WP Engine Review: Best Hosting for WordPress? (2022)

Dwayne Graves

Quick Features

Designed for WordPress
Simple website migration
Stage websites before going live
Automated site backups
Free SSL certificates
Plans for every budget
24/7 Support

When it comes to creating the best website, most people choose WordPress. That is the platform most web properties rely on. So, if you have decided to create a WordPress website, then your next choice is which hosting provider to use. One of the first names you may come across in your search is WP Engine.

But is it the best WordPress hosting provider for you?

Here are some quick details before you jump into the WP Engine review…

WP Engine is a high-quality host that focuses only on WordPress. They have excellent uptime, daily backups, high security, threat detection, and many other features. This makes them highly recommended hosts.

All of their plans come with a content delivery network (CDN) for fast load times, the ability to test site changes in a non-public environment, and software to transfer and store large amounts of data.

They focus on creating and delivering breakthrough digital experiences on WordPress to drive your business forward fast.

They use powerful technology to provide you with award winning service. Since they only host WordPress websites, they have a vast knowledge of the platform and the technologies required for smooth and easy operations.

The main idea behind WP Engine is that it is a fully managed WordPress hosting service so you don’t have to worry about the time-consuming IT tasks.

They take care of all of the technical aspects for you and offer direct on-boarding support. That leaves you with more time to focus on providing quality content, promotions, and functionality for your small business or website.

Not Your Traditional Web Hosting

They do not offer the traditional shared, VPS, or dedicated hosting options. WP Engine uses cloud based infrastructure to provide agile and secure solutions.

They are specifically designed for WordPress with easy to create pages, posts, and galleries. WP Engine automates many functions such as daily site backups and plug-in updates.

Quick Summary of WP Engine Plans

Email and registering domain names are not included with their plans. They do, however, have many ecommerce and email marketing tools available. They also offer a free SSL certificate and perform daily malware scans and firewall updates.

There are multiple WordPress specific features that are included in each plan that are typically add-ons for other WordPress hosting sites. They offer high value with each plan, including the Genesis Framework with over 35 StudioPress Themes and a global CDN for free and ensure that you are satisfied with the service.

There are three standard plans with an additional custom plan available for purchase. All plans come with 24/7 live chat and email customer support. Every plan except for the Startup plan comes with 24/7 phone support as well. The Startup plan’s phone support is only available during certain hours of the day.

The Setup Process

The setup process can be a bit more complicated than other hosts that use a traditional cPanel. More experienced users should have little or no difficulties. If you are brand new to hosting companies, the setup is not impossible, but can be a bit tricky to navigate. They have been improving the setup process and made it a little cleaner than it used to be, but it’s still very custom.

The Guarantee

There is a 60-day money-back guarantee if you’re not completely satisfied with them. They are a bit more pricey than typical website hosts, but they offer many great options and high security. WP Engine is a good option for serious people looking to build a WordPress powered website.

In this WP Engine review, you will find the answered to many of your questions and gain quite a bit of knowledge about the hosting provider.

What is WP Engine?

WP Engine is a fully-managed VIP hosting provider for WordPress-specific sites. The company is based in Austin, TX. It is an open source platform that provides security protection, automatic daily backups, caching, and core WordPress updates for you.

They offer managed plans fully optimized for the WordPress platform. Managed hosting ensures that your website is optimized, fast-loading, and secure without doing a lot of the work yourself.

They offer a lot of WordPress-specific features. A few big features are quick and easy migrations from your old host, a free SSL certificate, 24/7 support, a lot of performance tracking and diagnostic options.

They have high security and automated daily backups as well as an available activity log, automatic caching, easy design tools, and more. They have top-tier clients and many others use them for hosting.

Market Leading WordPress Hosting

Although they face plenty of competition in both general hosting and managed WordPress hosting, they are still a market leader in many ways. They have a lot of big-name clients and receive broad name recognition.

Each competitor in managed WordPress hosting offers different features and there is no set specific standard for the hosting. However, WP Engine works to ensure that you get the best quality and features that they have to offer.

While the setup process can be a bit complicated, you can contact customer support at any time for assistance or check out the step-by-step walk-through they provide. Migrating your website from a different host is quick and easy. They have a Migration Plug that automates the process for you.

They include site staging in every plan, unlike many other providers who only offer site staging in higher-tier plans. That means you can create a clone of your live website so you can make adjustments to the layout and try out new themes and plug-ins before actually applying them live to your site.

