Cloudways vs WP Engine Hosting 2024, Which is Better?

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When it comes to managed WordPress hosting, Cloudways and WP Engine are two of the most popular options available. Both providers offer a range of features and services tailored specifically for WordPress websites.

In this Cloudways vs WP Engine comparison article, we’ll delve into the similarities and differences between Cloudways and WP Engine to help you make an informed decision.

Cloudways vs WP Engine Comparison 2024

CloudwaysWP Engine
Website:cloudways.comwpengine.com
Founded In:20112010
Headquarters:St Julians, St Julians, MaltaAustin, Texas
A Detailed Review:Cloudways ReviewWP Engine Review
Starting Price:$11/mo$13/mo
Free Website Transfer:YesYes (with their plugin only)
Contact no:Not Available+1-512-273-3906
Email:Not Availablesales@wpengine.com
Customer Support:Chat, Tickets
9/10
Phone, Live Chat, Tickets
10/10
Control Panel:CustomCustom
Data Centers:47 Data Centers
(all the data centers are mentioned below)
Google Cloud Servers
Amazon Web Servers
Microsoft Azure
CDN:Cloudflare EnterpriseCloudflare CDN
Email Hosting:NoNo
Banned Plugins:NoYes
Uptime:99%99.99%
Speed:10/1010/10
TrustPilot Ratings:4.5/54.6/5
Money-Back Guarantee:3 Days Free Trial60 Days
Maximum Discount on:Black Friday SaleBlack Friday Sale (35% OFF)
Current Discount:(30% OFFKnow MoreClick Here to Know
Try Cloudways for FreeGet WP Engine

Cloudways vs WP Engine Features

Cloudways Key Features:

  • SSD-Based Hosting
  • Free Website Migration
  • Free SSL
  • Website Staging
  • Redis Object Cache Pro
  • Cloudflare Enterprise CDN
  • HTTP/2 Supported Servers
  • HTTP/3 Support with Cloudflare
  • Image and Mobile Optimization
  • Dedicated Firewalls
  • IP Whitelisting
  • Two-Factor Authentication
  • Bot Protection
  • Web Application Firewall (WAF) with Cloudflare
  • Dedicated Staging Environment
  • 1-Click Backup & Restore
  • Cron Job Manager
  • Server Settings and Packages via UI
  • 24/7 Support
  • 3 Days Free Trial

WP Engine Key Features:

  • 1-Click Staging
  • 10 Premium Themes
  • Free Automated Migration Plugin
  • Daily & On-Demand Backups
  • Free SSL and SSH
  • Automatic SSL Installation
  • Website Caching
  • Dev, Stage, Prod Environments
  • Multi-factor Password Authentication
  • Threat Blocking & Security
  • Site Content In The Cloud (CDN)
  • Transferable Sites For Easy Client Handoff
  • Page Performance Monitoring
  • Local Developer Tools
  • WordPress Multisite (Available to Purchase)
  • 24/7 Chat and Phone Support
  • 60-Day Money-Back Guarantee

Cloudways vs WP Engine Pricing and Scalability

Cloudways offers a pay-as-you-go model, allowing users to choose from different cloud providers and pay only for the resources they use. This flexibility makes it suitable for businesses of all sizes.

WP Engine, on the other hand, follows a tiered pricing structure based on the number of WordPress installs and the level of features required. While WP Engine may be more expensive initially, it offers built-in scalability, ensuring your website can handle increased traffic without hassle.

