Announcing Duplicator WP-CLI Commands (And How They Speed Up Backups)
Looking for a smarter way to manage site backups? Explore Duplicator's new features, including customizable WP-CLI commands and permission settings!
Announcing Duplicator WP-CLI Commands (And How They Speed Up Backups)
Joella Dunn
Joella Dunn
John Turner
John Turner
Moving a WordPress site can be a complex task. Every file, database entry, and setting needs to be transferred correctly.
But what if you could pack it all into one neat box and unpack it in the new location with a single click?
That’s what WordPress migration plugins do. They simplify the task of relocating your site to a new host, server, or domain name.
Our team has been migrating WordPress websites for years. So, we know how important it is to find the best tool for the job.
We reviewed the best WordPress migration plugins available today. Let’s find the right one for you!
Here’s a quick overview of the migration plugins we’ll review in this post!
| Migration Plugin | Free Version? | Premium Pricing | Best For |
| Duplicator | ✅ | $49.50/yr | Any website owner that needs a comprehensive tool for backups, migrations, and cloning |
| UpdraftPlus | ✅ | $70/yr | Beginner-friendly backups and restores |
| All-in-One WP Migration | ✅ | $69/yr | Simple and free migrations |
| Jetpack (VaultPress) | ❌ | $4.95/mo | Backup archive logs and instant recovery |
| Migrate Guru | ✅ | N/A | One-click migrations |
| Solid Backups | ❌ | $99/yr | Flexible backups and custom restore options |
| BlogVault | ❌ | $89/yr | Advanced security features and one-click staging |
| WP Migrate | ✅ | $49/yr | Migrating changes from staging sites to production |
| Total Upkeep | ✅ | $2.50/mo | Pre-update backups and individual file restorations |
WordPress is very user-friendly when it comes to creating blog posts or managing comments. However, moving your entire site to a different location can be a difficult task.
During a manual migration, you’ll need to be familiar with your site files and database. This process always comes with the risk of downtime, data loss, or decreased Search Engine Optimization (SEO) rankings.
If you’re a beginner, there’s an easier way.
We’d recommend moving your site with a WordPress migration plugin. These migration tools are designed to package your data and safely transfer it to a new domain, host, server, or directory.
Here are some main features to look for in a website migration plugin:
Before you install any new plugin, you’ll want to make sure it has good customer reviews. It’s also a good idea to avoid migration plugins that haven’t been updated recently.
Even once you know what to look for, you might struggle to narrow down all of the WordPress migration plugins. To help you find the right one, let’s compare them!
Duplicator is the best WordPress migration plugin. This comprehensive tool allows you to migrate your WordPress site to another host or domain with zero downtime.
When you start using Duplicator, you can create backups of your site. Essentially, these will bundle all of your WordPress files, content, plugins, themes, and database into a zip file.
If you want to pick and choose what data is included, customize the backup. This can help you only migrate necessary data from the original site.
Once you have a backup, this can be moved to any location that supports WordPress. You’ll simply start by downloading the backup’s archive file.
With Duplicator Pro, you can drag and drop this file into the new website. This will immediately import your old site.
However, you don’t even need to have WordPress installed. You can upload the backup to the new server and visit https://your-domain/installer.php to launch the migration wizard.
Duplicator is also useful as a WordPress backup plugin. You can manually build and download backups or set up an automatic backup schedule. Then, you can easily restore a recent backup with one click.
Pricing: Duplicator is available as a free WordPress plugin. However, Duplicator Pro has helpful advanced features like drag-and-drop installs and cloud storage options. Subscriptions for the premium version start at $49.50 per year.
Another popular plugin for WordPress migrations is UpdraftPlus. Although it is mainly used for backups, the premium version comes with a Migrator add-on. This can migrate or clone a website.
With the UpdraftPlus Migrator, you can easily move your content to a different URL. After the migration is complete, it’ll delete any mention of your old website’s URL from your MySQL database. Plus, UpdraftPlus supports unlimited migrations.
Pricing: You can install the free version of the plugin and add on the Migrator feature for $30. Alternatively, UpdraftPlus Premium includes all of the add-ons. These subscriptions start at $70 per year.
Not sure how to decide between these top two migration plugins? Check out our review of Duplicator vs UpdraftPlus!
As you might expect, All-in-One WP Migration was created specifically for migrating websites. With over 5 million active installations, it’s one of the most popular WordPress migration plugins available.
If you’re a beginner, you’ll find the All-in-One WP Migration plugin very easy to use. You can quickly export your files, plugins, themes, and database into a single file. Then, you’ll be able to simply drag and drop this file into your new WordPress dashboard.
Pricing: The core plugin is free. However, you’ll need to purchase a premium extension to give you more advanced functionality. For example, the Unlimited Extension removes any upload limits for $69 per year.
