Last Updated on: February 26, 2024 by Jitendra Vaswani | Fact Checked
Affiliate disclosure: In full transparency – some of the links on our website are affiliate links, if you use them to make a purchase we will earn a commission at no additional cost for you (none whatsoever!).
My WordPress journey has been a rollercoaster ride since I started. I have always been in a dilemma to choose the best WordPress hosting.
In my WP Engine vs Dreamhost comparison, I will talk about the key differences based on features, ease of use, speed, pricing, and other factors.
I’ll try to convince you to get the hosting service of my choice, but it all depends on you.
Bottom Line Upfront:
After personally testing both WP Engine and DreamHost  for my website needs, I’ve found that both have their unique strengths, making them winners in their own right.
WP Engine stands out for its exceptional WordPress-specific performance and security features, which I highly recommend for businesses looking for reliability and speed.
On the other hand, DreamHostshines with its affordability and user-friendly interface, making it an excellent choice for new website owners or those on a budget.
Both have provided me with great value, and I highly recommend them based on what you prioritize for your website.
WP Engine is one of the most well-run WordPress hosting providers. Uber, Asana, National Geographic, PBS, and MyFitnessPal are among their many clients.
You’ll get free premium access to 35+ StudioPress themes in addition to hosting WordPress. They also provide a suite of performance solutions and integration to help your business develop and grow.
DreamHost, formerly DreamPress, is better known today as a scalable service that allows users to manage their WordPress sites.
To ensure that site owners can benefit from these hosting services, they offer a simple pricing package with fantastic benefits such as caching, memory, and server robustness.
The technology developed behind the scenes is intended to bind various intertwined pieces into a single cohesive unit.
WP Engine is an enterprise-level hosting platform that makes WordPress publishing a breeze. They offer several features that help to speed up application delivery and site migration.
In addition, they’ve partnered with Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform to provide lightning-fast load times.
Let’s take a look at some of the unique features of WP Engine’s managed WordPress hosting platform:
Free access to 35+ premium StudioPress themes.
The 1-click tool simplifies staging, testing, and deployment.
Easily integrate with your favorite online apps.
With Google Analytics, you can get actionable insights about WordPress performance, content, and applications right from your WordPress admin.
DreamHost Features:
Compared to WP Engine, DreamHost is considered an entry-level hosting service with a more extensive user base.
Web hosting features that appeal to a large user base on the internet include unlimited bandwidth, a free domain name, website builders, a 1-click WordPress installer, and so on.
Here are the quick features of Dreamhost:
Custom control panel.
Award-winning support.
1-Click installer.
99.99% uptime guarantee.
Free SSL certificate.
Free domain.
Pre-installed WordPress.
Winner:Â WP Engine
Wp Engine vs Dreamhost: Ease of UseÂ
You won’t really know how user-friendly a platform is until you use it yourself. Since you can’t do so right now, here is a brief overview of the usability of both WP Engine and DreamHost.
WP Engine
WP Engine is a great choice if you want to handle the technicalities of the WordPress site. They set up your hosting in a way that works perfectly for WordPress sites. \
The important thing to note is that they don’t let you add extra performance plugins, such as caching or security ones, because those might clash with the features they already have.
The best part is that you’ll get every insight right into the dashboard.
DreamHost
Dreamhost differs from most web hosting providers in this aspect.
It has its control panel on the web, but they don’t use the popular cPanel that most hosting companies do. Their control panel is user-friendly, but if you’re used to the default cPanel, it might take some time to learn how to use it.
Winner:Â WP Engine
Dreamhost vs WP Engine: Performance and Speed Test
WpEngine
WP Engine, a managed WordPress hosting service, offers enterprise-level WordPress output for your site. Meanwhile, DreamHost guarantees its customers 100 percent uptime.
My team ran page speed and uptime tests on WP Engine vs. DreamHost to see if these hosting providers deliver on their promises.
The following are the tools we used to measure speed:
Pingdom
Load Impact
Bitcatcha
According to our Pingdom speed test, our WP Engine test site loaded in 582 ms, faster than 96 percent of all sites tested.
WP Engine’s EverCache® is like a secret tool that makes your WordPress website faster and better. It does this by storing your website’s stuff in a smart way, which can really make your website work a lot faster and smoother.
Dreamhost
Our DreamHost test site loaded in 445 ms, outperforming 97% of all sites tested. Following the Pingdom check, we used a Load Effect tool to see if the hosting servers could withstand a traffic surge.
We sent some virtual users to our sites and gradually increased the number of visitors to 100 to see how the servers would perform.
According to the observations, the number of live visitors to our WP Engine site had no adverse consequences. Similarly, our DreamHost site remained stable during the traffic surge check. The response time did not affect the number of live visitors.
Then, we ran a Bitcatcha test to see how our hosting servers performed worldwide in eight different geographical locations. Our WP Engine site received an A in our Bitcatcha test, while our DreamHost site received an A+.
DreamHost uses special fast drives, solid-state drives (SSDs), to store your website’s files. This makes your website work faster. They also have data centers all over the world. So, when someone visits your website, it’s shown from the data center that’s closest to them.
Winner:Â DreamHost
WP Engine Vs. DreamHost: PricingÂ
WP Engine Pricing
WP Engine is targeted primarily at different user groups, such as developers, advertisers, SMBs, agencies, and businesses. Compared to other popular managed WordPress hosting providers, such as Pagely, they offer competitive pricing.