Uptime

The uptime is at 99% according to their website. They attribute that to their world-class network infrastructure. Each plan comes with a free global CDN to help your site load fast for your customers and all visitors.

There are four data centers across the globe in the United States, United Kingdom, Belgium, and Taiwan. This is excellent in case your audience is primarily in Asia or Europe as you can choose the closest center to your audience for blazing fast speeds.

Security

Security is of high importance. They take several measures to make sure your WordPress site stays secure. They run daily scans for malware and viruses, keep an updated firewall, perform daily backups, have a one-click restore function for recovery if necessary, and more.

They also have a guarantee that if your site happens to get hacked, they will take care of it for you for free. This can be a tedious and time-consuming process to do on your own.

They are a high-quality host that prides itself on excellent uptime and speeds, WordPress-specific security, real-time threat detection, daily backups, and other outstanding features.

They are a managed hosting provider designed specifically for WordPress installations, plug-ins, and themes.

WP Engine Pricing

Although the WP Engine pricing may seem high at first, it is actually very competitively priced when looking at the value they offer and compared to other managed WordPress hosting options available.

They do offer a discount if you choose to go with an annual plan option. They offer three standard plans and also give you the option to have a custom plan created just for you. The custom plans are designed for “large businesses and mission-critical sites,” according to the company webpage.

Pricing Packages

The four main differences between the plans are the number of visitors you are allowed each month, and the amount of local storage, the amount of bandwidth each month, and the amount of WordPress website installs.

Here is a breakdown of each plan and their main differences.

*** WP Engine has lowered their prices recently and their prices may change in the future. We strive to present the most current pricing and features, but please visit the WP Engine website for the most up-to-date pricing and features. ***

Startup Plan

The basic plan, called Startup, is perfect for starting a small website or blog. The price starts at $25 per month for an annual prepay plan, giving you two months for free, or $30 per month on a monthly basis.

You are allowed 25,000 visits per month and 50 GB of bandwidth per month. You get 10 GB of local storage and 1 site included.

Growth Plan

The growth plan, called Growth, is perfect for a growing business. The price starts at $95.83 per month for an annual prepay plan, giving you two months for free, or $115 per month on a monthly basis.

You are allowed 100,000 visits per month and 200 GB of bandwidth per month. You get 20 GB of local storage and 10 sites included.

Scale Plan

The top plan, called Scale, is perfect for higher capacity websites to scale your experiences. The price starts at $241.67 per month for an annual prepay plan, giving you two months for free, or $290 per month on a monthly basis.

You are allowed 400,000 visits per month and 500 GB of bandwidth per month. You get 50 GB of local storage and 30 sites included.

Custom Plan

The custom plan, called Custom, is perfect for large businesses and mission-critical sites. You are allowed millions of visits per month and over 400 GB of bandwidth per month.

You can get anywhere from 100 GB to 1 TB of local storage and 30 or more sites included. Onboard consulting is also included in every custom plan. This is a great option for those who receive a lot of traffic to their site (or sites) and need a lot of support.

Get Answers to Your Questions

If you are considering purchasing WP Engine hosting, but you still are not sure which plan is right for you.

Once you visit their website, you can go to Sales Questions and chat with someone to guide through locating the best plan.

Is WP Engine Pricing Worth It?

While the WP Engine pricing may look a bit high at first, they offer a ton of value for each tier. In comparison to other WordPress-specific hosts, they are competitively priced for the amazing hosting provided.

They take care of the technical issues for free with their plans as well as providing you with unique WordPress-specific features that most other hosts don’t offer. Some special features include git version control, staging, and the option to move to the latest version of PHP-7.

They are among the top managed WordPress hosting providers available.

With the 60-day money back guarantee combined with all of the great features and excellent customer support, it’s definitely worth a try if you’re in the market for a managed WordPress host.

WP Engine Review

Here is a quick overview of the WP Engine review. You will find the advantages and disadvantages of the WordPress hosting provider listed here as well as in depth information.

Advantages:

Great Customer Service
Excellent Security
Great Load Times
Good Uptime
Free SSL and Global CDN
Unique Features
Daily Backups
Staging Area
Real-Time Threat Detection

Disadvantages:

High Cost
Only for WordPress Platforms
Limited Features and Plug-Ins
Limited Phone Support for Startup Customers
No Email or Domain Name Available

Deeper Look at the Pros

Here is a look at the pros in depth.

Customer Service

Great customer service comes with all plans. You get 24/7 live chat and email customer support with every plan. Each plan also includes phone support, but the times it is available varies.

