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On February 28, 2025, the ForthFocus team requested a free managed migration of UdupiTimes.com from AWS EC2 and Cloudflare to WordPress.com.
The migration was completed on March 1, 2025.
The existing WordPress website, including its database, theme, plugins, users, comments, media, SEO metadata, and permalinks, was moved to the WordPress.com Business plan without visible downtime.
Since the migration, UdupiTimes.com has experienced:
- Zero server crashes
- Predictable hosting costs
- Practically no infrastructure maintenance
- No disruption to its established editorial workflow
This is our first-hand account of the AWS EC2 to WordPress.com migration, including why we recommended the move, how it was carried out, what worked well, and the one issue that required manual attention.
Migration Summary
| Area | Before Migration | After Migration |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Self-managed WordPress on AWS EC2 | WordPress.com Business |
| CDN and security | Cloudflare | WordPress.com managed platform features |
| Server stack | Nginx on AWS EC2 | Managed by WordPress.com |
| Database | On the same EC2 instance | Managed by WordPress.com |
| Backups | UpdraftPlus with Google Drive | WordPress.com managed backups |
| Monthly hosting cost | Variable, reaching about ₹50,000 or $500 in busy months | Effective $25 per month with annual billing |
| Traffic-spike crashes | Occurred during sudden spikes | Zero since migration |
| Infrastructure maintenance | Fully handled by ForthFocus | Practically eliminated |
| Migration downtime | Not applicable | Zero visible downtime |
About UdupiTimes.com
UdupiTimes.com is a Kannada digital news platform delivering news from Udupi, Kundapura, Mangaluru and across Coastal Karnataka. Its coverage includes regional and coastal developments, Karnataka news, national affairs, sports, cinema, finance, and lifestyle.
As a continuously updated digital publication, UdupiTimes.com depends on its website not only as a content archive, but as the primary channel through which readers access breaking news and daily updates.
The website currently holds approximately 32,000 published posts and has served millions of views and visitors over the years. This combination of a large content archive, regular publishing activity, and sudden traffic surges made infrastructure reliability especially important.
Its recorded traffic illustrates the scale of the platform:
| Period | Views | Visitors |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 11.2 million | 7.9 million |
| 2024 | 4.8 million | 2.8 million |
| 2025 | 3.1 million | 1.7 million |
| January 1 to June 19, 2026 | 824,000 | 503,200 |
These figures establish the size and operational requirements of the website. They should not be interpreted as evidence that the migration directly increased or decreased traffic.
The clearest outcomes were stability, predictable cost, and the removal of routine server-management work.
The Previous AWS EC2 Setup
The AWS environment had initially been configured by a freelancer and was later handed over to ForthFocus for ongoing management.
The website ran on AWS EC2 instances ranging from t3.medium to t3.2xlarge, depending on its infrastructure requirements at different points.
The setup included:
- An Nginx-based WordPress stack
- The WordPress database on the same EC2 instance
- Approximately 30 GB of storage
- UpdraftPlus backups stored in Google Drive
- Cloudflare Free and, toward the end, the $20 Cloudflare plan
Once the setup was handed over to ForthFocus, our team handled the complete infrastructure workload.
This included server monitoring, security, backups, WordPress and software updates, database checks, storage management, caching, performance optimisation, troubleshooting, uptime monitoring and EC2 instance scaling.
The setup could be managed, but it required continuous technical ownership.
Why the Existing Setup Needed to Change?
The biggest issue appeared during sudden traffic spikes.
As a news publication, UdupiTimes.com could experience sharp increases in traffic when an important local story is published. These spikes were difficult to predict.
The EC2 server could crash during such periods. Restoring or stabilising the website required immediate technical intervention at precisely the time the publication needed to remain available.
Cost predictability was another concern.
During some busy months, AWS charges reached approximately ₹50,000, or around $500. The cost changed depending on traffic, usage, instance size, and infrastructure requirements.
The publication therefore faced three connected challenges:
- Sudden traffic spikes could affect availability.
- Monthly infrastructure costs were unpredictable.
- The server environment required continuous technical management.
The client needed UdupiTimes.com to operate as a dependable publishing platform, not as an ongoing server-management project.
Why ForthFocus Recommended WordPress.com?
We recommended WordPress.com because the website needed a managed WordPress environment without losing its existing design, plugins, content, or publishing workflow.
This was not a move away from WordPress.
It was a move from self-managed WordPress infrastructure to a managed WordPress platform.
