Performance Reference
Redis is for the pages your page cache is not allowed to touch
The public pages fly and the dashboard still crawls, because none of it is cacheable.
The short answer
Redis is an in-memory data store used as an object cache: it holds query results and computed values in RAM so the application can reuse them instead of asking the database again.
That makes it the answer to a very specific problem. Page caching handles anything you can serve identically to everyone, and deliberately skips everything else — baskets, accounts, checkout, the whole dashboard. Redis is what makes that uncacheable half quick, which is why stores and membership sites feel it far more than blogs do.
By the HostingFast team · Reviewed 12 August 2026
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Hand-waving in this entry
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Entries wired to each other
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To read, no gate
In WordPress it becomes a persistent object cache. Without one, every request rebuilds the same option lookups, term queries and meta reads from the database and throws them away at the end. With one, they survive between requests, and the second visitor to the same screen collects most of the answer from memory.
Beyond WordPress it does sessions, queues, rate-limit counters and transient storage. For a hosting decision, though, the only questions that matter are whether it is available and how much work connecting it takes. On the WordPress plans here it is a single click in AccelerateWP.
The uncacheable half of a site
A logged-out article is served whole from the page cache and never reaches PHP. A logged-in dashboard, a basket, a checkout or an account page cannot be, because the response differs per person. Every one of those runs the full application on every request, which is exactly where object caching earns its keep.
So the honest expectation is asymmetric. Public pages will barely change; wp-admin and checkout typically feel different within minutes of it going live.
Reading the hit rate
The instrumentation is there. Redis reports keyspace hits and keyspace misses in its own statistics, and any decent object cache plugin surfaces a connection status and a hit rate in the WordPress admin. Hold that ratio comfortably above roughly 80 percent and it is doing real work.
A poor ratio usually means one of three things: the cache is being flushed too aggressively, the memory limit is evicting entries before they are reused, or a plugin is bypassing the object cache and going straight to the database. All three are visible in the same statistics if you look at them over a few minutes rather than a single instant.
Where it stops helping
It caches results, not queries. A genuinely slow query still runs slowly the first time and on every miss, so a missing database index is not something Redis will paper over for long. It is also volatile by nature: a restart empties it, and the application must be correct with an empty cache.
And it does nothing for the requests already served by page cache. If your public pages are slow, this is not the fix, and installing it will produce a graph that does not move.
Switching it on here
Redis object caching runs on the WordPress tiers through AccelerateWP, enabled from the panel rather than by editing configuration. WP-CLI over SSH is available on the developer-focused plans if you would rather drive it from the command line, with Git and Composer alongside.
Neighbouring entries: Cache, Database, WooCommerce and OPcache. Daily backups run on every plan, so trying it is a low-risk afternoon rather than a project.
Caching entries that name the beneficiary
Each caching layer helps a specific kind of request and does nothing for the others. These entries say which requests each one covers, so you stop enabling things that were never going to move your number.
Redis object caching runs through AccelerateWP on the WordPress tiers, with WP-CLI over SSH on the developer-focused plans.
- Beneficiary named per layer
- Hit rates as the proof
- Panel route and CLI route both given
- Written by our support engineers
Why HostingFast
Standard on every plan
Aimed at the uncacheable half
Baskets, checkout, accounts and the dashboard — the requests page caching is not allowed to serve.
Asymmetric by design
Public pages barely change; wp-admin and checkout usually feel different within minutes.
Hit rate as evidence
Keyspace hits against misses, held comfortably above roughly 80 percent, is the proof it is working.
Three reasons a ratio is poor
Aggressive flushing, memory eviction, or a plugin bypassing the object cache entirely.
Clear about the limits
It caches results, not queries. A missing index still costs you on every miss.
One click on WordPress tiers
Enabled through AccelerateWP from the panel, or driven with WP-CLI over SSH if you prefer.
Quick Start
From order to online
- 1
Confirm what is actually slow
If your slow pages are logged-out and cacheable, this is the wrong tool. Check the cache header before you enable anything.
- 2
Turn it on and take the hit rate
Enable it, use the site normally for a few minutes, then read keyspace hits against misses rather than trusting a first impression.
- 3
Chase a poor ratio to its cause
Flushing, eviction or a plugin going straight to the database. The statistics distinguish the three if you watch them over time.
Built In
Loaded onto every plan
- LiteSpeed caching built into the server rather than patched in by plugin
- NVMe SSD storage on every tier, not just the expensive ones
- Built-in WebP image optimisation at no extra cost
- cPanel — the control panel most of the industry already runs
- WordPress Toolkit, with updates handled for you
- Human support on duty every hour of every day
- Email addresses that run on your own domain name
- A renewal price identical to the price you signed up at
- Zero setup charges — there is no joining fee, ever
- Year one of your domain free when you order annually
Frequently Asked
What people ask us most often
Which pages does Redis actually speed up?
The ones page caching cannot serve: wp-admin, baskets, checkout, account areas and anything else that differs per visitor. Those run the whole application on every request, so removing repeated database work from them is felt immediately. Public logged-out pages are already coming from the page cache and will barely move, which is the correct outcome rather than a disappointment.
What does a poor hit rate usually mean?
Three candidates. Something is flushing the cache too often, so entries never get reused. The memory limit is evicting entries before a second request arrives. Or a plugin is going straight to the database and ignoring the object cache altogether. Watch keyspace hits and misses over several minutes of real use rather than reading a single instant, and the pattern separates them.
What happens to the cache when the service restarts?
It empties, and the application carries on by rebuilding from the database. That is the design: an object cache is an optimisation, never the source of truth, and anything that breaks when the cache is cold was already broken. In practice you see a brief warm-up and then normal service.
How do I switch it on here?
On the WordPress tiers it is a single click in AccelerateWP from the control panel, with no configuration file to edit. If you would rather work from the command line, WP-CLI over SSH is available on the developer-focused plans alongside Git and Composer. Daily backups run on every plan, so trying it costs you an afternoon at worst.
Keep reading
WooCommerce
The storefront layer on WordPress, and why almost none of it can be page cached.
Cache
Five layers between database and visitor, and the header that says which one answered.
Best Hosting With Redis Object Caching
The buyer's version: how to check a host's Redis story before you believe it.
VPS Hosting
KVM virtual servers with root access, edge filtering and one flat monthly price.
Web Hosting
cPanel hosting on NVMe with SSL, migration and a first-year domain included.
Changing hosts? Run through our checklist first.
A straightforward sequence for a switch your visitors never feel: which files move first, how to shift email across without losing a single message, the right moment to repoint DNS, and the two mistakes behind almost all the downtime we get asked to rescue.
Make the logged-in half quick too.
Redis through AccelerateWP on the WordPress tiers, LiteSpeed caching in the server, NVMe under every plan.
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