For a new WordPress site in 2026, choose PHP 8.4 or 8.5 when your host supports it, with PHP 8.3 as the minimum recommended baseline. WordPress core needs the json, hash, and mysqli extensions; pcre is built into supported PHP releases. A production installation should also have cURL, mbstring, OpenSSL, XML, DOM, fileinfo, EXIF, ZIP, and a properly configured image stack.
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PHP 7.4 remains WordPress’s compatibility floor, not a sensible target for a new deployment. The PHP version, extensions, underlying system libraries, database, HTTPS, and memory limit must be checked together because a missing module can disable a feature even when WordPress itself appears to load.
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WordPress.org recommends PHP 8.3 or greater, MariaDB 10.11 or greater or MySQL 8.0 or greater, and HTTPS. WordPress still runs on PHP 7.4 and later, but the requirements page warns that legacy PHP releases are end-of-life and can expose sites to security vulnerabilities.
A May 22, 2026 clarification from WordPress Core contributor John Blackbourn states: “The minimum recommended version of PHP remains at 8.3. The minimum supported version is 7.4 since WordPress 7.0.” Treat those as two different thresholds: 7.4 is a compatibility floor, while 8.3 is the project’s recommendation.
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The Hosting Handbook gives a more specific production preference:
| PHP release | Status described by the Hosting Handbook | Practical decision |
|---|---|---|
| 8.5 | In active support | Use if all plugins, themes, and host components have been tested with it. |
| 8.4 | In active support and recommended for production | Best default for a new production site when compatibility testing is available. |
| 8.3 | Security-only support since December 31, 2025 | Still the recommended WordPress baseline, but plan an upgrade path. |
| 8.2 | Reaches end of life on December 31, 2026 | Acceptable only as a managed compatibility choice with a dated upgrade plan. |
| 7.4–8.1 | Below the current recommended baseline; older releases may be end-of-life | Avoid for new sites and migrate existing sites rather than standardizing on them. |
WordPress 7.0 and 7.1 require PHP 7.4 or later and are described as fully compatible with PHP 8.2 through 8.5. Compatibility does not guarantee that every third-party plugin is ready for every PHP release, so test a staging copy before changing the production interpreter.
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The Hosting Handbook identifies three extensions as core requirements. If one is absent, installation, updates, database access, or normal request processing can fail.
| Extension | What it does in a WordPress stack | What to verify |
|---|---|---|
json |
Processes JSON data and communicates with other servers. | It should appear as loaded in the PHP runtime serving the site. |
hash |
Provides cryptographically secure hashing used for passwords and update packages. | Check that the extension is enabled, not merely present in a CLI-only PHP build. |
mysqli |
Connects PHP to MySQL and MariaDB databases. | Confirm the web PHP SAPI has it; mysqlnd is a driver used by many builds but does not replace mysqli. |
pcre is built into supported PHP versions, so it normally requires no hosting-panel action. If a control panel lists it as unavailable, ask the host whether the panel is reporting the wrong PHP build rather than trying to install a separate package.
Recommended extensions for compatibility
WordPress can sometimes work without these modules, but the Hosting Handbook warns that missing preferred extensions make WordPress do more work or remove functionality. Enable the complete set where your host offers it.
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| Extension | Why it matters | Typical symptoms when missing |
|---|---|---|
curl |
Makes remote HTTP requests to services, APIs, update endpoints, and other servers. The required libcurl level varies by PHP version. | Failed update checks, REST/API connection errors, or integrations that cannot contact their endpoints. |
dom |
Validates Text Widget content and supports IIS-related configuration; it depends on libxml. | Widget validation or XML/HTML handling behaves unexpectedly. |
exif |
Reads metadata embedded in images. | Orientation and metadata-aware image workflows are less reliable. |
fileinfo |
Detects MIME types for uploaded files. | Uploads can be rejected, misidentified, or handled with weaker type detection. |
igbinary |
Provides a faster drop-in serializer replacement for supported object-cache configurations. | Cache integrations that expect it may fall back to another serializer or fail configuration checks. |
imagick |
Connects PHP to ImageMagick for higher-quality image editing, smarter resizing, and PDF thumbnails when Ghostscript is available. | More limited image editing, missing PDF previews, or quality differences. |
intl |
Supplies locale-aware formatting, transliteration, encoding operations, calendars, collation, text boundaries, time zones, and grapheme handling. | Incorrect formatting or broken internationalized text in multilingual or locale-sensitive plugins. |
mbstring |
Handles UTF-8 and other multibyte text correctly. | Truncated, miscounted, or corrupted non-ASCII text. |
openssl |
Provides TLS/SSL connections to other hosts. | Secure remote requests, package downloads, or API calls fail certificate or encryption checks. |
xml |
Parses XML supplied by third-party data sources; it depends on libxml. | Feeds, sitemaps, imports, or external XML-based integrations fail to parse. |
zip |
Decompresses plugins, themes, and WordPress update packages. | Dashboard installations and automatic updates report that archives cannot be unpacked. |
The duplicate role of hash is worth noting: it is both a core requirement and a security-related dependency used by password and package operations. Installing a second hash module is neither necessary nor a substitute for enabling the built-in extension.
