Joomla to WordPress migration is more than exporting content from one platform and importing it into another. You need to move articles, categories, pages, images, media files, users, menus, and SEO metadata into WordPress’s structure while reducing downtime, broken links, and data loss.
LitExtension supports merchants with an expert-managed Joomla to WordPress migration service, no technical skill required. Our team reviews your Joomla setup, maps supported data to WordPress, transfers key content, and validates the results before handover. Start with a Free Demo Migration to preview your data first, and you’re covered by up to 60 days of support once the Full Migration completes.
Carries over your original Joomla order numbers exactly as they were, keeping your records and internal tracking consistent once everything lands on WordPress.
Automatically cleans out any leftover HTML markup in your Joomla category or product titles before it reaches your WordPress store, so names display cleanly.
Clear Data on Your WordPress Store Before Migration
Wipes out sample or placeholder data already sitting in your WordPress store for the entities you’re migrating, so nothing from Joomla collides or duplicates with what’s already there.
Migrate Images in Product, Category, & Blog Post Descriptions
Brings over images tucked inside your Joomla product, category, or blog descriptions, not just the standalone gallery images, so your WordPress content looks exactly as it did before.
Store Migration Never Been Easier
Join 200,000+ customers who have grown business with LitExtension. Try free demo to visualize how easy and efficient the cart to cart migration can be.
Our experts review your Joomla structure, extensions, custom components, and WordPress requirements before defining the migration scope.
2. Map Data & Run Demo Migration
We map supported Joomla data to WordPress, configure your chosen migration options, and run a Demo Migration so you can review sample records first.
3. Perform Full Migration & Validation
After Demo approval, we perform the Full Migration and validate articles, categories, pages, images, and other selected content before handover.
Joomla to WordPress Migration: Why, What Transfers, How, and What’s Next
Why Migrate from Joomla to WordPress
Joomla and WordPress started out in the same era and grew side by side for years, but the gap between them has widened a lot since then. Joomla has slipped from second place among content management systems down to around 2.7% market share today, while WordPress now powers more than 40% of all websites. That single stat drives most of the other reasons site owners decide to convert Joomla to WordPress.
WordPress has a far larger plugin ecosystem
Joomla’s Extensions Directory currently lists around 6,000 free and paid extensions. WordPress, by comparison, has over 60,000 free plugins and more than 10,000 free themes available in its library alone, with new ones added daily by an active developer community. In practice, that means almost any feature you want to add to your site already has a ready-made WordPress plugin, rather than something you need custom-built.
WordPress is easier to use day to day
Joomla ships packed with functions out of the box, which also makes its admin heavier and more technical to navigate, especially for non-technical editors. WordPress takes a leaner approach: the block editor and dashboard are built around everyday content editing, so your team can publish and update pages without needing developer help for routine changes.
WordPress has a bigger community and hiring pool
WordPress’s community isn’t just larger, it’s still growing, while Joomla’s developer pool has been shrinking for years. That translates directly into practical terms: it’s considerably easier to find a WordPress developer, agency, or freelancer than a Joomla specialist, and that gap keeps widening.
WordPress costs less to maintain over time
Because WordPress needs less specialized development time and draws from a much larger talent pool, ongoing maintenance and development costs tend to run lower over the life of a site. Joomla’s smaller, more technical hiring market pushes agency and freelance rates up by comparison.
WordPress is built with blogging at its core
Joomla offers only limited native tools for managing a blog, and it doesn’t have a dedicated content type built specifically for blog posts. WordPress, on the other hand, started as a blogging platform and still treats posts as a first-class content type, with a much deeper library of blog-focused themes and plugins to match.
Joomla vs. WordPress at a glance
Category
Joomla
WordPress
Ease of use
Heavier admin, more technical day to day
Cleaner dashboard and block editor, built for non-technical editors
Plugin ecosystem
Around 6,000 extensions
60,000+ free plugins, 10,000+ free themes
SEO tools
Decent native SEO, extensions needed for parity
Strong defaults plus a wide choice of best-in-class SEO plugins
Community
Smaller and shrinking
Large and still growing, easier to hire from
Maintenance cost
Higher over time, more specialized development needed
Lower long-term costs, wider talent pool
Blogging
Limited native blogging tools, no dedicated post type
Native blog post type, built for content publishing from day one
Multi-site setup
Possible, but more complex to configure and maintain
Native multisite support built into core, sharing themes, plugins, and users across sites
What Data Can Be Migrated From Joomla to WordPress
LitExtension can migrate the following data types for a Joomla to WordPress transfer:
Products: core product details, pricing, stock, images, variants, and SEO fields, along with product categories.
