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PHP web hosting

New Zend Engine
Independent of the operating system
PHP 7.3 & 7.4 with OPcache, HTTP/2, and gzip

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Hosting package overview

Business

Our all-round solution for dynamic websites

Special Offer

12 months £1/monthexcl. VAT then £5/monthexcl. VAT

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Email

25 email accounts
2 GB storage per account

Pro

Perfect for more demanding company websites

6 months £1/monthexcl. VAT then £7/monthexcl. VAT

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Email

100 email accounts
2 GB storage per account

Expert

Ideal for memory-intensive web projects and online shops

6 months £1/monthexcl. VAT then £10/monthexcl. VAT

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Email

500 email accounts
2 GB storage per account

Content Delivery Network (CDN)

Prices excl. VAT may be subject to change dependent upon your country of residence. Terms and conditions apply.

State-of-the-art PHP hosting for your projects

What is PHP/PHP web hosting?

PHP is a recursive acronym that stands for "Hypertext Preprocessor", but was previously known as "Personal Home Page Tools". It is the most used script language for website creation in the world and, in conjunction with MySQL databases, enables the creation of dynamic websites. The server-executed PHP scripts are used in content management systems (CMS), blogs, and online stores, as well as app development. Since PHP provides extensive database support, and is distributed as freeware, it is implemented in approximately 82 percent of websites worldwide. For instance, the world's most popular CMS, WordPress, is based on PHP.

Among the range of attractive hosting packages available, IONOS offers you the very latest PHP version – PHP 7. This delivers a significant boost in performance compared with previous versions, which will result in shorter website access and loading times for you and your customers. In turn, this performance improvement can increase user satisfaction and your chances of ranking highly on search engines such as Google.

With hosting packages from IONOS, you will always benefit from the latest PHP version
Create dynamic websites with the best possible user experience using PHP 7 and MySQL databases
Significantly reduce your website's access and loading times with PHP 7
Work with a wide range of CMS using PHP, with IONOS PHP hosting packages
Create dynamic forums, blogs, online stores, or a professional web presence for your company using PHP

What can I do with PHP website hosting?

Forums Online stores Dynamic websites and apps

Forums

If you want to create a community forum site, PHP web hosting allows you to provide additional features for your users, such as an RSS feed or a contact formula. In addition, you can use PHP 7 to integrate surveys in order to receive feedback from the community. Plus, PHP 7 vs PHP 5.6 is no contest in terms of speed, so your users are sure to thank you for the decreased loading times!

Online stores

PHP hosting enables you to realize a variety of dynamic web projects, including an online store. Many open source shop applications from the IONOS App Centre are based on PHP script, and can be installed in a matter of minutes. If you are an experienced user, you can also use PHP to fine tune and tailor your store to your target audience.

Dynamic websites and apps

In addition, you can create dynamic PHP websites for businesses with a CMS that is based on PHP and MySQL. Thanks to the easy-to-use systems – including layout, functions, and navigation elements – you can establish functional and attractive websites even without advanced web development skills. With knowledge of PHP script, you also have many options for personalization available to you, including developing a bespoke mobile app.

Award-winning support

Our personal consultant service won gold for Best Customer Engagement Initiative at the European Contact Center & Customer Service Awards, the largest awards programme in the customer contact industry.

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Your personal consultant

Tailored advice. Tips for online success. Technical support. Available via a direct phone number, chat and email. Free of charge for all IONOS customers.

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Advantages of PHP hosting with IONOS

With IONOS PHP servers, you can rest assured that the security of your data and maximum uptime of your site are guaranteed. Our geo-redundant backup of data ensures an extremely high level of availability for your website – 99.9 percent. Geo-redundancy means that copies of all data are stored in two entirely independent, high performance IONOS data centres. Should one of the data centres go offline, due to a regional power outage for example, then the second will be ready to take over and ensure your website remains online for your visitors. This way, online store owners need not worry about revenue losses.

Furthermore, with our PHP hosting packages, you benefit from the world-renowned IONOS expert support. We are on hand at all times to offer PHP support for your projects and answer any questions you may have.

Comprehensive PHP hosting options at IONOS

PHP versions PHP 7 vs PHP 5 New features

PHP versions available with IONOS

IONOS offers all web hosting customers a variety of PHP versions. New customers are always provided with the newest version in order to maintain the highest possible level of security and performance. If the PHP community phases out support for older versions such as PHP 5.5, IONOS informs all existing customers via email.

Those whose web projects are still based on these older versions can receive assistance from IONOS PHP Extended Support, which helps your website with the transition to the latest PHP version.

Comparison: PHP 7 vs PHP 5

In this comparison, PHP 7 is the undisputed winner. Because of the powerful performance boost, enabled by a fundamental revision to the Zend Engine, PHP 7 is often referred to as "PHPNG" (PHP Next Generation). Benchmark tests have shown that WordPress 4.1 handles 374 queries per second with PHP 7, compared to just 191 queries per second with PHP 5.6. This shows that the latest PHP version has almost doubled the performance level.

Besides performance considerations, it's well worth upgrading to PHP 7 based on its improved security measures alone, not to mention the fact that it is supported by security updates for a longer time.

