Are you looking for a true WP Engine review based on real-world testing and evaluation? You have arrived at the right place.
In this review, we look at WP Engine’s user interfaces, customer support choices, the load speeds and uptime of our test website, and how easy it is to start a new WordPress website using WP Engine.
Most significantly, we consider how reasonable it is to spend extra for WP Engine when there are several cheaper WordPress hosting solutions available. Let’s dive right in!
History of WP Engine Hosting
Launched in 2010, WP Engine is now among the leading managed WordPress hosting providers in the market. WP Engine was founded by serial entrepreneur Jason Cohen, and this was because he realized that WordPress was growing in popularity and would require specific hosting.
WP Engine is located in Austin, Texas, with offices in San Antonio, Texas, London, England, Limerick, Ireland, Brisbane, Australia, and Kraków, Poland.
Also, the company has received several Best Place to Work in Austin awards.
WP Engine Pros And Cons
Let’s now look at the key pros and cons of WP Engine as a high-end hosting provider.
WP Engine Pros
1. Fast and Reliable Performance
WP Engine’s best-selling point is none other than its performance. The hosting service is specific to WordPress, with the high-speed servers having an architecture that is suitable for WordPress sites.
It also supports built-in caching, CDN, and multiple location data centres that help to make websites load faster. This leads to an enhanced user experience and increased visibility on the site as page speed is a ranking factor in Google.
2. Robust Security Features
It has great website security and offers multiple integrated solutions to protect your WordPress website. These offer daily backups, auto-updates, and scheduled malware scans. Along with free SSL certificates for the protection of connections made by users.
The security measures of WP Engine also include a firewall, real-time threat detection and prevention of brute force login.
3. Excellent Customer Support
WP Engine’s customer support is often positively mentioned by users. The support team is available around the clock through live chat and phone. The team comprises WordPress developers to help you solve any problem you may encounter.
The majority of users state that they receive exceptionally individualized attention, and the staff not only answer questions but also provide individual solutions. It is also a plus for those who require professional help in their work, as they can be sure that they will deal with a professional.
4. Automatic Backups
WP-Engine performs an automatic backup of your site daily. This means that if something happens to be wrong, you can easily revert to a previous version of your site without having to worry about losing any information.
This feature helps to avoid such situations, which are vital for businesses and individuals who have their websites for important operations.
5. Developer-Friendly Tools
Another interesting feature set that WP-Engine targets developers with is staging environments, one-click migrations, and Git integration. These features facilitate development on sites without a direct impact on the live environment.
It also offers some additional functionalities, such as SSH access as well as WP-CLI for providing developers more intricacy and commands.
6. Scalability
WP Engine allows for easy upgrades of your hosting plan as your website expands. If you require additional space, traffic allowance, or other features, the change is as simple as it gets.
WP Engine also offers great uptime guarantees, so your site will remain accessible even in a very busy period.
WP Engine Cons
1. Price
WP Engine’s pricing can be a major downside for some users. As with other shared hosting providers, WP Engine’s plans are relatively expensive, although they are rather on the high side.
However, for $99 per year for a single site license, one can have a great performing and fully loaded WP Site Builder, and it may not be the best choice for small businesses, start-ups, or personal blogs that might not require all the premium features. Other users, especially those who are new to hosting or have a small amount to spend on web hosting then they might find other web hosts cheaper.
2. Limited Storage
It lacks a great number of storage options compared to other similar services. For instance, their basic package comes with only 10/GB of space, which may be disadvantageous to blog sites with huge sections of pictures and videos.
Large files such as videos, images or files that users download will take up a lot of space, and hence you may need to upgrade to the next level or seek another hosting provider.
3. No Email Hosting
As is the case with most of the hosting providers, WP Engine does not offer email hosting services to its clients. If, for instance, you want to create an email account related to your domain, then you need to get a separate web hosting for email from another company.
This can be rather uncomfortable for users who would like to have all their needs in one application.
4. Limited Number of Websites
The initial WP Engine hosting plans are created for one-site hosting, and if you need to host more than one site, you will need to upgrade to a higher-tier plan. WP Engine does offer multiple site hosting plans, but they are more expensive than many of the other options available.
