When migrating your site to Kinsta, you have a few options to choose from, starting with migrating the site yourself or having our team do the migration for you.

If you’d like to migrate your site yourself, we have several resources to help guide you:

Migration Process and Checklist

If you’d like us to migrate your site for you, here’s an overview of the process and what you can expect along the way.

  1. Make sure you have an open spot for the new site we’ll create for your migration.
  2. If you’re requesting a migration from a backup:
    1. Make sure the backup contains both your website files and database.
    2. Have the backup ready to upload or have the link to the files.
  3. Submit your basic or premium migration request in MyKinsta.
  4. For a basic migration, our Migration team will complete your migration ​​as soon as possible (usually within 2 business days). For a premium migration, a member of our Migrations team will be in touch to schedule your migration.
  5. You can check the status of your migration(s) by going to the Migrations tab in MyKinsta. Our Migrations team will also keep you updated on the status of your migration.
  6. Your migration will usually be completed in 1 business day for premium migrations, 2 business days for basic migrations. This, of course, depends upon receiving the correct information to complete the migration. If we’re unable to access the site or backup for the migration, that may delay the migration, depending on how long it takes to get the necessary information.
  7. Once your migration is complete, we’ll let you know and send along more information on how to test your new site at Kinsta before making it live.

For more detailed information about submitting your migration request, including what sites are eligible for a basic migration, check out our guides on how to Request a Migration and How Free WordPress Migrations Work at Kinsta article.

Important Notes

  • For some hosts, if two-factor authentication is enabled, we recommend adding us to your account at your current host with this email address: [email protected] and giving us the necessary access (as noted in the request form). This currently applies to migrations from Cloudways, GoDaddy, SiteGround, or WP Engine.
  • The migration typically takes 1-2 hours, but this can depend on the size of the site and the speed from your current host. This is from the start of the migration.
  • Once the migration is complete, we’ll send you details for testing the site and how to point your website to Kinsta if everything looks good. Please always wait until we have confirmed that the migration is complete and that you’ve fully tested the migrated site before updating the DNS.
  • Please be sure to refrain from making any changes to your site during the migration to ensure any updates aren’t left behind on your previous host. If a second migration is needed for any updates, we have more info on the process in this guide: Can I Request a Second Migration for My Site.
  • Our migration service doesn’t include DNS updates, but we will send you information on updating your domain’s DNS.
  • Setting up DNS and configuring third-party services is not included in our migration service, and you will need to handle these tasks. A few common examples of tasks that you will need to take care of include: updating your domain’s A records or other DNS, pointing name servers to Kinsta’s DNS, setting up a third-party CDN (like Cloudflare or Sucuri), or setting up an email service.
  • If there’s a delay between the migration and taking the site live, you may need to request a second migration.