5 Best WP Engine Alternatives (2024) – Cheaper & Unbanned Alternatives

Did your WP Engine website get trapped in the WordPress crossfire? Are you unable to update your plugins and themes anymore? Well, you’re not alone! The recent news of WordPress banning WP Engine has left many website owners scrambling. 

But you don’t have to be stuck. I’m here with the solution. In this article, I’m going to reveal the 5 Best WP Engine Alternatives in 2024. These exceptional managed hosting solutions can provide you with superior performance and features- without the drama! 

Most of these managed hosts outshine WP Engine in various key aspects. So, whether you are looking for seamless WordPress integration, faster customer support, better performance, or robust features, these WP Engine alternatives have got you covered.

So, with no more delay, let’s dive right in and find the perfect match for your website!

My Top 3 Picks for WP Engine Alternatives

Disclaimer : I strongly believe in transparency. If you buy using the links on our site, we may earn a small commission without any extra cost to you. This helps me to keep producing honest reviews. Read More >>

WP Engine Vs Cloudways VS Nexcess

5 Best WP Engine Alternatives (Quick Comparison)

WP Engine Alternative	Best For	Price	Exclusive Deal	Review
Cloudways	High-traffic websites	Starts from $11/month	20% OFF For 3 Months With Code “KRIPESH”	Cloudways Review
Nexcess	eCommerce Stores	Starts from $21/month	Get 75% OFF	Nexcess Review
Rocket.net	All Types of Websites	Starts from $30/month	First Month @ $1	Rocket.net Review
WPX	Superior Performance with Email Hosting	Starts from $20/month	Get 25% OFF With “KRIPESH25”	WPX Review
Kinsta	Ease of Use and Security	Starts from $35/month	Dynamic Discount	Kinsta Review

Top 5 WP Engine Alternatives For 2024

---

1) Cloudways – Best for High-Traffic Sites

---

Cloudways is one of the most powerful managed hosts built on top of unmanaged hosts like Digital Ocean, Vultr, Google Cloud, AWS, and Linode. Its rock-solid performance, unbeatable uptime, global data centers, advanced backups, and constant renewal fee make it stand out! 

If you own high-traffic websites or e-commerce stores, consider Cloudways as an ideal WP Engine alternative!

WPEngine Vs Cloudways – How is Cloudways Compared to WP Engine?

Cloudways has a clear edge over WP Engine in terms of performance. With a practically perfect uptime of 99.99% and super-swift speeds clocking at 1.2 sec, you can rest assured that your viewers can always reach you instantly! 

Unlike WP Engine with its limited data centers, Cloudways features 65+ data centers, making your content accessible across the globe! Though it isn’t equipped with an in-built CDN like WP Engine, it can give you access to Cloudflare’s Enterprise CDN at super affordable costs!

Coming to the security aspect, it’s a tie! Both platforms offer free SSL certificates, 2FA support, DDoS protection, and a firewall to safeguard your data. But Cloudways also alerts you of new logins and server monitoring. They have also added new security features like WordPress Vulnerability Scanner and Safe Updates. 

Now, let’s talk about user-friendliness. Both Cloudways and WP Engine offer a modern and organized interface, and a custom content panel, and don’t support website builders. But Cloudways outshines WP Engine by offering one-click installation for popular apps like WordPress. 

Cloudways and WP Engine offer comparable support options like email, live chat, and an extensive knowledge base of articles. But Cloudways is again one step ahead with its quicker responses and active community support! 

Finally, technical features are a mixed bag! Both platforms offer domain hosting and lack email hosting. But Cloudways features significantly higher storage and bandwidth limits on its plans compared to WP Engine. Where WP Engine’s plans start from 10 GB storage and 50 GB bandwidth, Cloudways starts from 25 GB storage and 1 TB bandwidth! 

Where Cloudways allows unlimited websites and sub-domains, WP Engine merely lets you add 1 to 30 websites and no sub-domains on its plans. But WP Engine supports multiple types of web hosting and programming languages, making it a better fit for developers. 

Whereas, Cloudways only offers managed hosting and supports PHP alone. WP Engine also comes with a 60-day refund, but Cloudways lacks a refund policy! 

