There are a lot of inexpensive hosts readily available that supply a decent service. WPEngine Promo
However, what if you’re trying to find more of a performance-oriented, concierge service? Because case, you’ll wish to have a look at our WP Engine review for WordPress.
WP Engine is a WordPress-specific web host, using handled plans that are totally enhanced for the platform. Naturally, when compared to lots of other WordPress hosts, WP Engine’s plans aren’t precisely low-cost. Therefore, you’ll wish to know whether this hosting service is worth the cost before making a purchase.
To help you out, we’re going to carry out a thorough WP Engine evaluation for WordPress. We’ll discuss its essential functions, support alternatives, performance abilities, and whatever else you’ll require to know. Let’s start!
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 entrepreneur Jason Cohen began WP Engine when he saw a need for specialized WordPress hosting due to the rising popularity of WordPress.
WP Engine is Headquartered in Austin, Texas with workplaces in San Antonio (Texas), London (England), Limerick (Ireland), Brisbane (Australia), and Kraków (Poland).
The company has actually won numerous awards for Best Place to Work in Austin and consistently contributes to the WordPress core and community.
WP Engine Features
The core reasons to select WP Engine over cheaper WordPress hosting are increased reliability, efficiency, support, and management, but these are difficult to measure. Some features stand out when you search the interface, however, that can give 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 providing meaningful metrics on efficiency.
Running a test returns you a page-performance report that information how rapidly your page rendered, the length of time it took to load in its whole, and the overall size of the page. It even includes historical data on your site’s performance over the past six months and suggestions on how you can decrease page load.
You can establish your WordPress website in a Staging or Development environment before making the changes live (Image credit: WP Engine) Avoid awkward errors 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 developers to make comprehensive changes to your website without affecting your clients.
WP Engine has a thorough list of plugins that are disallowed (Image credit: WP Engine) In a reasonably unusual move, WP Engine limits the WordPress plugins you can install. Those normally restricted are plugins that have actually been kept in mind to cause efficiency issues and security holes. For essential features such as caching, backups, and seo tools, WP Engine has actually made alternatives offered that don’t put a high load on the server.
WP Engine Hosting Plans
WP Engine only uses managed WordPress hosting. There are 5 different plans readily available: Startup, Growth, Scale, and Custom.
All strategies consist of endless information transfer. The plans vary based upon:
- number of WordPress installs
- traffic volume (# of visits per month)
- disk storage amount
- Custom plan includes dedicated dev. environments, customer success, and priority support
WP Engine consists of some unique functions for WordPress users that many hosts do not provide, or charge extra for. These special features consist of:.
- Git version control
- Staging: immediately produce a copy of your website for screening
- Easy transferable installs from complimentary to paid accounts
- Leading edge technologies including most current PHP variation.
In our WP Engine evaluation, we found that WP Engine provides the most advanced and thorough handled 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 expert and well laid out, but the effective functions may mean a steep knowing curve for unskilled users. If you have an understanding of terms like Git, CNAME, and reroute rules, you’ll be right in the house here, however otherwise you’ll require to invest a long time on the assistance website.
In our testing, the default WordPress home page loaded in just over 2 seconds. This is one of the fastest reactions we’ve checked, with competitor Liquid Web only slightly behind.
Assistance
A managed WordPress service must provide extra worth through its assistance, and WP Engine provides. The assistance website includes videos and articles of a quality you ‘d expect from a paid training course, with help on deeper WordPress functionality 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 action fasted and the agent educated. For all plans except for single-site plans, there’s telephone support, too.
Pros
Extraordinary Load Speed: If site loading speed is a leading priority, WP Engine does well in this regard. The host’s mix of custom-made NGINX extension, integrated Content Delivery Network (CDN), and SSD innovation make sure that your websites load quickly. NGINX extension prioritizes human requests over robot demands and offers load balancing, providing your visitors a better experience. For its part, CDN delivers site content to your visitors based upon their location to boost your site’s speed and decrease latency. You get this ability totally free with all WP Engine strategies.
High Performance: It’s tough 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 four and a half hours of downtime a year. You can further increase your uptime to 99.99% with boosted SLA, which equates to a little under an hour of downtime annually. WP Engine will compensate you with hosting credit if your uptime falls listed below the warranty.
Advanced Security: WP Engine keeps track of all the traffic going to your website and automatically identifies and blocks possible attacks. Additionally, the hosting service immediately updates and spots the WordPress core to eliminate potential vulnerabilities. In a worst-case situation, WP Engine automatically backups your website every day and has a one-click repair feature to get you support and running rapidly. Finally, this hosting service protects your site against JavaScript/SQL-injection attacks, brute force attempts, and DDoS attacks.