Cloudways Pricing:

PlanRAMCPUStorageBandwidthPrice
DO1 GB1 Core25 GB1 TB$11/mo
DO2 GB1 Core50 GB2 TB$24/mo
DO4 GB2 Core80 GB4 TB$46/mo
DO8 GB4 Core160 GB5 TB$88/mo
DO Premium1 GB1 Core25 GB1 TB$14/mo
DO Premium2 GB1 Core50 GB2 TB$18/mo
DO Premium4 GB2 Core80 GB4 TB$54/mo
DO Premium8 GB4 Core160 GB5 TB$99/mo
AWS2 GB2 vCPU20 GB2 GB$38.56/mo
AWS4 GB2 vCPU20 GB2 GB$91.84/mo
AWS8 GB2 vCPU20 GB2 GB$183.22/mo
AWS16 GB4 vCPU20 GB2 GB$285.21/mo
GCE1.75 GB1 vCPU20 GB2 GB$37.45/mo
GCE3.75 GB1 vCPU20 GB2 GB$84.12/mo
GCE7.5 GB2 vCPU20 GB2 GB$152.14/mo
GCE15 GB14 vCPU20 GB2 GB$241.62/mo

WP Engine Pricing:

StartupProfessionalGrowthScale
$20 /mo$40 /mo$77 /mo$194 /mo
1 Site
25K Visits
10 GB Storage
50 GB Bandwidth/mo
3 Sites
75K Visits
15 GB Storage
125 GB Bandwidth/mo
10 Sites
100K Visits
20 GB Storage
200 GB Bandwidth/mo
30 Sites
400K Visits
50 GB Storage
500 GB Bandwidth/mo

Cloudways vs WP Engine Performance

Cloudways Performance:

Cloudways places a strong emphasis on performance to ensure that your websites load quickly and provide a seamless user experience.

Here are some aspects of Cloudways’ performance-focused approach:

  • Choice of Cloud Infrastructure: One of Cloudways’ notable advantages is its ability to host your website on various leading cloud infrastructure providers, including AWS, Google Cloud, and DigitalOcean. This flexibility allows you to select the infrastructure that best suits your needs in terms of performance, scalability, and geographic location.
  • SSD-Based Hosting: Cloudways utilizes solid-state drives (SSDs) for all its hosting plans. SSDs offer significantly faster data access speeds compared to traditional hard disk drives (HDDs), resulting in quicker loading times for your websites and improved overall performance.
  • Optimized Stack: Cloudways employs an optimized stack for its servers, including the use of NGINX as a web server, PHP-FPM for efficient PHP processing, and MariaDB/MySQL for database management. This stack configuration is tuned specifically for performance and helps to deliver faster response times.
  • Server-Level Caching: Cloudways includes built-in server-level caching mechanisms, such as Redis and Memcached, to enhance website performance. These caching systems store frequently accessed data in memory, reducing the need for repeated database queries and accelerating page load times.
  • Content Delivery Network (CDN) Integration: Cloudways integrates with multiple CDNs, including Cloudflare, enabling you to easily set up and manage content delivery networks. CDNs distribute your website’s static content across multiple servers worldwide, reducing latency and improving global access speeds.
  • PHP Performance Optimization: Cloudways offers various PHP performance optimization features, such as the ability to choose your PHP version and enable OPCache for bytecode caching. These optimizations enhance the execution speed of PHP scripts, resulting in faster website performance.
  • Scalability and Resource Management: Cloudways allows you to scale server resources up or down based on your website’s needs. This ensures that your websites can handle increased traffic without performance degradation. Cloudways’ control panel provides intuitive tools for monitoring resource usage and optimizing performance.
  • Global Data Centers: Cloudways has data centers strategically located worldwide, allowing you to choose a server location closest to your target audience. By reducing the physical distance between your website visitors and the server, Cloudways helps to minimize latency and deliver faster content.
  • HTTP/2 and Brotli Compression: Cloudways supports HTTP/2, the latest version of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol, which improves website performance by allowing multiple requests to be processed simultaneously. Additionally, Cloudways enables Brotli compression, a more efficient compression algorithm that reduces file sizes and speeds up content delivery.
  • Performance Monitoring and Analytics: Cloudways provides performance monitoring and analytics tools that allow you to track and analyze various performance metrics. You can monitor server response times, website resource usage, and other performance indicators to identify areas for optimization.

