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Key Points:
- WP Engine is a cloud-based web hosting service that offers website creation tools, managed WordPress hosting, and more.
- Bluehost provides shared hosting, WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated hosting, WooCommerce hosting, and marketing services.
- WP Engine was started as an exclusive WordPress hosting platform and currently has more than 80,000 customers compared to Bluehost, which powers over 2 million websites.
If you’re looking to start a new WordPress website, you’ll likely have no shortage of hosting providers from which to choose. There are so many options available that it can be tough to decide on the best web hosting for your needs. WP Engine and Bluehost are two names you’ll almost certainly come across when you are looking at hosting options for a WordPress site.
While WP Engine offers managed WordPress hosting, Bluehost has a wide range of hosting plans, including managed WordPress hosting, shared WordPress hosting, and WooCommerce hosting, among others. Besides WordPress hosting, WP Engine provides you with premium access to 35+ StudioPress themes and integration solutions to grow your businesses. Although Bluehost offers a lot of value, WP Engine remains one of the best platforms for managed hosting.
In this WP Engine vs Bluehost comparison, we’ll reveal the similarities and differences between the two providers. We have analyzed multiple factors, such as pricing, ease of use, performance, security, and customer support. These are the key things to consider when deciding which provider is best for your website.
WP Engine Vs Bluehost: Side by Side Comparison
| WP Engine | Bluehost | |
|---|---|---|
| Year Founded | Early 2010 | 2003 |
| Address | 504 Lavaca Street, Suite 1000, Austin, TX 78701 | 560 Timpanogos Parkway Orem, UT 84097 United States |
| Price | From $20/month | Bluehost’s introductory prices start at $2.95/month |
| Security | SSL certificates and automatic daily backups | Free SSL, Cloudflare DDoS protection, and 24/7 server monitoring |
| Money Back Guarantee | 60 days | 30 days |
| Contact | Phone and Email support, 24/7 live chat | Phone, 24/7 live chat, ticketing system |
| Website immigration | Free automated WordPress migration | Free automated WordPress migration or paid ($149.99) professional site transfer |
| Server locations | North America, Europe, London, Asia/Pacific | Provo, Utah |
| Website | www.wpengine.com | www.bluehost.com |
| Storage | From 10 GB | 50GB – unlimited, depending on your plan |
| Bandwidth | 50 GB of bandwidth | Unmetered |
©sdx15/Shutterstock.com
WP Engine vs Bluehost Hosting: Overview
Founded in 2010 by Jason Cohen, WP Engine is one of the leading managed WordPress hosting companies in the market. WP Engine offers free site migrations for up to five sites and top-notch customer service. Recently, the platform won multiple awards for Best Place to Work in Austin and for regularly contributing to the WordPress community. As one of the best-managed hosting platforms, it boasts excellent uptime, WordPress-oriented security, cloud platform flexibility, daily backups, and other terrific features. Although it does not provide email accounts and domain names, it still has fantastic plans that make it stand out.
Bluehost is one of the best WordPress hosting companies because it’s reliable, easy to use, and affordable. It also offers many features that help you efficiently manage your website. Bluehost has been around for a long time and is known for its reliability. With Bluehost, you can expect an easy-to-manage website with access to unlimited storage space as well as an impressive speed performance, which makes it ideal for any type of business or website owner looking for a reliable host that can handle large traffic volumes without any issues whatsoever. Plus, all their plans come with a free domain for the first year, great uptime, a free CDN, a free SSL certificate, and an easy website builder.
WP Engine Vs Bluehost Hosting: Seven Must-Know Facts
- WP Engine is a web hosting company that’s been around since 2010. Bluehost was founded in 2003 and it is among the 10 largest web hosts in the world.
- Powering more than one million websites around the world, WP Engine accounts for around 2.3% of all web hosting.
- Compared to WP Engine, Bluehost provides shared hosting, WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated hosting, WooCommerce hosting, and marketing services.
- Whereas WP Engine is best for managed WordPress hosting, Bluehost offers an easy-to-use platform with excellent customer support
- WP Engine was started as an exclusive WordPress hosting platform and currently has more than 80,000 customers compared to Bluehost, which powers over 2 million websites
- WP Engine offers a dedicated WooCommerce plugin, which is great if you’re hosting a WooCommerce store.
- WP Engine comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee compared to Bluehost hosting, which offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
WP Engine Vs Bluehost Hosting: Key Differences
Both WP Engine and Bluehost are excellent choices for hosting your website. However, there are some critical differences between the two that you should be aware of before making a decision.
