WP Engine Alternatives – Top 5 Options for WordPress Sites

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WP Engine is one of the popular choices for WordPress hosting, offering premium features, top-notch performance, and excellent customer support. 

However, it may not be the ideal hosting solution for everyone. Whether due to pricing, specific feature needs, or simply a desire for more flexible hosting options, you may seek WP Engine alternatives that provide equal or better value for money.

In this article, I explore the top web hosts to consider besides WP Engine hosting. 

Each of these hosting providers has its own set of features, pricing models, and benefits, making them viable choices for WordPress site owners of all sizes and expertise levels.

What to Look for in a WP Engine Alternative

When considering alternatives to WP Engine, there are several crucial factors to evaluate. 

These key hosting features ensure your WordPress site runs efficiently, remains secure, and scales with your business needs.

• Performance & Speed – Website speed is critical for user experience and search engine optimization (SEO). Look for hosting providers that use technologies like SSD storage, content delivery networks (CDNs), and server-side caching to boost loading times.

• Scalability – As your website grows, your hosting should scale seamlessly. Opt for solutions that offer flexible plans, allowing you to upgrade resources like bandwidth and storage without unnecessary downtime or complexity during unexpected traffic spikes.

• Security – With WordPress being a prime target for hackers, security is a top priority. Features like automatic backups, malware scanning, free SSL certificates, and firewalls are essential for protecting your site.

• Pricing – Cost-effectiveness is key, especially if you’re just starting out or managing multiple websites. Ensure the host offers value for money without sacrificing essential features like performance and security.

• Customer Support – Reliable customer service can save you from a lot of headaches. Check for 24/7 support availability via live chat, phone, or email. Managed WordPress hosting often includes specialized support teams that can help you resolve WordPress-specific issues.

• Ease of Use – Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned developer, user-friendly control panels, one-click WordPress installations, and intuitive dashboards can significantly simplify the hosting experience.

Top Alternatives Web Host to WP Engine

1. Cloudways

Cloudways is a popular choice for those looking for cloud-based managed WordPress hosting. Known for its flexibility, Cloudways allows you to choose from various cloud infrastructure providers, including Google Cloud, AWS, Linode, Vultr, and DigitalOcean.

This might be one of the reasons for choosing Cloudways over WP Engine. You have more cloud service provider options. 

Compared to WP Engine, which only has Google Cloud, Amazon Web Service, and Microsoft Azure IIS, Cloudways offers you five providers. 

More providers also mean more data center availability. Which is something of significance and importance for international businesses. 

Besides this, Cloudways has most features you benefit from WP Engine, such as automatic server resource scaling, powerful analytics, malware scanning, safe updates, free SSL certificates, Varnish, Memcached, Redis, up-to-date PHP-FPM, NGNIX, Apache, etc. 

Additionally, Cloudways has its own custom caching plugin, which improves your website load time, resolves core web vitals issues, and improves user experience. 

Cloudways Pros and Cons 

Pros

Cloudways offers scalable solutions for growing websites, complete control over server management, and advanced caching options. 

One notable advantage of Cloudways over WP Engine is the price model. Cloudways adopt the pay-as-you-go billing option, which is more transparent than the fixed-tier plan. 

You only pay for server resources used in a given month or period. 

Cloudways is perfect for developers and tech-savvy users who need flexibility and high-performance server infrastructure.

Cons

The learning curve can be steep for beginners, as Cloudways requires some technical expertise.

Best For

Developers, eCommerce sites, high-traffic blogs, and users who need scalable infrastructure.

2. Kinsta

Powered by the Google Cloud Platform, Kinsta is a premium managed WordPress hosting solution that excels in speed, security, performance, and ease of use. 

Its hosting infrastructure is optimized for high-traffic sites, and the platform offers advanced features that cater to businesses, agencies, and developers.

There are some reasons for choosing Kinsta as a suitable alternative to WP Engine. 

First, Kinsta’s partnership with Cloudflare enterprise CDN offers unbeatable speed and performance for your website. Your website benefits from Edge Page Caching, browser early hint, image optimization, mobile optimization, security, smart routing, Scrapeshield, etc. 

As part of this, Kinsta serves your content from over 260 edge network locations. This has the potential to reduce loading time by up to 50%, time to first bytes by 49%, and improve overall CWV scores. 

Your website is bulletproof from vulnerabilities. 

Kinsta uses three advanced firewall mechanisms – Kinsta firewall, Google Cloud IPs firewall, and Cloudflare Enterprises level firewall. This stops malicious traffic from ever reaching your server and protects against DDoS attacks. 

Similar to WP Engine, Kinsta is a WordPress-focused hosting platform. Several Kinsta add-ons can extend its core features and tailor your hosting environment to your needs. 

Kinsta offers free site migration, SSL certificates, staging, multisite support, automatic resource scaling, regular backup, a 14-day money-back guarantee, and more. 

Kinsta Pros and Cons

Pros 

Kinsta’s performance is top-tier, with server-side caching, rapid site loading times, and excellent uptime. Their dashboard is user-friendly, making it easy to manage multiple sites.

Suitable for growing websites with needs for a high-performance managed WordPress hosting platform. 

Cons

Kinsta’s premium pricing may be too high for smaller websites or individuals on a budget.

Best For 

High-traffic websites, enterprises, agencies, and online stores need reliable and fast hosting.

3. Pressable

Pressable is a managed WordPress hosting provider designed with simplicity and performance in mind. 

Owned by Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, Pressable focuses on reliability, making it an attractive option for freelancers and agencies.

