Lovable, Bolt, v0 to WordPress: Migration Cost in 2026

You’ve decided to migrate. You’ve confirmed your AI-built site isn’t going to rank in its current form. You’ve watched enough flat impression graphs in Search Console to know this isn’t a “wait another month” situation. The question now is what it costs.

This post gives you actual numbers — not vague “it depends” answers. Three cost paths, specific ranges, and our own pricing stated plainly. No quotes to request, no pricing behind a contact form.

Who this post is for:

• You’ve chosen to migrate from Lovable, Bolt.new, v0, or a Claude artifact to WordPress
• You’re pricing the options before committing
• You want to understand the full cost picture — not just upfront, but hidden costs too

If you’re still deciding whether to migrate at all, read why your AI-built website isn’t ranking on Google first. That post covers whether migration is the right call. This post assumes you’ve already decided.

The three cost paths

Every migration happens through one of three paths. They differ in money, time, risk, and what you walk away with.

Path	Typical cost	Timeline	Best for
DIY	$0–$200 in tools/hosting	3–7 focused days	Technical owners with time
Freelancer	$500–$3,500	2–6 weeks	Standard marketing sites, flexible timeline
Agency	$299–$5,000+	7–14 days	Fixed scope, predictable delivery, included SEO

Each has trade-offs. Let’s break them down honestly.

Path 1 — DIY: Free if your time is free

The sticker price of DIY is low. The real cost is your time, the risk of mistakes, and what you give up by not doing other things with that time.

What you actually pay out of pocket

Item	Typical cost	Required?
Managed WordPress hosting	$8–$40/month	Yes
Premium theme (optional — free themes work)	$0–$69 one-time	Optional
Elementor Pro (if you prefer visual builder)	$59/year	Optional
Rank Math (free tier is enough to start)	$0	Optional upgrade available
WP Rocket caching	$59/year	Recommended
Cloudflare CDN	$0 (free tier)	Recommended
Image optimization plugin	$0 free tier	Yes
Domain — you keep yours	$0	N/A

Typical first-year DIY out-of-pocket: $100–$300 depending on plugin choices. After the first year, it’s mostly hosting costs ($100–$500/year).

What DIY actually takes in time

The time investment is the honest cost. Based on client work and conversations with DIY migrators:

• Single-page site: 15–25 focused hours — one long weekend
• 5–7 page marketing site: 30–60 focused hours — roughly a full workweek
• Multi-page site with blog and forms: 60–100+ focused hours — 2–3 weeks of part-time work
• Site with Supabase backend or custom APIs: add 20–40 hours for backend migration

At a conservative hourly value of $75/hour (what most independent professionals bill), a 5–7 page migration represents $2,250–$4,500 of your time. At $150/hour, $4,500–$9,000.

This is why “free DIY” is usually more expensive than hiring someone — unless your time genuinely has no opportunity cost, or you’re doing this to learn skills you’ll use again.

The hidden DIY costs

Things first-timers don’t budget for:

• Getting stuck on a technical detail for half a day. Happens on every project. Usually something like “why isn’t the contact form sending emails” or “why is my Cloudflare cache not updating.”
• Missing SEO setup steps entirely. DIY migrators almost universally skip schema markup, canonical URLs, and 301 redirect mapping — the same items that cost the most when you get them wrong.
• Launching with broken Core Web Vitals. First-time WordPress users install 15+ plugins, each adding CSS/JS weight. The resulting site is slower than Lovable was. Fixing this later costs another 10+ hours.
• Domain authority loss from missed redirects. If any URLs change and redirects aren’t set up, you lose accumulated SEO equity. Recoverable, but can take weeks.

Honest assessment: DIY works for technical people who genuinely enjoy this kind of work. It doesn’t save money for people who value their time — it shifts the cost from dollars to hours.

The full step-by-step guides are here if you’re going the DIY route:

• How to Convert a Lovable Site to WordPress
• How to Convert a v0 Site to WordPress
• How to Convert a Bolt.new Site to WordPress

Path 2 — Freelancers: The wide middle ground

Hiring a freelancer through Upwork, Fiverr, or your network is the most popular path. Pricing varies enormously, and so does quality.

Typical freelancer cost ranges (2026)

Scope	Upwork (US/EU)	Upwork (offshore)	Fiverr	Network referral
Single-page migration	$300–$900	$100–$350	$150–$600	$400–$1,200
5–7 page marketing site	$1,000–$3,500	$350–$1,200	$400–$1,800	$1,500–$4,000
Multi-page + backend	$3,000–$8,000	$1,000–$3,500	$800–$3,500	$3,500–$10,000+

These ranges come from surveying freelance marketplaces for “Lovable to WordPress,” “AI site WordPress conversion,” “React to WordPress” gigs in early 2026. Ranges are wide because the skill and care levels vary dramatically.

