With the release of InstaWP v3, the platform has gone beyond staging. It now offers a complete, production-grade hosting stack designed for developers, agencies, and power users.
This isn’t just a feature upgrade. It’s a complete transformation of how WordPress environments are created, managed, secured, and hosted. Whether you’re a developer building client sites, a DevOps engineer maintaining workflows, or an agency spinning up launch-ready templates, InstaWP v3 gives you a powerful foundation that adapts to your needs.
This blog is your technical primer for InstaWP v3. If you’re already using InstaWP or considering it, this guide will walk you through everything you’re getting—layer by layer, feature by feature.
Table of Contents
From v2 to v3: A Side-by-Side Comparison
InstaWP v3 isn’t just an iteration—it’s a complete architectural shift. While the earlier version (v2, also referred to as InstaWP Live) served as a fast, developer-friendly staging layer, it relied on external hosting infrastructure and had limitations in terms of pricing flexibility, server configuration, and production-readiness.
With v3, InstaWP now operates on a native, bare-metal architecture under the wp.cloud domain, unlocking massive improvements in speed, security, scalability, and developer control.
Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the core infrastructure upgrades:
| Component | v2 | v3 – Native Hosting (wp.cloud) |
| Infrastructure | Third-party cloud hosting | Custom bare-metal hosting via wp.cloud |
| Compute | Standard shared VMs | DigitalOcean Premium Droplets (AMD EPYC / Intel Xeon, NVMe SSDs, 10 Gbps) |
| Web Server | Nginx only | Nginx + Apache (hybrid for TLS, static, dynamic) |
| Edge CDN | Third-party, limited PoPs | Bunny CDN with 10–119 global PoPs |
| Security | Manual WAF, basic TLS | Bunny Shield with WAF, DDoS protection, bot detection |
| Pricing | Flat plans, limited resources | Usage-based billing + configurable addons |
| Performance Tuning | Basic | Region-aware, Brotli/GZIP, HTTP/3, full control over php.ini |
| Upgrades | Manual | Zero-downtime restarts, one-click scaling |
Why this matters for you:
- You get true hosting control, not just sandbox access.
- Your site is isolated at the system level, improving security and performance.
- You can scale up or down instantly, without downtime or complex migrations.
- Your WordPress projects can now go from dev to production on the same platform.
Whether you’re managing 5 client blogs or a WooCommerce store with 50K SKUs, InstaWP v3 gives you the freedom and performance of a full-stack WordPress host, without the overhead.
The New Hosting Architecture Explained (Layer by Layer)
At the heart of InstaWP v3 is a tightly integrated, performance-optimized architecture, designed to deliver staging and production experiences without compromise. Every request to your site now travels through a high-speed, secure, and tunable infrastructure that balances global delivery, backend efficiency, and developer flexibility.
Here’s how the stack looks end-to-end:
User ⇄ BunnyCDN Edge ⇄ Bunny Shield (WAF/DDoS) ⇄ Nginx (TLS 1.3) ⇄ Apache ⇄ PHP-FPM ⇄ MariaDB ⇄ NVMe SSD
Let’s walk through each layer to see what it does—and how it’s different from v2.
1. Edge Layer – BunnyCDN + Shield
This is the first layer that a visitor’s request hits. It determines how fast your site loads around the world and whether malicious traffic gets filtered before it even reaches your WordPress server.
BunnyCDN is a lightning-fast content delivery network with:
- 10 global PoPs (Basic Tier) for smaller or regional sites
- 119 global PoPs (Premium Tier) for large-scale, global audiences
Check the price plans.
Your site’s static assets (images, CSS, JS) are cached at these edge locations, reducing load times and improving user experience, especially on mobile and for international traffic.
Bunny Shield is a security service sitting in front of your origin server:
- Blocks DDoS attacks automatically (Layer 7 mitigation in under 10ms)
- Includes a Managed Web Application Firewall (WAF) with real-time rules based on OWASP Top 10 threats
- Identifies bots using behavior-based fingerprinting (not just IP blocking)
- Offers a frictionless experience—no intrusive CAPTCHAs or false positives
This layer replaces the need for third-party tools like Cloudflare or Sucuri. Everything is natively built into your hosting, which simplifies setup and ensures top-tier speed and security from the first second.
