Server Requirements for Membership and LMS Plugins (2026 Reference)

WordPress itself recommends that a host support PHP 8.3 or greater, MariaDB 10.11 or greater (or MySQL 8.0 or greater) and HTTPS. The membership and LMS plugins publish their own minimums, which are often lower and sometimes contradict each other. Most do not say how many members can be logged in at once, although BuddyBoss App publishes hardware tiers by concurrent app users. This page collects them from each vendor’s own documentation, with the date of every page, and then covers what none of them tell you.

Sources below are the vendors’ own documentation, checked on 19 October 2026. Citing a company’s documentation doesn’t mean it endorses this article, and product names are trademarks of their owners. Next check: by 19 January 2027.

What does WordPress itself require?

WordPress.org recommends that a host support “PHP version 8.3 or greater”, MariaDB 10.11 or greater or MySQL 8.0 or greater, and HTTPS. It says WordPress still works on PHP 7.4 and MySQL 5.5.5 or newer, but those versions have reached end of life and “may expose your site to security vulnerabilities” (WordPress.org). The page states no PHP memory limit.

Every plugin below sits on that baseline. PHP’s own support window gives you a yardstick for the plugin numbers. According to PHP’s own supported-versions page, branches 8.2, 8.3, 8.4 and 8.5 are currently supported. PHP says, “Once the four years of support are completed, the branch reaches its end of life and is no longer supported” (php.net). PHP 8.2 gets security fixes only, until 31 December 2026. Any vendor floor of PHP 8.1 or lower is a version php.net no longer lists as supported.

For the PHP extensions WordPress expects, WordPress.org points to the Hosting Handbook.

What do the membership and LMS plugins require?

Table 1 is what each vendor’s own documentation says, as of 19 October 2026. Only four of the twelve rows state any PHP or WordPress memory figure, and several vendors publish different numbers on different pages. Where a page says nothing, the cell says “not stated”. We did not fill any gap with a guess.

Table 1. Published server requirements, by vendor

Product	PHP	Database	PHP memory	Other stated requirements	Source and page date	Conflict or stale?
WordPress core	8.3 or greater (7.4+ still works, end of life)	MariaDB 10.11+ or MySQL 8.0+	Not stated	HTTPS; Apache or Nginx recommended	WordPress.org, no date shown	Its own legacy floor is marked end of life
WooCommerce	8.3 or greater, tested up to 8.4 (legacy 7.4+)	MySQL 8.0+ or MariaDB 10.6+ (legacy MySQL 5.6+, MariaDB 10.4+)	WordPress memory limit of 256 MB or greater	WordPress 6.9+; HTTPS; cURL or fsockopen; SOAP and Multibyte String optional; list of SQL modes	WooCommerce, modified 25 May 2026, written for WooCommerce 10.8 and later	11.2.1 plugin header requires WordPress 7.0 and PHP 7.4; the server guide lists WordPress 6.9 and recommends PHP 8.3
WooCommerce Subscriptions	Not stated separately	Not stated separately	Not stated	Working WP-Cron; fsockopen or cURL	WooCommerce, modified 9 Jun 2025	No separate requirements page found
MemberPress	7.4+	MySQL 8.0+ (NO_ZERO_DATE and Strict Mode “should be disabled”); MariaDB not stated	Not stated	WordPress 6.0+; Apache for file protection; paywall and SEO features need page caching off	MemberPress FAQ, modified 29 Apr 2024	A Sep 2026 MemberPress doc says its core PHP requirement is 8.0
LearnDash	7.4+ (notes WordPress recommends 8.3)	MySQL 5.6+ or MariaDB 10.1+	128 MB or greater	WordPress: the current version and the two before it (page also keeps its May 2025 floor of 6.6); LearnDash 4.7+; HTTPS; no multisite	LearnDash, page shows “Last updated: September 6, 2018”	Date label predates the content; database floor far below WordPress
LifterLMS	8.3 (recommended minimum)	MySQL 8.0+ or MariaDB 10.6+	Not stated	WordPress 6.7; Nginx or Apache with mod_rewrite	LifterLMS, modified 6 Jan 2026	Hosting guide (8 Sep 2026) says PHP 8.2+; plugin header says 7.4
BuddyBoss Platform	7.3+	MySQL 5.6+ or MariaDB 10.1+	Not stated	WordPress 4.9.1+; Apache mod_rewrite; GD or Imagick; AllowOverride All	BuddyBoss, updated 13 Aug 2025	Same vendor’s App page says PHP 8.1
BuddyBoss App	8.1	MariaDB 10.1+ (preferred) or “MySQL 8.1 or later”	Not stated (sizes server RAM by concurrent users)	Linux; HTTPS; API caching recommended	BuddyBoss, updated 14 Oct 2026	PHP and database figures differ from the Platform page
Paid Memberships Pro	7.4+ recommended; tested to 8.3, some installs on 8.4	MySQL 8.0+ recommended (“lesser versions will work”)	Not stated	WordPress 6.0+; Linux server at “Virtual Dedicated Server” level or higher; cURL; SSL with a dedicated IP	PMPro, updated 1 Apr 2026	WordPress.org asks only for HTTPS support
MemberMouse	7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3	MySQL 5.6 to 8.0 or MariaDB 10.6+	128 MB minimum, 256 MB recommended	WordPress 5.3+; Nginx or Apache with mod_rewrite; HTTPS; cURL, JSON, mbstring; TLS 1.2; caching must be controllable; dedicated IP with SSL	MemberMouse, modified 23 Feb 2024	Lists nothing above PHP 8.3; advises against managed WordPress plans
Restrict Content Pro / Kadence Memberships	Doc: 5.6+ (tested to 7.3). Plugin header: 7.4	Not stated	Kadence general page: 512 MB (not specific to Memberships)	Doc: WordPress 4.4+. Header: WordPress 6.0+. Kadence page also lists max input vars 5000 and max execution time “around 300” (unit not stated)	RCP 3.0 doc, updated 12 Aug 2026; Kadence, updated 2 Jul 2026; wordpress.org header, version 4.0.5	Doc refreshed in 2026 but still describes RCP 3.0
Memberium	7.3+ (older page, recommends 8.0) or 7.4+ (newer page, recommends 8.0 to 8.2)	Not stated	Not stated	WordPress 6.2+ (newer page); works without ionCube	Memberium, modified 8 Apr 2024; Memberium, modified 1 Nov 2024	Two pages disagree; neither mentions PHP 8.3 or later

