diff --git a/bin/vhost-add.sh b/bin/vhost-add.sh
index c7c5b22..c507c8c 100755
--- a/bin/vhost-add.sh
+++ b/bin/vhost-add.sh
@@ -13,11 +13,12 @@ help()
   thisfilename=$(basename -- "$0")
   echo "Add virtualhost to this server."
   echo ""
-  echo "usage: $thisfilename -d <domain> -u <username> [-h]"
+  echo "usage: $thisfilename -d <domain> -u <username> [-x <fpmmax>] [-h]"
   echo ""
   echo "  -h            Print this help."
   echo "  -d <domain>   Domain name to add as a VirtualHost. www. subdomain is automatically aliased."
   echo "  -u <username> Username to install VirtualHost for. Username must already exist."
+  echo "  -x <fpmmax>   PHP-FPM pm.max_children. Optional, defaults to 4, recommended range 2-12 on Shared Server."
   echo "                If need be run vhost-user-add.sh first."
   echo "                Or use vhost-deploy.sh instead to automatically generate username."
 }
@@ -36,6 +37,11 @@ if [[ -z $username ]]; then
   exit
 fi
 
+# check for php-fpm process manager max children
+if [[ -z $fpmmax ]]; then
+  fpmmax=4
+fi
+
 if [[ ! -d /home/$username ]]; then
   echo "home dir for $username does not exist"
   exit 1
@@ -82,7 +88,7 @@ if [[ ! -f /etc/php/$phpVersion/fpm/pool.d/$username.conf ]]; then
   echo "listen.owner = www-data" >> /etc/php/$phpVersion/fpm/pool.d/$username.conf
   echo "listen.group = www-data" >> /etc/php/$phpVersion/fpm/pool.d/$username.conf
   echo "pm = ondemand" >> /etc/php/$phpVersion/fpm/pool.d/$username.conf
-  echo "pm.max_children = 12" >> /etc/php/$phpVersion/fpm/pool.d/$username.conf
+  echo "pm.max_children = $fpmmax" >> /etc/php/$phpVersion/fpm/pool.d/$username.conf
   echo "pm.process_idle_timeout = 3s;" >> /etc/php/$phpVersion/fpm/pool.d/$username.conf
   echo "php_admin_value[sendmail_path] = /usr/sbin/sendmail -t -fwebmaster@$domain" >> /etc/php/$phpVersion/fpm/pool.d/$username.conf
   # restart php$phpVersion-fpm
diff --git a/bin/vhost-deploy.sh b/bin/vhost-deploy.sh
index 8ea283d..43d4884 100755
--- a/bin/vhost-deploy.sh
+++ b/bin/vhost-deploy.sh
@@ -13,12 +13,13 @@ help()
   thisfilename=$(basename -- "$0")
   echo "Add virtualhost to this server, including shell user and MySQL database."
   echo ""
-  echo "usage: $thisfilename -d <domain> [OPTIONS]"
+  echo "usage: $thisfilename -d <domain> [-u <username>] [-p <password>] [-x <fpmmax>] [-j] [-w] [-h]"
   echo ""
   echo "  -h            Print this help."
   echo "  -d <domain>   Domain name of VirtualHost to remove."
   echo "  -u <username> Username to use for this virtualhost. Optional, defaults to first 8 alphanumeric characters of virtualhost."
   echo "  -p <password> Password for username. Optional, random password generated if none specified."
+  echo "  -x <fpmmax>   PHP-FPM pm.max_children. Optional, defaults to 4, recommended range 2-12 on Shared Server."
   echo "  -j            Whether or not to jail the user. Optional, default is to not jail user."
   echo "  -w            Write user & mysql info to files. Warning! This inlcudes the unencrypted passwords."
   exit
@@ -107,8 +108,13 @@ if ! grep -q "^$username:" /etc/passwd; then
   fi
 fi
 
+# check for php-fpm process manager max children
+if [[ -z $fpmmax ]]; then
+  fpmmax=4
+fi
+
 # add virtualhost
-/usr/local/bin/vhost-add.sh -d $domain -u $username > /dev/null 2>&1
+/usr/local/bin/vhost-add.sh -d $domain -u $username -x $fpmmax > /dev/null 2>&1
 
 # add mysql database
 if [[ -n $write ]]; then
diff --git a/bin/vhost.sh b/bin/vhost.sh
index e43347c..4c61348 100755
--- a/bin/vhost.sh
+++ b/bin/vhost.sh
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ function vhost::validate_domain () {
 
 function vhost:getoptions () {
   local OPTIND
-  while getopts "cd:i:m:o:p:u:jhnvw" opt ; do
+  while getopts "cd:i:m:o:p:u:jhnvwx:" opt ; do
     case "${opt}" in
         h ) # display help and exit
           help
@@ -97,6 +97,13 @@ function vhost:getoptions () {
         w ) # write - store data in file
           write=true
           ;;
+        x ) # php-fpm pm.max_children
+          fpmmax=${OPTARG}
+          if [[ $fpmmax != +([[:digit:]]) ]] || [[ $fpmmax -eq 0 ]]; then
+            echo "ERROR: $fpmax for -x max_children not a valid number."
+            exit
+          fi
+          ;;
         \? )
           echo "Invalid option: $OPTARG"
           exit 1