Remarkable Customer Support: The hosting service has a transparent and trackable ticketing system to connect with consumer care through chat. The assistance group has an outstanding knowledge base and can help you resolve problems quickly. You get 24/7 phone assistance for all plans except the Growth Plan, in addition to 24/7 live chat support on all plans.
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 doesn’t impact your live site. This feature permits developers to work on sites without disrupting the live site’s performance or user experience.
Transferable Installs: Also targeting designers, this feature enables you to build a website from your WP Engine account. You don’t have to wait for the customer to add you to their WordPress site. Once completed, you can transfer the website to the client or host the site on WP Engine. This functionality 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 just deals with WordPress. From a business point of view, it makes good sense to concentrate on a single market and deal exceptional services in that area. This model locks out numerous individuals who could otherwise benefit from WP Engine’s services.
No Domains or Email Hosting: If you prefer to host your email account and register your domain through your site host, you’ll require to look in other places. You’ll have to use 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 penalized for surpassing your plan’s visitor limitations. This may not be a problem if you have predictable traffic, and you can constantly upgrade your plan as your site grows. Considerable spikes in traffic during item launches or seasonal service can cost you substantial overage charges.
There is no other method to put it: WP Engine is expensive. 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 rate. You can even get dedicated hosting for the exact same price as WP Engine. What you are really spending for here is security, performance, speed, and, most notably, peace of mind. The ultimate question is just how much these things are worth to you.
Plans and Pricing
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With a WP Engine strategy, you are normally spending for efficiency & not having to think excessive about upkeep, security & speed. If you take a look at WP Engine’s rates based on the functions you’re getting- you really do not get a lot.
And if you are the type who will consider your site’s health anyhow (ie, keeping WordPress updated and typically logging in often), you’ll likely be paying for “management” that is unneeded.
Lots of 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) dealt with more than 15,000+ gos to in a 24 hour duration when a post of mine And if you are running a reputable VPS, you can certainly manage a lot more for much less. The site you are on manages more than 110,000+ sees per month with plenty of room left to 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 plan.
They are relatively transparent about how they count sees, however it can still be quite a surprise for “little” site owners how rapidly they can enter the $290 monthly tier. I have a customer who started with the Startup strategy, but quickly wound up with a custom-made strategy.
And as pointed out earlier that does not even include many of the features you don’t get with WP Engine’s plans. 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 couple of 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- especially if you are hitting your visitor cap rather than your set up cap.
If you are aiming to pay for hosting- ie, a server that will hold & provide your site files- WP Engine is a costly choice, specifically compared to other non-managed hosting choices.
Startup
The Startup plan is one of the most fundamental plan and will set you back $25 monthly. With this bundle, you get:.
25,000 check outs per month.
50GB bandwidth each month.
10GB storage.
One website included.
WP Engine targets little websites and blog sites with this plan, however we think it might be overkill for many people in this classification. You can get a far better deal with shared hosting at Bluehost However, if you don’t wish to take any opportunities with uptime or need a guarantee that your website can manage 25,000 visitors per month, WP Engine is a certainty. We ‘d recommend this option to small businesses, affiliate websites, and blog sites making good cash and want assurances that nothing will change.
You can conserve $60 per year or more months totally free if you pay each year.
Growth
The growth strategy targets growing organizations and will cost you $95 each month. Here you get:.
100,000 visits each month.
200GB bandwidth per month.
25GB storage.
Ten sites included a while.
This strategy is a great entry point for a growing service, and it might be a while prior to you need to upgrade. With this plan, you also get 24/7 phone support in addition to round-the-clock chat assistance. This addition will can be found in convenient if you have an intricate issue that you need to solve rapidly.
You can conserve a cool $230 or two months complimentary with yearly billing.
Scale
WP Engine promotes its scale strategy as the very best value option. This one expenses $241 each month. Here you get:.
400,000 check outs per month.
500GB bandwidth per month.
50GB storage.
30 websites included.
We recommend this option for a fast-growing blog site or organization. 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 annual pre-paid billing.
Custom-made
If you have a mission-critical site or large company, the Custom strategy might be appealing. With this plan, you get:.
Countless visits per month.
400GB+ bandwidth per month.
100GB-1TB storage.
30 websites consisted of.
You will have to speak to a sales associate to get your personalized quote depending upon your requirements. This strategy likewise uses exclusive assistance must something fail.
Migrate WordPress websites in just a few clicks.
Solid Uptime
WP Engine accomplishes over 99% uptime thanks to its first-rate network facilities.
