GuideHow to move WordPress to MariHost: migrate your hosting for free

Last updated: 25 October 2026

Moving a WordPress site to a new host sounds risky, but most of the work is copying files and a database, then pointing your domain at the new server. At MariHost we do the copying for you, for free: as many websites as your plan holds, if you ask within 30 days of your first hosting order. We move sites from cPanel, Plesk or any host where we can get a full backup, and we check each one works before anything changes.

This guide shows what to have ready, how the move works step by step, and how to switch without your site going offline.

Before you start

Have these ready, and the move goes quickly:

• A way into your old hosting. Either your old host's login (for example your cPanel or Plesk username and password), or a full backup of your account. On cPanel, a full account backup is one file that holds your websites, databases and email.
• Your domain registrar login. That's where you bought your domain name, which may not be your old host. You'll need it to point the domain at MariHost at the end.
• A list of your websites, if you have more than one, so we know what to move.
• A list of your email addresses, if your email is moving too (see Moving your email).

Not sure where your domain is registered? A WHOIS lookup shows the registrar's name. Or ask us, and we'll check.

Move WordPress to MariHost: how it works

1. Choose a plan

Pick the plan that fits your sites (Choosing a hosting plan helps), and start with the 3-day free trial or order it straight away. Your free migration covers as many websites as the plan holds.

2. Ask for your free migration

Fill in our contact form and choose Free migration, or open a ticket in your client area. Tell us where your sites are hosted now and how many you'd like to move. We'll reply to agree a time with you, and tell you what we need.

3. We copy your site and check it

We copy your files, database and settings to your MariHost account. Then we check the copy works: pages load, you can log in to WordPress, and nothing's missing. Your old site stays live the whole time, so your visitors don't notice anything.

4. You check it too

Open the website in your control panel and click Preview on its dashboard: it shows the copy on our servers before your domain points here. Click through your main pages, try your contact form and log in to WordPress. If anything looks wrong, tell us and we'll fix it before you go further.

5. Point your domain to MariHost

When you're happy, point your domain to MariHost, by changing its nameservers or its DNS records. Point your domain to MariHost shows each step. As each network picks up the change, visitors start arriving at your site on our servers.

6. Check everything on MariHost

Once your domain points here, HTTPS is set up for it automatically. Then check:

• your site loads with the padlock (https://) in the address bar
• your forms send their messages
• you can log in to WordPress
• your email sends and arrives, if it moved too

7. Keep your old hosting for a week, then cancel

Don't cancel the old hosting straight away. Some networks take up to 48 hours to see a DNS change, and it's a useful copy if you've forgotten something. After a week or so, when everything's working on MariHost, cancel it.

Avoiding downtime

Done carefully, a move keeps your site online the whole time. Three habits help:

• Lower the TTL a day ahead. If you'll change DNS records rather than nameservers, set the TTL (time to live, how long networks remember a record) on those records to a few minutes, a day before the switch. When you change them, the new address spreads much faster.
• Switch at a quiet time. Choose a time when your site has few visitors, such as late evening or a weekend for a business site.
• Freeze the old site after the copy. Once we've made the copy, don't add posts, products or pages on the old site, because they won't be on the new one. If you run a shop, agree the timing with us so no orders land on the old site after the copy.

Moving your email

Email needs more care than a website, because your messages are stored at your old host, and your domain's MX records decide where new mail goes.

• If your email stays where it is (for example with Google Workspace or Microsoft 365), keep its MX records exactly as they are. If you point your domain by changing nameservers, add the same MX records at MariHost first, so mail keeps flowing. Tell us and we'll help.
• If your email moves to MariHost, we move your mailboxes and the mail in them as part of the free migration. Then the MX records point to MariHost, and new mail arrives here. Keep the old hosting until you've checked nothing's missing, because mail can still reach it while the change spreads.

Change your email's MX records at the same time as the website, or straight after, and send a test message each way.

Prefer to move it yourself?

You can. There are two common ways:

• A WordPress migration plugin. Install it on your old site, export the site to a file, install WordPress on MariHost, then import the file there. Free versions of some plugins limit the size of site they move, so check the plugin's limits first.
• By hand. Copy your WordPress files to MariHost by FTP, export your database from the old host and import it in the control panel, then update the database details in wp-config.php. If your domain stays the same, nothing else in WordPress needs changing. WordPress's own guide, Moving WordPress, covers each step.

Either way, don't search and replace your database by hand: it can break WordPress's stored settings. And if you get stuck, our free migration is still there: ask us.

What's next

• Point your domain to MariHost: nameservers and DNS records, step by step.
• Choosing a hosting plan: websites, storage and bandwidth explained.
• Start a WordPress website: if you're starting a new site rather than moving one.