WP Engine Performance:

Following are some aspects of WP Engine’s performance-focused approach:

  • Purpose-Built Infrastructure: WP Engine has a specifically designed infrastructure optimized for hosting WordPress sites. Their servers are fine-tuned to deliver exceptional performance and stability, ensuring that your websites load quickly and consistently.
  • Global CDN Integration: WP Engine includes a built-in content delivery network (CDN) powered by Cloudflare. This integration allows your website’s static content to be cached and distributed across multiple servers worldwide, reducing latency and improving loading times for visitors across different geographic locations.
  • EverCache™ Technology: WP Engine employs its proprietary EverCache™ technology, a powerful caching system tailored for WordPress. EverCache™ intelligently caches frequently accessed content, reducing the load on the server and delivering fast and efficient page rendering.
  • Scalability and Elasticity: WP Engine offers a scalable infrastructure that can handle spikes in traffic without compromising performance. Their platform automatically adjusts server resources based on demand, ensuring your website remains responsive even during traffic surges.
  • PHP Performance Optimization: WP Engine utilizes various performance optimization techniques for PHP, the scripting language powering WordPress. They employ advanced PHP engines and configurations to accelerate PHP execution, resulting in faster loading times for dynamic content.
  • Object Caching: WP Engine integrates with Memcached and Redis, popular object caching technologies, to reduce the need for repeated database queries. Object caching stores frequently accessed database objects in memory, significantly improving database performance and reducing server load.
  • Server-Level Caching: WP Engine employs server-level caching to enhance performance. Their caching mechanisms include full-page caching, which generates static HTML versions of your pages, and fragment caching, which selectively caches specific parts of your website to further speed up page rendering.
  • Intelligent Resource Allocation: WP Engine intelligently allocates resources to each website hosted on its platform, ensuring fair and consistent performance across all accounts. This approach prevents resource bottlenecks caused by neighboring websites, optimizing the performance of your own site.
  • PHP 8.x Support: WP Engine fully supports the latest versions of PHP, including PHP 8.x. PHP 8 offers substantial performance improvements over previous versions, resulting in faster code execution and overall website speed.
  • Performance Monitoring and Insights: WP Engine provides a performance dashboard where you can monitor vital metrics such as response times, bandwidth usage, and cache performance. These insights help you identify areas for optimization and track the impact of performance-related changes.

Cloudways vs WP Engine Data Centers

Cloudways Data Centers:

Cloudways takes a unique approach to data centers by partnering with multiple cloud infrastructure providers, allowing you to choose the data center that best suits your needs.

Cloudways ensures that each data center partner meets strict performance and reliability standards. They continuously monitor their partner data centers to ensure optimal uptime, network connectivity, and infrastructure stability.

Following are the data center locations of Cloudways,

DigitalOceanAWSGCE
London
Amsterdam
Bangalore
Frankfurt
New York
San Francisco
Singapore
Sydney
Toronto
US N.Virginia
California
Ohio
Oregon
Montreal
Ireland
Frankfurt
London
Milan
Paris
Stockholm
Singapore
Sydney
Tokyo
Seoul
Mumbai
Hong Kong
Bahrain
Cape Town
Sao Paulo
Iowa
S.Carolina
Oregon
N.Virginia
Las Vegas
Belgium
Netherlands
London
Frankfurt
Finland
Montreal
Mumbai
Hong kong
Taiwan
Singapore
Tokyo
Sydney
Sao Paulo

WP Engine Data Centers:

WP Engine, on the other hand, operates its own network of data centers strategically located worldwide. These data centers are equipped with advanced infrastructure, redundant power systems, and robust network connectivity to ensure high availability and optimal performance.

