How to move from WordPress.com to self-hosted WordPress
WordPress.com is a hosting service that runs WordPress for you. Self-hosted WordPress is the same software on hosting you rent. Moving is an export, an import and a redirect of the old address. Paid WordPress.com plans now install plugins, so check first that you need to move.
- By
- WP Ministry
- Published
In short
- As of October 2026, WordPress.com's documentation says every paid plan can install plugins and upload themes. If that is all you want, you may not need to move.
- The export file holds posts, pages, comments, categories and tags, and links to your media. It holds no media files, no theme, no design settings and no plugins.
- Keep the WordPress.com site public until the Media Library on the new site holds as many items as the old one.
- Set the new site's permalinks to "Day and name" before the address moves. WordPress.com's post addresses carry the date, and old links depend on it.
- A domain of your own is pointed at the new host or transferred. A .wordpress.com address needs WordPress.com's paid Site Redirect.
- After the move, updates, backups, security and spam filtering are yours to arrange.
WordPress.com is a hosting service that runs WordPress for you. Self-hosted WordPress is the same software, free from WordPress.org, installed on hosting you rent yourself. Moving from one to the other is three jobs: export your content, import it into the new site, and send the old address to the new one.
Check first that you need to move. As of October 2026, WordPress.com's documentation says plugins can be installed, and third-party themes uploaded, on every paid plan: Personal, Premium, Business and Commerce. Only free sites cannot.
What the difference is
WordPress is free, open-source software, and WordPress.org is where the project lives. Its documentation describes WordPress as software you can install on any web host, and WordPress.com as a hosted service run by a company, Automattic, built on WordPress with some extra plugins and changes of its own.
So the two are not rival products. On WordPress.com, the company runs the server, the updates, the backups and the security. On your own hosting, you choose the host, and that work is done by you or by someone you pay.
Should you move?
The move gives you control and hands you the upkeep.
You are probably better off staying if:
- All you want is plugins or your own theme. Every paid plan allows both, as of October 2026. WordPress.com says almost all plugins can be installed. It blocks a short list, among them caching and backup plugins, and says many repeat what the platform already does.
- You do not want to look after a site. WordPress.com keeps WordPress up to date, backs sites up, scans them daily and runs a firewall. On your own hosting, you set up each of those.
- You want developer access but not a server to run. WordPress.com lists SFTP and SSH access, database access and staging sites on its Business plan.
You have a reason to move if:
- You need something WordPress.com does not allow: a plugin on its incompatible list, or control over the server. Its documentation says self-hosting allows code changes that may not be possible there, and changes to the PHP environment.
- You want to choose your host, and how much of the maintenance you take on.
- You are on a free site, want plugins, and would rather rent hosting than buy a plan. Work out both costs for your own site. Plans and hosting packages bundle different things.
What moves and what does not
WordPress.com's export makes an .xml file in WordPress's own format. This table follows what WordPress.com and WordPress.org say that file holds.
| What | In the export file | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Posts, pages, comments, categories and tags | Yes | Import. |
| Authors | Yes | Match each one to a user on the new site during the import. |
| Images, video, audio and documents | As links only. The files stay on WordPress.com | The importer copies each file from the old site, which has to stay public until it has finished. |
| Menus | WordPress.org lists navigation menus under "All content" | Check each menu and give it a place in the new theme. |
| Theme, design customizations and plugins | No | Install a theme, set it up again, and install your plugins again. |
| Widgets | Not on either list of what the file holds | Add them again. |
| Features that Jetpack provides: forms, the Subscribe block, share buttons, related posts, tiled galleries and more | The blocks are in your posts. The feature is not | Install the Jetpack plugin on the new site before you import, or replace each feature with another plugin. |
| Email subscribers and WordPress.com followers | No | Move them with Jetpack's migration tool. See below. |
| Stats | No | Jetpack's documentation says they can be carried over. See below. |
| Likes | No | They cannot be moved. The count starts again at zero. |
| A domain of your own | Not part of the export | Point it at the new host or transfer it. |
| A .wordpress.com address | Not part of the export | Buy WordPress.com's Site Redirect. |
A site on a plan with plugins has a second route. WordPress.com documents exporting the whole site, theme and plugins included, with a migration plugin. It names All-in-One WP Migration, and says the plugin's free version is for a site under 2 GB. For a store, or a site that depends on its plugins, that route carries far more than the content export.
So much carries over because both ends run the same software. A move from a different platform loses more: see platform migrations.
How long each part takes
| Part | What the documentation says |
|---|---|
| Making the export file | Usually one to two minutes |
| Copying the media to the new site | Can take several hours for a site with many photos |
| A name server or DNS change | Up to 72 hours, often much sooner |
| Transferring a domain to another registrar | Five to seven days, and not within 60 days of registering or transferring it |
Before you start
Keep the WordPress.com site as it is. Do not cancel the plan, delete the site or make it private yet. The new site has to reach the old one to copy your media.
Make the site public. In the WordPress.com dashboard go to Settings, then Reading. Under "Site Visibility" choose "Public" and select "Save Changes". WordPress.com says images transfer only from a public site. You can change it back afterward.
