Overview
DreamHost supports a variety of technologies to help you manage and customize your hosting environment. The tables below list which technologies are supported and provide details for each. If your technology isn't listed below, contact DreamHost support to confirm whether it's supported.
The following applies to DreamHost's managed hosting platforms. If you have a Dedicated Server with an admin user or are using DreamCompute, these limitations may not apply.
Which Apache mods are enabled?
| Mods | Enabled? | Details |
|---|---|---|
| mod_rewrite | YES | Installed on all servers. |
| mod_perl | NO | Visit the Perl article for details. |
| mod_php | NO | You can install this manually on a VPS, Dedicated Server, or DreamCompute as those plans allow sudo. |
| mod_proxy | NO | Available in the panel for Managed VPS or Dedicated Servers. |
| mod_security | YES | Installed on all servers. View the Mod Security article for details. |
Which applications, software, and programs are supported?
| App/software/program | Installed? | Details |
|---|---|---|
| cURL | YES | Installed on all servers. View the cURL article for details. |
| Docker | NO | You can install this manually on a VPS, Dedicated Server, or DreamCompute as those plans allow sudo. |
| Ecwid | YES | This can be installed on Shared, Managed VPS, Dedicated, and DreamPress plans. See this article for details. |
| Elasticsearch | NO | You can install this manually on a VPS, Dedicated Server, or DreamCompute as those plans allow sudo. |
| FTP/SFTP/SSH | YES | View the FTP, SFTP, and SSH articles for details. |
| FTPS | NO | Not supported on any server. |
| Git | YES | Installed on all servers. |
| ionCube | NO | Not installed by default but can be set up manually. Visit the IonCube Loader article for details. |
| JIRA | NO | Not supported on Shared Hosting, but you may enable this on a Managed VPS or Dedicated Server. If sudo access is required, you must install on a VPS, Dedicated Server using an admin user, or DreamCompute. |
| Kubernetes | NO | This can be installed on DreamCompute. |
| Minecraft | NO | Not supported on Shared Hosting, but you may enable this on a Managed VPS or Dedicated Server. If sudo access is required, you must install on a VPS, Dedicated Server using an admin user, or DreamCompute. |
| NFS | NO | You can install this manually on a VPS, Dedicated Server, or DreamCompute as those plans allow sudo. |
| Passenger | NO | Not supported on DreamHost servers. |
| PHP Zip | YES | Installed on all servers. |
| Plesk | NO | This can only be installed on DreamCompute. |
| Quickbooks | NO | Not supported on DreamHost Linux servers. |
| SOAP | YES | Installed on all servers. |
| Subversion (version control) | NO | Visit the Subversion article for details. |
| Tomcat | NO | You can install this manually on a VPS, Dedicated Server, or DreamCompute as those plans allow sudo. |
| WebDAV | YES | View the WebDAV overview article for more information. |
| WooCommerce | YES | Only available on Managed VPS, Dedicated, or DreamPress Hosting plans. Not available on shared servers since it is memory intensive and will hit shared server memory limits. |
Which languages and scripts are supported?
| Language/script | Installed? | Details |
|---|---|---|
| ASP | NO | Microsoft technologies are not supported on DreamHost Linux servers. |
| CGI scripts | YES | Supported on all servers. |
| ColdFusion | NO | You can install this manually on a VPS, Dedicated Server, or DreamCompute as those plans allow sudo. |
| Erlang / Elixer / Phoenix | NO | Not supported, but you may install on a Managed VPS or Dedicated Server. If sudo access is required, you must install on a VPS, Dedicated Server using an admin user, or DreamCompute. |
| golang | NO | You can install this locally under your username, as long as sudo isn't required. If sudo access is required, you must install on a VPS, Dedicated Server using an admin user, or DreamCompute. |
| GraphQL | NO | You can manually add it to your site as needed. |
| .htaccess files | YES | Visit the .htaccess article for details. |
| Java JRE | YES | Visit the Java article for further information. |
| JSON | YES | Installed on all servers. |
| .NET | NO | Microsoft technologies are not supported on DreamHost Linux servers. |
| Perl | YES | Installed on all servers. |
| PHP / Cake / Laravel | YES | Visit the following articles for details: You can run any PHP framework you like on Shared or Managed VPS hosting (such as Laravel or Cake), as long as you can install it without sudo. Also, memory intensive applications are not recommended for Shared Hosting as they may cause your user to hit memory limits. The exec and shell_exec functions are also available. |
| Python | YES | Visit the Python article for details. |
| Ruby | YES | Visit the following articles for details: |
Which web and database servers are supported?
