Skip to content
  • Solutions
    By Role
    • For Developers
    • For Content Managers
    • For Agencies
    • For IT Admins
    • For Web Hosters
    • For Developers
    • For Content Managers
    • For Agencies
    • For IT Admins
    • For Web Hosters
    By Infrastructure
    • Overview
    • AWS
    • Microsoft Azure
    • Alibaba Cloud
    • Google Cloud Platform
    • Vultr
    • Overview
    • AWS
    • Microsoft Azure
    • Alibaba Cloud
    • Google Cloud Platform
    • Vultr
    • Digital Ocean
    • Linode
    • Upcloud
    • Oracle
    • OVH
    • Digital Ocean
    • Linode
    • Upcloud
    • Oracle
    • OVH
  • Product
    • Plesk Features
    • Plesk Editions
    • What’s new
    • Pricing
    • Roadmap
    • Lifecycle Policy
    • Extensions Catalogue
  • Pricing
  • Extensions
    Featured Extensions
    • SocialBee
    • WP Toolkit
    • Sitejet Builder for Plesk
    • SEO Toolkit
    • Joomla! Toolkit
    • Premium Email
    • Email Security
    • SocialBee
    • WP Toolkit
    • Sitejet Builder for Plesk
    • SEO Toolkit
    • Joomla! Toolkit
    • Premium Email
    • Email Security
    Bundles and packs:
    • Business and Collaboration Edition
    • WP pack
    • Hosting pack
    • Power pack
    • Language pack
    • Business and Collaboration Edition
    • WP pack
    • Hosting pack
    • Power pack
    • Language pack

    See all Extensions

  • For Partners
    • Plesk Contributor Program
    • Plesk Partner Program
    • Affiliate program
    • Plesk University
  • Help Center
    • Documentation
    • Professional Services
    • Support
    • Contact Us
    • Wiki
    • Forum
  • Plesk 360 login
  • Free Trial
  • Pricing
  • Solutions
    • By Role
      • For Developers
      • For Content Managers
      • For Agencies
      • For IT Admins
      • For Web Hosters
    • By Infrastructure
      • Overview
      • Plesk on Amazon Web Services (AWS & Lightsail)
      • Microsoft Azure
      • Alibaba Cloud
      • Google Cloud Platform
      • Vultr
      • DigitalOcean
      • Linode
      • UpCloud
      • Oracle
      • OVH
  • Products
  • Pricing
  • Extensions
    • Featured Extensions
      • SocialBee
      • WP Toolkit
      • Sitejet Builder for Plesk
      • SEO Toolkit
      • Joomla! Toolkit
      • Premium Email
      • Email Security
    • Bundles and packs:
      • Business and Collaboration Edition
      • WP pack
      • Hosting pack
      • Power pack
      • Language pack
      • See all Extensions
  • For Partners
    • Plesk Contributor Program
    • Plesk Partner Program
    • Affiliate Program
    • Plesk University
  • Help Center
    • Documentation
    • Professional Services
    • Support
    • Contact Us
    • Wiki
    • Forum
  • Plesk 360 login
  • Free Trial
  • Pricing
  • Solutions
    • By Role
      • For Developers
      • For Content Managers
      • For Agencies
      • For IT Admins
      • For Web Hosters
    • By Infrastructure
      • Overview
      • Plesk on Amazon Web Services (AWS & Lightsail)
      • Microsoft Azure
      • Alibaba Cloud
      • Google Cloud Platform
      • Vultr
      • DigitalOcean
      • Linode
      • UpCloud
      • Oracle
      • OVH
  • Products
  • Pricing
  • Extensions
    • Featured Extensions
      • SocialBee
      • WP Toolkit
      • Sitejet Builder for Plesk
      • SEO Toolkit
      • Joomla! Toolkit
      • Premium Email
      • Email Security
    • Bundles and packs:
      • Business and Collaboration Edition
      • WP pack
      • Hosting pack
      • Power pack
      • Language pack
      • See all Extensions
  • For Partners
    • Plesk Contributor Program
    • Plesk Partner Program
    • Affiliate Program
    • Plesk University
  • Help Center
    • Documentation
    • Professional Services
    • Support
    • Contact Us
    • Wiki
    • Forum
  • Plesk 360 login
  • Free Trial
Plesk 360 login
Free Trial

Knowledge Base

Which PHP version and PHP handler should be chosen for the domain in Plesk

 
apacheappsdomainsfastcgihosting

Question

Which PHP version and PHP handler should be chosen for the domain in Domains > example.com > PHP Settings?

