Moving your WordPress website to a new host sounds intimidating — but with Hostinger, it’s actually free, fast, and almost entirely automated. In this guide, I’ll walk you through every step of migrating your WordPress site to Hostinger in 2026, whether you’re escaping a slow host, cutting costs, or finally upgrading to something better.

I’ve migrated several sites to Hostinger and the process keeps getting smoother. Let’s get into it.

Why Migrate to Hostinger?

Before diving into the how, here’s why so many WordPress site owners are making the switch:

• Price: Hostinger’s Business Hosting starts at a fraction of what many popular hosts charge — often $2–4/month with a long-term plan.
• Speed: LiteSpeed servers, built-in caching, and free CDN make Hostinger measurably faster than shared hosts like Bluehost or GoDaddy.
• Free migration: Unlike hosts that charge $100–$200 to move your site, Hostinger migrates it for free using their automated plugin.
• Free SSL + domain: Every hosting plan includes a free SSL certificate, and annual plans include a free domain.

Ready to make the move? Get started with Hostinger here — and follow the steps below.

What You’ll Need Before Migrating

Before starting the migration, make sure you have:

1. A Hostinger account with an active hosting plan (Business Hosting is recommended for most WordPress sites)
2. Access to your current WordPress admin dashboard (wp-admin)
3. Your domain name — either transfer it to Hostinger or keep it at your current registrar and point it via DNS
4. A recent backup of your current site (always migrate from a backup)

Don’t have a Hostinger account yet? Sign up for Business Hosting — it’s what I’d recommend for most WordPress sites.

Step 1: Set Up Your Hostinger Hosting Account

Log in to your Hostinger account and go to hPanel (Hostinger’s custom control panel). If you just signed up, you’ll see a setup wizard — follow it to configure your hosting environment for WordPress.

From hPanel, you can also add your domain. If you’re keeping your domain at another registrar, you’ll update its DNS records later (Step 5). For now, just note your Hostinger nameservers — you’ll find them in hPanel under Domains → DNS / Nameservers.

Step 2: Install the Hostinger Migration Plugin on Your Current Site

This is where Hostinger’s migration really shines. They have a free, official WordPress plugin called All-in-One WP Migration and Backup — it exports your entire site (files + database) into a single portable file.

Here’s how to install it:

1. Log in to your current WordPress dashboard (not Hostinger yet)
2. Go to Plugins → Add New Plugin
3. Search for “All-in-One WP Migration”
4. Install and activate the plugin by ServMask

Step 3: Export Your WordPress Site

Once the plugin is active:

1. Go to All-in-One WP Migration → Export
2. Click Export To → File
3. The plugin will package your entire site — posts, pages, media, themes, plugins, and database — into one .wpress file
4. Download the file to your computer

Tip: If your site is large (over 512 MB), the free plugin version might hit upload limits on import. Hostinger’s hPanel has a direct import option that bypasses this — see Step 4b below.

Step 4: Import Your Site to Hostinger

Now switch to your new Hostinger account.

Option A: Import via WordPress Plugin (smaller sites)

1. In hPanel, go to Websites → Manage → WordPress and do a fresh WordPress install on your Hostinger account (if you haven’t already)
2. Log in to your new Hostinger WordPress admin
3. Install and activate All-in-One WP Migration on the new site too
4. Go to All-in-One WP Migration → Import
5. Upload the .wpress file you exported in Step 3
6. Wait for the import to complete — your site is now on Hostinger!

Option B: Use Hostinger’s Built-in Migration Tool (large sites or auto-migration)

Hostinger offers an automated migration service right from hPanel:

1. In hPanel, go to Websites → Migrate Website
2. Enter your current site’s URL and WordPress admin credentials
3. Hostinger’s system will automatically copy your site over — no manual export needed
4. This works great for sites of any size and requires zero technical knowledge

Option B is the easiest route for most people, especially if you’re not comfortable with manual file exports.

