Understanding the hosting architecture

In a headless WordPress architecture, two distinct components must be hosted: the WordPress backend (which exposes content via API) and the frontend (which generates the public rendering). Each component can be hosted on a different infrastructure, optimized for its role.

This separation has a direct benefit: each component is sized and optimized independently. The WordPress server no longer needs to handle public traffic (which is absorbed by the CDN and the static frontend), reducing its load and improving its security.

Part 1: Hosting WordPress (backend)

What does not change:

  • WordPress requires the same environment as in traditional mode (PHP, MySQL, web server)
  • The same hosting providers and the same plans are compatible
  • Maintenance (updates, backups) stays the same

What improves:

  • The WordPress server only receives API requests (no public traffic), reducing the load
  • Access to the back-office can be restricted by IP or VPN, strengthening security
  • Server resources are exclusively dedicated to administration and the API

Part 2: Hosting the frontend (public site)

The frontend (Next.js, Nuxt.js or Gatsby application) is deployed on a platform specialized in JavaScript application hosting. These platforms natively integrate continuous deployment (CI/CD), CDN and HTTPS.

WordPress hosting solutions (backend)

Shared hosting or VPS

Suitable French hosting providers:

  • OVH: €5-15/month, reliable infrastructure, French-language support
  • O2Switch: €7/month, single all-inclusive plan, good value
  • Gandi: €15-25/month, premium hosting with responsive technical support

Minimum required configuration:

  • PHP 7.4 minimum (8.0 or higher recommended for performance)
  • MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.3+
  • HTTPS with SSL/TLS certificate (Let's Encrypt or commercial certificate)
  • 1 GB RAM minimum (2 GB recommended for a smooth back-office)

Benefits: low cost, familiar providers, full control Limits: configuration and maintenance handled by the technical team

Managed WordPress hosting

Specialized solutions with built-in WordPress optimizations:

  • WP Engine: €25-50/month, integrated object and page cache, expert WordPress support
  • Kinsta: €30-60/month, Google Cloud infrastructure, advanced monitoring dashboard
  • Flywheel: €15-30/month, simplified interface, integrated staging environments

What they provide:

  • Automatic WordPress optimizations (object cache, page cache, compression)
  • Daily backups and one-click restore
  • Specialized WordPress technical support
  • Built-in staging (pre-production) environments

Benefits: reduced maintenance, optimized performance, expert support Limits: higher cost, less control over the server configuration

Recommendation by context

Which solution to choose?

  • Limited budget or initial project: O2Switch (€7/month) — all-inclusive plan with good value
  • Standard professional project: OVH or Gandi (€15/month) — reliable infrastructure with French-language support
  • Critical performance and availability: WP Engine or Kinsta (€35/month) — built-in WordPress optimizations, expert support and guaranteed SLA

Limited budget or initial project: O2Switch (€7/month) Standard professional project: OVH or Gandi (€15/month) Critical performance and availability: WP Engine or Kinsta (€35/month)

Frontend hosting solutions (public site)

Netlify:

  • Free up to 100 GB bandwidth/month (enough for most sites)
  • Automatic continuous deployment on every Git push
  • Automatic HTTPS certificate
  • Built-in global CDN (edge network)
  • Configuration via netlify.toml file or web interface

Vercel:

  • Free for personal projects and prototypes
  • Optimized for Next.js (Vercel publishes Next.js), compatible with all frameworks
  • Optimized rendering performance (edge functions, native ISR)
  • Built-in Web Analytics and Real User Monitoring

Common benefits:

  • Built-in continuous deployment (CI/CD): every Git push triggers a build and a deployment
  • Preview deployments: every pull request generates a preview URL
  • Instant rollback in case of issues
  • Low to zero cost for standard-sized projects

Generic cloud hosting

For teams that want to keep full control of the infrastructure:

  • DigitalOcean: €5-20/month depending on resources (Droplet or App Platform)
  • AWS (Amazon Web Services): pay-as-you-go pricing, S3 + CloudFront for static, or ECS/Lambda for SSR
  • Google Cloud Platform: pay-as-you-go pricing, Cloud Run for SSR, Firebase Hosting for static
  • OVH Cloud: French solution, VPS or Public Cloud

Benefits: full control, integration with existing infrastructure Limits: manual configuration, DevOps skills required

The CDN: global content distribution

How a CDN works

A CDN (Content Delivery Network) is a network of geographically distributed servers that cache static content (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images). When a visitor accesses the site, the request is routed to the server (called an "edge" or "point of presence") closest to their geographic location.

Concrete operation:

  • Site files are replicated on dozens of edge servers around the world
  • The CDN's DNS resolves to the point of presence closest to the visitor
  • The visitor receives content from a geographically close server, reducing network latency
  • The cache is invalidated automatically on every deployment

Cloudflare:

  • Free plan: CDN, SSL/TLS, basic DDoS protection
  • Pro plan ($20/month): image optimizations, advanced cache rules, Web Analytics
  • Configuration via DNS nameserver change
  • Protection against DDoS attacks and bots

CDNs built into frontend platforms:

  • Netlify and Vercel include a global CDN natively, with no additional configuration
  • WP Engine and Kinsta integrate a CDN for WordPress assets
  • No additional configuration required

Measurable CDN impact on latency

50ms

With CDN (remote visitor)

A visitor in New York accesses content via the local point of presence, with latency comparable to that of a Paris visitor

500ms

Without CDN (remote visitor)

A visitor in New York must reach the origin server in Paris, adding transatlantic latency

10x

Latency reduction

The CDN divides latency by a factor of 10 for visitors far from the origin server

Without CDN:

  • Visitor in Paris to server in Paris: about 50ms
  • Visitor in New York to server in Paris: about 500ms (transatlantic latency)

With CDN:

  • Visitor in Paris to Paris edge: about 50ms
  • Visitor in New York to New York edge: about 50ms

The CDN equalizes latency for all visitors, regardless of their location.

Automated deployment (CI/CD)

The principle of continuous deployment

Traditional method (FTP):

  1. Edit files locally
  2. Manually transfer files to the server via FTP
  3. Verify that the transfer did not corrupt files and that the site works

Modern method (CI/CD):

Edit the code

Make your changes in the code editor. For content, editors work directly in the WordPress back-office.

Push the code to Git

The code is versioned in a Git repository (GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket). Every change is tracked, commented and reversible via git revert.

Automatic deployment

The hosting platform (Vercel, Netlify) detects the new commit, runs the build (compilation, static page generation) and deploys the result automatically. No manual intervention is required.

  1. Edit the source code
  2. Push the commit to the Git repository (GitHub, GitLab)
  3. The platform detects the change, runs the build and deploys automatically

Recommended combination

Use Vercel + GitHub for the frontend and a specialized host like WP Engine for WordPress. This combination delivers a complete CI/CD pipeline for the frontend (automatic deployment, preview deployments, rollback) and managed WordPress hosting with backups and expert support.