WordPress Tor Hosting — Run Your Blog on .onion

Running WordPress on Tor requires specific optimizations that generic hosting does not provide. AnubizHost configures WordPress to work seamlessly as a .onion hidden service. We set the site URL to your .onion address, configure wp-cron to run via system cron instead of visitor-triggered execution, and disable external HTTP requests that would leak traffic to the clearnet.

Our WordPress stack uses PHP 8.3 with OPcache for compiled bytecode caching, Redis for object caching, and Nginx with FastCGI cache for full-page caching. This combination means most page loads are served directly from memory without hitting PHP or the database, dramatically reducing response times over Tor connections.

We also apply WordPress-specific security hardening: XML-RPC is disabled, file editing through the dashboard is turned off, login attempts are rate-limited, and the wp-admin area can optionally be restricted to specific .onion client authentication keys. These measures protect your WordPress installation from the automated attacks that constantly scan the Tor network.

WordPress plugins and themes typically update by connecting directly to wordpress.org over the clearnet. On a Tor-only server, this would either fail or expose your server's exit relay IP. AnubizHost solves this with a Tor-aware update proxy that fetches updates through Tor, verifies their GPG signatures, and delivers them to your WordPress installation securely.

We maintain a curated list of plugins that are compatible with Tor hosting and do not make clearnet requests. Our recommended plugin set includes caching, SEO, security, and contact form plugins that have been tested for .onion compatibility. Plugins that require clearnet connectivity — such as social media embeds, Google Analytics, and Akismet — are flagged during installation.

Theme selection is also important for Tor performance. We provide a collection of lightweight, .onion-optimized themes that minimize external font loading, eliminate third-party JavaScript, and inline critical CSS. These themes load significantly faster over Tor than standard WordPress themes that pull resources from CDNs and third-party servers.

Publishing content on a WordPress .onion site works exactly like publishing on a clearnet WordPress site. Access your wp-admin dashboard through Tor Browser, write your posts using the familiar Gutenberg editor, add media, and publish. The entire workflow happens over Tor, so your authoring activity is private.

For teams with multiple authors, WordPress's built-in role system works seamlessly on .onion hosting. Assign editor, author, and contributor roles as needed. We can configure additional access controls using client authentication so that only authorized team members can access the admin area, while the public site remains accessible to all Tor users.

Automated publishing workflows are supported through our Tor-accessible API. Use the WordPress REST API to create and publish posts programmatically, import content from external sources, or integrate with your existing editorial workflow. We provide documentation and code samples for common automation scenarios using Python, Node.js, and command-line tools.

WordPress sites store data in two places: the filesystem (themes, plugins, uploads) and the database (posts, settings, users). Our backup system captures both, creating daily encrypted snapshots that include the complete WordPress installation and a MariaDB database dump. Backups are encrypted with your public key before being written to storage.

Restoration is available through the control panel with a single click. Select the backup date and the entire WordPress installation — files and database — is restored to that point in time. For granular recovery, you can also download individual backup archives to restore specific files or database tables without rolling back the entire site.

We also provide a WordPress export tool that generates standard WXR export files compatible with any WordPress installation. If you ever decide to migrate away from AnubizHost, you can export your content in a portable format and import it to any WordPress host. We believe in easy exits because customers should stay because the service is good, not because migration is hard.