WordPress VPS Hosting: Your Site on Its Own Server

WordPress is the open-source (GPL) publishing software behind a large share of the web's sites and blogs. Choose it with a plan, pay, and we build the VPS (KVM, NVMe, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS) and install it in about three minutes after boot. WordPress's install screen is completed on the server before the site goes public, so nobody else can claim it. You get:

• WordPress 7.1 on PHP 8.3 and Apache, with a MariaDB database, pretty permalinks on and uploads of up to 256 MB.
• An HTTPS address like site-k3x9q2.devoster.app with a Let's Encrypt certificate. The address starts with site- rather than the product's name because WordPress's trademark policy keeps the mark out of domain names; connect your own domain whenever you are ready.
• Your administrator account already created. You log in at /wp-admin/ with your account email and a generated password shown in the Devoster dashboard. The username is based on your email, not the "admin" that bots guess, and public registration is off.
• Dashboard controls to open the site, reset the administrator password, restart, stop or start it, read its logs, run an update and connect your own domain.

The software is free; you pay only the VPS plan, with 10% off yearly. The server comes with full root, free nightly backups kept 3 days plus one snapshot, a dedicated IPv4, 1 Gbps with unlimited bandwidth and DDoS protection. Already have a Devoster VPS? You can install WordPress on it from VPS Control, after the panel checks the OS, free ports 80/443 and disk, or reinstall the server with it, at no charge. Other apps that install this way are on the One-Click Apps page.

Devoster sells two kinds of hosting for WordPress, and they suit different people:

Pick the VPS when you want root access, your own resources, custom PHP or server settings, or other software running next to the site. Pick the hosting plans when you would rather not look after a server at all. If you are moving an existing site either way, our guide to moving a WordPress site to a new host walks through it.

The install sizes itself to the plan: the number of PHP workers (how many uncached page requests run at once) and MariaDB's memory are set from the server's RAM, and recalculated when you upgrade. As a rough guide, not a guarantee, since themes and plugins vary a lot:

A page-caching plugin makes the biggest difference on any plan, because cached pages skip PHP and the database. You can upgrade from the panel later, but plans are not shrunk in place.

Outbound mail ports are blocked by default on Devoster VPS plans and no mail service is set up, so WordPress's own emails don't send. That affects "Lost your password?", new-user notifications, comment alerts and contact-form or shop emails. What to do instead:

• Your own password: reset it from the Devoster dashboard. The reset also signs that account out everywhere, which is also how you undo a takeover.
• Other users' passwords: as administrator, open Users, edit the person and use "Set New Password", then tell them yourself.
• To make WordPress send email (forms, WooCommerce orders, resets): install a mail plugin that sends through your email provider's HTTPS API, which works as is. Or use the provider's SMTP server and ask us to open its submission port; it is opened on request after approval.

The theme and plugin file editor is off. Editing PHP in the browser is a common way for one stolen password to become a hacked server, so it is disabled. Installing, updating and deleting themes and plugins from wp-admin all work as usual; for code changes, edit files over SFTP or SSH in /opt/devoster/data/wordpress.

• Connect your domain from the dashboard, which shows the CNAME or A record to add. Once it is verified, it becomes the site's address with its own HTTPS certificate, links stored in your posts and settings are rewritten from the site- address to your domain automatically, and the old address redirects to the new one.
• www and the bare domain: decide which one is the site's address before you connect it, and point the other at it at your DNS provider or with a redirect.
• Moving an existing site in: use the migration or backup plugin of your choice (uploads up to 256 MB go through wp-admin), or copy files and the database over SSH for bigger sites. Bring the site in while it is still on the site- address, check it, and switch DNS last.

WordPress itself: minor (security) releases install automatically, as on any WordPress. Major versions, themes and plugins you update from wp-admin when you are ready, which keeps you in control of plugin compatibility.

The server side: we check new versions of the PHP, Apache and MariaDB images the install uses and apply them in a maintenance hour you choose, or when you press Update now. A snapshot of the VPS is taken first, any pending database upgrade is run, and if the site doesn't come back healthy the server is rolled back automatically.

Backups: nightly backups (kept 3 days) and your snapshot slot cover the whole VPS. For a shop or a site you update often, also keep your own copies off the server with a backup plugin or over SSH.

The server is unmanaged: you have full root, and plugin choices, updates and security are your responsibility. Outdated plugins are the most common way into a WordPress site, so update them, remove the ones you don't use, and spend an hour on our VPS hardening checklist.