Customers: contact info plus billing and shipping addresses.
Orders: order details, items, pricing breakdown, and linked customer and address data.
CMS Pages: page title, content, category, and thumbnail image.
Blogs: post title, content, category, and thumbnail image.
Manufacturers: name and logo image.
Taxes: tax classes and rates by country.
Coupons: coupon codes, discount rules, and validity periods.
Reviews: ratings, comments, and reviewer details.
Multiple Languages: translated content for products, categories, CMS pages, and blogs (additional fee may apply).
Keep in mind that Joomla has no native eCommerce of its own. Whatever store data you have, products, orders, customers, actually lives inside whichever shopping component your site runs on. Since different Joomla shopping components structure their data differently, our team confirms exactly which one your site uses and scopes the migration around it during consultation, rather than assuming a generic Joomla export will cover it.
What doesn’t transfer automatically
A few parts of a Joomla site need to be rebuilt in WordPress rather than migrated directly:
Joomla template and design: Joomla and WordPress use entirely different theming systems, so your site’s look and feel needs a new WordPress theme rather than a like-for-like transfer.
Custom modules and complex content: content built with certain Joomla-specific extensions generally has no direct WordPress equivalent and needs to be rebuilt or replaced with a comparable WordPress plugin.
Navigation menus and custom routing: Joomla’s menu structure and custom links don’t carry over automatically and need to be recreated in WordPress.
ACL and permissions structure: Joomla’s access control levels don’t map one-to-one to WordPress user roles, so permissions need to be reconfigured for your new setup.
Component-specific settings: configuration specific to your Joomla shopping component or other extensions stays behind and needs to be set up fresh in its WordPress equivalent.
How to Migrate from Joomla to WordPress
There are two practical ways to migrate Joomla to WordPress: do it yourself with a free content import plugin, or let LitExtension experts manage the whole Joomla to WordPress migration for you. Which one fits best depends mostly on how much content you have and whether your site runs a Joomla shopping component.
Option 1: DIY Migration with a Joomla-to-WordPress Import Plugin
A number of free WordPress plugins are built specifically to pull content out of a Joomla database and into WordPress. This kind of plugin works well for small, content-only sites, but it has real limits worth knowing before you start.
Step 1: Back up your Joomla site. Before touching anything, back up your Joomla database and files. It’s also worth taking screenshots of your site and jotting down every extension, module, and custom feature you’re using, so you have something to reference while rebuilding on WordPress later.
Step 2: Set up the plugin. Install and activate a Joomla-to-WordPress import plugin on your WordPress site from the Plugins menu. Some offer a paid tier with extra options like custom field mapping or full media migration.
Step 3: Identify your Joomla database parameters. In Joomla, go to System > Global Configuration > Server to find your database host, database name, username, password, and table prefix. Keep this window open, or note the values down, so you can copy them over.
Step 4: Test the database connection. Back in WordPress, open the plugin’s connection settings, enter your Joomla site URL and database parameters, then run a test to confirm WordPress can reach your Joomla database before importing anything.
Step 5: Run the import. Once the connection is confirmed, start the import and let the plugin pull your Joomla content into WordPress. You can usually choose which content types to include as it runs.
One Joomla quirk worth knowing before you import: Joomla treats all of your content as “articles,” with no separate distinction between pages and posts the way WordPress has. Most import plugins ask you to choose whether that content comes in as WordPress posts or as WordPress pages. If you choose pages, keep in mind your categories won’t come along, since WordPress pages don’t support categories the way posts do. For most sites, importing as posts first and converting specific ones to pages afterward is the more reliable path.
A typical import plugin handles the basics reliably: Joomla articles mapped to WordPress posts and pages, users imported with matching roles, categories mapped over, featured images and media pulled into the WordPress media library, and internal links rewritten to point at your new WordPress URLs. What it doesn’t handle automatically is just as important to know going in: Joomla extensions with no WordPress equivalent, custom templates and design, complex content built with certain Joomla-specific extensions, custom menus and routing, full SEO transfer including schema and structured data, and redirect mapping from your old Joomla URLs to their new WordPress equivalents. Each of those still needs to be handled separately, by hand or with additional tools.
