Upgrading a Hostinger hosting plan takes a few clicks from either the Websites or Billing section of hPanel. Your files, databases, and configurations stay in place automatically with no manual migration needed. Any unused value from your current plan converts to Hostinger Balance and is applied toward the upgrade cost. The process applies to web and cloud hosting plans only. Moving to VPS or Agency hosting requires a separate purchase.
Before You Upgrade: What You Need to Know
Taking two minutes to read this before clicking anything will save you from surprises.
What you can and cannot upgrade directly:
- You can upgrade a Web Hosting plan to a higher Web Hosting plan
- You can upgrade a Web Hosting plan to Cloud Hosting
- You cannot upgrade Web or Cloud Hosting directly to VPS. VPS is a different server architecture and must be purchased separately, with your website content migrated manually
- Cloud Enterprise has no upgrade option. If you need more resources beyond that tier, VPS is the recommended path
- Agency hosting is not a direct upgrade from regular hosting. It requires a separate purchase
Expect a new IP address if moving from Web to Cloud:
Upgrading from Web Hosting to Cloud Hosting will assign you a new IP address. This matters if you have any IP-based settings configured, such as custom DNS A records pointing to your hosting account. You will need to update those after the upgrade completes.
Check your email setup after upgrading:
If your email is tied to your domain and hosting, upgrading within the same hosting type generally keeps everything intact. That said, it is good practice to verify your mail-related DNS records (MX, SPF, DKIM) after any plan change to confirm they are still correct.
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How to Check If You Actually Need to Upgrade
Before spending money on a higher plan, confirm that resources are genuinely the bottleneck.
In hPanel, go to Websites, click Dashboard next to your website, then find Hosting Plan in the left sidebar, and under this, click Resource Usage.
This shows your current CPU, memory, and storage consumption against your plan limits.
Common signs it is time to upgrade:
- You are consistently hitting storage or bandwidth limits
- Your site is slowing down or returning errors under normal traffic
- You need to host more websites than your current plan allows
- You need features only available on higher tiers, such as daily backups or increased email accounts
- Your traffic has grown to the point where shared resources are no longer sufficient
Note: If you are still evaluating whether Hostinger fits your needs overall, our Hostinger review covers the full picture.
Option 1: Upgrade from the Websites Section
This is the most common method for users managing sites from the Websites list.
- Log in to hPanel and go to Websites
- Find the website or hosting plan you want to upgrade
- Click the three-dot menu (…) next to it
- Click Upgrade
- On the upgrade page, use the plan dropdown to choose your new plan
- Compare the resources shown side by side, including storage, CPU, inodes, and other limits
- Choose your preferred billing period
- Click Complete upgrade payment and finish the checkout
Alternative path through the website Dashboard:
- Go to Websites and click Dashboard next to the website
- In the top right corner of the Dashboard, find and click Upgrade
- Select the new plan and billing duration
- Proceed to payment
Option 2: Upgrade from the Billing Section
Use this method if you prefer working from your subscription details, or if you cannot locate the upgrade option from the Websites section.
- Log in to hPanel and go to Billing
- Click Subscriptions
- Find the subscription you want to upgrade
- Click the arrow (>) to expand the subscription details
- Click Upgrade to a higher plan
- Choose the target plan and billing duration
- Click Complete upgrade payment and complete the checkout
What Happens After You Pay
Once the upgrade payment is confirmed, here is what to expect:
- The upgrade activates after payment completes, usually quickly
- Your website content stays in place. This is an upgrade, not a migration, so files, databases, emails, and configurations remain where they are
- Any unused time or value remaining on your current plan is converted into Hostinger Balance and applied automatically toward the upgrade cost. You are not paying twice for the same period
- If you upgraded from Web to Cloud Hosting, your account will now have a new IP address
Post-Upgrade Checklist
Run through these steps immediately after your upgrade completes.
1. Confirm the new plan is active. Open your hosting plan details in hPanel and verify that the new plan name and resource limits are showing correctly.
2. Check your website works. Open your site in a private or incognito browser window and test a few pages to confirm everything is loading as expected.
3. Check your DNS A record if you upgraded to Cloud Hosting. If your domain points to your hosting via a custom A record, confirm that it matches your new IP address. You can find the new IP on the Account Details page in hPanel.
4. Verify your email if you use hosting-based email. Send a test email both outgoing and incoming. Check that your MX, SPF, and DKIM DNS records are still correct and pointing to the right place.
5. Check your resource usage. Go back to Resource Usage in your website Dashboard and confirm the new limits are reflecting correctly.
If You Do Not See an Upgrade Button
There are a few common reasons the upgrade option may not appear:
- You are on the Cloud Enterprise plan, which has no upgrade option available
- You are trying to move to VPS or Agency hosting, both of which require a separate purchase rather than an in-place upgrade
- You are looking at the wrong subscription. If you have multiple services under your account, make sure you are on the correct one
- You are on a Website Builder plan, which follows a different upgrade path through the Billing section rather than the Websites section
