Hostinger vs. WP Engine – Close Match, but Only One Winner [2024]

When you consider WordPress hosting plans of Hostinger and WP Engine, they may appear somewhat similar. But in reality, they aren’t. There’re differences that you need to know about to make an informed choice. I decided to help you by conducting an evaluation of both these providers based on multiple key parameters. The results showed Hostinger to be the undisputed winner.

Click here to check Hostinger’s latest deals1 or continue reading to know what makes Hostinger the winner in this Hostinger vs. WP Engine competition.

1. Plans and Pricing

Hostinger scores with its low-cost plans; WP Engine scores with its generous money-back guarantee

Hostinger offers a wide variety of hosting services – from shared and WordPress hosting to cloud hosting and VPS (Linux/Windows and Minecraft hosting). With WP Engine, you’ll get managed WordPress hosting plans and even custom enterprise solutions.

As expected with managed WordPress plans, WP Engine pricing is much more than Hostinger’s WordPress plans. Its starting plan costs almost 12 times Hostinger’s starting WordPress plan provided you opt for the longest term (annual for WP Engine that gives you 2 months’ free hosting and quadrennial for Hostinger). With monthly billing, WP Engine’s starting plan would cost 2.5 times of Hostinger’s (as Hostinger’s monthly prices are much steeper than what you’ll get with the longest 48-month term).

You can try Hostinger’s plans risk-free with its 30-day money-back guarantee. WP Engine offers a more generous 60-day money-back guarantee.

A wider range of plans to suit almost all hosting needs and costs that are budget-friendly help Hostinger race ahead in this round.

2. Features

Better resource allocations plus multiple beginner-friendly features give Hostinger an edge over WP Engine

With Hostinger’s WordPress plans, you’ll get LiteSpeed Enterprise servers and LSCWP plugin that will make your WordPress blog or website work 4X faster. Also, you’ll get a lifetime free SSL certificate, a free domain, SSD storage, daily/weekly automated backups, Cloudflare CDN, 1-click WordPress installer, a wide array of customizable themes and plugins, SSH access, Jetpack Plugin, Git, and WP-CLI.

With WP Engine, you’ll get Genesis Framework and 35+ StudioPress themes to build SEO websites quickly, development/staging/production environments, Evercache, LargeFS (Large Files System for a large amount of data storage and transfer), global CDN, nightly automated backups, and multiple paid add-ons like Smart Plugin Manager, Global Edge Security, Genesis Pro (for faster content creation with block-based page building tools), and GeoTarget (to deliver geographically targeted content). However, not having beginner-friendly features like domain registration and email could be inconvenient.

For a side-by-side comparison of these two providers, you can use the table below.

Better resource allocations and more beginner-friendly features help Hostinger win this round.

3. Performance

Hostinger’s performance is superb but WP Engine’s is almost equally good

From its 8 state-of-the-art datacenters located across continents to SSDs, LiteSpeed Enterprise servers, LSCache plugin, HTTP/2, and the latest versions of PHP, Hostinger does a lot to deliver enhanced performance to its users. WP Engine uses multi-datacenter clustered environments, Cloudflare, distributed global CDN, Evercache, and GeoTarget, and is PHP 7.4-ready to deliver enhanced performance.

4. Security

Hostinger offers multiple security features for free that WP Engine charges for

For Hostinger, your website’s security matters a lot. As a result, it uses multiple and robust security measures from SSL certificate, weekly/daily backups, two-factor authentication for clients, and auto-rotatable system passwords (Hashicorp Vault) to CDN, data redundancy with RAID-10, LVE containers that offer security advantages with account isolation, predictive monitoring of server, anti-DDoS protection by Wanguard, and Bitninja/Imunify360 (WAF).

WP Engine provides users with a range of services to enhance site security and management. These offerings include free and paid SSL options, as well as the paid Global Edge Security feature, which delivers advanced protection against DDoS attacks, a Web Application Firewall (WAF), Cloudflare CDN integration, and SSL/TLS at the network edge. Additionally, users can opt for the paid Smart Plugin Manager, which ensures automatic updates for WordPress plugins, streamlining the maintenance process.

Hostinger not only has a robust security system in place but even offers several free security features that are chargeable with WP Engine. As a result, Hostinger wins this round easily.

5. Support

Hostinger’s support rocks but WP Engine’s is sluggish

Hostinger offers 24/7 live chat, email, and ticket support (for logged-in users). You can even get help by being first on the waiting queue with its paid “Priority Support”. When I used Hostinger’s live chat to get answers to some pre-sales questions, I received quick replies.

WP Engine offers 24/7 support via phone, live chat, and tickets (for logged-in users). You could also use email to reach its billing and sales (7 am-7 pm CST) support. Since its live chat wasn’t available when I tried, I sent my pre-sales queries via email. However, I got a reply which didn’t answer my queries (would have been a one-line answer, at best, if they had indeed addressed my questions) but asked me to share my phone number instead to set up a call.

At Hostinger, a variety of tutorials, a blog, and a knowledgebase fulfill self-help responsibilities. WP Engine provides you with self-help tools such as a blog, informative articles featured on Torque and Velocitize (websites created by WP Engine), a Resource Center, a Solution Center, and a partner agency directory.

Thanks to its superb support, Hostinger scores an easy win in this round.

WP Engine Loses Out to Hostinger

WP Engine’s managed WordPress plans do offer quite a few useful features. Yet, the lack of domain name registration and email along with caps on data and visitors would make you question if it’s really worth it. In contrast, Hostinger scores well – not only in terms of offering more choices and variety in its hosting plans but even on key aspects like features, performance, pricing, security, and support. As a result, I would recommend you opt for Hostinger to meet your hosting requirements. Hostinger even scores some favorable points by featuring amongst the best web hosting services​.

Comparison Table

FAQ

Is ​Hostinger better than ​WP Engine?

Yes, it gives you better value for money with its better features, performance, pricing, security, and support. It’s also included amongst ​​the best web hosting services​.

Does WP Engine offer WordPress hosting?

​Yes, WP Engine offers 3 managed WordPress hosting plans along with a custom plan. But before you make a decision, I recommend you check the best managed WordPress hosting providers​.

Does WP Engine offer VPS hosting?

No, it doesn’t. But don’t worry as it isn’t the only hosting provider out there. You can check the best cheap VPS hosting services to get affordable and dependable VPS​.