8 Best Web Hosts with Free Site Migration in 2023: Who Wins?

There are many reasons why you might choose to switch web hosting providers. Maybe your current hosting plan doesn’t give you enough storage or bandwidth, or maybe its performance is lacking. Or perhaps you’ve simply decided to look for a hosting plan that offers better value for money.

All the providers on this list offer free website migrations so you can make the switch hassle-free. In addition, each of these hosts offers either a trial period, a discounted first month, or a money-back guarantee so that you can try it out risk-free.

Overall, my top recommendation for web hosts with free site migration is Bluehost. I found the setup to be smooth and straightforward, and the customer support is excellent as well. There’s also a rich range of add-ons that make it simple to design a robust, SEO-optimized site.

What We Look For in the Best Web Hosts With Free Site Migrations

The web hosts in this article make migrating your site as easy and as hassle-free as possible. Once you sign up for a plan, in most cases you can simply initiate the migration process by submitting a request through your account dashboard.

Here are some additional features I’ve considered when choosing hosts for this list:

• Performance and reliability. What’s the point in moving to a new provider if performance and reliability are inferior to your current one? All of the web hosts in this article have been extensively tested by our team and are among the best-performing services on the market.
• Adequate storage space. If you’ve been adding content to your website for a while, you might find that you’re nearing your storage limit. The hosts in this article offer enough storage for hundreds or thousands of images which is more than enough for even very large websites.
• Price. Perhaps you’ve realized that your current hosting plan does not offer the right balance between features and price. All of the hosts here offer the most competitive prices for their respective services and features.
• Money-back guarantees. Migrating your website to a new host can be a daunting experience, especially if you have no prior knowledge of your new chosen host. Most hosts on this list offer either a discounted first month, a money-back guarantee, or a trial period so you can try the service risk-free.

1. Bluehost: Most User-Friendly Hosting for Single Sites

I found that Bluehost is the best choice for beginners looking for an easy, accessible hosting experience. Not only is the setup process streamlined and simple, but the 24/7 phone and chat support is also helpful. And, if you’re moving from another hosting provider, you can get up to five of your websites migrated for free.

Likewise, Bluehost makes it easy to get a robust site up and running without technical know-how or hiring freelancers. Some useful features include malware scans, SEO tools, and regular backups.

However, the host isn’t for you if you’re looking for blazing speeds and advanced infrastructure. Instead, Bluehost is the ideal choice for people with simple needs who can use the entry-level plan to host one site at a low price.

Features

• Free CDN. SiteLock CDN improves the speed of your Bluehost site around the world.
• Free domain name. Most Bluehost plans let you save on paying for a domain name separately.
• eCommerce tools. The Online Store plan comes with eCommerce essentials such as Secure Online Payments.
• Managed WordPress. All web hosting plans feature one-click WP installation, automatic updates, and custom themes.

Read our expert Bluehost review for more details.

2. Hostinger: Great Performance for the Price, and Super-Easy Site Migrations

Hostinger makes migrating your site as easy as possible. You can request to have your existing site migrated to Hostinger in about three clicks from within your account dashboard. You don’t have to do anything else.

Switching to Hostinger from either a free host or a different budget provider makes sense. Its track record of reliability and good WordPress performance is largely due to the implemented LiteSpeed web server and related optimizations.

Hostinger’s plans are also the most affordable – but to get the best price, you’ll have to commit to a longer-term plan, like the 2- or 3-year options. Fortunately, Hostinger also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Features

• WordPress optimization. Aside from the LiteSpeed web server software, Hostinger also offers the LiteSpeed Cache plugin for WordPress and an optimized hardware environment for the best possible WordPress performance in this price range.
• Weekly or daily backups. Hostinger offers either weekly or daily backups, depending on which plan you purchase. This ensures all of your data remains safe from corruption or malware attacks.
• 30-day money-back guarantee. This will allow you to try things out risk-free. You’re welcome to cancel and get your money back within 30 days.
• hPanel. Hostinger’s proprietary control panel allows for easy management of your hosting space and your website’s back-end environment. Many people find hPanel easier to use than cPanel.

Read our expert Hostinger review for more details.

3. HostArmada: Best Shared Hosting With Guaranteed Resources

HostArmada is one of few hosts that include guaranteed minimum resources, with 2 CPUs and 2GB RAM in the basic plan. The combination of NGINX-based architecture and dedicated resources makes for faster, more consistent performance.

These features make HostArmada slightly more expensive than other hosting options, but you can get a significant discount with a three-year plan. That’s a big commitment, but it’s easier to make since HostArmada offers a 45-day money-back guarantee.