I believe Pressable is the direct alternative web host to WPEngine. In the sense that Pressable is also WordPress, it is focused only on the hosting platform. 

The platform is built to make WordPress and Woocommerce hosting as simple as possible. And provide hosting features tailored to the needs of Woocommerce and WordPress users. 

Pressable WordPress hosting features include: 

• 24/7 WordPress expert supports
• Free unlimited site migration with the Pressable custom plugin.
• Automatic data center failover switch 
• Global edge caching with persistent ObjectCache 
• Free SSL certificates 
• Include the Jetpack Security plugin.
• Advanced security patches a day vulnerabilities protections. 
• Integrated content t delivery networks with over 28 data centers across six continents.
• One-click site restore 
• Developers tools, such as Git, staging, WP-CLI, and SFTP-SSH.
• Malware scanners, DDoS attack protection, firewall protection, etc.
• 99.99% SLA uptime guarantees.
• And more. 

Pressable Pros and Cons

Pros

Pressable offers robust security features, great performance, and stellar customer support. It’s particularly appealing for agencies, as it provides tools for managing multiple WordPress installations effortlessly.

Cons

Fewer advanced features compared to Kinsta or Cloudways, and it is not ideal for developers who need more control over the server environment.

Best For

Freelancers, creative agencies, and small to medium-sized businesses looking for managed hosting.

4. Hostinger

Hostinger is a well-known budget hosting provider that offers affordable plans without sacrificing essential features. 

With WordPress-specific optimizations, it’s an excellent choice for beginners or site owners on a tight budget to replace the WP Engine. 

If the hosting budget is your main concern when switching from WP Engine to another host, Hostinger thickens the box. 

For as low as $2.99 monthly, you can experience WordPress hosting at its best with Hostinger. 

Hostinger runs NVMe storage, which is faster than SATA and HDD storage types.

You have the most essential WordPress hosting features such as smart WordPress auto-updates, unlimited bandwidth, WordPress compatibility checker tool, free domain name registration, website builder, basic Woocommerce features, on-demand backup, WordPress AI tool, and so much more. 

Besides, Hostinger is one of the few web hosts recommended by WordPress.org itself. This is not surprising, seeing Hostinger has 4.6 Trustpilot user reviews from over 32k user testimonials. 

Overall, Hostinger is a more affordable hosting platform than WP Engine’s expensive plans. 

Hostinger Pros and Cons

Pros

Hostinger’s pricing is one of the most competitive in the market, making it perfect for new bloggers and small businesses. 

The interface is intuitive, and the service includes key features like caching, managed hosting, and security tools. 

Cons

Lower-tier plans come with limited resources, so they may not be suitable for high-traffic sites.

Best For

Beginners, bloggers, and small websites looking for affordable hosting.

5. Liquid Web

Liquid Web is a premium managed hosting provider known for delivering high-performance solutions for large websites and eCommerce stores. 

Its managed WordPress hosting plans are tailored for demanding websites requiring fast speeds, reliability, and robust security.

Unarguably, Liquid Web is a solid WP Engine competitor you can’t ignore. Their server infrastructure is built to provide fast website performance, a 100% SLA guarantee, and airtight security features. 

Beyond managed WordPress hosting, Liquid Web provides WordPress VPS, WordPress Dedicated, bare metal, and cloud hosting services. 

The platform is engineered to cater to different hosting and business needs, including small, mid, and large enterprise companies.  

Part of the reason Liquid Web is considered is that it offers unlimited traffic in all its plans. 

Unlike the WP Engine capped tier plan, which limits how much traffic a plan can accommodate each month. Liquid Web doesn’t restrict to specific traffic limits. 

Every Liquid Web WordPress hosting plan comes with united traffic, PHP workers, load balancing, Cloudflare CDN, data recovery support, Solid security plugin, daily malware scanning, Site stencil, visual compare, etc. 

There are tons of custom WordPress hosting features for Liquid Web that you can review on this page. 

Liquid Web Pros and Cons

Pros

Liquid Web is a great choice for mission-critical websites that require top-notch performance and scalability. 

Their support team is highly experienced, and the hosting infrastructure is built to handle heavy traffic.

Cons

Liquid Web’s pricing is on the higher side, making it less accessible for smaller websites.

Best For

Large businesses, enterprises, and high-traffic websites require premium hosting features.

How to Choose the Right WP Engine Alternative for Your Needs

Choosing the right WP Engine alternative boils down to understanding your site’s specific needs and budget. 

If speed and performance are your top priorities, web hosts like Kinsta, Cloudways, and Liquid Web stand out with their high-performance infrastructure.

For individuals and businesses on a tight budget, Hostinger offers affordable plans without sacrificing essential features. The platform is built to simplify website building and make it affordable for anyone to establish an online presence.

However, If your site is expected to grow sooner, you should opt for Cloudways, Pressable, or Kinsta. These web hosts offer scalable resources and flexible pricing, which makes it easier to upgrade the hosting plan without downtime or difficulties.

Cloudways Autonomous hosting is built for scalability and load balancing for high-traffic sites. 

All the web hosts listed above offer best-in-class WordPress-focused customer support, so you don’t have to worry about being alone if you need help.

Conclusion

Selecting the best WP Engine alternative depends on your site’s unique requirements, including performance, scalability, and budget. 

Whether you’re a beginner looking for an affordable solution or a business needing high-performance hosting, the options in this guide offer something for everyone. 

Take advantage of free trials, expert support, and migration services to ensure a smooth transition to your new host.