This may be a disadvantage for agencies, or the concern that they have to work on different website accounts at a time.
5. No Support for Non-WordPress Websites
WP Engine is specifically built for WordPress websites, which means it doesn’t support other types of content management systems (CMS) or custom-built websites. If you’re looking for hosting that supports a wider variety of CMSs or custom platforms, WP Engine may not be the right choice.
6. No Free Domain
Unlike many other hosting services, WP Engine does not offer free domain registration with its hosting plans. If you’re starting a new site and want to get a domain through your hosting provider, you’ll need to purchase the domain separately.
WP Engine Plans and Pricing
We’ve mentioned it before: WP Engine is expensive. But is it worth the money? The answer lies in determining what you’re paying for.
1. Essential Plans
The key plans are designed for simple websites or enterprises that are just getting started with their online presence.
Startup Hosting Plan
The first one is the Startup package, which goes for $25 per month if paid on an annual basis and $30 every month. With this bundle, you receive:
- 25,000 visitors each month.
- 50 GB of bandwidth per month
- 10GB storage
WP Engine’s plan is designed for small websites and blogs, but it may be too much for most people. Bluehost has a cheaper way of hosting your site through shared hosting plans.
But if you don’t want to risk your site going down or need to know that your site can handle 25,000 visits a month, WP Engine is the safe bet. We would recommend this to small business websites, affiliated sites and blogs that are profitable and that the owner would not wish to change.
You can save $60 annually or two months free with the annual subscription.
Professional Hosting Plan
The Professional package is a good middle ground between the basic and the extreme. For $50 per month when paying annually, you’re allotted:
- 75,000 visits per month
- 125 GB bandwidth per month
- 15GB storage
- Three sites included
This can be the perfect option if you are dissatisfied with your current host, but your site is already receiving too much traffic to be hosted on the bare minimum of hosting plans.
You also get a really solid deal compared to the plans as well. Those resource caps may not impress you, but the Professional plan from WP Engine gives you the most for your money.
For those who prefer to pay annually, you can save $120 per year and the monthly subscription fee for this plan is $59.
Growth Hosting Plan
The growth plan is designed for rapidly growing companies and will set you back $96 per month. Here you get:
- 100,000 visits per month
- 200GB bandwidth per month
- 25GB storage
- Ten sites included
This plan is a good starting place for a growing business, and it may be some time before you have to switch tiers. In addition to this, with this plan, you also get phone support, which is available all day and at night. This addition will be useful if you have a complicated problem that needs to be solved as soon as possible.
For instance, you can save a cool $230 or two months free with annual billing.
Scale Hosting Plan
WP Engine describes its scale plan as the most affordable of the lot. This one is $242 monthly. Here you get:
- 400,000 visits per month
- 500GB bandwidth per month
- 50GB storage
- 30 websites included
We suggest this option for a blog or business that is experiencing rapid growth. In addition to the support centre, you get 24/7 live chat and 24/7 phone support.
You can save $580 or two months free if you choose the annual prepaid billing option.
2. Core Plan
Designed for businesses seeking optimized performance and premium support. It offers the following features, along with many more.
- Isolated performance resources
- 99.99% uptime SLA
- The platform is designed with burst capacity
- Page Speed Boost
- 24/7 phone and chat support with senior technical experts
- Custom onboarding
Price: Starting at $400/month
3. Enterprise Plan
Unrivalled performance, scale, and security for mission-critical sites. It offers the following features, along with many more.
- Highest level of performance
- High availability options
- Concierge support with the highest level of technical expertise
- The immediate priority for requests
- Ongoing technical planning and business reviews
- Advanced DDoS protection and managed Web Application Firewall (WAF)
Price: Starting at $2,000/month
WP Engine Performance Tests
Evaluating WP Engine’s performance entails looking at critical parameters, including server response time, uptime, and user experience. These elements are critical for website owners who want dependable and effective hosting services.
Server Response Time
Server response time is a measure of the speed at which a hosting server processes the request of a user. Quick response time is beneficial in increasing user satisfaction and thus, the website’s ranking with search engines.
