How to Offload WordPress Media to Wasabi: Setup Guide

Offload WordPress media to Wasabi to reduce hosting storage, improve website performance, and scale your WordPress site more efficiently. Instead of storing images, videos, PDFs, and other media files on your hosting server, you can move them to Wasabi Cloud Storage while keeping your existing media library and URLs working seamlessly. In this step-by-step guide, you’ll learn how to connect WordPress to Wasabi, offload new and existing media files, and optimize your website for better performance.

As your WordPress website grows, so does your media library. Every uploaded image, video, and document consumes valuable server storage, increases backup size, and can impact website performance over time. For content-rich websites, WooCommerce stores, and blogs, managing media efficiently becomes essential to keep hosting costs under control.

This is where media offloading makes a difference. Instead of storing media files on your hosting server, you can move them to a dedicated cloud storage provider like Wasabi Cloud Storage. Wasabi offers affordable, S3-compatible object storage that helps reduce server load, improve scalability, and simplify media management without disrupting your WordPress workflow.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through exactly how to offload WordPress media to Wasabi using an Offload plugin, step by step. Along the way, we’ll also cover why offloading matters, the benefits of using Wasabi as a cloud storage, the best offload plugins available, and answers to other common questions.

Let’s get started!

If you want to quickly know how offloading media to Wasabi works in a video tutorial, we have created a dedicated guide for you:

Why Media Files Slow Down Your WordPress Sites

Most WordPress performance problems don’t start with themes or plugins. They start with the media.

By default, WordPress stores all uploaded files locally on your web server. Every time someone visits a page, your server has to:

• Locate the image or file
  
• Process the request
  
• Deliver the file to the visitor
  

This becomes a problem when:

• Your site has lots of images or videos
  
• Traffic increases
  
• Multiple visitors load media-heavy pages at once
  

And it leads to:

• Slower page load times
  
• Higher Time to First Byte (TTFB)
  
• Increased CPU and bandwidth usage
  
• Larger and slower backups
  
• Higher hosting costs
  

Media offloading solves these issues by letting dedicated cloud storage handle the heavy lifting instead of your hosting server.

So, What Does It Mean to Offload WordPress Media?

Offloading WordPress media simply means storing your images, videos, PDFs, and other uploads in cloud storage instead of keeping everything on your hosting server.

Your media files are served directly from there when visitors view your site. Your WordPress server no longer has to repeatedly handle large file requests, which helps improve performance.

The best part is that nothing changes in how you use WordPress. You still upload files through the Media Library and insert them into posts the same way as always. 

In this case, an offload plugin takes care of the entire process in the background – uploading files, rewriting media URLs, and delivering them from the cloud.

Why Choose Wasabi for WordPress Media Offloading?

You might ask, but why should we choose Wasabi as a cloud storage for our WordPress media?

Well, Wasabi has become a favorite among WordPress users for several reasons.

S3-Compatible Without AWS Complexity

Wasabi supports the Amazon S3 API, which means:

• Most offload plugins work instantly
  
• No AWS account setup
  
• No complicated billing structure
  

If a plugin supports S3, it almost always supports Wasabi.

Simple, Predictable Pricing

Wasabi stands out because it offers:

• No egress (download) fees
  
• No API request charges
  
• Simple pay-for-storage pricing
  

So, this can be helpful for image-heavy blogs, membership sites, and download-based websites.

High Performance

Wasabi uses an all-flash storage architecture that provides fast and consistent read/write speeds, even during traffic spikes.

Ideal for Long-Term Media Storage

WordPress media usually stays live for months or years. Wasabi’s minimum storage duration policy (90 days for pay-as-you-go users) works well for this kind of usage.

Choosing the Right WordPress Media Offload Plugins (Compared)

Now comes one of the most important discussions: which offload plugin should handle this media offloading for Wasabi storage?

Not all offload plugins have the same features and will be suitable for your business. A good plugin should handle uploads safely, rewrite URLs correctly, and give you control over local file cleanup.

We went ahead and did the research for you. Here are quick comparison between five of the best WordPress media offload plugins currently available:

Quick takeaway:

• Best overall & most features: Next3 Offload

• Best for Wasabi users (simple): Next3 Offload / Media Cloud

• Best for developers: Advanced Media Offloader

• Best for enterprise: WP Offload Media

In this guide, we’ll use Next3 Offload, as it offers a balanced mix of simplicity, control, and performance-focused features.

