There are lots of cheap hosts available that offer a decent service. WPEngine Hosting Plans
Nevertheless, what if you’re searching for more of a performance-oriented, concierge service? Because case, you’ll wish to have a look at our WP Engine evaluation for WordPress.
WP Engine is a WordPress-specific web host, providing handled plans that are completely optimized for the platform. Naturally, when compared to numerous other WordPress hosts, WP Engine’s strategies aren’t exactly inexpensive. You’ll desire to understand whether this hosting service is worth the cost prior to making a purchase.
To assist you out, we’re going to carry out a thorough WP Engine evaluation for WordPress. We’ll discuss its key features, assistance options, performance capabilities, and whatever else you’ll need to know. Let’s start!
WP Engine Video Review
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About WP Engine
Founded in 2010, WP Engine is now among the leading managed WordPress hosting companies in the market. Serial business owner Jason Cohen started 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 actually 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 choose WP Engine over cheaper WordPress hosting are increased reliability, efficiency, assistance, and management, however these are difficult to measure. Some features stick out when you browse the interface, nevertheless, that can provide you some insight into the service used.
WP Engine Page Performance is a cool tool created to help you accelerate your WordPress site by providing significant metrics on efficiency.
Running a test returns you a page-performance report that details how quickly your page rendered, for how long it required to pack in its entirety, and the total size of the page. It even consists of historical data on your site’s efficiency over the past 6 months and recommendations on how you can decrease page load.
You can establish your WordPress website in a Staging or Development environment prior to making the changes live (Image credit: WP Engine) Avoid humiliating errors on your site by making changes to a copy of your website prior to it goes live. This is called Staging, and it enables your developers to make substantial modifications to your site without affecting your consumers.
WP Engine has a thorough list of plugins that are disallowed (Image credit: WP Engine) In a relatively uncommon move, WP Engine limits the WordPress plugins you can set up. Those normally restricted are plugins that have actually been noted to cause performance problems and security holes. For essential features such as caching, backups, and seo tools, WP Engine has actually made options offered that do not put a high load on the server.
WP Engine Hosting Plans
WP Engine only offers handled WordPress hosting. There are five various strategies available: Startup, Growth, Scale, and Custom.
All strategies include limitless data transfer. The plans differ based upon:
- number of WordPress sets up
- traffic volume (# of visits per month)
- disk storage amount
- Custom plan includes dedicated dev. environments, customer success, and priority support
WP Engine includes some distinct functions for WordPress users that a lot of hosts don’t provide, or charge extra for. These unique functions consist of:.
- Git version control
- Staging: instantly produce a copy of your website for screening
- Easy transferable installs from totally free to paid accounts
- Leading edge technologies including newest PHP variation.
In our WP Engine evaluation, we discovered that WP Engine uses the most innovative and detailed handled WordPress hosting features.
Get 3 months free when you sign up for WP Engine.
User interface and in use
WP Engine’s interface is professional and well set out, but the powerful features might mean a high learning curve for inexperienced users. If you have an understanding of terms like Git, CNAME, and reroute guidelines, you’ll be right in your home here, however otherwise you’ll require to spend some time on the support website.
In our screening, the default WordPress web page loaded in simply over 2 seconds. This is among the fastest actions we’ve tested, with rival Liquid Web only slightly behind.
Support
A handled WordPress service should offer additional value through its assistance, and WP Engine provides. The assistance site includes videos and posts of a quality you ‘d expect from a paid training course, with aid on deeper WordPress performance that numerous WordPress hosts do not go into.
There’s 24/7 live chat assistance and a ticket system, too. In our testing, the action fasted and the agent educated. For all strategies except for single-site strategies, there’s telephone support, too.
Pros
Exceptional Load Speed: If website loading speed is a leading priority, WP Engine does well in this regard. The host’s combination of customized NGINX extension, integrated Content Delivery Network (CDN), and SSD innovation guarantee that your web pages load quickly. NGINX extension prioritizes human demands over robot requests and offers load balancing, providing your visitors a better experience. For its part, CDN delivers website material to your visitors based on their place to enhance your website’s speed and lower latency. You get this capability free of charge with all WP Engine plans.
High Performance: It’s tough to beat WP Engine’s performance, which is why people continue to pay a premium cost for this service. WP Engine ensures 99.95% server uptime, roughly 4 and a half hours of downtime a year. You can further increase your uptime to 99.99% with improved SLA, which translates to a little under an hour of downtime each year. WP Engine will compensate you with hosting credit if your uptime falls listed below the guarantee.
Advanced Security: WP Engine monitors all the traffic going to your site and automatically detects and obstructs possible attacks. Additionally, the hosting service immediately updates and patches the WordPress core to eliminate possible vulnerabilities. In a worst-case circumstance, WP Engine automatically backups your site every day and has a one-click remediation feature to get you back up and running rapidly. Lastly, this hosting service secures your site against JavaScript/SQL-injection attacks, brute force efforts, and DDoS attacks.