Overall, if you specifically need managed hosting with supreme performance, advanced backups, swift support, and support for unlimited websites, you can consider Cloudways as an alternative to WP Engine. 

Cloudways Pros & Cons

Cloudways Pricing

Cloudways’ pricing plans start from $11/month for its standard Digital Ocean servers. What makes Cloudways stand out is its constant renewal charges. I would recommend you go with the Digital Ocean 2 GB plan for $24/month for a seamless performance.

You can also get 20% off for the first 3 months by using the coupon code KRIPESH. The hosting plans of Cloudways may be slightly more expensive compared to WP Engine. But all of its plans offer far more value and features. 

---

2) Nexcess – Best for eCommerce Stores

---

Nexcess is a premium managed hosting offered by Liquid Web. Its blazing-fast speeds, top-notch uptime, and reliable support make it stand out! Nexcess can handle excessive amounts of load, making it the perfect choice for eCommerce owners and sites with high traffic.

WPEngine Vs Nexcess – How is Nexcess Compared to WP Engine?

Talking about performance, Nexcess takes the lead with blazing-fast speeds of under 1 sec, a solid uptime of 99.97%, and superior load management with stable response time and no request failures. 

Both Nexcess and WP Engine come equipped with a CDN, ensuring faster content access. However, WP Engine has more data centers and offers 60-day backups, instead of Nexcess’ 30-day backups. 

In terms of user-friendliness, it’s a tie. Both the hosts offer clean and attractive interfaces that are friendly for beginners. They offer custom control panels and don’t come equipped with a website builder. 

Talking about security, both hosts offer SSL, 2FA support, DDoS protection, and a firewall to secure your data. But Nexcess takes the lead by offering malware protection (paid service). It also offers the iThemes Security Pro plugin to protect your WordPress site and Visual Comparison for site updates. 

Support is where Nexcess shines. Apart from offering live chat support, email tickets, and a good knowledge base like WP Engine, Nexcess also offers call support for US audiences and decent response time for resolving queries. 

Finally, WP Engine’s plans offer 10-50 GB storage with 50-500 GB bandwidth and the ability to host 1-30 sites. Whereas, Nexcess’ plans range from 15 to 800 GB storage and 2-10 TB bandwidth, allowing you to host 1-250 sites, making Nexcess a cost-effective hosting solutions. Nexcess also offers free email hosting, a major feature that WP Engine lacks. 

WP Engine stands out with its 60-day refund policy. Whereas, Nexcess offers a standard 30-day refund policy. So, if you need exceptional load management, outstanding speeds and uptime, good support, and security, all at an affordable price, opt for Nexcess as your WP Engine Alternative.

Nexcess Pros & Cons

Nexcess Pricing

The pricing plans of Nexcess start from $21/month (Spark Plan). Their plans let you host a WooCommerce store. If you opt for an annual subscription to the Spark plan, the pricing drops to $17/month.  

However, if you need an additional discount, you can use my link and get the Spark plan for just $13.23/month for the first 4 months. Nexcess is far more affordable. All its plans offer greater storage and bandwidth compared to WP Engine’s similar configuration plans.

---

3) Rocket.net – Best for All Website Types

---

Rocket.net is a fully managed hosting specifically designed for WordPress websites. Besides lightning-fast speeds, impressive uptime, and easy backups, Rocket.net sets itself apart by offering Cloudflare Enterprise services and unlimited PHP workers on all plans. This makes it perfect for all kinds of websites, from personal blogs to e-commerce stores. 

WPEngine Vs Rocket.net – How is Rocket.net Compared to WP Engine?

Let’s begin by talking about performance. Both WP Engine and Rocket.net offer comparable speeds, and data centers spanning North America, Europe, and Asia. But Rocket.net also has data centers in Australia. Both the hosts also come with built-in CDN, but Rocket.net offers Litespeed servers and Cloudflare Enterprise for unbeatable performance. 

The key point of difference lies in their backup and restoration. Where WP Engine offers 60 days of backups, Rocket.net keeps your backups for 14 days but also permits selective restoration of your files and folders. 

Even though both hosts come with a custom panel, and lack a website builder and one-click installations, Rocket.net scores higher for its ease of use. It is modern, intuitive, and easy to operate for beginners and professionals. 

