How to Migrate a WordPress Site to Cloudways (Free Migrator Plugin)

Cloudways gives you two free ways to move a WordPress site: run the Cloudways WordPress Migrator plugin yourself (free, unlimited) or ask Cloudways engineers to move it (the first site is free). Your old site stays online the whole time.

Before you start

• Back up the old site and download the backup.
• Keep the old hosting active for a week or two after the move.
• Plan for email. Cloudways does not host email, so decide where your mailboxes will live.
• Pause security plugins and login limits on the old site (firewalls, login-attempt limits, custom login URLs); they can block the migrator.
• Avoid new content during the move. Posts and orders created after the copy starts will not carry over.

Step 1: Create an empty WordPress app on Cloudways

Launch a server with a WordPress app, or add a new app to an existing server with Add App. If you do not have an account yet, see how to sign up for Cloudways; you can migrate during the free trial to test speed first.

The migration overwrites everything in the target app, so always use a fresh, empty one.

On Cloudways Flexible, choose the web stack when you create it: Hybrid (NGINX plus Apache, supports .htaccess) or Lightning (NGINX only, faster, no .htaccess). If your site relies on .htaccess rules, or is a subdirectory Multisite, choose Hybrid.

Step 2: Collect the connection details

Open the server, click the www icon, choose the new app, and go to Access Details:

• Application URL (Application Details tab)
• Public IP for the SFTP host (SSH/SFTP tab)
• DB Name (Database tab)

Then, on the server's Master Credentials page, note the master username and password. On Cloudways Autonomous, use the default user's credentials instead; no database name is needed.

Step 3: Install the plugin on the old site

In the old site's WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Add New, search for Cloudways WordPress Migrator, install it, and activate it. A Cloudways Migrate menu appears and the wizard opens.

Step 4: Fill in the migration form

Enter your email, accept the terms, and click Migrate. Then fill in:

• Platform: Cloudways Flexible or Cloudways Autonomous
• Destination Site URL: the Application URL
• SFTP Host / Server Address: the server's Public IP
• Database Name (Flexible only)
• SFTP Username / Password: the master credentials
• HTTP Auth Enabled?, Any Root Directories You Want to Migrate?, Migrate Additional Database Tables, and Is This Site Protected?: answer No unless you use HTTP authentication, custom folders or tables, or front-end password protection

Click Migrate. Small sites take minutes; multi-gigabyte sites can take an hour or two. You can close the page and wait for the email.

When it finishes, click Go to Cloudways or open the Application URL. The new admin login is under the app's Access Details. If you still see old content, purge the Varnish cache.

Alternative: ask Cloudways to migrate it

In the Cloudways platform, open Integrations → Application Migration, choose the target app, and enter the old site's URL, WordPress admin login, and SFTP/FTP/SSH or cPanel access. Engineers handle it over an English-language ticket. Change those passwords afterwards. Domain and DNS changes are still up to you.

Step 5: Test, then switch DNS

Check pages, images, the admin area, plugins, and forms on the temporary URL. Then add your domain in Domain Management, make it primary, point your A records to the server's Public IP, and install a Let's Encrypt certificate. Keep the old hosting for a few days before cancelling it.

See what Cloudways costs over five years on the Cloudways renewal price page.