When an agency or freelancer builds a WordPress site on WP Engine for a client, the end of the project often raises a hosting question: does the client pay for their own WP Engine plan, or does the site stay under the developer’s account? WP Engine’s transferable sites feature solves this cleanly. You build the site on your own WP Engine account and transfer it to the client’s account when the project is complete — no file migration, no DNS changes, no downtime.
How WP Engine Transferable Sites Work
A transferable site is a site environment on your WP Engine account that is designated for transfer to another WP Engine account. The transfer moves the entire environment — files, database, settings, domain configuration — to the destination account without touching the live site. The site stays online during the transfer process.
The receiving client needs their own WP Engine account with an available environment slot on their plan. Once the transfer is initiated from your dashboard, the client receives an email invitation to accept the transfer. When they accept, the environment moves to their account. You no longer see it in yours.
How to Transfer a Site on WP Engine
Step 1: Log in to your WP Engine dashboard and navigate to the environment you want to transfer.
Step 2: In the environment overview, look for the Transfer Site option (typically under the environment settings or the three-dot menu). Click it.
Step 3: Enter the email address associated with the client’s WP Engine account. If the client does not yet have a WP Engine account, they need to create one before the transfer can be initiated. WP Engine’s Startup plan at $20/month is the typical starting point for clients receiving a single site.
Step 4: Confirm the transfer. WP Engine sends the client an email asking them to accept the transfer into their account.
Step 5: The client logs in to their WP Engine account, accepts the transfer, and the environment moves. The domain configuration moves with it; DNS does not need to be updated.
Why This Matters for Agencies and Freelancers
The traditional alternative to a transferable site handoff is migrating the site to the client’s hosting account. This involves exporting the database, transferring files via FTP, importing the database to the new host, updating wp-config.php credentials, running a search-replace on URLs in the database, updating DNS, and activating SSL on the new host. For an experienced developer this takes an hour. For a client receiving the site, it requires developer involvement throughout.
WP Engine’s transfer feature eliminates all of that. The site moves between accounts with the client clicking Accept in an email. No file transfers, no database imports, no URL search-replace, no DNS changes.
It also means you can build client sites on your own WP Engine plan during the development phase (using your included environment slots) and transfer them out at launch, freeing up your environment slot for the next project.
Keeping a Site Under Your Account for Ongoing Maintenance
Not every project ends with a full handoff. Some agencies retain hosting responsibility for clients on a retainer basis, keeping client sites under their own WP Engine account and managing updates, backups, and support as a managed service. WP Engine supports this model through its Partial user role system: clients can be given limited access to their environment in your dashboard without seeing your other clients or account settings. See WP Engine User Roles and Permissions for the specifics.
The transferable sites feature is for clean exits. The user permissions system is for ongoing relationships. Both are useful depending on the nature of the client engagement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the client need their own WP Engine account to receive a transferred site?
Yes. The client needs a WP Engine account with an available environment slot on their plan before the transfer can complete. They can create an account at any plan tier. The Startup plan at $20/month includes one environment slot, which is sufficient for receiving a single site transfer.
Does transferring a site on WP Engine cause any downtime?
No. The site stays online during the transfer process. The environment moves between accounts without any changes to the live site files, database, or domain configuration. Visitors experience no interruption during the transfer.
Can I transfer a site back after giving it to a client?
Yes, if the client initiates a transfer back to your account. Transfers are not one-way locks — any WP Engine account holder can initiate a transfer of an environment in their account to any other WP Engine account. The receiving account owner must accept the transfer.
What happens to staging and dev environments when a site is transferred?
Only the production environment is transferred by default. Staging and development environments associated with the site remain in your account unless they are transferred separately. For most client handoffs, transferring only the production environment is appropriate — the client manages future staging from their own account.