Write down your addresses. On WordPress.com a post sits under its date, such as /2024/01/01/first-blog-post/. A page sits at its own name, such as /my-page/, and a category at /category/category-name/. If your site has plugins and you changed this under Settings, then Permalinks, note what it is set to now. The website migration checklist covers listing every address before a move.
Move the content
Step 1: Rent hosting and install WordPress
WordPress.org recommends a host that supports PHP 8.3 or greater, MariaDB 10.11 or MySQL 8.0 or greater, and HTTPS. Many hosts install WordPress for you. Build at the temporary address your host gives you, so the old site keeps serving visitors.
Step 2: Set the permalinks to match
In the new site's dashboard go to Settings, then Permalinks. Choose "Day and name" and select "Save Changes". That is the structure WordPress.com uses for posts: its documentation gives
http://example.com/2014/10/21/sample-post/as the pattern. If you changed the structure on WordPress.com, choose the same one here.Step 3: Clear the sample content, and install Jetpack if you use its blocks
Delete the sample post and sample page a new WordPress site starts with. If your posts use Jetpack's blocks, WordPress.com's advice is to install the Jetpack plugin on the new site before the import, so those blocks keep working.
Step 4: Export from WordPress.com
In the WordPress.com dashboard go to Tools, then Export. Choose "All content" and select "Download Export File". The file downloads when it is ready. For a site with more than about 1,000 posts or pages, WordPress.com emails a .zip file of several .xml files. Unzip it and import each one in turn. If the export fails, WordPress.com suggests deleting unwanted drafts and spam comments first.
Step 5: Install the importer and upload the file
In the new site's dashboard go to Tools, then Import. Under "WordPress", select "Install Now", then "Run Importer". Select "Choose File", pick the .xml file, and select "Upload file and import".
If the import stops on a large file, the server has most likely run out of memory. WordPress.org's advice is to ask your host to raise the limit, or to split the file. Do not get a smaller file by exporting posts alone: WordPress.com says an export of specific content does not migrate the media.
Step 6: Assign the authors and tick the attachments box
The next screen is headed "Assign Authors". For each author in the file, either type a name beside "or create new user with login name:" or choose yourself beside "or assign posts to an existing user:". The screen warns that a user it creates gets a random password and the subscriber role, so set both afterward.
Under "Import Attachments", tick "Download and import file attachments". Without it, no media is copied. Leave "Change all imported URLs that currently link to the previous site so that they now link to this site" ticked. Then select "Submit".
Step 7: Check that the media was copied
Read the last screen before you leave it. A line that begins "Failed to import Media" names a file that did not copy.
Then count. WordPress.com's own check is to compare the number of items in the Media Library on the old site and the new one: they should match. Open several posts and look at the images too. Do not judge by an image's address: with the URL option ticked, every address in a post points at the new site whether or not the file arrived.
If files are missing, download the media from WordPress.com and upload it by hand. A site with no plugins has Tools, then Export Media Files. A site with plugins uses the Export Media Library plugin on the Personal and Premium plans, or its backups on the Business and Commerce plans.
Step 8: Rebuild what the file left out
Work down the table above: the theme and its settings, menus, widgets, plugins and forms. Send a test message through each form and look for it in your inbox.
Step 9: Check the old addresses on the new site
Take a few post, page and category addresses from your list and try each path on the new site's temporary address. Each should load. Any that have changed need a 301 redirect: how to set up redirects in WordPress covers the ways to make one, and the redirect map builder turns a list of old and new addresses into rules.
Move the address
What you do depends on the address visitors use now.
If the site uses a domain of your own
With the same domain and the same permalink structure, your post and page addresses do not change. The domain only has to lead to the new host. Move it after the media has been copied, not before: the importer fetches your files from the old site. A site built at a temporary address also needs its own address changed: see how to change your WordPress URL.
The domain is registered somewhere else and connected to WordPress.com. Change its name servers or DNS records at the company where it is registered, to the values your new host gives you.
The domain is registered with WordPress.com. WordPress.com documents two ways to leave.
- Change the name servers. In the Domains section of the Hosting Dashboard, select the domain. Under "Settings" select "Name servers", turn off "Use WordPress.com name servers", enter your new host's name servers and select "Save". A host that gives you an IP address instead is handled with an A record under "DNS records". The domain stays registered, and billed, at WordPress.com.
- Transfer the registration. Under "Actions" select "Transfer", turn the transfer lock off, and select "Get authorization code". The code is emailed to you, and you give it to the new registrar. The domain's settings are locked during a transfer, so WordPress.com's advice is to change the name servers first if the new site has to work straight away.
Either way, add your email's DNS records at the new DNS provider before you switch. WordPress.com warns that mail on the domain may stop working when the name servers change. The records are usually MX records, and your email provider can give them to you.
