Why is it so hard to understand how to choose a web hosting service? Sometimes it seems like you need to have a degree in computer technology to parse the different plans. If you don't understand how different plans function with different website setups, you won't be able to find the one that's right for you.
WPEngine and Siteground are a good example. Both of these are WordPress website hosting services that share WordPress hosting features. But each company's pricing, data limits, user limits, and potential for growth targets a different kind of customer.
Each hosting service has three plans: one for start-ups, one for growing businesses, and one for large established enterprises. But each service has very different strengths and weaknesses.
I've broken down the elements of each plan so you can understand how they relate to your website management. From there, it'll be easier to tell which service suits your needs.
Overview of WPEngine and Siteground
Both hosting options come with the basic conveniences that are integrated into any Managed WordPress Hosting offering. You'll want this type of web hosting if you don't have a background in website building or online security.
Shared Features
Unique WPEngine Features
Unique Siteground Features
Hosting Plans and Prices
Each of these hosting companies have specialized their services to meet certain demographics. For SiteGround, the ideal clients are medium-sized businesses and bloggers. For WPEngine, the ideal client is any larger online presence looking for stable servers and easy traffic handling.
WPEngine
The base tier of the WPEngine hosting service is called the Startup plan. These are the specifications:
The Growth plan is for growing businesses:
The Scale plan is for larger businesses who need higher site limits and storage capacities to allow dynamic scaling:
Custom plans can be created for mission-critical websites. These have customized bandwidth and local storage options. All customized plans include 30 total sites and can handle millions of monthly website visits.
Siteground
Siteground's basic StartUp plan includes:
The GrowBig tier includes:
The most robust Siteground tier is called the GoGeek plan:
Feature Winners
Rather than one hosting service being superior to the other, each simply has different features that are prioritized. For this reason, I've broken down the winner for each feature when taking into account the different plan structures.
Let's get into what these statistics mean.
Optimized Client
WPEngine
WPEngine offers a premium service with low traffic interference. The company puts caps on server activity, which keeps servers from becoming overloaded and slowed. This means that the hosting can manage heavy traffic better than basic shared hosting programs.
Most large-scale business enterprises purchase private hosting instead of shared hosting. But shared hosting makes sense for growing and medium-sized e-commerce websites.
If you're a person who only manages a few larger WordPress sites, you need the hard storage space due to the amount of content offered to your consumers, and you need the affordability of shared hosting without the laggy drawbacks: That's why WPEngine exists.
Siteground
Siteground, on the other hand, aims toward the other most common type of shared hosting user. Individuals who use WordPress websites to save information, upload data, import and export files, store and edit content, and organize archives have different priorities.
If your website or websites aren't used for marketing so much as personal enjoyment and content sharing, shared hosting makes sense. When only you and a few peers will visit the site, and no revenue depends on its performance, poor performance during heavy server spikes isn't a huge concern.
Siteground users enjoy unlimited data streaming and unlimited WordPress sites. That means that if you only manage your websites for yourself, you have free rein to create the largest content database your heart desires.
Winner: Tie!
Both services tailor their limits toward hosting for very different website needs.
Customer Service and Support
WPEngine
Part of the premium WPEngine setup is access to increased customer support.
The company's website has dozens of easily-navigated articles and answered questions regarding how to use your hosting package.
In addition to providing support regarding the hosting service itself, the professionals also help with configuring basic WordPress elements, setting up your website, and seeing whether third party applications can be integrated.
There are live chat assistants and phone support available on a 24/7 basis.
Siteground
The service provides an artificial intelligence chatbot, automated responses, and pinned web page tips to help solve problems before you even reach out.
If you need more complex assistance, though, phone and live chat help are available 24/7. You can also submit complex helpdesk tickets to get a technician's help with any seemingly-impossible issues.
Winner: WPEngine
Both services excel in terms of support availability. But WPEngine has more ongoing help in terms of setup, advice, and helping you meet your outreach goals.
See Full Review of - WPEngine | SiteGround
Pros and Cons of WPEngine
Pros
Cons
Pros and Cons of Siteground
Pros
Cons
Final Thoughts: Which is Better?
WPEngine and Siteground provide the same security, convenience, and ease of use. They both include three main plans based on different stages of business growth, and they both have similar quality plan requirements for their price points.
If you're a business owner who runs aggressive online campaigns and needs to manage high consumer traffic flow, then you'll want to use WPEngine. The premium servers are more reliable, you get more storage space, and you have access to ongoing customer service.
The bandwidth and website restrictions shouldn't be an issue for businesses who run one large website for sales rather than data integration.
Siteground, on the other hand, prioritizes the opposite features. If you're using WordPress to manage archives, imported materials, data integration, blogs, created content, or any other bandwidth-related activity, you'll want this option.
The nice thing about Siteground is that the prices can be paid by an individual. Rather than using the hosting service as part of an online marketing suite, you'll use it as a data storage and backup center to keep your important things in one place.