Sensational Customer Support: The hosting service has a transparent and trackable ticketing system to connect with consumer care via chat. The assistance group has an excellent knowledge base and can help you fix issues quickly. You get 24/7 phone assistance for all strategies other than the Growth Plan, in addition to 24/7 live chat assistance on all strategies.
Useful Staging Environment: The staging area permits you to clone your site’s live variation and make changes or evaluate brand-new plugins and styles. Anything you carry out in the staging area doesn’t impact your live website. This function permits developers to work on websites without hindering the live website’s performance or user experience.
Transferable Installs: Also targeting designers, this feature allows you to develop a site from your WP Engine account. You do not have to wait on the client to add you to their WordPress site. As soon as completed, you can move the site to the customer or host the website on WP Engine. This performance conserves time if you frequently develop sites for customers.
Cons
WordPress-Only Hosting: If you are utilizing any other content management system aside from WordPress, then you run out luck. WP Engine only deals with WordPress. From a service viewpoint, it makes good sense to focus on a single market and deal exceptional services in that area. However, this model locks out many people who could otherwise gain 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 require to look in other places. You’ll have to utilize third-party services for domain registration or email accounts.
Inflexible Pricing: WP Engine runs a tight ship, and this is reflected in its pricing structure. You will be punished for exceeding your plan’s visitor limitations. This may not be an issue if you have predictable traffic, and you can always update your strategy as your website grows. However, 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 expensive. Is it worth the cost? The response lies in figuring out what you are spending for.
You can get shared hosting that can manage the very same quantity of traffic as WP Engine for a fraction of the cost. You can even get devoted hosting for the same price as WP Engine. What you are truly paying for here is security, performance, speed, and, most significantly, peace of mind. The ultimate 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 typically spending for efficiency & not having to believe excessive about upkeep, security & speed. If you look at WP Engine’s pricing based on the features you’re getting- you actually do not get a whole lot.
And if you are the type who will think of your site’s health anyway (ie, keeping WordPress updated and normally visiting regularly), you’ll likely be spending for “management” that is unneeded.
Numerous shared hosting servers can handle the same traffic numbers as WP Engine- and cost a portion of the price. My personal site 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 reliable VPS, you can certainly deal with a lot more for much less. The site you are on handles more than 110,000+ visits per month with plenty of room left to spare for side-projects, gigabytes of media, e-mail, RSS apps, etc with an InMotion VPS. I pay for the VPS plus a CDN for less than WP Engine’s starter plan.
They are relatively transparent about how they count check outs, however it can still be rather a surprise for “small” website owners how rapidly they can get into the $290 monthly tier. I have a customer who started with the Startup strategy, but rapidly ended up with a customized plan.
And as pointed out previously that does not even include many of the functions you don’t get with WP Engine’s strategies. You can’t run any e-mail from your servers. You have low limitations on local media storage. Anything above the limits requires additional costs & technical execution of Amazon cloud services.
And most importantly 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 expand the expense of your strategy- specifically if you are striking your visitor cap rather than your set up cap.
If you are looking to spend for hosting- ie, a server that will hold & serve up your website files- WP Engine is an expensive choice, specifically compared to other non-managed hosting options.
Startup
The Startup plan is the most fundamental strategy and will set you back $25 per month. With this plan, you get:.
25,000 sees per month.
50GB bandwidth each month.
10GB storage.
One site included.
WP Engine targets little websites and blogs with this plan, however we believe it may be overkill for many people in this classification. You can get a far much better deal with shared hosting at Bluehost However, if you don’t want to take any possibilities with uptime or need a guarantee that your site can handle 25,000 visitors monthly, WP Engine is a certainty. We ‘d suggest this choice to small companies, affiliate websites, and blog sites making great cash and desire assurances that absolutely nothing will change.
You can save $60 annually or 2 months totally free if you pay yearly.
Growth
The growth plan targets growing businesses and will cost you $95 monthly. Here you get:.
100,000 visits monthly.
200GB bandwidth monthly.
25GB storage.
10 websites included a while.
This plan is a great entry point for a growing organization, and it might be a while prior to you require to upgrade. With this plan, you likewise get 24/7 phone assistance in addition to day-and-night chat assistance. This addition will be available in useful if you have a complicated issue that you require to resolve rapidly.
You can conserve a cool $230 or two months totally free with annual billing.
Scale
WP Engine markets its scale strategy as the very best worth option. This one expenses $241 per month. Here you get:.
400,000 gos to monthly.
500GB bandwidth per month.
50GB storage.
30 websites consisted of.
We suggest this choice for a fast-growing blog or company. You get access to 24/7 live chat and 24/7 phone support in addition to the support.
You can save $580 or more months free with annual pre-paid billing.
