Requirements

3 min readUpdated June 28, 2026

Before installing WP Media Cloud, confirm your hosting environment meets the requirements below. Most modern WordPress hosts will have no issues. The most common problem is a hosting environment that blocks outbound HTTP connections to cloud storage providers.

WordPress#

WP Media Cloud requires WordPress 6.0 or higher. WordPress 7.0 is the current stable release and is recommended. Earlier versions of WordPress are not tested and not supported by our support team.

PHP#

PHP 8.0 or higher is required. PHP 8.1, 8.2, and 8.3 are fully supported. PHP 7.x is not supported.

The following PHP extensions must be enabled:

curl — used for all outbound connections to storage providers
json — used for API communication
openssl — required for HTTPS connections and SigV4 signing (Cloudflare R2, Amazon S3)
mbstring — required for multibyte string handling in file paths
fileinfo — used to detect MIME types on upload

These extensions are enabled by default on virtually all managed WordPress hosts. If you are on a custom server, confirm they are active in your php.ini or by checking the output of phpinfo().

Hosting environment#

Your server must be able to make outbound HTTPS connections to your chosen storage provider. WP Media Cloud uploads files from your server to the storage bucket on every media upload. If your host blocks outbound connections, offloading will fail silently — the file will remain on your server and no error will appear in the media library.

Common hosting restrictions to check:

open_basedir restrictions that prevent reading from wp-content/uploads
Firewall rules blocking outbound HTTPS on port 443
Disabled curl or allow_url_fopen
Shared hosting environments that throttle outbound connections

If you are unsure whether your host allows outbound connections, contact your hosting provider or test using a simple cURL command from the server.

Memory and execution time#

The bulk migration tool processes files in batches in the background. For most sites the default WordPress memory limit of 256MB is sufficient. Very large libraries (tens of thousands of files) may benefit from a higher limit.

Recommended minimums:

PHP memory limit: 256MB or higher
PHP max execution time: 120 seconds or higher (for admin-triggered operations)
WordPress memory limit: 256MB (WP_MEMORY_LIMIT)

Browser#

The WP Media Cloud settings interface works in any modern browser. Internet Explorer is not supported. Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge are all fully supported.

Conflicts#

WP Media Cloud should not be run alongside another media offload plugin on the same site. Running two offload plugins simultaneously causes URL rewriting conflicts and unpredictable behaviour. If you are migrating from another offload plugin, install WP Media Cloud and complete the migration before deactivating the old plugin, but do not allow both to offload new uploads at the same time.

Known plugins that conflict when both are active and offloading:

WP Offload Media (Delicious Brains)
Media Cloud by ILAB
Advanced Media Offloader

See the Migration category for how to switch from any of these plugins.