Pantheon Increases PHP Memory Limits for Performance and Elite Plans

Pantheon has increased the PHP memory limit for Performance and Elite plans. PHP memory is essential for running your site’s software smoothly and efficiently. By increasing the memory limit, we're making sure that your websites can handle more complex tasks, process data faster and provide an even better user experience.

Let me tell you what’s behind this memory increase. During my tenure as a Migrations Consultant for Pantheon’s Professional Services team, I migrated hundreds of customer sites to the platform. Over the years, I’ve seen web teams, across any given sector, opt to spend money on additional server resources for a site that’s struggling to perform rather than solve the underlying issues. 

While it’s optimal to focus on fixing the site first – before throwing resources at the problem – I recognize it’s not always as simple as that. Competing priorities and bandwidth constraints sometimes leave the optimal path less traveled - especially in times of transition like switching infrastructure providers. 

I’ve also seen administrative workflows fail due to exhausted resources for an otherwise performant site. I’ve heard from more than a few customers about the time spent back and forth in support tickets, exhaustively explaining their scenario and asking for ad-hoc increases. 

Sometimes you just want more memory - and today you can have it!

How Does This Benefit You?

Enhanced Stability. The additional memory allows the application to handle more simultaneous users without slowdowns, interruptions, or errors.

Greater Functionality. Certain site operations requiring significant memory resources will now run more efficiently (i.e., Run scripts that require more memory), providing a seamless experience. 

What Do You Need to Do?

No action is required on your part. If you have a Performance or Elite plan, your application will automatically take advantage of the increased PHP memory limit.

Have More Questions?

While much of what we do at Pantheon, including this change, is aimed at removing the need to think about infrastructure details during daily work, we know it comes up occasionally. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to support about this upgrade and how you can best take advantage of the increased memory limit. 

You can also drop by our regular Zoom-based office hours.