Ease of Use
Bluehost has constantly improved its registration process to ensure anyone can easily launch a website without prior experience. They also provide a free domain name, free SSL, 1-click WordPress installs, and everything you need to make your site function well.
WP Engine offers a fine-tuned hosting setup but does not allow you to install any plugin. While you can host your site on WP Engine without having to worry about optimization and WordPress security, it might not be the best when it comes to ease of use.
Customer Support
While both Bluehost and WP Engine have knowledge bases, WP Engine offers more in-depth information, including hundreds of support documents, blogs, and articles. WP Engine staff are also better equipped to deal with WordPress-specific issues than Bluehost. Bluehost offers email, call and ticket support 24/7. On the other hand, WP Engine phone support is only meant for professional plan customers.
Pricing
Regarding pricing, WP Engine offers four plans + a custom one, with prices starting at $20/month compared to Bluehost, whose cheapest plan is $2.95/month. In addition, Bluehost has managed WordPress plans starting at $9.95/month. Overall, both WP Engine and Bluehost plans include a free SSL certificate and CDN in their entry plans and allow you to host one website.
| Plan | WordPress Oriented | Free Domain | Bandwidth | Storage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WP Engine | Startup: $20/month | Yes | No | 50 GB | 10 GB |
| Bluehost | Basic: $2.95/month | Yes | Yes | Unlimited | 50 GB |
From the table above, you can see that Bluehost offers bigger storage, a free domain, and unlimited bandwidth for its basic plan. So If you’re looking for an affordable plan, Bluehost is the better option. But, if you are looking for a more business-oriented approach with extra tools and daily backups, WP Engine is the way to go.
Dashboard
Since WP Engine has a custom dashboard, it requires more learning to use effectively. While its menu has all the tools and features, you need to dig more to learn more about the platform. Bluehost also has its own custom user panel that allows you to install WordPress, set up your email accounts, and easily access the site. Both platforms are easy to use, but Bluehost seems more beginner-oriented.
Control Panel
The control panel is software that allows you to manage your website or web hosting account. You can view information about your domain name and manage its settings, such as your domain’s IP address and email address. While Bluehost has an integrated customized cPanel, WP Engine comes with its own control panel with menu options like SSL, Domains, and CDN that you can manage independently. Overall both WP Engine and Bluehost provide a very user-friendly, intuitive experience that makes both options attractive.
Performance
When it comes to performance, WP Engine is both faster and more reliable than Bluehost. Alongside its traffic, the loading speed is quicker, and Its uptime is higher than Bluehost. For instance, WP Engine will give you an uptime guarantee of 99.95%, which is much better than most hosts.
Security
Compared to Bluehost, WP Engine offers several ways to secure the platform, including a firewall, automatic backups, and a proprietary firewall, among other features. WP Engine also comes with all the basics, including – SSL certificates, one-click CDN activation, daily backups, multi-factor authentication, and other security features to make your website safe.
Although Bluehost offers almost the same features, you’ll have to pay 2.99/month for backups and $2.99/month for malicious attacks. So, overall, WP Engine is a clear leader in terms of security.
©By olivier gobet (Gd6d) from France – WPengine, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60153157 – License
WP Engine Vs Bluehost Hosting: Pros and Cons
Pros and Cons of WP Engine
| Pros! | Cons! |
|---|---|
| Offers a 60-day money-back guarantee | One of the most expensive hosting platforms |
| WordPress updates are automatically installed | Can’t be used on non-WordPress platforms |
| Free data backup and restore | You can’t install any plugins and themes |
| Offers managed WordPress hosting | |
| A staging area is provided |
Pros and Cons of Bluehost
| Pros! | Cons! |
|---|---|
| Free domain for a year | High renewal rates |
| Free SSL certificates even with the basic plan | Charges additional fees for site migration |
| 24/7 customer support | |
| Offers a 1 click WordPress installations | |
| 30-day money-back guarantee |
WP Engine Vs Bluehost Hosting: Which One Should You Choose?
So, which one is better, WP Engine or Bluehost? As we have seen above, both are solid web hosting options, whether you’re just starting or expanding your business. While Bluehost is the best choice for beginners, WP Engine works well if you have a more established website. WP Engine also allows you to optimize your site and enjoy incredible speeds. For instance, if you are an agency that expects to create multiple sites, WP Engine’s Advanced Solution can be a good one to consider. Otherwise, Bluehost’s lower-tier plan might be best for you if you are only looking to create a personal blog. That being said, the true winner of this WP Engine vs Bluehost comparison will likely come down to your needs and budget.
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