Cloudways VS. WP Engine: Best Hosting Service for 2024

Cloudways and WP Engine are the top choices when searching for a great managed hosting service. The platforms are designed both for businesses and individuals who seek high-performing hosting solutions. However, they significantly differ not only in features, but also in pricing, scalability, and user experience. This article is a comprehensive comparison between Cloudways and WPEngine. It aims to reveal which is the best hosting service for 2024. This will help you make an informed decision.

Cloudways Overview

Founded in 2011, Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting provider. It became popular due to its interface facilitating the deployment, management, and scaling of applications across a wide range of cloud providers. Unlike other hosting companies, Cloudways allows its clients an option to select their preferred cloud provider, such as DigitalOcean, Linode, AWS, Google Cloud, and Vultr providing the users with great flexibility and control.

Cloudways Flexible vs Cloudways Autonomous

One of the unique features of Cloudways is the availability of two options for hosting – Flexible and Autonomous. The Flexible plan is useful to users who want to have more control of their hosting environment and allocate server resources according to their specifications.

The Autonomous plan, on the other hand, is for people who want to get a hands-off experience. It has features and optimizations that reduce management and work for the clients.

WP Engine Overview

WP Engine was founded in 2010. It is among the leading managed WordPress hosting services that specialize in providing efficient and reliable hosting services to WordPress sites. Over the years, WP Engine has emerged as a preferred and reliable platform, providing various features that ensure optimal performance for businesses aiming to improve their WordPress sites’ security and user experience.

Cloudways VS WPEngine: Feature Comparison

At this point, we are going to introduce the key features comparison of the two hosting providers.

Hosting Architecture

Cloudways operates in a cloud-based environment that ensures great support to a wide range of platforms even beyond WordPress. Cloudways makes your website managing accessible due to the powerful features that are available to you. One of the most remarkable features of Cloudways is the PHP Stack which allows you to enhance the functionality of your site through a wide plethora of tools and resources.

Now, stack is a type of data structure that is built in a Last-In/First-Out (LIFO) Order. Meaning that if you add a new component to the stack it will go on top of the previous elements. So, when you need to remove anything, you will see the most recent item taken out first.

Alternatively, every component of the hosting architecture of WP Engine is tailored specifically for managed WordPress hosting. This way, websites that are hosted on WP Engine get performance optimizations that exist in the WordPress ecosystem.

Performance is one of the factors that really matters when it comes to having a web presence, and again both the platforms come with strong performance optimization features.

Performance Optimization

The Cloudways platform includes specific features such as the Cloudways Breeze caching plugin. This is a unique tool that optimizes loading times and performance for all applications hosted in the platform. In addition to this, users can also enable Cloudflare CDN as an extension that will further boost speed and security by delivering content closer to the users.

WP Engine provides built-in features for your WordPress website optimization. These functionalities include dedicated caching, Content Delivery Network (CDN), and server-level caching. This is a way to guarantee that the sites load quickly and efficiently.

Application Deployment

Cloudways enables users to easily perform one-click platform installations and integrations, such as WordPress, Magento, and Laravel. This is to allow users to be easily engaged with the processes. The system allows users to launch servers, install apps, and increase resources via a simple and intuitive interface. Some remarkable technologies in the Cloudways Stack include MySQL, NGINX, and MariaDB which all support better performance, reliability, and user experience.

WP Engine makes the deployment process simple and effective. Users are able to create new WordPress sites which have already been optimized for speed and performance. WP Engine automatic update and plugin management services eliminate the need for users to manually manage all these aspects.

Security Features

Security is a major concern for any client using the hosting platforms. Having different approaches to this aspect both Cloudways and WP Engine take security seriously.

Cloudways offers the whole comprehensive Security Suite:

Web Application Firewall (WAF) – protects the applications from common threats and attacks. It ensures a safe and secure environment for hosted websites.
Malware Protection Add-on – Ensures strong security measures for protection against malicious attacks.
Dedicated Firewalls – Provides an extra layer of security towards the protection of servers.
Two-Factor Authentication – This enhances the system security during the login process.
IP Whitelisting – Allows access to the server resources from certain authorized IPs only.
Automatic Backups – Ensures users’ data is safe and can be recovered without any trouble.

Other Security Features

SSL certificates – Ensures secured connections to users which in turn, enhances data protection.
DDoS Protection – Prevents distributed denial of service attacks which limit the service availability.
Bot Protection – Disables and blocks malicious bots that may affect site activity and performance.
Application Isolation – Ensures that applications are secure from one another to prevent cross-contamination.
Security Patch Management – Helps to keep the software up to date.
Database Security – This is essential for any online platform. SO, Cloudways safeguards data security and integrity.
Log-in Security – Provides powerful authentication features for protecting use accounts.
Control for SSH & SFTP Access – Enhances the platform security by restricting server access.
Live Monitoring and Notifications – Alerts in real-time to the occurrence of threats and incidents of security.
Staging Environment for Safe Testing – Gives users an opportunity to test the last changes before going live. This is meant to ensure stability and security.
Security Evaluation – Cloudways ensures ongoing compliance with security practices and standards.
Access Control based on User Roles – Controls user permissions and allows administrators to implement limitations on access depending on the user role.

