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One install, many sites

WordPress Multisite Hosting

A Multisite network is one WordPress installation serving many sites. Whether your host can run it comes down to three things: wildcard DNS, wildcard SSL, and how many PHP processes the whole network has to share. We publish all three numbers.

  • Wildcard SSL issued automatically
  • Subdirectory, subdomain or mapped domains
  • Published worker and inode limits
  • Free migration
See the plans Compare the three modes
One WordPress install serving three subsites from a shared resource pool ONE WORDPRESS INSTALL Multisite network SUBSITE site1.example.com SUBSITE example.com/site2 MAPPED DOMAIN clientsite.com ONE SHARED RESOURCE POOL Every subsite draws from the same PHP workers, memory and inodes. Adding a subsite does not add capacity. Ten quiet sites cost little; two busy ones can use the whole account.
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Pick before you install

Three network types, three sets of requirements

WordPress asks you to choose the URL structure during setup, and changing it afterwards is awkward. Each one asks something different of the server, which is why some hosts support one and not the others.

example.com/site2/

Subdirectory

Subsites live as folders under your main domain. The simplest option to run and the one with the fewest server requirements.

  • Works on standard Apache with mod_rewrite
  • No wildcard DNS needed
  • Your existing SSL certificate covers it

Supported on every plan.

site1.example.com

Subdomain

Each subsite gets its own subdomain. This is the option that rules out many cheap hosts, because it needs two things they do not offer.

  • Needs a wildcard DNS record for the domain
  • Needs a wildcard SSL certificate
  • Both are available here at no extra cost

Supported on every plan.

clientsite.com

Mapped domains

Each subsite uses a completely separate domain. Common for agencies running client sites from one network.

  • Each domain is added to the hosting account
  • Each domain needs its own SSL certificate
  • Counts against the website limit on your plan

Supported, within your plan limit.

What multisite actually costs a server

Adding a subsite does not add capacity

This is the single most misunderstood part of Multisite, and it decides whether your network stays healthy as it grows.

One pool of PHP workers

Your account runs a fixed number of PHP processes at once: 30 on WP Bronze, 40 on Silver, 50 on Gold. That pool serves the entire network. Ten low-traffic subsites barely touch it. Two busy ones can occupy all of it, and then every subsite slows down together.

Database tables multiply

WordPress creates a separate set of tables for each subsite you add. A network of fifty subsites carries roughly fifty times the table count of a single site. It works, but backups take longer and queries against the network get heavier as the count climbs.

Inodes are the quiet limit

Every subsite brings its own uploads directory. The file count, not the file size, is what runs out first on a large network. Plans here allow 250,000, 400,000 and 600,000 inodes, and the figure is published rather than discovered when a write fails.

Subsites are not addon domains

Subdirectory and subdomain subsites all live under your one main domain, so they do not consume the website allowance on your plan. Only mapped domains do, because each one is a separate domain on the account. This is worth knowing before you pay for a bigger plan than you need.

Three sizes

Which plan fits your network?

Size by the busiest moment across the whole network, not by the number of subsites. Wildcard SSL, staging, daily offsite backups and a dedicated IP are on all three.

WP Bronze

A first network, or a handful of quiet subsites.

$2.79 /month
Save 72%

US$100.44 due today for 36 months
Renews at the same price, no increase

  • Concurrent PHP workersUp to 30
  • Inodes250,000
  • Mapped domains5
  • SSD storage10 GB
  • Memory2 GB
  • Wildcard SSLIncluded

Pick this if: Fits a small network where subsites are low traffic, such as a set of department or event sites under one brand.

Choose WP Bronze

30-day money-back guarantee

Most chosen

WP Silver

A growing network with real traffic on several subsites.

$3.79 /month
Save 68%

US$136.44 due today for 36 months
Renews at the same price, no increase

  • Concurrent PHP workersUp to 40
  • Inodes400,000
  • Mapped domains10
  • SSD storage20 GB
  • Memory3 GB
  • Wildcard SSLIncluded

Pick this if: The usual agency choice: several client subsites, a few of them genuinely busy, with room to map client domains.

Choose WP Silver

30-day money-back guarantee

WP Gold

Larger networks and heavier media libraries.

$4.79 /month
Save 65%

US$172.44 due today for 36 months
Renews at the same price, no increase

  • Concurrent PHP workersUp to 50
  • Inodes600,000
  • Mapped domains25
  • SSD storage50 GB
  • Memory4 GB
  • Wildcard SSLIncluded

Pick this if: Choose this when subsite count is high, uploads are heavy, or you map many separate client domains into one network.

