WordPress serves as the backbone supporting millions of websites in the world today, which is why it is not surprising that a lot of web hosting services focus on hosting WordPress exclusively — WPEngine included.
WordPress is widely used by website creators. In fact, in data published on Hosting Tribunal, it says that WordPress powers 35% of the internet in 2020, which is 2% higher as compared to early 2019. This is probably the reason why a lot of web hosting sites focus on it – and one of them is WPEngine.
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Now, before you even sign up for WPEngine, there are so many things that you should know first about this platform. This will help you not just be informed, but so you get to maximize the services it offers. Needless to say, maximize and ensure that you are using your money into the right hosting provider. Some of the key things you should know about include price plans, features, and so much more, which we are going to talk about later on.
WPEngine is an exclusive web hosting provider for most WordPress sites. To be more specific, we are talking about more than 90,000 WordPress sites here.
Although cheaper web hosting sites is sufficient for a smaller blog, the task gets harder when your WordPress blog starts growing, which basically means greater server resources are required to ensure your increasing traffic is handled accordingly.
It is during this situation that the WPengine becomes more in demand.
But, what is WPEngine really? How much does it cost? What can you get out of it? What makes it ideal especially for bigger websites? In this review, we are going to answer these questions and more, and hopefully, by the end of this blog, you get to decide whether or not WPEngine is the right web hosting site for your blog.
For your reference, we are going to specifically answer the following commonly asked questions about the WPEngine:
- What is WPEngine?
- What are WPEngine’s features and functionalities?
- How much WPEngine’s plans cost?
- What are the pros and cons of using WPEngine?
- How do you know if it’s right for your website?
WHAT IS WPENGINE?
As stated in the WPEngine website, the company describes itself as “the leading WordPress digital experience platform”. Furthermore, the company refers to themselves as “a new breed of Technology Company at the intersection of software innovation and service”. Their platform “provides brands the solutions they need to create remarkable sites and apps on WordPress that drive their business forward faster“.
As we have mentioned earlier, WPEngine is a hosting provider that is exclusive to WordPress. In fact, they are used by over 90,000 websites to date from across 140 countries.
Moreover, WPEngine is known for hosting sites regardless of size. Although most website creators recommend using it for larger businesses especially since WPEngine offers hefty features and high prices.
According to the company’s marketing materials, “five percent of the online world visits at least one experience on WPEngine each day“. If you come to think about it, their coverage or the number of customers they are servicing is that huge!
Before we get going, you may be interested in checking this informative video by WinningWP (WordPress) wherein he discusses how to make a professional WordPress website using WPEngine.
WHAT ARE WPENGINE’S FEATURES AND FUNCTIONALITIES?
With so many other web hosting services providers out there that offer their services at a much lower price, why opt for WPEngine?
Well, with that thought in mind, we’re looking into it deeper by checking out some of its key features.
Let’s start with –
– Premium WordPress Environment
Looking closely at the WPEngine hosting plan specifications, you may find that the company offers shared hosting. However, it’s not exactly what you think it is. Don’t be fooled by the word “shared”.
It basically means you get access to well-resourced shared hosting that is specifically optimized for WordPress. This compares very favorable to the best premium WordPress hosting services available out there.
– StudioPress WordPress Themes
The company acquired StudioPress, which is a theme development company responsible for producing the popular Genesis Framework, and a huge portfolio of premium WordPress themes back in 2018.
Because of this acquisition, WordPress users/customers get to access the Genesis Framework, plus a selection of 37 StudioPress WordPress themes without additional cost.
Considering that these themes retail at about $129, this is definitely a great value for money.
The themes cover a wide variety of categories. More so, it allows you to create or build up different kinds of websites like an eCommerce store, cafe sites, blogs, online portfolios, as well as agency or company websites.
While some themes may look dated, StudioPress does still has plenty of impressive selections available.
For anyone who creates a website, it can get a little tedious to choose from a wide range of options. With WPEngine, you are assured to be choosing from a really good selection of high-quality themes with ease. It’s also a plus factor that apart from simplifying the process of choosing a theme, it also allows its customers to save a lot of money from buying paid themes.
– Automatic WordPress Software Updates
What’s nice about WPEngine is that it keeps the WordPress software updated, which means, your WordPress website will always be using the latest version and nothing otherwise.
Another thing we like about WPEngine is that instead of instantly applying the updates to your website, the WPEngine team does test every update to the WordPress software first. This helps ensure that it is stable before it is adapted to the site.
Now, if you wish to defer the installation of updates, you may also do so. The deferral setting lets you enjoy an extra 60 days to test the new version before it is automatically applied to your website.
