Before you can run a WordPress site on Rapyd Cloud, you need an environment. This is the server that powers your site—including the region, PHP version, and infrastructure-level services.
Most users will set up an environment during the Add site flow. If you're creating a site, you don’t need to deploy an environment manually—we’ll guide you through the environment step automatically.
This article is for users who need to deploy an environment in advance, without immediately adding a site.
Setting Up an Environment
Option 1: Set Up Environment Only
This is the primary workflow for users who want to prepare infrastructure first and add a site later.
Step 1: Go to the Environments Page
In your Rapyd Cloud dashboard, click Environments in the main navigation menu.
Step 2: Find Your Environment
Locate the environment you'd like to use. If no environment has been deployed yet, you’ll see a Set up environment button.
Step 3: Configure the Environment
At this stage, you’ll be prompted to configure the environment:
Environment name: A label that helps you identify this environment throughout the dashboard
Data region: Choose from US East (Virginia), US West (Oregon), or Europe (Ireland)
PHP version: Select from currently supported versions (PHP 8.2+)
⚠️ Older PHP versions (like 7.4) are no longer supported. Contact support if you have specific needs, but note that support for legacy versions is extremely limited.
Step 4: Click Create Environment
The environment provisioning process takes about 10 minutes. Once it completes, you’ll see the new environment listed in the Plans section.
Once the environment is deployed, you can:
Add a WordPress site to it from the Environments or Site page
View and manage the environment’s usage stats, PHP version, region, and server-level services
Option 2: Set Up Environment During Site Creation
If you attempt to add a site to a plan that doesn’t yet have an environment, you’ll be prompted to create one during the site setup flow.
This is a common first-time workflow, but if you prefer to control your environment setup separately—such as setting region and PHP version ahead of time—the method described above is the recommended approach.
To learn how to add a site once your environment is ready, continue here:
How to Add a Site to an Environment
Conclusion
Your environment is the foundation of your hosting setup on Rapyd Cloud. By deploying it first, you gain full control over key infrastructure settings before adding any sites. Once your environment is ready, you can add one or more WordPress sites depending on your plan.