Imagick, ImageMagick, and the GD fallback
For media-heavy sites, prefer the imagick PHP extension backed by ImageMagick. The Hosting Handbook recommends ImageMagick 7.1 or later. Imagick generally provides better-quality transformations, more capable resizing, and PDF thumbnail support when Ghostscript is installed.
Imagick is not a self-contained PHP file. The extension must be able to load its ImageMagick libraries, and PDF thumbnail generation also needs Ghostscript; the Handbook recommends Ghostscript 10.0 or later. A host can show imagick as enabled while the underlying command-line delegates or policy block a specific format, so test an actual upload, resize, and PDF thumbnail on staging.
If Imagick is unavailable, WordPress can fall back to the image/GD extension. GD is functionally limited compared with Imagick, so sites that rely on advanced transformations, large batch imports, or PDF previews should not treat it as equivalent.
Ask the host whether WebP and AVIF support is enabled in the image libraries as well as in PHP. The extension name alone does not prove that a particular format can be read or written.
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Object caching and bytecode caching
Choose one persistent object-cache integration
APCu, Memcached, and Redis are alternative object-cache integrations. The Hosting Handbook says only one needs to be used. Select the option your host supports and your application stack is prepared to operate; enabling several competing drop-ins can create conflicts rather than additive performance.
APCu is local to a PHP host, while Memcached and Redis are separate cache services that may be shared or remotely hosted. Whichever option you choose, verify that the PHP extension, service, authentication, and WordPress object-cache drop-in all refer to the same endpoint. A loaded extension with no reachable service does not provide a working cache.
Enable OPcache in production
OPcache stores precompiled PHP bytecode so PHP does not have to compile every script on every request. It is separate from an object cache and should normally be enabled for production. After enabling it, confirm that the web SAPI—not only the command-line interpreter—reports OPcache as active.
Optional timezone data
timezonedb is optional and supports timezone functionality. It is useful when a host’s timezone database needs an explicit update path, but it is not a replacement for setting the correct WordPress timezone under Settings → General.
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Fallback and situational modules
The Handbook lists several modules that WordPress or extensions may use only in particular environments: bc, filter, iconv, shmop, simplexml, sodium, xmlreader, and zlib. Do not remove them merely because a vanilla dashboard appears to work; plugins can activate those code paths later.
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File transfer has its own fallback chain. WordPress tries direct filesystem I/O first, then SSH2, the FTP extension, FTP over sockets, and finally pure-PHP FTP. SSH2, FTP, and socket support therefore matter mainly when the PHP process cannot write directly to the WordPress files. A host that correctly sets ownership and permissions may never need those transport extensions, while a locked-down shared environment may need one of them for updates.
System libraries that must match the PHP extensions
Ask the host to confirm both layers:
- The PHP extension is loaded in the web runtime.
- The underlying system library and its format support are installed and usable.
The relevant baseline from the Hosting Handbook is ImageMagick 7.1 or later for Imagick, Ghostscript 10.0 or later for PDF thumbnails, OpenSSL 3.0 or later, and support for WebP and AVIF. Library policies can disable formats even when the PHP extension is listed as enabled, so a functional test is more useful than a screenshot of a module list.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How much PHP memory WordPress needs
The WordPress Hosting Team’s 2026 starting points are guidelines, not guarantees. Actual usage depends on plugins, themes, traffic patterns, media processing, and the size of import or export jobs.
| PHP memory limit | Guidance | Suitable scenario |
|---|---|---|
| 128M | Minimum starting point for a vanilla installation, according to the WordPress Hosting Team in 2026. | Core with a light theme and a small plugin set. |
| 256M | Recommended default from the WordPress Hosting Team in 2026. | Most ordinary content sites with several actively maintained plugins. |
| 512M or more | Suggested for WooCommerce, page builders, multilingual plugins, or import/export workloads. | Sites with heavy administrative requests, large catalogs, or batch processing. |
These numbers describe the PHP limit, not the total server RAM. A host can also impose per-process, pool, container, or account limits. Check the effective value inside WordPress and during the heaviest operation you perform rather than assuming the value advertised in a plan is the value available to PHP.
