WP Migrate Lite – WordPress Migration Made Easy

Make WordPress migration easy. Migrate your database at the click of a button with full support for serialized data.

WP Migrate takes the hassle out of moving your WordPress site.

WP Migrate is a WordPress migration plugin that makes exporting and migrating your database easy, fast, and straightforward.

Each migration takes shape in the form of an easy to follow three-step process.

Find and replace the data you want directly within the WP Migrate interface.
Export the SQL.
Import into your new database using a tool such as phpMyAdmin

Simple, right? We believe that WordPress database migration doesn’t have to be overly technical or opaque. Instead, WP Migrate was created with the sole aim of making WordPress site migration easy.

WP Migrate fully supports serialized data and arrays and can find and replace content within serialized arrays. What does this mean for you? It means it’s far easier to migrate your database, and there’s no risk of data corruption.

WP Migrate handles serialized data by unserializing the data and going through it, identifying strings and running a find & replace on them. Once it has gone through all the data, it serializes it again and sticks it back in the database.

Example: s:5:"hello" becomes s:11:"hello world"

You’re also able to run in-place find and replace, which lets you find and replace on the current database (without migration).

Testimonials – WordPress Experts Love Us

We’ve made an impact since launching the first version of WP Migrate with over 300,000 active installs, and hundreds of 5* reviews on WordPress.org. WP Migrate is, in our opinion, the best WordPress migration plugin. Don’t just take our word for it though:

[WP Migrate] might be the most amazing thing that has happened in a really long time in the #WordPress world – Pippin Williamson – Founder, Sandhills Development.

Today, I give continued thanks to @dliciousbrains for migrate db pro and the ease at which it offers migrations from dev-to-and-from-staging – Tom Mcfarlin – Senior Backend Engineer, WebDevStudios.

How did I ever survive without [WP Migrate] before? #winning – Jenny Beaumont – Senior Project Manager, Human Made.

Tell me more

What about if you want to migrate your site entirely, including files and media?

When you upgrade from WP Migrate Lite to WP Migrate, you can move an entire WordPress site quickly and easily. Take the time spent migrating a website from hours upon hours to minutes.

I’m sold! Show me the pro features

What’s this about upgrades and pro features?

Glad you asked! The pro features in WP Migrate are the perfect accompaniment to any WordPress developer’s toolbox. Here’s what you get when you upgrade:

Priority email support
Push and pull databases from one environment to the other
Push and pull media libraries from one site to another
Push and pull theme and plugin files from one site to another
Advanced multisite features like pushing a subsite to single site install.
Command-line support (Use WP-CLI with WP Migrate)
Backup your data before starting the migration.
Targeted WordPress database migration. Select which tables to migrate and exclude post types from migrations.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, we’re always working on adding value to WP Migrate!

Find out about the incredible value that WP Migrate brings on our website, or watch the video below.

Do I have to set up my WordPress migration manually each time?

No! WP Migrate includes what are called “Migration profiles.” These profiles allow you to save your WordPress migration settings to make the process as fast as possible.

Is WP Migrate compatible with WordPress multisite?

The free version of WP Migrate is compatible with WordPress Multisite, however, if you upgrade, the power is turned up to 11. Migrate a single site into a multisite network, or export a subsite into a single site. You can even migrate a subsite directly from one multisite to another.

I have a ton of spam comments on my site, can I exclude those from the migration?

You sure can! WP Migrate allows you to exclude spam comments from any WordPress migration in a click.

What if a plugin corrupts my WordPress migration?

Don’t worry! Since WP Migrate 1.0 and above, all plugins are put into compatibility mode, which essentially prevents them from loading for migration requests only.

Plugins can be whitelisted to run while the migration is running from a straightforward to use admin interface.

Can I migrate my entire WordPress website with this?

Yes! Just purchase the Developer license or better, and you’ll be able to push and pull your media, plugins, and themes in addition to your database in a couple of clicks.

Question: What format is my WordPress database exported in?

When you run the migration, your WordPress database is export in SQL, you then save the file to your desktop and can import that via another database tool such as phpMyAdmin.

I’ve always been told exporting my WordPress database is difficult, what makes this different?

WP Migrate comes with everything you need and nothing you don’t. With a friendly, easy-to-use user interface, being able to export WordPress database files reliably has never been easier.

Can I use WP Migrate to move to new web hosting?

Yup! You can easily export your database and import your database into your new web hosting account using a tool like phpMyAdmin or similar. Want even more power? Upgrade and simply push or pull all your media and theme/plugin files as well.

What exactly does push/pull databases mean?