| Server | Supported? | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Lighttpd | NO | You can install this manually on a VPS, Dedicated Server, or DreamCompute as those plans allow sudo. |
| Linux | YES | DreamHost servers currently run Ubuntu. |
| MongoDB/NoSQL | NO | You can install this manually on a VPS, Dedicated Server, or DreamCompute as those plans allow sudo. |
| MySQL | YES | Visit the MySQL article for further information. |
| Nginx | YES | Visit the Nginx article for details. |
| Node.js | YES | Available on Managed VPS and Dedicated Servers. Visit the Node.js article for details. |
| PostgreSQL | NO | Not supported on Shared Hosting, but you may install this on a Dedicated Server or DreamCompute. Visit the PostgreSQL article for details. |
| sqlite3 | YES | Visit the SQLite article for details. |
Which services and add-ons are supported?
| Service | Supported? | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic backups | YES | DreamHost automatically backs up web server data and MySQL databases. However, this is not guaranteed. Review the Backup category for details. |
| Cloudflare | YES | See the Cloudflare articles for details. |
| Cloud services | YES | DreamObjects and DreamCompute are the two current Cloud services available. |
| Domain registrations | YES | Domain registrations can be purchased with or without an active hosting plan. |
| Email filters | YES | Anti-spam filters are enabled on all accounts by default. Additional custom filters may also be added. |
| Google Workspace | YES | Visit the Google Workspace article for details. |
| HTTP/2 | YES | HTTP/2 is currently supported on all managed hosting plans. |
| Dedicated or Unique IP addresses | YES | View the Unique IP article for details. |
| Memcached | YES | You can install this manually on a VPS, Dedicated Server, or DreamCompute as those plans allow sudo. |
| Multi-factor Authentication | YES | Multifactor Authentication can be enabled on any DreamHost account. |
| OpenSSL | YES | Installed on all servers. |
| PGP Email | YES | PGP encryption can be used with DreamHost email, but it must be configured within your email client. |
| Progressive Web Apps (PWA) | YES | Since it just requires HTML/CSS/JS, you can build them on any server. If you build your app on a shared server, you must stay within its memory limits. |
| Redis | YES | Redis Object Cache is available on DreamPress Pro plans. You can also install this manually on a VPS, Dedicated Server, or DreamCompute, as those plans allow sudo. |
| Remote Desktops | NO | --- |
| Reselling | NO | There is no specific service set up, but you can resell services to your clients. View the Reselling article for details. |
| Site migrations | YES | See the Website migration services article for details. |
| Websockets (Socket.io) | No | Websockets can be used on a Managed VPS or Dedicated Server using a non-privileged port as a local app. However, running websockets using a Proxy Server that is available to the public is not supported. |
| Staging | YES | DreamPress plans allow you to create a staging site directly in the panel. All other hosting plans allow you to stage a website using a free dreamhosters.com subdomain. |
| Statistics | YES | Site statistics are enabled by default on all accounts. View the Statistics Overview article for details. |
| SSL certificates | YES | Visit the following articles for details: |
Which WordPress themes and plugins can I use?
WordPress has a large variety of Themes and Plugins you can use to customize your website:
You can use any Theme or Plugin you like with your WordPress site, however, some Themes or Plugins may use a lot of memory. Make sure to test any new add-ons to ensure they do not affect your site's responsiveness.
WordPress Multisite
Support is unable to assist with custom WordPress Multisite installations. Before proceeding, ensure you have a basic knowledge of PHP, MySQL, editing files, and how to review error logs. Additionally, there are two ways you can set up your multisite:
Subdomains
Subdirectories
The subdomain option is only available on a Managed VPS or Dedicated Server, as Wildcard DNS is required for this configuration. If you wish to configure Multisite on a shared server, you must use the subdirectory option.
DO NOT use the panel to enter an asterisk * as a CNAME record. This does not function as a wildcard rule and could potentially cause additional problems.
Which site builder applications can I use?
Site builder applications such as WordPress, MediaWiki, and Joomla can be used to quickly build a website without knowledge of HTML.
Which site builder applications are unsupported?
These applications are not supported. However, you can still install them manually if you wish.
If root/sudo access is required for any installation, the only option is to upgrade to a VPS, Dedicated Server or DreamCompute, as those are the only hosting plans that allow sudo access.
| Unavailable site builder applications | Details |
|---|---|
| Koken | You can still install this manually. |
| Magento | Visit Magento for more information. |
| Moodle | You can still install this manually. |
| osCommerce | You can still install this manually. |
| OxWall CMS | You can still install this manually. |
| Zimbra | You can still install this manually. |
