// migration guide · my own move off managed WordPress
Moving WordPress sites to free static hosting on Cloudflare Pages or Render
After 9 years on managed WordPress, most of my sites didn't need it anymore. They're small, rarely updated and don't sell anything, yet each one still needed plugin updates, security alerts and hourly database backups. Here's how to decide if static hosting fits a site, and how to move it.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Static hosting serves pre-built HTML files: no PHP, no database, almost nothing to hack or update.
- It fits blogs, brochure sites and documentation that change weekly or less. It doesn't fit stores, memberships or sites with logins.
- Cloudflare Pages' free plan serves static files with no bandwidth or request cap, 500 builds a month and up to 100 custom domains per project.
- Render is better for sites that need a small server (Node.js, forms, APIs); its 2026 Hobby plan includes much less bandwidth than before.
- Keep WordPress for writing if you like it, and publish a static copy, or rebuild in plain HTML or a static site generator.
The math that made me move
My Pressable plan costs $90 a month for 10 WordPress installs, $1,080 a year. For revenue-earning sites that's fine. For a hobby blog that gets 25 visitors a day, it's most of the cost of the site.
Domain names are extra in every case. Static hosting is free within the provider's free-plan limits.
Which sites should go static (and which shouldn't)
| Site | Go static? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Blog updated weekly or less | Yes | Pages rarely change; comments can move to a third-party service or be dropped. |
| Brochure / business site | Yes | Contact forms can use a form service or a small serverless function. |
| Documentation, landing pages | Yes | The best case: fast, cheap and nearly impossible to hack. |
| Tool or calculator site | Depends | Fine if the tool runs in the browser; needs Render or similar if it needs a server. |
| WooCommerce store | No | Carts, checkout and stock need a live database. Stay on managed WordPress. |
| Membership, LMS, forum | No | Anything with user logins needs a server. |
Cloudflare Pages vs Render for static sites
| Cloudflare Pages (free) | Render (Hobby) | |
|---|---|---|
| Static site hosting | Free | Free |
| Bandwidth | No cap on static assets | 5GB outbound per workspace/month after the 2026 plan change, then $0.15/GB |
| Builds | 500 per month, 1 at a time | 500 build minutes per month |
| Custom domains | 100 per project | 2 included, then $0.25/month each |
| File limits | 20,000 files per site, 25MiB per file | Not the usual constraint |
| Server code | Pages Functions (100,000 requests/day free) | Full web services (Node.js, Python); free ones sleep after 15 minutes idle |
My rule: pure static sites go to Cloudflare Pages. Sites that need real server code, like this one, which runs a hosting checker, go to Render.
How to turn a WordPress site into a static site
There are two good routes.
Route A: keep WordPress as the editor, publish static files
- Run WordPress locally (for example with DDEV or Local) using a backup of the live site.
- Use a static export plugin such as Simply Static to generate the HTML files.
- Commit the output folder to a Git repository and connect it to Cloudflare Pages or Render as a static site.
- Each time you publish, export again and push. The live site never runs PHP.
Route B: rebuild without WordPress
- Export posts (Tools → Export) and convert them to Markdown.
- Rebuild with plain HTML or a static site generator (Eleventy, Hugo, Astro).
- Deploy from Git. Every push publishes in about a minute.
Route A is fastest for a site you'll keep editing in WordPress. Route B gives the cleanest, fastest site, and it's what I'm doing for most of mine.
What breaks, and the fixes
- Forms: use a form service or a small serverless function.
- Search: use a client-side search index (Pagefind, Lunr).
- Comments: drop them, or use a hosted comment system.
- Redirects: export them from your SEO plugin and add a
_redirectsfile (Cloudflare) or redirect rules (Render). Missing redirects are the #1 way to lose Google traffic in a migration. - URLs: keep the exact same URLs and trailing slashes, and submit the new sitemap in Search Console.
Migration checklist
- Crawl the old site and save every URL.
- Build the static version and compare URLs: every old URL must return 200 or a 301.
- Move DNS and check with our hosting checker.
- Submit the sitemap, watch Search Console for 404s for two weeks.
- Only then cancel the old hosting.
FAQ
Is static hosting really free?
For most small sites, yes. Cloudflare Pages' free plan has no bandwidth cap on static files, and Render hosts static sites free within its workspace bandwidth allowance. You still pay for your domain.
Will moving to a static site hurt SEO?
Not if URLs stay the same or are redirected with 301s. Static sites are usually faster, which helps.
Can I still use WordPress to write?
Yes. Run WordPress locally or on a cheap private host and publish a static export, so the public site never runs WordPress.
SOURCES
- Cloudflare Pages limits
- Render 2026 plan change summary (third-party, Aug 2026)
- Cloudflare Pages free tier limits 2026
Prices and limits change. We note the date we checked each one; confirm on the provider's site before you buy.