Check the modules before changing production
Module names and PHP versions can differ between command-line PHP and the PHP-FPM or Apache process serving WordPress. Run checks in both contexts when possible.
- In a shell, run
php -vto record the CLI version andphp -mto list loaded modules. - Run
php --inito see which configuration files the CLI reads. Compare that path with the host’s PHP-FPM, Apache, or control-panel configuration. - For a focused test, run
php -r "var_dump(extension_loaded('mysqli'), extension_loaded('imagick'), extension_loaded('zip'));". - Use a temporary, access-protected PHP information page or the host’s diagnostic tool to check the web SAPI. Remove the page immediately after testing because it reveals server configuration.
- In a staging copy of the site, install a plugin, upload and resize representative JPEG, WebP, and AVIF files, request a PDF thumbnail if you need that workflow, and perform a test update. These actions expose library and permission problems that a module list cannot.
- Record the PHP version, database version, memory limit, HTTPS status, loaded extensions, and cache service before promoting the stack to production.
What to ask a host before deployment
- Can you select PHP 8.4 or 8.5, and what is your upgrade policy when a PHP branch reaches end of life?
- Are
json,hash,mysqli,curl,mbstring,openssl,xml,dom,fileinfo,exif, andzipenabled in the web PHP runtime? - Is Imagick available with ImageMagick 7.1 or later, and is Ghostscript 10.0 or later enabled for PDF thumbnails?
- Which of APCu, Memcached, or Redis is supported, and can only the selected integration be enabled for the site?
- Is OPcache active for PHP-FPM or Apache, not just for CLI commands?
- Are WebP and AVIF supported by the actual image libraries?
- Do the database and HTTPS setup meet the WordPress.org baseline of MariaDB 10.11 or later or MySQL 8.0 or later, with HTTPS?
- Can you test the complete stack on staging before changing the production PHP default?
Common failures and the right fix
“Your PHP installation appears to be missing the MySQL extension”
Check mysqli in the web SAPI first. Do not assume that installing or enabling mysqlnd alone solves the problem; the driver does not replace mysqli. If the module is loaded in CLI but not in PHP-FPM or Apache, ask the host to align the configurations.
Updates cannot unpack a plugin or theme
Verify zip, writable temporary and WordPress directories, and the selected filesystem transport. If direct I/O is unavailable, the SSH2 or FTP fallback chain must be configured with valid credentials and permissions.
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Images upload but thumbnails are poor or PDFs have no preview
Check whether WordPress is using GD because Imagick is missing, then verify ImageMagick, Ghostscript, and the format delegates underneath it. Test with a representative file rather than relying on the extension list.
Remote APIs or update checks fail over HTTPS
Confirm both curl and openssl, then check the host’s libcurl and OpenSSL libraries, certificate store, outbound firewall rules, and system clock. A PHP module can be present while the underlying TLS connection remains unusable.
Multilingual text is corrupted or formatting is wrong
Check mbstring for UTF-8 handling and intl for locale, collation, grapheme, calendar, and timezone operations. The affected plugin may also require iconv or simplexml, so inspect its documented requirements before disabling situational modules.
Bottom line for a 2026 WordPress stack
Build new sites on PHP 8.4 or 8.5 when compatibility testing permits, while treating PHP 8.3 as the minimum recommended WordPress baseline and PHP 7.4 only as the support floor. Load the core trio—json, hash, and mysqli—plus the compatibility set headed by cURL, mbstring, OpenSSL, XML, DOM, fileinfo, EXIF, and ZIP. Prefer Imagick with current ImageMagick and Ghostscript libraries, use GD only as a limited fallback, select one object-cache integration, enable OPcache, and size memory for the heaviest plugins and jobs. Have the host verify the web runtime, libraries, database, HTTPS, and cache together before you switch production.
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