Hosting your own website on Hostinger

Create your Hostinger account

Go to hostinger.com and click Sign up. You can register with an email address or your Google account. This account stays in your name — you own the hosting and the domain, with no agency lock-in.

Choose the right plan

For a standard Sole Trader or brochure site, the Premium web-hosting plan is plenty. For an online store (WooCommerce) or several sites, pick Business — more power plus daily backups. Choose the longest term you're comfortable with: the monthly price is much lower on multi-year terms and renews higher afterwards.

Included Free SSL certificate, email, and a free domain for the first year on annual plans.

Finish setup — skip the builder

After payment, hPanel asks you to set up your site. Choose Start from scratch / an empty site and attach your domain (or claim the free one). You don't need WordPress or the website builder — we hand you the finished files to upload next.

Open File Manager

In hPanel, go to Websites → (your site) → File Manager, then open the public_html folder. This folder is your website's root — everything a visitor sees lives here.

Root public_html

Clear the placeholder files

If Hostinger added a default index.html or a "parking" page inside public_html, select those and delete them — otherwise the placeholder shows instead of your site.

Upload the zip we send you

Click the Upload icon (top-right of File Manager), choose the .zip file we provide, and wait for it to finish uploading into public_html.

Extract it & check

Right-click the uploaded zip → Extract into public_html. Make sure index.html ends up directly inside public_html (if the files landed in a sub-folder, move them up a level). Delete the leftover zip, then load your domain — your site is live.

Tip Files must sit directly in public_html, not in a sub-folder.

Option A — Point your domain (keep it where it is)

The fastest route, and you don't move the domain. In your current registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Crazy Domains, etc.) set the nameservers to Hostinger's. The domain stays registered where it is; Hostinger just hosts the site. Changes usually take a few hours to take effect.

Nameservers ns1.dns-parking.com ns2.dns-parking.com

Option B — Transfer the domain to Hostinger

Puts everything in one account. At your current registrar: unlock the domain, turn off WHOIS privacy, and copy the EPP / authorization code. Then in Hostinger go to Domains → Transfer Domain, enter the domain and EPP code, and pay — a transfer normally adds a year to the registration. Approve the confirmation email.

Note Domains can't be transferred within 60 days of registration or a previous transfer (an ICANN rule), and a transfer can take up to 5 days.

Turn on HTTPS

Once the domain points to Hostinger, install the free SSL certificate in hPanel and switch on Force HTTPS. That's it — your website is live on your own domain, secured, and fully in your name.