It has proved to be quite good in performance tests that were conducted on it.
The average server response time was measured at 489 milliseconds over a two-month observation period, which is slightly faster than the average for shared hosting, 600 milliseconds. Furthermore, the variability of response times was also low, meaning that there were small oscillations within the test period.
Uptime
Uptime is the amount of time in days a server is available without a break or stoppage of service. High uptimes are important for websites to be available to users most of the time.
WP Engine has set a very high bar regarding this.
In the course of the seven-day test, the service availability was 100%, which corresponds to the SLA of 99.95%.
Such a level of reliability suggests efficient server maintenance and good infrastructure of the firm’s information system.
WP Engine User-Friendly UX
A User-friendly interface improves the experience of the website administrators to enable them to manage and customize the site. WP Engine provides users with easy-to-navigate features and tools that make it easy to build as well as maintain WordPress websites.
Elements like staging environments with just one click and automatic backups help to make it easy to work with. This means that the platform has features that are suitable for both new as well as expert website developers since they offer tools that make site development and management easy without necessarily having to be a professional developer.
WP Engine Security Parameters
WP Engine implements a comprehensive security framework to safeguard WordPress websites:
- Free SSL Certificates: All plans come with SSL certificates so that the data transferred between the website and the visitors is secure.
- Managed WordPress Updates: WordPress core updates are managed by the platform, and sites are always updated with the latest and most secure versions.
- Threat Detection and Prevention: WP Engine constantly searches for threats and risks and uses mechanisms such as malware checks and DDoS to ensure website security.
- Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): For further protection of log-in, WP Engine provides two-factor authentication to ensure they have access to the site.
- Disallowed Plugins: Some plugins that are considered to be insecure are banned, so there can be no threats coming from the outdated or insecure code.
- Proactive Security Monitoring: The platform has also stated that it conducts security tests and applies relevant patches to counter new threats.
WP Engine Customer Support
WP Engine plans include a lot of support within the price tag. You will be provided with round-the-clock support through phone, email or live chat. Help is available right from your user portal as soon as you create an account with the service.
An exchange with the WP Engine live chat revealed that agents were quick to respond, helpful, and knowledgeable about the platform. They could easily answer the questions that we posed to them. If you need even more help and information, there is also a resource centre and a knowledge base that contains a great deal of clear and detailed documentation and lessons.
Conclusion
There’s no denying that WP Engine plans are expensive. However, you will receive a high-quality managed hosting service in exchange for your investment.
WP Engine provides several WordPress-specific features, strong performance, and dependable support. If WP Engine fits your budget, you should seriously consider it. We hope this review helped answer some of the questions or doubts you may have had about WP Engine hosting services. Check them out if you’re considering their services!
WP Engine FAQs
Q. Is WP Engine safe?
Yes, WP Engine is highly secure, offering features like free SSL, proactive threat monitoring, and managing updates.
Q. Is WP Engine any good?
WP Engine is one of the best WordPress hosting services that offers reliable, fast, and professional hosting services.
Q. Is WP Engine fast?
Yes, WP Engine provides optimized performance with features like CDN integration, caching, and high-speed servers.
Q. What is WP Engine used for?
WP Engine is used for hosting and managing WordPress websites with tools for performance, security, and scalability.
Q. Is WP Engine the best hosting?
WordPress hosting is among the most popular solutions, and it is especially popular among businesses that require additional functions and personal assistance.
Q. Is WP Engine free?
No, WP Engine is a professional-level hosting service that starts at $20 per month.
Q. Is WP Engine a CRM?
WP Engine is not a CRM but rather a managed WordPress hosting company.
Q. Is WP Engine a VPS?
No, WP Engine is different from other hosting services that provide traditional VPS services, but WP Engine provides managed WordPress hosting.
Q. Is WP Engine a hosting site?
Yes, WP Engine is a hosting service that is dedicated to WordPress only.
Q. What is the difference between WordPress and WP Engine?
WordPress is a content management system (CMS), while WP Engine is a hosting service designed to manage WordPress sites.
Q. Is WP Engine a cPanel?
No, WP Engine does not use cPanel; it has its own custom dashboard for site management.
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