OperateFrom R3 500 once-off
Hosting / DNS migration
Move your hosting and DNS — for example to Cloudflare — with no downtime and no drama.
What it is
In plain English
This is moving your website's hosting and your domain's DNS — the settings that point your domain at your site and email — onto better infrastructure, typically Cloudflare. We plan it carefully so your site, your email and everything else keep working throughout, with no gap where things go dark. Visitors never notice; you just end up faster, safer and usually cheaper.
It's the fix for a slow or unreliable host, an expensive hosting bill, or the all-too-common situation where you've inherited a setup nobody fully understands and you're nervous to touch anything. We audit what you have, recreate it cleanly on the new platform, and switch over without breaking your email or losing your site.
When you need it
Is this you?
You need this when your hosting is slow, costly, or a mystery you're afraid to touch — and you want it on fast, modern infrastructure you actually control.
- Your website is slow or goes down, and your host's support is no help.
- You're overpaying for hosting and suspect there's a better way.
- A previous developer set everything up and you've lost access or understanding.
- You want Cloudflare's speed and security but daren't risk breaking your email.
How we build it
What actually happens
- 1
Audit what you have
We map your current setup completely — where the site is hosted, every DNS record, your email, any subdomains — so nothing gets missed in the move.
- 2
Set up the new home in parallel
We build the new hosting and DNS alongside the old one, without touching the live setup, so we can get everything right before any switch.
- 3
Prepare a clean cut-over
We lower the relevant settings ahead of time so the switch propagates fast, and plan it for a low-traffic window to be safe.
- 4
Switch over and verify
We make the change and immediately check everything — site loads, forms work, email still sends and receives — before we call it done.
- 5
Monitor and hand over
We watch it settle, confirm it's stable, and hand you a setup you fully control, with the access in your name.
Example
How it plays out in practice
A retailer in Johannesburg has a website that's painfully slow on an old shared host, and the developer who set it all up years ago is unreachable. The owner wants it faster and under their own control — but is terrified that touching anything will take down the site and the company email.
- 1
We audit the unknown setup
We carefully document everything the missing developer left behind — the hosting, every DNS record, and the email routing — so we know exactly what we’re dealing with.
- 2
We rebuild it on Cloudflare
We recreate the DNS on Cloudflare in parallel, leaving the live site untouched, and get everything mirrored and verified before changing a thing.
- 3
We protect the email
We copy across every mail-related record exactly, so when we switch, email keeps flowing without a single missed message.
- 4
We cut over with no downtime
At a quiet time we flip the switch. The site stays up the whole way through, and within minutes it’s serving from Cloudflare’s fast Johannesburg edge.
- 5
We hand back control
The accounts are put in the owner’s name, so they’re never again locked out by a developer they can’t reach.
The retailer’s site goes from slow and out of their hands to fast, secure and fully under their control on Cloudflare — with no downtime and email that never skipped a beat.
What we'd need from you
To get started
- Access to your current host, domain registrar and DNS.
- A list of what's running — website, email, any subdomains or other services.
- Where you'd like to move to, or let us recommend (often Cloudflare).
- Any times to avoid for the switch (e.g. a big campaign or sale).
- Who should hold the accounts afterwards.
Timeline
How long it takes
Most migrations are planned and completed within one to three days, with the actual switch timed for zero downtime.
What can affect that:
- A complex setup with many records, subdomains and services takes longer to map and move.
- Email being involved means extra care and testing — it's the part that most often breaks in careless moves.
- Recovering lost access to a registrar or host can add time before we can even start.
What affects the price
Why it costs what it costs
Every build is scoped to your situation. These are the things that move the number — so there are no surprises on the call.
- Complexity of the current setup
- A simple site-and-email move is quick. Many subdomains, services and records take more to audit and recreate.
- Email involved
- Moving DNS without disturbing live email needs careful planning and testing — the most sensitive part of any migration.
- Access you can provide
- Clean access to everything is straightforward. Tracking down lost logins or an unreachable old developer adds work.
- Registrar transfer
- Pointing DNS is simple. Actually transferring the domain to a new registrar is an extra step with its own process.
- Number of services
- One website is light. Multiple sites, apps or third-party services on the same domain each add to the move.
Ready to build something that works?
Tell us what you need. We'll tell you honestly if and how we can help.