hosting
WordPress Hosting Review Series – WP Engine – No-Hassle Signup with Excellent Service
Signup Experience
Finding the right host for your WordPress website can be tedious and a lengthy process. Hidden costs, unclear signup process. I created this review blog post series to shed some light on the cost and process by personally trying all of the providers. So let us check on WP Engine today, their features and what they will provide for your buck.
Signup Experience
My initial impression of WP Engine was rather positive. A crisp layout and it was easy to find my way to the WordPress hosting signup page. Maybe a bit doubtful regarding their current slogan, but that is a matter of personal taste.
The overview of available plans is clear and concise. They have 3 plans with defined pricing (Personal, Professional, and Business) and 2 plans in case you are an Enterprise customer. My first impression is the pricing to be rather steep.
Continuing to the “Set up your account page”, the first thing that caught my attention is the ability to choose your datacenter. At the time of writing they have datacenters in the United States, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Taiwan. These options should be able to give you reasonable coverage no matter where you are. Payment is limited to credit card only.
An other excellent feature is the ability to select your PHP version. I would advise to stick with their current recommendation of using PHP5.6 as not all WordPress plugin developers have adapted their plugins to PHP7. WP Engine can upgrade your package to PHP7 at any time if you were to change your mind.
After completing your purchase, you will be presented with an overview of your purchase. This shows your WP Engine Portal login information and your first WordPress installation. Building your site should not take more than 5 minutes.
The account dashboard is layed out clear and easy to read. An overview of your current installations is provided and the “Live chat” is prominently displayed in the top right next to your name.
The administration interface of your WordPress installations will remain quite similar to having it set up on your own. That is a pleasant surprise, considering most other WordPress hosts clutter the interface trying to upsell plugins, themes, domains, …
A feature not mentioned clearly on the website is the option for a Staging environment. Meaning you can try out your changes before placing them on your live website. This is certainly one of my favorite features so far.
Features
1. SSL
SSL is enabled for all your websites by default. This is a nice addition that would normally incur extra costs at other WordPress hosting services.
2. Staging Environment
A staging site is an independent clone of your live production site that can be easily created to test plugins, themes, and custom code. You can also copy the staging site back to the live site at any time after making changes. Each WordPress install at WP Engine can have its own staging site.
3. Free 60 Day Trial
If you’re not happy, cancel and request a refund within the first 60 days to get your subscription fee back!
Support
Support waiting time is displayed once you hover over the “Live chat” link at the top right of your WP Engine dashboard. My waiting time was 0 minutes and I was immediately connected to their support representative.
The support representative was friendly and helpful. My problem was swiftly dealt with.
Pricing
1. Payments Options
| Plan | Pricing per month | Pricing per year |
|---|---|---|
| Startup | $35 | $350 |
| Growth | $115 | $1,150 |
| Scale | $290 | $2,900 |
2. Payment Methods
- AMEX
- MasterCard
- VISA
- Discover
3. Free Trial
At any point in the 60 days after your purchase you may request a refund. WP Engine will not hassle you and try to convince you to stay. Requesting a refund is easily done through the Live chat and will generally take 1 working day.
