Version 3.5.0 is one of our most impactful releases yet. From the introduction of Pay-Per-Use (PPU) pricing and six new site plans to CDN support and a redesigned usage experience, this update brings power, flexibility, and smarter site management to your workflow.
Let’s dig into what’s new, what’s better, and what’s been fixed in InstaWP v3.5.0.
⚙️ What’s New?
#1 – Pay-Per-Use (PPU) Pricing Is Live
PPU is now the default pricing model for InstaWP users. Only pay for the resources you actually consume, no more unused limits or wasted potential. Any new user signing up for the InstaWP environment will be by default in the pay-per-use plan. If any customer wants to shift to any other plan, he/she can shift from the PPU plan.
The Free Tier still exists, but you can now have up to 3 active sites, each available for 48 hours, in your account. Also for free site users will not be able to use the map domain, git deployment, and run command option.
Note: A credit card is now required to use any resources, even under PPU.
#2 – Introducing Six Site Plans
We’ve added six new plans to better fit different use cases:
- Sandbox
- Starter
- Plus
- Pro
- Turbo
- Elite
Each plan comes with a unique combination of disk space, CPU, and worker allocations, giving you the right environment, whether you’re testing a theme or running high-performance demos. It’s not customizable from the users’ end, but we are open to customization requests at our support.
#3 – CDN Support for Various Plans
From the Starter plan and up, your sites are now served via CDN, offering faster load times and smoother performance across geographies. It’s especially helpful when showcasing demos to global users or running heavy test environments.
#4 – Usage Tab & Resource Insights
You’ll now find a Usage tab under Subscription, providing a detailed breakdown of:
- Site time
- Storage usage
- Costs based on usage
The dropdown during site creation also shows estimated resource costs for total transparency.
#5 – Workflow Updates according to site plan
Site plans are added to all the pages including the import site page, Templates, snapshots, etc. The InstaWP Connect Plugin page now displays available site plans during confirmation. Creating a Snapshot Site now requires plan selection.
#6 – Mandatory Credit Card
To streamline billing and prevent misuse, InstaWP now requires a credit card on file to access any resources — including site creation, even under the Free or Pay-Per-Use plans. This ensures smoother activations, better cost control, and a more secure environment for all users.
Improvements
#1 – Reserved Sites Renamed to Permanent Sites
We’ve renamed “Reserved Sites” to Permanent Sites to better reflect their behavior. These are sites that don’t auto-expire and are retained indefinitely (as long as they’re deleted manually). The new term helps reduce confusion when managing multiple site types under various plans.
Note: For new users, who see site plans, site status is no longer selectable.
#2 – Updated Free Site Limits
To align with the new Pay-Per-Use (PPU) model, InstaWP now limits free sites to 10 total per user. Each free site lasts 48 hours, providing just enough time for testing or showcasing without overloading the platform. This change helps ensure fairness and performance across the board.
#3 – Mega Menu Support in 2-Way Sync
The 2-Way Sync feature now fully supports the popular Mega Menu plugin. This ensures complex navigation structures can be reliably synced between your local and InstaWP environments. So, no more broken menus or missing links during staging!
Other Improvements:
- PPU Users cannot choose between Permanent or Temporary; site duration is handled automatically.
- Usage dropdown now clearly displays resources and associated costs.
- The Subscription page now shows a breakdown of resource consumption.
- Tooltip texts added to PHP config variables for better clarity.
- 2-Way Sync now supports the Mega Menu plugin.
- General UI/UX and navigation improvements across the dashboard.
Fixes & Stability Enhancements
- Fixed auto-redirection issues with Templates and Snapshots.
- Template status filtering now works properly on the index page.
- Resolved caching glitches on the site detail page.
- Optimized event logs for syncing user roles.
Conclusion
InstaWP 3.5.0 gives you more control, greater transparency, and the flexibility to scale your workflows. Whether you’re spinning up a quick test or launching multiple environments for clients, this release is built to support every scenario — smarter, faster, and more streamlined.