Custom-made
If you have a mission-critical website or big organization, the Custom plan may be appealing. With this strategy, you get:.
Countless visits each month.
400GB+ bandwidth per month.
100GB-1TB storage.
30 sites consisted of.
You will need to speak with a sales associate to get your personalized quote depending upon your requirements. This strategy also provides exclusive support ought to something fail.
Migrate WordPress websites in just a few clicks.
Strong Uptime
WP Engine attains over 99% uptime thanks to its first-rate network infrastructure.
The business also has three 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 market.
WP Engine obstructs malicious attacks on your site.
Speed & Performance
There are a lot of variables that go into site speed, but the rule of thumb is that the more complicated your site is, the more intricate the services to speed ended up being.
Out of package- WordPress is fairly lean and quick. If you are running a primarily text site with a few fundamental plugins and a few little images, you’ll be fine with a budget friendly shared hosting plan from someone like InMotion HostGator Bluehost But few site owners keep their WordPress install lean. There’s normally extra plugins, customized style files, great deals of images, widgets, ads, forms and more.
All these features combined with decent levels of traffic can start to decrease your WordPress installation.
A sluggish site does not suggest that you require a bigger, much better server. It does mean that you require to get smarter about speed. Sometimes it’s as easy as getting a more effective server, but sometimes it’s more about caching particular resources in a certain order and enhancing your files. In other words- it gets complex.
Picture you are trying to transport a trailer with a pickup. Imagine your trailer keeps getting much heavier. It’s meaningless to keep complaining that your truck is not big enough when you may simply require to eliminate the emergency brake, set up a turbocharger, refresh the transmission fluid and consolidate your load.
The point is that WordPress requires help to remain quick as you grow. There are lots of solutions … however either you or a developer need to implement them.
That’s where managed WordPress hosting is available in. WP Engine looks after (nearly) all speed issues. They have tailored servers with very aggressive caching and even more sophisticated “stack” than a typical webhosting. They likewise have trained assistance who will go into your WordPress set up and identify the precise chokepoint to get your website moving.
They do not even permit caching plugins on their installs since they have actually such a personalized caching setup.
The intriguing thing is that even unoptimized WordPress installs still succeed on their platform since their platform does the extra work.
Here’s the speed test for one of my clients on WP Engine (who has a bloated theme, extra scripts, too many 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 loading the page.
It’s nice to have that kind of speed right out of package- and have it stay that way no matter how huge or complex the site gets.
* Note that the other point here is that if you are consumed about speed, you can get even better numbers with WP Engine than you may get with other services because you are totally free to focus on speed aspects that you can easily manage like image compression, use of scripts, and so on
. The last observation on speed- WP Engine not just provides an integrated CDN, however they also supply international information centers in case your audience is mostly 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 because they work on Google Cloud, you do not need to fret about uptime either.
CDN Included
All strategies consist of a global CDN (content shipment network).
The CDN will assist your site load fast for consumers around the world by serving it to them from the network node that’s geographically closest to them.
Security and Backups
An estimated 78% of hacked websites are WordPress sites, according to Sucuri, a web security company. Often the “open doors” are plugins that weren’t updated.
Protecting sites is among the strong suits of WP Engine’s handled WordPress hosting service.
The business takes several measures to protect WordPress sites:.
WP Engine runs everyday malware/virus scans in collaboration with Sucuri.
They keep an eye on an updated firewall program to obstruct the latest risks.
All sites are supported daily.
You get a one-click bring back 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 questions regarding security.
They supply webinars on security.
They publish security standards and lists for developers and engineers.
If your site gets hacked, WPE will clean it free of charge.
Online Resources
WP Engine offers webinars, guides, blog posts, updates, tutorials, and a knowledgebase. With these you can discover how to:.
Launch your very first site.
Troubleshoot common issues.
Make improvements to your website.
Manage your hosting account with greater effectiveness.
Both novices and skilled WordPress website owners will find the support documents vital.
WP Engine’s 60-Day Guarantee
WP Engine’s 60-day money-back guarantee on all subscription charges is unique in the hosting industry.
It enables you to try out the service in a risk-free method.
Keep in mind: this option is not available on customized hosting plans.
Is WP Engine Worth It?
Like any service, it’s not about what is finest overall, however what is finest for you based upon your goals, budget plan, resources & practices.
If you are in what I consider WP Engine’s core markets- they provide an excellent service with a strong item. As a managed WordPress host, their rates is competitive. They use more features than “WordPress hosting” strategies from other hosting brand names. Their feature-set is unequaled for savvy DIYers, WordPress website designers and/or high-traffic sites that do not want to stress over hosting issues.
If handled hosting is a suitable for you- then go take a look at WP Engine’s plans here View Current Plans They do a 60-day money-back warranty. So do a test install and see what you think of their backend. Be sure to chat w/ assistance & sales.
Get 3 months free when you sign up for WP Engine.