Here, in my comparison of ScalaHosting vs WP Engine, we’ll see how ScalaHosting, the cloud hosting provider growing in popularity, compares with WP Engine—still considered the standard for managed WordPress hosting by many people. While ScalaHosting specializes in cloud hosting solutions, they also combine their cloud hosting infrastructure with advanced WordPress hosting features. But, are they better than WP Engine? Let’s take a look.
ScalaHosting vs WP Engine: Details
ScalaHosting vs WP Engine: Differences
Advantages of ScalaHosting over WP Engine:
- Unlimited WordPress Website Hosting
- Superior SPanel and SWordPress User Dashboards
- Includes Email Hosting
- Automatic Offsite Backups
- Free Domain Name for First Year
- Free Dedicated IP (Entry Cloud Plan)
- Anytime Money Back Guarantee
Advantages of WP Engine over ScalaHosting:
- EverCache Technology
- More Data Backup Retention
- Transferable Sites for Clients
- 90 Day Full Money Back Guarantee
ScalaHosting vs WP Engine: WordPress Features
For many years now, WP Engine has focused solely on managed WordPress hosting. And, they continue to offer both WordPress and WooCommerce plans with many premium features. ScalaHosting also offers managed WordPress hosting, but also with an emphasis on cloud hosting benefits as well.
Although WP Engine continues to have a good user interface, we prefer ScalaHosting’s SPanel and SWordPress dashboards for quicker and easier access to your website and WordPress functionality. We also like that ScalaHosting includes email. And, unlike WP Engine, you get unlimited website hosting with most plans.
On the other hand, we found WP Engine’s website staging to run a bit more smoothly and more backup data retention is included in your base plan. With ScalaHosting, you’ll have to pay extra.
Both ScalaHosting and WP Engine include performance features that allow your websites to run fast and efficiently. See below for more details.
ScalaHosting vs WP Engine: Speed and Performance
When it comes to website speed, it’s a very close call between ScalaHosting and WP Engine. Both posted good website speed results as well as core web vitals. WP Engine page loading times were just a bit faster, while ScalaHosting posted slightly better overall website performance.
See our sample speed test results from GTmetrix below.
ScalaHosting vs WP Engine: Customer Support
It’s also a pretty close call in the customer support category between ScalaHosting and WP Engine. Both support teams provide expert WordPress hosting assistance. We found response times slightly better with ScalaHosting, but the Level 1 support from WP Engine was more consistent. Overall, we’ll have to call it a tie here.
ScalaHosting
Started Business: 2007
BBB Rating: A+
Data Center Location: Seattle, WA; Dallas, TX; New York, NY; Sofia, Bulgaria
Price: $2.95 mo. – $94.95 mo.
Unlimited Bandwidth: Yes
Unlimited Storage: No
Unlimited Email: Yes
Host Multiple Domains: Yes (Except Mini Plan)
Hosting Interface: SPanel
Server Uptime: 99.9%
Full Refund Period: Anytime
Dedicated Hosting Available: No
Advantages of Choosing ScalaHosting:
- Free Domain Name for First Year
- Optimized WordPress Cloud VPS
- Customized SPanel Dashboard
- Customized SWordPress Interface
- Free Email Accounts
- AI WP Site Builder
- Automatic Offsite Backups
- Anytime Money Back Guarantee
Click Here for More Details on ScalaHosting
WP Engine
Started Business: 2013
BBB Rating: B+
Data Center Location: U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia
Price: $23 mo. – $218 mo.
Unlimited Bandwidth: Yes
Unlimited Storage: No
Unlimited Email: No
Host Multiple Domains: Yes (except Personal Plan)
Hosting Interface: WP Engine Client Portal
Server Uptime: 99.95%
Full Refund Period: 60 Days
Dedicated Hosting Available: Yes
Advantages of Choosing WP Engine:
- You can try it risk free for 60 days.
- Faster Performance with Google Cloud Platform Virtual Machines.
- Managed upgrades and daily backups.
- Staging area environment where you can test out plugins or themes.
- Segmented Backup Downloads
- Automated Security Updates
- Expert support staff.
- More Data Center Location Options
Click Here for More Details on WP Engine
Recommendation
ScalaHosting and WP Engine are both quality WordPress hosting providers, and this comparison is very close. Overall, we would recommend ScalaHosting for most WordPress applications.
ScalaHosting has done an outstanding job combining WordPress with their cloud VPS. The results are superior scalability and security. We prefer the unlimited website hosting capability you get with most of ScalaHosting’s plans. And we prefer the SPanel and SWordPress dashboard interfaces you get with ScalaHosting over WP Engine’s effective but rather outdated interface.
On the other hand, WP Engine still provides premium WordPress features, includes more data backup retention, and provides website staging that is a bit more streamlined. If these features are important to you, then you should consider WP Engine.
However, in this comparison ScalaHosting is the winner based on overall better value, solid cloud VPS performance, and better resource customization.
See our review ratings below.