WordPress to Astro Migration
The fastest WordPress replacement for content sites. Astro ships zero JavaScript — Lighthouse 100 guaranteed.
Why leave WordPress?
- PHP renders on every request — no CDN caching
- JavaScript bloat from themes and plugins
- Lighthouse 45–65 despite optimisation effort
- Maintenance overhead of plugin updates and security patches
- Hosting costs scale with traffic
What you gain
- Lighthouse 100 on every page — guaranteed
- Zero JavaScript shipped by default
- Sub-50ms TTFB from global CDN
- Static HTML — no server, no database, no attack surface
- Free hosting on Vercel or Netlify for most sites
- Islands architecture for selective interactivity
Why Astro for WordPress migrations
If your WordPress site is primarily content — blog posts, service pages, a portfolio — Astro is the better migration target than Next.js. Astro ships zero JavaScript to the browser by default. The resulting pages are pure HTML served from a CDN. Lighthouse 100 scores are not aspirational — they are the baseline.
What gets migrated
Every WordPress post and page is exported, transformed to Markdown or JSON, and imported into your Astro site''s data layer. If you are keeping WordPress as your CMS (headless), I wire Astro to the WordPress REST API. If you are moving to Supabase or Sanity, I build the import scripts as part of the migration.
Build time vs runtime
WordPress renders every page on the server on every request. Astro renders every page once at build time. When a visitor loads your homepage, there is no server involved — they are downloading an HTML file from the nearest CDN edge node. This is why TTFB drops from 400ms to 30ms.
The migration process
Discovery & Audit
We map every page, post, media file, redirect, and plugin. Nothing gets missed.
Architecture Plan
New stack designed for your content structure, SEO requirements, and performance targets.
Staged Migration
Content migrated in batches. Each batch verified before the next begins.
SEO Preservation
301 redirects, canonical tags, sitemap, robots.txt — every ranking signal carried over.
Launch & Monitor
DNS cutover with zero downtime. 30-day monitoring period included.
WordPress vs Astro
| Metric | WordPress | Astro |
|---|---|---|
| Lighthouse (mobile) | 45–65 | 100 |
| LCP | 3.5s avg | Under 0.8s |
| JavaScript shipped | 200–600KB | 0KB (unless needed) |
| TTFB | 350–700ms | Under 50ms |
| Hosting cost | $20–$80/mo | Free tier sufficient |
| Security surface | WordPress + plugins | Static files only |
Common questions
Should I migrate to Astro or Next.js?
For content sites (blogs, portfolios, marketing sites) — Astro. It ships zero JavaScript and consistently achieves Lighthouse 100. For application-like sites with complex interactivity, user auth, or frequent dynamic data — Next.js. I will tell you which fits your site before we start.
How does Astro handle my WordPress blog posts?
I export your WordPress posts via the REST API or WXR export, transform them to Markdown or JSON, and import them into your Astro site''s data layer. For ongoing publishing, I connect Astro to Supabase or keep WordPress as a headless CMS.
What happens to my WordPress comments?
Comments can be migrated to Supabase or replaced with a third-party commenting service (Giscus, Utterances). Most content sites find comment volume does not justify the complexity, and remove them in favour of an email reply link.
Will Astro handle my site''s traffic?
Astro outputs static HTML served from a CDN. There is no server to overwhelm. A site on Vercel or Netlify''s free tier can handle millions of monthly visits without scaling concerns.
Can I add interactive elements to an Astro site?
Yes — Astro''s islands architecture lets you add React, Vue, or Svelte components anywhere that needs interactivity. The rest of the page stays static HTML. You get interactivity without the performance cost of a full SPA.
Ready to migrate?
Free assessment. We'll audit your current site and give you a clear migration plan — no commitment.
Let's build
something together.
Whether it's a migration, a new build, or an SEO challenge — the Social Animal team would love to hear from you.