What you’re actually paying for

Not all freelancer pricing covers the same deliverables. When comparing quotes, confirm explicitly what’s included:

• Pixel-accurate design match — some freelancers rebuild approximately, not exactly
• All SEO setup — schema, sitemap, Rank Math config, Search Console submission
• Core Web Vitals optimization — caching, image compression, lazy loading
• 301 redirect mapping — for any URL structure changes
• Forms and integrations rewired — Supabase migration, email delivery, analytics
• Training handoff — how you edit the site going forward
• Post-launch support window — what if something breaks on day 5?

A $400 Fiverr quote and a $2,500 Upwork quote for the “same project” usually cover very different scope. The $400 gig rebuilds the design and ships. The $2,500 includes the SEO setup and a testable launch.

Freelancer risk factors

What can go wrong:

• Communication gaps. Especially cross-timezone. A three-day-turnaround question becomes a week-long delay.
• Quality inconsistency. Same platform, wildly different outcomes. Ratings help but aren’t predictive.
• Scope creep charges. “That wasn’t in the original scope” becomes a recurring charge pattern with some freelancers.
• Incomplete SEO setup. Most freelancers aren’t SEO specialists. They rebuild the site well and miss the schema/sitemap/CWV work that makes migration worth doing.
• Disappearing on you mid-project. Rare but real, especially on low-cost platforms.

Honest assessment: Good freelancers exist at every price point. Finding them takes time, and the hiring process itself has cost — 2–5 hours of interviews, portfolio review, and back-and-forth negotiation on average.

Path 3 — Agencies: Fixed scope, predictable delivery

Agency pricing is higher than freelancers on the surface, but tends to come with fixed scope, SLAs, post-launch support, and proper SEO setup included rather than as an add-on.

Typical agency pricing ranges

Scope	Small agency	Mid-size agency	Large agency
Single-page migration	$500–$1,500	$1,500–$3,500	$3,000–$7,500
5–7 page marketing site	$1,500–$4,500	$3,500–$8,000	$6,000–$15,000
Multi-page + backend	$4,000–$10,000	$8,000–$18,000	$15,000–$40,000+

The gap between small and large agencies is mostly overhead — office space, account managers, project managers, sales teams — not always more actual work done on your site. A small specialized agency often delivers the same quality as a mid-size shop for half the price.

What agencies typically include vs. charge extra for

Feature	Included	Sometimes extra
Pixel-accurate rebuild	Almost always	-
Full SEO setup (schema, sitemap, Rank Math)	Usually	Sometimes
Core Web Vitals tuning	Usually	Sometimes
Content migration	Usually	Rewriting is extra
Training video	Often	Sometimes
Post-launch support window	Usually 7–30 days	-
Custom plugin development	No	Almost always
Hosting setup (but not hosting itself)	Usually	-
Domain management	No	Usually

The specific inclusions vary — always ask for a written scope before paying.

aitowp.agency pricing (stated plainly)

We’re an agency, so full transparency about our own pricing:

• Starter — $299. Single-page AI site to WordPress. Includes rebuild, basic on-page SEO, mobile responsive, contact form. Best for single-page Lovable or Claude artifact migrations.
• Standard — $599. Up to 7 pages. Full SEO setup (schema, sitemap, Rank Math, Search Console), Core Web Vitals optimization, training video. Best for most marketing sites.
• Pro — $1,299. Unlimited pages, advanced SEO, custom plugin integration, WooCommerce or blog setup, 30-day support window. Best for ecommerce, SaaS marketing sites, and content-heavy projects.

Full details: /pricing/.

Every project is fixed-scope, 7-day delivery, no hourly billing. The audit before we quote is free — we’ll tell you in 24 hours which tier fits and what your exact number is.

Tool-specific service pages cover the scope unique to each source platform:

• Lovable to WordPress
• v0 to WordPress
• Bolt.new to WordPress
• Claude Artifact to WordPress

Hidden costs regardless of which path you choose

Every migration has cost items that aren’t in the headline quote. Budget for these separately.

Ongoing WordPress hosting

$8–$40/month depending on your host. Managed WordPress hosting (SiteGround, Kinsta, WP Engine, Cloudways) is the right default for most people. Budget $150–$500/year.

Premium plugins you’ll end up wanting

• Rank Math Pro — $79/year for advanced SEO features (optional, free tier is enough to start)
• WP Rocket caching — $59/year (recommended but alternatives exist)
• Updraft or ManageWP for backups — $0–$84/year
• Wordfence or iThemes Security — $0–$99/year

Typical annual plugin budget after migration: $100–$300.

SSL and domain

Your existing domain carries over (no new cost). SSL is included free with all managed hosts in 2026.