Following are the data center locations of WP Engine,

Google Cloud ServerAmazon Web ServersMicrosoft Azure
Iowa, North America
South Carolina, North America
Oregon, North America
Montreal, North America
Belgium, Europe
London, Europe
Frankfurt, Europe*
Netherlands, Europe
Finland, Europe*
Taiwan, Asia/Pacific
Tokyo, Asia/Pacific
Sydney, Asia/Pacific
Singapore, Asia/Pacific*
Virginia, North America
Ohio, North America
Oregon, North America
Montreal, North America
Ireland, Europe
London, Europe
Frankfurt, Europe
Singapore, Asia/Pacific
Sydney, Asia/Pacific
Washington, North America
Netherlands, Europe
  • Google Cloud Servers: Google Cloud Servers are available to all WordPress hosting plans. The data centers which are denoted with an asterisk (*) are available with upgraded pricing.
  • Amazon Web Servers: AWS data centers are available to premium or a custom dedicated WordPress hosting plan.
  • Microsoft Azure: Microsoft Azure data centers are available to premium or a custom dedicated WordPress hosting plan.

Cloudways vs WP Engine CDN

Cloudways CDN:

Cloudways integrates with multiple CDN providers, including Cloudflare and others. When using Cloudways, you have the flexibility to choose the CDN provider that best suits your needs.

Cloudways simplifies the process of setting up and managing a CDN for your website. Their platform offers easy integration with your preferred CDN provider through a user-friendly interface. You can quickly enable the CDN service for your website with just a few clicks, without the need for complex configurations or technical expertise.

By leveraging a CDN, Cloudways helps deliver your website’s static content, such as images, CSS files, and JavaScript files, from edge servers located around the world.

These edge servers are strategically positioned to reduce latency and improve content delivery to visitors, regardless of their geographic location. The CDN caches and distributes your content globally, resulting in faster loading times and improved user experience.

WP Engine CDN:

WP Engine provides a built-in CDN powered by Cloudflare for all its hosting plans. The CDN integration is seamlessly integrated into the WP Engine platform, making it easy to enable and manage.

WP Engine’s CDN operates by caching your website’s static content on Cloudflare’s network of global edge servers. This allows visitors to access your content from the server that is closest to their location, reducing latency and improving page load times.

In addition to content caching, the WP Engine CDN includes other performance-enhancing features, such as automatic image optimization. This feature optimizes and delivers images in a compressed format, further reducing file sizes and improving overall website performance.

Cloudways vs WP Engine User Interface and Ease of Use:

Cloudways User Interface and Ease of Use:

Cloudways provides a clean and intuitive user interface that simplifies the management of your hosting environment.

Here are some key aspects of Cloudways’ user interface and ease of use:

  • Dashboard: Cloudways offers a user-friendly dashboard that provides a centralized view of your servers, applications, and key metrics. The dashboard presents information in a clear and organized manner, making it easy to navigate and access essential features.
  • Server Management: Cloudways allows you to manage your server settings, scaling options, and resource allocation from a single interface. You can easily configure server parameters, such as PHP versions, caching options, and SSL certificates, without requiring advanced technical knowledge.
  • Application Deployment: Cloudways streamlines the process of deploying and managing your applications. You can easily create new WordPress installations or import existing websites through their user-friendly application management interface.
  • Collaboration and Access Control: Cloudways supports team collaboration by allowing you to invite team members and assign different access levels to each user. This feature enables seamless collaboration among developers, designers, and other team members involved in managing your hosting environment.
  • One-Click Functionality: Cloudways simplifies various tasks with one-click functionality. For instance, you can easily scale server resources, clone applications, create backups, and integrate with additional services like CDN providers and databases.

In addition, Cloudways offers pre-built Astra websites installed on their fast and secure cloud servers. With just a single click, users can also get Astra Pro for free, unlocking the full potential of Astra’s customizable design. Discover the power of Cloudways and Astra for a superior website experience.

WP Engine User Interface and Ease of Use:

WP Engine also provides a user-friendly interface designed specifically for managing WordPress websites.

