If your website's requirements change, you can upgrade or downgrade your existing CURIAWEB hosting package directly via the customer center. An upgrade provides you with more resources, while a downgrade allows you to switch to a smaller package.
The package switch is not a website migration and not a new installation. Your existing hosting account is retained and adjusted to the selected package. Files, databases, and e-mail accounts remain intact in the process.
What is the difference between an upgrade and a downgrade? #
At a Upgrade Are you upgrading to a larger hosting package with expanded available resources or services?.
A Downgrade means, on the other hand, that you are switching to a smaller package. This can make sense if your current hosting offers significantly more capacity than your project actually needs.
Important: Before downgrading, check particularly carefully whether the smaller plan offers enough capacity for your existing websites, files, databases, and email data.
When does an upgrade make sense? #
An upgrade is recommended when your current hosting package no longer adequately covers the requirements of your project.
Typical reasons can be:
- You need more storage space.
- Your website or online shop is growing.
- You operate additional websites or applications.
- Your databases need more resources.
- The storage requirement of your email accounts is increasing.
- Your project needs more available hosting resources in total.
Especially with growing WordPress websites or online shops, the resource requirements can change significantly over time. Therefore, a plan that was sufficient at the start does not necessarily have to remain the optimal size permanently.
When can a downgrade be useful? #
A downgrade can make sense if you permanently need fewer resources than before.
This can be the case, for example, if:
- a website is no longer operational
- you merged several projects
- a previously large installation was significantly reduced in size
- less storage space is required
- an originally planned project turned out smaller
However, not only the size of your website is crucial. Databases and, in particular, email mailboxes can also require a significant amount of storage space.
How to change your hosting plan #
You can initiate the package change directly via your CURIAWEB customer center.
- Log in to CURIAWEB Customer Center a.
- Open „Services“ and subsequently „My Services“.
- Select the hosting product you want to change.
- Open in the area of available actions „Upgrade/Downgrade“.
- Select the desired new hosting package.
- Check the displayed price or the calculated difference.
- Confirm the change and complete the required payment if necessary.
Upon successful payment, the new hosting package will be automatically activated.
How is the price calculated when changing packages? #
When switching, the customer center takes into account the remaining term of your existing hosting package and automatically calculates the corresponding price difference.
The amount relevant for the switch will be displayed in the customer center before the process is completed. Please check this before finally confirming the change.
Note: Following successful payment, the hosting package will be upgraded automatically. You do not need to order a separate hosting account or migrate your website manually.
What happens to your files and databases? #
During an upgrade or downgrade, your existing hosting service will be modified. Your website files and existing databases will remain intact.
You therefore do not need to upload your website again or reinstall WordPress or any other application.
Existing configurations of the hosting account will also generally remain intact. The change affects the booked package and the associated available resources or services.
What happens to your email accounts? #
Even your existing email accounts and the messages stored in them will be retained when you switch plans.
Before a downgrade, however, you should check how much storage space your email accounts are currently using. Especially older mailboxes with many messages or large attachments can take up a significant portion of the available storage space.
Check your storage usage before downgrading #
During an upgrade, additional resource requirements are usually the reason for the switch. With a downgrade, on the other hand, there is the risk of selecting a package whose available capacity is smaller than your current consumption.
Therefore, check the following in particular before a downgrade:
- the currently used storage space
- the storage requirements of your websites
- the size of your databases
- the storage usage of your email mailboxes
- additional data stored within your hosting account
If you need cPanel for this check and do not know how to log in there, you can find the various access options in our guide How do I log in to cPanel?.
Will the website and email remain accessible during the switch? #
Since your existing hosting account is not being migrated to a new account, but rather the booked package is being adjusted in the background, your website files, databases, and email accounts do not need to be transferred.
The package change in CURIAWEB is designed to be carried out without interruption to the existing hosting service.
Nevertheless, it generally makes sense to ensure that a current backup is available before making major changes to a live website.
CURIAWEB creates daily automatic backups of your hosting data and keeps them for 30 days. You can find more information in the manual. Daily backups at CURIAWEB: How your data is secured.
Which hosting package should you choose? #
Do not base your decision solely on current usage; also consider the foreseeable development of your project. If your hosting is already close to its available resources today, a slightly larger plan may make more sense than switching to the bare minimum option.
If you are not sure before an upgrade or downgrade which package fits your current usage, you can Create a support ticket in the CURIAWEB customer center. It is best to include the relevant hosting package or domain so that your request can be clearly assigned.
