> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://ownpay.org/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

> ## Agent Instructions
> OwnPay is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and is completely free - no licensing fees.
> Production docs URL: https://ownpay.org/docs - append .md to any page URL for clean markdown.
> OwnPay requires PHP 8.3+, MySQL/MariaDB, and Redis.
> MCP server available at https://ownpay.org/docs/mcp for programmatic documentation queries.
> Use root-relative links (e.g. /quickstart) for internal navigation - do NOT include /docs prefix.
> Plugin development: consult /developer/plugins/ pages for correct interfaces and manifests.
> Canonical locations: API auth = /api/authentication, webhook verification = /api/webhooks, rate limits = /resources/rate-limiting, transaction statuses = /fundamentals/payment-flow.
> The documentation uses the Diataxis framework: Tutorials (learning), How-to (tasks), Reference (lookup), Explanation (understanding).

# Performance and Scaling

> Optimize OwnPay performance with Redis caching, database tuning, PHP-FPM configuration, Nginx optimization, queue workers, and scaling strategies.

OwnPay is designed to run well on modest hardware, but as your transaction volume grows you can make targeted optimizations at each layer of the stack. This guide covers the most impactful changes.

***

## Redis for sessions and cache

The single biggest performance improvement for most deployments is switching from file-based cache and sessions to Redis. Redis eliminates disk I/O for session reads, cache lookups, and rate limit tracking.

<Steps />

<Tip>
  Use separate Redis databases for cache (DB 0) and queues (DB 1) if you want to flush the cache without losing queued jobs.
</Tip>

***

## Database optimization

OwnPay's schema uses MySQL Stored Generated Columns to avoid JSON extraction overhead on filtered queries. The existing composite indexes (`idx_merchant_status`, `idx_merchant_created`) handle most common query patterns.

### Key configuration

```ini theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"github-dark"}}
[mysqld]
innodb_buffer_pool_size    = 256M    # Increase to 1G+ for high volume
innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit = 1
innodb_flush_method        = O_DIRECT
max_connections            = 100
wait_timeout               = 600
slow_query_log             = 1
long_query_time            = 2
```

<Note>
  Set `innodb_buffer_pool_size` to roughly 70% of available RAM dedicated to MySQL. On a server with 4 GB RAM and Redis, 1 GB is a reasonable starting point.
</Note>

You can optimize tables from the admin panel under **Settings > Database**. This runs `OPTIMIZE TABLE` on all `op_` tables to reclaim fragmented space.

***

## PHP-FPM tuning

PHP-FPM worker configuration directly affects how many concurrent requests OwnPay can handle.

```ini theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"github-dark"}}
[ownpay]
pm                   = dynamic
pm.max_children      = 20
pm.start_servers     = 4
pm.min_spare_servers = 2
pm.max_spare_servers = 8
pm.max_requests      = 500
slowlog              = storage/logs/php-fpm-slow.log
request_slowlog_timeout = 10s
```

Also enable OPcache with JIT compilation in your `php.ini`:

```ini theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"github-dark"}}
opcache.enable                  = 1
opcache.memory_consumption      = 128
opcache.interned_strings_buffer = 16
opcache.max_accelerated_files   = 10000
opcache.revalidate_freq         = 0
opcache.validate_timestamps     = 0
opcache.jit                     = tracing
opcache.jit_buffer_size         = 64M
```

<Warning>
  Set `opcache.validate_timestamps = 0` in production for maximum performance. After disabling it, you must restart PHP-FPM when updating OwnPay files.
</Warning>

***

## Nginx configuration

Enable gzip compression and static asset caching in your Nginx server block:

```nginx theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"github-dark"}}
gzip on;
gzip_types text/plain text/css application/json application/javascript text/xml;
gzip_min_length 256;

location ~* \.(css|js|png|jpg|jpeg|gif|ico|svg|woff2)$ {
    expires 30d;
    add_header Cache-Control "public, immutable";
}
```

For SSL, use a modern cipher suite and enable OCSP stapling. Nginx's default SSL settings on most distributions are already reasonable, but you can test your configuration with [SSL Labs](https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/).

***

## CDN for static assets

If your brands use custom domains across different geographic regions, place a CDN (Cloudflare, Fastly) in front of the checkout domain. The CDN caches static assets (CSS, JS, images, fonts) and serves them from edge nodes closer to your customers.

<Info>
  Payment form submissions and webhook callbacks always hit your origin server directly. The CDN only caches static files.
</Info>

***

## Queue workers for async jobs

Background jobs (webhook deliveries, email sending, SMS processing, export generation) run through the queue system. When using Redis as the queue driver, process jobs with the cron endpoint:

```bash theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"github-dark"}}
# Add to crontab
* * * * * php /var/www/ownpay/public/index.php cron/run >> /dev/null 2>&1
```

For high-volume environments, run the queue worker as a dedicated long-running process instead of relying on the cron-based worker:

```bash theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"github-dark"}}
php /var/www/ownpay/public/index.php queue:work --daemon
```

***

## Scaling considerations

| Volume                      | Architecture                    | Key change                                                                |
| :-------------------------- | :------------------------------ | :------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Up to 1,000 payments/day    | Single server, file cache       | Default installation is sufficient                                        |
| 1,000 - 8,000 payments/day  | Single server, Redis            | Switch to Redis for cache, sessions, and queues                           |
| 8,000 - 50,000 payments/day | Single server, tuned            | Increase PHP-FPM workers, InnoDB buffer pool, add OPcache JIT             |
| 50,000+ payments/day        | Separate app + database servers | Move MySQL to a dedicated host with 5 GB+ buffer pool                     |
| 100,000+ payments/day       | Horizontal scaling              | Multiple app servers behind a load balancer, Redis Cluster, read replicas |

<Note>
  OwnPay's PHP application is stateless when using Redis for sessions. This makes horizontal scaling straightforward - add more app servers behind your load balancer with no code changes.
</Note>

***

## Monitoring

Monitor these key metrics to know when to scale:

| Metric                  | Healthy range                  | Where to check                                        |
| :---------------------- | :----------------------------- | :---------------------------------------------------- |
| PHP-FPM active workers  | Below 80% of `pm.max_children` | `/fpm-status` endpoint                                |
| OPcache hit rate        | Above 95%                      | `opcache_get_status()` in a PHP info page             |
| Slow queries            | Zero per minute                | MySQL slow query log                                  |
| InnoDB buffer pool hits | Above 95%                      | `SHOW STATUS LIKE 'Innodb_buffer_pool_read_requests'` |
| Redis evicted keys      | Zero per minute                | `redis-cli info stats`                                |

***

## Related Pages

* [Installation](/docs/installation) - Initial server setup and requirements
* [Backup and Export](/docs/resources/backup-export) - Backup procedures before scaling changes
* [Rate Limiting](/docs/resources/rate-limiting) - Configure rate limits for high-traffic deployments


## Related topics

- [Debug Mode](/docs/resources/debug-mode.md)
- [Backup and Export](/docs/resources/backup-export.md)
- [Migration Guide](/docs/resources/migration-guide.md)
- [Common Errors](/docs/resources/common-errors.md)
- [Install OwnPay on Shared Hosting, VPS, or Docker](/docs/installation.md)