WP Engine also places great importance on security. It offers a number of features to help improve your site protection:

Automatic backups and restore files with a single click for convenience.
Continuous prevention of attacks through scheduled daily malware scans and security scrutiny.
Free SSL certificates for all sites and clients who are hosted in the platform making the connections safe and secure.
Strong firewall systems and advanced threat protection measures to foresee and protect the website against malicious attacks,

Pricing Comparison

Cloudways provides a pay-as-you-go pricing system according to the cloud provider the user selects. This offers great flexibility for all types of businesses. Below you can see the pricing plans of Cloudways:

DigitalOcean: $14-$487 per month
Linode: $14-$1253 per month
Vultr – $16-$334 per month
AWS: $20.56- $3569.98 per month
Google Cloud: $37.45 – 1593.58 per month

The platform enables a 3-day trial period to learn more about its features and capabilities.

WP Engine comes with 3 fixed pricing plans:

Essential – $20 per month
Core – $400 per month
Enterprise – $2000 per month

WP Engine offers a 60-day money-back guarantee which is good for businesses to make sure that their service would meet their needs before locking in.

Performance Evaluation

While looking for a hosting provider, two criteria stand out. These are speed and uptime. In this regard, both Cloudways and WP Engine have been consistent.

Cloudways has a guarantee of 99.99% uptime. With its structure being built on top of established cloud providers, it performs reliably. It’s worth pointing out that Cloudways also includes a monitoring tool that assists users in tracking the site performance in real time. This, in turn, helps detect early issues.

WP Engine also has excellent ratings in performance and availability. It has a 99.95% uptime guarantee. The platform also implements a patented EverCache technology which significantly improves the speed and efficiency of multiple types of caching to enable WordPress sites to load quickly and effectively.

Benchmark Results

When comparing Cloudways and WP Engine in the aspect of performance, benchmark results show that both have almost the same loading speeds. Yet, we can notice differences with specific configurations. For instance, when using Cloudways advanced caching and Cloudflare it performs remarkably better.

Scalability

When choosing a hosting provider it is important also to focus on scalability.

Cloudways has the upper hand for this feature more than any other cloud service or hosting provider. The platform users can easily scale up or down their resources. In case of sudden traffic increase or downsize need, Cloudways offers great flexibility for adjusting server specifications without causing downtime. This is an important feature, especially for enterprises that have high volumes of seasonal traffic.

WP Engine also offers scalable solutions. However, users are limited to the tailored plans. As the traffic increases, the user may sometimes be forced to upgrade to a higher-tier plan which can trigger a potential downtime.

Additional Features

Staging Environment

Both Cloudways and WP Engine, provide staging environments for the users that enable changes to be made without modifying the live website.

Cloudways has made it easier for users. It allows users to stage and provide them with only a single click to duplicate live sites. This gives users an opportunity to try some plugins, themes, as well as updates in a secure environment.

WP Engine’s staging environment is also very robust offering user-friendly solutions.

Developer Tools

Within Cloudways, developers have SSH access, Git integration, and support for multiple PHP versions. These features are important for developers who want to make certain modifications on applications, and websites, and optimize the workflows. In addition, the Cloudways CLI allows developers to control the applications and their deployments conveniently.

WP Engine also has tools which include GIT integration and the ability to create local development environments using DevKit. This enables developers to make, test, and deploy changes with ease while the production environment remains unaffected.

Content Delivery Network (CDN)

Another area that needs attention is the CDNs. These are critical in the improvement of site performance as well as making content available to users in other locations.

For Cloudways users, there’s an integration with Cloudflare CDN which is a reasonable alternative for content distribution around the globe. With Cloudflare CDN, latency and loading times for users from different geographical areas are reasonably low due to wide CDN coverage.

WP Engine’s CDN is specifically designed for WordPress. It includes its own proprietary CDN. The platform ensures that users will benefit from the optimized content delivery without any additional configuration.

To Wrap Things Up…

Wrapping up, with the comparison between Cloudways and WP Engine, it turns out that both platforms have their unique advantages. However, Cloudways outshines as a more versatile and budget-friendly solution. This mainly refers to businesses that appreciate scalability, customization, and an intuitive user experience.

With its pay-as-you-go pricing model and affordable pricing plans, multi-cloud infrastructure, and excellent performance features, Cloudways allows users to freely build and grow their online presence without requiring them to subscribe to rigid plans. The platform strongly focuses on security, user support, and integration capabilities. So, this further solidifies its position as a leading choice for managed WordPress hosting.

WP Engine provides a WordPress-specific experience at significantly higher prices. For those looking for a strong hosting solution that can totally cover their needs, Cloudways is the absolute winner.

Making a hosting platform choice is a crucial decision. This is because it can impact your site’s performance. Even Kinsta being another powerful competitor as a managed WordPress hosting and offering quick performance and a user-friendly interface tends to come with higher pricing packages if compared to Cloudways. So, for businesses seeking a more cost-effective option with ultimate flexibility and scalability, Cloudways still remains the top choice.

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Anahit V.

Anahit V. is a technical content writer. She knows four languages: English, Armenian, Russian, Arabic. She has written many technical contents, articles, and guest posts, as well. Anahit V. works with WordPress and such plugins as Yoast SEO, Forminator, Contact Form 7, Supsystic, etc. She considers that the reader seeks to find simple and available information about a certain topic. So, she writes only SEO-friendly articles using some tools that can highly optimize the content.