Here’s what you can expect from WP Engine’s user interface and ease of use:

  • User Portal: WP Engine offers a user portal that provides a comprehensive overview of your websites and account details. The portal features a clean and intuitive design, allowing you to navigate through different sections effortlessly.
  • Site Management: WP Engine’s interface focuses on WordPress site management, providing dedicated sections for managing themes, plugins, and other site-specific settings. You can easily access and configure essential aspects of your WordPress websites from within the user portal.
  • Staging Environment: WP Engine includes a staging environment feature that simplifies the process of testing changes to your website before deploying them to the live environment. The staging feature is accessible from the user portal and allows you to create, manage, and merge staging sites with ease.
  • Performance Analytics: WP Engine provides performance analytics and insights through its user portal. You can monitor website performance, track resource usage, and access essential metrics to optimize your site’s speed and responsiveness.
  • Developer Tools: WP Engine offers developer-friendly features such as Git integration, SSH access, and command-line tools, catering to users with advanced technical expertise. These tools enable developers to customize and manage their WordPress environments efficiently.

Cloudways vs WP Engine Security

Cloudways Security:

Here are some of the key security features provided by Cloudways:

  • Dedicated Firewalls: Cloudways deploys dedicated firewalls to safeguard your servers and prevent unauthorized access. These firewalls actively monitor and filter incoming and outgoing traffic to block potential threats.
  • Regular Security Patching: Cloudways ensures that your servers and applications are up to date with the latest security patches and updates. This helps to address any known vulnerabilities and protect against potential exploits.
  • Free SSL Certificates: Cloudways offers free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates for all your websites. SSL certificates encrypt the communication between your website and visitors, securing sensitive information such as login credentials and user data.
  • Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): Cloudways supports 2FA, adding an extra layer of security to your account login process. With 2FA enabled, you’ll need to provide a verification code from a mobile app or email in addition to your password.
  • IP Whitelisting: Cloudways allows you to whitelist specific IP addresses, ensuring that only authorized users can access your applications and servers. This helps to prevent unauthorized access attempts.
  • Regular Backups: Cloudways provides automated daily backups of your applications and servers. These backups are stored on off-site servers, allowing you to easily restore your website in case of any unforeseen issues or data loss.
  • Secure Shell (SSH) Access: Cloudways offers secure shell (SSH) access, allowing you to securely manage your server through a command-line interface. SSH ensures encrypted communication and secure remote administration.
  • Application Isolation: Cloudways uses containerization technology to isolate each application on its own environment. This prevents cross-contamination between different applications and enhances overall security.
  • Malware Scanning: Cloudways performs regular malware scans to detect and mitigate any potential security threats. If any malware is detected, Cloudways provides guidance on how to remove it and secure your website.
  • Server Monitoring and Security Alerts: Cloudways continuously monitors your servers and sends security alerts if any suspicious activity or anomalies are detected. This allows you to take immediate action and protect your websites.

WP Engine Security:

Here are some of the key security features provided by WP Engine:

  • Managed WordPress Core Updates: WP Engine takes care of updating the WordPress core on your behalf. This ensures that your website is running on the latest version, which includes important security patches and fixes.
  • Firewalls and Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS): WP Engine has a robust network firewall in place to filter and monitor incoming and outgoing traffic. They also utilize intrusion detection systems to detect and block suspicious activities.
  • Malware Scanning and Removal: WP Engine performs regular malware scans on your websites to detect any malicious code or files. If any malware is detected, WP Engine provides a cleanup service to remove the malware and restore your website’s integrity.
  • Account Isolation: Each WP Engine account is isolated from others, preventing any cross-contamination between websites. This means that even if one website on the server is compromised, it won’t affect other websites hosted on the same server.
  • Web Application Firewall (WAF): WP Engine employs a built-in Web Application Firewall that helps to protect your websites from common web attacks, such as SQL injections, cross-site scripting (XSS), and more. The WAF filters and blocks malicious requests before they reach your site.
  • DDoS Mitigation and Traffic Filtering: WP Engine has systems in place to protect against Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. They utilize traffic filtering techniques to identify and block suspicious traffic patterns, ensuring your website remains accessible during an attack.
  • Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) and SSH Access: WP Engine allows you to securely transfer files to and from your server using Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP). Additionally, SSH access is available for secure command-line management of your server.
  • Secure Login with Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): WP Engine supports Two-Factor Authentication, adding an extra layer of security to your account login process. This requires a verification code from a mobile app or email in addition to your password.
  • Automated Backups and One-Click Restores: WP Engine offers automated daily backups of your websites. These backups are stored securely, and you can easily restore your site with just a few clicks in case of data loss or issues.
  • Security Audits and Best Practices: WP Engine conducts regular security audits to identify and address any potential vulnerabilities. They also follow WordPress security best practices and actively contribute to the WordPress community’s security initiatives.