Reading the table:

• “Minimum” and “recommended” mean different things on different pages. LifterLMS calls its list “Recommended Minimum Versions”. WooCommerce’s page is titled “Server Recommendations”. MemberMouse calls its list “minimum requirements”. The table uses each vendor’s own label wherever it matters.
• Plugin headers are a separate source. The “requires PHP” field in a plugin’s wordpress.org listing is the minimum the plugin declares to WordPress, and it can sit well below the vendor’s own recommendation. We read those fields through the WordPress.org plugins API for WooCommerce 11.2.1 (PHP 7.4), LifterLMS 10.3.2 (PHP 7.4, WordPress 5.9) and Kadence Memberships 4.0.5 (PHP 7.4, WordPress 6.0).
• “Not stated” means the page we checked says nothing. It doesn’t mean there is no limit. Your plugin may still need more memory than a vendor says.

Where do the vendors disagree?

The vendors disagree on PHP versions, hosting class, caching, SQL modes, and dedicated IP requirements. Some publish different figures on different pages, and several pages contain old version floors under newer update dates. Treat each number as a dated statement from that vendor, not a universal recommendation.

• PHP floors trail PHP’s support window. Documented floors run from PHP 7.3 (BuddyBoss Platform, Memberium’s older page) through 7.4 (MemberPress, LearnDash, PMPro, MemberMouse) to 8.1 (BuddyBoss App). WordPress.org, WooCommerce and LifterLMS point to 8.3. A documented floor indicates the version the vendor says it supports; it does not show what the full stack should run.
• One vendor, several numbers. MemberPress’s FAQ (modified April 2024) says PHP 7.4+, while its AI Foundation guide (modified 4 September 2026) lists PHP 8.0 and says that “Matches the MemberPress core PHP requirement” (MemberPress). LifterLMS’s requirements page says PHP 8.3, but its hosting guide says to make sure the site runs “PHP 8.2+” (LifterLMS). A BuddyBoss blog post says “PHP 8.0 or higher” and “Increase to 512MB” of memory_limit for communities with heavy media usage (BuddyBoss blog, published 2 May 2026), while its documentation states no memory figure.
• Old numbers under new dates. LearnDash’s page shows “Last updated: September 6, 2018” but mentions a policy that began in May 2025. The Restrict Content Pro 3.0 page shows an August 2026 update, carries the banner “Restrict Content Pro is becoming Kadence Memberships”, and still lists PHP 5.6. Memberium’s newest requirements page we found is from November 2024, and its July 2026 notice on Memberium v5 (“currently in development”) states no server requirements (Memberium).
• Hosting class. MemberMouse says “Avoid ‘managed WordPress’ plans” and names a VPS as its minimum recommended plan. PMPro says “Shared hosting plans that rely heavily on caching are not a good fit”. BuddyBoss lists “VPS, Dedicated Servers, or Managed WordPress Hosting” as ideal and says shared hosting is not recommended. LifterLMS says it “can function on low-cost, shared hosting setups” but that busier sites may need more resources. Read each vendor’s page for the reasoning. Most of it is about caching and shared resources.
• Object caching. MemberPress says that “issues most often come from object caching and Varnish cache. These should be disabled so MemberPress can work properly” (MemberPress, modified 17 Oct 2025). The BuddyBoss App page recommends Redis Object Cache with Relay and Object Cache Pro, and LifterLMS’s hosting guide says to use object caching. Our Redis object cache post lays out what each plugin’s docs say and how to test.
• SQL modes and dedicated IPs. MemberPress says NO_ZERO_DATE and Strict Mode should be disabled. WooCommerce lists NO_ZERO_DATE and STRICT_ALL_TABLES among the “Global SQL mode options” your server may need. We read those as pointing in different directions on a site that runs both, and neither page says how to reconcile them, so check the sql_mode your database actually uses. Separately, PMPro and MemberMouse both list a dedicated IP address for SSL, while WordPress.org asks only for “HTTPS support”. HTTPS itself does not generally require a dedicated IP: Apache’s SSL FAQ says Server Name Indication (SNI) lets name-based virtual hosts use SSL when the server software and the visitor’s browser support it (Apache). Ask the vendor whether your configuration has a separate requirement.

