Laravel Hosting
Most shared hosting is built for WordPress, not PHP frameworks - no SSH, outdated PHP, and no path to queue workers when your application needs them. Bitfoo's Business and Pro plans include PHP 8.x, SSH access, Composer, and full cron support for simpler Laravel applications. When your app needs persistent queues, Redis, or Octane, VPS gives you the complete environment.
Shared hosting or VPS?
The right hosting for a Laravel application depends on what it needs to do. A portfolio site, a marketing page, or a straightforward CRUD application can run comfortably on shared hosting. An application that processes background jobs, caches to Redis, or runs Laravel Octane needs a VPS. The dividing line is clear.
Choose shared hosting (Business or Pro) if:
- Your application does not require persistent background queue workers
- You are not using Redis for caching or queues
- You do not need Laravel Octane (Swoole or RoadRunner)
- Your traffic is moderate and does not require dedicated CPU and RAM
- You want a simpler environment - PHP, MySQL, and LiteSpeed configured for you
Choose VPS if:
- Your application runs queue workers that need to stay alive as background processes
- You are using Redis for caching, queues, or session storage
- You are running or planning to run Laravel Octane
- You need full Nginx or Caddy configuration - custom headers, rewrites, or server blocks
- Your traffic demands dedicated, isolated resources
- You need a custom PHP version or extensions not available on shared hosting
If you are not sure, start on shared hosting and upgrade to VPS when your application's requirements outgrow it. Moving Laravel from shared hosting to VPS is a file transfer, a database export, and a DNS update.
Shared hosting plans
Business and Pro plans include the two things Laravel requires on shared hosting: PHP 8.x and SSH access. The Starter plan has neither SSH nor Composer access - it is not suitable for Laravel deployment.
| Starter Not recommended for Laravel - no SSH access | Business Simple Laravel applications, moderate traffic, single application Most popular | Pro Multiple Laravel applications, larger codebases, or higher traffic | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storage | 10GB NVMe SSD | 50GB NVMe SSD | 150GB NVMe SSD |
| RAM | 512MB | 1GB | 2GB |
| Bandwidth | Unmetered | Unmetered | Unmetered |
| Sites | 1 | 10 | Unlimited |
| SSH Access | - | Yes | Yes |
| Backups | Daily | Daily | Daily |
| Price | [price] | [price] | [price] |
| Not recommended for Laravel | Let's go. | Let's go. |
These are renewal prices. What you pay today is what you pay next year.
CPU resources are allocated via CloudLinux LVE - your application's resources are isolated from other accounts on the same server.
SSH access is required for Composer, Artisan commands, and Git-based deployment. Both Business and Pro include SSH. Starter does not.
VPS plans
VPS plans give you a clean Linux server with full root access - install your preferred PHP version, configure your web server, run queue workers as systemd services, and add Redis or any other dependency your application needs. All plans run on KVM with dedicated resources.
| VPS-1 Personal projects, staging environments, or low-traffic applications | VPS-2 Small to medium production applications with queues and Redis | VPS-4 Higher-traffic applications or Laravel Horizon managing multiple queues | VPS-6 Resource-intensive workloads, Laravel Octane under load, or multi-application servers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| vCPU | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| RAM | 1GB DDR5 | 2GB DDR5 | 4GB DDR5 | 8GB DDR5 |
| Storage | 25GB NVMe | 50GB NVMe | 100GB NVMe | 200GB NVMe |
| Bandwidth | 1TB | 2TB | 4TB | 6TB |
| IPv4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Price | [price] | [price] | [price] | [price] |
| Deploy your VPS. | Deploy your VPS. | Deploy your VPS. | Deploy your VPS. |
These are renewal prices. What you pay today is what you pay next year.
All VPS plans are unmanaged. Bitfoo handles the hardware and network; your Laravel environment - web server, PHP, queue configuration, and deployments - is your responsibility.
If your server exceeds its monthly bandwidth allocation, throughput is throttled for the remainder of the billing cycle - no additional charges.
