Moving hosts is usually cheaper than paying a renewal price that has jumped. Here's how to move a WordPress site with a free host migration, a plugin or by hand, plus the DNS, SSL and email cutover and a checklist before you cancel.
To move a WordPress site to a new host, copy the files and the database to the new server, test the copy on a temporary address, then point your domain at it. For most small sites, that takes an afternoon of your time and a day of waiting for DNS.
The easiest route is often free. Hostinger, Cloudways, Kinsta and WordPress.com all offer to migrate a WordPress site for you at no extra cost, according to their own migration pages checked on 4 November 2026. Moving is usually cheaper than paying a renewal price that has jumped to two to four times what you first paid.
The part that breaks sites isn't the copy. It's the cutover: DNS, SSL and email. Get those in the right order and you can move a WordPress site to a new host with no visible downtime.
Ask the new host for its free migration first. Most will do it.
A migration plugin is the next easiest route; a manual move is the fallback.
Lower your DNS TTL a day before you switch.
Test the copy before you change DNS, and check SSL and email after.
Don't cancel the old plan until the new site has run cleanly for a week.
Why moving is worth the hassle
Hosting is cheap to start and expensive to keep. Our dated table of web hosting renewal prices shows entry plans renewing at two to four and a half times their intro rate. A new host's first-term price is often lower than your current host's renewal.
That makes the month before your renewal date the best time to move. You get a fresh intro price, and the old host's renewal never bills.
Moving also fixes other problems: a host that has grown slow, support that takes days, or a plan you've outgrown. If you're not sure what to move to, size the new plan first with our guide on how to choose web hosting. Pick the host, then plan the move.
One rule before anything else: take a full backup of the files and the database and keep it somewhere that isn't either host. If any step goes wrong, that copy is your undo button.
Route 1: let the new host do it
This is the route we'd pick for almost everyone. Here's what each host's own page says it offers:
Host
What the migration page offers
Time it states
Hostinger
Free, unlimited WordPress migrations with any hosting plan, requested from hPanel
"Within 24 hours"
Cloudways
Free, unlimited managed WordPress migrations by its support engineers
Not stated
Kinsta
Free, unlimited migrations by its migrations team, with malware removal if found
Usually within 1 business day
WordPress.com
Free expert migration to a paid plan, or a self-serve plugin
Hostinger limits you to five active migration requests at a time, so a portfolio of sites goes in batches. Kinsta says busy shops on WooCommerce need maintenance mode during the move so no orders get lost.
The catch: you'll usually need to buy the new plan first and hand over access to the old site. Change those passwords once the move is done.
Route 2: use a migration plugin
If your new host doesn't migrate for free, or you'd rather not share logins, a migration plugin is the middle path.
The pattern is the same across most of them. You install the plugin on the old site, it packages the files and database, and you restore that package on a fresh WordPress install at the new host. WordPress.com's own route works this way: its "Migrate to WordPress.com" plugin runs on the source site with a migration key copied from the destination.
A few things trip people up:
Size limits. Free versions of many plugins cap the package size. A site with years of images can blow past it.
A fresh destination. WordPress.com warns that the destination site is erased and replaced. Never restore over a site you want to keep.
Plugin conflicts. Update everything before you start, and deactivate anything the new host doesn't support.
Route 3: move it by hand
The manual move is the most work and the most control. WordPress.org's guide to migrating WordPress is the reference. If you're keeping the same domain, it's simpler than it sounds:
11. Copy the files
Download the whole WordPress folder by SFTP or your host's file manager. The wp-content folder holds your themes, plugins and uploads, so don't skip it.
22. Export the database
Use phpMyAdmin or your host's database tool to export the database as a .sql file.
33. Create a new database
At the new host, create an empty database and a user with full rights to it. Note the name, user and password.
44. Upload and import
Upload the files, then import the .sql file into the new database.
55. Edit wp-config.php
WordPress.org's guide says that if the database name or user changes, you edit wp-config.php with the new values. That's the only file you usually need to touch.
If you're changing the domain at the same time, there's an extra step. Old URLs stay in the database, and a plain find-and-replace can break serialised data. WordPress.org points to WP-CLI's search-replace or a plugin like Better Search Replace instead.
Test before you switch
Never change DNS on an untested copy. Most hosts give you a temporary URL or a preview link for the new site. If yours doesn't, you can point your own computer at the new server by editing its hosts file, which changes nothing for anyone else.
Click through the pages that matter: the home page, a few posts, the contact form, the checkout if you sell anything, and the admin dashboard. Log in. Upload a test image.
Then check what doesn't show on a page. Are scheduled posts still scheduled? Do forms send email? Does the site's cache plugin work on the new server, or does the host want its own caching instead?
Fix problems now, while visitors are still on the old host and nobody notices.
The cutover, in order
This is where small mistakes become downtime. Go in this order.
11. Lower the DNS TTL a day ahead
TTL is how long other networks cache your DNS records. Drop it to a few minutes at your current DNS provider at least 24 hours before the switch, so the change spreads quickly when you make it.
22. Freeze changes
Stop publishing on the old site. For a shop or membership site, turn on maintenance mode, as Kinsta advises, so no orders land on the old server.
33. Point the domain
Update the A record, or change nameservers if the new host manages DNS. If your domain is also due for renewal, our guide to saving on domain name renewals covers whether to move it too.
44. Check SSL
Once traffic arrives, issue or confirm the SSL certificate at the new host and load the site over https.
55. Check email
If your mailboxes live with the old host, your MX records decide where mail goes. Move or recreate mailboxes before you change MX, or mail can vanish.
Before you cancel the old plan
Don't cancel the day the site moves. Keep the old plan running for about a week, and check these off first:
The domain loads the new server everywhere, on mobile data and Wi-Fi.
SSL shows as valid with no browser warnings.
Email sends and arrives on every mailbox you use.
Forms, checkout and logins work on the live domain.
You have a fresh backup taken on the new host.
Auto-renew is off at the old host, and you've downloaded its last invoice.
Then cancel. If you're inside the old host's money-back window, ask for the refund in writing.
Check coupons before you buy the new plan
The free migration covers the move. The new plan is where you can still save. Before checkout, look at the current offers for Hostinger coupons, Cloudways coupons and WordPress.com coupons, and compare the first-term total with your current host's renewal quote. Every live offer from hosts is on our web hosting deals page.
Price the second term too. A move that saves money this year and costs more in year three isn't a saving. The same renewal check applies to every tool you pay for, which is why our guide to saving money on software subscriptions starts there.
Our take
For most people, the right way to move a WordPress site to a new host is to let the new host do it. Hostinger, Cloudways, Kinsta and WordPress.com all offer it free with a plan, so there's little reason to do the heavy lifting yourself. Your job is the part they can't do for you: testing the copy, timing the DNS change and checking email.
Go manual only if you want full control, your site has a custom setup no plugin handles, or you're comfortable in phpMyAdmin. Use a plugin when the host won't migrate and the site is small.
Whichever route you take, start a month before your renewal date. That leaves time to test without pressure, and it means the old host's renewal never bills. Plan the cutover, keep the old plan for a week, and you can move a WordPress site to a new host without your visitors ever noticing.
Topics
web hosting
C
Written by
Coupo9 Editorial
Every statistic in our guides names its source, and prices come from the brand's own pricing page. When the facts behind a guide change, we update it or take it down.
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