What do the requirements not cover?

The pages mix minimums and recommendations. Most do not size a complete membership stack or explain how its dynamic workloads behave under load. Table 2 lists six questions that remain partly or wholly unanswered across the sources, why each matters, and how to check your host.

Table 2. What the requirements don’t cover

Not covered	Why it matters	How to check your host
Concurrent logged-in users (PHP workers)	Logged-in pages are built per member and often can’t come from a page cache. BuddyBoss says “you can’t simply cache all the pages because each user has a personalized experience”. LifterLMS notes a student “can stay for hours”.	Ask how many PHP workers your plan has and what happens when all are busy. Size it with the PHP workers calculator. More on concurrent users.
Database write load	Activity feeds, notifications, quiz answers and progress records are writes, which caching does not remove. BuddyBoss says these interactions place “substantial demands on both the web server and the database”. LifterLMS lists student data, quizzes and assignments, and “complex database queries”.	Ask whether the database has resources of its own and whether the host can show you slow queries when a page drags. See WordPress database optimization for membership sites.
Scheduled jobs	WooCommerce Subscriptions says renewal events require working WP-Cron and warns that its queue can run late on low-traffic sites: “the queue on sites with low traffic may process events well after they were due”. Other plugins may schedule retries, drip releases, and automation work differently.	Ask whether the host supports a real server cron that runs WP-CLI. See WP-Cron and Action Scheduler.
Object caching compatibility	The vendors disagree (see above), and a cache that one plugin tolerates can cause bugs in another.	Ask whether object caching is off by default and can be set per site. Test on a copy first.
Outbound calls	MemberMouse describes “API calls to payment vendors, email integrations, pages pulling in member information, administration activity, and more” that “all run heavily behind the scenes as a visitor uses your site”. This list includes both local processing and external calls; it does not establish which work waits for an external response. BuddyBoss says to avoid hosts that “Block outbound or inbound API requests”.	Ask whether outbound requests are filtered or rate limited, and check the application and server logs for failed outbound requests.
Backups and progress data	Verify that backups include the membership plugin’s tables and required files. None of the requirements pages we checked specifies a backup frequency.	Ask how often the database is backed up, how long copies are kept, and whether a restore has been tested. Decide how much course progress or payment history you can afford to lose.

The only vendor we found that ties hardware to concurrency is BuddyBoss. Its App page lists four tiers, from “Up to 150 Concurrent Users or less” (16GB+ memory, 8+ cores) to “Up to 1200 Concurrent Users or less” (128GB+ memory, 64+ cores), and says the figures “assume that API caching is enabled and most user activity occurs within the BuddyBoss App”. It adds that additional plugins, heavy website traffic or large media libraries “may require additional server resources” (BuddyBoss, updated 14 October 2026). It covers the App, not the Platform on its own, and none of the other pages we checked publishes anything comparable.

What do you need if you run several of these together?

Use the highest applicable value across the products in your stack, but keep minimums and recommendations separate. Table 3 uses WordPress’s recommended PHP and database versions as a practical baseline, then carries over stricter plugin requirements. It does not prove plugin compatibility.