If you’re using a staging website and have a live website hosted somewhere else (like a good developer who follows best practices) then you’ll make updates locally and then make those changes live.

However, your database will be out of sync between the two, at some point you’ll be missing important data!

WP Migrate makes this easy. You can pull a database from live to staging, make your changes, and then push back to the live site with a click. Remember, though, this functionality is only available in WP Migrate.

What about serialized data? Will my data remain intact?

WP Migrate fully supports the finding and replacement of serialized data. Simply input the data you want to find, and the data you want to replace it with and let WP Migrate handle the rest.

Will you migrate my WordPress website for me?

We don’t offer WordPress migration services at this time, but you might want to give WP Migrate a try. It’s a WordPress migration plugin with everything you need to migrate to a new host quickly and easily. And if you find it too difficult, we have a 100% No-Risk 60-Day Money Back Guarantee so you can easily get a refund.

Can I use the command line (WP-CLI)?

Yes, WP Migrate includes an export and find-replace command. With the WP Migrate Developer license or better you get the CLI addon which includes an additional six commands: push, pull, profiles, profile, setting, and import. Check out our documentation for more information on our WP-CLI commands.

Can I migrate to a new domain?

WP Migrate is perfect for migrating to a new domain! You can use the built-in find and replace functionality to find your old site URL (domain name) in your database content and replace it with your new one.

What are the steps to migrate my site with WP Migrate?

Assuming you’re using WP Migrate Lite, simply install the plugin. Fill in the URL(s) you’d like found and what to replace them with, and export your WordPress database, which will download an SQL file. Now access your MySQL (or MariaDB!) database using your preferred tool (like phpMyAdmin or SequelPro), import the SQL file, and you’re good to go.

Why is WP Migrate better than Updraft, Duplicator, and Search Replace DB?

Ok, so maybe we’re biased, but if you’ve used other tools, you’ll know they can be complex to set up, and challenging to use. Not to mention, they may not work every time.

Let’s look at a popular find and replace script for serialized data called Search Replace DB, with this you have to upload the script, run it manually and it doesn’t have a backup option or email support.

While Updraft Plus provides a lot of functionality, it’s primarily a backup plugin with a premium option for migrating your website. Compare that to WP Migrate — the site migration tool used and recommended by professional WordPress developers.

The Themes and Plugins [feature] for [WP Migrate] from @dliciousbrains is pure genius. So many use cases I didn’t think of when they released it. Mainly: 1) Staging sites 2) Plugin support Saves me time every week. – Clifton Griffin, Development Lead at Objectiv

Finally, Duplicator is a migration plugin that does things very differently from WP Migrate. Duplicator creates a zip file of your database and files that must be manually transferred (via FTP/SFTP) to your site’s new location. This package must then be unzipped and an installer script run. These operations are all much more taxing on server resources than what WP Migratedoes and lot less smooth than WP Migrate.

Can I clone WordPress, or duplicate WordPress using WP Migrate?

You can! While cloning a WordPress site can be difficult, WP Migrate makes it a breeze. The same goes if you want to duplicate WordPress, which is a different way of saying the same thing. Here’s a quick step by step guide.

Step 1: Install the plugin on the WordPress install you want to clone WordPress to.
Step 2: Fill in the find and replace fields within WP Migrate.
Step 3: Export the database.
Step 4: Import the database into your new site.

And it’s as simple as that, your data has been cloned onto the new site, ready to go. Pssst — If you upgrade to WP Migrate, it’s even easier to clone your entire website, including all your media, themes, and plugins.

Is FTP a thing of the past?

If you upgrade to WP Migrate, no longer do you need to use those old clunky FTP clients. Instead, you can push and pull your plugin, theme, and media files in a click. It couldn’t be simpler.

Will this work with my hosting provider?

WP Migrate works perfectly with all web hosting providers and even your localhost install! It’s never been easier to migrate your website to a new server, update your domain, or make changes between local and staging.

How about backing up my database?

WP Migrate performs a database backup before exporting your SQL. However, if you’re using WP Migrate Lite, we’d recommend using a plugin or making backups through your web hosting control panel before migrating your site.

What support is provided?

Limited free support is provided, and we offer dedicated priority email support for our WP Migrate license holders.

Where can I find out about the pricing of WP Migrate?

Find out all relevant pricing information over on our official site.

