What an inode is and why hosts cap it
SiteGround's knowledge base defines an inode as "a record in a disk table, which contains information about a file or folder", holding details such as size and owner but not the content. In practice the number of inodes you use equals the number of files and folders in your account. A 4 GB video and a 2 KB thumbnail each use one.
Hosts limit file counts because every file operation costs work. SiteGround's fair-use page says reading, listing, modifying or backing up a file all require I/O operations that also use RAM and CPU. Millions of tiny files make backups slow and filesystem scans expensive even when total disk use is small.
That is why disk space and inodes are separate limits. A course site with 10 GB of storage can still hit an inode cap if it holds hundreds of thousands of small files.
Published limits by plan
SiteGround publishes its limits in its fair-use article and counts "files, folders, and email messages". KnownHost lists inodes on its plan comparison pages and describes them as the "number of individual files that can exist within a single cPanel account". KnownHost's managed VPS comparison does not list an inode limit. SiteGround's fair-use article shows a last-update date of 12 October 2021, so confirm the current figure for your plan in the Client Area statistics.
| Host and plan | Published inode limit | What the host counts |
|---|---|---|
| SiteGround StartUp | 200,000 per account | Files, folders and email messages |
| SiteGround GrowBig | 400,000 per account | Files, folders and email messages |
| SiteGround GoGeek | 600,000 per account | Files, folders and email messages |
| KnownHost Web Hosting Basic | 100,000 | Files in the cPanel account |
| KnownHost Web Hosting Standard | 200,000 | Files in the cPanel account |
| KnownHost Web Hosting Professional | 300,000 | Files in the cPanel account |
| KnownHost Web Hosting Premium | 600,000 | Files in the cPanel account |
| KnownHost Managed WordPress Entry | 350,000 | Files in the cPanel account |
| KnownHost Managed WordPress Business | 450,000 | Files in the cPanel account |
| KnownHost Managed WordPress Corporate | 600,000 | Files in the cPanel account |
| KnownHost managed VPS | Not listed on the comparison page | Confirm with KnownHost |
Where a course site's file count comes from
WordPress core, an LMS plugin, a page builder and a dozen other plugins already account for tens of thousands of files before you add any content. The growth after launch comes from five places.
Image sizes. WordPress registers several image sizes (thumbnail, medium, medium_large and large among the reserved names) and themes and plugins add more through add_image_size(). Each registered size can create another file per upload. Since WordPress 5.3, images over the 2560-pixel threshold are scaled down, and the original is still kept in the uploads directory, so one large upload can become the original, a scaled copy and one file per size.
File-based caches. Page-cache plugins that write HTML to disk typically create at least one file per cached URL. SiteGround recommends its Speed Optimizer Dynamic Caching because it does not rely on file-based caching.
Local backups and staging. Backup plugins that keep archives or unpacked copies on the same account, and staging sites that duplicate the whole install, can double the count. SiteGround's guidance is to download unused backups, delete them and remove staging copies you no longer need.
Mail. On hosts that count email messages, every message in Inbox, Junk and Trash is a file. A support mailbox that receives enrolment notifications for years can hold tens of thousands.
Worked example: estimating image inodes
Take a course library with 60 lessons, each with 15 screenshots and diagrams: 900 uploads. Suppose the theme, LMS and page builder together register 8 image sizes, and most screenshots are over 2560 pixels wide. Each upload can then produce the original, a scaled copy and 8 resized files: 10 files. That is about 9,000 inodes from lesson images alone.
Add a second course and a blog with featured images, and image files alone approach 20,000 to 30,000. On a 100,000-inode plan that is a large share before plugins, cache and mail are counted. On SiteGround StartUp, at 200,000, it is manageable, but a file-based page cache and a few local backup copies can close the gap quickly.
The numbers are illustrative; your actual count depends on how many sizes your stack registers. The way to find out is to measure.
How to measure and reduce usage
On SiteGround, usage appears on the hosting plan statistics page linked from Site Information on the Site Tools dashboard, or in the Client Area under Services > Hosting > Manage > Settings > Statistics. With SSH on any host, running find . | wc -l inside a folder counts its files and folders, which shows whether uploads, cache, backups or mail is the culprit.
- Delete inactive plugins and themes; SiteGround notes that deactivated plugins still count.
- Remove image sizes you do not use, then regenerate thumbnails so the extra files are deleted.
- Clear file-based cache folders under wp-content, or switch to a cache that does not write a file per page.
- Download and delete local backup archives; keep backups off the account.
- Delete staging copies you no longer use.
- Empty Junk and Trash in hosted mailboxes, and move automated notification mail elsewhere.
What happens at the limit, and who should move
SiteGround lists the consequences: the account may be excluded from the backup system, and you may see problems uploading files, receiving email and loading the site. For a course site, a failed upload of lesson material or a missing backup is the expensive part.
If cleanup leaves you above about three-quarters of the cap, plan the move rather than waiting. The options are a larger plan, moving mail to a separate provider so messages stop counting, offloading media to object storage or a video host, or moving to a VPS where the comparison page does not list an inode cap. Skip this concern entirely if your site is small, uses server-level caching and keeps backups and mail off the account.
Questions before you decide
Does a large file use more inodes than a small one?
No. Each file or folder uses one inode regardless of size. SiteGround describes the inode count as equal to the number of files and folders in the account.
Do emails count toward inode limits?
At SiteGround, yes: its fair-use article counts files, folders and email messages, and its cleanup guide says emails are files stored on the account. Emptying Junk and Trash reduces the count.
What happens when SiteGround inodes run out?
SiteGround says the account may be excluded from the backup system and you may have problems uploading files, receiving email or accessing the website.
Sources & verification
Product details and prices can change. Check the linked provider before buying.
- SiteGround KB: fair use of server resources Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- SiteGround KB: what is an inode Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- SiteGround KB: how to reduce the number of inodes Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- KnownHost: compare web hosting plans Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- KnownHost: compare WordPress hosting plans Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- KnownHost: compare managed VPS plans Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- WordPress code reference: add_image_size() Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Make WordPress Core: handling of big images in WordPress 5.3 Accessed 30 Oct 2026
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