How to Migrate Hosting From Flywheel to Bluehost 

Key highlights 

• You can transfer a WordPress site from Flywheel to Bluehost in 20-30 minutes using Bluehost’s free self-service migration tool, with no technical experience required. 

• Flywheel’s entry plan starts at $25/mo for a single site and caps monthly visits at 25,000, with overage charges beyond that limit. Bluehost’s Starter plan starts at $3.99/mo and covers up to 10 websites, with a visit threshold of 40,000 per month. 

• Flywheel does not offer email hosting on any plan. Bluehost includes a free Pro Email trial with every WordPress Hosting plan. 

• Before you start, back up your Flywheel site, note where your domain is registered and confirm your email setup since Flywheel does not manage email. 

• Your Flywheel site stays live throughout the transfer and switches to Bluehost only when you update your nameservers. 

Flywheel is a well-built managed WordPress host. The performance infrastructure is solid, the workflow tools are genuinely useful for agencies and freelancers, and the platform knows its audience well. For a developer managing multiple client sites, Flywheel makes sense. 

The friction shows up when you’re running your own business site rather than managing client work.  

You’re paying a premium managed hosting price for a single site, absorbing visit caps that trigger overage charges as your traffic grows, managing email and domain through completely separate providers. This is because Flywheel doesn’t offer either and phone support is available only if you’re on the Agency tier. 

Bluehost is built for exactly that gap: WordPress-optimized performance, email and domain management in one place and room to run up to 10 sites at a fraction of Flywheel’s entry price.  

This guide covers the complete migration from Flywheel to Bluehost: what to prepare, which method fits your setup and how to verify everything before the final cutover. 

Ready to make the move? Start with Bluehost WordPress Hosting today. 

Why migrate from Flywheel to Bluehost? 

Flywheel targets agencies and freelancers managing client portfolios. Its pricing, feature set and workflow tools reflect that audience. For a business owner running their own WordPress site, that specialization becomes a mismatch. 

Feature	Flywheel	Bluehost
WordPress.org recommended	No	Yes, since 2005
Email hosting	Not offered on any plan	Pro Email free trial included; paid email available
Domain registration	Not available	Free first year with all plans
Sites on entry plan	1	10
Free SSL	Included	Included on every plan
Entry plan pricing	$25/mo (billed annually)	$3.99/mo (36-month term), renews at $9.99/mo
Money-back guarantee	60 days	30 days

Here is where Flywheel users most commonly hit the ceiling: 

• No email hosting on any plan: Flywheel does not offer email accounts. If you run a business site, your email lives entirely outside Flywheel, managed through a separate provider with separate billing and separate DNS records to maintain. Bluehost includes a Pro Email free trial with every WordPress Hosting plan, with paid email management available directly through your account, so hosting and email live in the same place. 

• Visit caps and overage charges: Flywheel’s entry plan allows 25,000 monthly visits. Exceed that and you pay overages on top of your plan cost. Bluehost’s Starter plan is designed for up to 40,000 monthly visits at $3.99/mo — a higher threshold at a significantly lower price point. 

• A single site at a premium price: Flywheel’s entry plan covers one site at $25/mo, billed annually. An additional site costs $20/month on top. Bluehost’s Starter plan covers up to 10 websites at $3.99/mo. 

• Phone support requires the highest tier: Flywheel’s entry and mid-tier plans include chat support only. Phone support is available exclusively on the Agency plan at $242/mo. Bluehost includes 24/7 chat support on every plan, with phone support available on Business and above, and an average response time under 2 minutes. 

• WordPress.org recommendation: Flywheel is not WordPress.org recommended. Bluehost has been since 2005 — a trust signal that matters when evaluating long-term platform reliability for WordPress. 

Note: Pricing referenced in this article is as of May 2026. For the latest pricing, visit the official website. 

How to prepare before migrating from Flywheel to Bluehost 

Flywheel’s architecture is different from a standard shared host, and a few of these items are specific to how Flywheel manages sites. Run through each one before you start. 

• Back up your Flywheel site: Flywheel includes nightly backups on all plans and provides SFTP access for file retrieval. Before migrating, download a full local backup of your site files and database. Do not rely solely on Flywheel’s backup copies during a migration window. 

• Confirm where your domain is registered: Flywheel does not register domains, so your domain is held at a third-party registrar. Log in to your registrar account, confirm the domain is unlocked and locate the nameserver settings. You’ll update these to point to Bluehost after migration. 