Here are a few of real user thoughts on Next3Offload:

User Testimonial #1: One user notes that they purchased the Next3 Offload plugin but initially struggled because their WordPress theme wasn’t sizing images correctly. ThemeDev’s support “helped [them] within a day to make the appropriate changes to the theme code and correct the problem.” 

User Testimonial #2: Another reviewer says that they avoided “a costly hosting upgrade” which was due to a large image library. They said that they used Next3 Offload to connect WordPress to an affordable cloud storage service. They offloaded all their media and avoided the upgrade, saving them a lot of money.

We have a dedicated blog on best offload media plugins for WordPress. Make sure to check it out for in-depth discussion.

Step-by-Step: How to Offload WordPress Media to Wasabi Cloud Storage

In this section, we will discuss the detailed steps to offload WordPress media files to Wasabi cloud storage effortlessly, using the Next3Offload plugin.

Step 1: Prepare Your Wasabi Account

Before setting things up in WordPress, first, we need to set up Wasabi properly.

i. Creating New User

Log in to your Wasabi console and create a new user.

Make sure Programmatic Access is enabled so WordPress can connect using API keys.

ii. Setting Permissions 

Next, you need to Set Permissions. Make sure to attach the AmazonS3FullAccess policy to this user.  

This will allow WordPress to upload, read, and delete files inside your bucket.

iii. Saving Access Keys

After the creation of this new user, you need to Save Access Keys.

Make sure to save:

• Access Key
  
• Secret Access Key
  

And store these securely. You’ll need them in WordPress.

iv. Creating Bucket 

Next, we need to Create a Bucket. 

Simply, go to Buckets → Create Bucket.

• Choose a unique bucket name
  
• Select a region close to your audience (e.g., US West 1, EU Central, APAC)

Click on Next, and complete creating the bucket.

Your bucket is created but you can configure the Bucket Privacy if you want.

You have two options:

• Public bucket – Files are publicly readable
  
• Private bucket – Files are delivered using pre-signed URLs
  

Both approaches work with WordPress. If you want public access to your media files, go to Settings of your bucket. Navigate to the Permission setting.

Click on the Edit button – copy and paste a simple bucket policy like the following:

{ "Version": "2012-10-17", "Statement": [ { "Sid": "AllowPublicRead", "Effect": "Allow", "Principal": { "AWS": "*" }, "Action": [ "s3:GetObject", "s3:GetObjectVersion" ], "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::bucket-name/*" } ]
}

Make sure to replace the bucket name with your newly created bucket name.

This policy lets the public read access to objects in the bucket – which is necessary to serve media files such as images, videos, and so on. 

Step 2: Install and Connect Next3 Offload

Now it’s time to connect WordPress to Wasabi.

i. Install and Activate the Plugin

Go to your Plugins section on your WordPress dashboard. Install Next3Offload just like any other plugin – Upload the zip file and activate Next3 Offload.

Enter your license key to unlock all features.

ii. Initial Plugin Setup

Choose your website type and enable services like:

• Media offload
  
• Image optimization (optional)
  
• Database optimization (optional)
  

iii. Select Wasabi as the Provider

From the list of cloud providers, select Wasabi.

You can store credentials in either:

• The WordPress database
  
• wp-config.php

Let’s proceed with the database option here. Here, you need to enter:

• Access Key
  
• Secret Key
  
• Wasabi region

In the next step, choose the bucket that you created earlier, from the Bucket Name dropdown.

Click on Save & Continue to complete the setup process.

Step 3: Configure WordPress Media Delivery Settings

Go to the dashboard of Next3Offload. From here, you can choose important options regarding how the media offloading works behind the scene.

Navigate to Delivery Settings > Basic Options.

This step controls how your files are served.

Enable URL Rewriting

This ensures all media URLs point to Wasabi instead of your local server.

Force HTTPS

Always enable HTTPS to prevent mixed content warnings and improve security.

From the Advanced Options, you can enable several options such as:

Handle Private Buckets

If your bucket is private, don’t forget to enable the option Delivery Pre-signed URLs.

This will allow WordPress to generate temporary, secure links for media files.

Step 4: Offload Existing Media Files

Okay, we have set up so the new uploads will now go to Wasabi automatically. But what about existing files? Let’s manage them. 

Bulk Offload Existing Media

Go to the Offload settings and click Offload Now.

Next3 Offload will:

• Scan your Media Library
  
• Upload files to Wasabi
  
• Verify successful transfers
  

You can choose whether to remove local copies after offloading.

Manual Control Per File

From the Media Library, you can also:

• Offload individual items
  
• Restore files back to local storage
  

This flexibility is especially useful during testing.

