When you decide you want a website, it doesn’t just magically appear. Instead, you have to:
- Buy a domain name
- Decide which company will host and store your digital property
- Decide the functionality you want
- and, design it yourself or hire a web designer or web developer
If you’re here, it’s likely, you’re somewhere along in that process. You’ve probably decided you want a website, and now, you’re trying to choose the most legitimate company that’s a good fit for your website hosting needs.
WP Engine is one hosting option. In this WP Engine review, I plan to give you:
- The Backstory on WP Engine
- Pros and Cons
- What they do well and what they don’t
- How they work
- How to get started with them
- and whether or not I recommend them
If this all sounds good to you, let’s get started…
Contents
- 1 What is WP Engine? An Overview
- 2 How Does WP Engine Work?
- 3 How Do I Get Started with WP Engine?
- 4 Who is WP Engine For?
- 5 WP Engine Tools & Training
- 6 WP Engine Support
- 7 What Does WP Engine Do Well
- 8 What Doesn’t WP Engine Do Well
- 9 WP Engine Review Roundup
- 10 WP Engine Price
- 11 My Final Opinion of WP Engine
- 12 Top Alternatives
- 13 VERDICT: Recommend (For Some)
- 14 WP Engine
- 15 Pros
- 16 Cons
What is WP Engine? An Overview
How Does WP Engine Work?
Similar to having a phone and requiring storage space for apps, games, photos, and videos, website hosting enables you the storage space so the content you add will show live to users all over the world. WPEngine and similar hosting companies maintain servers that communicate information in codes and numbers that makes your content show live once you published for others to see. The services WP Engine offers includes:
- Access to Studiopress themes (a $2000 value)
- Storage space for WordPress websites
- Enough bandwidth to sustain sites with no traffic or sites with millions of pageviews
- Free CDN and SSL
- They make it easy for developers to migrate coding onto their hosted sites
- They provide migration services and transfer services
- They make it easy for agencies to transfer ownership and billing after the site is launched
- 24/7 Support
How Do I Get Started with WP Engine?
To get started with WPEngine, you:
1. Choose a Plan
WP Engine has several options for web hosting depending on how much storage space you need and how much traffic you have.
2. Give Personal Information
They require personal demographic information and billing iformation because they’ll be managing your digital property for you.
3. Create a Site or Migrate a Site
They enable you to launch a WordPress website from their interface or to migrate an existing site.
4. Go Live
Once you publish your site, it’ll be accessible for website visitors.
Who is WP Engine For?
WP Engine is for:
- Website owners who want to switch from another hosting service
- Potential website owners who want features like what’s offered with WPEngine
- and, Agencies who want to host websites for their customers
WP Engine Tools & Training
WP Engine has a team of WP Experts that offer support and there’s a blog for training and support.
WP Engine Support
WP Engine offers 24/7 support by phone, email, and live chat.
What Does WP Engine Do Well
- They offer great support
- They have a simple to use interface
- Agencies like how easy it is to transfer ownership and billing to clients
What Doesn’t WP Engine Do Well
While the majority of WP Engine customers seem to be very happy with the service, there are several reviewers who repeat concerns that suggest they may need to modify how they notify customers. Customers complain of being surprised about billing changes, site downtime, and other issues that could be catastrophic to their businesses.
WP Engine Review Roundup
According to customer reviews on Google, G2Crowd, and TrustPilot, WP Engine, here’s the good and bad about WP Engine…
Common Positive Feedback
- There are many customers who say they’ve been with WP Engine for years and are happy with the support
- The technical team is very knowledgeable
- and, Employees say it’s a great place to work
Common Negative Feedback
- Customers noticed their sites were down but weren’t notified of maintenance that was being done at WP Engine
- Some customers had bad customer service experiences
- Some customers said their pricing increased without them being notified
Most Helpful Positive WP Engine Review
A reviewer named Seth on G2Crowd said this:
“WP Engine has great features and amazing customer support”
What do you like best?
What don’t I like? First, migrating sites to WP Engine could not be easier. Managing my sites is so easy. Backing up and restoring my site is easy. Setting up SSL is easy. All of these things are so much harder on all other web hosting platforms I have worked with.
What do you dislike?
I would like to see more tiers for accounts. jumping from 1 site for $30 to 10 sites for $100 is big, it would be good to see something in-between. It would also be nice to add more storage to your account without going to the next tier.
Recommendations to others considering the product
If you run your websites mainly on WordPress then definitely make the jump. It is more expensive than many other hosting providers but the amount of time you save with all the tools in WP Engine that are so easy and quick to use it is worth the extra money for the hosting.
What business problems are you solving with the product? What benefits have you realized?
I am reducing the time I need to manage my WordPress installs greatly with WP Engine. What takes me a minute or two with WP Engine would have taken me up towards an hour or sometimes more with the other hosting platforms I have used.
Most Helpful Negative WP Engine Review
While bad reviews are a minority, the bad ones do suggest some improvements WP Engine may need to make. A Google reviewer said the following:
They are affordable, and local ,and have a intuitive interface. Those are the only good things I can say about them
They have live chat support which you will need due to the extensive issue you are going to have with various error that originate on their side. Redirect issues, outage problems, and other technical maladies that one would assume would be non-existent with the “best in managed wordpress hosting.”
Their customer support while useful is not always responsive in the time a small business would need in emergency situations, We personally have had issues with asking to be placed on our own dedicated server, then being put on a shared environment, then being told we have no more space and then being strung though three sales people, who each told us a different story before finally having to track down the agent who signed us up and going thought him which finally resolved the problem.
WP Engine Price
The breakdown of the web hosting plans looks like this…
My Final Opinion of WP Engine
Overall, WP Engine is a legitimate company that offers a valuable service, so I understand why some website owners choose them. For agencies or those who simply need storage space for websites, this option may work.
For website owners that would require more support and training to create their websites, monetize them, and get them to perform optimally online, I wouldn’t recommend them to host with WP Engine because there is an alternative hosting provider that offer much more support, training, and tools.
Top Alternatives
Wealthy Affiliate – If you need internet marketing training to rank in the search engines or you need help monetizing your wordpress website, Wealthy Affiliate is a great alternative hosting platform that you can TRY FOR FREE.
After reviewing dozens of web hosts, you can see my top 6 recommended web hosts for small businesses here.
VERDICT: Recommend (For Some)
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WP Engine
Pros
- Good products
- Good service majority of the time
- Includes Premium Themes (a $2000 value)
Cons
- May need to improve customer communication about downtime and billing
- Sometimes bad customer service
- Not as many features as competitors (like Wealthy Affiliate)
Reader Interactions