When you’re looking for hosting for your WordPress site, you’re going to come across two names. They’re all over the internet, and they’re renowned for offering good quality hosting with high uptime percentages. I’m talking about the brands WP Engine and Siteground.
Having used both of these brands extensively over the past 5 years, I feel like I’m in a good position to give a comparison of the two. So, let’s compare the two brands to find out which one is best.
Siteground vs WP Engine
If you’re looking for managed WordPress hosting, then it’s pretty hard to beat WP Engine in terms of performance. However, their hosting is definitely expensive for what you’re doing, and Siteground’s welcome packages can offer excellent value if you’re just getting started.
Both of these hosting companies specialise in hosting WordPress websites, which are the most common on the web. Both host providers have various different plans that you can choose from, and depending on what it is that you’re looking for, one of them will probably appeal to you more than the other.
Let’s start by looking at Siteground and their GoGeek plan, which is one of the most well known packages that the brand offer.
Siteground
It’s no secret that Siteground is one of my favourite hosting companies. This is because for the cost of a Siteground subscription, you end up getting really good value for money when you sign up to their two or three year packages (I’ll get to after this period in a minute).
What’s the main thing that any of us want for a hosting company? Uptime. If you’re not familiar with this, uptime is – like it sounds – the amount of time that your website is actually up and functioning without issue.
There are some hosting companies who have significantly lower uptime than others, which is one of the reasons many people prefer to avoid cheap hosting.
However, Siteground strike a great balance between affordability and performance. They manage to offer 99.9% uptime whilst still being one of the best priced hosting platforms available.
The main drawback of optiong to go with Siteground is that after the initial period you’ve signed up to them for, things are going to get much more expensive pretty quickly. Their packages tend to triple in price, which makes things pretty costly.
Siteground is a great place to start, and going for a three year package can offer you the best value for money out there. And after being with them for a while and getting started, then you can begin to look at other options when the initial promotion period is over.
WP Engine
WP Engine is another hosting platform that I’ve used a lot in the past, and they’ve always given me good performance.
Your website will have almost 100% uptime with WP Engine, and what’s different about it in comparison to Siteground is that the user interface is so much better.
It’s very simple for you to integrate Cloudflare into your website as well with Wp Engine, which is probably something that you’ll want to do if you’re trying to get optimal website speeds.
So where does WP Engine fall behind? Well, I moved away from their packages when they increased my monthly fee by more than 30%. I was already paying $29 per month, and they upped the fee to more than $40 (around £32) per month.
This is a lot for any sort of hosting, and if you compare Siteground to WP Engine, then there isn’t much difference in quality. So whilst WP Engine does offer a great service, especially for WordPress websites, they’re just too expensive for my taste.
Common Questions about Siteground and WP Engine
Is Siteground good?
Siteground is one of the best cheap hosting out there in the current market. You can get a really good deal if you sign up for 2 or 3 year package, and over the length of it, it’s going to save you quite a lot of money in the long run. In my opinion, Siteground is on par with the more premium hosting options, however it’s available at a budget price.
Is WP Engine good?
Yes, WP Engine is definitely a good option too. In fact, I’d say that there’s not much difference between the two, with WP Engine having probably the best user interface of any of the hosting options I’ve used. However, after your initial year, WP Engine ends up being significantly more expensive than Siteground, so I can’t say that it’s the best option out there.
Which is cheaper; Siteground or WP Engine?
Siteground is the cheaper option out of these two by a significant amount. If you’re getting any sort of significant traffic to your website, then WP Engine can end up costing quite a bit.
Why is WP Engine so expensive?
One of the most common questions people have about WP Engine is why is it so expensive? Well, this is because they manage everything for you; you get good customer service and excellent security against any potential hackers. They also minimize the need for additional plugins, as things like caching is built-in. So if you want the best WordPress hosting, then it’s a good option. But, for many people, it’s going to be a bit too expensive.
Which is the better WordPress hosting?
If you’re looking for WordPress hosting, then I’d still say that Siteground is a better choice for most people due to the price, even if WP Engine do specialise in WordPress hosting. However, if you have a large site with a need for security, then WP Engine might be a good choice.
Conclusion
All in all, both of these hosting options are absolutely fine options. If you need more security and you’re happy to pay extra for this plus great customer service, then maybe WP Engine is for you. However for most people, the balance of price and performance makes Siteground the better choice in my opinion.