While the performance and resources are excellent, HostArmada also limits you to a relatively small number of migrations and websites. While I would have liked to host more sites with HostArmada, the host fills a well-defined niche. If Hostinger is the best choice to migrate many small sites, this is the best choice to migrate a few high-performing sites.

Features

• Unlimited support. All plans feature 24/7/365 support by phone, ticket, or email.
• Managed security. HostArmada’s team will restore and secure your site if you ever suffer an attack by hackers.
• Outbound spam protection. SpamExperts email protection preserves your reputation and email deliverability.
• Data centers on four continents. Choose between data centers in North America, Europe, Australia, or Asia.

Read our expert HostArmada review for more details.

4. Nexcess: Competitively-Priced Cloud Hosting (With a Small Caveat)

When it comes to cloud hosting, Nexcess’s plans strike an optimal balance between price and higher performance. Nexcess’ cloud hosting infrastructure can scale server resources to accommodate short surges in your website’s traffic flow (unlike shared hosting).

All of Nexcess’s plans come with free website migration at no additional charge. Once you’ve signed up for a plan with resources that accommodate your existing site, you can simply submit a request within your account portal to have the site migrated.

Website migration is just the beginning of Nexcess’s service offering, however. As all of its plans are managed, you get extra automation – such as the pre-configured Edge CDN and the Plugin Performance Monitor – and a higher standard of guaranteed customer support. This translates into slightly higher but still competitive prices.

Features

• Single-click site staging. A staging area allows you to test changes on a copy of your website before making them available on your live site. This prevents you from accidentally breaking your live site.
• Nexcess content delivery network (CDN). Nexcess’s Edge CDN caches your site’s static content on 22 server locations throughout Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region, making your images and code load faster for site visitors who are further away from your chosen data center.
• iThemes Security Pro. iThemes Security Pro is a premium security plugin for WordPress that monitors 24/7 for any suspicious activity and prevents malicious online attacks.
• 14-day free trial. Nexcess offers you the opportunity to try things out risk-free for 14 days to see if the service is right for you.

Read our expert Nexcess review for more details.

5. InterServer: Fast, Cheap, and Reliable With Generous Resources

InterServer’s site migration process is similar to Hostinger’s. Once you purchase a hosting plan, you can simply submit a transfer request form from within your account dashboard.

InterServer’s Standard shared hosting plan offers unlimited features like storage, bandwidth, email accounts, and the number of allowed websites, which makes it a great budget option if you have multiple small sites.

Though its shared hosting plan is (justifiably, given the generous resource allocations) a bit pricier than the entry-level offerings from other budget hosts, you don’t have to commit to a long-term plan of 1-3 years to get InterServer’s best price.

Features

• DirectAdmin control panel. Both cPanel and DirectAdmin offer an interactive user interface (UI) and configuration functionality, but cPanel is easier to use for beginners. DirectAdmin is a better choice since it uses fewer resources like RAM than cPanel which won’t use up as many of your hardware resources.
• Migration of other CMSs. InterServer also supports the migration of sites using other content management systems, including PrestaShop, Drupal, Joomla, and Magento.
• Inter-Insurance. InterServer’s proprietary security policy protects your site by preventing any security issues before they arise, and investigating them in the unlikely event that they do.
• Unlimited MySQL databases. You’ll need one database for each of the WordPress sites you set up, so unlimited databases will allow you to set up as many websites as you want.

Read our expert InterServer review for more details.

6. Kinsta: Unlimited Site Migrations to Best-In-Class WordPress Hosting

Kinsta offers unlimited site migrations. Kinsta offers hosting for WordPress-based sites only – but it is one of the best in the business.

Also, Kinsta’s service is fully-managed. Server software is configured and optimized for top WordPress performance, and Kinsta’s support team is made up of expert WordPress and Linux developers and engineers who can help you optimize your website as well.

Kinsta’s prices are higher than other providers, but this is partially due to the service being managed – furthermore, Kinsta offers top-tier performance to back up its marketing claims.

Features

• Google Cloud. Google’s hosting platform can be intimidating, even for experienced web developers. Kinsta uses its own server stack on Google Cloud’s infrastructure, and offers an easy-to-use control panel and knowledgeable support.
• NGINX. NGINX is open-source web server software that can be configured to provide a performance advantage over the traditional Apache web server.
• Extensive professional support. The WordPress experts on the Kinsta support team will help with any aspect of your site’s optimization.
• 29 global server locations. Hosting your content at a data center that is as near as possible to your target audience helps keep your site loading speeds down and the user experience high.