Option 2: Migrate Joomla to WordPress with LitExtension
If your site includes eCommerce data, custom components, or you’d simply rather not manage the technical work yourself, LitExtension’s All-in-One service handles the entire Joomla to WordPress migration on your behalf. Here’s how the process works from start to finish.
Step 1. Technical consultation with LitExtension experts
Your migration starts with a personalized consultation with our technical team. We review your Joomla site’s structure, size, and any custom components or extensions in use, and identify which shopping component, if any, powers your store data, since Joomla itself has no native eCommerce. This lets us scope the migration accurately and flag potential challenges early, before signing off on a clear project plan together.
Step 2. Pre-migration setup and data mapping
Next, our team prepares both your Joomla site and your target WordPress site for the transfer. We collect the access details needed to connect securely to both platforms, then map your Joomla data, articles, categories, users, and any eCommerce records from your shopping component, to their matching structure in WordPress. Custom fields or unusual data types get configured individually so nothing gets lost in translation.
Step 3. Run a demo migration
Before touching your full dataset, we run a demo migration using a sample of your Joomla content. This gives you an early look at how your data will appear in WordPress, and gives our team a chance to catch and fix any formatting or mapping issues before the full transfer runs.
Step 4. Perform the full Joomla to WordPress migration
Once you approve the demo results, we move ahead with the complete migration. Your Joomla site stays live and fully operational throughout the process, so there’s no downtime and no need to pause your business while the transfer runs in the background.
Step 5. Migration results testing
After the full migration completes, our team runs a thorough QA review to confirm your content transferred accurately, articles, categories, images, and any eCommerce data included in your scope, checking for missing records, broken links, or formatting issues. We also verify SEO metadata and, if you’ve enabled the option, confirm 301 redirects are mapping your old Joomla URLs correctly. You’ll receive a summary report once everything checks out.
Step 6. Post-migration tasks
Since your Joomla site keeps running during the migration, it may pick up new orders, customers, or content in the meantime. LitExtension’s post-migration services, including Recent Data Migration, Smart Update, and Re-migration, bring anything new over so your WordPress site stays current once it goes live.
Step 7. Post-migration customer support
Our support doesn’t end when the migration does. For up to 60 days after your Joomla to WordPress migration completes, our team is available to help with any questions, fix issues you spot, or guide you through your new WordPress setup.
In short: a free import plugin is a reasonable choice if you’re just moving a small content site with no store data attached. For anything bigger, or if you need eCommerce data, SEO metadata, redirects, QA testing, and post-migration support handled properly, LitExtension’s All-in-One service covers the parts a DIY plugin simply can’t reach.
What to Do After Joomla to WordPress Migration
Getting your content into WordPress is the starting line, not the finish. Work through this checklist before you consider the migration fully done:
Verify imported content end-to-end: walk through every article, page, and category to confirm everything imported cleanly, with no broken internal links or empty sections.
Confirm your media library: check that featured images and other media are actually hosted in the WordPress media library, not still pulling from your old Joomla URLs.
Test your new WordPress theme: click through your content to confirm the new theme renders cleanly across all pages, including older archived posts and any unusual layouts.
Configure WordPress permalinks: set your permalink structure to match your intended URL pattern, and confirm it lines up with your redirect map.
Run a full redirect check: test a sample of your old Joomla URLs to confirm every one lands cleanly on the matching new WordPress page.
Choose and install a WordPress theme, if you haven’t already, and use the migration as a chance to refresh the design rather than just replicate the old Joomla look.
Install essential plugins: an SEO plugin, a security plugin, a forms plugin, and caching, so your site is properly covered from day one.
Set up a WordPress eCommerce plugin, if your migration includes store data, and confirm your products, orders, and customers display correctly.
Enable HTTPS and harden your login: turn on SSL if it isn’t already active, and limit login attempts on your WordPress admin to cut down on automated attacks.
Give your team time to learn the WordPress dashboard, since day-to-day editing works quite differently from Joomla’s admin panel.
Submit a new sitemap to Google Search Console so search engines can re-crawl your site under its new URL structure.
Test mobile responsiveness across a few common screen sizes before you announce the switch publicly.
Let your audience know about the move, through a blog post, email, or social update, so returning visitors aren’t caught off guard by the new look and URLs.
