WordPress is a popular and powerful platform, but it’s not without its drawbacks. Whatever the reason, you may run into a scenario where you want to switch from WordPress (WP) to a new platform.
To do that, you can use migration plug-ins from WordPress to make the process easier to manage; you can even access these tools from the WordPress dashboard. Read on to learn about some of the best WordPress migration plug-ins and the features to look for.
How does a WordPress migration work?
Think of a WordPress migration like moving into a new house. Your current website is your home—it’s filled with all your furniture (themes and plug-ins), photo albums (media files), important documents (databases), and even your favorite routines (settings and configurations). When you decide to relocate—maybe to a new website hosting service, a changed domain, or just a new setup—you don’t want to start from scratch. You want to pack everything up and bring it with you, and set it up just the way you like.
A WordPress migration plug-in is like your moving crew. One that boxes up your existing site, handles the heavy lifting, and helps you unpack everything in your new space without breaking your stuff—or your site. It also updates any “change of address” notices (like URLs and internal links) so visitors and search engines know where to find you.
Whether you’re switching hosts, upgrading your infrastructure, or just streamlining your setup, a well-executed WordPress migration ensures your website lands safely in its new home—ready to welcome guests without missing a beat.
What to look for in a WordPress migration plug-in
- Full-site migration support
- Automatic URL replacement
- One-click or assisted migrations
- Hosting environment compatibility
- Backup and restoration
- Support for large and multisite installs
- Security
- Customer support and documentation
When you’re looking for a WP migration plug-in for your website, there are a few things to pay attention to.
Full-site migration support
The WordPress plug-in you choose should be able to migrate all your core files, your site database, themes, plug-ins, uploads, and media. You may also want to have it migrate any custom files (like .htaccess or wp-config.php). This is especially critical when working with multiple WordPress sites or network installations.
Automatic URL replacement
You’ll need to update any hard-coded links in your site files so they redirect to the new site. A dedicated migration plug-in will make this automatic and easy, but there are also all-in-one options that are just as efficient.
One-click or assisted migrations
Managing the website migration process for your WordPress site is much easier when it’s streamlined. One-click tools that don’t require manual uploading to FTP servers or separate database backup systems are ideal.
Hosting environment compatibility
Make sure you install WordPress plug-ins that work with both your source and target hosting platforms. This helps you avoid any problems, such as size limits or timeouts, when migrating.
Backup and restoration
It’s crucial your plug-in comes with scheduled backup capabilities, off-site storage, and one-click restore options—especially if your WP migrate fails and you need to roll back.
Support for large and multisite installs
If you have lots of media files, WooCommerce data, or are managing multiple WordPress sites, ensure the plug-in supports large site migration (10 gigabytes or more). It should also offer file splitting or remote transfer tools to manage multisite installations.
Security
Make sure your plug-in protects your backup files with passwords and encryption. It should log every step of the site migration process (key for troubleshooting) and allow for rollback if the migration fails.
Customer support and documentation
There may come a time when you need to rely on support documents or even reach out to the organization that developed the plug-in. Look for plug-ins with robust support and detailed documentation—especially if you’re not using a migration service.
8 of the best WordPress migration plug-ins
- Duplicator
- UpdraftPlus
- All-in-One WP Migration
- Migrate Guru
- WP Migrate
- Solid Backups
- WPvivid Backup for MainWP
- Jetpack (VaultPress)
Each tool out there has strengths and challenges, and you want to choose the best migration plug-in for your specific business needs. Use this list of eight top WordPress migration tools to figure out your perfect fit.
1. Duplicator
Duplicator is very versatile. It lets you clone, backup, and migrate a WordPress site easily and efficiently. This plug-in allows you to package a WordPress site into a single archive, so you can easily migrate it or just back it up. It can be useful for moving sites between domains or hosts without needing downtime.
Pricing: Duplicator’s pricing starts at $49.50 per year (Basic tier) and goes up to $299.50 per year (Elite tier), for those who want to migrate multiple sites and need additional levels of support.
