Can WordPress handle a large database? More than you’ll ever need.

Can WordPress handle a large database?

WordPress can handle a large database. In fact, some of the largest websites on the internet today are run on WordPress. 

The question shouldn’t be, “Can WordPress handle a large database?” It can. What matters most of are the servers and the hosting providers that your WordPress website is hosted on. 

Handling large amounts of data over the internet has a lot more to do with where the WordPress site is hosted on and their servers more than the content management system (CMS) of WordPress itself.

How many users can WordPress handle?

WordPress is a content management system or CMS. It’s basically software that you upload to a server. There are no user limits for WordPress. The only user limitations are determined by your server’s capacity as well as disk space etc.

How many posts can WordPress handle?

WordPress can handle literally millions of posts. The only limits you will have to the amount of posts, pages, images, media etc will not be with WordPress itself nor your WordPress theme. but you are hosting provider and your plan. 

To host literally millions of posts you’re going to need a lot of storage and server capacity. 

That’s not to say that with more posts and images as well as other data that needs to be transmitted through your website and host, won’t have any issues.

But these issues can be solved either through your host with a larger database and server capacity or by installing a few plug-ins.

How much traffic can a WordPress site handle?

Your WordPress website can handle millions of visitors each month. Again, like the amount of posts that your WordPress can handle, the amount of traffic your WordPress site can handle will depend on your server and your server’s resources. 

The larger the server capacity the more visitors and traffic your WordPress site can handle.

How does WordPress scalability compare to Wix or Squarespace?

WordPress is much more scalable when compared to Wix or SquareSpace. Why? 

Because working with Wix or SquareSpace, you are severely limited to not only themes and functionality, but most importantly you are limited in hosting options and the power of their servers. 

You see with Wix and SquareSpace, they are all inclusive companies. Meaning not only do they provide you with themes, but they also provide you with the hosting. 

Now you can of course upgrade your plan with Wix or SquareSpace to handle more data and larger amounts of traffic, but you are still stuck on those platforms. 

They dictate all the terms, including price etc. If they are not giving you the type of service, speed and support that your growing website needs, you can’t just switch out of them. 

The only thing you could take with you when you leave a company like Wix or SquareSpace is the domain name and possibly the content. 

However, you would need to back up that content in a storage outside of those two platforms in order for you to actually have access to it and move it to a different platform. 

With WordPress you have much more control of not only the theme you use, but most importantly the hosting service provider you choose to host your website on. 

For example, if a service provider is not giving you the type of service that you’re after, you can switch to a different host. All with everything in tact: your theme, content, domain name, etc. 

If your hosting provider decides to raise their prices to a level where you feel other hosting providers can provide you with better service for the same price or less, you can simply change providers.

There’s various reasons why you would want to change your hosting provider and WordPress gives you that kind of flexibility. 

Transferring a WordPress website from one host to another, although not super simple, is simple enough. You basically move your theme, the content as well as its files. 

So when you transfer from one WordPress host to another, you can basically take everything with you. 

Whereas with Wix or SquareSpace, they not only own the servers that your website is on, but they also own the theme that you use for your website. 

So if you’ve really customized your website through Wix or SquareSpace and you decide that you need faster and higher capacity servers, etc. you have to leave that theme behind and start almost from scratch. 

It’s almost like hosting your business on a Facebook page, instead of its own website.

Does WordPress have a database limit?

WordPress does not have a database limit. Only your server has a database limit. That of course is determined by your host as well as your hosting plan. 

It’s not uncommon for WordPress site owners to upgrade their hosting plans as their traffic and resources grow.

What large companies use WordPress?

There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of large companies that use WordPress. I’m not going to list them all here, but I’m sure you can find an inexhaustible list by doing a simple Google search. 

However, here are just a few big named, large companies that do use WordPress: Walt Disney, BBC America, tech crunch, Bloomberg, MTV, Sony music, Yelp as well as many others.

What databases does WordPress support?

WordPress currently only supports MySQL and MariaDB databases.

Can WordPress handle a large database? Conclusion.

As you can see WordPress can not only handle a large database, but it already handles some of the largest databases on the internet today for some of the largest companies in the world. 

If you’re concerned about your website crashing, your website’s loading speeds and capacity. Perhaps your uploading and downloading speeds are too slow to handle the data that’s being processed or your website etc.

The real issue of handling a large database on WordPress is not WordPress itself, but the servers your website is hosted on.

The last thing you should think of would be moving out of WordPress. Simply change servers or hosting providers that can handle a large database. Problem solved. 

However, it shouldn’t be a question of WordPress being able to handle larger amounts of data or a large database. But rather is the WordPress hosting company that you’re hosting your WordPress website able to handle those large amounts of data without any trouble or limiting issues. 

So if you’re concerned about WordPress being able to handle your database your concerns are misplaced. 

You need to ask whether or not your hosting provider can handle your increasing database as well as traffic. 

If you feel that these are limited, then the best thing you could do is to either upgrade your hosting plan or look to switch to another hosting provider and view their hosting plans.