There are plenty of cheap hosts offered that supply a good service. WPEngine Blog
What if you’re looking for more of a performance-oriented, concierge service? Because case, you’ll want to check out our WP Engine evaluation for WordPress.
WP Engine is a WordPress-specific web host, providing managed plans that are completely enhanced for the platform. Naturally, when compared to lots of other WordPress hosts, WP Engine’s plans aren’t exactly inexpensive. You’ll desire to know whether this hosting service is worth the cost before making a purchase.
To assist you out, we’re going to perform a thorough WP Engine review for WordPress. We’ll discuss its crucial features, assistance options, performance abilities, and whatever else you’ll require to know. Let’s get started!
WP Engine Video Review
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re66PSKd7_E
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About WP Engine
Founded in 2010, WP Engine is now one of the leading handled WordPress hosting companies in the market. Serial business owner Jason Cohen began WP Engine when he saw a need for specialized WordPress hosting due to the rising appeal of WordPress.
WP Engine is Headquartered in Austin, Texas with offices in San Antonio (Texas), London (England), Limerick (Ireland), Brisbane (Australia), and Kraków (Poland).
The company has won numerous awards for Best Place to Work in Austin and consistently adds to the WordPress core and neighborhood.
WP Engine Features
The core factors to pick WP Engine over more affordable WordPress hosting are increased reliability, efficiency, assistance, and management, however these are tough to measure. Some features stand apart when you search the user interface, nevertheless, that can provide you some insight into the service offered.
WP Engine Page Performance is a neat tool created to help you accelerate your WordPress website by providing significant metrics on efficiency.
Running a test returns you a page-performance report that information how rapidly your page rendered, how long it took to pack in its totality, and the total size of the page. It even consists of historical data on your website’s performance over the past six months and recommendations on how you can reduce page load.
You can establish your WordPress site in a Staging or Development environment before making the changes live (Image credit: WP Engine) Avoid humiliating mistakes on your website by making changes to a copy of your website before it goes live. This is called Staging, and it permits your developers to make comprehensive modifications to your site without affecting your customers.
WP Engine has an extensive list of plugins that are prohibited (Image credit: WP Engine) In a fairly uncommon move, WP Engine limits the WordPress plugins you can install. Those generally restricted are plugins that have actually been kept in mind to trigger performance issues and security holes. For essential functions such as caching, backups, and search engine optimization tools, WP Engine has actually made options available that do not put a high load on the server.
WP Engine Hosting Plans
WP Engine only provides handled WordPress hosting. There are five various plans available: Startup, Growth, Scale, and Custom.
All strategies consist of limitless data transfer. The strategies vary based upon:
- number of WordPress installs
- traffic volume (# of visits per month)
- disk storage amount
- Custom-made strategy consists of dedicated dev. environments, client success, and priority support
WP Engine consists of some special functions for WordPress users that the majority of hosts do not offer, or charge additional for. These special features include:.
- Git version control
- Staging: immediately develop a copy of your website for screening
- Easy transferable installs from free to paid accounts
- Cutting edge innovations including most current PHP variation.
In our WP Engine review, we discovered that WP Engine provides the most innovative and detailed managed WordPress hosting features.
Get 3 months free when you sign up for WP Engine.
Interface and in use
WP Engine’s user interface is expert and well set out, but the effective functions may imply a steep learning curve for unskilled users. If you have an understanding of terms like Git, CNAME, and reroute rules, you’ll be right in your home here, however otherwise you’ll need to spend a long time on the support site.
In our screening, the default WordPress home page filled in just over 2 seconds. This is among the fastest actions we’ve evaluated, with competitor Liquid Web only slightly behind.
Assistance
A managed WordPress service ought to offer additional value through its support, and WP Engine provides. The assistance website consists of videos and short articles of a quality you ‘d get out of a paid training course, with help on much deeper WordPress performance that lots of WordPress hosts don’t go into.
There’s 24/7 live chat support and a ticket system, too. In our screening, the response was quick and the representative knowledgeable. For all strategies except for single-site plans, there’s telephone assistance, too.