Monitor your SEO rankings and organic traffic closely over the first 30, 60, and 90 days, since most sites stabilize within that window if the redirect map was built correctly.
Work through this list carefully and you’ll have a much smoother experience whenever you decide to convert Joomla to WordPress for good.
The cost of migration from to depends on how many entities you have on your store. The Pricing Estimator will help you to get how much does it cost. The pricing is billed in USD.
Pricing starts at $169 for the All-in-One Migration Service, and varies depending on the number of entities you need to transfer. Use the Pricing Estimator on this page for a rough figure, or contact our team for an exact quote.
Joomla itself doesn’t include native eCommerce, your products, orders, and customers actually live inside whichever shopping component you’ve installed, VirtueMart, J2Store, HikaShop, JoomShopping, Phoca Cart, EShop, or MijoShop are the most common ones. Since each component structures data differently, our team identifies which one your site runs on during consultation to scope the migration accurately.
Upon switching from Joomla to WordPress, your old passwords won’t be valid anymore due to different encoding standards. To keep using your old password, install the Customer Password Plugin.
While migrating from Joomla to WordPress with LitExtension, you can keep taking orders on your existing store. It will function as usual, giving you time to set up your WooCommerce store.
Not if it’s handled correctly. Turning on the 301 Redirects Additional Option maps your old Joomla URLs to their new WordPress pages, so the search rankings and backlinks you’ve already earned carry over instead of resetting.
In most cases yes, LitExtension’s engineers review your specific component and database structure directly rather than relying on a generic import tool. If your component is particularly obscure or heavily customized, our team confirms feasibility and scope during your consultation before quoting the project.
Leave The Work For The Experts
If you’re non-tech, let our WordPress migration experts handle your migration from A to Z. Save your time for more important tasks.
We at LitExtension prioritize data security and have a set of practices, technologies and policies in place to ensure the highest level of security for your data. Check out our Data Security Policy.
Server Security
All migration jobs will be carried out on Linode servers located in the USA, Euro, Australia, Singapore,…
Data Security
The data is protected by HTTPS secure protocol and 128-bit SSL encryption. Nothing is stored on LitExtension’s servers.
Data Access Restriction
Only authorized LitExtension experts can access the source code to handle custom migration requests.
GDPR Compliance
LitExtension is compliant with GDPR regulations, a global data protection law passed by the European Union.
NDA
We do not keep your credentials or import records after the migration. Your data is guaranteed not to be disclosed or used for any other purposes rather than the migration.
Payment Security
Your payment is processed by Paypal – the #1 worldwide payment gateway. Hence, LitExtension does not store any payment data.
Why choose Joomla to WordPress Migration Services
3-Step Simplicity
Migrate from Joomla to WordPress in just 3 simple steps, no coding required.
24/7 Expert Support
Get all your questions answered, even on holidays, with our dedicated support team.
Selling While Migrating
Your Joomla store stays fully functional during the entire migration – no disruptions, no lost sales, no customer drop-offs.
Data Quality Assurance
Optimize your Joomla to WordPress migration with precise manual testing to ensure data accuracy and integrity throughout the transfer.
FREE 60-Day Updates
Keep your data up-to-date with free Re-migrations, Smart Updates, and Recent Migrations within 60 days following the migration start.
Risk-Free Experience
We stand behind our service 100%. Try it risk-free with our 30-day money-back guarantee–no questions asked.
Testimonials: Our Success Stories
“If you’re looking for a team to handle your migration between e-commerce platforms, I would highly recommend LitExtension. Steve and his team were fantastic” Mr. YouKay
I am in the process of moving my existing website over to Shopify. As this is my 4th iteration of my website, I knew I didn’t want to do the migration part myself again! Using this service meant that I could concentrate on running my business for a couple of days while the migration was being done for me.
Lotus was phenomenal! She is detailed-oriented and works extremely fast! She helped with the migration from Wix to Shopify in no time. Thank you so much Lotus and everyone at LitExtension!
I built our new Shopify site myself but with no developer experience. I really struggled migrating products, customers and order history. It was a bit overwhelming until I found Lit. They helped me set it up and did the contract. Emailed me at every stage and listened to my feedback. I found them on Thursday and by Monday the work was completed.
Took most of the work off our hands. The team were great and went out of their way to get the migration from J2store to Shopify completed. The time zone differences were slightly difficult but that didn’t stop the work from being completed.