Step 5: Point Your Domain to Hostinger

Your site is now on Hostinger’s servers — but your domain still points to your old host. Here’s how to update that:

If you registered your domain with a third-party registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, etc.):

1. Log in to your domain registrar
2. Find your domain’s nameserver settings
3. Replace the existing nameservers with Hostinger’s: ns1.dns-parking.com and ns2.dns-parking.com
4. Save the changes and wait 1–24 hours for DNS propagation

If you want to transfer your domain to Hostinger:

In hPanel, go to Domains → Transfer Domain. You’ll need the EPP/authorization code from your current registrar. Transfers typically take 5–7 days.

Tip: Keep your old hosting active for at least 48 hours after pointing DNS — this ensures no downtime during propagation.

Step 6: Activate Your Free SSL Certificate

After DNS propagates and your domain points to Hostinger, activate your free SSL:

1. In hPanel, go to Security → SSL
2. Click Install SSL next to your domain
3. Hostinger uses Let’s Encrypt — the certificate installs in seconds
4. Back in WordPress, go to Settings → General and make sure both the WordPress Address and Site Address use https://

If you see mixed content warnings after switching to HTTPS, use a plugin like Better Search Replace to update all internal URLs from http:// to https:// in the database.

Step 7: Test Your Migrated Site

Before canceling your old hosting, run through this checklist:

• ✅ Home page loads correctly
• ✅ All posts and pages are present
• ✅ Images and media load properly
• ✅ Forms and contact pages work
• ✅ WooCommerce (if applicable) — products, cart, checkout all functional
• ✅ Plugins are active and working
• ✅ SSL is active and no mixed content warnings
• ✅ Email (if hosted separately) still works

Common Migration Issues (and How to Fix Them)

White screen of death after import

This is usually a plugin conflict. Go to your Hostinger file manager (hPanel → File Manager → public_html/wp-content/plugins) and rename the plugins folder to “plugins_old” to deactivate all plugins at once. Then re-enable them one by one.

Images not loading

Run the WordPress Media Library repair tool: In wp-admin, go to Tools → Site Health → Media handling. Or use a plugin like Regenerate Thumbnails if image sizes look off.

Upload limit too small (max file size error)

In hPanel, go to Hosting → PHP Configuration and increase upload_max_filesize and post_max_size to 256M or higher. This resolves most import size issues.

Can’t log in to WordPress after migration

Use Hostinger’s built-in WordPress manager in hPanel — you can reset the admin password directly from there without needing to log in first.

After Migration: Optimize Your Site on Hostinger

Once you’re live on Hostinger, take a few minutes to get the most out of your new setup:

• Enable LiteSpeed Cache: Hostinger’s servers run LiteSpeed. Install the free LiteSpeed Cache plugin for WordPress — it’s one of the most powerful free caching plugins available and works natively with Hostinger’s infrastructure.
• Set up the free CDN: In hPanel, enable Cloudflare CDN under Performance → CDN. This distributes your site’s static assets globally for faster load times.
• Enable automatic backups: hPanel includes automated daily backups on Business plans and above. Enable them under Files → Backups.
• Set up staging: Business Hosting includes a one-click staging environment. Use it before making big changes to your live site.

How Much Does Hostinger Cost?

Hostinger offers several plans depending on your needs. For most WordPress site owners migrating from another host, Business Hosting is the sweet spot:

• Business Hosting: 100 websites, 200 GB SSD, free domain, daily backups, staging, and priority support. Get Business Hosting
• Cloud Economy: Better performance with cloud infrastructure, ideal for growing or high-traffic sites. Get Cloud Economy

Both plans include free migration support — so if you’d rather have Hostinger’s team handle the move, you can request that through your hPanel dashboard.

Final Thoughts

Migrating your WordPress site to Hostinger is one of the easier hosting migrations you’ll do — especially if you use their automated migration tool in hPanel. The combination of fast LiteSpeed servers, free migration, generous storage, and genuinely low prices makes Hostinger worth the switch for most WordPress site owners.

If you’re ready to make the move, grab a Hostinger Business Hosting plan here and follow the steps above. The whole process typically takes under an hour — and you’ll likely notice the speed improvement right away.

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