Coming to security, both the hosts are pretty secure. They are equipped with SSL certificates, 2FA support, DDoS protection, and a powerful firewall mechanism. However, Rocket.net excels by also offering malware protection and real-time reporting to safeguard your website from malicious code.

Rocket.net clearly outperforms WP Engine on customer support. Besides live chat support, email tickets, and a knowledge base of articles, Rocket.net also offers call support. Where Rocket.net has a faster response time for live chat queries, WP Engine’s knowledge base is way more comprehensive.

Finally, both hosts are comparable in technical aspects. Their plans offer a similar range of storage from 10 to 50 GB and a bandwidth limit of 100-500 GB. Both platforms allow domain hosting but not email hosting. WP Engine supports up to 30 websites and offers more programming languages, though. 

Overall, Rocket.net is much better in terms of performance and features as compared to WP Engine. 

Rocket.net Pros & Cons

Rocket.net Pricing

The pricing plans of Rocket.net begin from $30/month, where you get to host 1 website along with 10 GB storage, 50 GB bandwidth, 250k visitors, and unlimited PHP workers. On choosing the annual subscription, the pricing drops to $25/month, which is slightly expensive compared to WP Engine.

If you want an extra discount, you can purchase any Rocket.net plan through my link and get it for just $1 for the first month!

---

4) WPX – Best for Superior Performance

---

WPX is a managed WordPress hosting platform with remarkable speeds, uptime, and load management capacities. Compared to WP Engine, which lacks email hosting, WPX offers unlimited email hosting and 5 websites even on its Starter plan! It’s a great choice for blogs and business sites that need a reliable hosting provider.

WPEngine Vs WPX – How is WPX Compared to WP Engine?

Talking about performance, both the hosts have their strong points. Where WPX hosting offers blazing fast speeds under 1 second, WP Engine offers a better uptime. Both the hosts include a built-in CDN. Sadly, WPX has no data centers in Asia. It also retains your site backups for just 28 days, compared to WP Engine’s 60-day backup retention. 

Coming on to security, WPX takes the lead by offering malware protection on top of key security features like SSL, 2FA support, firewall, and DDoS protection. Similarly, both hosts offer custom control panels and lack a website builder. But WPX supports one-click app installations for added convenience. 

In terms of customer support, both hosts offer live chat support, email tickets, and a good knowledge base of articles. The only difference is that WPX’s support team offers faster replies in under 1 minute. Whereas, WP Engine takes up to 5 minutes to respond to users’ queries. 

Finally, WPX is equipped with slightly better features for similar pricing. WP Engine offers 10-50 GB storage, 50-500 GB of bandwidth, and the ability to host 1-30 websites on its plans. Whereas, WPX offers 15-60 GB storage, 200 GB to unlimited bandwidth, and 5-35 websites on its plans. 

Both hosts offer domain hosting. But where WPX also comes with email hosting, WP Engine supports better programming languages and developer tools. WP Engine also has an extended refund policy of 60 days compared to WPX, which offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Overall, WPX hosting is better than WP Engine in terms of speeds, uptime, email hosting, and number of websites supported. If your priority is website performance and email hosting, WPX is a good choice for you! 

WPX Pros & Cons

WPX Pricing

The pricing of WPX hosting starts from $20/month for its Business plan. However, WPX offers greater storage and bandwidth, email hosting, and supports 5 websites for the same price. However, you only get 3 PHP workers with 1 GB RAM even on the higher plans. 

This is not good for hosting an online store or high-traffic website. But if you have a blog or business site, I’d recommend going with its Business plan. For an additional 25% discount on your first month of purchase, use my link and enter the coupon code KRIPESH25.

Overall, the pricing plans and features of WPX are comparable to those of WP Engine. 

---

5) Kinsta – Best for Ease of Use & Security

---

Kinsta is one of the most easy to use and friendly managed hosting recommended for beginners. It sets itself apart from WP Engine by integrating Cloudflare Enterprise-grade CDN on its plans and offering responsive support and premium security. It’s best for anyone who needs an easy-to-use managed host focusing on security. 

WPEngine Vs Kinsta – How is Kinsta Compared to WP Engine?

