Website builder subscription or your own hosting: who owns the site, and how to leave

With a builder where the site lives on the platform, you use the site; with hosting of your own, you have the site. While you are paying, the difference is barely noticeable. It shows on the day you want to change supplier, stop paying, or take the site somewhere else: that is when you see what is really yours.

The five things to check

Question to ask Why it matters
Who holds the domain? If the domain was registered inside the builder’s account, or in someone else’s name, it can be hard to take with you. Confirm that you are the holder. See who owns the domain.
What can I export? Look in the platform’s help for an export function. Text and images are usually easier to carry than the design. Ask before you invest months of work.
What happens if I stop paying? With many services the site goes offline when the subscription ends. With hosting of your own, the site and its files stay in the account as long as the service is active.
Where is my e-mail? If the e-mail of your domain depends on the builder, changing platform may affect it. See e-mail in one place and the site in another.
Can I install whatever I want? On a builder, only what it offers. On hosting of your own, whatever the server supports. See which technologies run here.

If you have decided to leave: the order that works

1 Do not cancel anything yet. The old site has to stay online until the new one is ready and tested. Cancelling first is the most common way to end up without a site for days.
2 Save the content. Download everything the platform lets you export (text, images, products, posts). Copy by hand what cannot be exported, and screenshot the important pages for reference.
3 Rebuild at the destination. In WordPress, or in the Sitejet Builder that comes with cPanel. See getting started with Sitejet Builder and WordPress or a builder.
4 Test before you change the domain. You can see the new site without touching DNS. See testing a migrated site before changing the DNS.
5 Switch the domain in one go. Point it at the new hosting, leaving the e-mail where it is if it is not coming with you, and only then cancel the old service. If the page addresses change, add redirects. See 301 redirects.
Page addresses almost never stay the same. Every platform builds its own. If the new site has different addresses and there are no redirects, anyone following an old link or a Google result lands on an error page.
Keep a copy of your own from the start. Even if the builder makes backups, keep the original texts and images in a folder of yours. On a site in your own hosting, also back up the files and the database. See making and keeping your own backup.

Want to take your site from a builder to hosting of your own? Tell us where it is and what you have.

Open a support ticket

SEE ALSO

WordPress or a drag-and-drop website builder

Testing a migrated site before you change the DNS

Registry, registrar and registrant: who owns the domain?

Hosting migration

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