Ops Brief
Hosting with free migration — The file copy is the easy part. The sequence is the job.
You already know which host you want. What is stopping you is a well-founded suspicion that something will break quietly and you will find out from a customer.
The short answer
Pick a host whose own engineers do the move rather than handing you a plugin: ours copy files, databases, mailboxes and configuration, typically inside 24 hours, and nothing switches until you have looked at the copy on a preview.
The part you control is the DNS sequence. Drop the TTL on the records you are going to change to 300 seconds at least 24 hours before the cutover, so that when you do switch, resolvers pick it up in minutes instead of a day. Both copies serve during the overlap, so nobody sees an outage.
Below: the timing, what engineers can and cannot bring across, the post-move checks that catch the silent failures, and how to prove the move was actually worth making.
By the HostingFast team · Reviewed 24 August 2026
NVMe
Storage, every tier
Free
Domain, first year
99.9%
Uptime, monitored
Flat
Renewal pricing
Migrations rarely fail at the copy. They fail at a cron job nobody mentioned, a hardcoded absolute path, an SPF record left pointing at the old provider, or a TTL of 86400 that keeps half your visitors on a switched-off server for a day.
So the useful version of this page is a sequence and a checklist, not a reassurance. Follow it and the move is uneventful, which is the only review a migration ever deserves.
Twenty-four hours before anyone touches anything
Lower the TTL. Find the records you will change — usually the A record, www, and anything pointing at a mail or application host — and set the TTL to 300 seconds. Resolvers will keep honouring the old value until it expires, which is exactly why you do this a day early rather than on the morning.
Take your own copy as well as ours. A full backup downloaded from the current host, plus a `mysqldump` of each database, means you are never relying on a single party's copy during the one window where it matters.
Baseline the site while it is still on the old host: five `curl -s -o /dev/null -w '%{time_starttransfer}'` runs against a cached page and an uncached one, plus a throttled Lighthouse run. Without this you will never be able to say whether the move helped.
What the engineers move, and the things that need a human
Files, databases, mailboxes and the server configuration come across as a matter of course, from a cPanel account or over FTP with credentials you supply. That covers the bulk of almost every migration.
What needs naming explicitly: cron jobs, because they live outside the document root and are the single commonest thing forgotten. Also anything hardcoded — absolute paths in configuration files, a database host that is not localhost, an API key allow-listed to the old IP address.
Mail deserves its own attention. If mailboxes are moving, tell us; if mail is staying with a third party, say that too, because the MX and SPF records must be preserved rather than replaced. A migration that strands email is the version of this job that customers actually notice.
The post-move checks that catch silent failures
Before DNS changes: view the copied site on the preview, log into the admin, submit a form, place a test order, and check the certificate. Free SSL issues automatically once the domain points here and reissues itself before expiry.
After DNS changes: `dig +short yourdomain.example` and `dig +short MX yourdomain.example` to confirm what the world is resolving. Then send a message to an external address and reply to it, because outbound and inbound fail independently.
Then the quiet ones. Confirm each cron job has actually run — check its output or its log, not just its presence in the list. Watch the error log for a day with `tail -f`. And leave the old account running for a week; there is no prize for cancelling early, and it is your rollback.
Proving it was worth doing
Re-run the exact baseline you took before: same command, same pages, same throttling profile, same time of day. The cached-page figure tells you about the cache and the network; the uncached figure tells you about the CPU and the disk.
The stack under the new numbers is NVMe storage on every tier with LiteSpeed compiled into the web server, from a London origin that puts a UK audience 5–15 ms away. If your visitors are elsewhere, expect the cached figure to improve more than the uncached one, because distance is charged on every uncacheable request.
Turbo at $4.66 a month is where most migrating sites land: 25 sites, 20 GB of NVMe, 1 TB of bandwidth, 50 MySQL databases, renewal at the same $4.66. Shared plans carry a 30-day money-back window, so the whole experiment is reversible.
Why we do the move rather than sell you a plugin
A migration our engineers perform is a migration we own. It costs us hours and it saves a support queue full of half-copied sites, which is a trade we would make every time.
We are recommending our own hosting here and would rather state it than imply neutrality. The compensation is a sequence that works regardless of who you move to.
- TTL dropped a day early, not on the morning
- Cron jobs named explicitly, because they get forgotten
- Nothing switches until you approve the copy
- A before-and-after you can actually compare
Why HostingFast
Standard on every plan
Engineers, not a wizard
Our team performs the copy from your old host's credentials, typically inside 24 hours, files and databases and mailboxes together.
Both sites live during the overlap
Your old host keeps serving until DNS moves, so the switch is a fade rather than a cut and nobody meets a gap.
A preview before the switch
You review the copied site and approve it. The cutover happens at a time you choose, not at a time convenient to us.
