How to Migrate a WordPress Site to Hostinger (Free Migration or DIY)

This post explains how to migrate a WordPress site to Hostinger. If your current host has become slow, expensive at renewal, or hard to deal with, moving is less work than it sounds: a WordPress site is just a folder of files plus a database, and both can be copied to a new server while the old one keeps running.

There are two ways to do it. Hostinger offers a free migration where its team moves the site for you, or you can do it yourself with a migration plugin in about half an hour. In this guide I cover both, then show how to test the copy before switching DNS so visitors never see a broken site.

This post contains affiliate links. See our affiliate disclaimer.

Highlights:

Free migration by Hostinger, or a DIY move with a free plugin.
Test the copy on a temporary address before anyone sees it.
No downtime: the old host keeps serving visitors until DNS switches.
A post-migration checklist for SSL, email, caching and backups.

Before You Start

A few minutes of preparation prevents most migration problems:

Make a full backup on your current host (files and database) and download it to your computer. Whatever happens during the move, you can always go back.
Check your site’s size. In your current host’s file manager or with a plugin, note the total size of wp-content and the database. Most small sites are under 1GB; very large media libraries affect which method you choose.
Clean up first. Delete unused plugins and themes, spam comments and old post revisions. Less data means a faster, safer move.
Write down your DNS records. Open your domain’s DNS settings and save a copy of every record, especially MX, SPF, DKIM and TXT records for email and domain verifications. You will need them if you change nameservers.
Know where your email lives. If your email mailboxes are hosted by your current web host, they won’t move with the website. See what to do about email below before switching DNS.
Don’t cancel the old hosting yet. Keep it running until the new site has worked for at least a few days.

Choose a Hostinger Plan

For a typical blog or small business site, shared hosting is enough. At the time of writing, Hostinger’s Premium plan costs $2.99/month for up to 3 websites and Business costs $3.99/month with daily backups and more resources. Those prices need a 48-month prepayment and renew at a higher monthly price, so compare the full-term cost.

If your site gets a lot of traffic or runs WooCommerce with many products, choose Business or a cloud plan instead of the cheapest tier. For a wider comparison, see our list of cheap web hosting for your first website.

See Hostinger hosting plans

Method 1: Free Migration by Hostinger

Hostinger migrates WordPress sites for free on its hosting plans. You submit a request, and its team copies the site to your new account. This is the easiest option if you don’t want to touch files or databases.

After buying a plan, the setup wizard asks whether you want to create a new site or migrate an existing one. Choose migrate. If you skipped it, open Websites in hPanel and look for Migrate website / Migrations.
Choose WordPress as the platform, then give Hostinger access in one of two ways:
- WordPress admin login: the URL, username and password of your current site’s /wp-admin. Create a temporary admin account for this and delete it after the move.
- Backup file: upload a backup made with a plugin such as All-in-One WP Migration, or a full backup from your old host’s control panel.
Enter the domain name of the site and submit the request.
Wait for Hostinger’s confirmation email. Hostinger states that most migrations finish within 24 hours.

The migration team copies the site but does not change your DNS. That part is up to you, which is good: you get to test the new copy first. Continue with Test the site before switching DNS.

Good to know: the free migration covers the website. Email accounts, custom server settings and cron jobs on your old host are not part of it, so set those up yourself.

Method 2: Migrate It Yourself with a Plugin

Doing it yourself takes about 30 minutes for a small site and gives you full control over the timing. I’ll use All-in-One WP Migration, one of the most popular free migration plugins, because it packs files and database into one file and handles the URL replacements for you.

Step 1: Create an empty WordPress site on Hostinger

In hPanel, add your domain as a new website and choose WordPress. Follow the wizard; the admin details you choose here are temporary, because the import will replace them. Our WordPress installation guide walks through the wizard.
Don’t point the domain to Hostinger yet. Open the new site through Hostinger’s temporary domain or preview link instead.

Step 2: Export the old site

On your old site, go to Plugins > Add New, install and activate All-in-One WP Migration.
Open All-in-One WP Migration > Export, choose Export to > File, and download the .wpress file.

If the export is very large, use the plugin’s advanced options to exclude spam comments, post revisions or the media library, and copy wp-content/uploads separately over FTP.

Step 3: Import on Hostinger

Log in to the new WordPress site (through the temporary domain), install and activate the same plugin.
Open All-in-One WP Migration > Import, drag in the .wpress file and confirm that it overwrites the site.
When the import finishes, open Settings > Permalinks and click Save Changes twice. This rebuilds the rewrite rules so your post URLs work.
Log in again with your old site’s admin username and password, because the import replaced the users.

