WordPress Hosting on AWS: Options, Cost, and Step-by-Step Setup (2026)

WordPress on AWS, three ways

Hosting WordPress on AWS means choosing between a few very different services:

1. AWS Lightsail — a simple VPS-style instance, the easiest AWS route
2. Amazon EC2 — full control over a virtual machine, the classic route
3. AWS Marketplace AMI — a pre-baked WordPress image you launch as-is

There's also AWS S3 + CloudFront for a static export of your WordPress site, and Amazon RDS if you want a managed database. Which one you pick changes the cost, the control, and the maintenance burden dramatically.

Which AWS option is right for WordPress?

| Option | Price/mo | Best for | Managed? | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Lightsail | $5–10 | Most WordPress users on AWS | Panel included | | EC2 t4g.micro | ~$7–14 | Full control, dev/test | No | | Marketplace AMI | $15+ | Launch-and-go | Partially | | S3 + CloudFront | $0–5 | Static/headless WordPress | No |

Lightsail is the pragmatic pick for most people. It bundles a public IP, SSD, and bandwidth with a management panel, and you can click-launch a WordPress image that includes Bitnami's tooling. EC2 gives you more control but you manage PHP, MySQL, SSL, and updates yourself.

Hosting WordPress on AWS Lightsail (step by step)

1. Sign up for AWS and open the Lightsail console.
2. Click Create instance, choose WordPress as the blueprint.
3. Pick a location near your audience and the $5 or $10 plan.
4. Wait ~2 minutes, then click Connect to get the SSH window.
5. The instance shows your temporary WordPress admin URL and password in the welcome banner.
6. Point your domain at the instance IP, then run the sudo /opt/bitnami/bncert-tool command to install a free SSL.

That's the whole launch. If you'd rather run WordPress on a more traditional stack first, our install WordPress on Hostinger tutorial covers the managed-shared route, which is faster for most people than AWS.

WordPress on EC2

EC2 is for when you want maximum control — custom AMIs, autoscaling, or integration with other AWS services like RDS, S3, and CloudFront. Expect to configure the whole LAMP/LEMP stack:

1. Launch an Ubuntu instance (t3.micro or t4g.small is fine to start).
2. Install Nginx/Apache, PHP 8.x, and MariaDB.
3. Create a database and import WordPress.
4. Configure wp-config.php and point DNS at the instance.

We have a deploy Next.js on a VPS tutorial that shows the same server setup patterns — swap the Node part for WordPress and it's the same flow.

AWS Free Tier for WordPress

New AWS accounts get 12 months of the free tier: 750 hours/month of a t3.micro/t4g.small instance. That's enough to run a small WordPress site for a year at ~$0 — the same deal our free WordPress hosting guide covers. Budget for the domain (~$12/yr), the snapshot after the free tier, and S3/bandwidth if you scale.

AWS WordPress hosting cost compared

• Lightsail $5 — fine for a small blog
• EC2 t4g.micro on-demand — ~$7–14/mo plus data transfer
• Reserved instances — cut EC2 cost ~40% with 1–3 year commitments
• S3 + CloudFront — pennies for a static site; a real managed WordPress can't live here without a builder service

Compare those to the flat $2.99/mo for Hostinger — AWS gives you full control and ecosystem integration, but you pay with setup time and ongoing admin. For a business WordPress site, a managed host is usually the smarter trade.

Frequently asked questions

Is AWS good for hosting WordPress? Yes, for developers who want control or need AWS integration. Lightsail is the friendly route; EC2 is the flexible one. For non-technical users, managed WordPress hosting is simpler and often cheaper overall.

How much does WordPress hosting on AWS cost? From $5/mo on Lightsail, ~$7–14/mo on EC2 (or free for a year on the free tier), plus bandwidth. Managed WordPress alternatives start at $2.99/mo.

Is WordPress free on AWS? The AWS Free Tier covers a small instance for 12 months. The WordPress software itself is open source and free — you're paying only for infrastructure.

Can I migrate my WordPress site to AWS? Yes. Most hosts export your site via a plugin (All-in-One WP Migration), and Lightsail has a one-click import tool for it. Our move WordPress to a new host guide covers the general process.