Serverless is a tricky term. Where did the servers go? Where does code run?
Let’s clarify right away… yes, there are actual physical servers somewhere when using serverless infrastructure.
Serverless means we don’t have to manage servers or really think too much about the underlying infrastructure though.
ServerlessWP works with Vercel, Netlify, or AWS. All are based on AWS Lambda which provides a function as a service product.
Lambda functions only run when they are “doing work” like responding to a request. Behind the scenes, AWS are operating a huge fleet of servers. But you don’t have to worry about that.
Serverless hosting is different than traditional hosting in a few beneficial ways for WordPress:
- Extremely low maintenance
- Lambda functions run in something called a micro virtual machine. The underlying operating system and runtime are maintained and kept up-to-date by AWS. You don’t have to protect a server from malicious access.
- Pay per use
- ServerlessWP works with Vercel, Netlify, and AWS so their free tiers frequently cover all of the cost of a typical site. If you exceed that, you only pay for the amount of CPU time used by your site. You’re not paying for a server to wait 24/7 for requests. Just the time the serverless functions run to serve actual content.
- Autoscaling
- Got a traffic spike? Serverless platforms automatically scale up to handle hundreds or thousands of concurrent requests. On the other hand they scale to zero and you don’t have a server running needlessly waiting for the next request if your site is quiet.
- Security
- Lambda functions are ephemeral. They only exist for a few seconds or at most an hour or so. They are also isolated. Your sites code runs in a secure runtime that’s separate from any other site.
Let’s compare that to other ways of hosting WordPress.
- Are they free or pay-per-second?
- Do they scale to thousands of requests per second?
- Do they scale to 0 instances when there’s no traffic?
- Do they allow you to use any theme or plugin?
- Do they have the security of a microVM?
Vercel and Netlify have amazing developer experience. Their click-to-deploy buttons make it so easy to try new projects. They have global content delivery networks that serve your site’s cached assets very fast.
ServerlessWP is a free and open-source project. Deploy your site to experience the benefits of serverless hosting.