Bluehost vs WP Engine – Which Web Host is Better?

Looking for the best WordPress web hosting?

If so, you probably came across Bluehost and WP Engine.

 Both providers offer excellent reliability, fast speeds, high security, and lots of features. 

But which one is better for YOU?

In this article, I’ve compared Bluehost vs WP Engine in a head-to-head comparison. With this, you will have a better insight into which web host is best suited to satisfy your needs.

So let’s get into it.

Bluehost vs WP Engine - A Side by Side Comparison

I’ve compared both providers based on the factors below:

• Uptime and performance
• Ease of Use
• Migration services
• Products and features
• Security
• Pricing
• Customer Support

Let’s take a closer look at the details.

Uptime and Performance

To ensure that your site won’t go offline frequently, select a web host provider with a high uptime average. 

Thankfully, both Bluehost and WP Engine have high average uptimes with 99.93% (August 2023) and 100% (August 2023), respectively. So whichever you choose, it’s all but guaranteed your site will experience fewer downtime periods.

Both web hosts have speedy services, too, with a whole bunch of features to improve your site’s performance.

For starters, both web hosts have server locations in multiple areas around the world, including the US, Europe, and Asia.

You’ll also get a free CDN that improves loading speeds for users around the world by routing data through the nearest available data center.

If this speed is not enough for you, WP Engine goes beyond. They have NGINX that provides a greater allocation of resources to “real users” by distinguishing them from bots. Because of that, loading speeds are even faster. 

Ease of use

Anyone looking for a simpler user interface will appreciate the beginner-friendly experience that both web hosts provide.

With these providers, you’ll have access to hundreds of plug-ins such as WooCommerce that work exceptionally well on their optimized service.

Bluehost and WP Engine also work well with the WP site builder, which allows you to easily select a unique template to get started.

What’s more, a website staging area allows you to tweak a clone of your site before you decide to take it live. This prevents any sudden errors or shoddy image placement from affecting your users’ experience.

How do you create a WordPress site with BlueHost? You can find out in the video below:

Migration Services

Both Bluehost and WP Engine provide free WordPress site transfers with their automatic plug-in. This simplifies the whole process for you.

However, Bluehost has a wider selection of packages that can support different content management systems. So, if your site isn’t based on WordPress, you’ll still be able to transfer it to Bluehost’s service.

And if you’re looking to migrate multiple sites, Bluehost has a great value offer for migrating 5 sites for just under $150.

If you avail of this, you’ll only need to sit back and relax because their experienced team will handle everything, ensuring that you get a bug-free migration for all five sites.

Sadly, WP Engine only supports WordPress sites, so you won’t get any other migration services with them.

Products and Features

Focusing on products and features, you’ll find that Bluehost gives you greater flexibility in choosing amongst several plans.

You’ll also get a greater variety of hosting types with Bluehost. They have VPS and Dedicated hosting solutions with an option of Linux or Windows that can support any large site’s processing needs.

On the other hand, the basic WP Engine plan (called the Managed Hosting Startup) comes with 10GB of SSD storage space, along with 50GB of bandwidth that they say is good for up to 25,000 page views a month.

While the Managed Hosting Startup plan is geared towards smaller sites, 10GB of storage space is a bit low considering Bluehost provides 50GB of SSD storage (on their Shared Basic plan) for a significantly cheaper price.

Even if you compare WP Engine to Bluehost’s managed WordPress hosting plan, Bluehost still beats them here with 20GB of SSD storage space and advertised support for up to 50,000 page views a month.

WP Engine only provides 50GB on their most premium package, so you won’t get a lot of storage space with this host. In turn, that can restrict the amount of content you’ll be able to upload.

However, WP Engine makes up for this by providing its users with a plethora of different features such as developer options, performance monitoring tools, and more included in all their plans.

Security

Bluehost and WP Engine make security a priority with features and systems in place to keep your site and users safe at all times.

SSL certificates are provided on every package. This encrypts your users’ personal information to make it unavailable to hackers.

You'll also get DDoS protection that prevents bots from taking down your site. This is a protective firewall that blocks bots and/or hackers before they can do any damage.

Even better, both web hosts keep their servers monitored 24/7 with installed safety features that ensure your data is safe and secure. 

And, backup power is provided to keeps your site online in case a power outage occurs.

Now, while Bluehost does provide automated backups on their higher-end plans, you'll only get manual backups that come with a few restrictions on their basic shared hosting plan.

On the other hand, WP Engine provides daily backups on all their plans and has extra features such as SSH and multi-factor password authentication. These add another extra level of security to your site.

Pricing

Which is the cheaper option?

The answer is Bluehost. 

Bluehost has shared hosting solutions ranging from $2.99 to $13.95 per month. 

If talking about managed WordPress, their packages are a bit more pricey, starting from $9.95 and going up to $27.95.

Bluehost also offers VPS solutions that range from $19.99 to $59.99 a month, along with dedicated solutions starting from as low as $79.99 going up to just under $120 a month.

Meanwhile, WP Engine’s managed WordPress plans range from $25 a month to just under $300, depending on the type of hosting you choose.

WP Engine also allows you to create a custom dedicated hosting plan, which will be priced according to the number of resources you choose to add.

Note: The pricing referenced above is valid if you pay in advance for a year with WP Engine and 3 years with Bluehost. 

Customer Support

Finally, customer support. 

You’ll be happy to know that Bluehost and WP Engine offer excellent customer support. 

While Bluehost offers phone, email, and live chat support 24/7 with every plan, WP Engine only offers 24/7 live chat on their basic package and their phone support is only available if you subscribe to their higher-priced packages.

That said, WP Engine always makes sure to give you extra care. 

Both hosts have a great knowledge hub that contains a wide variety of how-to guides and answered FAQs that makes it easy to solve routine problems by yourself.

Bluehost vs WP Engine - Wrapping It Up

Overall, both Bluehost and WP Engine are excellent providers. It’s no wonder they are considered some of the best. 

But which one will better suit your site?

Bluehost provides a whole host of different hosting types and different price points to suit every type of user.

WP Engine provides exceptional support, security, and features to offer a stress-free web hosting experience at a higher price.

So the option between these two will depend on your budget and the number of features you feel you need to host your site.

Smaller sites that don’t need the extra security features may prefer Bluehosts’ lower price, while large businesses and online shops may be willing to pay for the extra support and security.

Regardless of your choice, both web hosts are excellent picks that you won’t regret choosing.

Have we missed anything out?

Tell us in the comment section below.

And good luck with your site!