Automatic Site Migration for Plan Changes

Published date
May 22, 2026

Changing your plan is a great way to scale your business or adjust your resources to better fit your current needs. For some plan changes, a backend migration may be required. This ensures your sites are hosted on the correct, optimized infrastructure that matches your new plan level.

To make this transition seamless, WP Engine provides a reliable, automated migration process. We handle the technical heavy lifting of moving your sites to their new infrastructure, while giving you complete control over the schedule so the move happens on your own terms.

After your plan is changed, our system identifies if your sites require a migration. This ensures your environment stays compatible with the specific features and technical requirements of your chosen plan.

Here’s how the process unfolds:

  1. Automatic Scheduling: To ensure your sites are moved to their new infrastructure promptly, WP Engine automatically schedules the migration to occur 3 days after your plan change during a standard maintenance window.
  2. Scheduling Flexibility (You’re in Control): If the default time doesn’t work for you, you have the power to customize when we move your sites via the User Portal:
    • Migrate Now: Have us kick off the process immediately so you can access your new infrastructure right away.
    • Reschedule: Pick any date and time within a 7-day window of your initial plan change to ensure we move your sites when your traffic is lowest.
  3. DNS Management: Depending on your current network setup, you may or may not need to update your DNS (see the DNS Requirements section below).
  4. Automated Execution: At the scheduled time, our proven automation handles the move securely.

Who can initiate the migration? Any user who has Owner, Full (with billing), or Full permissions can schedule or start the move. Read more about user roles:

To ensure a smooth transition, please keep the following in mind before the move begins:

  • Environmental Scope: This migration includes all associated environments within the site group (Production, Staging, and Development). Please ensure that any active work across all environments is saved and ready for the move.
  • The “Point of No Return”: Once a migration has officially begun, the process cannot be paused or stopped. Please double-check your schedule to ensure it doesn’t conflict with high-traffic events or critical site updates.
  • Content Freeze: We highly recommend a content freeze (avoiding site updates, plugin changes, or new posts) while we move your data to prevent data loss.

Whether or not you need to manually update your DNS records depends on which network your domains are currently using:

  • Using Advanced Network or Global Edge Security (GES): If your domains are already pointed to our Advanced Network or GES before we move the sites, no DNS changes are needed. We handle all backend adjustments automatically.
  • Pointed to Legacy IP Addresses: If your sites are not pointed to the Advanced Network or GES, your sites will remain accessible after the move via a temporary proxy. However, you must update your DNS records to point to your new IP address within 7 days of the migration to avoid service disruptions.
Tip

To avoid manual work after we move your sites, you can update your DNS to the Advanced Network or GES before the migration begins.

  • Duration: The process typically takes about 10 minutes per environment.
  • Downtime: Sites may experience a few seconds of downtime as the final switch occurs.
  • User Portal Access: Certain portal actions (like creating backups or adding domains) may be temporarily unavailable for the specific environment being moved.

We’ve designed this process to be highly reliable, but in the rare event that any issues come up, don’t worry. We’ll automatically create a support ticket for you, and our dedicated team will then jump in to ensure your migration is successful, keeping you informed every step of the way.

Once your plan change is complete, if a migration is required, a notification banner will appear at the top of your User Portal. Because these migrations are necessary to keep your site on the most optimized infrastructure, they cannot be canceled, but they can be easily rescheduled to fit your needs.

  1. Log in to the User Portal.
  2. Navigate to the Sites page.
  3. Locate the migration banner and click Schedule Migration.
  4. In the scheduling tool:
    • Select Migrate now to have us start the move immediately.
    • Select Reschedule to pick a specific date and time that suits your traffic patterns.
  5. Review the “Before you start” checklist and click Confirm.

Once the migration begins, you can track the status directly in your portal:

  • A “Migration in progress…” banner will appear at the top of the dashboard.
  • To see a specific environment’s status, select the environment from your Sites list. You can click View details to see the start time and a real-time status tracker.
  • You will receive an email notification once we have successfully moved all sites for your plan.

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