Read our expert Kinsta review for more details.

7. InMotion Hosting: Cheap Shared Hosting and Hassle-Free Site Migrations

While its prices are a bit higher than other budget hosting providers, InMotion Hosting’s entry-level Core plan offers 100GB of storage which is twice that of Hostinger’s entry-level plan, and this can be used to store two websites instead of just one.

Furthermore, InMotion Hosting incorporates automatic backups into its plans. You will always have a backup available in case you need to restore your website to a previous version.

Lastly, once you’ve purchased a hosting plan from InMotion Hosting, you can request free website migrations through your account portal. Somebody from the support team will then manage the site transfer on your behalf.

Features

• NVMe SSD storage. All WordPress plans are equipped with next-generation NVMe storage, which performs even better than standard SSD storage.
• BoldGrid. This is a premium website builder that adds drag-and-drop functionality to WordPress sites, allowing you to create a decent-looking website more quickly than you would be able to if you were writing code.
• Unlimited bandwidth. As your website gains popularity, the number of visitors will also increase. With InMotion Hosting’s plans, you have the ability to accommodate an unlimited amount of text, images, and media to meet the demands of your growing audience.
• 90-day money-back guarantee. This is one of the most generous money-back guarantees in the industry.

Read our expert InMotion Hosting review for more details.

8. A2 Hosting: Basic Shared Hosting and Free Site Migrations

A2 Hosting’s A2 Optimized WordPress plugin is specifically designed to improve the performance of your WordPress site. It does this by compressing, caching, and securing your website’s contents. It will work on any shared hosting platform, but there are several features that work exclusively on sites hosted with A2 Hosting.

A2 Hosting offers 100GB of storage with its entry-level plan, which is more than enough for tens of thousands of image files.

A2 Hosting employs the LiteSpeed web server to further improve the performance of your site, but this feature is only available with A2 Hosting’s two most expensive shared hosting plans, so you’ll want to keep that in mind if you want to upgrade by moving your site from a provider using a traditional Apache web server setup.

Features

• Unlimited websites. While A2 Hosting’s entry-level Startup plan offers the ability to host one website, all of its other hosting plans offer unlimited capacity for multiple websites.
• Site staging. This allows you to clone a copy of your website to test changes or plugins before making them available on your live site.
• Anycast DNS. Your website’s DNS records are duplicated across A2 Hosting’s data center locations, helping your website load more quickly by increasing the redundancy of address information.
• Memory visibility. A special feature of A2 Hosting’s shared hosting is the chance to view the memory allocation for each plan. While it’s not absolutely essential, it can provide a basic understanding of what your hosting plan can do and what its limits are.

Read our expert A2 Hosting review for more details.

Free Site Migration Is a Standard Feature With Reputable Hosting Providers

Finding web hosts that offer free site migration isn’t much of a challenge – they primarily provide this as an incentive to encourage you to switch from another hosting provider. Therefore, my recommendations below primarily focus on other valuable features.

Bluehost is my top recommendation for newcomers to web hosting. The simple setup process and excellent customer support make it easy to get started. From there, the suite of add-ons can help even a beginner build an excellent site on their own.

If you’re looking to switch web hosts because you’re currently paying too much, Hostinger is my top recommendation. It offers one of the best price-performance ratios out there for shared hosting, with WordPress optimization as a bonus.

On the other hand, I recommend HostArmada if your current host is a little too slow. You can try the dedicated resources it offers with the security of a 45-day money-back guarantee.

FAQ

What is a website migration service?

Website migration involves a new web host transferring your existing website from your old host on your behalf. All of the hosts on this list offer free site migrations (as do most web hosting companies who are interested in new business).

How much does it cost to migrate a website?

All of the web hosts on this list offer free website migration services. However, some hosts make the process smoother than others.

How long does a site migration take?

Site migrations from one host to another have no set-in-stone timeframes for completion because it often depends on how complex your website is. The actual migration should only take a couple of hours, with the majority of the time spent ensuring your site works as intended on the new platform. A quick, functional migration is part of the reason why a generous manual migration policy is so good for site owners.

Can I transfer my website from one host to another?

Yes, absolutely, and the hosting providers on our list above will do so for free. In most cases, all you need to do is submit a transfer request from within your hosting account dashboard after you’ve purchased a plan at a new host.

In addition to the hosts I’ve listed above, you may want to compare prices and features on this list of the top 10 best web hosts in 2023.