How does HostGator’s new WordPress hosting compare to WP Engine? While HostGator has been an established shared hosting provider for some time, they have only recently offered managed WordPress hosting plans. WP Engine, on the other hand, has long been considered an industry standard for fully managed WordPress hosting. So, let’s see which WordPress hosting plan is better.
Both WP Engine and HostGator offer three levels of Managed WordPress Hosting plans. With WP Engine, there are Personal, Professional, and Business packages, while at HostGator you have Starter, Standard, and Business. The difference here is that WP Engine also has additional levels for Premium and Enterprise hosting needs. Therefore, it makes sense that for larger or enterprise level WordPress hosting solutions, WP Engine is the superior choice.
WP Engine is certainly more expensive than HostGator. All three of HostGator’s WordPress hosting plans are priced less (at introductory rates) than WP Engine’s Personal plan. However, it’s somewhat disappointing that with HostGator there isn’t as much of a jump in resource limits as you might think there would be. For example the Starter plan lets you host one site, while the Business plan gives you only five sites max. Compare this to WP Engine, where you can have up to 25 installs with the Business plan—albeit at a higher cost.
Both WP Engine and HostGator list expert WordPress support as one of their features. With WP Engine, I’ve found their support staff to be very responsive and helpful. HostGator can sometimes be slower to respond, so I have to give the edge to WP Engine here.
WP Engine vs HostGator: Website Speed and Performance
WP Engine is the clear winner when it comes to website speed and performance. WP Engine is one of the best performing WordPress hosts that we’ve tested. And while HostGator has improved their speed slightly, they are still far behind WP Engine. My personal experience using WP Engine for our website concurs with our separate testing results that show WP Engine providing superior results.
See some of our speed test results from GTmetrix below:
Between these two web hosting companies, the advantage goes to WP Engine when it comes to managed WordPress hosting—particularly for enterprise situations. For personal or small business use, we still like WP Engine—if you can afford it. HostGator’s managed WordPress hosting seems to be aimed primarily at the lower to middle end of the market where website owners are looking for a cheaper solution. For those of you on a tighter budget, you might also want to consider SiteGround or Bluehost for your managed WordPress hosting needs.
WP Engine
Price: $20 mo. – $56 mo. (Premium Customized Plans also available)
Unlimited Email: No
Host Multiple Domains: Yes (except Personal Plan)
Hosting Interface: WP Engine Client Portal
Full Refund Period: 60 Days
Dedicated Hosting Available: Yes
Monthly Visits:
Personal: 25,000
Professional: 100,000
Business: 400,000
Enterprise: Millions
Storage:
Personal: 10GB
Professional: 20GB
Business: 30GB
Enterprise: Customized
Websites:
Personal: 1
Professional: 10
Business: 25
Enterprise: 25+
Free Extras:
CDN (Content Delivery Network) (Professional and Business plans)
EverCache technology speeds up page-load time
Free Let’s Encrypt SSL
WordPress Solution Center
Advantages of Choosing WP Engine:
- You can try it risk free for 60 days.
- Faster Performance with Google Cloud Platform Virtual Machines.
- WP Engine Migration Plugin for easily transferring your site over.
- Managed upgrades and daily backups.
- Free StudioPress themes with your hosting plan.
- Staging area environment where you can test out plugins or themes.
- Expert support staff.
- Free Let’s Encrypt SSL
- Segmented Backup Downloads
- Automated Security Updates
- They automatically scan for and fix hacking attempts on your site.
- Transferable Installs and Billing Transfer Features for Developers.
- More Data Center Location Options
Click here for more details on WP Engine
HostGator
Price: $7.46 mo. – $18.17 mo.
Unlimited Storage: Yes
Unlimited Email: Yes
Host Multiple Domains: Yes (except Starter Plan)
Hosting Interface: Simplified Control Panel
Server Uptime: N/A
Full Refund Period: 30 Days
Dedicated Hosting Available: Yes
Monthly Visits:
Starter: 100,000
Standard: 200,000
Business: 500,000
Storage:
Starter: Unlimited
Standard: Unlimited
Business: Unlimited
Websites:
Starter: 1
Standard: 2
Business: 5
Free Extras:
Global CDN
$100 Google Adwords Credit
Speed Booster
Security Booster
Uptime Booster
Advantages of Choosing HostGator:
- Unlimited Email and Storage.
- Less Expensive.
Click here to see more details on HostGator
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Recommendation
For most websites, in this comparison we would recommend WP Engine. See our WP Engine review ratings below:
