Moving a live website between hosts always comes with a little anxiety, since one wrong step can mean lost files, a broken database connection, or a site that goes dark while your domain still points at the old server.
I walked through Hostinger’s own migration tool from the inside, and mapped it against SiteGround’s documented backup and export process, so you can see exactly what each step looks like before you touch your real site.
There are two realistic paths here. Hostinger’s built-in migration tool can pull your site over automatically using either your WordPress or cPanel login, or a backup file you export yourself. If you want full manual control, or you are moving something that does not fit either of those options, the traditional file-and-database transfer still works, just with more steps and more room for mistakes.
The Two Ways to Migrate
- Hostinger’s migration tool. Built into hPanel, works for WordPress and most other platforms, either connects directly with your login details or accepts an uploaded backup
- Manual transfer. You export your files and database from SiteGround yourself, then upload and reconfigure them on Hostinger, useful for non-standard setups or when you want full visibility into every step
I would default to the migration tool unless you have a specific reason not to, and I will explain why once we get into how it actually works.
Before You Start
A few things are worth confirming before you touch anything, regardless of which method you use.
- Back up everything anyway. Even with an automated tool doing the heavy lifting, keep your own copy of your files and database. Migrations occasionally hit snags, and having a fallback costs you nothing.
- Check your database size. SiteGround’s own documentation notes that phpMyAdmin exports are only reliable under 50 MB. Larger databases need an SSH export instead, which matters if you plan to migrate manually or upload a backup file.
- Do not change your DNS yet. Every method below tells you the same thing: wait until the migration is confirmed complete before pointing your domain at Hostinger. Switching too early can leave you with a half-migrated site and a broken one at the same time.
- Have a Hostinger hosting plan ready. The migration tool lives inside hPanel, so you need an active plan before you can start.
Choosing a Hostinger Plan
The first thing you need before any of the migration steps below is an active Hostinger hosting plan, since the migration tool only becomes available once you have one. Hostinger’s WordPress-focused plans are the natural fit if your SiteGround site runs WordPress, which covers most cases.
Before you pick a tier, it helps to check a few things about your current SiteGround setup, since these are what should actually drive your choice rather than picking the cheapest option by default.
- How much storage your current site uses. Check this under your SiteGround account’s resource usage statistics before you migrate, then pick a Hostinger plan with comfortable headroom above that number, not just enough to barely fit what you have today
- How many websites you are migrating. If you only run one site, any tier covers you, but if you are consolidating several SiteGround sites onto one account, you need a plan that supports multiple websites rather than just one
- Your traffic level. A low-traffic blog and a busy ecommerce store have very different resource needs, even if their storage footprint looks similar, so be honest with yourself about how much traffic the site actually gets
- Whether you want mailboxes and other extras bundled in. If you are also moving your business email away from SiteGround, a plan that includes free mailboxes saves you a separate purchase and a separate migration
- Room to grow. If you expect the site to grow significantly in the next year, it is worth sizing up now rather than migrating again later once you outgrow the plan you picked
With those in mind, here is what Hostinger actually offers at checkout, three tiers priced per month on a longer billing term.
| Plan | Price | Storage | Best for |
| Premium | From $2.99/mo | 20 GB SSD | Creators and small brands running up to 3 websites |
| Unlimited | From $3.99/mo | 50 GB NVMe | Most migrations, unlimited websites and mailboxes plus AI tools |
| Cloud Startup | From $7.99/mo | 100 GB NVMe | Agencies or high-traffic sites that need dedicated resources |
If you are not sure which tier fits, checking your current SiteGround storage and traffic numbers first, then matching them against the table above, is a more reliable way to decide than guessing.
Once you add a plan to your cart, Hostinger includes a few things automatically that are worth knowing about before checkout, since they affect how your migrated site gets set up.
- A free domain for the first year is bundled with longer-term plans, which matters if you plan to register a new domain rather than transferring your existing one immediately
- Free mailboxes are included for the first year, so your business email does not need a separate migration if you are moving away from SiteGround’s email tools too
- Payment options at checkout include cards, PayPal, Google Pay, and regional methods like AliPay, alongside the standard 30-day money-back guarantee
Choose a Hostinger Plan for Your Migration
If you are still deciding whether Hostinger is the right move at all rather than just how to execute it, our Hostinger review covers pricing, real performance testing, and support quality in more depth, while our Hostinger coupons guide lets you know about any available discount coupons.
Finding the Migration Tool in hPanel
Once your plan is active, Hostinger drops you into hPanel, its main dashboard. The migration tool sits under Websites in the left-hand menu, next to each site you have added.
Click Websites, then look for the Migrate Website button next to the site you want to bring over. This opens the migration wizard, which is where the two paths split.
Method 1: Use Login Details, the Recommended Path
The first screen in the wizard asks how you want to migrate, giving you the choice between using your login details or uploading a backup file yourself.
I tested Use Login Details, and it’s the option Hostinger marks as recommended for good reason. Rather than making you export files, download a database, and reassemble everything by hand, you give Hostinger your WordPress admin login or your SiteGround cPanel login, and their system pulls the site over directly.