2. Web Layer – Nginx + Apache (Hybrid Architecture)
This layer handles both secure connections (HTTPS), static file delivery, and dynamic WordPress content generation.
InstaWP v3 uses a hybrid model:
- Nginx (the front-end gatekeeper):
- Handles all TLS/SSL termination (via TLS 1.3)
- Supports HTTP/2 and HTTP/3
- Manages compression (Brotli and GZIP)
- Performs smart asset caching and revalidation at the edge
- Handles all TLS/SSL termination (via TLS 1.3)
- Apache 2.4 (Event MPM) (the backend worker):
- Processes dynamic PHP requests (e.g., rendering blog posts or checkout pages)
- Supports .htaccess files (essential for many plugins like Yoast, WooCommerce)
- Communicates with PHP-FPM via proxy_fcgi for fast execution
- Processes dynamic PHP requests (e.g., rendering blog posts or checkout pages)
This hybrid approach combines Nginx’s speed with Apache’s flexibility, ensuring excellent performance without breaking compatibility with plugins that rely on .htaccess, redirects, or mod_rewrite rules. It’s ideal for everything from simple blogs to WooCommerce powerhouses. You now get speed and compatibility.
3. PHP Runtime – Tuned for WordPress
The PHP layer is where WordPress runs. InstaWP v3 gives you control, speed, and modularity.
Key upgrades include:
- PHP 8.0 as the default, with support for PHP 7.4, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, and even 8.4 (pre-release)
- Each site can choose its own PHP version—no global limitation
- OPcache memory is assigned per PHP worker, reducing execution time
- A custom PHP.ini editor per site allows you to override memory limits, file sizes, execution time, and other settings.
- Dozens of PHP modules available: imagick, redis, ionCube Loader, memcache, pdo_mysql, intl, curl, and more
Whether you’re running a lightweight portfolio or a plugin-rich membership site, you get a fast, isolated, and configurable PHP runtime tailored to your app, not a one-size-fits-all shared setup.
4. Database & Storage – MariaDB on NVMe SSDs
InstaWP now uses MariaDB for all site databases—fully compatible with WordPress. Databases are stored on NVMe SSDs for high-speed reads/writes.
Key specs:
- MariaDB (fully compatible with MySQL)
- Hosted on NVMe SSDs — the fastest disk type available
- Supports real-time query processing and caching for heavy workloads
- Backups available: Daily, weekly, monthly, depending on your plan
- One-click restore into the same region for low-latency recovery
Slow database reads are one of the biggest bottlenecks in WordPress performance. With NVMe drives and regional optimization, your site’s backend remains snappy, even under traffic spikes.
Edge Delivery & CDN Tiers: Built-in Speed, Everywhere
One of the most impactful upgrades in InstaWP v3 is the native integration of a global Content Delivery Network (CDN)—designed to make your WordPress sites load faster no matter where your visitors are located.
This isn’t an optional add-on or a third-party recommendation. Every site on v3 comes with built-in CDN coverage powered by BunnyCDN, and the tier you get depends on your plan.
Let’s break it down:
Basic Tier CDN – 10 PoPs (Starter Plan)
Included with the Starter Plan ($5/month), the Basic Tier is ideal for:
- Staging environments
- Low-traffic blogs
- Small business sites with a local or regional audience
Learn more about Basic Tier.
Here’s what you get:
- Caching across 10 strategically placed Points of Presence (PoPs) on BunnyCDN’s “Core” network
- Sub-150ms global latency for static assets (CSS, JS, images, fonts)
- Minimal cost—no extra billing for the CDN layer
This setup ensures that even your starter sites benefit from reduced server load and faster frontend performance, without needing an external CDN provider.
