There are lots of cheap hosts readily available that offer a decent service. WPEngine Features
Nevertheless, what if you’re trying to find more of a performance-oriented, concierge service? In that case, you’ll want to check out our WP Engine review for WordPress.
WP Engine is a WordPress-specific webhosting, offering handled plans that are completely enhanced for the platform. Naturally, when compared to lots of other WordPress hosts, WP Engine’s plans aren’t precisely low-cost. For that reason, you’ll want to know whether this hosting service is worth the expense before buying.
To help you out, we’re going to conduct a comprehensive WP Engine review for WordPress. We’ll discuss its crucial functions, assistance choices, efficiency abilities, and everything else you’ll require to know. Let’s get going!
WP Engine Video Review
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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 started WP Engine when he saw a requirement for specialized WordPress hosting due to the rising popularity 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 several awards for Best Place to Work in Austin and consistently adds to the WordPress core and community.
WP Engine Features
The core factors to select WP Engine over cheaper WordPress hosting are increased reliability, performance, assistance, and management, but these are difficult to quantify. Some functions stand apart when you browse the user interface, however, that can offer you some insight into the service offered.
WP Engine Page Performance is a cool tool created to assist you speed up your WordPress site by offering meaningful metrics on performance.
Running a test returns you a page-performance report that details how rapidly your page rendered, the length of time it took to pack in its whole, and the total size of the page. It even consists of historical data on your website’s performance over the past 6 months and recommendations on how you can decrease page load.
You can develop your WordPress website in a Staging or Development environment before making the changes live (Image credit: WP Engine) Avoid awkward mistakes on your site by making changes to a copy of your website prior to it goes live. This is called Staging, and it permits your designers to make extensive modifications to your site without impacting your consumers.
WP Engine has a comprehensive list of plugins that are prohibited (Image credit: WP Engine) In a fairly unusual move, WP Engine restricts the WordPress plugins you can set up. Those usually restricted are plugins that have been kept in mind to trigger efficiency problems and security holes. For essential features such as caching, backups, and seo tools, WP Engine has made alternatives offered that do not put a high load on the server.
WP Engine Hosting Plans
WP Engine only provides managed WordPress hosting. There are 5 different strategies offered: Startup, Growth, Scale, and Custom.
All strategies include unrestricted information transfer. The plans vary based on:
- number of WordPress installs
- traffic volume (# of visits per month)
- disk storage amount
- Custom strategy includes dedicated dev. environments, consumer success, and priority assistance
WP Engine includes some distinct features for WordPress users that most hosts don’t use, or charge additional for. These special features consist of:.
- Git version control
- Staging: instantly create a copy of your site for screening
- Easy transferable installs from free to paid accounts
- Cutting edge technologies including newest PHP variation.
In our WP Engine evaluation, we found that WP Engine provides the most innovative and extensive managed WordPress hosting features.
Get 3 months free when you sign up for WP Engine.
User interface and in use
WP Engine’s user interface is professional and well laid out, but the powerful features may mean a steep learning curve for unskilled users. If you have an understanding of terms like Git, CNAME, and reroute guidelines, you’ll be right at home here, however otherwise you’ll require to spend a long time on the support site.
In our screening, the default WordPress home page loaded in just over two seconds. This is one of the fastest responses we’ve checked, with competitor Liquid Web only a little behind.
Assistance
A managed WordPress service ought to provide additional value through its assistance, and WP Engine delivers. The assistance site consists of videos and short articles of a quality you ‘d expect from a paid training course, with assistance on deeper WordPress functionality that numerous WordPress hosts do not go into.
There’s 24/7 live chat assistance and a ticket system, too. In our testing, the response fasted and the agent well-informed. For all plans except for single-site plans, there’s telephone support, too.
Pros
Remarkable Load Speed: If website filling speed is a top concern, WP Engine does well in this regard. The host’s combination of customized NGINX extension, integrated Content Delivery Network (CDN), and SSD technology make sure that your websites load quickly. NGINX extension prioritizes human demands over robotic demands and uses load balancing, giving your visitors a better experience. For its part, CDN provides site material to your visitors based on their area to boost your site’s speed and minimize latency. You get this ability totally free with all WP Engine plans.
High Performance: It’s tough to beat WP Engine’s efficiency, which is why people continue to pay a premium rate for this service. WP Engine guarantees 99.95% server uptime, roughly four and a half hours of downtime a year. You can further increase your uptime to 99.99% with improved SLA, which equates to a little under an hour of downtime annually. WP Engine will compensate you with hosting credit if your uptime falls below the warranty.
Advanced Security: WP Engine keeps track of all the traffic going to your site and automatically identifies and obstructs prospective attacks. Furthermore, the hosting service automatically updates and patches the WordPress core to get rid of potential vulnerabilities. In a worst-case situation, WP Engine automatically backups your website every day and has a one-click remediation feature to get you support and running rapidly. Finally, this hosting service safeguards your website versus JavaScript/SQL-injection attacks, brute force attempts, and DDoS attacks.
