Migrating a WordPress website is crucial for site owners looking to switch hosts, update software or even enhance security. Choosing the right migration plugin is key to safely and smoothly moving your site to a new location.
Why Migrate Your WordPress Website?
As the world‘s most popular CMS, WordPress now powers over 40% of all websites as of 2023. With this ubiquity comes increased needs for site relocation and content transfers. Common reasons site owners migrate their WordPress installs include:
- Switching web hosting providers – To reduce costs, boost site performance or leverage more advanced capabilities
- Site redesigns – Moving an existing site to a fresh development or staging environment to test design changes
- Domain name changes – Obtain a new brandable domain or consolidate multiple domains
- Enhance security – Escape outdated software or vulnerable hosts by shifting sites to more secure destinations
Per recent surveys, over 85% of site owners have migrated their WordPress site at least once. Of those, 65% reported downtime exceeding 4 hours during the transition process.
Choosing an advanced plugin built for seamless migrations can eliminate these hassles. But with so many options, settling on the best solution can get overwhelming.
This guide will cover:
- Key features to look for in WordPress migration plugins
- In-depth comparison of the top options
- Recommendations based on site size, use case and skill level
We evaluated plugins based on:
- Ease of use – How intuitive is the migration process for beginners vs developers
- Support – Quality and responsiveness of customer service
- Features – What specific migration capabilities are included
- Security – Protection against data loss and site downtime
- Scalability – Handling small personal blogs to enterprise networks
- Compatibility – Web host, PHP version and WordPress release support
Let‘s dive in to explore the top plugins of 2023 when it comes to migrating WordPress.
WordPress Website Migrations in Review
Before selecting a migration plugin, it‘s important to understand key elements of the transition process itself:
- The database contains all site content, settings, users and activity logs that must transfer securely to the destination
- Media files including images, videos and documents also migrate to retain all custom uploads
- Site code consisting of WordPress core, plugins, themes and custom code migrates as well
- URLs and file paths in the database must update to the new domain or local environment
Failure to properly migrate any part of this whole can lead to missing images, broken links, display issues and more.
Advanced plugins automate migrations by:
- Packaging databases, media and files into one bundle
- Running find-and-replace operations to update URLs/paths
- Resolving issues with custom uploads or development environments
- Retrying failed transfers until achieving 100% completion
Now let‘s analyze the best solutions in further detail.
WordPress Migration Plugins Usage
| Plugin | Market Share | Active Installs | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| BlogVault | 15% | 200,000+ | ***** |
| All-in-One WP Migration | 25% | 600,000+ | **** |
| Duplicator | 35% | 1 million+ | **** |
1. BlogVault
Our choice as the best overall WordPress migration plugin goes to BlogVault. Here‘s why:
Key Features
- 🏆 #1 WordPress migration plugin with over 5,000 5-star reviews
- 🚚 Seamless site cloning to staging and development sites
- 🌎 CDN integration for smooth media asset migration
- 💾 Built-in backups enable restores after failed transfers
- 🔁 Incremental migration for only updated content
Simplicity
The 3-step migration wizard makes site transitioning easy for beginners, while still offering ample customization for developers.
BlogVault‘s optimized algorithms dynamically chunk databases behind the scenes. This avoids timeouts and works around host transfer limits for huge sites. The smallest personal blog to mammoth enterprise network moves without a hitch.
Migrations complete 5x faster than the average plugin, allowing sites to minimize downtime. Clayton Wells of WP Buffs explains:
"I can‘t believe how easy it was to migrate a site with over 3 GB size limit to BlogVault. Every other plugin ran into timeouts or max size upload errors. But BlogVault just works."
For WordPress professionals managing client sites, BlogVault is particularly recommended.
Support
Support channels include email, real-time chat and phone support. According to user Sascha Eckert:
I‘ve never witnessed such great support. Live chat connects in under 60 seconds, and every representative resolved my issues quickly and knowledgeably.
Pricing
Plans start at $99/year for unlimited migrations. Considering most competitors charge extra for migration capabilities, BlogVault provides exceptional overall value.
BlogVault is our unanimous top pick for WordPress migrations in 2024. The seamless automated process, stellar support and robust feature set earns top marks across the board.
2. Duplicator
Duplicator is a hugely popular free WordPress migration plugin with over 5 million downloads. The free version alone beats out the feature set of many paid competitors.
Highlights
- 🆓 Free version good enough for most basic migrations
- 🌎 Update domain names and URLs
- 🖥️ Migrate multisite networks
- ⚙️ Advanced developers can customize SQL queries
While the free plugin is great for getting started, upgrading to Duplicator Pro brings major bonuses:
- 🎚️ Control granular migration settings like package encryption, logging verbosity etc
- 💾 Backups stored on Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive etc
- 🚦 Scheduled and automated migration queuing
Expandability
The wide feature set does mean a bit of a learning curve. But if you need flexibility, customization and can invest some time mastering it, Duplicator is hard to beat.
It integrates with popular hosted staging tools like BlogVault and WP Pusher for seamless site cloning to test migrations.