Premium Tier CDN – 119 PoPs (Plus Plan and Above)
Included in the Plus Plan ($9+/month) and above, the Premium Tier is tailored for:
- High-traffic production sites
- eCommerce and global brands
- Agencies building international client sites
Here’s what’s different:
- Caching across BunnyCDN’s full SmartEdge network of 119+ global PoPs
- <50ms median TTFB (Time to First Byte) from virtually anywhere on Earth
- Instant purging, so changes reflect across the network immediately
- Unlimited edge rules for custom caching behavior
- Automatic DDoS shielding and WAF protection via Bunny Shield
View the full global PoP map here: bunny.net/network
Seamless CDN Upgrades – No DNS Changes Needed
One of the smartest things about InstaWP v3 is how CDN tier transitions are handled.
You can:
- Upgrade from Starter to Plus (or downgrade) any time
- Maintain your existing domain settings—no need to touch DNS or update your records
- Enjoy instant propagation and no site downtime during plan changes
This flexibility means you can start small, and as your traffic grows or audience expands globally, scale your edge coverage instantly without worrying about complex configurations.
Security Built In: Bunny Shield, WAF, DDoS, and Bot Protection
InstaWP v3 doesn’t just improve performance—it redefines security at the edge. By integrating Bunny Shield into the hosting layer, your WordPress sites are protected against modern web threats before they even reach your server.
Here’s a breakdown of what this means and why it matters:
Bunny Shield: Always-On Edge Security
Bunny Shield is InstaWP v3’s integrated security layer that sits directly behind the CDN. It inspects, filters, and secures traffic in real-time, shielding your site from attacks at the edge level—without requiring any additional plugins or third-party WAFs.
✅ Layer-7 DDoS Attacks
- DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks flood your site with fake traffic to bring it down.
- Shield detects and blocks these threats in under 10 milliseconds, keeping your origin server stable even during attack surges.
✅ Managed WAF (Web Application Firewall)
✅ Bot Detection & Fingerprinting
- Advanced bots can bypass basic firewalls by mimicking real browsers.
- Bunny Shield uses behavior-based fingerprinting to evaluate each request and determine if it’s a human or a bot.
- Suspicious bots are flagged for:
- Challenge Mode: Ask for validation
- Ban Mode: Blocked at edge
- Challenge Mode: Ask for validation
✅ No-CAPTCHA Experience
- Legitimate users will never see intrusive pop-ups or visual tests.
- Shield’s scoring system allows 100% transparent verification, so real visitors never feel friction, important for conversion rates and SEO.
Security in v3 is proactive, not reactive. Instead of installing multiple WordPress plugins or depending on a third-party firewall service, you get enterprise-grade protection by default, designed specifically for dynamic WordPress workloads.
There’s no need to configure anything manually. Shield works silently in the background, defending your site, improving uptime, and letting you focus on development, not fire drills.
Region-Specific Deployments, PHP Workers & Developer Controls
InstaWP v3 is not just about fast infrastructure—it’s about developer precision and global availability. With the v3 architecture, you’re in control of where your site runs, how PHP is handled, and how deeply you can integrate with your deployment workflows.
Let’s explore how this works.
Global Server Regions at Launch
With InstaWP v3, your site isn’t locked to one region. Instead, you can deploy it closer to your audience, reducing latency and improving server response times for users around the world.
Available regions:
- 🇺🇸 United States (San Francisco)
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom (London)
- 🇩🇪 Germany (Frankfurt)
- 🇦🇺 Australia (Sydney)
- 🇸🇬 Singapore
You can select the region at the time of site creation. This makes v3 ideal for regional agencies, international client work, or even performance testing in multiple geos.
PHP Workers: Site-Level Execution Scaling
Each site runs with at least one dedicated PHP worker, which is a single process that handles WordPress requests.
- Each worker has around 512 MB of memory allocated.
- PHP workers are dedicated per site, ensuring predictable performance.
- For busier sites, you can add more workers as needed (scales with your plan).
This approach avoids the “shared hosting” bottleneck where multiple sites compete for execution threads. Every WordPress site gets its own processing power—ideal for WooCommerce, LMS, and logged-in user activity.
Developer-Friendly Software Configuration
InstaWP v3 gives you full control over critical parts of the WordPress environment—no hacks, no FTP uploads.