Phone Support

Phone support is available 24/7 for the Growth, Scale, and custom plans. The Startup plan includes phone support during certain hours of the day. There is a knowledge base and many walk-throughs are available for self-help as well.

Security

Excellent security is a top priority for the web host provider. They provide automatic daily backups, automatic caching, core WordPress updates, real-time threat detection, an activity log available for you, run daily scans for malware and viruses, keep an updated firewall, and have a one-click restore function for recovery if necessary.

They also offer a guarantee to fix your site for free if it happens to get hacked, saving you a headache, money, and time.

Speed

They are fast. They value quick load times by offering performance-enhancing features such as a free CDN, a site tester, and a GeoTarget add-on to optimize your site for specific regions.

Their load times are consistently under one second, and often average just half of a second. They also promise to stay as close to 99.9% uptime as possible.

SSL Certificates

They give you a free SSL certificate and a free global CDN. The SSL certificate is an important security measure. If you wish, they also have an option to import your own SSL certificates. The global CDN allows visitors from anywhere in the world to have fast access to your site.

Genesis Framework & StudioPress

Unique features come with each plan. All plans include the Genesis Framework and over 35 StudioPress Themes.

Each plan also comes PHP 7.3 ready for the latest technology as well as automated SSL certificates and a free SSH Gateway.

There are additional add-ons available specific for WordPress platforms including a GeoTarget add-on, content performance, and the availability to add additional sites.

Backups

Daily backups are essential for a great WordPress hosting provider. They allow you to ensure that your site is always working properly and give you a way to reset it if anything happens. This is included in every plan they have to offer.

Staging Area

There is a staging area that tests your site and helps you to make improvements before you apply them to your live website. This actually instantly creates a copy of your site for testing.

Real-time threat detection is included in each plan. They perform daily malware scans and update the firewall daily to block the latest threats.

If a hack happens to slip through their tight security, they also offer a free hacking remediation by WordPress-trained security experts.

Deeper Look at the Cons

Now, here you can see the cons in depth.

High Cost

The cost is high, but affordable. Even in comparison to other managed WordPress hosting providers, they are on the pricey end. They do offer many unique WordPress-specific features in each plan with a high value for the cost.

You just need to decide if the top-notch features, security, and support are worth the price for you and your site.

This is designed specifically for WordPress sites and platforms. Although, if you’re looking for a managed WordPress host, this is not a disadvantage, as it is what you are in the market for.

Limited Features & Plug-ins

There are limited features and plug-ins available. Since they have high security features and a tight framework, they are particular about the plug-ins they allow you to use. Although this may not be a bad thing, as high security is a top priority and the reason for the limitations.

Limited Support for Startup Customers

The phone support is limited for Startup customers. Although you wouldn’t have access to 24/7 phone support, they have improved in recent years by offering phone support during set times of the day to Startup customers.

Since they still offer 24/7 live chat and email support with quick turnaround times, this may not be much of a disadvantage either.

No Email Hosting & Domain Registration

Automated email marketing campaigns are not available directly through their services. There is no option to receive email through their hosting options. You will need to go through a separate company for your email accounts.

Similarly, there are no domain registrations. That means you will have to register your domains with another company. These can be inconveniences for some users.

Reading ahead, you will find the conclusion of the review of WP Engine and their services.

Conclusion

If you are looking to run a WordPress site and high performance, security, and customer service is a high priority to you, then this may be the perfect hosting provider for you.

The Good

The premium hosting provider’s advanced technology is a great feature to have. The support provided to you is given by WordPress experts who can provide you with guidance and expertise instead of going through an automated bot.

The speed provided to you comes from servers built to handle the requirements of large organizations. They have an average load time of less than one second. You will rarely experience site downtimes with their average uptime of 99%.

They value the security of your site. They perform automatic daily backups, firewall updates, and malware and virus scans.

They also have real-time threat detection, an activity log available, automatic caching, and a one-click restore function for recovery if you ever need it

They also have a guarantee to fix your site for free in case of an attack on your site by hackers, saving you time and money.

There are many extra WordPress-specific features included in each plan. You get a free SSL certificate and a global CDN.

You also get a free site transfer when choosing any of their plans. The Genesis Framework and over 35 StudioPress themes are included for free in each plan, coming to over a $2,000 value by itself.

There are 3 main plans to choose from with a fourth custom plan available if you need more options.

The Bad

Since there is no email account support or domain name registration available, you will have to go to a third party for those.