Table 3. Practical baseline for three common stacks

Stack	WordPress	PHP	Database	PHP memory	What else carries over
LearnDash + WooCommerce	7.0+ (WooCommerce 11.2.1 plugin header)	8.3+ (WordPress recommendation, WooCommerce)	MySQL 8.0+ (WooCommerce); MariaDB 10.11+ (WordPress recommendation)	256 MB (WooCommerce)	HTTPS; cURL or fsockopen; no multisite (LearnDash); WooCommerce’s SQL-mode list
MemberPress + BuddyBoss	6.0+ (MemberPress)	8.3+ (WordPress recommendation)	MySQL 8.0+; MariaDB compatibility and version not stated by MemberPress	Not stated by either	Apache with mod_rewrite (MemberPress officially supports file protection only on Apache; BuddyBoss lists mod_rewrite and AllowOverride All); object caching advice conflicts
LearnDash + BuddyBoss	A release covered by LearnDash’s current WordPress support policy	8.3+ (WordPress recommendation)	MySQL 8.0+ or MariaDB 10.11+ (WordPress recommendation)	128 MB (LearnDash only)	Apache mod_rewrite and AllowOverride All; GD or Imagick; HTTPS; no multisite

Adding the BuddyBoss App does not raise this table’s recommended PHP baseline, since its stated PHP 8.1 is below WordPress’s recommendation of 8.3, but it brings in the concurrency tiers above. “Not stated” doesn’t mean “no requirement”, so check a plugin’s own documentation before you rely on it.

What should you ask a host before you buy?

Before buying, ask the host how it handles PHP versions, database versions, PHP memory, workers, caching, scheduled jobs, backups, and logged-in load tests. “Supports WordPress” does not answer those questions, and the vendor minimums above do not size your full plugin stack.

1. Which PHP versions can I choose, and can I change them per site? WordPress.org, WooCommerce and LifterLMS all point to 8.3.
2. Which database engine and exact version does my full stack support? WordPress recommends MySQL 8.0+ or MariaDB 10.11+, but MemberMouse’s page lists MySQL only through 8.0, MemberPress states no MariaDB compatibility, and the BuddyBoss App lists “MySQL 8.1 or later”. Confirm compatibility before choosing or upgrading the database.
3. What is the PHP memory limit, and can it be raised? WooCommerce says 256 MB. Kadence’s general page says 512 MB.
4. How many PHP workers does my plan have? Then ask what happens when they are all busy. See PHP workers on membership sites.
5. Is server-side page caching on, and can I exclude URLs? (See page caching on membership sites.) MemberPress says its paywall and SEO features do not work with page caching enabled; MemberMouse says caching must be controllable so pages and functions can be omitted.
6. Is object caching on by default, and can it be off for one site? See Redis object caching on membership sites.
7. Can you run a real server cron? See WP-Cron and Action Scheduler.
8. How often are backups taken, and has a restore been tested?
9. Can you test with logged-in members before launch? A test of only the home page mostly tests the cache.

Get a free site speed audit for synthetic load tests focused on concurrency and PHP worker usage.

Frequently Asked Questions

What PHP version does LearnDash need?

LearnDash’s requirements page says PHP 7.4 or greater, and adds that “WordPress recommends using PHP version 8.3 for optimal performance and security” (LearnDash). Since php.net no longer lists 7.4 as supported, plan on 8.3 and check your other plugins against it.

How much memory does BuddyBoss need?

BuddyBoss’s Platform documentation states no PHP memory limit (BuddyBoss). A BuddyBoss blog post suggests raising memory_limit to 512MB for communities with heavy media usage (BuddyBoss blog). If you also run WooCommerce, its documented figure is 256 MB.

Can MemberPress run on shared hosting?

MemberPress’s requirements list doesn’t forbid it, and its hosting guide includes shared plans from several providers, some with caching settings to change. About one provider’s shared plans, it says “if your site is growing and traffic is picking up, we recommend moving off of shared hosting” (MemberPress). Meeting MemberPress’s minimums is necessary. Whether shared hosting works for a particular site also depends on caching exclusions, concurrent members, and the resources the plan makes available.

Do I need a VPS for an LMS site?

The vendors disagree. LifterLMS says its plugin “can function on low-cost, shared hosting setups”, MemberMouse names a VPS as the minimum it recommends, and BuddyBoss says shared hosting is not recommended. Decide from your own numbers: how many members are logged in at once, how heavy your database writes are, and how your host handles caching. The PHP workers calculator is a starting point, and VPS vs managed hosting for a membership site compares the two paths.

Which membership plugins state a PHP memory limit?

Of the products in Table 1, LearnDash (128 MB or greater), MemberMouse (128 MB minimum, 256 MB recommended) and WooCommerce (a WordPress memory limit of 256 MB or greater) do. Kadence publishes 512 MB on a general page. MemberPress, Paid Memberships Pro, LifterLMS, BuddyBoss and Memberium state none on the pages we checked.