Extraordinary Customer Support: The hosting service has a transparent and trackable ticketing system to connect with client care through chat. The assistance group has an outstanding knowledge base and can help you fix problems rapidly. You get 24/7 phone assistance for all strategies other than the Growth Plan, in addition to 24/7 live chat support on all strategies.
Useful Staging Environment: The staging area permits you to clone your website’s live version and make changes or test new plugins and themes. Anything you do in the staging area does not impact your live site. This feature enables designers to work on sites without interfering with the live website’s performance or user experience.
Transferable Installs: Also targeting designers, this feature enables you to develop a website from your WP Engine account. You do not have to await the client to include you to their WordPress site. Once completed, you can transfer the website to the client or host the website on WP Engine. This performance saves time if you frequently develop sites for clients.
Cons
WordPress-Only Hosting: If you are utilizing any other content management system aside from WordPress, then you run out luck. WP Engine just works with WordPress. From an organization perspective, it makes good sense to concentrate on a single market and deal extraordinary services in that location. This model locks out lots of people who might otherwise benefit from WP Engine’s services.
No Domains or Email Hosting: If you choose to host your e-mail account and register your domain through your website host, you’ll need to look elsewhere. 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 pricing structure. You will be penalized for exceeding your plan’s visitor limitations. This might not be a problem if you have foreseeable traffic, and you can always upgrade your plan as your website grows. Considerable spikes in traffic during product launches or seasonal business can cost you significant overage charges.
There is no other method to put it: WP Engine is costly. Is it worth the cost? The answer depends on figuring 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 portion of the rate. You can even get committed hosting for the same rate as WP Engine. What you are actually spending for here is security, performance, speed, and, most importantly, peace of mind. The supreme concern is just 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 plan, you are generally paying for performance & not needing to think too much about upkeep, security & speed. If you look at WP Engine’s pricing based upon the features you’re getting- you actually don’t get a lot.
And if you are the type who will consider your website’s health anyway (ie, keeping WordPress upgraded and typically visiting frequently), 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 portion of the price. My personal website a shared hosting strategy from HostGator with fundamental caching) dealt with more than 15,000+ check outs in a 24 hour period when a post of mine And if you are running a reputable VPS, you can definitely deal with a lot more for much less. In fact, the site you are on deals with more than 110,000+ visits each month with plenty of space delegated spare for side-projects, gigabytes of media, email, RSS apps, etc with an InMotion VPS. I spend for the VPS plus a CDN for less than WP Engine’s starter strategy.
They are relatively transparent about how they count sees, however it can still be quite a surprise for “small” website owners how rapidly they can get into the $290 each month tier. I have a customer who started with the Startup plan, however rapidly ended up with a custom-made plan.
And as discussed previously that does not even include many of the features you don’t get with WP Engine’s strategies. You can’t run any email from your servers. You have low limitations on regional media storage. Anything above the limits needs additional costs & technical execution of Amazon cloud services.
And most importantly for me- you are restricted on your installs. If you have a few side projects or low-traffic test websites, you need to factor those into the rate. You can’t use them to spread out the cost of your plan- particularly if you are hitting your visitor cap rather than your set up cap.
If you are wanting to spend for hosting- ie, a server that will hold & serve up your site files- WP Engine is an expensive option, particularly compared to other non-managed hosting options.
Startup
The Startup package is the most basic strategy and will set you back $25 each month. With this plan, you get:.
25,000 visits each month.
50GB bandwidth monthly.
10GB storage.
One site included.
WP Engine targets small sites and blog sites with this plan, however we believe it may be overkill for most people in this category. You can get a far better deal with shared hosting at Bluehost However, if you don’t want to take any possibilities with uptime or need an assurance that your website can handle 25,000 visitors each month, WP Engine is a sure thing. We ‘d recommend this choice to small companies, affiliate sites, and blog sites making great money and desire guarantees that absolutely nothing will alter.
You can save $60 annually or more months complimentary if you pay annually.
Growth
The development plan targets growing companies and will cost you $95 monthly. Here you get:.
100,000 gos to per month.
200GB bandwidth monthly.
25GB storage.
10 websites included a while.
This strategy is a fantastic entry point for a growing company, and it might be a while prior to you require to update. With this strategy, you also get 24/7 phone assistance in addition to round-the-clock chat support. This addition will be available in convenient if you have a complex problem that you require to resolve quickly.
You can conserve a cool $230 or 2 months complimentary with yearly billing.
Scale
WP Engine promotes its scale strategy as the best worth alternative. This one expenses $241 monthly. Here you get:.
400,000 sees per month.
500GB bandwidth each month.
50GB storage.
30 sites consisted of.
We advise this choice for a fast-growing blog site or service. You get access to 24/7 live chat and 24/7 phone assistance in addition to the support center.
You can conserve $580 or two months complimentary with annual pre-paid billing.
Custom-made
Lastly, if you have a mission-critical site or big company, the Custom plan might be appealing. With this strategy, you get:.
Countless sees per month.
400GB+ bandwidth per month.
