WordPress migration cost 2026 — what leaving WP actually costs.

Time estimate: 20–80 hours

What you get: Whatever you can build yourself in HTML/CSS or in a free builder

Gotcha: Your time isn't free. At $50/hr blended your '$0 migration' costs $1,000–4,000 in effective labour. If you're already overloaded, this option doesn't exist.

Who it's for: Solo founders with HTML literacy, weekend time, and patience to learn

Time estimate: 2–8 hours (most automated)

What you get: Automated content + media transfer from WP to a target platform (Webflow, Ghost, Squarespace, Shopify). Multi-vendor tools like CMS2CMS, FG Drupal-to-WP, Drupal2WP.

Gotcha: Tools handle posts + pages + media well. They handle theme + custom plugins + form configs + redirects badly. Plan another 4–12 hours of cleanup after the automated step.

Who it's for: Bigger content estates (50+ posts) moving to another hosted platform; teams that need to preserve URLs + SEO permalinks

Time estimate: 3–8 weeks

What you get: Full hand-built rebuild on whatever target platform you specify (Webflow, custom Next.js, Shopify, etc.), with content migration + SEO redirects + QA

Gotcha: Hidden costs: hosting (separate), CMS license (often), ongoing retainer for changes ($300-1,200/mo). $2,500 quotes are usually for the smallest-possible scope; realistic mid-market quotes land at $6,000-10,000.

Who it's for: Funded companies, e-commerce sites, complex multi-region multi-language WP installs where DIY + automated tools genuinely won't work

Q1: Do you have 50+ blog posts or a real WooCommerce store?

If yes → skip NorthLuma + DIY; you're in migration-tool or agency territory. If no → continue to Q2.

Q2: Are you willing to re-paste your existing copy into a freshly-generated site?

If yes → NorthLuma $49 once is the cheapest honest answer. Cleanest exit, lowest total cost, you own the source forever. If no → continue to Q3.

Q3: Do you have HTML literacy and 20-80 hours over the next month?

If yes → DIY ($0-50). If no → migration platform tool ($99-499) for moderate content estates, agency ($2,500-12,000) for complex installs or any WooCommerce-with-real-orders site.

Is it cheaper to fix my WordPress site or to migrate off it?

Depends on what's broken. If it's a single plugin conflict or a hosting move, fix in place — $0 to $300 in developer time. If you're hitting recurring weekly plugin-update conflicts, paying for managed WP hosting + premium theme + premium plugins exceeding $400/year, and dreading every PHP version bump, migration off is cheaper over 24 months at almost any of the price points in this article.

Will I lose my SEO rankings if I migrate off WordPress?

Only if you change the URL structure without setting up 301 redirects. WordPress's permalink scheme (/year/month/slug or /category/slug) is preservable on any modern platform — Next.js, Astro, Webflow all support arbitrary path patterns. The agency option in our table includes redirect mapping; the AI-rebuild + DIY options require you to set up the redirects yourself (5-20 min for most small sites; a redirects.txt or vercel.json entry per old URL).

Can NorthLuma import my existing WordPress posts and images?

Today, no — we're a fresh-generation tool, not a WP-import tool. You'd re-paste your existing copy into the generated site after download (typically 30 min for a 5-page brochure site, 2-3 hours for a 30-post blog). If you have a large content estate (50+ posts), the migration-platform-tool path is better suited; we're the right answer for the SMB brochure case where the WordPress install became more maintenance than value.

What about my custom WordPress plugins / WooCommerce store?

Custom plugins don't migrate — they have to be rebuilt on whatever target platform you pick. WooCommerce migrations to Shopify are the most-traveled path; expect $1,500-5,000 in migration costs for a small store, more for a real catalog. NorthLuma is not the right target for WooCommerce; Shopify Basic ($32/mo) is. We're the right target if you don't currently have a real store and want a brochure site with maybe a contact form and a pricing page.

What does WordPress cost over 5 years if I stay?

Managed hosting (Kinsta / WP Engine / Pressable) is $25-60/month = $1,500-3,600 over 5 years. Premium theme bundles (Avada / Divi / Astra Pro) are $99-299 one-time or $69-249/year recurring. Premium plugins (e.g. WP Rocket cache + Yoast SEO Premium + Gravity Forms) typically run $200-600/year combined. Total 5-year cost for a small business on managed-WP + premium ingredients: $2,500-6,000, plus the maintenance hours (15-40 hours/year handling updates + breakage). NorthLuma's $49 once + free Vercel hosting for 5 years totals $49.

Why are agency WordPress migrations so expensive?

Three reasons. (1) WordPress's plugin ecosystem creates per-site complexity — your agency has to inventory which plugins you actually need, find target-platform equivalents, and rebuild config by hand. (2) Migrations are time-bounded but unforgiving — a missed redirect kills SEO for months. (3) Most agencies bundle a redesign with the migration because clients almost always want both. The $2,500 floor reflects ~25 hours at $100/hr for the smallest possible scope; realistic mid-market scopes consume 60-120 hours.

Should I migrate from WordPress to Webflow, NorthLuma, or rebuild on Next.js?

Webflow if you want a hosted visual-edit tool with built-in CMS, willing to pay $19-29/month recurring. NorthLuma if you want a one-time fee, a static export you own, and you're fine with re-pasting your copy. Next.js (DIY or agency-built) if you have engineering capacity in-house and want maximum customisation. Three different answers for three different starting points; none is universally right.