A2 Hosting vs WP Engine (May 2023)

In this comparison, we take a look at how the new managed WordPress hosting plans from A2 Hosting compare with WP Engine. WP Engine has long been the industry standard when it comes to managed WordPress hosting. Meanwhile, A2 Hosting has been one of our top rated web hosting companies for a variety of web hosting plans (Shared, VPS, etc.). So when it comes to managed WordPress hosting, how does A2 Hosting match up with WP Engine? Let’s take a closer detailed look to find out.

A2 Hosting vs WP Engine Details

Category	A2 Hosting	WP Engine	Comments
Setup
Control Panel
Data Centers			WP Engine has data centers in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and Sydney.
Website Speed
Security Features			WP Engine provides Free SSL and Enterprise Grade WordPress Security.
Data Backup and Restore			WP Engine provides automated daily backups plus snapshot backup capability.
Automatic Updates			Tie.
Servers
Network
WordPress Development			WP Engine includes transferable installs, billing transfer, and Solution Center.
SSL			WP Engine provides free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates.
Hosting Features			With A2 Hosting you get Unlimited Email and Plesk Functionality.
Resources
Staging			WP Engine provides full staging environment.
Customer Support			WP Engine focuses exclusively on WordPress.
Money Back Guarantee			WP Engine offers 60 Day Money Back Guarantee.
Price/Value

A2 Hosting vs WP Engine: Speed and Performance

While both WP Engine and A2 Hosting offer excellent website speed and performance, in our testing WP Engine does post faster speed and performance times. Although it’s actually closer than you may think, WP Engine’s EverCache technology and overall optimized WordPress environment provides superior results.

As a customer of both WP Engine and A2 Hosting, I also have to report that I’m more than satisfied with the speed offered by both of these web hosts. However, if you’re looking for the faster website provider, WP Engine is the winner.

Below are some of our sample speed test results:

A2 Hosting vs WP Engine: Website Staging

While both A2 Hosting and WP Engine offer website staging with their managed hosting, we find WP Engine’s staging to be much easier to use—and it doesn’t require all of the setup that you need to do when using A2 Hosting’s staging in Plesk. WP Engine is definitely the winner in this category.

A2 Hosting vs WP Engine: Data Backup and Restore

WP Engine not only provides automatic daily backups, but you also get their Snapshot Backup capability—meaning you can choose to create a backup copy whenever you wish. The process comes in very handy when you need to upgrade a theme or plugin. You can quickly and easily create a backup copy just in case something goes wrong.

A2 Hosting includes data backup via Dropbox. However, you have to create the Dropbox account on your own before you can use the feature.

We definitely prefer WP Engine’s backup and restore feature.

A2 Hosting vs WP Engine: Customer Support

A2 Hosting and WP Engine have two of the best customer support teams in the industry. I’ve always been impressed with the quick response times and helpful assistance they have provided over the years. However, when it comes to managed WordPress hosting, keep in mind that WP Engine focuses exclusively on WordPress. While A2 Hosting’s Guru Crew support team is well-versed in many areas of web hosting, their managed hosting is relatively new and the staff is sometimes not as familiar with the product as they could be. So here again, WP Engine gets the advantage.

A2 Hosting
Plans:

• 1 Site ($12.97 mo.)
  1 Website/10GB Storage
• 3 Sites ($19.48 mo.)
  3 Websites/25GB Storage
• Unlimited ($37.97 mo.)
  Unlimited Websites/40GB Storage

Data Center: Michigan, USA
Free Domain?: No
Money Back Guarantee: Anytime

Advantages of A2 Hosting

• Faster Turbo Servers provided on every plan.
• Includes Email Accounts
• WordPress LiteSpeed Cache
• WordPress Toolkit for managing Multiple Websites
• No Restrictions on Plugins
• Anytime Money Back Guarantee

Click Here for More Details on A2 Hosting Managed WordPress

WP Engine
Plans:

• Startup ($35 mo.)
  1 Website/10GB Storage
• Growth ($115 mo.)
  10 Websites/20GB Storage
• Scale ($290 mo.)
  25 Websites/30GB Storage
• Premium
  25+ Websites/100-300GB Storage
• Enterprise
  25+ Websites/400GB – 1TB Storage

Data Centers: U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia
Free Domain?: No
Money Back Guarantee: 60 Days

Advantages of WP Engine

• WordPress Hosting Specialist
• Faster Performance with Google Cloud Platform Virtual Machines.
• Proprietary EverCache Technology
• True Staging Environment
• Automated and Snapshot Data Backups
• Transferable Installs and Billing Transfer
• Page Performance Diagnostics
• Enterprise Solutions Available
• Expert WordPress Customer Support

Click Here for More Details on WP Engine Managed WordPress

Recommendation

When it comes to managed WordPress hosting, WP Engine remains the standard by which others are compared to. Although A2 Hosting’s managed WordPress plan is an ambitious effort and does have potential, at this point it isn’t at the same premium solution level that WP Engine and other established managed hosting providers are. Therefore, in this comparison we would recommend WP Engine. See our review ratings for WP Engine below.