There comes a point in every blogger’s journey where you outgrow your training wheels. For me, that moment came when I realized WordPress.com was holding me back — limiting my plugins, controlling my monetization, and charging me more than I needed to pay for less than I needed to
have. So I decided to make the transition from WordPress.com to Hostinger. What followed was one of the most educational, frustrating, and ultimately rewarding experiences I’ve had as a website owner. Here’s the full, unfiltered story.
The Plan (That Immediately Fell Apart)
I went in with a simple plan: sign up for Hostinger, migrate my site, point my domain, and be done by lunch.
Spoiler alert, I was not done by lunch.
My first mistake was thinking I needed to change my nameserver records before migrating my content. I didn’t. In fact, doing it in that order would have taken my site completely offline before anything was ready on the Hostinger side. The correct order — which I eventually learned — is to
migrate your content first, then point your domain last. Lesson one: DNS and data migration are two completely separate things. Don’t touch your
nameservers until your new site is fully set up and tested.
The WordPress.com Export Problem
Here’s something nobody tells you upfront: WordPress.com’s built-in exporter only gives you an XML file. That’s it. No full database backup, no theme files, no plugin settings — just an XML export of your content. I really needed a zip file and there was no option to get one. Here’s the part that really stung: without a Business plan, you have zero access to your database files. None. You can’t export them, you can’t back them up, and you certainly can’t transfer them to another host. WordPress.com locks that door completely on lower-tier plans.
The fix? You need to upgrade to WordPress.com’s Business plan to get plugin access and database visibility. That’s the only way to install a proper migration plugin on a WordPress.com
hosted site.
I got lucky here — I had WordPress credit sitting in my account, so I didn’t have to pay out of pocket. I ended up with two free months of the Business plan, which was just enough time to get everything sorted. But if you don’t have credit saved up, budget for at least one month of the
Business plan as part of your migration cost. It’s not optional. After getting the Business plan, I still had a problem with not having a zip file to upload. Instead of an XML file, I now had an SQL file. I was able to upload this, but Hostinger was still looking for a zip file. I did my research on Google and YouTube but I didn’t get any answers.
At this point I was getting very lost and frustrated so I did the only thing I could do. I took my SQL file and compressed it into a zip file. And you know what, it worked. I’m not sure if every host allows this standard practice, but Hostinger accepted it and completely saved my sanity.
The Plugin Hunt
Once I had Business plan access, I installed All-in-One WP Migration — a plugin that packages your entire site (files, database, media, everything) into a single .wpress file. This is where things got interesting. My first export attempt threw this error:
“Could not open /srv/htdocs/wp-content/plugins/all-in-one-wp-migration/storage/pgigmv36uamv/media.list with mode r. The process cannot continue.”
This is a file permissions error — the plugin couldn’t read certain files on the server because the permissions were too restrictive. The fix involves resetting folder permissions to 755 and file permissions to 644 through your host’s file manager or via FTP. Once I did that, the export ran cleanly.
The 8GB Problem (And the Paywalls Inside the Paywall)
Here’s the part that stopped me cold: my site is over 8GB. What I didn’t know going in is that WordPress itself has a 2GB upload limit. And here’s the kicker — All-in-One WP Migration cannot bypass that limitation on its own. WordPress’s ceiling completely boxes in the free version of the plugin. So naturally, I went looking for a workaround. I’d read online that you could edit a line of code in the plugin’s files to manually raise the limit. I tried that. It didn’t work — the developers had specifically updated this newer version to block that kind of editing. The developers had closed that door deliberately. Which meant there was only one path forward: pay for the All-in-One WP Migration unlimited
license. $69 per year. Just to be able to upload my own website to my own new hosting account.
That one hit differently. I’d already paid for the Business plan upgrade just to access my database. Now, the plugin expected me to pay again just to bypass a file size restriction that the free version couldn’t handle and I couldn’t manually fix. It felt like every step of this migration had a toll booth. Every method I tried without paying –uploading through the plugin, placing the file manually in the backup folder, trying to restore from File Manager — hit the same wall. If you’re in the same boat, here are your realistic options:
- Purchase the All-in-One WP Migration unlimited extension (~$69/year) to remove the
upload cap entirely - Use Hostinger’s free migration service — submit a ticket and let their team handle it
- Reduce your file size by excluding post revisions, spam comments, and unused media
before exporting - Host your videos externally on YouTube or Vimeo instead of directly on your site (this
alone can cut gigabytes off your backup size)
What I Wish I’d Known About WordPress.com vs WordPress.org
This is worth its own section because the confusion between these two is real and it matters enormously for migration.