Answer

The choice of PHP version and PHP handler depends on needs of website.

Handlers comparison provided in the following table:

Handler type Performance Memory usage Handler details
Apache module High Low This handler is only available in Plesk for Linux. It is the least secure option as all PHP scripts are executed on behalf of the apache user. This means that all files created by PHP scripts of any plan subscriber have the same owner (apache) and the same permission set. Thus, it is possible for a user to affect the files of another user or some important system files. You can avoid some security issues by turning the PHP safe_mode option on. This disables a number of PHP functions that have potential security risks. This may lead to inoperability of some web apps. The safe_mode option is considered to be obsolete and was removed in PHP 5.4.
ISAPI extension High Low This handler is only available in Plesk for Windows. The ISAPI extension can provide site isolation if a dedicated IIS application pool is switched on for subscriptions. Site isolation means that the sites of different customers run their scripts independently. Thus, an error in one PHP script does not affect the work of other scripts. In addition, PHP scripts run on behalf of a system user associated with a hosting account. The ISAPI extension handler is not supported starting from PHP 5.3
CGI application Low Low The CGI handler provides PHP script execution on behalf of a system user associated with a hosting account. On Linux, this behavior is possible only when the suEXEC module of the Apache web server is on (default option). In other cases, all PHP scripts are executed on behalf of the apache user. By default, the CGI handler is unavailable to Plesk customers.
FastCGI application High High The FastCGI handler runs PHP scripts on behalf of a system user associated with a hosting account.
PHP-FPM application High Low

This handler is only available in Plesk for Linux. The PHP-FPM is an advanced version of FastCGI which offers significant benefits for highly loaded web applications.

Dedicated PHP-FPM application High High

Dedicated PHP-FPM handler uses separate master process for each website, which increases stability and isolation at the cost of slight increase in memory usage.

 

Additional information can be found in these documentation pages:

Configuring PHP Handlers

PHP Handler Types

Tweet
Share
Share
Email
0 Shares
Read the full article
Related Posts

Securing the WordPress Frontier with WP Guardian

Read More »

Introducing WP Guardian Vulnerability Protection: Now available for WP Toolkit

Read More »

Your Complete .htaccess Guide: Including .htaccess Basics and More

Read More »
Knowledge Base

How to configure PHP handlers in Plesk for Linux?

Read More »

How to find and edit PHP configuration files in Plesk for a domain or for global PHP handler

Read More »

How to enable Nginx caching in Plesk?

Read More »

How to optimize PHP perfomance on Windows

Read More »

Hosting Wiki

  • Content Security Policy ( CSP )
  • Server Redundancy
  • Linux Containers
  • CGI
  • Bare Metal Server
  • PhpMyAdmin
  • phpPgAdmin
  • Oracle VM Server
  • Server Virtualization Software
  • Windows Server
  • Linux
  • PHP
  • Domain
  • Hosting Control Panel
  • Plesk
  • Apache Tomcat
  • Apache
  • Web Server
  • DNS Server
  • Colocation Hosting
  • Reseller Hosting
  • Cloud Hosting
  • VPS Hosting
  • Dedicated Hosting
  • Shared Hosting
  • Free Hosting
  • Managed Hosting
X-twitter Linkedin Youtube Reddit Github
  • Product
  • Login
  • Pricing
  • Editions
  • For Partners
  • Partner Program
  • Contributor Program
  • Affiliate Program
  • Plesk University
  • Company
  • Blog
  • Careers
  • Events
  • About Plesk
  • Our Brand
  • Resources
  • User and Admin guides
  • Help Center
  • Migrate to Plesk
  • Contact Us
  • Hosting Wiki
  • Forum
  • Legal
  • Legal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Imprint

© 2025 WebPros International GmbH

Part of the WebPros®  Family