Step 5: Verify Everything Is Working

It is a good practice to check whether the offloading is working after the setup.

Check Your Wasabi Bucket

Go to your Wasabi console and click on your chosen Bucket. 

You should see a folder called wp-content and there should be structured folder like:

wp-content/uploads/

  ├── 2025/

  ├── 2026/

In the folder, you should see a list of media that have been uploaded.

You can download, copy path, share presigned URL and more for each file.

Check WordPress Media Library

In your WordPress media library, each media item should now show:

• Wasabi as the storage provider
  
• Bucket name and region
  

Load a page and inspect image URLs – you should see Wasabi endpoints instead of your domain.

Best Practices for Offloading WordPress Media Files

Offloading media to cloud storage is not complicated, but a few smart best practices can save you from headaches later. 

These tips will ensure a smooth transition, protect your data, and get the best possible performance from your setup.

i. Test Everything Before Deleting Local Files

Many offload plugins allow you to remove local copies of media files after they’ve been successfully uploaded to cloud storage. While this is great for reducing disk usage, it’s something you should only enable after thorough testing.

Before deleting local files, make sure to load multiple pages on your site and confirm images display correctly. Also, you should check older blog posts and media-heavy pages.

A good approach is to keep local files during the initial setup, confirm that all media is being served from the cloud correctly, and only then enable local file removal.

ii. Keep Backups During the Initial Setup

Even though cloud storage is reliable, it’s still important to keep full WordPress backups while setting up media offloading.

During the first offload, plugins may process thousands of files. Also, permissions or credential issues can cause partial transfers.

For that reason, make sure you have: a recent database backup and a full backup that includes local media files.

As your offloading setup becomes more stable and verified, your backups will turn smaller and faster.

iii. Choose Bucket Regions Wisely

When creating your Wasabi bucket, you’ll be asked to select a region. This decision has a direct impact on performance.

In general, you should keep in mind:

• Choose a region closest to your primary audience
  
• Lower physical distance = lower latency
  

For example:

• US-based audiences → US regions
  
• European audiences → EU regions
  
• Asia-Pacific audiences → APAC regions
  

iv. Use HTTPS Everywhere

If your WordPress site runs on HTTPS (which it should), your cloud-hosted media must also be delivered over HTTPS.

What happens when you don’t enforce this?

• Mixed content warnings in browsers
  
• Broken images on secure pages
  
• Lower trust signals and SEO issues
  

v. Consider Using a CDN for Global Delivery

Wasabi handles storage and delivery very efficiently, but it is still a centralized storage service, not a global edge network.

A CDN (Content Delivery Network) adds an extra performance layer. So, it helps caching media files at locations closer to visitors.

In addition, it also reduces latency for international users, while improving performance during traffic spikes.

While you are here, you may also be interested to learn how offloading WordPress media to Google Cloud works.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will offloading media improve Core Web Vitals?

Yes, offloading media can improve Core Web Vitals, especially Largest Contentful Paint (LCP). Because images and large media files are often the heaviest elements on a page, serving them from cloud storage or a CDN helps them load faster and improves overall page rendering. While offloading alone won’t fix every performance issue, it’s an important step toward better Web Vitals scores.

Do I still need a CDN if I offload media?

Offloading media and using a CDN solve different problems. Offloading reduces server load and storage usage, while a CDN delivers files from locations closer to visitors. For local audiences, offloading may be enough, but for global traffic or high-traffic sites, you should combine offloading with a CDN to deliver better speed and reliability.

Can I edit or replace offloaded media files?

Yes, modern offload plugins integrate seamlessly with WordPress. You can upload, replace, delete, or restore media just as you normally would, while the plugin handles syncing and cloud communication automatically in the background.

Is Wasabi safe for storing WordPress media?

Yes, Wasabi is designed for secure and durable storage. It provides redundant systems, high data durability, and secure access controls. When configured properly, it is a safe and reliable long-term storage option for WordPress media.

Summing Up

Hopefully, now you will be able to easily offload your media files in WordPress to your Wasabi cloud storage.

Remember that offloading WordPress media isn’t just a performance tweak; it’s a long-term site management decision. As a result, your server stays lighter, backups become smaller, and your website scales more efficiently.

And if you use an offload plugin like Next3 Offload, the entire process becomes almost trivial you upload media as usual, and everything else happens automatically in the background.So, yes! If you’re serious about performance, scalability, and predictable costs, Wasabi + WordPress media offloading can be a powerful combination.

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