What WordPress Actually Requires

What the Minimums Actually Mean

The version numbers above are not suggestions. WordPress will run on older software. The project notes that PHP 7.4 and MySQL 5.5.5 still technically function. But those versions have reached official end-of-life and no longer receive security patches. Running WordPress on end-of-life server software exposes your site to known vulnerabilities that will not be fixed upstream. In practical terms, this means checking your hosting environment before installing or updating WordPress. A small charity migrating its website from a drag-and-drop page builder to WordPress, for example, needs to confirm that the hosting plan it already pays for meets these requirements. Many shared hosting plans still default to older PHP versions unless you manually switch in the control panel. If your current plan does not offer PHP 8.3, you will need to either upgrade your plan or move to a provider whose stack meets the current minimums. The HTTPS requirement is non-negotiable. WordPress core enforces it. Most hosting categories now include an SSL certificate, but verify that yours activates automatically and renews without manual intervention. A certificate that silently expires takes your site offline.

Beyond the Minimums

Meeting the minimum requirements gets WordPress running. Running it well takes more. Memory allocation matters: site owners on hosting forums commonly suggest 128 MB as a starting point of PHP memory or more, but sites with multiple active plugins, page builders, or complex themes commonly require 256 MB. If your hosting control panel shows the PHP memory limit set below 128 MB, expect slow admin screens and occasional white-screen errors on heavier pages. Disk space depends entirely on your content. A text-focused blog needs far less storage than a photography portfolio or an online store with thousands of product images. Caching and server-level optimisation make a measurable difference to page load time but fall outside the WordPress minimum specification. Managed WordPress hosting plans in the industry typically include server-side caching, automatic updates, and staging environments. Shared plans generally do not, though they cost less. VPS plans give you full control to configure caching yourself, but you are also responsible for keeping the server software updated to meet WordPress's evolving requirements. The wizard on this page helps you determine whether a shared, managed, or VPS plan best matches your WordPress project's actual demands based on your traffic volume and technical comfort level.

WordPress updates its requirements periodically. Always check wordpress.org/about/requirements before purchasing or upgrading a hosting plan.