Pros
Extraordinary Load Speed: If site filling speed is a leading concern, WP Engine does well in this regard. The host’s combination of custom NGINX extension, integrated Content Delivery Network (CDN), and SSD technology guarantee that your websites load rapidly. NGINX extension prioritizes human demands over robot requests and uses load balancing, providing your visitors a much better experience. For its part, CDN delivers website content to your visitors based upon their area to increase your site’s speed and minimize latency. You get this capability free of charge with all WP Engine strategies.
High Performance: It’s hard to beat WP Engine’s performance, which is why people continue to pay a premium price for this service. WP Engine guarantees 99.95% server uptime, approximately 4 and a half hours of downtime a year. You can even more increase your uptime to 99.99% with boosted SLA, which equates to a little under an hour of downtime per year. WP Engine will compensate you with hosting credit if your uptime falls listed below the guarantee.
Advanced Security: WP Engine keeps an eye on all the traffic going to your site and instantly detects and obstructs prospective attacks. Furthermore, the hosting service automatically updates and spots the WordPress core to remove possible vulnerabilities. In a worst-case situation, WP Engine instantly backups your website every day and has a one-click remediation feature to get you back up and running quickly. Finally, this hosting service safeguards your website against JavaScript/SQL-injection attacks, brute force efforts, and DDoS attacks.
Phenomenal Customer Support: The hosting service has a transparent and trackable ticketing system to contact consumer care through chat. The assistance group has an outstanding knowledge base and can assist you solve problems quickly. You get 24/7 phone assistance for all plans except the Growth Plan, in addition to 24/7 live chat assistance on all strategies.
Useful Staging Environment: The staging area allows you to clone your site’s live variation and make changes or check new plugins and themes. Anything you perform in the staging area doesn’t impact your live site. This function enables developers to deal with websites without interfering with the live site’s performance or user experience.
Transferable Installs: Also targeting designers, this feature permits you to develop a website from your WP Engine account. You don’t have to wait for the client to add you to their WordPress website. As soon as completed, you can move the website to the customer or host the website on WP Engine. This functionality saves time if you routinely build websites for clients.
Cons
WordPress-Only Hosting: If you are utilizing any other content management system aside from WordPress, then you are out of luck. WP Engine just works with WordPress. From a business perspective, it makes good sense to focus on a single market and deal extraordinary services because area. This design locks out numerous people who could otherwise benefit from WP Engine’s services.
No Domains or Email Hosting: If you prefer to host your e-mail account and register your domain through your site host, you’ll need to look in other places. You’ll need to utilize third-party services for domain registration or e-mail accounts.
Inflexible Pricing: WP Engine runs a tight ship, and this is shown in its rates structure. You will be penalized for exceeding your plan’s visitor limitations. This might not be an issue if you have predictable traffic, and you can constantly update your strategy as your website grows. However, substantial spikes in traffic throughout item launches or seasonal business can cost you substantial excess charges.
There is no other way to put it: WP Engine is pricey. Is it worth the cost? The response lies in finding out what you are paying for.
You can get shared hosting that can deal with the exact same quantity of traffic as WP Engine for a fraction of the cost. You can even get dedicated hosting for the very same cost as WP Engine. What you are actually spending for here is security, efficiency, speed, and, most importantly, comfort. The supreme question is how much these things deserve to you.
Plans and Pricing
Get 3 months free when you sign up for WP Engine.
With a WP Engine strategy, you are normally paying for performance & not having to believe too much about upkeep, security & speed. If you take a look at WP Engine’s prices based upon the functions you’re getting- you truly don’t get a great deal.
And if you are the type who will think about your site’s health anyway (ie, keeping WordPress updated and typically visiting regularly), you’ll likely be spending for “management” that is unneeded.
Numerous shared hosting servers can deal with the exact same traffic numbers as WP Engine- and cost a fraction of the price. My individual site a shared hosting strategy from HostGator with basic caching) handled more than 15,000+ check outs in a 24 hour period when a post of mine And if you are running a dependable VPS, you can definitely manage a lot more for much less. In fact, the site you are on handles more than 110,000+ sees monthly with lots of space left to spare for side-projects, gigabytes of media, e-mail, RSS apps, etc with an InMotion VPS. I spend for the VPS plus a CDN for less than WP Engine’s starter plan.
