Site owners who have outgrown shared hosting.
GLWS · Use cases
WordPress VPS.
Your site, your server.
A VPS gives WordPress its own memory and full control. You also take on updates and backups, so shared hosting is the easier choice if you want less to maintain.
Who it is for.
Typical reasons people choose it.
Developers who want to tune PHP, caching and the database.
Agencies hosting a few sites together.
Choose a size.
What fits where. These are guides, so measure your own workload.
1 GB
Tight. A small site with few plugins and a tuned PHP pool can run, with swap.
2 GB
A comfortable start for one site.
4 GB and up
Several sites, a busier shop or heavier plugins.
GLWS plans that fit.
The lowest-priced GLWS VPS plans with enough memory.
Get started with GLWS.
Three steps.
- Install Nginx, PHP-FPM and a database, then download and verify WordPress, as in the install guide.
- Add HTTPS, keep WordPress, themes and plugins updated and remove what you do not use.
- Back up the database and uploads off the server and test a restore.
Guides for this setup.
Step-by-step instructions from the knowledge base.
Install WordPress with Nginx, PHP and a database
Set up Nginx, PHP-FPM and MariaDB, download and verify WordPress, secure its files and finish with HTTPS.
Read guide →Install MariaDB or PostgreSQL and create a database
Install a database server, keep it private to the VPS, create an application user and database, and take a restorable dump.
Read guide →Put an app behind Nginx with a free HTTPS certificate
Proxy a domain to an app on a local port, issue a Let's Encrypt certificate with Certbot and confirm automatic renewal.
Read guide →Automate encrypted off-server backups with restic
Back up to a second server over SFTP with restic, encrypt everything, schedule it with a systemd timer and prove you can restore.
Read guide →Troubleshoot Nginx 502 and 504 errors
Follow a request from Nginx to your application, read the error log, check ports, services, SELinux and timeouts and fix the common causes.
Read guide →Turn on automatic security updates
Configure unattended-upgrades on Ubuntu and dnf-automatic on AlmaLinux, decide about automatic reboots and check that updates really happen.
Read guide →FAQ
Questions.
Quick answers.
VPS or shared hosting for WordPress?
Shared hosting is simpler: the platform handles most maintenance. A VPS gives more control and resources, and you maintain it.
How much memory does WordPress need?
2 GB is comfortable for one site. A small site can run on 1 GB with tuning and swap.
Can I move an existing site?
Yes. Copy the files and the database, test with a hosts-file entry, then change DNS.