How to Migrate from HostGator to Kinsta
Complete step-by-step guide to migrating from HostGator to Kinsta managed WordPress hosting. Includes free migration service walkthrough, performance comparison, and cost-benefit analysis.
200-400ms TTFB
vs 800-1500ms on HostGator
Zero Downtime
Site stays live during migration
2-4 Hours
Professional migration time
Why Users Leave HostGator
HostGator used to be a solid budget hosting option. Then in 2012, Endurance International Group (EIG) acquired HostGator and consolidated infrastructure across 70+ hosting brands. The result: overcrowded servers, deteriorating performance, and frustrating support experiences.
HostGator Infrastructure Problems
- TTFB consistently 800-1500ms (should be under 400ms)
- Shared servers host 200-300 sites (causes resource contention)
- Outdated Apache servers (vs modern LiteSpeed/Nginx)
- PHP 7.4 default (PHP 8.1+ is 30-50% faster)
- No server-level caching
- Frequent unexplained slowdowns
What You Gain with Kinsta
- TTFB 200-400ms (3-5x faster)
- Isolated container per site (no resource sharing)
- Nginx + LXD containers on Google Cloud Platform
- PHP 8.2 default with automatic version management
- Server-level caching (FastCGI, Redis, CDN)
- Consistent, predictable performance
The EIG Effect:
After EIG's acquisition, HostGator support response times increased from minutes to hours. Technical expertise declined as experienced staff left. The same infrastructure deterioration affected Bluehost, HostMonster, iPage, and 65+ other EIG brands. If you're on any EIG host, migration improves performance significantly.
When Should You Migrate? (Decision Framework)
Not every HostGator user needs to migrate immediately. Use this decision framework to determine if migration makes sense for your site.
🚨 Migrate Immediately If:
- TTFB consistently exceeds 800ms despite caching plugins (test with Pingdom or GTmetrix)
- Core Web Vitals failing (LCP > 3.5s, can't get under 2.5s despite optimization)
- Frequent downtime or slowdowns (especially during peak traffic)
- E-commerce site (slow checkout = lost sales — Kinsta's speed pays for itself)
- Business-critical website (your site generates revenue or leads)
✅ Consider Migrating If:
- TTFB 600-800ms (not terrible, but Kinsta will cut it in half)
- Growing traffic (10,000+ monthly visitors, need headroom for growth)
- International audience (Kinsta's global CDN + edge caching dramatically helps)
- Need staging environment (test changes before pushing live)
- Value time over money (premium support saves hours of troubleshooting)
⏭️ You Can Stay on HostGator If:
- • Simple blog with under 1,000 monthly visitors
- • TTFB under 600ms and Core Web Vitals passing
- • Site speed not critical to your goals
- • Budget extremely tight (under $35/month not feasible)
Note: If staying on HostGator, follow our complete HostGator optimization guide to maximize performance on shared hosting.
HostGator vs Kinsta: Detailed Comparison
| Feature | HostGator Shared | Kinsta Starter |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3-15/month | $35/month |
| TTFB (Avg) | 800-1500ms | 200-400ms ✅ |
| Infrastructure | Shared EIG servers | Google Cloud C2 (isolated containers) |
| Web Server | Apache 2.4 | Nginx + LXD |
| PHP Version | 7.4 (outdated) | 8.2 (latest) |
| Server Caching | ❌ None | ✅ FastCGI, Redis, Memcached |
| CDN | ❌ Extra cost | ✅ Included (Cloudflare Enterprise) |
| SSL Certificate | Free (Let's Encrypt) | Free (Cloudflare SSL) |
| Backups | Weekly (manual restore) | Daily automatic + 1-click restore |
| Staging Environment | ❌ Not available | ✅ 1-click staging |
| Support Response | 2-6 hours (chat/ticket) | Under 10 min (chat), expert WordPress engineers |
| Uptime Guarantee | 99.9% (frequent violations) | 99.9% (strictly enforced, SLA credit) |
| Traffic Limit | "Unlimited" (throttled at ~10K visits) | 25,000 visits/month (strict but honest) |
| Free Migration | ❌ DIY only | ✅ 1 free premium migration |
Bottom line:
Kinsta costs 2-3x more but delivers 5-10x better performance, includes enterprise features (CDN, staging, daily backups, expert support), and saves hours of troubleshooting. For business sites, the ROI is immediate.
