The short answer: the account’s memory is the sum of everything running at the same moment: every PHP request, every cron job, every script, every app. So you bring it down in two ways: make each process use less (fewer heavy plugins, fewer loaded extensions, big jobs split into parts) and make fewer processes run at once (caching, fewer bots, jobs spaced out). Raising PHP’s memory_limit gives the account no new memory: it only lets each request spend more of what is already there, as PHP limits explains.
What uses memory, and what to do
| Cause |
What you see |
What to do |
| Heavy plugins: page builders, security plugins that scan the site, backups, statistics inside WordPress |
High memory in the WordPress dashboard, and spikes when scans or backups run |
Switch off the ones you do not use; replace heavy ones with lighter ones; move scans to a quiet hour |
| Many PHP requests at the same time |
Memory follows the visits, often together with entry processes |
Page caching: a cached page does not start PHP |
| Imports, exports and backups done in one go |
They stop halfway, with Allowed memory size in the log, or memory faults at the hour they run |
Split them up; run them from the command line, as in importing a large database over SSH |
| Huge photos processed on the server |
Image uploads that fail, and a memory spike with each upload |
Shrink images on your computer before uploading them |
| PHP extensions switched on that the site does not use |
Nothing visible: each PHP process is a little larger, multiplied by the number of processes |
Switch off only the ones you are sure you do not use, in Select PHP Version |
| A Node.js or Python app always running |
Memory taken even at night, with no visitors |
Check it is still needed; if it is, and it is big, it belongs on a VPS |
Bringing memory down, step by step
| 1 |
See when it fails. In cPanel, Resource Usage: on the memory graph, the faults mark the moments the account hit the limit. At those moments requests fail, with a blank page or an error. Match the times with your jobs and backups.
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| 2 |
Take a backup before touching plugins. Then switch off the ones you do not use and, to find the heavy one, switch off half, measure, and repeat with the half that is left. If the dashboard will not open: disabling plugins when you cannot get in. A diagnostic plugin such as Query Monitor shows how much memory each page used.
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| 4 |
Review your PHP settings. In Select PHP Version, Options tab, keep memory_limit at a sensible value, not «huge just in case»: a high value only lets one badly written request eat the memory of the others. On the extensions tab, switch off the ones you are sure the site does not use, one at a time, testing the site after each: switching a PHP extension on or off.
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| 5 |
Move big jobs out of busy hours. Backups, imports, security scans and reports go to a quiet hour, and the big ones are done in parts or from the command line.
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| 6 |
In WordPress, cut the background calls. An open editor, cart fragments and statistics inside WordPress keep processes alive without anyone noticing: WordPress Heartbeat.
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| 7 |
Measure again after a few ordinary days, at the same hours.
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Optimise or upgrade?
| Situation |
Optimise or upgrade? |
| One plugin alone uses a large share of the memory |
Optimise. Replace or configure the plugin. An upgrade only postpones the problem. |
| Memory rises with visits and there is no cache |
Optimise. Switch caching on first. |
| The faults only appear during a backup or an import |
Optimise. Split the job, move it to another hour. |
| You see «Allowed memory size exhausted» on a request |
That is PHP’s memory_limit, not the plan: fixing Allowed memory size exhausted. |
| Site already optimised, with caching, and memory runs into the limit at your busiest hours |
Upgrade. |
| An app that needs a lot of memory all the time (queues, automations, AI) |
VPS or Cloud, with memory of your own: shared hosting vs VPS. |
Bigger plans
Each plan up gives the account more memory: from 1 GB on Pro to 8 GB on Business Ultra (table below). It is the memory for everything running in the account at the same moment; yours is the limit line on the memory graph in Resource Usage. Note that an upgrade raises the account’s memory, not the memory_limit of each request, which you change in Select PHP Version. You upgrade in My MozOut, pay only the difference until renewal, and nothing moves: how to upgrade your plan. Which plan comes after yours: which hosting plan comes next.
| Plan |
Memory (RAM) |
| Pro |
1 GB |
| Plus |
2 GB |
| Ultra |
3 GB |
| Business Pro |
4 GB |
| Business Plus |
6 GB |
| Business Ultra |
8 GB |
Our warnings: when the account reaches 75%, 85% and 95% of the limit of a plan resource, you get an e-mail with every resource on the account, each with its limit and the percentage you use, and the upgrade plans (between 75 and 85%, every 15 days; between 85 and 95%, every 7 days; from 95%, every 3 days). If several resources are close to the limit, they all come in the same e-mail. The limit is 100%. Above it the account may be suspended, and we always warn you the day before. To bring it back, upgrade (the account reactivates by itself straight after) or ask for 24 hours to sort it out from the link in the e-mail: the account stays active for 24 hours and, if it is still over the limit at the end, it is suspended again straight away (you can ask for the 24 hours once every 7 days). If usage drops back below the limit, the account becomes active again by itself. What each warning means is in usage warnings at 75%, 85% and 95%.
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Switching off a PHP extension the site uses breaks the site straight away, nearly always with error 500. If that happens, go back to the same screen and switch it on again. If in doubt, leave it: the ones the site uses (the database one, cURL, the image ones, mbstring, for example) stay on.
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Deleting a plugin is not the same as switching it off. Switch it off first, use the site for a few days, and only then delete it, with a backup taken: making and keeping your own backup.
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Removed the heavy plugins and memory is still at the limit? Tell us the domain and the times of the faults.
Open a support ticket
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