2. UpdraftPlus
UpdraftPlus lets you migrate sites via an add-on, combining backup and migration into one interface. It’s known for its reliability and user-friendly interface, making the free version popular for beginners. Upgrading unlocks advanced features allowing you to migrate more sites, increase storage, and use a central management tool.
Pricing: UpdraftPlus starts at $70 per year for up to two sites.
3. All-in-One WP Migration
If you don’t have a lot of technical expertise, the All-in-One WP Migration plug-in offers a user-friendly interface to export your entire site, including the database, plug-ins, themes, and media files with a single click. This free migration plug-in scales at additional costs if you want to remove upload limits, import from a URL, use it for multiple websites, or sync with Dropbox, FTP, Amazon S3 and other top cloud storage devices.
Pricing: Free for basic functionality; paid versions begin at $69 annually.
4. Migrate Guru
If you have a large site to migrate, Migrate Guru can migrate sites up to 200 gigabytes. It uses its own servers instead of your own to mitigate any stress on the source site.
Pricing: Migrate Guru is open-source and therefore, completely free to use.
5. WP Migrate
WP Migrate is more technical and geared toward developers. It offers a streamlined approach, with push or pull options to migrate all your WordPress media files, themes, plug-ins, and databases.
Pricing: WP Migrate Lite is free, but paid tiers, starting at $49 per year, include priority email support, WordPress to WordPress migrations, and advanced multisite features. There are also pricing tiers for organizations, teachers, students, and nonprofits.
6. Solid Backups
Solid Backups (previously known as Backup Buddy) offers complete site backups and is known for its stability and range of unlimited site migrations and WP migration features, such as scheduled, automated backups and offsite backup storage. Once you back up your entire site, you can use the importbuddy.php script on your new server to import the backup and complete the migration.
Pricing: Solid Backups starts at $8.25 per month (paid annually) with 20 gigabytes of storage for one site.
7. WPvivid Backup for MainWP
WPvivid Backup for MainWP offers free and premium versions, and works as an all-in-one solution for backups, one-click WP migration, and site restoration. It supports cloud storage services and both manual and auto remote transfers. You install the plug-in on both the source and destination websites, which connect via a unique key generated by the destination site’s plug-in.
Pricing: Pricing starts at $49 per year (Blogger tier) for two domains, and scales to $1,149 annually for unlimited domains (Ultimate tier). All tiers offer unlimited license transfers except for the first tier (Blogger), which limits you to a license transfer of up to three days.
8. Jetpack (VaultPress Backup)
The VaultPress Backup plug-in is part of the Jetpack suite of tools made by the company behind WordPress (Automatic). Jetpack offers a range of security, performance, and site management tools for self-hosted WordPress websites. This plug-in provides the reliability of real-time backups and automated restoration. It promises minimal data loss and quick recovery if your site goes down. Migration happens via a full site backup restoration to a new domain or host, which allows you to migrate your site with minimal technical setup.
Pricing: The basic plug-in is free, but Jetpack offers three tiers of extra support: Security ($9.99 per month), Growth ($9.95 per month), and Complete ($24.95 per month). These include VaultPress backups of 10 gigabytes, social and site stats, and more features.
Best WordPress migration plug-in FAQ
What is the best WordPress migration plug-in?
As with many solutions for website owners, the best tool for the job depends on your specific site needs, including site size and complexity, your own technical skill level (or your dev team’s), and the hosting environment.
The most comprehensive WordPress migration plug-in providing full-site migrations, including multi-site installations, seems to be Duplicator Pro. It works well across most hosting providers, offers scheduled backups and cloud storage, and allows you to prepackage your site for easy deployment elsewhere
What is the fastest way to migrate WordPress sites?
How fast you can migrate your entire WordPress site depends on your hosting setup and the size of your site. Generally, the quickest way to migrate your site is to use a dedicated, one-click migration plug-in that automatically moves your entire self-hosted WordPress site (including WordPress databases, media, plug-ins, and themes).
How long does it take to migrate a WordPress site?
Depending on your web host, file sizes, and complexity, it can take minutes to hours. Sites with larger media files will take longer than simpler ecommerce sites with smaller file sizes. Plug-ins like Migrate Guru can help speed things up, since it uses external servers and doesn’t have to rely on your site’s servers.