WP Migrate 2.3.0 – 2022-03-30

New: “WP Migrate DB” is now “WP Migrate Lite”
New: CLI commands now support migrate base command as an alias of migratedb
Improvement: CLI exports no longer require find/replace arguments
Improvement: Notices are now styled to reflect their state (success, error, warning, or information)

WP Migrate 2.2.2 – 2022-01-11

Bug Fix: Opening Find & Replace no longer results in a JavaScript error when SCRIPT_DEBUG is true
Bug Fix: Custom Find & Replace URL for exports no longer includes the protocol
Bug Fix: Altered unsaved profiles can now be saved

WP Migrate 2.2.1 – 2021-11-09

Bug Fix: WP Migrate DB profiles can now be re-saved without requiring a page refresh

WP Migrate 2.2.0 – 2021-10-18

New: Find & Replace tool now includes an option to preview changes before applying them to the database
Improvement: Keyboard navigation is now more accessible thanks to new focus styles throughout the plugin
Bug Fix: WP Migrate DB is now more compatible with other plugins that use Composer’s autoloader and have dependencies with the same name

WP Migrate 2.1.2 – 2021-08-30

Improvement – Accessibility: Better support for Skip to main content keyboard navigation.

WP Migrate 2.1.1 – 2021-08-18

Improvement: Migrations can now be run on sites that use the default permalink structure
Bug fix: PHP fatal error when running find and replace on a serialized unclonable object
Bug fix: PHP notices during an existing find and replace related to the addition of regex support

WP Migrate 2.1 – 2021-08-04

New: Case-sensitive custom find and replace
Improvement: Show a notice when the REST API is disabled or inaccessible

WP Migrate 2.0.2 – 2021-06-17

Improvement: “Search & Replace” updated to “Find & Replace” for consistency
Bug fix: Some PHP files can be directly accessed in a browser
Bug fix: Rewrite rules lost after migration

WP Migrate 2.0.1 – 2021-05-06

Bug fix: Replacing a string with nothing not supported
Bug fix: Plugin not working on sites with a custom REST API URL
Bug fix: Plugin not working on sites with a custom plugin directory
Bug fix: ‘gmdateI18n’ function not available on older versions of WordPress
Bug fix: Javascript file with tilde in filename blocked by some firewalls

WP Migrate 2.0 – 2021-04-28

New: Brand new user interface powered by React. Read the release post
New: Automatically save the last 10 migrations
New: Ability to rename profiles from the profiles tab
New: Added ‘wpmdb_replace_json_encode_flags’ filter for modifying how data is JSON-encoded during a search/replace

WP Migrate 1.0.17 – 2021-02-03

Bug fix: Deprecated PHP code causes warnings in PHP 8+
Bug fix: Regex to match recursive serialized records matches non-serialized data
Bug fix: Invert selection UI option doesn’t work on newer versions of WordPress
Improvement: Fix several styling issues
Improvement: Replace ANSI quotes with backticks for better MySQL compatibility

WP Migrate 1.0.16 – 2020-09-14

Bug fix: Find & Replace migrations do not replace data that is JSON encoded
Bug fix: The Filesystem::chmod() method does not function correctly and silently logs an error
Bug fix: Running a migration without find and replace values throws a PHP warning

WP Migrate 1.0.15 – 2020-07-30

Bug fix: Check boxes are not saved correctly in plugin settings

WP Migrate 1.0.14 – 2020-07-28

Bug fix: Invalid $_POST values are returned in plain text which is a cross site scripting (XSS) risk

WP Migrate 1.0.13 – 2020-03-17

Bug fix: Usage of get_magic_quotes_gpc() triggers a warning on PHP 7.4+
Bug fix: WordPress home and site_url values are set incorrectly on multisite installs with the ‘ms_files_rewriting’ option set
Bug fix: PHP warning during JSON find & replace if search or replace value is empty

WP Migrate 1.0.12 – 2020-02-26

Bug fix: Sanitize $_GET parameter when triggering download for export
Bug fix: Sanitize $_GET parameter when downloading backup file
Bug fix: Call to undefined end_ajax() method
Bug fix: Use of PHP compact() function not working with PHP 7.3+
Bug fix: Search & replace did not work with JSON encoded content in the wp_posts table

WP Migrate 1.0.11 – 2019-04-30

Bug fix: WP_Filesystem initialized on all wp-admin pages

WP Migrate 1.0.10 – 2019-02-12

Improvement: Compatibility with MySQL 8
Improvement: UI Updates

WP Migrate 1.0.9 – 2019-01-29

Bug fix: Bit fields with a value of NULL are handled incorrectly
Improvement: Major refactor to remove third-party dependency injection container

WP Migrate 1.0.8 – 2018-11-29

Bug fix: WordPress filesystem class not correctly loaded and causes 500 error
Improvement: Remove deprecated PHP code making PHP 7+ compatibility checks pass