• Sort out your email before you touch DNS: Since Flywheel does not host email, your business email is already running through a separate provider. Before updating nameservers, confirm that your MX records are correctly pointed at your mail provider so email delivery is unaffected by the DNS change. 

• Check your Flywheel billing cycle: Note your next billing date and confirm whether your plan renews monthly or annually. Cancel after your Bluehost migration is confirmed and DNS has fully propagated — not before — to avoid any gap if you need to retrieve something from the Flywheel environment. 

• Set up your Bluehost account: You need an active Bluehost WordPress Hosting account before the transfer begins. Purchase your plan and return to this guide once your account is ready. 

With these five items cleared, you have everything needed to move in one direction without retrieving anything from Flywheel mid-process. 

How to migrate hosting from Flywheel to Bluehost: step by step 

Flywheel gives you SFTP and SSH access on every plan, which means both migration paths are viable. For most single-site business owners, the Bluehost Site Migration Tool is the faster route. The manual path is there for sites with custom configurations or staging setups that need direct file handling. 

Method 1: Migration using the Bluehost Site Migration Tool (recommended) 

Bluehost’s free self-service migration tool, powered by InstaWP, pulls your WordPress files, database and content directly from your Flywheel site in a guided workflow. You authorize it with your WordPress admin credentials — not your Flywheel dashboard login — and the tool handles the rest without touching your live site. 

Step 1: Log in to your Bluehost portal: Go to bluehost.com and sign in to your account. 

Step 2: Add your website: In the left-hand menu, click “Websites,” then click “Add Website.” 

Step 3: Select Transfer WordPress Website: On the Add Website screen, click “Transfer WordPress Website” to begin the migration workflow. 

Step 4: Wait for account preparation: Bluehost prepares your account to receive the transfer. This takes a few seconds. Do not close or refresh the page during this step. 

Step 5: Click Start Transfer: Once your account is ready, click “Start Transfer” to continue. 

Step 6: Connect your Flywheel site: Enter the full URL of your current WordPress site on Flywheel (for example: https://[yoursite].com). Click “Connect.” 

Step 7: Proceed to login: Click “Yes, Continue to Login.” You will be redirected to the WordPress admin login screen for your Flywheel site. 

Step 8: Log in with your WordPress credentials: Enter your WordPress username and password, not your Flywheel account credentials. Click “Log In.” 

Pro tip: If you have forgotten your WordPress login, use the “Lost your password?” link on the login screen before starting. Without a successful WordPress admin login, the tool cannot access your site’s files or database. 

Step 9: Authorize the connection: Click “Yes, I approve this connection.” This gives Bluehost permission to access your site’s files and database. 

Step 10: Wait for the transfer to complete: The status moves from Connecting to Connected as Bluehost copies your files and database. A confirmation email is sent when the migration is complete. 

Step 11: Verify your migrated site: Click “Go to site” in the confirmation email and review your site on Bluehost’s servers. Confirm pages, images, links and any store or form functionality before updating your DNS. 

If the tool returns an error at any point, do not attempt a manual migration without speaking to Bluehost support first. Flywheel’s server environment has specific configurations, and the support team can identify whether the issue is resolvable through the tool or genuinely requires a manual path. 

Method 2: Manual migration from Flywheel to Bluehost 

Flywheel is better set up for manual migration than most shared hosts. Every plan includes All-in-One SFTP, SSH Gateway and site cloning tools, which means you have direct file access without needing to go through cPanel.  

Use this method if your Flywheel site has a staging setup, a multisite configuration or if the migration tool returns an unresolvable error after speaking with Bluehost support. 

For a full technical reference, see the Bluehost WordPress manual migration guide. 

Phase 1: Export from Flywheel 

Step 1: Download your WordPress files: Log in to your Flywheel dashboard and retrieve your SFTP credentials from the site’s settings. Connect via your SFTP client, navigate to the site root and download all WordPress files to your local machine. Flywheel’s All-in-One SFTP gives you full file system access without needing a separate cPanel login. 

Step 2: Export your WordPress database: In your Flywheel dashboard, locate the database credentials for your site. Connect via phpMyAdmin or your preferred database tool, select your WordPress database, click “Export,” choose Quick in SQL format and download the .sql file. 

