PHP versions and default limits

PHP versions

Versions available	5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4 and 8.5
Default for new accounts	PHP 8.2
Recommended	The newest version your website supports. PHP 8.2 to 8.4 suits WordPress and most modern apps.
How many versions at once	One version for your whole account, including addon domains and subdomains
Web server	LiteSpeed

Change your version in cPanel under Software → Select PHP Version. See Changing your PHP version and settings.

Caution

PHP versions older than 8.1 no longer get security updates from the PHP project. We keep them so old scripts can still run, but we recommend upgrading your site.

Default PHP limits

You can change all of these yourself in Select PHP Version → Options.

Setting	Default	Highest you can choose
memory_limit	512 MB	2 GB
upload_max_filesize	512 MB	2 GB
post_max_size	512 MB	2 GB
max_execution_time	60 seconds	Any value
max_input_time	600 seconds	Any value
max_input_vars	10000	Any value
date.timezone	UTC	Any time zone, e.g. Africa/Lagos
display_errors	Off
log_errors	On
allow_url_fopen	On

PHP settings can’t go beyond your plan’s resources. For example, a script can’t use 2 GB of memory if your plan has less RAM. See PHP memory limit vs your plan’s RAM.

Extensions and caching

• Extensions: over 100 PHP extensions are available, including imagick, intl, redis, memcached, ioncube_loader and sourceguardian. Turn them on in Select PHP Version → Extensions.
• OPcache speeds up PHP and is available on every version. See Enabling PHP opcode caching.
• Redis and Memcached are available in cPanel for object caching. See Enabling the Redis extension for PHP.

Security

Every account runs in its own isolated environment (CloudLinux CageFS), and PHP files are scanned for malware in real time. On shared hosting, a few PHP features may be restricted to protect the server and other customers. If your app needs a function that’s blocked, open a support ticket and tell us which one.

Need full control of PHP, including your own php.ini and several PHP versions side by side? A Managed VPS gives you your own server.