Developer Stacks

LEMP Stack Hosting on Your Own VPS

Q: What is the difference between LEMP and LAMP?

NGINX instead of Apache. NGINX uses less memory per connection and serves static files faster; Apache supports .htaccess, which NGINX has no equivalent for.

Q: Does .htaccess work with NGINX?

No. Rules go in the server configuration instead. Applications that ship .htaccess need those rules translated once at setup.

Q: What VPS size does a LEMP stack need?

2 vCPU and 4 GB for a typical site. PHP-FPM worker count is usually the concurrency ceiling, so size that against expected simultaneous requests.

Q: Can NGINX proxy to other applications?

Yes, and it is commonly used that way — in front of Node, Django or Rails on the same server, handling TLS and static files.

Q: Do I get root access?

Yes. Root matters more here than on LAMP, since all routing is server configuration.

NGINX, MySQL and PHP-FPM — lower memory per connection and fast static file serving.

Deploy LEMP Recommended specs

Size a server for LEMP

Every stop is a real configuration you can deploy. Priced per 30 days, billed by the hour, exclusive of 18% GST.

vCPU 2 vCPU

Memory 4 GB

NVMe disk 40 GB

Bandwidth 5 TB

What LEMP is

LEMP replaces Apache with NGINX: Linux, NGINX (the E is for its pronunciation), MySQL or MariaDB, and PHP-FPM. The substitution changes the performance profile in ways worth understanding before choosing.

NGINX uses an event-driven model rather than a process or thread per connection, so memory use stays roughly flat as concurrency rises. It also serves static files considerably faster, since it does so directly from the event loop without involving PHP at all. For a site with many images, scripts and stylesheets, or many slow mobile connections held open, that difference is real.

The trade is configuration. There is no .htaccess — rewrite rules, headers and access control live in the server configuration and take effect on reload. That is more predictable and faster, and it means an application cannot change its own routing without server access. Software that ships .htaccess rules needs those translated once during setup.

Why run LEMP on a VPS

Root access to the NGINX configuration, which is where all routing lives in this stack.

PHP-FPM pool sizing under your control — the usual concurrency ceiling.

Static assets served straight from NGINX, without touching PHP.

Multiple PHP versions per site when applications disagree.

LEMP features

NGINX with HTTP/2 and TLS

PHP-FPM with per-site pools

MariaDB or MySQL with direct access

Free Let's Encrypt certificates with renewal

FastCGI caching for uncached PHP output

Gzip and Brotli compression

Recommended server

A starting point for LEMP, not a hard floor — size it on the sliders.

Memory	4 GB for a typical site; 8 GB for several or for heavy PHP
CPU	2 vCPU; 4 under sustained traffic
Storage	40 GB
Operating system	Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or AlmaLinux 9

How deployment works

NGINX, MariaDB and PHP-FPM are installed with server blocks and TLS for your domains. If you are migrating an application that shipped .htaccess rules, those are translated into the NGINX configuration during setup — that is the one migration step that catches people out.

It is your server. LEMP is installed directly on your VPS or VDS, not inside a container we manage. You get root over SSH, you can install anything alongside it, change its configuration, or remove it entirely. We do not hold a key to it.

What people run it for

High-concurrency sites

Many simultaneous connections without memory scaling per connection.

Static-heavy sites

Images and assets served without invoking PHP.

APIs

PHP APIs where request throughput matters more than per-directory config.

Reverse proxying

NGINX in front of Node, Python or anything else on the same machine.

LEMP hosting questions

What is LEMP stack hosting?

A VPS with Linux, NGINX, MySQL or MariaDB and PHP-FPM installed and configured, with root access throughout.

What is the difference between LEMP and LAMP?

Does .htaccess work with NGINX?

What VPS size does a LEMP stack need?

Can NGINX proxy to other applications?

Do I get root access?

Related applications

LAMP Hosting Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP, with .htaccess support and root over all of it.

Laravel Hosting Laravel with working queues, a real scheduler and Redis — the parts shared hosting cannot provide.

WordPress Hosting WordPress on a server you control, with no plugin blocklist and your own PHP and caching stack.

FastPanel Hosting A free control panel with per-site users, multi-PHP and one-click certificates.

Django Hosting Django behind Gunicorn with PostgreSQL and Celery, on a server built for long-running processes.

Deploy LEMP on your own server

Root access, your choice of size, and no container between you and the application.

Deploy LEMP All applications