Phase 2: Set up on Bluehost 

Step 3: Create a new database: In your Bluehost portal, navigate to MySQL Databases. Create a new database, create a database user, assign the user to the database with all privileges and record the database name, username and password. 

Step 4: Import your database: In Bluehost phpMyAdmin, select your new database, click “Import,” upload the .sql file and run the import. Confirm it completes without errors before moving on. 

Step 5: Upload your WordPress files: In Bluehost cPanel File Manager, navigate to public_html. Upload your files and confirm that wp-admin, wp-content and wp-includes are visible at the root level. 

Step 6: Update wp-config.php: Locate wp-config.php in public_html and update these lines with your Bluehost database credentials: 

define('DB_NAME', 'your_bluehost_db_name'); 
define('DB_USER', 'your_bluehost_db_user'); 
define('DB_PASSWORD', 'your_bluehost_db_password'); 
define('DB_HOST', 'localhost'); 

Step 7: Fix your permalinks: Log in to WordPress admin on Bluehost. Go to “Settings > Permalinks” and click “Save Changes” without editing anything. This regenerates the .htaccess file and resolves broken URL structures common after a manual migration. 

Step 8: Preview the migrated site: Use a temporary URL or edit your local hosts file to preview the site on Bluehost before updating DNS. Confirm all pages, images, forms and store functionality are working correctly. 

Bluehost Site Migration Tool vs. manual migration: which should you use? 

Comparison criteria	Bluehost Site Migration Tool	Manual migration
Technical skill needed	None; guided UI	Intermediate; SFTP and phpMyAdmin access required
Time to complete	20-30 minutes	1-2 hours
What it transfers	Files, database, content	Files, database (separate steps)
Best for	Most WordPress sites on any host	Custom configs, staging setups, large databases
Risk level	Low; automated with support fallback	Medium; more room for error at each step
Cost	Free	Free

Flywheel’s SFTP and SSH access make the manual path more accessible than on some hosts, but for a straightforward single-site migration the automated tool is faster and carries less risk of configuration errors between environments. 

Final steps after the migration 

Your site is now on Bluehost’s servers. Two steps remain before it goes live on your domain. 

1. Point your domain to Bluehost 

Since Flywheel does not register domains, your domain is already at a third-party registrar. Log in to your registrar account and update the nameservers to: 

• NS1.BLUEHOST.COM 

• NS2.BLUEHOST.COM 

Save your changes. DNS propagation typically takes 24-48 hours. During that window, some visitors may reach your Flywheel site and others your Bluehost site — both should remain live and identical until propagation is complete. 

One thing specific to Flywheel migrations: if your Flywheel site used a custom temporary domain during development, confirm that your production domain’s DNS records are the ones being updated, not the Flywheel temporary URL. 

If you plan to transfer your domain to Bluehost for consolidated management, do so after DNS has fully propagated and the migration is confirmed, not during the transition window. 

2. Test the migrated site 

Before canceling your Flywheel account, work through this checklist: 

Front-end checks: 

• Homepage loads correctly 

• Internal links and images display as expected 

• SSL certificate is active (padlock visible in browser) 

Functionality checks: 

• Contact forms submit successfully 

• WooCommerce checkout processes correctly (if applicable) 

• Email delivery is functioning from the domain — verify MX records are still pointing to your mail provider, not Bluehost nameservers, if you use a third-party email service 

• Any third-party integrations (CRM, analytics, booking tools) are connected and working 

Performance checks: 

• Site speed is consistent with or better than Flywheel 

• No broken plugin or theme errors appear in wp-admin 

If anything fails, reach out to Bluehost’s 24/7 support team. Hold off on closing your Flywheel account until every item on this checklist passes. 

Final thoughts 

Flywheel is a capable platform for the audience it’s built for. If you’re a freelancer or agency managing a client portfolio, its workflow tools earn their cost. If you’re a business owner running your own WordPress site, you’re paying a premium managed hosting price for infrastructure tuned to a different use case, absorbing visit caps and overages as you grow, and managing email and domain through entirely separate providers. 

Bluehost brings WordPress-native infrastructure, a 99.99% uptime SLA, 24/7 chat support on every plan, email and domain management in one place.  

For a business site ready to consolidate and grow, that is the practical next step. 

Start your migration today, risk-free. Every Bluehost WordPress Hosting plan is backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee. If anything doesn’t meet your expectations, you’re covered. 

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