The fastest path for most people: use Hostinger’s own free migration wizard in hPanel rather than moving files by hand. You give it your old site’s login or a backup file, and Hostinger’s team moves the files and database for you — no FTP client, no phpMyAdmin, no risk of a half-copied database. If you’d rather do it yourself, or your old host won’t cooperate with an automated tool, the manual steps below work too.
Quick Verdict
Moving a WordPress site is not the ordeal it used to be. Hostinger includes free migrations on every plan, and for SiteGround, GoDaddy, or WP Engine specifically, the process is a backup-and-upload job that takes under two hours for a typical WordPress site — sometimes up to 48 hours if Hostinger’s team has to do it manually from your login. The parts that actually trip people up aren’t the file transfer — they’re forgetting to disable two-factor authentication first, and pointing the domain before the migration has actually finished.
Pick Your Migration Method First
Hostinger gives you three ways in, and which one fits depends on your old host and how hands-on you want to be:
| Method | Best for | What you need |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic migration (login-based) | WordPress sites where you still have working wp-admin access | Your WordPress admin URL, username, and password |
| Backup upload | SiteGround, GoDaddy, and WP Engine — all three give you a downloadable backup | A .zip/.tar.gz file of your site plus a separate .sql database export |
| Manual (FTP + phpMyAdmin) | Sites with unusual configurations, or when the automated tool fails | FTP credentials, database export/import access, and more patience |
For SiteGround, GoDaddy, and WP Engine, the backup-upload method is the one covered below — it’s the one Hostinger’s own migration wizard is built around for these three hosts, and it’s also the one that gives you a file you control rather than handing Hostinger your old login.
Before You Start
- Turn off two-factor authentication and any CAPTCHA/bot protection on your old site’s wp-admin login. Hostinger’s migration process — automated or backup-based — can fail silently if either one blocks the connection or blocks you from re-logging-in to grab a fresh export.
- Don’t touch your domain’s DNS yet. Migrating the site and pointing the domain are two separate steps. Do the migration first, confirm the copy on Hostinger actually works by previewing it, then repoint the domain.
- Check your current plan’s disk usage before generating a backup — a full site backup needs room to be created on the old server first, and some budget hosting plans are tighter on space than you’d expect.
- Have a Hostinger plan ready. You’ll need to be logged into hPanel with an active plan before you can start a migration request.
How to Migrate From SiteGround to Hostinger
How to Migrate From GoDaddy to Hostinger
How to Migrate From WP Engine to Hostinger
What Doesn’t Come Over Automatically
A backup-and-upload migration moves your files and database. It does not reliably move everything else. Before you consider the job finished, check for:
- Cron jobs. Scheduled tasks set up directly on your old host’s server (not WordPress’s own scheduled posts, which live in the database) need to be recreated manually in hPanel.
- Custom DNS records. If you had extra DNS entries for things like email routing or a subdomain pointed somewhere specific, note them down before you migrate — they won’t carry over on their own.
- Custom SSL configuration. Hostinger issues its own free SSL certificates automatically once your domain points there, but a manually installed custom certificate from your old host does not transfer.
- FTP accounts. Any extra FTP users you created on the old host need to be set up again in hPanel; they aren’t part of the site backup.
None of these are dealbreakers — they’re just easy to forget because the migration wizard doesn’t warn you about them. Write down anything custom before you start.
Pointing Your Domain to Hostinger After Migration
Once you’ve confirmed the migrated site works, you have two ways to connect your domain:
Change nameservers (the simpler option if the domain itself isn’t moving registrars): point your domain to Hostinger’s nameservers, ns1.dns-parking.com and ns2.dns-parking.com, at your current registrar. This hands Hostinger control of your DNS zone. Propagation can take a few hours and, in slower cases, up to 24 hours worldwide.
Update the A record instead, if you want to keep managing DNS at your current registrar rather than handing it to Hostinger — point the A record at your Hostinger hosting IP, found in hPanel.
One thing worth knowing before you buy a new domain through Hostinger as part of this move: ICANN rules lock a newly registered domain from being transferred to another registrar for 60 days. That doesn’t block you from pointing it or hosting with it immediately — it only blocks a registrar transfer during that window. More on that, and on what Hostinger’s plans actually cost past the promotional period, in our full Hostinger review.
For a visual walkthrough of the same hPanel migration flow described above, Hostinger’s own tutorial team covers it here:
How Long It Actually Takes
| Migration type | Typical time |
|---|---|
| WordPress site, backup upload (SiteGround, GoDaddy, WP Engine) | Under 2 hours for smaller sites; up to 48 hours if the site is large or the queue is busy |
| Automatic login-based migration | Usually under 2 hours |
| Non-WordPress site, cPanel-based | Can run up to around 20 hours |
Your old site keeps running the entire time — migrating doesn’t take it offline, since you’re not touching DNS until the copy on Hostinger is confirmed working.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will my site go down during the migration?
No, as long as you follow the order above. Your old site stays live on your old host while Hostinger builds a copy on its servers. The only point where downtime is even possible is the DNS switch itself, and even that usually goes unnoticed by visitors if you wait for propagation before assuming something’s wrong.
Do I need a developer to do this?
Not for a standard WordPress site using the backup-upload method — it’s mostly downloading a file from your old host’s dashboard and uploading it to Hostinger’s. A developer becomes worth it if your site has custom server configuration, a complex caching setup, or you’re migrating something other than WordPress.
What if the automatic migration fails?
Fall back to the backup-upload method described above, which gives you more control since you’re providing an actual file rather than login credentials. If that also fails, Hostinger’s support can typically help diagnose what’s blocking it — a common cause is 2FA or CAPTCHA still active on the old site.
Can I migrate more than one website?
Yes — Hostinger’s free migration isn’t limited to a single site, but each website needs its own separate migration request.
Does this work for sites that aren’t WordPress?
Hostinger’s migration tool also handles cPanel-based sites on other platforms and Node.js applications, though timelines run longer — up to around 20 hours rather than under 2. Closed-platform site builders like Wix, Squarespace, or Shopify can’t be migrated this way at all, since there’s no exportable file structure to move; those need to be rebuilt on the new host.
Should I migrate first or buy my Hostinger plan first?
You need an active Hostinger plan before you can start a migration request in hPanel, so that comes first. You don’t need to touch your domain until the migrated copy is confirmed working.
How We Assessed This
The steps above reflect Hostinger’s, SiteGround’s, GoDaddy’s, and WP Engine’s own current published support documentation for their backup and migration tools, current as of September 2026. Exact menu wording can shift as these dashboards get updated — if a button name doesn’t match exactly what you see, the underlying steps (create backup, download, upload to Hostinger, submit) haven’t changed. Disclosure: this page links to Hostinger through an affiliate relationship, the same disclosure that applies to our Hostinger review.
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