Is Hostinger's migration really free?

Yes, as a request from hPanel, for the site itself. It does not move mailboxes or the domain, and a large or non-WordPress site may be asked for a backup file instead of a login.

Do I have to change my nameservers?

No. You can keep DNS at your registrar and change the records that point at the site. If you do move to Hostinger's nameservers, recreate the mail records first or mail stops.

What happens to the email at my old host?

It stays there until the old plan ends, then it is gone. Mailboxes have to be created at the new home and the mail copied across while both are live; it is part of our checklist.

Move a website to Hostinger from GoDaddy, Bluehost or any cPanel host

People move to Hostinger for the price and then find hPanel, which is simpler than cPanel but keeps things in different places. Hostinger will move a WordPress site for free on request, and for a plain site that works. What catches people is not the site. It is the mailboxes that live at the old host and the domain that was registered there.

What is different

Panel: cPanel hosts put everything on one long page; hPanel opens one site at a time under Websites, then Manage, with PHP, files, backups and SSH in its left-hand menu.
Email: on a cPanel host your mailboxes come with the plan. At Hostinger, mail is a separate product on most plans, or you point the domain at a mail provider. Decide before the old plan ends.
Backups: Hostinger keeps weekly copies on most plans and daily on the higher ones. If you had daily backups before, check which plan you bought.
Stack: Hostinger runs LiteSpeed, so the LiteSpeed Cache plugin is the one to use for a WordPress site. Caching plugins from the old host can be removed.
SSL: a free certificate is issued automatically once the domain points at Hostinger.
DNS: you can keep DNS where it is and change the records, or move the domain to Hostinger's nameservers. Either way, the mail records have to come along or mail stops.

The free migration request

In hPanel, open Websites, then Add website, then Migrate website, and add a request with the site's address and either the WordPress login or a backup file.
Turn off two-factor sign-in and any bot-blocking on the old site's admin for the duration, or the request stalls.
A WordPress site is usually done within two days, often faster; other platforms take longer and go by backup file. Multisite is supported.
The request moves the site, not the mailboxes and not the domain. Those two are yours to settle, and they are the two things people forget.

Step by step

Submit the migration request, or move the files and database yourself for a non-WordPress site.
Open the moved site on the temporary address Hostinger gives it and test it before any DNS change.
Match the PHP version to what the old host was running, then raise it later once everything works.
Create the mailboxes at their new home and copy the mail across while both hosts are live.
Lower the DNS time-to-live a day ahead, then point the domain at Hostinger and wait for the certificate.
Keep the old host live for a few days, and cancel it only after the domain and mail are settled.

When to hand it to us

The request handles a clean, mid-sized WordPress site. Hand it to us when the old host has already cut the site off, when it is a store or a large site, when the site is not WordPress, when mail history has to come along, or when you cannot afford the site to be down at the switch. The move has a fixed price and a two-day promise, with the domain and the mailboxes on the checklist and no downtime at the cutover.

Questions people ask

Is Hostinger's migration really free?: Yes, as a request from hPanel, for the site itself. It does not move mailboxes or the domain, and a large or non-WordPress site may be asked for a backup file instead of a login.
Do I have to change my nameservers?: No. You can keep DNS at your registrar and change the records that point at the site. If you do move to Hostinger's nameservers, recreate the mail records first or mail stops.
What happens to the email at my old host?: It stays there until the old plan ends, then it is gone. Mailboxes have to be created at the new home and the mail copied across while both are live; it is part of our checklist.