Staging environments on Kinsta

Every site on Kinsta can have its own free staging environment: a separate copy where changes can be tested before going live. Kinsta's staging includes a useful option to selectively push only files, only the database, or both, and even specific files, folders, or database tables.

What staging is on Kinsta

Kinsta's staging environment is:

A full copy of your live site (when created as a clone of live): same theme, plugins, content, and settings at the time it was created.
Hidden from search enginesKinsta tells search engines not to index staging URLs.
Open to anyone with the link, unless you add a passwordYou can turn on password protection under Tools so only people with the password can view it.
On a separate URLIn the format stg-sitename-environmentname.kinsta.cloud.

The visitor arrow never crosses into the lower box. Your live site is copied from, and written to exactly once, after the change has already been tested somewhere it could safely have failed.

Read this as text

Your live site keeps serving visitors throughout. Nothing in this process interrupts it until the very last step.

Before significant work, we refresh a staging copy from the live site: an exact copy on a private URL that visitors cannot stumble across. Every change, update and fix is made there.

We then test it: key pages, navigation, forms, and whatever the change actually touched. For visual work or new content we usually share the staging URL so you can review it and say yes before anything moves.

Only once it has passed do we apply the same tested change to the live site. So the live site is read from at the start and written to once at the end, and everything that could go wrong goes wrong somewhere your customers never see.

Creating a staging environment

Log in to MyKinsta and open your site from Sites.

Click the environment selector (it shows Live) and choose Create new environment.

Choose Standard environment and click Continue. Then choose Clone an existing environment, give the environment a name (3 to 12 characters), pick Live as the environment to clone, and click Continue again. Kinsta will copy your live site's files and database.

Wait for the copy to complete. This usually takes a few minutes.

Note the staging URL. Switch to the staging environment and open its Domains page to find it.

Pushing staging to live

After testing on staging:

Open the staging environment in MyKinsta for your site.

Click Push Environment and choose to push to your live environment.

Choose what to push. Kinsta gives you these options:

Files: all files and folders (themes, plugins, and uploads), or only the ones you pick. The live database stays intact.
Database: all database tables, or only the ones you pick. Live files stay intact.
Files and database: a full push (most common for major changes).

Whatever you choose, Kinsta also pushes the environment's settings, such as redirects and PHP settings, and these overwrite the live site's settings.

Confirm the push. Type the site name and click Push to environment. Kinsta takes a backup of the live site first, so the push can be rolled back.

Verify the live site. Open your website in a fresh browser tab and check everything looks correct.

Full pushes overwrite the live site completely

Whenever you push the database from staging to live (on its own or with files), every change made to the live site's database since staging was created is lost: new posts, comments, orders, and sign-ups. Coordinate with us before a database or full push to avoid overwriting new content.

Selective push: when to use each option

Push type	Use when
Files only	You changed theme or plugin code, but content was added to the live site since staging was created
Database only	You updated content or settings on staging, and the code on live is already up to date (anything added to the live database since staging was created will be lost)
Files and database	You did a full rebuild on staging and want to completely replace the live site

Help me choose

Which push should you use?

What did you change on staging?

Refreshing staging from live

To update staging with the latest live site content:

Open your live environment in MyKinsta.

Click Push Environment and choose your staging environment as the destination.

Choose what to push and confirm. Whatever you push overwrites the staging content.

Common questions

Is staging included on all Kinsta plans?

Yes. Each site can have one free standard staging environment. Some custom plans limit how many staging environments you can add.

Can I add more staging environments?

Yes. Kinsta sells premium staging environments as a paid add-on, up to five per site. Only the company owner or a company administrator can add one.

Can I give a client access to staging?

Yes. Share the staging URL, and the password if you've turned on password protection, with whoever needs to review work in progress. The URL is on the staging environment's Domains page in MyKinsta.