Beginning with performance, both hosts offer similar speeds under 1.5 sec and include a CDN for better content delivery. 

Kinsta has an edge over WP Engine with its excellent 99.99% uptime compared to WP Engine’s 99.95%. Its data centers span more regions and it lets you generate multiple types of backups that are retained for 14 days. On the other hand, WP Engine offers an extended backup retention of 60 days.

Moving on to security, both hosts offer key security elements like 2FA support, SSL, firewall, DDoS protection, SSH access, and IP whitelisting. Kinsta goes one step ahead to offer uptime checks for up to 720 times a day! WP Engine lacks malware protection, though. 

Both hosts are equipped with custom control panels and do not support a website builder. But Kinsta offers 1-click app installations and a more intuitive and user-friendly interface. Similarly, both hosts offer live chat support, email tickets, and a good knowledge base. But again, Kinsta outshines WP Engine with its swift live chat response time of under 2 minutes!

Finally, let’s talk about the technical aspects. Kinsta offers slightly better configurations on all its plans compared to WP Engine. 

For instance, WP Engine offers 10-50 GB of storage, 50-500 GB of bandwidth, and the ability to host 1-30 websites on its plans. Whereas, Kinsta offers 10-100+ GB of storage, 100-2000+ GB bandwidth, and the ability to host 1-60 websites. Both hosts don’t offer email hosting. 

But WP Engine leaps forward with its extended 60-day refund policy compared with Kinsta’s standard 30-day refunds. WP Engine also supports a variety of programming languages, making it desirable for developers. Overall, Kinsta’s plans are way more expensive than WP Engine. 

Overall, consider Kinsta if you need easy-to-use managed hosting with advanced security, reliable performance, and swift support and can afford premium pricing. 

Kinsta Pros & Cons

Kinsta Pricing

Kinsta’s pricing plans start from an expensive $35/month. It allows you to host 1 website and get 10 GB storage, 25k monthly visits, 100 GB CDN, and 2 PHP workers. The low storage and PHP workers are not justified for such an expensive plan. 

To enjoy an extra discount, you can buy a Kinsta annual plan with my link and get 2 months of free hosting! Overall, the pricing plans of Kinsta are way more expensive than WP Engine. 

How Did We Test WP Engine Alternatives?

To test WP Engine alternatives, we picked the leading managed hosting services based on our years of research and experience. Then, we thoroughly conducted speed, uptime, and load tests to assess their performance. 

We also examined their customer support, interface, user-friendliness, security, and more to understand how they stand out. Finally, we ranked them from 1 to 5 based on these factors.

Why Should You Trust Me?

I’ve been working full-time in the digital industry since 2015. In all these years, I’ve gained hands-on experience by testing and reviewing major shared and managed hosting providers for both personal and client websites. Cloudways, Rocket.net, and Kinsta are some notable names. 

You can find in-depth reviews on my blog and YouTube channel. Years of testing have equipped me with the expertise to confidently compare them and recommend the best one to suit your needs.

Which Hosting Do I Use?

I’ve used, tested, and reviewed a range of shared hosting and managed hosting services in the last few years. When choosing a hosting solution, I primarily focus on its performance, customer support, and features offered. 

I use Cloudways on my blog, kripeshadwani.com, because of its superior speeds, uptime, and overall performance. It offers a constant discount percentage and makes it easy to scale my servers anytime. Therefore, it’s a very convenient option for me.

Conclusion

In this article, we discovered the Best WP Engine Alternatives for 2024. I hope the hosts discussed above will help you compare and pick the right web hosting for your requirements. 

Where Cloudways and Nexcess are ideal for eCommerce stores and high-traffic sites, Rocket.net is optimal for professionals. If you’re looking for ease of use, Kinsta is the right choice. Whereas, WPX hosting is a more premium and expensive option to consider. 

In my personal experience, Cloudways is the ideal alternative for WP Engine. It is miles ahead of WP Engine in terms of features and performance. You can also check out these Best Managed WordPress Hosting Solutions to discover some additional options.  

Anyway, how has your experience been with WP Engine? Why are you planning to switch and which platform did you find the most suitable? Do share in the comments section below. This is Kripesh, signing off. Cheers, and keep learning! 🙂