They also don’t allow all features and plug-ins to be installed because of their high website security.

Who is WP Engine for?

Freelancers and developers will find the advanced features can save them time on WordPress development for clients. Growing businesses will find ample room to scale up as their traffic increases.

Although they focus primarily on demanding users and business owners, beginners aren’t left out. They can get value from their services too with the Startup plan.

After reading this WP Engine review, you understand WP Engine is an ideal choice if you’re looking for a hassle-free WordPress hosting service. You don’t want to waste time on all of the technical aspects when you could be focusing on your business.

And you should understand why it is highly recommended…

They give you tons of premium WordPress-specific features, reliable support, solid performance, and excellent security.

Even though they are not cheap, but they are affordable. You will get a quality managed WordPress hosting service by trying out one of their plans. They have a 60-day money-back guarantee, making this a great hosting option to try out.

FAQ

Is WP Engine good?

With blazing fast speeds and a fully managed hosting provider, WP Engine is a good choice for your WordPress websites. Since their sole focus is on WordPress-based sites, they offer excellent site uptime, pristine quick load times, and optimal security. All hosting options also come with 24/7 support and a guarantee to fix your site for free if anything were to happen such as hackers attacking. They are a high-quality WordPress host with many features included. Backed by a 60-day money back guarantee, it is easy to say they are an excellent managed WordPress hosting service.

What does WP Engine do?

They are the leading WordPress digital experience platform valuing software innovation and service. They provide brands the solutions they need to create superior sites and apps on WordPress. They are your base for creating and delivering breakthrough digital experiences to drive your business forward faster. They conveniently provide many exclusive features in their plans as well as top notch security, fast speeds, great uptime, and excellent customer support. They strive to beat their competitors in many areas as the best managed WordPress hosting provider. They offer hosting plans exclusively for WordPress sites for anyone from beginners to large businesses as a fully managed WordPress host.

Does WP Engine have CPanel?

Although they do not have the typical CPanel, they do have an Admin Portal with easy access to all of the basic menus and functions. The User Portal is unique to the platform and, unlike other portals, developed specifically for WordPress applications. The User Portal is easy to use with a simple menu system, but if you ever need help, they have a complete walk-through available to use as well as complete checklists to follow. They also have 24/7 customer support to personally help with any issues. Their Admin Portal is clean and simple and comes with a detailed user guide to get you started.

How much does WP Engine cost?

There are four price plans to choose from and no hidden fees. These plans are $30, $115, and $290 per month with a fourth custom option available. It's not cheap, but it is affordable. They include a 60-day money back guarantee. You will also get two free months if you sign up for a yearly plan, saving up to $580 with the top-tier plan. All plans come with a range of features for free such as excellent security, extremely fast load times, a solid up time, not to mention the Genesis Framework and over 35 StudioPress Themes. There are also additional optional add-ons for purchase if you wish to get more. If the cost is more than you wish to invest at the moment, you may prefer to explore my article on the web hosting or how to create your own blog in 5 minutes with HostGator.

Do you need managed WordPress hosting?

This depends on your needs and budget. Businesses and high-traffic websites often do well under managed WordPress hosting. It is hassle-free where all technical aspects of running the site is managed by the host including speed, security, updates, backups, uptime, scalability, and premium support. If low cost is your biggest priority, then a regular non-managed WordPress host, where you are responsible for the technical aspects, may be better. You will need to justify the cost for the value for yourself and your own websites. Having a managed WordPress host is like having a team of developers work on the technical side while you focus on the website content and functionality. They include a 60-day money back guarantee. You will also get two free months if you sign up for a yearly plan, saving up to $580 with the top-tier plan. All plans come with a range of features for free such as excellent security, extremely fast load times, a solid up time, not to mention the Genesis Framework and over 35 StudioPress Themes. There are also additional optional add-ons for purchase if you wish to get more. If the cost is more than you wish to invest at the moment, you may prefer to explore my article on the best web hosting or how to create your own blog in 5 minutes with HostGator.

Why is WP Engine so expensive?

They provide an excellent hosting environment for WordPress-based sites and is backed by top-tier customer service. They will handle pretty much everything on the technical side for you. The features offered by them are vast and appealing. They include premium WordPress themes and Genesis framework for free, which is a huge value in itself. Security is a high priority and they take many steps to ensure your site remains completely safe. They also guarantee to fix your site for free in the case of any hacking that may happen. Basically, they are there for you every step of the way and offer high quality products and features.