Search engine re-indexing time

This isn’t a dollar cost, but it’s a time cost. After migration, expect 2–4 weeks for Google to fully re-crawl and re-index. During this window, traffic can dip before recovering. Plan for this if your business depends on stable organic traffic.

Opportunity cost of flat rankings during the migration decision window

Every week you spend deciding and pricing options is another week of accumulated lost organic traffic if your current site isn’t ranking. This isn’t a line item on any quote — but it’s real. For most AI-built sites with SEO problems, decision delays cost more than the migration itself over any 3-month period.

How to choose the right path for your project

Match path to situation, not to budget alone.

Choose DIY if:

• You’re technical and genuinely enjoy WordPress development
• Your time has low opportunity cost (between jobs, learning project, student)
• You have 1–2 uninterrupted weeks available
• Your site is simple (under 7 pages, no backend logic)

Choose a freelancer if:

• You have a flexible timeline (2–6 weeks is fine)
• Your scope is clear and you can vet candidates properly
• You have the project management capacity to run the freelancer
• Price is a bigger constraint than delivery speed or scope guarantees

Choose an agency if:

• You need fixed-scope pricing with no scope creep
• Your timeline is tight (under 2 weeks)
• You want SEO setup handled properly, not as an afterthought
• Post-launch support matters (what happens on day 14 if something breaks?)
• You value predictability over cost savings

Choose aitowp.agency specifically if:

• You want transparent pricing stated upfront, not custom quotes
• Your project fits within our Starter/Standard/Pro tiers
• You want 7-day delivery specifically
• You want the free audit before committing

When NOT to migrate at all

One more honest note. Migration makes sense when:

• Your AI-built site has real content worth preserving
• SEO ranking is a business priority
• You’re past the prototype stage and validated the concept

Migration doesn’t make sense when:

• Your site is still a prototype you’re iterating on — stay on the AI builder, move later
• You don’t yet have clarity on what the final site should be
• Your AI-built site is really a web app with auth and database logic (consider Next.js, not WordPress)
• You have zero traffic and aren’t committed to publishing content

Spending $500–$5,000 on a migration for a site that isn’t generating business value yet is premature optimization. Validate the product first.

FAQ

Why is there such a huge range between the lowest and highest quotes? Scope and quality vary enormously. A $300 Fiverr quote rebuilds your design and ships. A $5,000 agency quote includes full SEO setup, Core Web Vitals tuning, schema, Search Console submission, 301 redirect mapping, training, and post-launch support. Different deliverables at different prices.

Can I negotiate down from an agency quote? With freelancers, usually yes. With agencies, sometimes on timeline (“we’ll do it in 10 days instead of 7 for $200 less”) but rarely on price for fixed-scope packages. Fixed pricing exists specifically because negotiation adds overhead that gets priced back in.

Is there a cheaper option I’m missing? Two that come up:

• AI auto-converter services — automated Lovable-to-WordPress conversion tools starting around $10–$50/month. Reality check: the output usually needs substantial human cleanup to hit production quality. You end up paying for the tool AND doing most of the work. For simple sites it can save time; for anything beyond a single page, usually not worth it.
• Headless WordPress setups — keep your Lovable/v0 frontend and use WordPress as a backend only. More complex, harder to maintain, only makes sense for specific projects. Not a cost-saver for typical marketing site migrations.

What if my site is more complex than your Pro tier covers? We custom-quote projects with heavy backend logic, multi-tenant setups, or unusual integration requirements. Pricing starts at $1,299 and scales based on actual scope. The free audit will tell you the specific number within 24 hours.

How much do you charge for just the SEO setup (without rebuild)? That’s covered in the WordPress SEO setup guide as a DIY option. As a service, we bundle SEO setup with migration rather than selling it separately — it’s the most valuable part of what we do and isn’t efficient to offer standalone.

Do you offer payment plans? For Starter ($299) and Standard ($599): pay-in-full only. For Pro ($1,299+) projects: 50% upfront, 50% on delivery. Longer payment terms on custom-quoted projects over $2,500.

The bottom line

The real cost of migration depends less on the price tag and more on what you’re actually getting:

• DIY looks cheapest; it’s usually the most expensive when you value your time honestly
• Freelancers are the widest range in both price and quality; factor in hiring cost
• Agencies charge more but deliver fixed scope and full SEO setup included
• aitowp.agency pricing is $299–$1,299 fixed, 7-day delivery, stated publicly

Whichever path you pick, the biggest cost is usually not the migration fee — it’s the weeks you lost on a site that wasn’t ranking before you moved. That’s an opportunity cost that compounds indefinitely. Making a decision this month beats making a better decision next quarter, for most sites.

If you want to see our specific tiers or get a free audit with a fixed quote within 24 hours, that’s how we handle it. If you’d rather DIY, the tool-specific tutorials above have every step you need.

Either way — keep moving.