- WordPress.com = a hosted platform. They control your server, limit your plugins, and
restrict your exports based on your plan tier. - WordPress.org = the open-source software. When hosted on a provider like Hostinger, you
have complete control over everything.
Moving from WordPress.com to Hostinger means moving from one to the other. You’re not just changing addresses — you’re changing the entire nature of how your site is hosted and managed.
What About WordAds?
One of my bigger concerns was my WordAds account. I’d built up earnings and an approval history, and I didn’t want to lose that. Here’s the reality: WordAds does not automatically transfer. It’s tied to your WordPress.com hosted site. When you move to a self-hosted setup on Hostinger, you’ll need to:
- Install the Jetpack plugin on your new site
- Connect it to your WordPress.com account
- Upgrade to a Jetpack Security or Complete plan
- Reapply for WordAds
Your existing earnings should still pay out on their normal schedule since they’re tied to your WordPress.com account, not the site itself. But your ad history and approval status don’t carry over automatically — you’re starting fresh on the new domain. Factor in the cost of a Jetpack plan when budgeting your move. Depending on your current WordPress.com plan, it may actually be worth comparing the total costs before committing to
migration.
The Domain Switch
Once the actual move from WordPress.com to Hostinger was complete, pointing my domain was straightforward. Hostinger lists your nameserver values directly in hPanel under Websites –> Manage –> Plan Details. Take those two nameserver values, go to wherever your domain is registered, and replace the existing nameservers with Hostinger’s. If that doesn’t work, I believe you can change it through Domains in the hPanel. Then wait. DNS propagation takes anywhere from 30 minutes to 48 hours. During that time you might see a 403 Forbidden error when you visit your domain — that’s completely normal. It just means your domain is reaching Hostinger’s server but your site content isn’t fully loaded yet. You can track propagation progress in real time at whatsmydns.net.
The Fresh Start Opportunity
Here’s the silver lining in all of this: moving from WordPress.com to Hostinger gave me the chance to rebuild smarter. My new setup includes:
- A clean WordPress.org installation with full plugin access
- WooCommerce installed and configured properly from the ground up
- A faster, more flexible hosting environment
- Full control over my backups, my files, and my future
The blog content came over cleanly via the zip import. Rebuilding the shop manually was a chore, but honestly, it gave me the perfect excuse to clean up product listings I’d been meaning to update for months anyway. And my images are so much better. Now, I just need to do some digital housecleaning—deleting outdated pages and removing old product listings that no longer fit the brand.
My Hard-Won Checklist for Anyone Making This Move
If I were starting this migration over today, here’s exactly what I’d do:
- Budget for the Business plan upgrade – When planning your exit from WordPress.com to Hostinger you should leave near the end of that year you just paid for so that you have credit toward a month of the Business plan.
- Delete any unnecessary images and videos – this will lower your file size so you might not have to pay for that large file import.
- Set up WordPress on Hostinger first before touching your domain
- Import your content and test everything thoroughly
- Then update your nameservers
- Reinstall Jetpack and reapply for WordAds after migration
Final Thoughts
Making the jump from WordPress.com to Hostinger was not the smooth afternoon project I imagined. It was a multi-day process full of error messages, permission issues, file size limits, and moments where I genuinely wasn’t sure it was going to work. But it did work. And the freedom of running a fully self-hosted WordPress site on Hostinger — with WooCommerce, full plugin access, and complete control over my content — makes it completely worth it.
If you’re sitting on the fence about making this move, my honest advice is: do it, but give yourself more time than you think you need, and tackle one step at a time. And if you hit a wall? Hostinger’s live chat support is genuinely helpful. Don’t be afraid to use it.
Have questions about migrating your own site? Drop them in the comments below — I’ve probably run into the same issue.