Step-by-Step Migration Process
Kinsta offers free professional migration with all plans. This is the recommended approach for 95% of users. DIY migration is also possible (covered below).
Sign Up for Kinsta
Choose the right plan for your traffic
- Go to kinsta.com
- Select "Starter" plan ($35/month, 1 site, 25K visits) or higher
- Complete signup and payment
- You'll receive access to MyKinsta dashboard
Plan selection tip: Start with Starter plan. You can upgrade later if traffic exceeds 25,000 monthly visits. Kinsta measures real visitors, not page views.
Request Free Migration
Kinsta handles the technical work
- Log into MyKinsta dashboard
- Click "Migrations" in left sidebar
- Click "Request migration" button
- Fill out migration form:
- Domain name
- Current host: HostGator
- Preferred migration date/time
- Submit form
Kinsta support will email you within 1-2 hours with next steps and access requirements.
Provide HostGator Access
Temporary credentials for migration
Kinsta needs access to copy your WordPress files and database. You'll provide one of the following:
Option 1: cPanel Access (Recommended)
- • cPanel URL
- • cPanel username
- • cPanel password
Option 2: FTP/SFTP Access
- • FTP hostname
- • FTP username
- • FTP password
- • Database access separately
🔒 Security Note:
Kinsta is SOC 2 Type II certified. Your credentials are encrypted and deleted immediately after migration. You can also create a temporary cPanel account just for migration, then delete it afterward.
Kinsta Migrates Your Site
2-4 hours, zero downtime
Kinsta's migration team will:
- • Copy all WordPress files from HostGator
- • Export and import MySQL database
- • Configure WordPress to work on Kinsta's infrastructure
- • Test site functionality on temporary Kinsta URL
- • Optimize configuration for Kinsta (caching, PHP version, etc.)
Timeline: 2-4 hours for typical WordPress site. Complex sites (WooCommerce with 10,000+ products, multisite networks) may take longer.
Important: Your site stays live on HostGator during this entire process. Visitors continue accessing the HostGator version.
Test Migrated Site
Verify everything works on temporary URL
Kinsta provides a temporary URL (e.g., yoursite.kinsta.cloud) to test your migrated site before switching DNS.
What to test:
- • Homepage loads correctly
- • All pages and posts display properly
- • Images load (check broken image links)
- • Forms submit successfully
- • WooCommerce checkout works (if applicable)
- • Login to WordPress admin works
- • Plugins function correctly
If you find issues, Kinsta support will fix them before DNS switch. Don't proceed until you're satisfied with the migrated version.
Update DNS to Point to Kinsta
Switch traffic from HostGator to Kinsta
Once you've approved the migration, update DNS to point your domain to Kinsta servers.
Two options for DNS:
Option A: Use Kinsta DNS (Recommended)
- Get nameservers from MyKinsta
- Update nameservers at domain registrar
- Kinsta manages all DNS records
Benefit: Simpler, Kinsta handles DNS config
Option B: Update A Records Only
- Get Kinsta IP address from dashboard
- Update A record at your DNS provider
- Keep existing nameservers
Use if: You manage DNS elsewhere (Cloudflare, etc.)
⏱️ DNS Propagation Time:
DNS changes take 24-48 hours to fully propagate worldwide. During this time, some visitors see the HostGator version, others see Kinsta. This is normal. Keep HostGator active until propagation completes.
