WP Builds 454 – Innovative serverless solutions for WordPress with Carl Alexander and Paul Carter
Jan 29, 2026
Carl Alexander, creator of Ymir, builds serverless PHP/WordPress tools for scalable uptime. Paul Carter, co-founder of Built Fast, packages scalable hosting, security and tooling for partners. They discuss Ymir’s technical benefits, how Built Fast integrates and polishes the platform, invisible SaaS‑level uptime expectations, reducing host pain points, and enabling large WooCommerce and LMS sites to scale reliably.
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Serverless Scaling For WordPress
- Ymir runs WordPress on AWS in a way that prevents sites from failing during traffic spikes.
- Carl built it to handle live events and big sales without downtime.
Near Burnout Before Breakthrough
- Carl admits he reached a low point and considered getting a 40-hour job while keeping Ymir as a side project.
- He persisted instead, driven by perseverance and community feedback.
Engine Plus Body Wins Customers
- BuiltFast saw Ymir as a finely tuned engine lacking a user-facing product.
- They planned to add UI, CDN, WAF and polished control so non-experts can use the scaling tech.