✅ .htaccess Support
- Enabled and fully functional—thanks to the Apache backend.
- Works out-of-the-box for: Custom redirects, Plugin rewrite rules, and Access control
- Essential for SEO and many plugins (like Yoast, Redirection, and security tools).
✅ php.ini Overrides
- Available inside your InstaWP dashboard
- Customize key PHP flags per site: memory_limit, upload_max_filesize, max_execution_time,and more.
- No need to edit server files or contact support.
✅ WP-CLI Access
- One-click terminal console inside the dashboard or connect via SSH: ssh user@site.instawp.site
- Run core updates, manage plugins, reset passwords, and automate tasks—all from the command line. Here is how you can run WP CLI commands on InstaWP.
✅ Git-Based Deployment
- Push to your private Git repo on InstaWP: git@instawp.site:repo.git
- A post-receive hook automatically triggers an atomic release, meaning zero-downtime deployment with rollback safety.
✅ Logs
Live tail view from the dashboard for real-time debugging. 7-day retention via SSH for server-level access and troubleshooting
✅ Backups
Site plans include scheduled backups at different frequencies:
- Starter: Weekly
- Plus: Daily
- Turbo: Daily + coming support for versioning
One-click restore to the same region—no reconfiguration needed.
This blend of flexibility and control is what makes InstaWP v3 feel more like a developer platform than a basic WordPress host. Whether you prefer GUI clicks or terminal commands, you can build and ship the way you work best.
Billing, Add-ons & Resource Control: Smarter Pricing in v3
One of the most important changes introduced in InstaWP v3 is its shift from flat-tier pricing to flexible, usage-based billing. Instead of paying for resources you may never use, you now pay only for what your site consumes, while still having the option to scale up instantly when needed.
This approach is designed for agencies, developers, and power users who build varied types of sites, from lightweight landing pages to full-scale eCommerce platforms.
Daily Metered Billing
InstaWP v3 charges you based on daily usage, with pro-rated invoicing:
- Each site is billed per day of uptime.
- Invoices are generated at the end of your billing period.
- You can pause or delete sites at any time to stop billing.
This makes it easier to experiment with staging environments, temporary client demos, or development branches without long-term commitments.
Pick a Site Class, Then Customize
Each WordPress site on v3 starts with a base plan (site class)—like Starter, Plus, or Turbo. This defines your included resources (disk space, CDN tier, PHP workers, backups). From there, you can add or upgrade features depending on what your project demands.
Examples:
Add-Ons: Pay Only for What You Need
Add-ons in v3 are designed to help you expand your infrastructure without upsizing the entire plan. Current and upcoming add-ons include:
- Additional disk space
- Extra backup frequency or retention
- More PHP workers for concurrency scaling
This gives you the granularity to manage costs effectively while scaling performance for real-world usage.
To help you get started, InstaWP offers $25 in free credits the moment you add your card to your account.
This means:
- You can run a Starter site for nearly 5 months for free
- Or try out a Turbo-class production setup without any financial risk
- You won’t be charged until the credits are exhausted
The bottom line?
You only pay for what you need, when you need it—without sacrificing speed, security, or flexibility.
Site Management Tools: What You Get with InstaWP v3 (Beyond Hosting)
InstaWP v3 comes with powerful built-in tools to manage, monitor, and secure their WordPress sites without needing dozens of plugins or external dashboards.
From the Plus Plan upward, every site includes a full suite of advanced site management features—automatically activated via the InstaWP Connect plugin, which comes pre-installed.
Here’s what’s included:
- Performance monitoring that can track your site’s Core Web Vitals, response time, and overall uptime, identify slow-loading pages or plugins that are affecting load speed, and get alerts when performance drops below your configured threshold.
- Perform uptime monitoring to ensure it’s always online. If downtime is detected, you’ll receive real-time alerts, so you can act quickly.
- Run a vulnerability scan to automatically scan for known plugin, theme, and core vulnerabilities. It notifies you if any components are out-of-date or flagged as insecure and helps you stay ahead of emerging threats, without relying solely on plugin authors.