Read also,

Cloudways vs WP Engine Customer Support

Cloudways provides 24/7 live chat support with knowledgeable technicians who can assist with server-related issues. They also offer a comprehensive knowledge base and active community forums.

WP Engine offers 24/7 support via live chat and phone, along with a vast library of resources, including articles, videos, and webinars. Both providers have a reputation for delivering excellent customer support.

Cloudways vs WP Engine TrustPilot Rating

Cloudways TrustPilot Rating

According to Trustpilot, Cloudways got 4.5 rating out of 5-star ratings from a total of 1639 ratings.

Cloudways Trustpilot Ratings

WP Engine TrustPilot Rating

According to Trustpilot, WP Engine got 4.7 ratings out of 5-star ratings from a total of 710 ratings.

WP Engine Trustpilot Ratings

WP Engine Pros and Cons

Pros of WP Engine:

  • Performance and Reliability: WP Engine is renowned for its exceptional performance and reliability. Their hosting infrastructure is specifically optimized for WordPress, resulting in fast-loading websites and minimal downtime.
  • Managed WordPress Environment: WP Engine offers a fully managed WordPress hosting environment. This means they handle tasks such as WordPress updates, automatic backups, security monitoring, and caching, allowing you to focus on building and managing your website.
  • Enhanced Security Features: WP Engine places a strong emphasis on security. They implement robust security measures, including firewalls, malware scanning, and proactive threat detection, to keep your website safe from online threats.
  • Scalability and Traffic Handling: WP Engine’s hosting plans are designed to handle high traffic loads and sudden spikes in visitors. Their infrastructure scales seamlessly, ensuring your website remains performant and accessible even during periods of increased traffic.
  • Developer-Friendly Tools: WP Engine provides a range of developer-friendly tools and features. These include Git version control, SSH access, staging environments, and easy deployment workflows, making it convenient for developers to collaborate and manage their projects effectively.
  • Dedicated Customer Support: WP Engine offers top-notch customer support, with a team of WordPress experts available 24/7. They are known for their responsive support and willingness to assist with any hosting-related issues.

Cons of WP Engine:

  • Pricing: WP Engine’s hosting plans may be relatively more expensive compared to other shared hosting providers. While the cost is justified by the performance and premium features, it may be a deterrent for those on a tight budget.
  • Plugin Restrictions: WP Engine imposes certain restrictions on plugins to maintain optimal performance and security. While this helps ensure the stability of your website, it may limit your ability to use certain plugins or require finding alternative solutions.
  • No Email Hosting: WP Engine does not provide email hosting as part of their hosting packages. If you require email services, you will need to use a separate email hosting provider or set up email through third-party services.
  • Limited Storage: WP Engine’s hosting plans have specific storage limits, and exceeding the allocated storage may result in additional charges. If you have large multimedia or resource-intensive websites, you may need to consider their higher-tier plans or alternative hosting options.
  • Less Flexibility for Non-WordPress Sites: While WP Engine excels in WordPress hosting, it may not be the ideal choice if you have non-WordPress websites or applications. Their services are primarily focused on providing optimized hosting for WordPress sites.
  • Migration Challenges: If you are migrating an existing website to WP Engine, the process can be more complex compared to standard shared hosting providers. WP Engine’s unique environment may require additional steps or expertise to ensure a smooth transition.