If the site uses a .wordpress.com address
You cannot take a .wordpress.com address with you. WordPress.com sells a Site Redirect for this case. Its documentation says the redirect sends traffic from the .wordpress.com address, and all of its permalinks, to another site. It is a paid upgrade, bought through checkout and held as a subscription, and it works for as long as you keep it.
To buy it, open the Hosting Dashboard, select the site's title, then Settings, then "Site redirect". Enter the new address in the "Redirect URL" field and select "Redirect".
WordPress.com's documentation sets these limits, as of October 2026:
- The permalinks have to match. Posts on the new site must use the same structure as on WordPress.com, or visitors to anything but the home page may see an error.
- It points only at an http:// address. The new site sends visitors on to https itself, so expect two hops.
- It points at a domain or a folder, not at a single file or page.
- It becomes the old site's primary address, and cannot be paused. To stop it, you cancel it.
- It is not available on a site with plugins installed or hosting features activated. If that is your site and it has no domain of its own, ask WordPress.com support what is possible before you plan around a redirect.
The documentation does not say which kind of redirect is sent. Once it is in place, run a few old addresses through the redirect checker, which follows a redirect and shows each hop.
Subscribers and followers
Subscribers are not in the export file. Jetpack documents a tool that moves them.
It needs the Jetpack plugin installed on the new site and connected to WordPress.com. The WordPress.com account you use must own both the old site and the new site's Jetpack connection. An administrator who is not the owner cannot move subscribers.
Step 1: Open the new site in Jetpack's dashboard
Log in to your WordPress.com account and go to cloud.jetpack.com. Select the site you are moving subscribers to, then "Subscribers".
Step 2: Start the migration
Select the three dots beside "Add subscribers", then "Migrate subscribers from another WordPress.com site". Choose the old site and select "Migrate subscribers".
Step 3: Confirm
Select "Confirm subscriber move". Jetpack emails you when the move has started and again when it has finished.
What Jetpack says happens afterward:
- Email subscribers go on receiving new posts by email.
- WordPress.com followers see new posts only in the WordPress.com Reader. To get email, each has to subscribe to the new site.
- Likes are not moved.
If you do not want Jetpack on the new site, take the list another way. In the WordPress.com dashboard go to Jetpack, then Newsletter, open the three-dot menu beside "Add subscribers", and choose "Download as CSV". The file holds your subscribers' email addresses, to import into the newsletter tool you use next.
Stats are also outside the export file. Jetpack's documentation says they can be carried over: once Jetpack is installed on the new site and connected to your WordPress.com account, the stats should appear, and Jetpack's support can help if they do not.
After the move
What WordPress.com did for you without being asked is now yours to arrange.
| Job | On WordPress.com | On your own hosting |
|---|---|---|
| WordPress updates | Kept up to date for you | New installs update WordPress itself in the background by default. Plugins and themes are yours to update. See how to safely update WordPress. |
| Backups | Taken by WordPress.com | A backup needs both the database and the files. See how to schedule automatic backups. |
| Security | A firewall, daily scans and blocking of repeated login attempts | Yours to set up. See WordPress security, in order of what matters. |
| Comment spam | Akismet, built in | Akismet is a plugin on WordPress.org. It asks for an Akismet.com API key when you turn it on. |
The WordPress maintenance checklist puts the regular jobs in order, by week, month, quarter and year.
Then deal with the old site. Wait until the media count matches, the domain or the redirect has been checked, and the subscribers have moved.
- If you bought a Site Redirect, keep the old site. Deleting a site means removing its purchases first, and a deleted .wordpress.com address can never be used again.
- If you used your own domain, you can make the old site private: Settings, then Reading, then "Private" under "Site Visibility". Its content stays where it is, hidden from visitors and search engines.
- Canceling the plan leaves a free site at its .wordpress.com address. WordPress.com says ads return, and that plugins and the content made with them are removed.
- Deleting the site is permanent after 30 days.
If you would rather hand the move over, our WordPress migration service moves one WordPress site from one host to another and tests the copy on the new host before the DNS is changed. It starts with a free diagnosis, so you have a fixed quote before anything is moved.
Common questions
Are WordPress.com and WordPress.org the same thing?
No. WordPress.org is the home of the free WordPress software, which you can install on any host. WordPress.com is a company's hosting service that runs that software for you. A site on either one is a WordPress site.
Do I have to leave WordPress.com to install plugins?
Not on a paid plan. As of October 2026, WordPress.com's documentation says plugins can be installed on the Personal, Premium, Business and Commerce plans. Free sites cannot install them, and a short list of plugins is blocked.
Will my old links still work?
With your own domain, yes, as long as the new site uses the same permalink structure. Posts on WordPress.com sit under their date, which is "Day and name" in WordPress. With a .wordpress.com address, old links work only while a Site Redirect is active and the structures match.
When can I cancel my WordPress.com plan?
After the Media Library on the new site holds as many items as the old one, the domain or the redirect has been checked, and your subscribers have been moved. Until the media has copied, the old site has to stay public.
Can I move back to WordPress.com later?
Yes. WordPress.com says any WordPress site can be migrated to it or away from it, wherever the site is hosted. Your content is yours on both.
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