Migration
Migrate WordPress to your own server
The WPShift migration plugin copies a WordPress site from its current host to a server that WPShift manages in your own cloud account. The original site is not modified and stays online at its current host. The copy gets a temporary address, so you can test it before you point your domain at the new server.
Migration is included on every plan, including the free one. How long it takes depends on the size of the database and the media library, and on how fast the current host serves the files.
Free plan available. Paid plans include a 7-day trial. Server costs are separate.
Current host
The original
stays online
copied by the plugin
Your cloud account
Your server
The copy
on a temporary address
The steps
How the migration works
-
Install the migration plugin
Install the WPShift plugin on the WordPress site you want to move and authorise the transfer from inside WordPress. You do not have to hand over your current host's control panel or SSH credentials.
-
Choose the destination
Select a server you already manage with WPShift, or create one first. WPShift prepares the destination site, its system user and its database before anything is transferred.
-
Copy the site
The plugin transfers the database, uploads, plugins and themes. Large media libraries move in chunks, so the transfer does not have to complete in one request. It runs in the background and reports its progress.
-
Check the imported site
Open the copy on its temporary address and test your pages, your forms and any shop or member functions.
-
Switch your domain
When the copy is right, point the domain's DNS at the new server and check that HTTPS works. Keep the old hosting until you have confirmed the live result.
Scope
What is copied, and what stays as it is
The plugin copies the database, uploads, plugins and themes. Nothing is removed from your current host, and you decide when to change DNS and when to cancel the old hosting. Domain registration and email are separate services and are not part of the transfer.
Moving an active shop or membership site
Orders, registrations, comments and form entries keep arriving at the old site after the copy has been taken. Plan the final transfer and the domain switch around that activity, so that data created in between is not left on a host you are about to cancel.
Cost
What a migration costs
Migration is part of every WPShift plan, including the free one. The server you migrate to is billed by your provider at their price, or by WPShift for a WPShift Cloud server. Your old hosting keeps being billed by your current host until you cancel it.
Questions
Questions about moving
- Can I move back after changing DNS?
- You can point DNS back if the original hosting is still active. Before you do, check what was created on the new server since the switch. On a shop or a membership site that is where recent orders and sign-ups will be.
- Will the site be faster on the new server?
- That depends on your current hosting, the server you choose and how the site is built. The copy on its temporary address lets you compare before you switch.
- Do I have to move my DNS to WPShift?
- No. A domain whose DNS stays elsewhere works once it points at the server. WPShift does not sell domain registrations, so the domain stays with your registrar either way.
- When does the site get its certificate?
- A certificate is issued once the domain resolves to the new server. That is why step 5 ends with checking HTTPS.
- I have many sites to move. Where do I start?
- Write to us with how many sites and servers you run today. Moving an existing fleet is one of the things we arrange through contact.
Try the migration with one site
Create an account, prepare a server and review the imported copy before you change your live domain.
Free plan available. Paid plans include a 7-day trial. Server costs are separate.
The setup, in three steps
- Connect your cloud account
- Choose the region and size
- WPShift sets up the server