Mail handled deliberately
Mailboxes moved or MX and SPF preserved, decided explicitly, because a stranded inbox is what customers actually notice.
Certificates that issue themselves
Free SSL provisions as soon as the domain points here and reissues before expiry, so the padlock is never a migration task.
A reversible experiment
Free migration in, a 30-day money-back window on shared plans, and your old account still there as a rollback.
Prices Side by Side
Our numbers next to the big names
Typical intro and renewal pricing across the market, lined up against ours — including the renewal figure most comparison charts skip.
| Feature | HostingFastMost popular | Typical household-name host | Typical bargain host | Typical loss-leader deal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price / mo* | $2.42/mo | $4–$6 | $2–$4 | $1–$3 |
| Renewal price / mo | $2.42/mo | $10–$15 | $8–$12 | $4–$6 |
| Cheapest plan renews at its sign-up price | ||||
| SSL as standard | ||||
| Migration done for you | ||||
| NVMe drives on the cheapest tier | ||||
| Daily backups from the first tier | ||||
| Real humans on support, 24/7 |
*Our number is the lowest-priced plan we sell on an annual term, pulled live from the same catalogue that powers our pricing page — it physically cannot fall out of date. The other three columns show the ranges shared hosts in each bracket typically advertise: introductory offers that mostly demand a one-to-four-year commitment, then jump once it expires. We no longer name rivals or print their prices, because a figure we cannot verify on the day you read it has no business on this page. Line us up against whichever host you are really weighing — and give the renewal row the hardest look.
Quick Start
From order to online
- 1
Drop the TTL a day ahead
300 seconds on every record you plan to change, at least 24 hours before the cutover. This is the single highest-value step.
- 2
Take your own backup as well as ours
Full account backup plus a mysqldump per database, downloaded locally. Two copies during the one window that matters.
- 3
List the things that live outside the document root
Cron jobs, absolute paths, allow-listed IPs, third-party MX. These are what get forgotten, not the files.
- 4
Re-measure, then keep the old account a week
Same commands as your baseline. And leave the old host running — cancelling early buys you nothing and loses your rollback.
Built In
Loaded onto every plan
- Your existing site moved across by our engineers, free of charge
- Files, databases, mailboxes and configuration in one move
- PHP versions switchable site by site from cPanel
- cPanel, so a cPanel backup restores without translation
- Daily backups with self-service restores from the panel
- In-place upgrades between tiers, with no migration to arrange
- The price you order at is the price you renew at
- Staging copies for testing changes after you land
- LiteSpeed caching in the web server rather than added by plugin
- WebP image conversion built in at no extra cost
- Webmail plus IMAP, POP and SMTP for any mail client
Frequently Asked
What people ask us most often
What TTL should I set before a move, and how far ahead?
Drop every record you intend to change to 300 seconds at least 24 hours before the cutover. Resolvers keep honouring the previous TTL until it expires, so doing this on the morning of the switch achieves nothing. With it done a day early, the change propagates in minutes.
What usually breaks after a host move that nobody notices?
Cron jobs, because they live outside the document root and get left behind. Then absolute paths in configuration, an API key allow-listed to the old IP, and SPF records still naming the previous provider. Check that each cron has actually produced output, not just that it appears in the list.
How do I prove the new host is genuinely faster?
Baseline before you move: five curl timing runs against a cached page and an uncached one, plus a throttled Lighthouse run. Repeat exactly the same tests afterwards at the same time of day. The cached figure reflects cache and distance; the uncached figure reflects CPU and disk.
Will email keep working through the migration?
Yes, if it is planned rather than assumed. Tell us whether mailboxes are moving or whether mail stays with a third party — in the second case the MX and SPF records are preserved rather than replaced. After the switch, send to an external address and reply back, because inbound and outbound can fail independently.
Keep reading
Cheap WordPress Hosting
Where a migrating WordPress site usually lands, and what the tier below the managed range does and does not include.
Hosting With Free SSL
Certificate issuance during and after a move, and why the padlock should never be a migration task.
How to Test Your Website Speed
The baseline method referenced above, so your before and after are genuinely comparable.
Web Hosting
Sprint, Turbo and Nitro on NVMe behind LiteSpeed, with the migration included rather than sold as an add-on.
Magento Hosting
The heaviest migrations in this category, where indexers and cron make the post-move checklist longer.
Changing hosts? Run through our checklist first.
A straightforward sequence for a switch your visitors never feel: which files move first, how to shift email across without losing a single message, the right moment to repoint DNS, and the two mistakes behind almost all the downtime we get asked to rescue.
Move it once, and move it quietly.
Free migration by our engineers, typically inside 24 hours, onto Turbo at $4.66 a month with NVMe and LiteSpeed.
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