The WordPress.com Business plan provided the combination UdupiTimes.com required:
- Managed hosting and platform maintenance
- Real-time backups and restoration tools
- Security and performance infrastructure
- Staging and developer tools
- Support for the existing theme and plugins
- Predictable billing
ForthFocus is a WordPress.com Agency Partner and Woo Partner. Our experience with the platform gave us the confidence to recommend it for a publication of this scale.
The objective was not simply to reduce hosting costs. It was to improve stability, simplify operations, and remove the need to continuously manage the server layer.
How did the Free Managed Migration work?
Our team submitted the migration request on February 28, 2025.
The WordPress.com migration team did not initially ask us to share AWS, Cloudflare, or server credentials. We were asked to add moveto@wordpress.com as an administrator on the existing WordPress website.
Their team then handled the migration.
The migrated website included:
- WordPress files and database
- Posts, pages, and media
- Existing theme and plugins
- Users and authors
- Comments
- SEO metadata
- Permalinks
- Website settings
- Existing content structure
The result was an operational replica of the WordPress website that had been running on AWS.
How We Avoided Downtime?
The migrated website was first prepared on a temporary WordPress.com staging address.
Before changing the live domain, the ForthFocus team reviewed:
- Homepage and internal pages
- Posts and article formatting
- Media and featured images
- Theme compatibility
- Plugin behaviour
- Users, authors, and permissions
- Comments
- SEO metadata and permalinks
- Advertising and analytics scripts
- Search functionality
- Mobile responsiveness
Publishing was paused during the initial migration and again during the final staging-to-live transition. The total publishing pause remained under 24 hours.
Readers could continue accessing the existing AWS-hosted website during this period.
After the staging review was completed, the DNS was changed. Propagation took less than two hours, while the old website continued serving visitors during the transition.
There was no visible downtime.
What Worked Smoothly?
The migration preserved the existing website remarkably well.
The theme, plugins, posts, pages, users, comments, media, SEO metadata, permalinks and content structure were retained.
The WordPress.com version looked and operated like the website previously hosted on AWS. The major change was beneath the surface, where WordPress.com now handled the managed infrastructure.
This was important for the editorial team because they did not need to learn a new content management system.
Writers could continue creating posts. Editors could continue reviewing and publishing content. Existing categories, tags, users and permissions remained available.
From the client’s perspective, the infrastructure changed without disrupting the familiar publishing experience.
The One Issue That Required Manual Attention
The overall migration worked smoothly, but one item required a manual database review.
Some URLs stored by plugins or saved inside database fields continued referencing the temporary WordPress.com staging address.
For example:
domain.wpstaging.com
instead of:
domain.com
These references were not always immediately visible on the front end. They could remain inside plugin settings, media references, stored content, or generated URLs.
Our team used Better Search Replace, or an equivalent database search-and-replace process, to update the staging references before final sign-off.
This is an important migration lesson.
Even when a migrated website appears correct, stored URLs should be checked carefully. Plugins and custom configurations may save complete domain references directly in the database.
Why Cloudflare Was Removed?
UdupiTimes.com had previously used the Cloudflare Free plan and, toward the end of the AWS period, the $20 plan.
Cloudflare was removed after the migration.
For this website’s requirements, the hosting, CDN, caching, security, performance and Jetpack-related features available through WordPress.com covered the functions UdupiTimes.com had been using Cloudflare for.
This does not mean Cloudflare is unnecessary for every website.
It means that for this specific WordPress.com setup, retaining an additional Cloudflare layer was no longer necessary.
Removing it also simplified the architecture by reducing the number of platforms involved in hosting, caching, DNS, and security.
Cost Before and After the Migration
Before the migration, AWS costs varied based on traffic, instance size, and usage. During some busy months, the bill reached approximately ₹50,000, or around $500.
UdupiTimes.com moved to the WordPress.com Business plan at an effective cost of $25 per month with annual billing.
That cost has remained predictable since March 2025.
At the time of publication, public USD pricing for WordPress.com is:
| Plan | Monthly Billing | Annual Billing |
|---|---|---|
| Personal | $9 per month | $4 per month |
| Premium | $18 per month | $8 per month |
| Business | $40 per month | $25 per month |
| Commerce | $70 per month | $45 per month |
Regional pricing, taxes, and billing terms may vary. Readers should check the live pricing and final checkout amount before purchasing.
Results After More Than a Year
The strongest result is simple:
UdupiTimes.com has experienced zero server crashes since moving to WordPress.com.
The site has continued to serve substantial traffic. In the period from January 1 to June 19, 2026 alone, it recorded 824,000 views and 503,200 visitors.
The hosting cost has remained predictable at an effective $25 per month with annual billing.
