DreamHost vs WP Engine – Which Web Hosting is Better?

There are a lot of web hosting providers in the market and two of the most popular are DreamHost and WP Engine. 

These two web hosts, although very different, are known for their reliability and performance. And wouldn’t you want a web host that can meet the standards you want for your website?

The only problem is that even if these two web hosts are different, it’s hard to decide between DreamHost vs WP Engine. 

So which one is better?

To help you decide, let’s take a look at the following categories:

• Uptime and performance
• Website building
• Migration services
• Products and features
• Security
• Pricing
• Customer Support

These categories will help you know which web host is better suited for you. 

Let’s dive right in!

DreamHost vs WP Engine: Uptime and Performance

Whenever someone searches for web hosts, there’s one question that they always ask - what is the uptime? 

Of course, the closer to 100%, the better. 

I know this is hard to believe, but DreamHost has actually been able to commit to this for so many years now. It even has a 97-day, money-back guarantee to back it up.

Presently Dreamhost offers an uptime of 99.98% (August 2023), which is a decent score.

On the other hand, WP Engine has a 99.9% uptime guarantee. This isn’t bad considering that this uptime rate is already higher than a lot of the web hosts in the market. 

WP Engine boasts an impressive uptime score of 100% (August 2023).

As for speed, which one has the higher performance? 

For this one, WP Engine surpasses DreamHost by having faster and more consistent speeds. Plus, with CDN, it can distribute the load to different location servers, making it even faster. 

Though Dreamhost isn’t the fast loading speed, only loading around 1,836 ms (August 2023), it is still a lot better than some of its competitors. 

Dreamhost vs WP Engine: Website Building

Both DreamHost and WP Engine have WordPress site builders as part of their plans. 

However, since WP Engine is geared towards Managed WordPress services, you won’t be able to find a site builder that caters to non-WordPress sites. 

The same goes for DreamHost, even if its primary service is shared hosting to a larger customer base. 

So if you’re looking to make a non-WordPress site, you’ll be disappointed that these two web hosts don’t have that feature in their site builders. 

What makes WP engine stand out is that their services are managed, this means that they will handle the technicalities of it all for you. 

Check out how to start a WordPress site with WP Engine in this video:

Dreamhost vs WP Engine: Migration Services

Looking to move to either DreamHost or WP Engine but don’t know if they have migration services?

If you have a WordPress site, this won’t be a problem on both web hosts. DreamHost and WP Engine offer free migration services to WordPress users.

Dreamhost vs WP Engine: Products and Features

DreamHost and WP Engine are two very different web hosts.

This is because the former focuses on having different types of web hosting plans, while the latter only gives Managed WordPress hosting. 

Comparing these two is like comparing apples and oranges.

Plans

I mentioned earlier that DreamHost and WP Engine are very different in terms of their plans. 

DreamHost, if you’ll notice, is catered to a wider customer base. They have services for non-WordPress users. They offer Shared hosting, VPS hosting, Managed WordPress hosting, Dedicated Server hosting, and even Cloud hosting. 

WP Engine, on the other hand, only has Managed WordPress hosting plans. This alone makes it very limited to WordPress site owners. 

Domain

Looking for a web host that offers free domains? 

Among the two web hosts, DreamHost is the only one offering a free domain. However, this is only available for 3 months. 

Unfortunately, WP Engine doesn’t offer any free domains. You’ll have to spend a little more to get a domain name from them. 

Dreamhost also offers you more free goodies, with email support and a free domain name on all their plans. Not to mention, more storage space in the basic plans.

Dreamhost vs WP Engine: Security

Security is another important factor aside from uptime and performance. 

To know if your web host takes security seriously, look for SSL certificates that they give along with their plans. 

The good news is that both DreamHost and WP Engine have free SSL certificates in all of their plans. 

Aside from that, both providers also offer extra security. 

DreamHost has automated backup and privacy protection, while WP Engine offers daily backups, multi-factor password authentication, and more. 

Dreamhost vs WP Engine: Pricing

So how much are their plans?

Let’s take a look at this comparison table for their rates:

If you’ll notice, Dreamhost has many plans that can fit any budget. WP Engine, however, only has one hosting. And, the cheapest plan starts at $25, even more expensive than DreamHost’s VPS basic plan.  

That said, it’s understandable why WP Engine offers high prices since they offer a load of great features, security, and even high uptime and speed.

Dreamhost vs WP Engine: Customer Support

Strong customer support is one of the pillars of a great web host. 

You shouldn’t settle for customer support that’s only available on the weekdays. After all, technical issues don’t just happen during workdays. 

Instead, look for a web host that has 24/7 customer support that can be contacted via live chat. 

DreamHost and WP Engine have 24/7 customer support via live chat, plus DreamHost has email ticketing and a knowledge base. 

That said, DreamHost does offer more options to reach out to customer support. But we feel quick responses are more important than many options, which is why we picked WP for this one. 

Dreamhost vs WP Engine: The Verdict

So which is the better best web host for you?

It all depends on your needs and preferences. 

If you’re looking for a web host that offers other hosting plans, DreamHost is the best option. If you want to focus on Managed WordPress, then WP Engine has a lot of plans that can fit your needs.