PHP 7: New features

The implementation of hash tables provides a significant performance boost
The new version requires far less server capacity to handle the same number of visitors
PHP 7 runs twice as fast as PHP 5.6
PHP 7 now also provides consistent support for 64-bit Windows operating systems
Features three-way comparison and null coalesce operators
PHP 7 enables the use of anonymous PHP classes for the first time

PHP features with IONOS

Selection of PHP hosting features	Included with IONOS
Current PHP versions	PHP 7.3 & PHP 7.4
Extended IONOS PHP support for existing customers with outdated PHP versions (PHP 4.0, PHP 5.2, PHP 5.4, PHP 5.5, PHP 5.6, PHP 7.0 and PHP 7.1)	✓
Database function for MySQL database integration	✓
Encoding	MD5,Base64, additional algorithms such as AES via MCrypt
Use of regular expressions	✓
Generation and manipulation of image file formats (GIF, JPG, PNG)	✓
TrueType fonts	✓
Advanced network functionality	✓
XML/XSLT support	✓
Advanced calendar functions	✓
Read form data	✓
Alter PHP security settings	register_globals, allow_url_fopen, display_errors, disable_functions, safe_mode
Determine script limits	Yes – maximum values vary depending on the tariff chosen

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FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

How does PHP work?

PHP operates on the server side, meaning PHP scripts are executed on the server as opposed to on the client side – as is the case with other scripting languages such as JavaScript. Accordingly, the source text is not sent to a web browser, but to a so-called "PHP interpreter" on the web server. When a user sends a request to the server, the PHP interpreter must first process the script on the server itself before sending the output to the user's browser. This output can be in the form of HTML documents or a range of other file types, such as .jpg or .pdf documents.

In order for PHP scripts to function properly on web applications, some prerequisites must also be fulfilled on the server side. For instance, programming interfaces such as ISAPI are necessary for server services like Apache to execute PHP interpreter command lines. One of the most common configurations – known as LAMP – is combining a Linux operating system with an Apache PHP web server, a MySQL database, and PHP script. Other combinations with Windows or macOS are also possible. With IONOS, you have the assurance that all technical requirements for PHP hosting will be fulfilled. You can find further information on PHP in our comprehensive tutorial.

How compatible is PHP 7 with older versions?

Backward compatibility with version 5.x is guaranteed, allowing you to run most of the old PHP 5.x applications as normal and simultaneously enjoy the benefits of PHP 7. In order to avoid encountering errors when migrating from PHP 5.5 or 5.6 to PHP 7, be sure to first consult the PHP developer's migration guide. Among other things, the guide gives an overview of the points at which backward compatibility must be broken. For applications that are not self-written, we recommend checking the provider's specifications before modifying the PHP version of your domain. Support for older versions of PHP has been discontinued.

Can I change the PHP version of my web hosting package?

Yes. You can view your current PHP version and choose to switch to a newer version in the IONOS Control Centre settings. This makes it simple for you to choose the most appropriate solution for your applications and scripts. Once you notice they are compatible with PHP 7, you can update to the latest version directly in order to achieve the optimal level of security and performance. For security reasons, older PHP versions are only available as part of IONOS Extended Support for existing customers. You can find further detailed information on changing your version of PHP in our Help Centre.

Does IONOS web hosting support other scripting languages besides PHP?

Yes. IONOS supports all other important and widely used scripting languages, including Perl, Python, and Ruby. Frameworks like Zend are also supported by IONOS, so you can easily find the best solution and corresponding script language for any given project. This gives you a wealth of possibilities for creating dynamic content on your website, allowing faster database access and hassle-free customization according to your individual requirements.

How is PHP configured in my web hosting package?

With a short piece of PHP script, you can easily find out how PHP is configured in your hosting package. To do this, use the following command to display the PHP file info:

<?php
phpinfo ();
?>

This will help you identify the specific PHP version number and see which modules are installed at a glance. Alternatively, you can use your FTP main user login data to access the log file via your webspace's log directory and view it in your browser. Simply enter your domain into the browser address bar and log in: http://YOURDOMAIN.co.uk/logs/info.php.

How secure is PHP web hosting with IONOS?

IONOS provides you with the latest PHP security standards, as well as geo-redundant storage for all your data. By storing two copies of your data in two geographically independent data centres (geo-redundancy), you benefit from 99.9 percent uptime. Even if one data centre goes off the grid due to power failure, the other is primed and ready to take over, leaving your data intact.

A powerful firewall reliably protects the IONOS servers, and the data they contain, against cyberattacks. Because we use SSL encrypted data transmission, your customers' sensitive data is also secure. For PHP security in particular, as well as other scripting languages, it is also necessary to implement protective measures against cross-site scripting (CSS or XSS). This type of script is used by cyber criminals to insert foreign, malicious code into otherwise trustworthy webpages.

IONOS helps you protect your site from XSS attacks. In our Help Centre, you will find valuable advice on how to implement the necessary protective measures. With this information, securing your data entry and output for your PHP website is easy to achieve. The Help Centre also provides you with details on the additional security features of some hosting tariffs, such as safety scans.

If you have any further questions about the security of IONOS PHP hosting, don't hesitate to contact our expert support team, who will be available 24/7 to assist you.

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