WP Engine Review

When it comes to website content management, few systems come close to the growing popularity of WordPress. The content management system currently supports millions of sites, a number that will only increase over time. With this in mind, it is less surprising to see more web hosting services focusing on WordPress hosting, and WP Engine is one example.

WP Engine is a web hosting service that offers managed plans meant for WordPress. Our WP Engine review found it should be considered if you want your website to be fast-loading, secure, and optimized. Offering services ranging from easy and quick migrations to diagnostic and performance tracking, WP Engine almost does it all.

It doesn’t matter if you’re searching for the best web hosts for Australia, the best website hosting services for Canada, or the top web hosts for the UK… WP Engine has you covered.

Pricing

WP Engine offers you three plans boasting various features, such as malware scanning and automatic daily backups. All its plans are, however, only Linux-based, meaning you will have to try a different option if you are looking for Windows-based hosting.

The available WP Engine plans are:

Startup

This is the most basic plan, and it starts at $25 per month. Though its price is on the higher side, Startup comes with 10GB storage and 50GB monthly data transfers. You will also benefit from certain features such as an SSL certificate and access to a global CDN. The plan, however, only supports a single WordPress installation.

Growth

Starting at $95 per month, WP Engine’s Growth plan offers you 200GB monthly data transfers, 20GB storage, and five WordPress installations. You can import your SSL certificates and have access to 24-hour phone support.

Scale

This is the third plan WP Engine offers, and it starts at $241 per month. With Scale, you get 30GB storage, 400GB monthly data transfers, and 15 WordPress installations. You get the same features that Growth offers with the added advantage of increased traffic support of up to 400,000 site visits.

Custom

For mission-critical sites and large businesses, WP Engine offers the high-end Custom plan, giving you up to 1TB storage and 400GB monthly transfers. The Custom plan also offers traffic support capable of handling the millions of visitors your large business gets every month.

You will have to get in touch with one of the company’s representatives to get pricing information. Though WP Engine has positioned itself as a web host that offers its users premium features, don’t expect the price to be low.

The resources these plans offer you and the number of sites they support differ dramatically, but they do share some similarities. For starters, each plan gives WP Engine’s LargeFS software for storing and transferring data, staging environments, and a content delivery network for fast page load times.

Support

The company offers users plenty of support that they can access easily from their user portal. One of the WP Engine support options it offers is the live chat, which is very responsive, providing users with prompt, accurate, and helpful assistance. WP Engine also provides its clients with an extensive knowledge base and a resource center full of tutorials and well-written documentation.

The only downside is that the company’s 24-hour, toll-free telephone support will not be available to users who choose the Startup plan. That support option is only accessible to those who have signed up for its Growth, Scale, and Custom plans.

Pros

One of the standout benefits of WP Engine is the exceptional uptime it offers its users, an essential factor for all business owners. If your site is down, potential customers or clients will be unable to access your services or products, causing you to lose valuable business. With WP Engine, however, you won’t have to worry about that.

Other WP Engine advantages include:

• It is fully optimized for WordPress
• The site offers simple website management
• It provides reliable and consistent performance
• WP Engine has a 60-day money-back guarantee for its Startup, Growth, and Scale users
• The service provides expert and dedicated customer support
• It offers daily backups
• It provides you with a useful staging area
• WP Engine allows you to choose between Google Cloud Platform or Amazon Web Services cloud hosting

Cons

Unfortunately, WP Engine does not offer email and does not register domain names. If you are creating your website from scratch, this could be a big inconvenience and adds to your total costs. WP Engine also only offers WordPress-based hosting, forcing those interested in the traditional VPS, shared, dedicated, reseller, or cloud hosting to look elsewhere. Other WP Engine cons are:

• It is expensive
• It offers its Startup users limited telephone support

Conclusion

While WP Engine is the farthest thing from cheap, it is still a well-managed web hosting service that could prove to be a worthy investment. The service offers tons of WordPress-specific features while delivering excellent performance and reliable support.

The excellent uptime and premium feel are other qualities that stood out in our WP Engine review. While the few downsides can make it less ideal, WP Engine is still an impressive option if you can afford it.