A website migration service is the host doing the move for you: it copies the files and the database off your current server, stands the site up on the new plan, points the domain at it, and hands back a working site on the same addresses. Hosts sell that three ways, and which one you are buying changes the number. Some include a set count of moves free with the plan and schedule them within a few days of signup. Some quote a flat fee per site, priced per site rather than per hour, with a standard WordPress install costing less than a hand built application. Some do not offer it at all and point you at an export file. Decide first whether you are buying the move or the plan the move lands on, because the move happens once and the plan bills forever. The vendor price index on this site lists what each host publishes for its entry plan and the tier above, and the billing term that entry price requires, so you can price the destination before you price the move.
What is actually moved
A complete move is the file tree, the database, the scheduled tasks, the redirect rules, the certificate, and the mail routing left untouched while the web records change. A quote that covers only files and database is cheaper for a reason, and the gap is where the broken part usually is: a cron job that never ran again, a redirect map that lived in the old server configuration, a certificate that had to be reissued on the new machine. Ask the host in writing which of those it takes on, and ask whether it will stage the site on a temporary address so you can click through it before the domain points anywhere. A move you can inspect before cutover is worth more than one that is cheaper.
Free with the plan, flat fee, or your own hours
Take an agency with six client sites on one aging shared plan, moving to a managed WordPress plan at 30 dollars a month. The plan is 360 dollars a year whatever happens to the move. The new host quotes 99 dollars a site for a migration its own team performs, so the six cost 594 dollars once. Doing them in house at four hours a site, costed at 60 dollars an hour, is 240 dollars a site and 1,440 dollars for the six, and those hours are not billable to anyone. At that spread the paid migration is the cheaper option by 846 dollars, and the only reason to keep it in house is a site the host will refuse to touch. Reverse the numbers, one small site and an hour of your own time, and paying for it is theater.
WordPress moves and everything else
WordPress migration services are the commodity end of this market, because the layout of a WordPress install is predictable: a wp-content tree, one database, a table prefix, a set of hard coded addresses in the options table that have to be rewritten. That is why hosts give WordPress moves away and quote real money for anything else. Outside WordPress the price rises with how much of the stack lives outside the document root, which is where a hand built site keeps its queue workers, its private packages and its environment variables. The WordPress project publishes the manual procedure cited below, and reading it is the fastest way to judge whether a quote is fair or whether you are paying a specialist rate for a routine job.
The domain and the term you land on
Moving the site and moving the domain registration are separate purchases and they do not have to happen together. Changing the records that point the name at the new server takes minutes and needs no registrar involvement. Transferring the registration itself is governed by ICANN policy, which locks a name for a period after it is registered, after a previous transfer, and after certain changes to the registrant record, so a transfer started on cutover day can stall while the site is already live. Watch the destination price too. FastComet's promotional price applies to the first term only and renews at the regular rate printed beside it, so the year after the migration is the number to compare against what you are paying now, not the signup number that persuaded you to move.
Questions people ask about website migration service
Is a free migration really free?
Usually yes for a set number of sites, and it is paid for by the plan you sign. The cost is the term the entry price requires, so read the renewal price beside the plan before counting the move as a saving.
Will the site go down during the move?
It should not. The site stays live on the old host while the copy is built and tested on the new one, and the records change last. Keep the old plan paid for a week after cutover so a rollback is still possible.
How long does a website migration service take?
A standard brochure or WordPress site is usually queued and delivered inside a few working days once you hand over access. Application stacks with build steps or private packages take longer and are quoted per site.
What does a site migration service need from me?
Access to the current control panel or server, the registrar login or the ability to change the name records, and a written list of anything unusual: scheduled jobs, redirects, payment integrations and staging copies.