They are fairly transparent about how they count gos to, however it can still be rather a surprise for “little” site owners how rapidly they can enter the $290 each month tier. I have a client who began with the Startup strategy, however quickly wound up with a custom-made strategy.
And as pointed out earlier that does not even include a number of the functions you do not get with WP Engine’s strategies. You can’t run any email from your servers. You have low limits on local media storage. Anything above the limits needs additional expenses & technical application of Amazon cloud services.
And most significantly for me- you are limited on your installs. If you have a few side projects or low-traffic test websites, you need to factor those into the price. You can’t use them to spread out the expense of your strategy- specifically if you are striking your visitor cap rather than your set up cap.
If you are looking to pay for hosting- ie, a server that will hold & provide your site files- WP Engine is an expensive alternative, particularly compared to other non-managed hosting alternatives.
Startup
The Startup plan is the most basic strategy and will set you back $25 per month. With this bundle, you get:.
25,000 sees monthly.
50GB bandwidth each month.
10GB storage.
One site included.
WP Engine targets little websites and blog sites with this plan, however we think it may be overkill for many people in this category. You can get a far better handle shared hosting at Bluehost However, if you don’t want to take any possibilities with uptime or need a guarantee that your website can manage 25,000 visitors per month, WP Engine is a certainty. We ‘d advise this alternative to small companies, affiliate websites, and blog sites making good cash and desire assurances that nothing will change.
You can save $60 per year or more months totally free if you pay every year.
Growth
The growth plan targets growing businesses and will cost you $95 per month. Here you get:.
100,000 gos to per month.
200GB bandwidth each month.
25GB storage.
Ten websites included a while.
This strategy is a terrific entry point for a growing organization, and it might be a while prior to you need to update. With this plan, you likewise get 24/7 phone support in addition to round-the-clock chat assistance. This addition will be available in convenient if you have a complex problem that you require to deal with rapidly.
You can conserve a cool $230 or more months complimentary with yearly billing.
Scale
WP Engine advertises its scale plan as the best value option. This one costs $241 each month. Here you get:.
400,000 check outs per month.
500GB bandwidth monthly.
50GB storage.
30 sites consisted of.
We advise this option for a fast-growing blog site or service. You get access to 24/7 live chat and 24/7 phone support in addition to the support.
You can conserve $580 or more months free with yearly pre-paid billing.
Custom
If you have a mission-critical site or big organization, the Custom plan might be appealing. With this plan, you get:.
Millions of sees monthly.
400GB+ bandwidth each month.
100GB-1TB storage.
30 sites consisted of.
You will need to speak with a sales representative to get your tailored quote depending on your requirements. This strategy likewise offers exclusive support ought to something go wrong.
Migrate WordPress websites in just a few clicks.
Strong Uptime
WP Engine achieves over 99% uptime thanks to its world-class network facilities.
The business likewise has 3 information centers in London, Tokyo, and Midwest USA.
As a result, you can get better site speeds by picking to host your website on servers that are closest to your target audience.
WP Engine obstructs destructive attacks on your site.
Speed & Performance
There are a lot of variables that enter into website speed, however the guideline is that the more complex your site is, the more intricate the options to speed ended up being.
Out of the box- WordPress is fairly lean and fast. If you are running a mainly text website with a few basic plugins and a few little images, you’ll be great with an affordable shared hosting plan from someone like InMotion HostGator Bluehost But few website owners keep their WordPress set up lean. There’s usually additional plugins, custom-made theme files, great deals of images, widgets, ads, forms and more.
All these features combined with good levels of traffic can begin to slow down your WordPress installation.
However a slow website does not suggest that you require a bigger, better server. It does mean that you need to get smarter about speed. Sometimes it’s as basic as getting a more effective server, but often it’s more about caching certain resources in a particular order and optimizing your files. In other words- it gets complex.