Since DreamHost is targeted towards entry-level users, they decided to keep their pricing competitive. The introductory price for WordPress hosting shared by DreamHost begins at as low as $2.59 per month.
Their hosting price for WordPress-controlled starts at $16.95 per month. On the other side, pricing for the WP Engine starts at $28.
DreamHost has a 2-decade background in hosting services with a focus on highly functional websites for bloggers, developers, web designers, and online companies. It has a great community and support online, too.
WP Engine is a professionally controlled, stable, and reliable WordPress host with fantastic features, including automatic security updates, regular backups, one-click restore points, automatic caching + more
Founded in:
1997
2010
Types of Support:
Live Support, Chat
Phone, Live Support, Chat, Ticket
Data Center / Server Location:
Irvine, California, and Ashburn, Virginia
18 global server locations
Monthly Price:
From $8.95 per month
From $28.00 per month
Unlimited Data Transfer:
Yes
No
Unlimited Data Storage:
Yes
No
Unlimited Emails:
Yes
No
Host Multiple Domains:
Yes
Yes (except Personal Plan)
Hosting Control panel / Interface:
Dreamhost Control Panel
WP Engine Client Portal
Server Uptime Guarantee:
100.00%
99.90%
Money-Back Guarantee:
97 Days
60 Days
Dedicated Hosting Available:
Yes
Yes
Bonuses & Extras:
Private domain with WhoisPrivacy. Google Adwords Credit will keep up to $75. SSL Certificates are secure.
CDN (Content Delivery Network) is included in the enterprise and technical plans. EverCache technology accelerates page-load time: transferable Installs and Transfer Billing. Easy Let ’s The SSL Certificate Encrypt—page Tool Speed Tester.
WP Engine Pros & Cons
Pros:
WP Engine has an incredible server speed that guarantees 99.99% uptime.
Their support team is super responsive and comes with an extensive knowledge base.
There are over 20 different server locations to choose from.
It is easy to assign roles to team members.
Cons:
You will need to purchase an email service.
The hosting plans are not budget-friendly.
One of the huge cons is that you will be charged for the extra visitors.
Dreamhost Pros & Cons
Pros
Dreamhost is known for its excellent customer service and easy-to-use control panel.
They also offer a free domain name for life with every new account, which is a great perk for those who are looking to start a website.
Dreamhost is a great choice for those looking for an affordable, reliable web hosting provider.
It has the best uptime guarantee of 99.98%.
Cons
They do not offer a money-back guarantee.
Cloud hosting has certain limits.
WP Engine vs. DreamHost – Support and Documentation
WP Engine
WP Engine offers comprehensive support options for all their hosting plans. They provide 24/7 live chat support with all plans. As you move up to higher-tier plans, you can also access phone support.
The Custom plan even includes 24/7 ticket support, ensuring you get assistance when you need it.
WP Engine has a robust knowledge base that covers all aspects of building a website with its platform.
Dreamhost
On the other hand, DreamHost claims to offer 24/7 support, but the reality falls short.
They primarily provide support via email tickets, which can take nearly a day to resolve. Live chat support is available only from 5 am to 10 pm PST, seven days a week.
They do offer call-back requests, but these come with an extra cost per call or require a monthly subscription.
In terms of support, WP Engine appears to offer more reliable and accessible options across their hosting plans compared to DreamHost.
With DreamHost's DreamPress hosting, you get WordPress already set up for you. There is no need to do any extra work. If you pick Shared hosting, you can also have WordPress installed when you sign up. It's easy to get started either way.
Why is WP Engine so expensive?
WP Engine's performance is tough to match, and that's why people are willing to pay more for it. They promise that their servers will be up and running 99.95% of the time, which means there will be about four and a half hours of downtime in a year.
Does WP Engine use cPanel?
WP Engine specializes in managed WordPress hosting, so they don't offer the usual cPanel or Plesk control panels. Instead, they use their special control panel. It has a neat and easy-to-use design.
WP Engine is a managed WordPress hosting provider that offers a range of features specifically designed for WordPress users.
These include automatic updates, daily backups, and security features such as malware scanning. Dreamhost is a more traditional web hosting provider that offers a range of plans for different types of websites.
DreamHost is good for beginners, but WP Engine offers superior hosting, especially if you’re serious about your online business and can invest a bit more money.
What’s great about WP Engine is that it comes with tools that make it easy to make changes to your website and help it grow quickly. So, if you want top-notch hosting with performance and intelligence tools, WP Engine is the way to go.
Both providers offer great features for WordPress users, so it’s just a matter of deciding which one is right for you.
Jitendra Vaswani
Jitendra Vaswani is the founder of SchemaNinja WordPress Plugin, prior to SchemaNinja he is the founder of big internet marketing blog BloggersIdeas.com. He is successful online marketer & award winning digital marketing consultant. He has been featured on HuffingtonPost, BusinessWorld, YourStory, Payoneer, Lifehacker & other leading publication as a successful blogger & digital marketer.
Jitendra Vaswani is also a frequent speaker & having 8+ yrs experience of in Digital Marketing field. Check out his portfolio( jitendra.co). Find him on Twitter, & Facebook.