Choose WP Gold

30-day money-back guarantee

About the mapped domain count: subdirectory and subdomain subsites run under your main domain and do not count against this number. You only use the allowance when a subsite gets its own separate domain. A network of forty subdomain subsites fits on WP Bronze as far as domains are concerned; whether it fits on worker count and inodes is the question the two highlighted rows answer.

Want the longer technical write-up first? Our multisite hosting guide covers network architecture, database growth and the readiness checklist in full.

The other option

Multisite or reseller hosting?

Agencies ask this constantly, and the honest answer is that they solve different problems. Multisite shares one installation; reseller hosting keeps accounts separate.

 
WordPress Multisite
Reseller hosting
Updates
One core, themes and plugins updated once for the whole network. This is the main reason to choose it.
Each account updated separately, or through a management tool you run yourself.
Isolation
None between subsites. A plugin conflict or a compromise affects the entire network.
Each customer is a separate cPanel account with its own files, database and limits.
Resources
One shared pool of workers and memory for every subsite together.
Limits applied per account, so one busy customer does not drain the others.
Handing a site over
Awkward. Exporting one subsite out of a network takes real work.
Straightforward. The account moves as a unit.
Best fit
Sites you control that share a design and plugin set: brands, campuses, event or franchise sites.
Client sites that are billed separately and may leave one day. See reseller hosting.

Before you order

Multisite questions we get.

Reviewed by Adnan Canturk, Founder of Ahosting with 24 years in web hosting. Last updated:

Yes, all three network types run on our shared WordPress plans. Subdirectory mode needs nothing special. Subdomain mode needs a wildcard DNS record and a wildcard SSL certificate, both of which we provide at no extra cost. Mapped domains need each domain added to the account, which uses your plan website allowance. The limit is not whether Multisite runs, it is how much traffic the shared resource pool can absorb.

Yes. Wildcard certificates covering all subsites are issued automatically through our AutoSSL integration with Let's Encrypt, at no additional charge, and renewed without you doing anything. This is the requirement that rules out a lot of cheap shared hosting, so it is worth confirming with any host you compare us against.

WordPress itself sets no limit, and neither do we by count. The real limit is the resource pool your network shares: 30, 40 or 50 concurrent PHP workers depending on the plan, plus the inode allowance of 250,000, 400,000 or 600,000 files. Forty quiet subsites can be comfortable while five busy ones are not, so size by expected simultaneous traffic rather than subsite count.

Only mapped domains do. Subdirectory and subdomain subsites live under your main domain and use none of the allowance, so a large subdomain network fits on the entry plan as far as domains are concerned. The allowance is consumed when a subsite gets its own separate domain, because that domain is added to the hosting account.

If the sites share a design and plugin set and you control all of them, Multisite saves real time because you update once. If the sites belong to clients who are billed separately and might leave, reseller hosting is the better structure: each account is isolated, limits apply per account, and handing a site over is straightforward. Exporting a single subsite out of a network is genuinely awkward.

It affects everything. Subsites share one WordPress installation, one file tree and one resource pool, so a plugin conflict, a runaway process or a compromise is a network-wide event rather than a contained one. That lack of isolation is the trade you accept in return for updating everything once, and it is the main reason to choose reseller hosting instead for unrelated client sites.

Yes, migration is free. Tell us the current host and the network type and we will move it, including the wildcard DNS and SSL setup on this side, then verify subsites against the original with you before changing DNS. Networks are more involved than single sites, so give us the details up front and we will tell you honestly if anything in your setup will not carry over.

Not on shared plans. Neither service runs on our shared platform and the PHP extensions are not loaded. Large networks that genuinely need an object cache belong on a VPS, where you install and size it yourself with root access. We would rather say this plainly than let you discover it after ordering.

Ready when you are

Run the network, not the server

Wildcard DNS and wildcard SSL are handled here, the worker and inode limits are published rather than hidden, and if your network has outgrown shared hosting we will say so instead of selling you a plan that cannot hold it.

  • Wildcard SSL at no extra cost
  • Free migration, network included
  • 30-day money-back guarantee

Multisite networks start from

$2.79 /month

WP Bronze on a 36-month term. Renews at the same price, no increase.

Order WP Silver Compare all three plans

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