Jetpack is a comprehensive plugin suite with tools to back up, clone, and migrate websites. Previously known as VaultPress, Jetpack allows you to regularly save backups of your content. When you need to, you can easily clone or migrate this backup to another location.
Plus, Jetpack can be useful for restoring a backup after an error or crash. It provides an activity log with all of your recent backups. After finding the right backup, you can restore it with one click.
Pricing: You can purchase Jetpack Backup for $4.95 per month for the first year. Alternatively, it is included in a security bundle along with helpful features like brute force protection and downtime monitoring. This plan is $20 per month.
If you’re looking for a basic WordPress migration plugin, Migrate Guru might be right for you. This is a free alternative to BlogVault, its parent company, that focuses on quick and easy migrations. With the plugin, you can use migration keys to move your data.
Since Migrate Guru runs on BlogVault’s servers, it doesn’t put any strain on your hosting plan. You’ll also be able to avoid any timeout issues while you’re migrating a larger site.
However, keep in mind that this plugin is more limited than the other options on this list. It doesn’t work as a backup solution. Additionally, Migrate Guru doesn’t support local host migrations.
Pricing: Migrate Guru is completely free to use.
Solid Backups (formerly known as BackupBuddy) doesn’t just back up your WordPress website. Along with its backup service, there are built-in solutions for you to change your domain, host, or server. After your migration, your URLs will automatically be updated.
As a developer, Solid Backups can help you set up a staging site. You can clone your client’s site and migrate it to a local server. Here, you can safely make edits and push them to the live site when you’re ready.
Pricing: Solid Backups is a premium plugin that starts at $99 per year. This includes support for a single site and 1GB of backup storage space.
If you need a more comprehensive solution than Migrate Guru, you can use BlogVault. This premium plugin allows you to create backups, save them to cloud storage, and even migrate your site to another location.
BlogVault can also help you migrate selective parts of your site. If you don’t need to move all your data, you can choose specific WordPress files, plugins, or database tables to include in the migration.
Plus, BlogVault has effective restore options. If something goes wrong during the migration, you can restore the original site with one click. BlogVault also provides an Emergency Connector to get a crashed site back online.
Pricing: To start using BlogVault, you’ll have to purchase a subscription. These start at $89 per year for a basic license.
As a developer, you may need a migration plugin that easily moves a website between a local and live server. With WP Migrate (formerly WP Migrate DB), you can do just that.
WP Migrate simplifies migrations from development to production (and vice versa). You can use it to push a staging site to production or pull a production website to your local computer. During the migration process, you can customize exactly which files and database tables are included.
Keep in mind that WP Migrate was created with developers in mind. If don’t have technical knowledge about the WordPress database and files, consider installing a more user-friendly plugin.
Pricing: There is a free version of WP Migrate that is capable of full-site and database migrations. If you want to directly transfer content between two WordPress sites, the Pro version starts at $49.
Similar to the other plugins on this list, Total Upkeep by BoldGrid can back up, restore, and migrate WordPress sites. If you need to move your content, you can install Total Upkeep on a second site. Then, restore a recently saved backup of your original site.
The benefit of Total Upkeep is that you don’t have to download or migrate any bulky zip files. You can simply copy and paste the restore URL to upload your backup to the new location.
Pricing: Total Upkeep has a free version with migration features. If you need cloud storage services or other advanced features, the premium version starts at $2.50 per month.
Here are the best WordPress migration plugins to migrate your website to another server:
By itself, WordPress does not offer a free migration tool. However, there are many WordPress migration plugins designed to help you move your entire website to a different server, host, or domain name.
The easiest way to migrate a WordPress site is to use a migration plugin like Duplicator Pro. Using this tool, you’ll be able to create copies of all your site data and successfully transfer them to another location. Duplicator can help you migrate your website to a local host, another live host, a new domain name, or anywhere else that supports WordPress.
You can move your WordPress site to another server by building a Duplicator backup that contains all of your site files, plugins, themes, and database tables. Next, install Duplicator on the new website and go to the Import tool. Drag and drop your original archive file here to finish the migration.
You can migrate your website without losing SEO by first updating your hosts file to point to the IP address for your new host. Then, create a copy of your site with Duplicator and upload it to the new location. Finally, perform a full site redirect and inform Google about the change.
For more details, check out our comprehensive guide on SEO migrations!
Yes, All-in-One WP Migration is a free WordPress migration plugin. However, you can also purchase premium extensions because of the free version’s limited functionality. For example, you might need to increase the WordPress upload limit or add multisite support.
Duplicator is the best WordPress migration plugin for beginners and advanced users alike. You can use Duplicator to back up your website into a zip file and simply import it into a second location.
We hope that this guide helped you find the right WordPress migration plugin for your site!
While you’re here, you may like these extra WordPress tutorials:
Do you want to avoid manually migrating your files and database? Download Duplicator Pro for easy drag-and-drop site migrations!
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