The downside though is that unlike other managed WordPress web hosts, plugins are not automatically updated on your behalf, which means you have to do everything by yourself.
– Two Additional Environments
Apart from the production environment where you host your live WordPress website, WPEngine also provides you with two more environments to help you set up an effective development workflow.
You can use three environments in creating your website in the development environment. Once you are ready to share it with clients as well as other team members, you move it to the staging environment. Eventually, you push it to the production environment when the website is already ready to go live.
With WPEngine, moving the site in different environments is very upfront. It takes place via the visual interface of the WPEngine user portal.
– GeoTarget Tool
GeoTarget is a tool that will help detect the location of a visitor on your website. Then, it predefined the website content to them.
Once the GeoTarget plugin is installed, you can use the shortcodes to help define what particular content in your posts, pages as well as widgets will be displayed to visitors according to their geographic location.
When it comes to defining the content that is shown to the visitor of the site, you can go as far as using the visitor’s postal code to ensure you get to target your audience with applicable content.
– EverCache
The architecture of WPEngine is built on its proprietary EverCache. Just so you know, EverCache is one of the most scalable systems when it comes to caching WordPress.
To simplify, this basically means your website will be able to huge web traffic without experiencing any performance issue.
WPEngine’s site caching was specifically developed to ensure it is aggressive without reducing its responsiveness when updating the website with new codes or posts.
– CDN
Regardless of the plan that you choose, CDN is included.
A CDN allows your static website content to be cached by proxy servers from anywhere in the world. It works as simple as when someone visits your site, he or she received the cached content from whatever server is closest to them. This process helps speeds up the loading times of your website, which is very essential as it is what keeps people hooked to your site. It’s basically making things convenient for your visitors.
– WordPress Website Management
WordPress installations come with auto-enabled configuration plugin. In the plugin area, you can delete website cache and you can also build a staging site. Also, links to your WPEngine user portal and support area are added in your WordPress Dashboard to make it more convenient and easily accessible.
Moreso, most of the website management features can be accessed through your account area on the WPEngine site.
While in your WPEngine user portal, tasks like enabling CDN, making SFTP user accounts, as well as activating the free SSL certificate can be done.
– WordPress Plug-ins
WPEngine is compatible with most WordPress plug-ins, which is great because most of us use WordPress plug-ins anyway. In fact, because of this, the company only maintains a small list of plug-ins that it does not support either because of duplication or low performance.
– Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Certificate
SSL is the one responsible for safeguarding data sent from a customer’s computer to your website’s server.
Good thing is, with WPEngine, SSL is included for FREE when you purchase any of their subscription plans.
On top of that, WPEngine performs regular (on a day-to-day basis) malware scans. It also comes with a firewall to ensure all threats are blocked, keeping your website secure.
It’s worth knowing that WPEngine states that should your site get hacked, they are going to repair the damage for free.
HOW MUCH WPENGINE PLANS COST?
WPEngine offers four different price plans — ranging from $25 a month to a customized pricing plan. As compared to other web-hosting providers, website creators and owners find WPEngine expensive.
But before you even judge because of this point of view, check what the WPEngine pricing first, and see for yourself what they have to offer.
| STARTUP | GROWTH | SCALE | CUSTOM | |
| Monthly Price | $25 | $95.83 | $241.67 | Custom quote |
| Annual Price | $300 | $1,150 | $2,900 | Custom quote |
| Storage | 10GB | 20GB | 50GB | Up to 1TB |
|
Bandwidth /month | 50GB | 200GB | 500GB | 400GB+ |
|
Website Visits /month | 25,000 | 100,000 | 400,000 | Millions |
| Number of Sites | 1+ | 10+ | 30+ | 30+ |
It is worth noting that WPEngine offers a 60-day money back guarantee on its Startup, Growth, and Scale plans. This means that you can sign up totally risk-free. If you find yourself not happy with its web hosting services, you can get your money back as long as it is within the 60-day allotted period.
If you are wondering why we included both monthly and annual prices, well, while the annual prices seem to be off because it’s high, it is worth knowing that you effectively get to enjoy two months free by signing up to any of the yearly plans, which is a great value for money.
