Are you having trouble deciding between Kinsta vs. WP Engine to host your WordPress website? Both offer a high-quality and practical managed WordPress hosting solution with similar price points – so which one is right for you?
Take a read at this article as it has everything you need to know about Kinsta vs. WP Engine before you pull the trigger.
Kinsta vs. WP Engine – The Showdown
In order to help you reach a decision, we’re going to run a Kinsta vs. WP Engine comparison based on five key attributes, so let’s delve right in!
1. Web Host Features
Naturally, the first thing to cross anyone’s mind considering Kinsta vs. WP Engine is features – particularly important when choosing between two leading managed hosting providers.
Kinsta
The following features come standard with all of Kinsta’s plans:
- Centralized dashboard to let you review and fine-tune your website.Analytics to track key metrics like bandwidth usage and total number of visitors.
- A variety of security features, such as SSL support, uptime monitoring and firewalls.
- Developer tools support like Git, SSH and WP-CLI.
- Customizable multi-user features, allowing you to set different levels of access for team members.
- Daily website backups (with a paid option for more frequent backups).
- Very easy and straightforward staging options.
- Site migrations are free.
WP Engine
The following features are standard in all of WP Engine’s plans:
- Automatic WP update as and when they are rolled out.
- Security features like 2-factor account protection and managed threat mitigation.
- Page performance tool to let you monitor your website’s speed and other important metrics.
- Genesis Framework free access with 35+ themes built through it.
- Offsite backups on a daily basis.
- Multiple SSL certificates.
- Development and staging sites.
- Site migrations are free.
Who wins?
We’ll have to give it to Kinsta for features – it offers a slight edge, thanks to the extra developer tools, analytics features and security solution.
2. Web Host Performance
Right off the bat, WP Engine was slightly faster in performance tests. A slew of options to experiment with is always fantastic, but if your site runs poorly, they don’t mean didley squat! Luckily, both hosting providers come well-optimized out of the box, keeping the cogs and wheels running smoothly in your site.
Both hosting providers offer performance scaling options and provide access to a Content Delivery Network or CDN. Now, here’s the big question: are these optimizations actually beneficial?
When we took the average load times over a course of 6 months, which were measured using test sites hosted on both provider’s basic plan, here’s what we got:
With the testing location set to New York, for instance, Kinsta registered a time of 1.68 seconds while WP Engine registered 0.76 seconds. With the testing location set to Melbourne, Kinsta registered a time of 3.28 seconds while WP Engine registered 1.30 seconds.
Who wins?
Even though a 1-2 second response time difference may be negligible to most website owners, WP Engine stands out as the clear winner.
3. Web Host Uptime
When it comes to Kinsta vs. WP Engine hosting uptime, both WP hosting providers did great. In fact, according to Code In WP‘s Hosting Status Tool, they have both had a 100% uptime in the last 90 days.
Who wins?
Both hosts consistently register an uptime of over 99.99%, so it’s a tie!
4. Web Host Support
Now, let’s shift our attention to one very important attribute or metric for deciding between Kinsta vs. WP Engine: support.
If you think about it, the right WP hosting provider is responsible for managing your site’s upkeep, but even then, you may have questions you want to ask from time to time, or any kind of additional support. This is why quick and reliable access to support services is so important, so you can have the desired answers and knowledge right at your fingertips.
Luckily, both hosting solutions offer 24/7 support through a variety of channels, including live chat. Furthermore, both claim that they have an in-house team of highly knowledgeable WP experts who can address your platform-specific questions and queries.
So how do we accurately gauge this? According to Code In WP’s hosting survey (where over 8,900 respondents took part), they ran pop up on 3 of their sites, and here’s what their visitors said about Kinsta vs. WP Engine support:
- Kinsta’s overall support: 4.9 | WP-related support: 4.9
- WP Engine’s overall support: 4.7 | WP-specific support: 4.7
Who wins?
And that, ladies and gentlemen, will have to be another tie! Both providers demonstrated outstanding results when it comes to platform-specific support and general support. In fact, both providers ranked higher than any other managed hosting solution provider, so you’re in good hands, needless to say.
5. Web Host Pricing
No matter which hosting solution you choose, the pricing has to fit your budget, along with the features you specifically require. Even though Kinsta is a little cheaper from the outset, we need to consider a few things when it comes to Kinsta vs. WP Engine pricing:
Kinsta
Kinsta offers many plans – from single site with 20k visits @ $20/mo to 150 sites with 3M combined visits @ $1,500/mo. Naturally, the higher level plans pack a whole lot of extra features, but the good news is no matter which plan or tier you choose, the service remains consistent.
WP Engine
WP Engine’s plans are comparatively more straightforward, offering three primary tiers – plus a plan which you can custom-tailor to suit your business. The starter plans are about the same price as Kinsta’s, but you get more visits per month and storage for your money.
The features available with each tier are strikingly similar to Kinsta, however, you do get quite a few additional add-on options available only through a custom plan – which aren’t available with the former.
Who wins?
This would go to WP Engine – you’re getting a more affordable range of entry-plan options, and the feature set is practically the same as Kinsta.
Closing thoughts: which web host takes the win?
Ultimately, we feel both these WP managed hosting providers offer fantastic options – if you’re looking for the ultimate solution, we’re going to lean slightly towards Kinsta, namely because:
- Wider-ranging feature set, including many advanced tools to track site performance and engage in hands-on development.
- Brilliant customer support, including superb knowledge base on the WP platform.
- Highly affordable entry-level plans and great scalability when it comes to pricing, although WP Engine’s pricing may be better suited to some website owners.
All in all, both are an excellent choice – but if we had to pick just one from this entire Kinsta vs. WP Engine review – we would choose Kinsta due to its superb all around feature set, fantastic support and high scalability.