If the upload is too big: the free version of the plugin is limited by the server’s upload size. If the file exceeds it, either raise the PHP upload limits in hPanel (Advanced > PHP Configuration), use the Hostinger free migration instead, or use a plugin with no import limit such as Duplicator or Migrate Guru.

Alternative without plugins: copy the site’s files over FTP/SFTP into public_html, export the database from phpMyAdmin on the old host, import it into a new database on Hostinger, and update DB_NAME, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD and DB_HOST in wp-config.php. This is the most reliable method for very large sites but has more room for mistakes.

Test the Site Before Switching DNS

At this point the site exists twice: on the old host (still serving visitors) and on Hostinger. Check the new copy carefully:

Open it through Hostinger’s temporary domain, or edit your computer’s hosts file to point your domain at the Hostinger server’s IP address, so only your computer sees the new host.
Click through the home page, several posts, pages and categories. Watch for 404 errors (fix with Settings > Permalinks > Save) and missing images.
Log in to wp-admin, then try publishing a draft and uploading an image.
Test forms, search, and checkout if you run a shop. Contact forms that send email may need an SMTP plugin on the new host.
Check Tools > Site Health for PHP version or missing-module warnings. Set the PHP version in hPanel to the one your old host used, or a newer one your theme and plugins support.

If you use the hosts-file method, remember to remove the line afterwards.

Switch DNS Without Downtime

Once the new site passes testing:

A day before, lower the TTL of your domain’s DNS records to 300 seconds (5 minutes), so the switch takes effect quickly.
Freeze content on the old site. New comments, orders or posts made on the old host after the copy won’t move over. For a shop, put the old site in maintenance mode during the switch, or migrate again right before it.
Point the domain to Hostinger. Either change the domain’s nameservers to Hostinger’s (shown in hPanel under Domains) or keep your current DNS provider and change the A record for @ and the www record to the addresses shown in hPanel.
Recreate your other DNS records first if you change nameservers. MX, SPF, DKIM and verification records don’t move automatically; add them in Hostinger’s DNS editor before switching, or your email will stop working.
Keep the old host running for a few days. Visitors whose DNS hasn’t updated yet still reach a working site.

What About Email?

This is the part of a migration that most often goes wrong. It depends on where your mailboxes are today:

Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Zoho or another email service: nothing to move. Just make sure the MX, SPF and DKIM records exist in whichever DNS you use after the switch.
Mailboxes on your old web host: those mailboxes stop receiving mail when your MX records change. Create the same addresses in Hostinger’s email section first, switch the MX records, then copy old messages over with your email app (add both accounts over IMAP and drag folders across) or an IMAP migration tool.

For a deeper look at the options, see our guide to setting up a professional email address with your own domain.

After the Move: Checklist

SSL: open the site over https:// and check for the padlock. Hostinger activates a free certificate once the domain points to its servers; if it shows as pending, wait until the DNS change finishes.
Force HTTPS in hPanel, and fix any “mixed content” warnings with a search-and-replace of http://yourdomain.com to https://yourdomain.com.
Caching: Hostinger runs LiteSpeed servers. Replace other caching plugins (WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache and so on) with LiteSpeed Cache or keep only one, never two at once.
Backups: confirm automatic backups are running on the new plan, and make your own first backup of the migrated site.
Cron jobs and scheduled tasks: recreate any server-level cron jobs from the old host.
Search Console: check for crawl errors in the first week. Your URLs haven’t changed, so rankings shouldn’t be affected.
Cancel the old hosting only after a few days without problems, and download a final backup before you do.

Troubleshooting

The site shows a Hostinger placeholder: DNS hasn’t switched yet, or the files are in the wrong folder. Check that WordPress is inside public_html of the right domain.
“Error establishing a database connection”: the database details in wp-config.php don’t match the database on Hostinger (a common problem with manual migrations).
Posts return 404 but the home page works: re-save Settings > Permalinks.
Images are missing: the uploads folder didn’t copy completely, or image URLs still point to an old temporary address. Run a search-and-replace with a plugin such as Better Search Replace.
Email stopped arriving: the MX records weren’t recreated in the new DNS zone. Add them from the copy you saved before the move.

Is Hostinger a Good Place to Move WordPress?

What works well: the free migration means you don’t have to do any technical work, the LiteSpeed servers and cache plugin are well suited to WordPress, and the entry plans are among the cheapest for a site of this kind. Hostinger is also one of the hosts recommended on WordPress.org.

What to watch out for: the lowest prices require a long prepayment and increase at renewal, so compare the full-term cost with what you pay now. Support is chat-based, and user reviews of response times are mixed. Very large sites and busy WooCommerce stores need a higher plan than the cheapest one.

If you’re moving a static site rather than WordPress, see our guide to moving a static site to Hostinger.