The company likewise has three information centers in London, Tokyo, and Midwest USA.
As a result, you can get better website speeds by choosing to host your website on servers that are closest to your target audience.
WP Engine blocks harmful attacks on your website.
Speed & Performance
There are a great deal of variables that enter into site speed, however the guideline is that the more complicated your site is, the more complex the services to speed ended up being.
Out of the box- WordPress is relatively lean and fast. If you are running a primarily text website with a couple of basic plugins and a couple of small images, you’ll be fine with a cost effective shared hosting plan from somebody like InMotion HostGator Bluehost But few site owners keep their WordPress set up lean. There’s typically additional plugins, custom-made theme files, lots of images, widgets, advertisements, kinds and more.
All these functions integrated with decent levels of traffic can start to slow down your WordPress setup.
However a slow website does not mean that you require a larger, much better server. It does imply that you need to get smarter about speed. Often it’s as easy as getting a more powerful server, but sometimes it’s more about caching particular resources in a specific order and optimizing your files. In other words- it gets complex.
Envision you are trying to haul a trailer with a pickup. Envision your trailer keeps getting much heavier. It’s pointless to keep complaining that your truck is not big enough when you may just require to eliminate the emergency brake, set up a turbocharger, revitalize the transmission fluid and combine your load.
The point is that WordPress requires assistance to remain fast as you grow. There are lots of options … however either you or a designer must implement them.
That’s where managed WordPress hosting comes in. WP Engine takes care of (almost) all speed issues. They have actually customized servers with extremely aggressive caching and even more sophisticated “stack” than a typical webhosting. They also have trained support who will enter into your WordPress install and recognize the precise chokepoint to get your site moving.
They don’t even permit caching plugins on their installs since they have such a customized caching setup.
The interesting thing is that even unoptimized WordPress installs still succeed on their platform because their platform does the extra work.
Here’s the speed test for among my customers on WP Engine (who has a bloated style, extra scripts, a lot of uncompressed images, to name a few things)- Note the Time To First Byte and the Start Render numbers. That measures how rapidly the server returned enough information to begin packing the page.
It’s nice to have that type of speed right out of package- and have it remain that way no matter how huge or complicated 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 might get with other services because you are complimentary to focus on speed factors that you can easily manage like image compression, use of scripts, etc
. The last observation on speed- WP Engine not only offers an integrated CDN, but they likewise offer global data centers in case your audience is mostly in Asia and/or Europe.
If you are attempting to get top speeds without messing with layered caching plugins- the WP Engine does precisely that. And because they work on Google Cloud, you don’t have to stress over uptime either.
CDN Included
All plans consist of a global CDN (material delivery network).
The CDN will assist your website load fast for clients all over the world 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 firm. Often the “open doors” are plugins that weren’t upgraded.
Securing sites is one of the strengths of WP Engine’s handled WordPress hosting service.
The company takes a number of procedures to protect WordPress websites:.
WP Engine runs daily malware/virus scans in collaboration with Sucuri.
They keep an eye on an updated firewall program to block the current threats.
All websites are backed up daily.
You get a one-click restore function that can help you recuperate your website in case of an attack.
The WP Engine site offers a guide on “Tips to Protect Your WordPress Site From Being Hacked.”.
You’ll have access to 24/7/365 technical support for any questions regarding security.
They offer webinars on security.
They publish security standards and checklists for developers and engineers.
If your site gets hacked, WPE will clean it free of charge.
Online Resources
WP Engine supplies webinars, guides, blog posts, updates, tutorials, and a knowledgebase. With these you can learn how to:.
Release your first site.
Troubleshoot typical problems.
Make improvements to your website.
Handle your hosting account with greater effectiveness.
Both novices and skilled WordPress site owners will find the support paperwork invaluable.
WP Engine’s 60-Day Guarantee
WP Engine’s 60-day money-back warranty on all subscription costs is distinct in the hosting industry.
It allows you to try the service in a risk-free way.
Keep in mind: this option is not available on customized hosting strategies.
Is WP Engine Worth It?
Like any service, it’s not about what is best overall, but what is best for you based upon your objectives, budget plan, resources & habits.
If you remain in what I think of as WP Engine’s core markets- they provide a great service with a strong product. As a handled WordPress host, their rates is competitive. They use more functions than “WordPress hosting” strategies from other hosting brands. Their feature-set is unequaled for smart DIYers, WordPress site developers and/or high-traffic websites that do not want to fret about hosting concerns.
If handled hosting is a fit for you- then go check out WP Engine’s plans 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 sure to chat w/ support & sales.
Get 3 months free when you sign up for WP Engine.