WP Engine vs Flywheel 2024: Which Is Best For WordPress?
Last Updated on: June 25, 2024 by Aishwar Babber | Fact Checked
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Are you trying to decide between WP Engine and Flywheel to host your WordPress website? Want to know which one is the better choice for managed WordPress hosting?
Flywheel and WP Engine, although separate companies are actually under the same ownership. Flywheel was acquired by WP Engine for an undisclosed amount, forging a closer connection between the two hosting providers.
While the acquisition has resulted in some standardization efforts, Flywheel and WP Engine continue to operate independently, maintaining distinct hosting infrastructures and offering different services.
Let’s read our article on WP Engine Vs Flywheel, where I have compared its features, pros and cons, pricing, and performance.
Bottom Line Upfront:
After using both WP Engine and Flywheelfor my website, I’ve come to a clear conclusion: both are fantastic, but for different reasons. WP Engine is my go-to for its unbeatable performance and reliability.
It’s like having a supercharged engine for your website, ensuring everything runs smoothly and quickly, which I highly recommendfor those who prioritize speed and stability.
On the flip side, Flywheel has won me over with its user-friendly approach and creative-friendly tools, making it a breeze for managing websites, especially if you’re into design.
Their support team is also top-notch, making you feel supported every step of the way. So, depending on what you value most for your site – sheer performance or ease of use and creative features – both WP Engine and Flywheel are excellent choices that I highly recommend.
WP Engine is a hosting service I can recommend for one primary reason: it is only for WordPress users. If you like WordPress, keep reading! If not, you should consider one of our other recommendations.
WP Engine is an excellent choice if you value your WordPress site’s stability, scalability, loading time, and uptime enough to spend upwards of $20 per month on it. Making a convincing case for the opposite would take a lot of work.
Flywheel takes an unusual approach to web hosting by providing each client with a custom-tailored, WordPress-optimized cloud environment.
The company completely rebuilt its infrastructure, collaborating with Google Cloud Platform to provide the high-availability storage and dedicated resources required to support high-traffic locations.
Flywheel provides single-site or bulk hosting plans based on the number of installations permitted by WordPress.
For new customers who are used to seeing shared hosting, unlimited websites, and prices under $5 per month, the $13 monthly fee for the most accessible single-site plan may appear steep.
On the other hand, Flywheel is an excellent deal for more discerning, tasteful developers and designers due to the additional infrastructure, resources, and managed support.
Flywheel not only offers a more affordable entry-level plan but also provides better overall value for your money.
Both WP Engine and Flywheel have very similar services but at different rates. While plans for WP Engine start at $29 a month, Flywheel offers an entry-level offer for people who want to test the service. Pricing for the Flywheel starts at just $14 a month.
For the same price, both have different features and benefits to offer. These two plans only allow for one WordPress account. Nevertheless, WP Engine allows you to add additional sites to your Plans for only $14.99 per domain.
If you want WordPress hosting for over 30 websites with many visitors, you can create a custom plan with either Flywheel or WP Engine.
Both services have clear pricing, and you can buy add-ons if needed, but they won’t be added to your order without your consent, unlike other hosting providers.
WP Engine’s Features Are Impressive, and Flywheel Isn’t Far Behind
When selecting a managed WordPress host, there are numerous apps to consider. One aspect of this is daily backups. All of these web hosts offer free backups of your websites.
Google prefers to view HTTPS-secured websites. And if you’ve ever tried to install an SSL certificate on your website, you know how difficult it can be. WP Engine and Flywheel provide a free Let’s Encrypt SSL Certificate that you can activate with a single click.
WP Engine Features
WP Engine provides excellent support and service, making it one of the industry’s top web hosts.
They have received three Stevie Awards for customer service. They provide Evercache, a premium caching service designed to improve the performance of your WordPress website.
Installing a WordPress theme and getting a site up and running was challenging for beginners.
WP Engine’s advanced features, such as single-click staging areas for development, Git integration, multiple server locations, CDN compatibility, and a slew of other perks, are unrivaled, in my opinion.
Such features make the monthly price worthwhile compared to what the more economically competitive hosts sell.
Enterprise-level WordPress hosting
Built-in caching and staging
Unlimited data transfer
Daily backups and 1-click restore
Flywheel Features
Like WP Engine, Flywheel provides caching for all your WordPress pages, cutting loading time in half. They provide blueprints that you can use to launch a template-based website with a single click.
One thing I like about Flywheel is that they never overcharge you for disk space or bandwidth.
Flywheel begins single-site hosting plans with 5 GB of storage and 250 GB of bandwidth and a free site migration and SSL certificate. Traffic is restricted to the most basic package, which includes 25,000 monthly visits.
Google Cloud infrastructure optimized for WordPress
Auto-healing and instant-scaling technologies are included in all plans.
All plans include complimentary CDN and staging environments.
Resellers can benefit from secure logins and simple billing transfers.
Using a customized dashboard, you can streamline account management.
WP Engine vs Flywheel: Dashboard and Interface
Both WP Engine and Flywheel offer modern, intuitive, and straightforward dashboards. However, I would give WP Engine a slight advantage as it is just a tad easier to use.
WP Engine and Flywheel have unique custom dashboards that serve as both hosting management and site control panels. There is a similarity in how both providers use their dashboards for these purposes.