Infrastructure maintenance has been practically eliminated. Since March 2025, the client has not contacted ForthFocus about EC2 crashes, instance scaling, storage, backups or infrastructure failures.
The editorial team has continued using the familiar WordPress publishing workflow, while WordPress.com handles the managed hosting platform.
Client Feedback
Moving UdupiTimes.com to WordPress.com has given us complete peace of mind. Since the migration, the website has remained stable, the monthly cost is predictable, and we have not had to worry about server crashes or infrastructure issues.
We are grateful to ForthFocus for identifying this option, explaining why it was suitable for UdupiTimes.com, and taking complete ownership of the migration from planning and staging to the final launch. Their initiative helped us move confidently, without downtime or disruption to our publishing workflow.
Looking back, this has been one of the best technology decisions we have made for UdupiTimes.com.
Mr. Umesh Marpalli
Editor-in-Chief, UdupiTimes.com
Four Practical Lessons from This Migration
1. Infrastructure cost is more than the hosting bill
Monitoring, security, backups, optimisation, troubleshooting, and technical availability all require time and expertise.
A managed platform can provide better overall value when these responsibilities are included.
2. WordPress.com is not limited to basic websites
UdupiTimes.com is a high-traffic publication with a large archive and approximately 32,000 posts today.
Its experience shows that WordPress.com Business can support serious publishing requirements when the plan and implementation are selected correctly.
3. A staging-first approach protects availability
Testing the migrated copy before changing DNS allowed the original website to remain available until the WordPress.com version had been reviewed and approved.
4. Stored staging URLs need a final review
Plugins and database fields may retain temporary staging addresses. Search-and-replace checks should form part of the final migration checklist.
Final Verdict
Moving UdupiTimes.com from AWS EC2 and Cloudflare to WordPress.com was not simply a hosting change.
It replaced an unpredictable and maintenance-heavy infrastructure setup with a managed WordPress platform that delivered:
- Zero visible migration downtime
- Zero server crashes after migration
- Predictable hosting costs
- The same theme, plugins, content, and editorial workflow
- Practically no ongoing infrastructure management
The free managed migration preserved the website while removing the technical burden that had been creating cost and stability concerns.
For UdupiTimes.com, moving to WordPress.com was the right decision.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a high-traffic WordPress news website run reliably on WordPress.com?
Yes. Based on our direct experience, WordPress.com can support a high-traffic publishing website when the appropriate plan, theme, plugins, and implementation approach are selected.
UdupiTimes.com has continued serving substantial traffic on the WordPress.com Business plan and has experienced zero server crashes since the migration in March 2025.
Can an existing WordPress website be moved without changing its design or editorial workflow?
Yes, depending on the website and the results of the migration assessment.
For UdupiTimes.com, the existing theme, plugins, posts, pages, media, users, comments, SEO metadata, permalinks, categories, and publishing workflow were retained.
The migrated website was effectively a working replica of the original AWS-hosted site.
How can a WordPress migration be completed without visible downtime?
A staging-first process is the safest approach.
The migrated website should first be prepared on a temporary address and thoroughly reviewed before changing the DNS.
During this migration, the original AWS website continued serving readers while the WordPress.com version was tested. Publishing was temporarily paused, but the website remained available.
What should be checked after moving from staging to the live domain?
The final review should cover:
- Pages and article formatting
- Featured images and media
- Plugin settings
- User roles and permissions
- SEO metadata and permalinks
- Advertising and analytics scripts
- Search functionality
- Forms and integrations
- Mobile responsiveness
- Database references to the staging domain
For UdupiTimes.com, some plugin and database fields still contained the temporary staging address. These references were corrected using a database search-and-replace process.
Does moving to WordPress.com remove the need for Cloudflare?
Not in every situation.
For UdupiTimes.com, WordPress.com’s integrated hosting, CDN, caching, security, performance and Jetpack-related capabilities covered the functions previously handled through Cloudflare.
Other websites may have different requirements, so the decision should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
Is WordPress.com suitable only for smaller websites?
No.
UdupiTimes.com is a high-traffic regional news publication with a large archive and approximately 32,000 posts today.
Its migration demonstrates that WordPress.com should not be viewed only as a basic blogging platform or entry-level website builder.
The correct plan and implementation remain important, but serious publishing and business websites can run successfully on WordPress.com.
Planning to move a high-traffic WordPress website to a managed platform?
ForthFocus helps businesses and publishers evaluate, plan, test and migrate WordPress websites from AWS, Cloudflare and self-managed hosting environments to WordPress.com. Our staging-first approach is designed to preserve content, protect functionality and minimise disruption.