Envision you are trying to transport a trailer with a pickup truck. Imagine your trailer keeps getting heavier. It’s pointless to keep complaining that your truck is not big enough when you might simply require to remove the emergency brake, install a turbocharger, refresh the transmission fluid and consolidate your load.
The point is that WordPress requires assistance to remain quickly as you grow. There are lots of options … however either you or a developer should implement them.
That’s where handled WordPress hosting is available in. WP Engine looks after (almost) all speed issues. They have actually personalized servers with exceptionally aggressive caching and a lot more sophisticated “stack” than a typical web host. They likewise have actually trained assistance who will go into your WordPress install and determine the exact chokepoint to get your website moving.
They don’t even permit caching plugins on their installs due to the fact that they have such a tailored caching setup.
The fascinating thing is that even unoptimized WordPress sets up still succeed on their platform due to the fact that their platform does the additional work.
Here’s the speed test for among my customers on WP Engine (who has a bloated theme, extra scripts, a lot of uncompressed images, among other things)- Note the Time To First Byte and the Start Render numbers. That determines how rapidly the server returned enough information to start packing the page.
It’s great to have that sort of speed right out of package- and have it stay that way no matter how huge or intricate the website gets.
* Note that the other point here is that if you are consumed about speed, you can get back at much better numbers with WP Engine than you might get with other services since you are complimentary to concentrate on speed factors that you can easily control like image compression, usage of scripts, etc
. The last observation on speed- WP Engine not just provides an incorporated CDN, but they also provide worldwide data centers in case your audience is primarily in Asia and/or Europe.
If you are attempting to get top speeds without messing with layered caching plugins- the WP Engine does exactly that. And given that they run on Google Cloud, you do not need to fret about uptime either.
CDN Included
All plans include a worldwide CDN (content delivery network).
The CDN will assist your website load quick for clients worldwide by serving it to them from the network node that’s geographically closest to them.
Security and Backups
An estimated 78% of hacked sites are WordPress sites, according to Sucuri, a web security company. Regularly the “open doors” are plugins that weren’t updated.
Protecting websites is one of the strengths of WP Engine’s handled WordPress hosting service.
The company takes a number of procedures to secure WordPress sites:.
WP Engine runs day-to-day malware/virus scans in partnership with Sucuri.
They keep an eye on an upgraded firewall program to block the current hazards.
All websites are supported daily.
You get a one-click restore function that can help you recuperate your site in case of an attack.
The WP Engine website offers a guide on “Tips to Protect Your WordPress Site From Being Hacked.”.
You’ll have access to 24/7/365 technical assistance for any concerns regarding security.
They offer webinars on security.
They publish security standards and lists for developers and engineers.
If your site gets hacked, WPE will clean it for free.
Online Resources
WP Engine offers webinars, guides, blog posts, updates, tutorials, and a knowledgebase. With these you can find out how to:.
Introduce your very first site.
Troubleshoot common problems.
Make improvements to your site.
Manage your hosting account with greater effectiveness.
Both beginners and skilled WordPress website owners will discover the support documents indispensable.
WP Engine’s 60-Day Guarantee
WP Engine’s 60-day money-back guarantee on all membership fees is distinct in the hosting industry.
It enables you to experiment with the service in a safe method.
Note: this choice is not offered on custom-made hosting strategies.
Is WP Engine Worth It?
Like any service, it’s not about what is finest overall, but what is finest for you based upon your goals, spending plan, resources & practices.
If you remain in what I consider WP Engine’s core markets- they provide a fantastic service with a strong item. As a managed WordPress host, their rates is competitive. They offer more features than “WordPress hosting” strategies from other hosting brands. Their feature-set is unmatched for savvy DIYers, WordPress site designers and/or high-traffic sites that do not wish to worry about hosting issues.
If managed hosting is a suitable for you- then go check out WP Engine’s strategies here View Current Plans They do a 60-day money-back assurance. Do a test install and see what you believe of their backend. Be sure to talk w/ support & sales.
Get 3 months free when you sign up for WP Engine.