Blog
How to move a website off GoDaddy Website Builder (to WordPress or elsewhere)
GoDaddy's builder has no whole-site export we could find, so a move is a rebuild. What you can take with you, the steps to WordPress, and the shortcut.
Moving off GoDaddy's Website Builder (now sold as Websites + Marketing, with its Airo AI tools) is mostly a rebuild, not a transfer. We could not find a GoDaddy help article that exports a whole builder site to another platform. What you can take with you is your domain, your store's products as a CSV file, and your content, copied or re-imported page by page. This guide walks through moving to WordPress, which is what most people searching for this are doing, and the other options worth a look.
GoDaddy facts below come from GoDaddy's own help centre and blog, read on 28 October 2026. GoDaddy's pricing page would not load for us that day, so prices quoted are the ones GoDaddy itself published in March 2026. We make Mondovo, a different website builder, and it is one of the options at the end.
Before you start: what moves and what doesn't
| Part of your site | Can you take it with you? |
|---|---|
| Your domain name | Yes. If it is registered with GoDaddy it can stay there and simply point at your new site, or you can transfer it to another registrar. |
| Store products | Yes, as a CSV: GoDaddy documents how to "export your products from your Websites + Marketing online store as a .csv file". |
| Pages, text and images | Not as an export file that we could find. Copy them, download your images, or use a tool that reads your live pages. |
| The design | No. You rebuild it, or choose a new one, on the new platform. |
| Appointments, email marketing, contacts | Set up fresh on the new platform. Export any customer lists you can before you cancel. |
| Search rankings | Yes, if you redirect every old page address to its new page. |
Why people leave GoDaddy's builder
The most common reason is the renewal price. In its own GoDaddy vs Wix article, GoDaddy listed its Premium plan at an introductory $15.99 a month and a renewal price of $39.99 a month on annual billing, "as of March 9, 2026". Check GoDaddy's current pricing page for your plan, but the gap between the first year and the second is worth knowing before you renew. The other reasons are design flexibility and wanting a platform you can take with you later.
How to move from GoDaddy to WordPress
- Make an inventory. List every page with its address, every image, every form, and your store products. Note which pages bring in enquiries or sales.
- Export your products. If you sell online, export them to CSV from your Websites + Marketing store. WooCommerce, the free store plugin for WordPress, can import a product CSV.
- Choose WordPress.com or self-hosted WordPress. WordPress.com hosts it for you, from $4 a month billed yearly, with plugins on every paid plan. Self-hosted WordPress.org is free software on hosting you buy, which gives you full control and the job of keeping it updated.
- Pick a theme and rebuild the pages. Recreate each page and paste in its content. Keep the same page addresses where you can; it makes the redirects simpler.
- Set up redirects. For any address that changes, add a permanent (301) redirect from the old address to the new page. A redirect plugin handles this on WordPress.
- Point your domain at the new site. Update your domain's DNS to your new host. If the domain is at GoDaddy, it can stay registered there.
- Check everything, then unpublish. Test every page and form on the live domain. Then unpublish the old site, which GoDaddy explains changes what visitors see to "Coming Soon" (GoDaddy Help), and cancel the plan.
WordPress is a good destination if you want plugins and ownership. Before you commit, read what keeping it secure involves: most WordPress problems start in plugins and themes that were not kept updated. Our guide Is WordPress secure? covers it in plain English.
Other places to move a GoDaddy site
| Platform | Best for | Price from (own domain) |
|---|---|---|
| Squarespace | Polished design with little effort | $19/mo billed yearly ($25 monthly) |
| Wix | Lots of apps and layout freedom | Light plan; price varies by country |
| WordPress.com | Plugins without running a server | $4/mo billed yearly ($9 monthly) |
| Shopify | A store that is the whole business | $29/mo billed yearly ($39 monthly) |
| Mondovo (ours) | Your site read from its address and redesigned three ways | $20/mo, building is free |
For a fuller list, see our guides to Wix alternatives and Squarespace alternatives; most of the options there suit a GoDaddy move too.
The shortcut: let the new platform read your site
Most of the work in a GoDaddy move is copying pages by hand. Mondovo skips that step. Paste your GoDaddy site's address, and Mondovo reads the pages, brings across the text, images, logo and colours, and shows you a plan of what each page will say before anything is designed. You get three complete designs to compare, and every old address is redirected to the closest new page so you keep your search traffic. Bookings, a store, forms and email are built in.
Building is free. A live site on your own domain is $20 a month, your domain can stay registered at GoDaddy, and you can download the published site as files if you ever leave. See Mondovo vs GoDaddy Website Builder or how a move to Mondovo works.
Frequently asked questions
Can I transfer my GoDaddy Website Builder site to WordPress?
Not as a direct transfer. We could not find a GoDaddy tool that exports a builder site to WordPress. You rebuild the pages on WordPress, export store products to CSV, redirect old addresses and point your domain at the new host.
Can I export my GoDaddy website?
GoDaddy documents exporting your online store's products to a CSV file. We could not find a GoDaddy help article for exporting a whole Websites + Marketing site, so plan to copy or re-import your pages.
Do I have to move my domain away from GoDaddy?
No. Your domain can stay registered at GoDaddy and point at your new site through its DNS settings. Transferring it to another registrar is optional.
Will I lose my Google rankings if I leave GoDaddy?
Not if you keep your content and redirect every old page address to its new page with a permanent (301) redirect. Missing redirects are what cause lasting losses.
What happens when I unpublish my GoDaddy site?
GoDaddy says unpublishing changes what visitors see to "Coming Soon". Do it only after your new site is live on your domain and you have checked every page.
What is the best alternative to GoDaddy Website Builder?
WordPress if you want plugins and ownership, Squarespace for polished design, Wix for apps, Shopify for a large store, and Mondovo if you want your current site read and redesigned for you.
