A former client recently reached out to ask if I could help migrate several of his existing WordPress sites from AWS Lightsail to Hostinger. His main concern? The complexity and rising costs of using AWS.

Honestly, that’s a common scenario—if you’re a small or growing business trying to manage expenses, AWS (even Lightsail) can become overwhelming. For such clients, I often recommend starting with simpler, more affordable hosting providers like Hostinger, and scaling up only when necessary.

I Took the Job

He had five WordPress websites, each hosted on separate AWS Lightsail instances. I accepted the project and immediately began planning the migration.

Step 1: Backup First

The first thing I did was backup each Lightsail instance. It’s always best practice to create full backups before any migration to avoid data loss, corruption, or plugin/theme conflicts.

I used the All-in-One WP Migration plugin, which made exporting the smaller sites very easy.

Step 2: Migrating Smaller Sites

I started with the sites that had smaller file sizes. Using the Hostinger control panel, I created new WordPress installations under temporary domains. Then, I imported the backups using the same plugin—smooth sailing.

Step 3: The Bigger Sites (18GB–25GB)

Here’s where the real challenge began.

Three of the websites were much larger (ranging from 18GB to 25GB) and built on older versions of WordPress, using outdated plugins and themes. I attempted to import one of them using the same plugin, and the upload got stuck at 30% for over 8 hours.

I initially thought it was due to the file size, but after checking the server error logs via the file manager, I discovered recurring compatibility issues—particularly related to WordPress version mismatch and plugin errors.

It was a long and painful 10+ hour wait, only to realize I had to start over.

Step 4: Smarter Approach — Hostinger’s Migration Tool

At this point, I pivoted. I used Hostinger’s built-in migration tool, provided the necessary credentials (site URL, admin email, etc.), and within 5 hours, the first large site was migrated—flawlessly.

That was a huge relief. And a major lesson: sometimes, the best way forward is not the manual route but using the tools available to you.

I applied the same method to the remaining two large sites, and everything went smoothly.

Final Outcome

• All 5 WordPress sites successfully migrated
• Zero data loss
• A happy client
• A grateful developer with another valuable experience under his belt

Key takeaway: Sometimes it’s not about doing it the hard way—it’s about doing it the smart way.