Managed WordPress hosting for sites leaving IONOS.
IONOS runs its own control panel, configures PHP in a way no other host does, and sells a site builder that looks like WordPress in the invoice and is not WordPress on disk.
What IONOS does differently to everyone else.
None of this is wrong. It is just unlike the conventions every migration tool assumes.
PHP configured per directory
IONOS lets each directory run its own PHP version and settings, applied through files in the webspace rather than one account-wide setting. Those files mean nothing here and are removed.
A panel that is not cPanel
There is no cPanel archive to restore from. The export is taken over SFTP and from the database directly, which is a different path with different gaps.
MyWebsite is not WordPress
IONOS sells a builder alongside WordPress hosting. A MyWebsite site has no WordPress to migrate at all, and that has to be established before anything else is planned.
Databases with their own hostnames
Database credentials use IONOS-specific hostnames rather than localhost, so a copied wp-config.php points at a server that will not answer from anywhere else.
Domains and mail on the same contract
IONOS bundles domains and mailboxes with hosting. Moving the site does not move either, and the contract is what holds them.
Find the per-directory settings before they surprise you.
The characteristic IONOS problem is a site that works on their platform and behaves differently here, because PHP was configured somewhere nobody thought to look.
- Directory-level PHP files located and removed
- Product confirmed as WordPress, not MyWebsite
- Database hostname replaced
- Domain and mail contracts left intact
One PHP configuration, not several.
Directory-level settings make behaviour hard to predict and harder to debug. Here the stack is configured once and applies everywhere.
What we change when a site arrives from IONOS
Most of it is undoing conventions specific to their platform.
| Setting | What we do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Per-directory PHP files | Located in the webspace and removed after their settings are carried over | IONOS applies PHP version and limits per directory through files that live with the site, so they travel with a copy and then silently do nothing. |
| Export path | SFTP plus a direct database dump rather than a panel archive | Their control panel is not cPanel and produces no restorable archive, so the migration cannot start from the file every other shared host hands over. |
| Database host | IONOS hostname replaced with the new site's own | Their databases are addressed by a provider-specific hostname rather than localhost, so a copied wp-config.php points at a server unreachable from anywhere else. |
| Product check | WordPress confirmed before a migration is scoped at all | IONOS sells MyWebsite alongside WordPress hosting, and a builder site has no WordPress install to move — it needs rebuilding, which is a different job entirely. |
| Contract items | Domains and mailboxes identified and left on the IONOS contract | They are bundled with the hosting rather than bought separately, so cancelling the contract after the move is what takes the email down. |
Simple, transparent pricing.
Every plan includes free migration, daily backups, SSL and 24/7 support.
- 1 WordPress site
- 10 GB NVMe disk
- Free SSL
- Daily backups
- One-click deployment
- Support tickets
- 5 WordPress sites
- 50 GB NVMe disk
- Free SSL
- Daily backups
- One-click deployment
- Priority support tickets
- 20 WordPress sites
- 200 GB NVMe disk
- Free SSL
- Daily backups
- One-click deployment
- Dedicated support
Questions, answered.
IONOS has no cPanel. How do you export my site?
Why does my site behave differently after copying it elsewhere?
I have MyWebsite, not WordPress. Can you migrate it?
What happens to my IONOS email?
Do I need to change my database settings?
Leave the per-directory settings behind.
Free migration, one predictable PHP configuration, and the contract left intact until you close it.