Cloudways Pros and Cons

Pros of Cloudways:

  • Choice of Cloud Infrastructure: Cloudways allows you to choose from multiple cloud infrastructure providers, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and DigitalOcean. This flexibility enables you to select the cloud platform that best fits your specific needs, budget, and performance requirements.
  • Performance and Scalability: Cloudways focuses on delivering high-performance hosting. With their infrastructure and server optimizations, including SSD storage, advanced caching, and PHP performance enhancements, they ensure fast loading times and scalability to handle traffic spikes.
  • User-Friendly Interface: Cloudways offers a user-friendly control panel that simplifies server management and application deployment. Their intuitive interface makes it easy to manage server settings, monitor resources, create backups, and deploy multiple applications effortlessly.
  • Advanced Caching and Content Delivery: Cloudways integrates with popular caching technologies like Varnish, Redis, and Memcached. Additionally, they provide built-in content delivery network (CDN) integrations, including Cloudflare to improve content delivery and website performance globally.
  • Robust Security Measures: Cloudways takes security seriously, implementing several security features such as dedicated firewalls, regular security patches, 24/7 server monitoring, SSL certificate installation, and automated backups. They also offer optional add-ons like advanced cloud security and application-level firewalls.
  • Staging Environment and Team Collaboration: Cloudways offers a staging environment feature, allowing you to test changes and updates to your websites before pushing them live. Additionally, their platform supports team collaboration by enabling you to invite team members with role-based access control.
  • 24/7 Customer Support: Cloudways provides round-the-clock customer support via live chat and a ticketing system. Their support team consists of experienced professionals who can assist with server-related queries, application issues, and other hosting-related concerns.

Cons of Cloudways:

  • Self-Managed Hosting: While Cloudways offers a user-friendly interface, it is still a self-managed hosting platform. This means you are responsible for server configuration, software updates, and troubleshooting any issues that arise. It requires a certain level of technical knowledge or the willingness to learn.
  • Learning Curve for Beginners: The advanced features and customization options in Cloudways may pose a learning curve for beginners or those new to web hosting. It may require some time and effort to familiarize yourself with the platform and its functionalities.
  • Limited Email Hosting: Cloudways does not provide email hosting as part of their hosting packages. You will need to use third-party email services or set up email hosting separately if you require email functionality for your domain.
  • No Domain Registration: Cloudways focuses solely on hosting and does not offer domain registration services. You will need to register your domain through a separate domain registrar and connect it to your Cloudways hosting environment.
  • Pricing Structure: While Cloudways offers flexibility in choosing cloud infrastructure providers, their pricing structure can be complex. It involves separate costs for server resources, bandwidth usage, and additional services, which may require careful monitoring and management to avoid unexpected charges.
  • Lack of Phone Support: Cloudways customer support is primarily offered through live chat and ticketing systems. While their support team is responsive and helpful, the absence of phone support may be a drawback for users who prefer direct phone communication.

When to choose WP Engine?

If you primarily work with WordPress and value a fully managed hosting solution with optimized performance and dedicated WordPress support, WP Engine is an excellent choice.

When to choose Cloudways?

If you desire flexibility in cloud infrastructure, customization options, and the ability to host multiple applications beyond WordPress, along with cost flexibility, then Cloudways would be a better fit.

FAQs

What is the main difference between Cloudways and WP Engine?

Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform that offers flexibility in choosing cloud infrastructure providers, while WP Engine specializes in managed WordPress hosting, providing optimized performance and dedicated WordPress support.

Which hosting provider is better for WordPress websites?

WP Engine is specifically designed for WordPress hosting and offers optimized performance, security, and dedicated WordPress support, making it an excellent choice for WordPress websites.

Can I host applications other than WordPress with Cloudways and WP Engine?

Yes, Cloudways supports multiple PHP-based applications, allowing you to host applications other than WordPress. WP Engine, however, focuses primarily on WordPress hosting and may not be suitable for non-WordPress applications.