This skips the two most error-prone parts of a manual migration entirely, the database export size limits SiteGround warns about, and the risk of missing a file or misconfiguring wp-config.php during a manual restore.
Here is what the process actually looks like, step by step.
Step 1. Enter the website URL you want to migrate.
Step 2. Choose your access method. WordPress admin login or cPanel login, depending on what you have access to on the SiteGround side.
Step 3. Enter the credentials. If you picked WordPress, you enter your WordPress admin username and password directly. Hostinger states plainly on this screen that these details are only used to migrate your website, not stored for any other purpose.
Step 4. Wait while Hostinger verifies the login. This is a quick automated check to confirm the credentials work before the actual migration begins.
Step 5. Review the migration summary and submit. This is the last screen before anything actually happens. It confirms the source URL, the destination domain, the detected platform, and includes a clear reminder not to touch your DNS settings until the migration finishes.
According to this screen, a typical migration takes around 30 minutes, though Hostinger allows up to 12 hours for larger or more complex sites. Critically, your original SiteGround site stays live and untouched the entire time, since the migration tool builds a copy on Hostinger’s end rather than pulling your site offline mid-transfer.
Once submitted, you can track progress from the same place you started, hPanel, under Websites, Migrate Website, Manage Migration Requests.
Method 2: Upload Backup Files
The second option on that same screen is Upload Backup Files, meant for static sites built with plain HTML and CSS, or for WordPress and PHP sites where you would rather hand Hostinger a backup archive than share your login credentials.
This is where the manual export from SiteGround comes in, since Upload Backup Files needs you to have already created that backup yourself.
Exporting Your Backup From SiteGround
This is where the manual export from SiteGround comes in, since Upload Backup Files needs you to have already created that backup yourself.
SiteGround’s own support documentation is direct about why this step matters. A full backup means both your files and your database, since you may accidentally lose or damage either one during a migration, and having a safe copy to fall back on is the only way to recover if something goes wrong partway through.
Archive and download your files.
- Open File Manager on your SiteGround hosting and go to your website’s root folder, usually yourdomain.com/public_html
- Archive that folder into a ZIP file
- Download the ZIP file to your computer using File Manager or an FTP client
Export your database.
- Open phpMyAdmin and select your database from the left-hand menu
- Open the Export tab
- Choose Quick from the export method menu and press Export, which downloads your database as an SQL file
A couple of things worth knowing before you do this:
- Databases over 50 MB do not export reliably through phpMyAdmin. If yours is larger, SiteGround recommends exporting via SSH instead
- SiteGround’s Premium Backup Service is a faster shortcut if you have it. It generates a full backup you can download in one click rather than archiving files and exporting the database separately
With your file archive and SQL export in hand, upload both into Hostinger’s migration wizard when prompted, enter your destination domain, and follow the remaining steps through to the same migration summary and submission screen described above.
One thing worth clarifying, since it is a common mix-up. SiteGround has its own Migrator plugin, but that tool only works for bringing sites into SiteGround, not for moving them away.
It is not something you can use in reverse to help a SiteGround-to-Hostinger migration, so do not go looking for it on this end.
Migrating a Non-WordPress Site
If your SiteGround site is not built on WordPress, the process still runs through Hostinger’s migration tool, just with a slightly different flow.
According to Hostinger’s own documentation, after purchasing a plan you enter your domain name, select the platform your site currently runs on, then provide the login URL and admin credentials for that platform rather than WordPress-specific fields.
From there, you submit the request the same way, and Hostinger’s documentation states migrations of this type average around 20 hours, with your site remaining live throughout.
Doing It Fully Manually
Method 2 above still runs through Hostinger’s wizard, which restores your uploaded backup for you automatically. This section skips that wizard entirely and has you rebuild the site by hand instead, which only makes sense in a few specific situations.
Consider this route if:
- You are moving to a Hostinger plan or product where the migration wizard is not available, such as certain VPS setups
- Your site runs on a platform the wizard does not support
- You would rather not hand Hostinger a login or backup file and prefer to control every step yourself
For most people migrating a standard WordPress or PHP site, Method 2 gets you the same outcome with far less room for a mistake, since Hostinger’s tool handles the database import and configuration for you. If none of the situations above apply to you, you can skip straight to what to check after migration.
If you do need the manual route, here is the full process, using the same backup you created above:
- Back up your files and database. Follow the archive and export steps above to get a file archive and SQL export in hand before doing anything else
- Check your new host’s resources. Confirm Hostinger’s plan has enough disk space and database capacity for your site before you start uploading
- Upload your files to Hostinger. Use hPanel’s File Manager or an FTP client to place your files in the correct root folder, extracting the ZIP if needed, and making sure that folder is empty first so nothing conflicts
- Create a database on Hostinger. Set up a new database and a user with full privileges, matching what your site’s configuration will expect
- Import your SQL file. Use phpMyAdmin if the file is under roughly 128 MB, or an alternative import method for larger files
- Update your site’s configuration. For WordPress, this means editing wp-config.php with the new database name, username, and password so the site can connect to its new database
- Point your domain to Hostinger. Update your nameservers or DNS records at your registrar once everything above is confirmed working
What to Check After Migration
Regardless of which method you use, a few checks afterward catch most of the problems that slip through.
