Free website migration: what is included and what you still need to do

Free website migration usually means there is no separate fee for a qualifying transfer into a hosting plan. It does not mean the hosting subscription is free, that every website platform is supported, or that email and DNS will automatically be handled for you. Read the scope before buying a plan because of its migration offer.

For a small business moving an existing self-hosted WordPress site, an included transfer can remove a useful piece of work. The remaining job is to make sure your site qualifies, identify what stays with the old provider, and agree how you will know the new site is ready.

1. 01 Eligible site? Check the platform, source host, destination plan, and account limits.
2. 02 Complete scope? Separate the website transfer from email, DNS, licenses, and scheduled jobs.
3. 03 Ready to switch? Review the copied site and agree how new data will be handled.

Three official offers illustrate the differences

These examples were checked on September 21, 2026. They illustrate eligibility differences; they are not a performance ranking. Confirm the offer for the plan and installation you intend to buy.

Sources: Hostinger eligibility, Kinsta standard migrations, and DreamHost migration pricing.

A destination plan that costs substantially more each year can outweigh the saved transfer fee. Compare the hosting you actually need, then treat the included migration as a benefit of that plan. It should not be the only reason for choosing a higher service tier.

Distinguish a service from a free plugin

In a managed transfer, a person or provider-operated process receives the source information and creates the destination copy. With a free migration plugin, you may have to make the archive, upload it, resolve import problems, configure the destination, and validate the result yourself. Neither label tells you who updates DNS.

Ask one direct question: “Who performs the move, and which tasks remain mine?” If the answer is a download link and documentation, budget your own time. If the answer is a support team, ask how it handles exceptions, what access it needs, and how you request corrections after the initial copy.

A plugin’s free license also does not remove server limits. Available disk space, request limits, archive size, and the time needed to unpack data can still affect an import. Confirm compatibility with the actual source and destination rather than assuming that an export file will restore anywhere.

What commonly needs its own plan?

Email and its history

Business inboxes can be a separate service from WordPress. You need to preserve stored messages, mailbox access, and the DNS records used to receive and authenticate mail. If email is included with the old hosting package, cancelling the package may affect it even after the website has moved successfully.

Make an inventory of mailboxes and aliases, who uses them, where they are hosted, and which subscription pays for them. Ask the email provider what can be migrated beyond messages, such as calendars or contacts. A working website contact form does not prove that your staff’s inbox history has been copied.

DNS, certificates, and other configuration

Keep domain registration, DNS hosting, and website hosting as separate lines in your plan. You can move the website while keeping the registrar. If nameservers change, the new DNS zone must include more than the website records. If only a web address changes, unrelated mail records may need to remain as they are.

Check scheduled jobs, application secrets, third-party allowlists, outbound email, and any custom certificate setup. Hostinger explicitly excludes several of these settings from its website-copy scope. Use the exclusions as prompts to inspect your own installation.

Prepare a request that can be completed

Provide the right domain, a description of the current platform, and the source access requested through the host’s official process. Disclose a large archive, Multisite network, custom code, or a site that continuously takes orders. Also say whether the old site is still accessible or whether only a backup is available.

Make your own independent backup before the operation. The WordPress migration handbook distinguishes the database from website files. An export of posts is useful for some moves, but it is not the same as a complete copy of an installed site.

Do not change the domain’s live destination merely because a migration request has been accepted. Wait until the copied site can be reviewed and the person responsible for the switch confirms the next step.

Agree on acceptance before cancelling anything

1. Check the important public pages, media, downloads, and internal links.
2. Check HTTPS and any redirects required by the existing site.
3. Log in and perform a representative administrative task.
4. Send a form submission and verify delivery at the receiving inbox.
5. Check account, booking, or checkout workflows where the site uses them.
6. Confirm that new orders or other records created during the move are accounted for.
7. Confirm business email independently of the website before ending any bundled service.

For a live store, these checks need a planned final synchronization or maintenance window. A provider may be able to help, but a free standard transfer should not be interpreted as a guarantee that constantly changing data will reconcile itself.

When should you pay for extra help?

Pay for a specific uncovered task: rebuilding a closed-platform site, preserving a complex mailbox setup, coordinating several systems, or handling a high-risk cutover. Start with a written quote for that gap. You do not necessarily need to purchase a second complete website-copy service.

Use our WordPress migration service guide to compare responsibilities, and the migration budget examples to include overlapping bills and replacement email. The useful question is whether the whole move fits your budget and your ability to finish it.