WP Engine: Can You Really Trust Its Managed WordPress Hosting?
What’s WP Engine?
WPEngine was established in 2010. They offer managed WordPress hosting.
Third-party tools may be integrated such as SSL (from LetsEncrypt) or DNS (from Amazon).
WPEngine hosting uses a combination of Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform to enable WordPress to operate quickly and efficiently.
These hosting companies offer niche services, but they also have a strong platform.
This WP Engine Review is based on customer experiences. It will cover the benefits and drawbacks of WP Engine as well as ideal uses and WP Engine alternatives.
How WP Engine Hosting Works
The WP engine looks exactly like other web hosts. You sign up, then you pay. WordPress will work quickly and efficiently.
But, it’s a bit more complicated behind the scenes.
Google manages WP Engine’s web hosting. Google Cloud will not cause your website to go down.
WP Engine cloud access is possible for WordPress. It can include server-side caching, security rules, and staging environments. Your site will run much faster than any vanilla Linux webserver.
Third. WP Engine integrates several third-party services like DNS (connects your domain to the host), SSL (secures your site link), and CDN [content distribution network] to make sure your website is working together.
Here is our WP Engine Review. Based on customer feedback, it includes the pros and cons of WP Engine, as well as alternative options.
Pros Of WP Engine
WP Engine lives up to its promise of security, speed, and support. This is their pitch video.
The target customer for WP Engine is anyone who plans to move to another hosting provider (i.e. Customers who are unhappy with the current hosting ).
Rapid Performance
Site speed can be affected by many things, but it is a rule that more complex sites will load slower.
WordPress is fast and works right out of the box. Shared hosting plans from InMotion Hosting and HostGator are affordable and will suit sites that contain a lot of text, but not many plugins.
Many website owners use too many plugins. This includes custom theme files, images, and widgets.
This feature, together with sufficient traffic, can slow down WordPress installation.
You don’t need to have a slow site. It’s not difficult to increase site speed. Sometimes optimizing files or caching resources in an order that is specific to your site’s needs can be more crucial.
WordPress needs help to grow and keep up-to-date.
Managed WordPress Hosting is your solution. Our support team can help you access and troubleshoot your WordPress installation.
This is the result of a WP Engine speed testing we performed for one of our clients who had a large template with too many scripts, uncompressed images, and too many scripts.
The Time from First Byte and Start Render are two indicators that the server has returned enough data to load the page quickly.
It’s nice to have those speeds right out of the box. This will continue to hold no matter how large or complex the site gets.
If you are obsessed with speed, WP Engine will deliver better results than any other service. Focus on speed factors such as image compression or script usage.
The last observation regarding speed: WP Engine provides an integrated CDN and global data centers, as well as a CDN to audiences who are primarily in Asia and Europe.
Customer Support
WP engine has always made responsive customer service a core part of its value proposition. Managed Hosting is more of a service than a product.
Access to knowledge and the systems of web hosts are all factors that we use in evaluating customer service levels. Each of these requires expertise and money.
We have found that the WP engine consistently meets all the criteria. You can chat with them from any location on your site.
Their support staff is extremely knowledgeable and can resolve issues quickly.
WP Engine works just like any other company. WP Engine is just like any other company.
Proactive Security
The best security practices for WordPress installations can be found here:
- Keep your plugins and installation up to date.
- Use only files that have been created by trusted authors
- Install a security plug to prevent brute-force attacks.
- Have a backup in case something goes wrong
- Make sure every WordPress user uses strong passwords
WP engine uses these best practices to help you. You technically have an install (rather that an account) on the server.
WP engine works with security companies to code-review and manage their teams.
Although our primary and second websites have never been compromised (knock on wood), it has happened to me. We find this a great advantage.
Amazing Value
WP engine is very expensive. The Startup plan costs $23 per month for a 12-month contract. It includes one installation and can handle approximately 25,000 visitors per year.
A powerful, reliable, and secure VPS server (i.e. Your server for the same price and without visitor restrictions as InMotion Hosting.
Bluehost provides shared hosting services for just a few dollars per month if you have only one domain.
Both of these options let you store more data, handle more visitors and manage more people than WP Engine. Many WordPress sites we managed were hosted on low-cost shared hosting.
We will not go into details about WP Engine’s pricing issues, but here is the truth
WP Engine pricing can be amazing for site owners if it is broken down by the total value and factors in your time (or that of your developer).
WordPress updates can be run once per month. QAing your installation takes less than 30 min each month. This monthly fee is paid to WP Engine.
WP Engine may charge the full monthly fee if you lose visitors because of a plugin upgrade error.
If you don’t have access to staging sites, you can fix your PHP code and bring your site back up. That could save WP Engine all of its monthly fees.
Visitors were lost because of slow speeds or downtime Income loss
Premium security starts at $16 per month. To resolve problems, you can get help from a person or developer.
WP Engine is a great way to add value to your life if you can spend less time on technical matters. WP Engine can help you manage WordPress hosting.
WP Engine’s value-based pricing results in another advantage: they focus on core markets.
WordPress-Only Focus
WP engine isn’t for everybody, but it seems that it works well for three kinds of customers:
- WordPress developers and designers who want to focus on design and development. The client is then given the site.
- Site owners in their 30s who aren’t concerned about technical issues. Being able to “just call WP engine to have it repaired” is a key factor.
- Startup owners with a tight budget who want to grow their businesses.