WP Migrate 1.0.7 – 2018-11-21

Bug fix: WP Migrate DB Anonymization plugin no longer functions
Bug fix: 500 errors occur when another plugin is installed that includes Composer
Improvement: Add Theme & Plugin Files Addon to addons list
Improvement: Remove un-needed template files

WP Migrate 1.0.6 – 2018-11-19

New: Increased PHP version requirement from PHP 5.2+ to PHP 5.4+
Improvement: Major reorganization of the PHP code into better classes and a better folder structure

WP Migrate 1.0.5 – 2018-11-09

New: Updated YouTube video in migration progress modal
Bug fix: Duplicate JavaScript causes console error

WP Migrate 1.0.4 – 2018-09-13

Bug fix: Overall progress bar spins when font-awesome loaded

WP Migrate 1.0.3 – 2018-09-10

Bug fix: Usage of static keyword errors in PHP 5.2.4

WP Migrate 1.0.2 – 2017-10-25

Bug fix: Some plugins causing “Invalid nonce” errors when using compatibility mode
Bug fix: Error for invalid permissions for Exports not displaying

WP Migrate 1.0.1 – 2017-09-14

Bug Fix: Parse error on PHP 5.2
Bug Fix: Row not set for wpmdb_replace_custom_data filter

WP Migrate 1.0 – 2017-08-11

New: Plugins and themes are disabled by default for HTTP requests made by WP Migrate for better performance and compatibility
Improvement: Page is reloaded automatically after migrations that alter the wp_options, wp_users, and wp_usermeta tables
Improvement: Additional constants added to the diagnostic log for better debugging by our support team
Improvement: Compatibility mode directory permission errors are now dismissable and fewer notices are displayed
Bug Fix: Find & Replace not operating on wp_site and wp_blogs tables on multisite

WP Migrate 0.9.2 – 2016-12-16

Bug Fix: Fixing 500 error for exports due to missing dependency on the WPMDB_Filesystem class

WP Migrate 0.9.1 – 2016-12-15

Bug Fix: Tables occasionally shown as completed twice, throwing off migration progress
Bug Fix: Backups run before find/replace operations sometimes have incorrect encoding

WP Migrate 0.9 – 2016-10-20

New: In-place Find & Replace functionality added – a find and replace can now be run on a site’s own database
New: CLI find-replace subcommand added
Improvement: Removed font-family declarations from stylesheets
Improvement: Truncate WP Migrate diagnostic log to always be < 1MB, to help with memory exhaustion errors
Improvement: Added help tooltips for the default find and replace fields
Improvement: Added multisite specific constants to the diagnostic log
Improvement: “Clear Error Log” button only removes error messages and updates any changed diagnostic values
Improvement: Total stage progress now remains visible when scrolling migration item progress
Improvement: Show/Hide Tables setting does not persist between sessions.
Improvement: Progress bar animations now reflect paused migration state
Improvement: JS files now include a version number to better avoid cache issues

WP Migrate 0.8 – 2016-04-12

New: Migration progress UI
New: Individual table migration progress
New: Migration progress shown in title bar
New: Settings tab UI
Improvement: Adding a new find/replace row now automatically adds focus to the new “find” input
Improvement: Compatibility with WordPress 4.5

WP Migrate 0.7.2 – 2015-12-03

Improvement: “Migrate” button renamed to “Export”
Improvement: Uses WP_Filesystem instead of direct PHP filesystem functionality where possible
Improvement: Remove Find & Replace row icon is now a little dimmer to reduce UI clutter
Improvement: Compatibility with WordPress 4.4

WP Migrate 0.7.1 – 2015-07-09

Improvement: Added more diagnostic info to facilitate debugging
Improvement: Global JS variables moved to single global object to avoid conflicts
Bug Fix: WP Migrate DB and Pro can be activated at the same time when activating plugins in bulk or via WP-CLI
Bug Fix: BINARY data not exported properly
Bug Fix: BIT data not exported properly
Bug Fix: When post_max_size is set to 0 (unlimited), wpmdb_bottleneck is broken
Bug Fix: Saved Profiles link is broken in certain situations