Monitor and Verify
Confirm site fully migrated
After DNS update:
- Wait 48 hours for full DNS propagation
- Verify site loads from Kinsta servers (check TTFB in GTmetrix — should be 200-400ms)
- Test from multiple locations (use WhatsmyDNS)
- Confirm email delivery still works (if hosting email on same domain)
- Monitor Google Search Console for crawl errors
✅ Once verified:
Cancel your HostGator account (no refunds for unused months, but stop renewal). Keep a backup of your HostGator files for 30 days just in case.
Before/After Performance Comparison
Real-world performance improvements from migrating a typical WordPress site from HostGator to Kinsta:
❌ Before (HostGator)
- TTFB: 1,240ms
- Total Load Time: 4.8 seconds
- LCP: 4.2 seconds (Poor)
- PageSpeed Score: 52/100 mobile
- Core Web Vitals: Failing
- Server Response: Inconsistent (600-2000ms range)
✅ After (Kinsta)
- TTFB: 320ms (-74%)
- Total Load Time: 1.6 seconds (-67%)
- LCP: 1.8 seconds (Good) ✅
- PageSpeed Score: 92/100 mobile (+77%)
- Core Web Vitals: Passing ✅
- Server Response: Consistent (280-350ms)
Business Impact:
- • +23% average session duration (visitors stay longer on faster sites)
- • -18% bounce rate (fewer visitors leave immediately)
- • +15-25% organic traffic (Core Web Vitals now passing, ranking boost)
- • +12% conversion rate (e-commerce/lead gen sites)
Cost-Benefit Analysis: Is Kinsta Worth It?
💰 Cost Comparison (Annual)
HostGator Shared ($10/month)
- Hosting: $120/year
- SSL: $0 (Let's Encrypt)
- CDN: $60/year (Cloudflare Pro)
- Backups: $24/year (CodeGuard)
- Caching plugin: $59/year (WP Rocket)
- Security: $90/year (Wordfence Premium)
- Total: $353/year
Kinsta Starter ($35/month)
- Hosting: $420/year
- SSL: Included
- CDN: Included (Cloudflare Enterprise)
- Backups: Included (daily automatic)
- Caching: Included (server-level)
- Security: Included (WAF, DDoS, malware scan)
- Total: $420/year
Price difference: $67/year ($5.60/month) — but Kinsta includes enterprise features that would cost $233/year separately on HostGator.
📊 ROI Calculation
Scenario: E-commerce site with 15,000 monthly visitors, $50 average order value, 2% baseline conversion rate
Before (HostGator):
15,000 visitors × 2% conversion = 300 orders/month
300 orders × $50 = $15,000/month revenue
After (Kinsta):
15,000 visitors × 2.24% conversion (+12%) = 336 orders/month
336 orders × $50 = $16,800/month revenue
Increase: +$1,800/month = +$21,600/year
ROI: Spending an extra $67/year to gain $21,600/year = 32,238% ROI
Bottom line:
For business sites (e-commerce, lead generation, service businesses), Kinsta pays for itself immediately through improved conversion rates and SEO rankings. For hobby blogs with no revenue, HostGator + optimization may be sufficient.
Ready to Leave HostGator Behind?
Migrating from HostGator to Kinsta is one of the highest-impact improvements you can make for WordPress performance. With Kinsta's free migration service, the technical complexity is handled for you — and the results are immediate.
Next steps:
- Test your TTFB with GTmetrix — if over 600ms, migration will significantly help
- Read our Core Web Vitals optimization guide to understand full performance stack
- Consider alternatives: WP Engine (similar to Kinsta), Rocket.net (built on Cloudflare), Cloudways (budget-friendly managed hosting)
If you've optimized everything on HostGator and still can't pass Core Web Vitals, hosting is the bottleneck. Read our complete HostGator optimization guide for maximizing performance before migrating.
Need Professional Migration Assistance?
BKND Development offers expert WordPress migration services with zero downtime, performance optimization, and post-migration support. Serving businesses throughout Union County, NJ.
- Full migration management (any host to any host)
- Performance optimization post-migration
- DNS configuration and SSL setup
- 30-day post-migration support included