Of course, for sure you are thinking what comes with each plan, right? So as not to keep you wondering, here’s what you will get in each of the WPEngine’s plans:
| STARTUP | GROWTH | SCALE | CUSTOM |
| Free Inclusions: Genesis Framework35+ StudioPress Themes24/7 chat supportDev/Stage/Prod EnvironmentsTransferable SitesPHP 7.3 readyEvercacheLargeFSGlobal CDNPage PerformanceAutomated SSL certificatesSSH Gateway | Free Inclusions: Genesis Framework35+ StudioPress Themes24/7 chat supportDev/Stage/Prod EnvironmentsTransferable SitesPHP 7.3 readyEvercacheLargeFSGlobal CDNPage PerformanceAutomated SSL certificatesSSH Gateway24/7 phone supportImported SSL certificates | Free Inclusions: Genesis Framework35+ StudioPress Themes24/7 chat supportDev/Stage/Prod EnvironmentsTransferable SitesPHP 7.3 readyEvercacheLargeFSGlobal CDNPage PerformanceAutomated SSL certificatesSSH Gateway24/7 phone supportImported SSL certificates | Free Inclusions: Genesis Framework35+ StudioPress Themes24/7 chat supportDev/Stage/Prod EnvironmentsTransferable SitesPHP 7.3 readyEvercacheLargeFSGlobal CDNPage PerformanceAutomated SSL certificatesSSH Gateway24/7 phone supportImported SSL certificatesWordPress MultisiteGeoTargetConsultative onboardingLaunch readiness assessment |
| Available Add-Ons: GeoTargetGlobal Edge SecurityAdditional SitesSmart Plugin Manager | Available Add-Ons: WordPress MultisiteGeoTargetGlobal Edge SecurityAdditional SitesSmart Plugin Manager | Available Add-Ons: WordPress MultisiteGeoTargetGlobal Edge SecurityAdditional SitesSmart Plugin Manager | Available Add-Ons: Smart Plugin ManagerGlobal Edge SecurityApplication PerformanceDedicated Dev EnvironmentsCustomer success management24/7 ticket supportHigh availability |
WHAT ARE THE PROS AND CONS OF USING WPENGINE?
Of course, when doing a review, we have to ensure all things are covered. After all, our goal is to help you make informed decisions, right?
Having said that, here are the pros and cons we found with WPEngine:
PROS
– They’ve got amazing features and functionalities that are efficient.
– WPEngine has 24/7 customer support, which makes the entire user experience hassle-free and highly-effective.
– With just a click, you get to easily create your own WordPress website.
– Compared to other web hosting sites, it provides a fast site load times.
CONS
– As earlier stated, it’s pricey compared to other web hosting sites.
– It’s exclusive for WordPress users only.
HOW DO YOU KNOW IF IT’S RIGHT FOR YOU?
After everything that we’ve said, you probably know by now whether or not it’s the right one for you – or have an idea at least.
But to help you figure out really if it’s the one for you, consider the following points.
First, as we earlier mentioned, WPEngine is exclusively hosting WordPress blogs or websites only. This means, if you do not have a WordPress site, then it’s not for you.
Second, the company has earned a reputation for providing optimized hosting that is fast, secure, and stable, which is also why they are the common choice among professional WordPress websites.
Third, it’s very convenient. You do not have to worry about updates, installs, and plug-ins, as well as security patches for WordPress because they handle it all for you.
Fourth, WPEngine offers three standard plans, plus a customizable plan depending on your site’s needs.
Fifth, it has a WPEngine staging area, which is provided in all the plans they offer. Having such lets you test a copy of your website while making necessary changes before it goes live.
Sixth, all their plans come with SSL certificates for free, which is very essential to ensure your website is secure.
Lastly, WPEngine provides access to a 24/7 live chat support in case of any problems.
Having mentioned all these, hopefully, you get a hint on whether or not WPEngine is ideal for you or not. But looking at it, we just have to say, nothing is ever more amazing as to what WPEngine offers you. It basically has everything you need for your WordPress website.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON WPENGINE
With all that we have discovered with WPEngine — from its features and functionalities to its plans’ prices, plus the pros and cons, we thought that it’s fair to say that WPEngine delivers on their promises — particularly on providing a stable, high-quality performance WordPress hosting environment.
We like the fact that it comes with extra features — like WordPress updates, security scanning, as well as automatic backups — that make the users’ lives more convenient. Needless to say, we love that it comes with a lot of different themes to choose from! And these are not your ordinary themes, but more than 35 high-quality premium themes.
Overall, we have to say that WPEngine is user-friendly especially because it comes with features like the development and staging environments, plus it also allows transfer sites to clients with ease.
Although it’s quite pricey, we have to say that it’s worth it. Well, having such ease and convenience, plus all the other perks, we do think the price is worth it.
So, have you been thinking about using WPEngine lately? If so, are you convinced now about giving in to what this web hosting site offers?
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