Which hosting provider offers better scalability options?

Both Cloudways and WP Engine offer scalability options. Cloudways provides the flexibility to scale server resources based on your needs and choose from various cloud infrastructure providers. WP Engine is known for its ability to handle high-traffic loads and offers plans designed to accommodate scalability.

Does Cloudways or WP Engine provide a staging environment for testing changes?

Yes, both Cloudways and WP Engine offer staging environments. These environments allow you to test changes, updates, and modifications to your website before deploying them to the live environment.

Which hosting provider offers better customer support?

Both Cloudways and WP Engine offer reliable customer support. WP Engine is known for its dedicated WordPress support team available 24/7, while Cloudways provides 24/7 support via live chat and ticketing system.

Does Cloudways or WP Engine provide email hosting?

Neither Cloudways nor WP Engine provides email hosting as part of their hosting packages. You will need to use third-party email services or set up email hosting separately if email functionality is required.

Can I migrate my existing website to Cloudways or WP Engine?

Yes, both Cloudways and WP Engine offer migration options to help you transfer your existing website. They provide documentation, tutorials, and assistance to ensure a smooth migration process.

Which hosting provider is more cost-effective?

Cost-effectiveness depends on your specific needs and usage. Cloudways offers flexibility in pricing based on the chosen cloud infrastructure provider and resources, allowing you to optimize costs. WP Engine, while relatively more expensive, provides premium managed WordPress hosting features and support.

Can I host multiple websites with Cloudways and WP Engine?

Yes, both Cloudways and WP Engine allow you to host multiple websites. Cloudways provides a user-friendly interface to manage multiple applications, while WP Engine offers plans that allow hosting multiple websites.

Which is better, WP Engine or Cloudways?

WP Engine is an excellent choice if you prioritize a fully managed WordPress hosting solution with optimized performance, dedicated WordPress support, and a user-friendly interface. It is ideal for users who primarily work with WordPress and value convenience and expertise in managing their WordPress websites.

On the other hand, Cloudways offers greater flexibility in choosing cloud infrastructure providers, customization options, and the ability to host multiple applications beyond WordPress. It is suitable for users who desire control over their hosting environment, scalability, and cost flexibility.

Alternatives to Cloudways and WP Engine

Following are the best alternatives to Cloudways and WP Engine hosting,

Final Words

Both Cloudways and WP Engine are reputable managed WordPress hosting providers with their unique strengths. Cloudways stands out for its cloud platform flexibility, pay-as-you-go pricing, and extensive feature set.

WP Engine excels in its WordPress-specific infrastructure, ease of use, and built-in scalability. Ultimately, the choice between the two will depend on your specific needs, budget, and preferences.

Check out other managed WordPress hosting comparisons,

Cloudways vs WP Engine 2024
  • Performance
  • Security
  • Support
  • Pricing
Overall
5

Summary

WP Engine is recommended hosting provider.


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5 thoughts on “Cloudways vs WP Engine Hosting 2024, Which is Better?”

  1. As someone planning to host a website, this comparison between Cloudways and WP Engine Hosting is incredibly helpful. The blog’s insights on their features, performance, and support in 2023 will guide me in making an informed decision. I appreciate having all the relevant information in one place to choose the better-suited hosting option for my website. Thanks for this informative article!

    Reply
  2. Wow, what an eye-opening read! This blog dives deep into a topic I’ve always been curious about and provides valuable insights that I couldn’t find elsewhere. The writing style is captivating, making it an enjoyable and informative read. Can’t wait to see more content from this talented author!

    Reply
  3. I am currently using Cloudways, and I am thoroughly impressed with their 24/7 customer support. They have been able to swiftly address any issues I encounter.

    Reply
  4. It’s great that you found this comparison between Cloudways and WP Engine informative. Understanding the key features and pricing differences between these hosting providers is essential for making an informed decision for your website. If you have any questions or need further assistance in making a choice, feel free to ask, and I’d be happy to help.

    Reply

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