What every plan includes
Relevant features for Laravel, across both shared hosting and VPS:
On shared hosting (Business and Pro):
- PHP 8.x with version switching from DirectAdmin - Laravel 10 requires PHP 8.1+, Laravel 11 requires PHP 8.2+; switch per domain without editing config files
- SSH access - required for Composer, Artisan commands, storage:link, and Git-based deployment
- Cron jobs - configure the Laravel Scheduler to run `php artisan schedule:run` every minute from DirectAdmin
- MySQL databases included - Eloquent runs against MySQL with no additional setup
- NVMe SSD storage - fast filesystem and database I/O for query-heavy applications
- LiteSpeed web server - compatible with Laravel; `.htaccess` rewrites supported; no additional web server configuration needed for standard Laravel routing
- Daily backups - JetBackup, local and offsite, one-click restore
- Free SSL on every plan - HTTPS active from day one
- 99.9% uptime SLA - measured monthly, service credit issued for any shortfall
- DirectAdmin control panel - manage files, databases, DNS, email, and cron jobs from one interface
On VPS:
- Full root access and SSH from first boot - install any PHP version, web server (Nginx, Caddy, Apache), and configure your environment exactly as your application requires
- Persistent queue workers - run `php artisan queue:work` or Laravel Horizon as systemd services; workers restart automatically if they stop
- Redis - install Redis and configure Laravel's cache, queue, and session drivers to use it
- Laravel Octane - install Swoole or RoadRunner and run Octane as a systemd service
- Custom PHP build or extensions - install any PHP version or extension your application requires
- Everything listed on the VPS hosting page - 99.9% uptime SLA, self-service control panel, 10Gbps ports, and 5 datacenter locations
Who uses this
Laravel is one of the most widely used PHP frameworks - it runs small personal projects and high-traffic production applications. The hosting that fits depends on where your application sits on that spectrum.
Developers · Startups · Agencies & freelancers · SaaS companies
Common questions
Does Laravel run on Bitfoo shared hosting?
Yes, on Business and Pro plans. Both include PHP 8.x, SSH access, Composer, MySQL, and cron support - the requirements for deploying and running a Laravel application. The Starter plan does not include SSH access and is not suitable for Laravel deployment. Applications that need persistent queue workers, Redis, or Octane require a VPS.
Do I need SSH to deploy Laravel, and is it included?
SSH is required for `composer install`, `php artisan` commands (migrations, storage links, cache clearing), and Git-based deployment. It is included on Business and Pro shared hosting plans and on all VPS plans. Starter does not include SSH access.
How do I run Laravel's task scheduler?
Add a cron entry that runs `php artisan schedule:run` every minute. On shared hosting, configure this from DirectAdmin's cron job manager. On VPS, add the same entry to your system crontab via `crontab -e`.
How do I run Laravel queues?
On shared hosting, you can approximate queue processing using the scheduler - call `php artisan queue:work --stop-when-empty` on a schedule. This works for low-volume queues where a 60-second processing delay is acceptable. For applications that need queue workers running continuously, a VPS is the right environment - run `php artisan queue:work` or Laravel Horizon as a systemd service so it stays alive and restarts automatically if it stops.
Can I use Laravel Octane on Bitfoo hosting?
Laravel Octane (Swoole or RoadRunner) requires a VPS. Swoole is a PHP extension that replaces the standard PHP-FPM request model with a persistent application server - it cannot run in a shared hosting environment. On a VPS, install the Swoole extension, configure Octane in your Laravel application, and run it as a systemd service. VPS-2 handles modest Octane workloads; VPS-4 is a better starting point for production Octane deployments under real traffic.
Can I deploy Laravel with Git?
Yes. On shared hosting (Business and Pro), you can set up a bare Git repository in your home directory and use a post-receive hook to deploy to your application's public directory. SSH access is required. On VPS, the same approach works, or you can use any deployment tool that connects over SSH.
Can I use Redis with Laravel on shared hosting?
No. Redis is not available on shared hosting plans. If your application uses Redis for caching, queues, or session storage, it needs to run on a VPS where you can install and configure Redis yourself. For shared hosting applications, Laravel's database cache driver and database queue driver are available alternatives.
Which plan should I choose for my Laravel application?
Start with the self-selection guide above - the choice between shared hosting and VPS depends on whether your application needs persistent queue workers, Redis, or Octane. On shared hosting, Business suits a single Laravel application with moderate traffic; Pro suits multiple applications or higher traffic. On VPS, VPS-1 works for staging or personal projects; VPS-2 is a reasonable starting point for small to medium production applications with queues and Redis; VPS-4 suits higher-traffic applications or workloads running Laravel Horizon. If you are unsure, shared hosting Business is the lowest-friction starting point - upgrading to VPS later is straightforward.