Alternatives · Web Hosting
WP Engine alternatives
WP Engine compared with 9 alternatives: Kinsta, Flywheel, Cloudways, SiteGround, Pressable and 4 more.
WP Engine is a paid product, starting at $35 per month for 1 site, billed monthly; $336 for a first year billed yearly. None of the alternatives has a free plan. 2 more offer a free trial.
9 tools · Listings checked up to Oct 17, 2026 · Where the facts come from
At a glance
| Tool | Price | Free plan | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|
| WP EngineThis tool | From $35/mo | No | Web |
| Kinsta | Free trial · from $30/mo | Trial only | Web |
| Flywheel | From $25/mo | No | Web |
| Cloudways | Free trial | Trial only | Web |
| SiteGround | From $14.99/mo | No | Web |
| Pressable | From $20.83/mo | No | Web |
| Liquid Web | From $17/mo | No | Web |
| Nexcess | Paid | No | Web |
| Rocket.net | From $25/mo | No | Web |
| WPX | From $11.99/mo | No | Web |
Price against what you get
WP Engine starts at $35 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. 5 of the 7 alternatives on this chart score higher and start lower: Kinsta, Flywheel, Pressable, Liquid Web and Rocket.net.
SiteGround and WPX start lower without scoring higher.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
How each one differs from WP Engine
- Free trial · from $30/mo
Kinsta
Managed WordPress hosting priced by sites, visits or bandwidth
- Kinsta starts at $30 per month for 1 site, billed annually ($35 billed monthly). WP Engine starts at $35 per month for 1 site, billed monthly; $336 for a first year billed yearly.
- Kinsta also covers malware protection.
Suits: Business sites that have outgrown shared hosting
- From $25/mo
Flywheel
Managed WordPress hosting for designers, freelancers and agencies
- Flywheel starts at $25 per month for 1 site, billed annually ($30 billed monthly). WP Engine starts at $35 per month for 1 site, billed monthly; $336 for a first year billed yearly.
- Flywheel also covers malware protection.
Suits: Designers and freelancers who build WordPress sites for clients
- Free trial
Cloudways
Managed cloud hosting on DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS or Google
- Cloudways also covers malware protection.
- WP Engine also covers managed WordPress.
Suits: Sites that have outgrown shared hosting but do not want to run a server
- From $14.99/mo
SiteGround
Shared and WordPress hosting on Google Cloud with its own Site Tools
- SiteGround starts at $14.99 per month prepaid for 24 months; 12 months is $2.99 a month in year one. WP Engine starts at $35 per month for 1 site, billed monthly; $336 for a first year billed yearly.
- SiteGround also covers malware protection.
Suits: WordPress sites that want daily backups and staging without plugins
- From $20.83/mo
Pressable
Managed WordPress hosting from Automattic, built on its WP Cloud
- Pressable starts at $20.83 per month for 1 site, billed annually ($25 billed monthly). WP Engine starts at $35 per month for 1 site, billed monthly; $336 for a first year billed yearly.
- Pressable also covers malware protection.
Suits: Agencies hosting many client WordPress sites under one account
- From $17/mo
Liquid Web
Managed WordPress, VPS and dedicated server hosting for businesses
- Liquid Web starts at $17 per month (self-managed VPS); managed WordPress $17.10 a month, billed annually. WP Engine starts at $35 per month for 1 site, billed monthly; $336 for a first year billed yearly.
- Liquid Web also covers malware protection.
Suits: Businesses that expect to move from WordPress hosting to their own server
- Paid
Nexcess
Managed cloud hosting for WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento and VPS
- Nexcess also covers malware protection.
Suits: Stores that need PCI-ready hosting for WooCommerce or Magento
- From $25/mo
Rocket.net
Managed WordPress hosting served through Cloudflare Enterprise
- Rocket.net starts at $25 per month for 1 site, billed annually ($30 monthly, first month $1). WP Engine starts at $35 per month for 1 site, billed monthly; $336 for a first year billed yearly.
- Rocket.net also covers malware protection.
Suits: WordPress sites with traffic spread across many countries
- From $11.99/mo
WPX
Managed WordPress hosting with its own CDN and hands-on support
- WPX starts at $11.99 per month for 1 site, prepaid for 5 years ($17.99 billed monthly). WP Engine starts at $35 per month for 1 site, billed monthly; $336 for a first year billed yearly.
- WPX also covers malware protection.
Suits: WordPress site owners who want migrations and fixes done for them
Limits worth knowing in WP Engine
- Yearly billing is a first-year promotion for new Essential customers ($336 for one site); the page says renewal pricing is subject to change and does not state it.
- Essential runs on shared servers; isolated resources and the 99.99% uptime SLA start with Business at $400 a month, sold through sales.
- AI plugin updates, uptime monitoring, NitroPack page-speed tuning and the managed firewall are paid add-ons on Essential.
- Plans are sized by estimated monthly visits, storage and bandwidth, and overage charges may apply.
Common questions
What are the alternatives to WP Engine?
The alternatives to WP Engine in this directory are Kinsta, Flywheel, Cloudways, SiteGround, Pressable, Liquid Web, Nexcess, Rocket.net and WPX. Each one has a side-by-side comparison with WP Engine.
Is there a free alternative to WP Engine?
None of the alternatives listed here has a free plan. Kinsta and Cloudways offer a free trial.
When were these prices checked?
Every listing on this page was checked on Oct 17, 2026, against the pages it cites. Vendors change prices without notice, so confirm on their site before you buy.