100GB-1TB storage.
30 websites included.
You will need to talk to a sales rep to get your personalized quote depending on your requirements. This plan likewise uses exclusive support must something go wrong.
Migrate WordPress websites in just a few clicks.
Solid Uptime
WP Engine accomplishes over 99% uptime thanks to its first-rate network facilities.
The business likewise has three information centers in London, Tokyo, and Midwest USA.
As a result, you can get better site speeds by selecting 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 go into website speed, but the general rule is that the more complex your site is, the more complex the options to speed become.
Out of the box- WordPress is fairly lean and quick. If you are running a primarily text site with a few fundamental plugins and a couple of small images, you’ll be fine with a budget friendly shared hosting strategy from someone like InMotion HostGator Bluehost But couple of site owners keep their WordPress install lean. There’s usually extra plugins, custom-made theme files, lots of images, widgets, ads, forms and more.
All these functions integrated with decent levels of traffic can begin to slow down your WordPress setup.
However a sluggish site does not mean that you need a larger, better server. It does mean that you need to get smarter about speed. In some cases it’s as simple as getting a more powerful server, however sometimes it’s more about caching particular resources in a particular order and enhancing your files. Simply put- it gets complex.
Envision you are attempting to haul a trailer with a pickup truck. Picture your trailer keeps getting much heavier. It’s pointless to keep complaining that your truck is not big enough when you may simply need to get rid of the emergency brake, set up a turbocharger, revitalize the transmission fluid and consolidate your load.
The point is that WordPress requires help to stay quick as you grow. There are a lot of options … however either you or a developer must execute them.
That’s where managed WordPress hosting can be found in. WP Engine takes care of (almost) all speed concerns. They have customized servers with very aggressive caching and even more advanced “stack” than a typical web host. They likewise have actually trained support who will go into your WordPress set up and determine the specific chokepoint to get your website moving.
They don’t even allow caching plugins on their installs since they have such a personalized caching setup.
The interesting thing is that even unoptimized WordPress installs still do well on their platform due to the fact that their platform does the additional work.
Here’s the speed test for one of my customers on WP Engine (who has a puffed up style, extra scripts, a lot of uncompressed images, among other things)- Note the Time To First Byte and the Start Render numbers. That measures how quickly the server returned enough data to begin loading the page.
It’s good to have that sort of speed right out of the box- and have it remain that way no matter how huge or intricate the site gets.
* Note that the other point here is that if you are obsessed about speed, you can get back at much better numbers with WP Engine than you might get with other services given that you are totally free to concentrate on speed factors that you can easily manage like image compression, use of scripts, and so on
. The last observation on speed- WP Engine not only offers an incorporated CDN, however they also supply global information centers in case your audience is primarily in Asia and/or Europe.
If you are trying to get top speeds without messing with layered caching plugins- the WP Engine does precisely that. And given that they operate on Google Cloud, you do not have to worry about uptime either.
CDN Included
All plans consist of an international CDN (material shipment network).
The CDN will help your website load quickly for consumers worldwide by serving it to them from the network node that’s geographically closest to them.
Security and Backups
An approximated 78% of hacked websites are WordPress websites, according to Sucuri, a web security company. Frequently the “open doors” are plugins that weren’t upgraded.
Protecting sites is one of the strong suits of WP Engine’s handled WordPress hosting service.
The company takes numerous measures to secure WordPress sites:.
WP Engine runs day-to-day malware/virus scans in collaboration with Sucuri.
They monitor an upgraded firewall to obstruct the most recent hazards.
All websites are backed up daily.
You get a one-click restore function that can assist you recuperate your site in case of an attack.
The WP Engine site supplies 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 supply webinars on security.
They publish security standards and lists for designers and engineers.
If your site gets hacked, WPE will clean it totally free.
Online Resources
WP Engine supplies webinars, guides, post, updates, tutorials, and a knowledgebase. With these you can learn how to:.
Release your very first site.
Troubleshoot typical issues.
Make improvements to your website.
Manage your hosting account with greater effectiveness.
Both newbies and skilled WordPress website owners will find the assistance paperwork important.
WP Engine’s 60-Day Guarantee
WP Engine’s 60-day money-back assurance on all membership fees is special in the hosting industry.
It allows you to try the service in a safe way.
Note: this alternative is not readily available on customized hosting plans.
Is WP Engine Worth It?
Like any service, it’s not about what is finest overall, but what is best for you based upon your goals, budget plan, resources & habits.
If you are in what I consider WP Engine’s core markets- they use an excellent service with a solid product. As a managed WordPress host, their prices is competitive. They offer more functions than “WordPress hosting” plans from other hosting brands. Their feature-set is unmatched for savvy DIYers, WordPress site designers and/or high-traffic sites that don’t want to stress over hosting problems.
If managed hosting is a suitable for you- then go have a look at WP Engine’s strategies here View Current Plans They do a 60-day money-back guarantee. Do a test set up and see what you think of their backend. Make certain to chat w/ assistance & sales.
Get 3 months free when you sign up for WP Engine.