Migrate from cPanel or Plesk to RespireCloud
Move your accounts, sites, databases, mail and DNS yourself for free, or let us do it. Every move starts with a preview and ends with a way back, and we tell you plainly what moves and what you redo.
Four ways to move
-
Self-serve import
Free in every edition
You move your own accounts from a cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin, HestiaCP or FastPanel backup.
- The import wizard, a preview of every change and a full rollback
- Community help, or email help in a paid edition
Not included. The checking, the DNS switch and any fixing are yours.
-
Assisted import
$15 per account
A few accounts, and you want a person to run the import and check it.
- We run the import, read the report and fix what the report flags
- Up to 10 mailboxes and 10 GB per account
- A checklist of what to redo, and a message when it is done
Not included. Larger accounts are quoted. Changes to your own website code.
-
Managed server move
from $490 per server
A whole server, planned with you and moved with a way back.
- Up to 25 accounts or 50 sites; above that we quote
- Audit of the old server, the plan, the import, the final sync and the DNS switch
- 3 months of the paid edition free when you move off cPanel or Plesk
Not included. Custom code fixes and PHP upgrades. Parts we cannot import, such as Redis, Docker or a CDN setup, are listed and quoted.
-
Hourly help
$60 per hour
Something odd: one application, a mail problem, a move that stopped halfway.
- A person on your case, with the hours counted and sent to you
Not included. Anything we cannot see on your server.
Prices are in US dollars and fixed in writing before we start. Above the limits shown we quote.
Every paid package includes
- A free 30-minute call first, and a written scope with the price before we start
- A preview of the import before anything is created, and a rollback if you do not like it
- A report of what moved, what changed and what was skipped, with the reason
- Your old server left untouched, so the way back is always open
And leaves out
- Fixing problems that already exist on the old server
- Rewriting website code or upgrading applications
- Domain registrar transfers
- A promise that nothing will break: we say what we found and check each site, mailbox and database before the switch
How a migration runs, in eight steps
- 1
Free call
Thirty minutes about what you run, how big it is and when you want to switch.
- 2
Audit
We list the accounts, sites, databases, mailboxes, cron jobs and DNS on the old server.
- 3
Plan and price
You get the scope in writing, with what moves, what you redo and the fixed price.
- 4
Prepare
Backups of the old server, RespireCloud installed on the new one, and DNS time-to-live lowered ahead of the switch.
- 5
Import with a preview
The import runs first as a preview. You see every account, site, database and mailbox it would create.
- 6
Check
Each site answers on the new server, each mailbox accepts mail, each database has its data. The old server still serves your visitors.
- 7
Switch
A last sync of files and mail, then the DNS change. Paused cron jobs are turned on only now, so nothing runs twice.
- 8
Watch and hand over
We watch for a few days, fix what turns up, and keep the old server running for a week or more before you retire it.
What moves
- Accounts, domains, subdomains and site files
- MySQL and MariaDB databases with their data, and the users that own them
- Mailboxes, forwarders and catch-all addresses; the stored mail comes from cPanel backups
- DNS zones, and SSL certificates from cPanel and Plesk backups
- The PHP version, where the backup records it
What you redo
- Mailbox passwords carry over from cPanel, DirectAdmin, HestiaCP and FastPanel backups. They also carry over from a live copy of a cPanel server. A live copy of a DirectAdmin server usually needs new passwords, and Plesk's own encrypted passwords do not carry over.
- Database users get new passwords; your applications' settings need the new ones.
- Cron jobs come in paused, so the old and the new server never run the same job. They are turned on after the DNS switch, and PHP paths are rewritten to the panel's PHP.
- PostgreSQL databases, FTP accounts and Apache .htaccess rules are not carried over, because sites are served by nginx.
- Plesk mail data, and certificates copied live from a running cPanel, Plesk or DirectAdmin server, need a backup instead.
- DirectAdmin, HestiaCP and FastPanel backups are tested on sample files only, so we check them by hand.
The full list is in the migrations feature page and the cPanel guide. Anything a backup does not hold is shown in the report as skipped, with the reason.
Questions
- Can I move my server without paying anyone?
- Yes. The import wizard is free in every edition, with a preview and a full rollback. The paid packages are for people who want someone else to do the work and the checking.
- Do my websites go offline during the move?
- No. Your old server keeps serving until the DNS switch, and the switch is a DNS change followed by a last sync of files and mail.
- What if something goes wrong?
- Nothing on the old server is changed, so you can point DNS back. On the new server the import can be rolled back as one piece.
- Which panels can you move from?
- cPanel and Plesk are the ones we have tested the most. DirectAdmin, HestiaCP, FastPanel and plain Linux servers also work, with more checking by hand.
- Do I need a paid edition?
- Not for the move. The Free edition holds 1 account, 3 sites and 5 mailboxes on one server, so a larger server needs a paid edition. The self-serve import on Free brings in 1 account and stops at that limit. Managed moves off cPanel or Plesk get 3 months of a paid edition free.
Tell us what you run.
Thirty minutes, free. We say what the move involves and what it costs, and you decide.