Alongside security and performance, the InstaWP Connect module includes 20+ advanced controls such as Auto-Update Scheduler, Bulk Plugin Management, etc.
Explore the full feature list here.
Migrating from v2 to v3: How to Transition Your Site Seamlessly
If you’re an existing InstaWP user running sites on the older InstaWP Live (v2) infrastructure, moving to v3 is straightforward—and highly recommended. With native hosting, advanced performance, and granular billing now available, upgrading ensures your sites are ready for production and long-term scalability.
The migration path has been intentionally designed to be smooth, secure, and flexible.
1. Export Your Existing Site
Use one of InstaWP’s supported migration tools (like Duplicator, All-in-One WP Migration, or InstaWP’s own migration flow) to export your site from v2.
Alternatively, head to migrate.instawp.com to initiate an assisted migration.
2. Spin Up a New v3 Site
Create a new site on v3 infrastructure directly from your InstaWP dashboard.
- Choose the site plan that suits your needs (Starter, Plus, Turbo)
- Pick the closest server region to your users
- Set your PHP version and config if needed
3. Import Your Site into v3
- Restore the exported package into your new v3 environment
- Validate that all plugins, themes, and configurations work as expected
- Use the real-time activity logs to debug if necessary
4. Switch DNS or Use ALIAS Record
Once you’re satisfied with the v3 setup:
- Update your DNS records to point to the new site
OR - Use InstaWP’s free ALIAS record to route traffic instantly without touching your nameservers
This ensures zero-downtime cutover for your audience.
5. De-provision v2 Site
After monitoring traffic and verifying that the new site is fully operational, you can safely delete or archive your v2 instance.
This final step ensures you’re not billed for two active sites unnecessarily.
Since you’re creating a duplicate site on v3 first and testing it before switching DNS, the process is fully reversible. This is especially useful for:
- Client sites where downtime isn’t an option
- Heavily customized builds that need testing on new PHP versions
- Agencies juggling multiple migrations
Did You Know: Agency partners can also request free, human-led migration or setup assistance—just one of the many perks included in our Agency Program.
What’s Coming Next in InstaWP v3 (Roadmap Highlights)
InstaWP v3 already offers a robust, scalable, and secure platform for WordPress development and production hosting, but the roadmap ahead is even more exciting. The team is actively building features that enhance performance, developer workflows, and automation, based directly on community feedback.
Here’s what’s coming soon:
Redis Object Caching
- Native Redis cache integration to boost dynamic performance.
- Ideal for WooCommerce, LMS platforms, membership sites, and high-traffic blogs.
- Will reduce page generation time and improve server efficiency under load.
Image Optimization Engine (Pro Plan and Above)
- Built-in image optimization for faster load times and lower bandwidth usage.
- Will support next-gen formats (like AVIF and WebP), compression control, and auto-scaling.
- No need for third-party plugins or external image CDNs.
Wrapping Up: InstaWP v3 Is More Than a Hosting Upgrade
InstaWP v3 is more than just a better stack—it’s a new standard for how WordPress development, staging, and production environments should be managed.
You now get:
- Global edge speed
- Predictable, usage-based billing
- Zero-downtime deployments
- One-click tools for debugging, scaling, and restoring
- And most importantly, the freedom to build and launch sites your way
Whether you’re an agency, freelancer, or product builder, InstaWP v3 is the infrastructure upgrade that meets you where you are—and grows with you.
Ready to try InstaWP v3?
Spin up a sandbox in under 10 seconds, then graduate it to production when you’re happy with the stack — all on usage-based billing.
FAQs
Q1. How is usage metered in InstaWP v3?
InstaWP uses daily billing. Each active site is charged per day (with a 1-day minimum). Invoices are calculated and raised at the end of your billing period based on actual usage.
Q2. Do I still need Cloudflare with v3?
It’s completely optional. InstaWP v3 includes Bunny Shield, which already handles SSL, WAF, and DDoS protection. However, you may still choose to use Cloudflare for DNS management or specific edge rules if needed.