WP Migrate 0.7 – 2015-06-12

New: WP-CLI export subcommand
New: Quick copy find textbox value to replace textbox by clicking arrow icon in between (hat tip Jonathan Perlman)
New: Added filters to hook into find & replace routine and deal with encoded data (example)
Improvement: Greatly reduced data passed through each HTTP request for better security and reliability
Improvement: Massive overhaul of input sanitization for better security
Improvement: Add _mig_ prefix to wpmdb_alter_statements table
Improvement: Cleanup wpmdb_alter_statements tables from failed migrations
Improvement: Show dimmed remove icons in find & replace rows to indicate they can be removed
Improvement: Dim remove icons next to saved profiles
Improvement: Better error message when empty response received from remote server
Improvement: Added diagnostic info to facilitate debugging and decrease time to resolution for support requests
Improvement: Warning notice when WP_HTTP_BLOCK_EXTERNAL constant is set to true
Improvement: Leave it to WordPress core to convert tables to utf8mb4
Improvement: Workaround to fix issues with Siteground’s staging environments
Bug fix: Connection URL with space(s) in beginning failing
Bug fix: Cancelling a gzipped Export does not remove file
Bug fix: Unusual table names causing regular expressions to fail
Bug fix: Preserving options not working when default subsite is not 1
Bug fix: NAN% shown at beginning of a migration
Bug fix: Migration progress bar is overflowing the scale, passing 100%
Bug fix: Custom post type links broken after migration with Compatibility Mode enabled
Bug fix: Saving a new profile does not change the URL to that saved profile URL

WP Migrate 0.6.1 – 2014-10-29

New: breadcrumb-style UI for saved profiles
New: Brazilian Portugese translation
Security: Added .htaccess to backup folder to help prevent direct downloads
Security: False values not included in signature
Improvement: Compatibility with TGM Plugin Activation
Improvement: Fixed hundreds of PHP Code Sniffer warnings
Improvement: Switch to update_site_option() and get_site_option()
Improvement: Cleaner and more instructive error message on JSON decoding failure
Improvement: New hooks to massage data before and after find & replace
Improvement: Common server security rules better accommodated
Improvement: Better compatibility with SSL on WP Engine
Improvement: Minify all the Javascripts
Improvement: Use PHP’s DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR instead of our own constant
Improvement: Updated tons of translation strings to be translator-friendly
Improvement: Find & replace field error messages could suggest removing the fields
Improvement: Download button for Diagnostic Info & Error Log
Bug fix: 404 errors after successful migrations due to caching
Bug fix: Multisite exports broken on PHP < 5.4.7
Bug fix: Using relative paths for file includes
Bug fix: Typing new profile name does not select “Create new profile” option
Bug fix: Find & replace field errors stick around even after removing fields
Bug fix: wpmdb_error_log option is auto loading
Bug fix: Inconsistent stripping of slashes
Bug fix: Spinner is inconsistent with WP 3.8+ spinner
Bug fix: Apostrophe in path not being handled
Bug fix: Inappropriate use of htmlentities()
Bug fix: The table tooltip still shows during the media files migration
Bug fix: Import/Export issues between MySQL 5.1 and 5.5+
Bug fix: Notice error on Updates dashboard page
Bug fix: Signature verification error when local and remote plugins are different versions
Bug fix: Find & replace handle icon is rendering poorly
Bug fix: PHP Notice: Undefined variable: safe_mode
Bug fix: Fatal error: Cannot use object of type WP_Error as array in verify_download()

WP Migrate 0.6 – 2014-08-19

New: Updated the migration UI to include a detailed progress bar, time elapsed, pause and cancel buttons and more!
New: Option to exclude transients (temporary cached data)
New: Migration profiles
New: Setting to configure the maximum request size (how much data is exported in a given HTTP request)
Improvement: Unlimited find & replace fields with drag & drop reordering

WP Migrate 0.5 – 2013-07-26

Language support! Thanks to an awesome pull request from Rafael Funchal.
New Language: Brazilian Portugese
Added filter for the filename of the exported file
Bug fix: Spam commentmeta included when “Do not export spam comments” checked
Bug fix: Fatal error method error does not exist
Bug fix: Table names with dashes not exporting
Bug fix: Find & replace is case-sensitive but shouldn’t

WP Migrate 0.4.4 – 2013-05-19

Pro version has arrived! Added some info to the sidebar.
Updated required version to WordPress 3.0+
Bug fix: Does not handle serialized objects
Bug fix: Admin menu disappears when DISALLOW_FILE_MODS is true
Bug fix: Duplicate records on export
Bug fix: Updated spinner image for HiDPI displays

WP Migrate 0.4.3 – 2012-12-18

Fixed deprecated error notices when debug mode is on
Bug fix: Exports views as tables
Compatibility tested with WordPress 3.5

WP Migrate 0.4.2 – 2012-09-13

Moved screenshots to /assets folder and updated them to support retina
Added sidebar including author profile and survey to gauge interest for a pro version