PHP and static sites

PHP and Static websites run your own code instead of WordPress. Create a server of that type first, then add websites to it.

PHP websites

A PHP website runs your PHP application on the server’s PHP, behind Nginx.

Database: optional. When you add the website, Create a MySQL-compatible database (MariaDB) is ticked; untick it if you don’t need one. Its name, user and password are shown under Databases. A website created without a database has no Databases section.
Starting point: a placeholder page. index.php is served first.
Web server: Nginx only, so .htaccess files are ignored. Set redirects under Redirects.
PHP settings: choose the PHP version and limits under PHP. See PHP settings.

A static website is HTML, CSS, JavaScript and other files, served directly by Nginx.

No PHP and no database. The website has no PHP or Databases section.
Starting point: a placeholder page. index.html is served first.
Web server: Nginx serves the files on either web server, so .htaccess files are not read.

You have three ways to replace the placeholder:

Upload with SFTP using the website’s login under SSH / SFTP. Your files go in htdocs, the website’s web root.
Use the file manager to upload, edit and unpack files in the browser.
Deploy from Git under Deployments. See Deploy from Git. A PHP website can use the PHP or Laravel preset, and a static website the Static preset. The PHP and Static presets run no build commands. For a site that needs one, add build commands such as composer install or npm ci and npm run build, and set the Publish directory to the folder to serve, such as public or dist. Node.js is available to the build when a build command uses npm, npx or node.

Staging, cloning, moving to another server and import and export are WordPress-only for now. Backups work as for every website.