With the help of a WordPress migration plugin, you can simplify the process of moving your site from one hosting provider to the next.
Here, we’ve rounded up the 11 best migration plugin WordPress sites can use. Whether you are in the market for a free or paid WordPress migration plugin, there are plenty of options you can choose from to ensure your site gets from one place to another seamlessly.
What is WordPress site migration?
To understand why a WordPress migration is helpful, it’s crucial to comprehend what it is in the first place. The main reason why a site owner looks to migrate their WordPress site from one hosting provider to another is that their provider is slow or unreliable.
Other times you may feel like you’re overpaying with one provider and want to switch to a more cost-effective option. Alternately, you might feel that your provider doesn’t offer what you need (for example, you want managed hosting but your provider doesn’t specialize in that).
Of course, you don’t want to have to rebuild your website from the ground up. Instead, you’ll want to migrate your WordPress site. A WordPress migration plugin can help you achieve that.
WordPress Migration Plugin: Free
Here’s some excellent news: You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars (or any money) to find an excellent WordPress migration plugin. Below you can find our favorite WordPress migration plugin free edition.
1. All-in-One WP Migration
One of the best free options for a WordPress migration plugin is All-in-One WP Migration. To give you an idea of its popularity, consider how it has been used with over 60 million sites. This is an excellent choice because you can easily use it whether or not you have technical experience. And, of course, if you need further assistance, you can upgrade to the paid version for additional support.
This plugin also stands out as it’s available in 50+ language translations, is accessible and WCAG 2.1 AA compliant, and even supports customized plugins, themes, and uploads. You can also use it with various hosting providers.
What we like: All-in-One WP Migration is compatible with mobile devices.
2. Migrate Guru
Even if your migration is more complicated and includes multi-site networks or sites that are 200 GB, you can make it happen with the help of Migrate Guru. Migrate Guru seamlessly handles serialized data, can help you clone the site and add-ons without manual labor, and uses its own servers so you can rest assured about security. It’s also compatible with all website hosts and completely automatic.
What we like: This WordPress migration plugin is one-click.
3. Backup Migration
Backup Migration is an excellent option because it checks multiple boxes. Whether you want to back up your website or migrate it to another hosting provider, you can easily do so with this plugin.
Some of our favorite features include how you can define which files and databases your backup should include, where it’s being kept, and what name your backup has. Plus, you can schedule backups so you have peace of mind that you have an up-to-date backup.
The best part of this WordPress migration plugin? Free! Of course, you can upgrade to a premium version if you’re working with a website backup larger than 2GB.
What we like: The Backup Migration plugin is an all-in-one solution.
4. Duplicator
Duplicator is an excellent choice to quickly move, clone, or migrate a site between hosts or domains. Another feature this plugin offers is the ability to manual back up a WordPress site or select parts of it. Plus, you can duplicate a live site to a staging one or the other way around. When you use the plugin, you get a bundle package of your website’s content, database, WP files, plugins, and themes. This is condensed to a simple zip file that you can use to migrate to wherever you want.
If you want added functionality, consider upgrading to Duplicator Pro. With this version of the plugin, you can get drag-and-drop installs, cloud storage to a variety of locations, migrate a multi-site network, and schedule backups.
What we like: You don’t have to worry about any inconveniences from a user standpoint — with this plugin, there’s zero downtime so visitors can enjoy your site immediately.
5. Migration by WPvivid
The WPvivid plugin has much to love — it features backup, migration, and staging services. What we love about this plugin is that you don’t need to download a whole host of them — you can do everything you need to do directly from here. For instance, you can clone your site, migrate it to a new host and domain, and schedule backups. This plugin is free to start, but additional functionality is available when you upgrade to pro.
What we like: Because this plugin does a lot, you don’t need to download multiple for each feature which could slow your site down.
6. WP Migrate Light
Next is WP Migrate Lite, the basic version of WP Migrate Pro. With Basic, you can migrate your WordPress site database, a full-site export including plugins, themes, media uploads, and beyond. You can also import your site to Local, a popular WP development tool.
What we like: Because WP Migrate can locate and replace content in your WP database, it’s easier to migrate it, and there’s a reduced risk of corruption.
7. WordPress Backup & Migration by WebToffee
This plugin by WebToffee makes migration simple. Regardless of which host you want to migrate your site between, you can do it with this plugin. Additionally, the plugin has enhanced functionality, including backup to the cloud and database backups. You can also choose which files you want to migrate. The plugin scores points for ease of use and offers one click-backup.
What we like: If you choose this plugin, you can auto-replace website URLs, simplifying the process.
Best Migration Plugin WordPress: Paid
If you have money in your budget allocated for a migration plugin for WordPress, you can look into paid options. Remember: Many of the free plugins we mentioned above have premium versions you should also consider.
Here are some additional premium migration plugins worth looking into.
8. UpdraftPlus (Premium Version)
One option for a premium migration plugin is Updraft. This plugin is primarily used for backups, but similar to many of the others we’ve mentioned, it has a robust system to streamline site migrations. It’s a great choice because it only takes a click to back up your WordPress site files. Then, you can restore it on the same website or in another location (where site migration comes into the picture). Another perk of using this plugin is that you can elect to have backups routinely on a schedule.
What we like : This plugin is compatible with many cloud integrations.
9. Backup Buddy
Backup Buddy is another plugin that’s technically used for backups but could also be an effective way to migrate your WordPress site from one hosting provider to another. Once you download your site files, you can easily move them to a different provider.
Another reason this plugin stands out is that it does have a migration-specific function built in. With the help of this feature, you can seamlessly replace URLs and fix the domain. Plus, you can clone your website with just a click which makes the entire process easier.
What we like: The plugin offers excellent customer support, so if you think you might have questions, this is a good choice for you.
10. VaultPress
You might already be familiar with VaultPress, which is a Jetpack-powered plugin. While VaultPress is generally used for backup and security reasons, it simplifies the process of migrating your website from a backup. If you’re generally concerned about your site security and looking for a migration tool that considers that, you’re in the right place.
VaultPress has a variety of functions, including migration, backup, restoration, file scanning, automated file fixes, and spam defense. You’d have to look for additional plugins for these features, so combining them into one will make your site speed better.
What we like: You get all these features when you purchase the Jetpack complete plugin, which could prove more cost-effective.
Migrate your site to its new hosting provider today.
Ready to migrate your website to its new hosting provider? Use any of these WordPress migration plugin options, and it will be a seamless experience.