WordPress Hosting Features
WPEngine is the leader in cutting-edge web hosting features. WPEngine is capable of integrating new features for developers into all versions of WordPress.
Web development practices have changed dramatically in the years since we were founded. WPEngine created tools to match.
WP Engine provides a basic staging area for non-developers like me. It allows DIY website owners to go beyond cowboy programming and embrace web development best practices.
The WP engine also provides a free SSL certificate. It is simple to set up and maintain for any domain.
WP Engine offers many other features, however, they have a reputation for releasing useful and new features frequently. StudioPress was recently acquired by them. StudioPress offers some of the best WordPress themes on the Internet.
Contexts of WP Engine
WPEngine, as with any service, may not be for you. Some complaints might seem speculative but many of them are real.
WP Engine may not be for you. WP Engine is not for everyone.
Here’s our WP Engine list.
Complex Setup
WP engine is an alternative way to do things to get the speed, security, and scale they promise.
This was written a while back.
“We wish WP Engine would have told us this product was a hassle to set up properly.
Since then, their backend setup has improved. However, they do not offer DNS nameservers.
Developers make errors due to the unique backend. This can lead to frustrating redirect loops or duplicate content problems, which leave the site vulnerable to the public. Or, it may not enable the features you have paid for.
They would be losing more customers without their incredible support.
The platform is simple to use, unlike custom platforms.
Watch their video on how to make your website live.
We had to go through that video multiple times to make sure we were correctly pointing the A record/CNAME at the right IP address.
After you’ve mastered the basics it is easy to use the custom backend. If you don’t have any developers, you may still be able to get to know WP Engine support personnel on a first-name basis.
The WP engine is often quirky and complicated. There are many checklists for websites that will help you to troubleshoot issues.
If your DNS is not correctly set up, you may experience site downtime.
This is because they have good reasons to do so. You can’t set up your site and forget it.
Some WordPress plugins cannot be used
WP Engine must run at maximum speed. All installations on the platform must be consistent.
WP Engine has important guidelines that can be used to predict plugins and visitor behavior. However, it also goes beyond these limitations. WP Engine provides guidelines on what plugins can be included in WordPress installations. WP Engine offers tiered pricing for overage to prevent spikes in seasonal traffic or local storage usage.
WP Engine prohibits plugins and moderators for good reason. These bans limit creativity and restrict experimentation.
Another similar plugin is Yet Another Plugin. It is resource-intensive but works well with smaller websites.
WP Engine blocks it. This makes WP Engine more limited.
WP Engine also has a less flexible pricing model.
If you are launching a business, have seasonal needs, or need to increase traffic to your site, hosting costs may be increased.
VPS servers can store a smaller cached website than WP Engine on Business and Personal plans. This is especially true if your site requires extensive plugins to work properly.
Storage costs are the same. The WP Engine charges only for performance. If you have to store media files on a server, it’s not worth it.
The WP engine makes managing email campaigns very complicated. A client discovered this the hard way and was forced to migrate to another provider in mid-campaign.
The WP engine is unavailable for email receipts and for other non-WordPress projects.
It’s expensive
WPEngine is a web platform where you can pay only for the performance of your website.
Shared hosting servers can handle similar traffic to WP Engine but for a fraction of the price.
A reliable VPS can help you do more. The InMotion hosting VPS has plenty of room for side projects and gigabytes of media. It also supports email and RSS apps. Our CDN costs are lower than WP Engine starter plans.
Wp Engine makes it clear how many visits they have. Small website owners are often surprised at how fast they can reach $290/month.
We mentioned that there were still missing features. Any excess will incur additional fees and may result in the technical implementation of Amazon Cloud Services.
The most important thing is that you have a limit on the websites you can run. This means your visitor’s cap may be higher than the install limit.
WP engine, which manages your site files and holds them for you, is expensive.
SEO Issues During Migration
Our SEO specialists are experts in the field. We have been working for WP Engine clients since 2011.
The platform has made significant progress in SEO. SEO is not something to be concerned about when migrating to WP Engine.
Three items remain on our SEO Wishlist for WP Engine. These would make the platform really SEO-friendly.
- Site owners can define their own granular CDN rules. This can frustrate sites that have large images.
- Access logs can be downloaded by site owners for a full 90-day period (just like with cPanel). Large sites cannot audit Googlebot crawl problems without access logs.
- Website owners need to be aware of the fact that website speed is not just about server response times and delivery.
WP Engine can be used for SEO. These plugins will fix some issues with Google PageSpeed.
FAQs for WP Engine
Can WP Engine host non-WordPress websites?
No. The WP Engine is an exclusive WordPress service that provides five managed WordPress hosting packages ranging in price from Startup to Custom.
Can WP Engine host emails?
Can we cancel our WP Engine subscription?
What type of uptime guarantee can WP Engine offer?
Is WP Engine worth it?
The best overall service is not everything. It’s about you, your finances, goals, and lifestyle.
WP Engine is a core market. They provide great support and an excellent product. These features are not available to other WordPress developers or savvy DIYers.
You can return your money within 60 days. To test the backend, you can request a trial installation.
A traditional, but more cost-effective WordPress hosting option can be found at:
- Bluehost
- InMotion Hosting
- SiteGround
The Kinsta Managed WordPress Hosting Plan and InMotion’s Managed WordPress Option are excellent options for those who have outgrown their host.
