Migrating a site from one host to another sounds like a weekend project. It usually is — for the wrong reasons. The way most people do it (download files, download database, upload files, upload database, fix paths, debug, repeat) takes a Saturday and breaks something on the live site by Sunday.
There's a better way that takes one form and six hours of waiting. Here's the play.
Use Hostinger's free migration service
Hostinger has a free site migration service for new customers. You sign up, fill out a short form with your current host's details, and their team migrates the site for you. That's the entire process from your end.
Sponsor of Everyday Hustle Jeff. Domain, SSL, backups, the works.
Most people skip this and try to migrate manually. Don't. The migration team has done this thousands of times — they know the gotchas, they handle the edge cases, and they don't break things by accident the way you will.
What the form asks for
Three things, basically:
1. Where the site currently lives — the URL, the host, and login credentials for that host (so they can pull the files).
2. Where it should land — the Hostinger account and domain.
3. Any quirks — large media files, custom code, multiple subdomains, anything weird.
If you don't have your old host's login handy, get it before starting. The migration won't begin without it.
The 6-hour window
The actual migration runs in the background and usually completes within 24 hours, often faster. While it's running, your live site stays at the old host — visitors see no change. The migration happens to a "preview" version on Hostinger that you can inspect before going live.
This is the part that prevents downtime. The old site is still serving visitors while the new site builds out at Hostinger. You don't switch over until you've reviewed the new site and confirmed it works.
The DNS switch
When the new site is verified, you change your domain's nameservers to point at Hostinger (covered in the "Pointing a domain" post on this site). DNS propagation takes anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours, during which traffic gradually shifts from the old host to Hostinger.
There's no downtime — both sites are live at the same time during propagation, and visitors land on whichever one their DNS resolves first. By the time the propagation completes, everyone's on the new site.
Cancel the old hosting last
Wait at least a week before cancelling your old hosting plan. Two reasons: (1) you might find a few things that didn't migrate cleanly and need to grab from the old host, and (2) full DNS propagation can take longer than expected, and you want the safety net.
After a week with everything working, cancel the old plan. Done. The whole migration takes one form to fill out and a few minutes of attention spread across a week. Your weekend stays yours.
The exception
If you're moving a custom-built site with hand-coded backend stuff (not WordPress, not Wix, not a standard CMS), the auto-migration won't handle it. That's the case where you're back to manual. But for the 95% of sites that are WordPress or another standard platform, the free migration service is the play.
— Jeff
Sponsor of Everyday Hustle Jeff. Domain, SSL, backups, the works.