Power users can even pull off near black-magic feats like converting an existing site to a multisite network. The Duplicator forums contain a treasure trove of tips from experts.
Support
As the community knowledge base proves, Duplicator offers stellar "by developers, for developers" support resources. For access to 24/7 live chat and priority email support, upgrading to Pro is recommended.
Pricing
The Duplicator Pro Individual plan is only $79/year including standard email support. There are also Business tiers with priority assistance, branding options and cloud storage for development teams.
If you want a free plugin that goes beyond basic migration needs paired with customizable paid upgrades, Duplicator is a stellar choice. Both personal site owners and hosting providers rely on Duplicator for moving WordPress at any scale.
3. All-in-One WP Migration
As the name suggests, All-in-One WP Migration handles your entire site transition process in just a few clicks.
It only takes a minute to:
- ⏱️ Export site data from current host
- ☁️ Download backup archive to local computer
- 📤 Upload and import archive to new destination
Simplicity
For non-technical site owners and those without much migration experience, All-in-One WP Migration delivers awesome results with an absolute minimum of hassle.
The plugin automatically handles transferring the full database, media, plugins etc behind the scenes. No digging around in PHPMyAdmin or remembering server credentials needed.
Scalability
Large enterprise sites may run into limitations, but the All-in-One free version still supports migrations up to 512MB. This sufficiently covers most personal blogs and small business websites.
For big networks, upgrading to the Unlimited extension ($69) is recommended. This lifts size restrictions for resources-intensive multisite networks.
Support
The developers are very responsive to questions and bug reports on the plugin forum. They resolved 2 recent critical issues in under 24 hours of being reported.
Pricing
- ∞ Unlimited extension – $69
- Unlimited licenses – $149
Still WAY less than hiring a developer!
For quick and easy WordPress site migrations without any technical expertise, definitely give All-in-One WP Migration a try.
4. UpdraftPlus
UpdraftPlus delivers unparalleled WordPress backups. Their migration add-on turns it into an all-in-one migration solution.
Over 10 million websites trust UpdraftPlus for comprehensive data protection. Building on proven backup capabilities, their Migrator module enables smooth site transitions.
Features
- 🔃 Delta migrations only transfer recent changes instead of full sites
- 🔒 Passwords and other private data securely encrypted
- 🖥️ Seamless multisite migration with domain mapping
- 🕐 Scheduled automated migrations like hourly backups
UpdraftPlus can push/pull site data to/from:
migrate storage features list UpdraftPlus
Bonus: the core UpdraftPlus plugin also handles automatic scheduled backups, cloud storage like Dropbox and Google Drive plus many other goodies.
Reliability
With over 2 million active installs, UpdraftPlus is one of the most vetted and trusted backup solutions around. Companies like Bluehost and Dreamhost specifically recommend it for client sites.
Even enormous multisite networks exceeding 50GB and hundreds of sites run smoothly. Customers like musician Deadmau5 rely on UpdraftPlus to back up studio files and creative work.
Support
Support response times average under 6 hours according to Updraft‘s public status page. They also offer a dedicated forum with an extensive community knowledge base.
Pricing
UpdraftPlus Premium bundles all features for 10 sites at $57/year. WP Migrate Pro extension comes included.
Developer licenses covering 75 sites cost $192/year with priority support options. Very reasonable for everything you get.
While the migration capabilities don‘t quite match the ease of use of our #1-3 picks, UpdraftPlus is still a tremendously versatile choice trusted the world over.
5. WP Migrate DB
True to its name, WP Migrate DB focuses solely on seamlessly migrating your database from one WordPress install to another.
It leaves transferring actual files and media assets to other solutions. But when choosing this specialist tool, no plugin handles database migration better.
Features
- 📁 Adjust database URLs and file paths
- 📟 Test and confirm changes before go-live
- ☁️ Save and re-use migration templates
- ⚙️ Dig deeper with PHP & MySQL customization
- 🚉 Integrate migration into deployment workflows
Use Cases
We recommend WP Migrate DB in these situations:
- You only need to transfer your database
- Migrating from a really outdated version of PHP/MySQL
- Transferring to local install like MAMP or XAMPP
- Adjusting references to match current environment
For simple one-click database migrations, nothing beats this specialist tool.
Support
The developers offer stellar support through the plugin‘s own forum. They really know WordPress databases inside out to resolve even complex issues swiftly.
Pricing
- Personal plan – $69/year
- Agency/Freelancer plans – From $149/year
- White label options for consultants
When migrating across different environments, adjusting database URLs/paths is crucial. WP Migrate DB has this singular focus mastered for smooth migrations every time.
Wrapping Up
While any plugin listed here can assist with migrating websites, we declare BlogVault the best overall solution available in 2024.
The sheer ease of use, excellent support and robust feature set has no parallel among competitors.
UpdraftPlus is another great choice, especially for the backup capabilities and WP Migrate DB offers specialized database migration expertise.
For painless, budget-friendly migration without the technical learning curve, definitely check out All-in-One WP Migration as well.
We hope this exhaustive guide helps you hand-pick the right migration plugin for your specific WordPress needs. Here‘s to many successful site transitions ahead!
