Moving off a website builder
Move off a website builder without anything going dark
You're paying a website builder every month for a site that's slow, looks like everyone else's, and isn't really yours. Moving feels risky because your email and your Google ranking are tangled up in it. Here's how the move goes and what it costs.
from $500setup & standup, then $50 a page
launch date set before you pay
Priced like a new site the size of yours, with the move itself included. Hosting, your domain, and your email stay separate — and on a move there's usually an existing one of each to untangle, which you'll see priced before we touch anything.
How the move goes
- 01
We rebuild it while the old one stays up
Website builders generally won't hand your site over as files you can take somewhere else. So your words and photos come over, the site is rebuilt to load fast, and your old site stays live the whole time.
- 02
Every old address points at its new page
The pages Google already knows about, and the links people have saved, forward to the matching new pages. That's how you keep what you've built up on Google. Nobody honest can promise you rankings, but there's no reason to throw away the ones you've got.
- 03
Your domain moves without breaking your email
If the builder also holds your domain, it can stay where it is and point at the new site, or move to an account in your name. Either way your email settings come along, so mail keeps arriving.
- 04
Then, and only then, you cancel the old plan
Once the new site is live and you've looked it over, the builder's website plan gets cancelled. Not a day before. If your domain or your email stays with the builder, those keep running on their own.
Built your own with an AI tool and it's stuck? That has its own section on the homepage. See those prices →
What the price covers
- Your words and photos brought over, rebuilt to load fast
- Your domain pointed at the new site, without breaking your email
- Old page addresses pointed at the new ones, so Google keeps finding you
- A contact form that actually reaches you, tested before launch
- Hosting, domain, and logins in your name, not the tool's
- The old site stays up until the new one is live, so nothing goes dark
- The builder subscription cancelled once you're switched over
Priced like a new site the size of your current one: $500 for setup & standup and $50 for each core page, with the move itself included, and the launch date in the estimate before you pay. More than 12 pages, or running a store or a blog? That gets its own quote. If your email also comes from the builder or your domain company, it keeps working where it is; moving the email itself is quoted separately. If the builder also holds your domain, moving it into your name is the $100 domain transfer (the new registrar usually also charges a year's renewal, paid by you), or you can do it yourself with our instructions. Transfers take about a week, and a domain can't be transferred for 60 days after it's registered or moved.
Straight answers
Is it cheaper than my website builder?
Month to month, maybe not by much. Hosting a site we build runs ~$20–30 / month, which is in the same neighborhood as a typical builder plan. Nobody should move just to save a few dollars a month. You move for a site that loads fast, doesn't look like everyone else's, and is yours: the code, the domain, and the hosting account, in your name, so you can take it anywhere.
Can I still edit it myself, like I do now?
Not with a drag-and-drop editor. Most owners change something a few times a year, and for that there's the change form: ask, get a price, approve. If you change the same few things all the time, like your hours, holiday closures, or a banner, the "Edit it yourself" pieces let you change those from your phone, from $50 each.
Why not just make my own site with an AI builder?
You might be able to. If you're comfortable with it and you have the afternoon, try one. Where people get stuck is everything around the page: the domain, email that keeps working, a contact form that actually reaches you, Google knowing you exist, and someone to call when it breaks. That's the part we do. If you've already built something and it's stuck, send us the link. We'll tell you what it needs, or that it's fine as it is.
How long does it take?
It depends mostly on how soon we have your text, photos, and access to your domain. Work is booked in the order it comes in, and the estimate gives you the start and launch dates before you pay anything. Moving off a website builder works the same way, sized by your current site. A domain transfer takes about a week on its own. Add-ons and diagnostics typically take up to 3 business days.
Who owns everything when we're done?
You do: the code, the domain, and the analytics, in your name. The hosting account is yours too, unless you pick managed hosting; then it sits in our account until you ask for it, and we move everything into your name. If you ever want to move to someone else, you take the whole thing with you and nothing breaks.
Can I get email at my own domain, like don@mybusiness.com?
Yes, and it's the thing people forget to budget for. Three ways to do it. Keep what you've got, including a free personal address, and change nothing — no charge. Or forward you@yourbusiness.com into the inbox you already check, with replies going out from the business address: $100 once to set up, and the forwarding itself is free, which is what we'd suggest for most one- and two-person shops. Or a real mailbox with an email provider: $100 once to set up, then their monthly rate per mailbox, billed by them, usually free to a few dollars a mailbox depending on the provider. We'll help you pick the one that fits how you work.
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About two minutes. Free, no obligation, and a real number back, typically within one business day.