 migration

If you're running K2 blackpearl today, the migration isn't a planning exercise anymore, you're already on unsupported software, and the priority is identifying which K2 workflows to prioritize for rebuild.

If you're running K2 Five or K2 Cloud, the timeline is longer, but the underlying evaluation is the same.

Book a migration consultation, and we'll walk through your current K2 estate, identify the workflows that most benefit from a Microsoft 365-native rebuild, and set out a realistic migration timeline for your environment.