WP Engine’s control panel is comprehensive and user-friendly, making it easy to navigate. The dashboard is neatly organized, with essential features accessible through the left-side menu, including tools, user management, and billing.
You’ll find various analytics on the right, such as the number of sites you own, storage usage, and website visits.
Once you select a site to manage, you’ll see three environments (Production, Staging, and Development) slightly to the right of the account management menu.
This is where you can configure your site’s settings. Each environment has an identical menu with options like SSL, Domains, CDN, and more, all managed independently.
Flywheel also integrates its dashboard and control panel into a single interface. However, each website can be managed separately with its assigned tools.
Performance & Uptime: WP Engine vs. Flywheel
Increasing a half-second delay in your website’s pace will lead to significant drops in your conversion rates and your search engine rankings. Search Engines like Google tend to view websites, providing a positive user experience.
Uptime
WP Engine
WP Engine has an excellent reputation for managed WordPress hosting. To maintain its credibility, WP Engine strives to keep its servers operational at least 99.9% of the time. If they fail to keep your site up for 99.95 percent of the time, they will credit you with 5% of your plan fee.
Flywheel
Unlike WP Engine, Flywheel does not provide an SLA (Service Level Agreement), so you will not receive any free credit if your site goes down. Like WP Engine, Flywheel has a reputation to uphold and maintains a 99.9 percent uptime.
Loading Speed and CDN
That was my first surprise with Flywheel. I didn’t expect any difference in loading times, primarily since both hosting companies use MaxCDN for global caching.
I ran some tests with Pingdom, and the result was clear: Flywheel instantly doubled our website’s load time.
The results could have been more apparent when I used similar testing methods, but WP Engine remained the winner.
Development
If you’re hosting only a few personal sites, the features discussed in this section may not be very important. If you frequently build websites, especially for clients, you’ll notice a few significant distinctions here.
To begin with, both hosts now offer integration with the Local tool for local WordPress development and deployment. Previously, this tool was exclusively associated with Flywheel and carried its branding. However, after the acquisition, WP Engine rebranded it as a standalone tool that seamlessly integrates with Flywheel and WP Engine.
Both hosts allow you to create predefined sets of themes and plugins, which can be swiftly installed when setting up a new WordPress site. Flywheel refers to these as ‘Blueprints,’ while WP Engine maintains the term ‘templates.’
Security: WP Engine vs Flywheel
Both hosting providers offer free advanced security tools, but Flywheel provides you with a more extensive range of security features at no extra cost.
Both hosts automatically create daily backups of your website. If something goes wrong or your site is affected by a malicious attack, you can easily restore it to a previous version with just a few clicks.
Additionally, WP Engine includes a proprietary firewall, a malware scanner, and protection against brute-force attacks on all plans.
They also restrict plugins that pose security risks and employ disk write protection to prevent the insertion of malicious code into the file system. However, it’s important to note that some security features may come at an extra cost with WP Engine.
On the other hand, Flywheel ensures that your data is encrypted while in transit and when it’s stored. They also offer DDoS protection and will clean up any malware from your website if it gets hacked.
WP Engine, in contrast, charges extra for this malware cleanup service.
Support: WP Engine Vs Flywheel
Both provide round-the-clock customer support, but WP Engine offers a more extensive knowledge base.
WP Engine Support
I contacted WP Engine’s support team to inquire about their 60-day risk-free trial. The support staff at WP Engine were not only knowledgeable but also highly professional, perhaps a bit too much so.
There are prompts for the new customer, which I liked.
However, in all fairness, the agent promptly addressed my query. The response was straightforward and filled with helpful information. Moreover, I didn’t have to wait long to get connected or receive replies; the responses were almost immediate.
That’s pretty much all I could have hoped for regarding support.
FlyWheel Support
On the other hand, the flywheel does not provide 24/7 live chat, which is a concern if you are as far away as you are from the Texas time zone.
But even though I expected the next morning to have an answer in our inbox, I was often disappointed. It had turnaround times of 24 hours + in a few instances. It’s best to get in touch with them via live chat!
Likewise, Flywheel’s support team responded almost instantly, and their agent demonstrated the same level of knowledge, helpfulness, and experience as WP Engine’s agent. However, the agent came across as friendlier and more eager to assist.
Furthermore, both providers offer a wealth of articles to assist you in creating and managing a WordPress website.
Winner: WP Engine
Which is the best WP Engine vs Flywheel?
When choosing a WordPress hosting provider, there are many factors to consider. Two of the most popular providers are WP Engine and Flywheel.
Both companies offer reliable service and many features, but some key differences set them apart. WP Engine is a managed WordPress hosting provider that handles your technical details.
This can be a great option if you’re unfamiliar with WordPress or don’t have time to manage your hosting. However, it also means you’ll have less control over your site and be subject to WP Engine’s policies and procedures.
Flywheel, on the other hand, is a self-managed WordPress hosting provider. This gives you more control over your site but also means you’ll need to be more hands-on when managing your hosting.
Ultimately, your best choice will depend on your needs and preferences. WP Engine is a good option if you want someone else to take care of the technical details. However, if you want more control over your site, Flywheel might be a better fit.
What does WP E
Verdict on WP Engine Vs Flywheel
If we have a comparison of WPEngine, they still end up being the clear winner, as they have such a great reputation. Flywheel is also a good company with much to offer, but once again, compared to the WP engine, they cannot keep up.
WP Engine has an average user rating of 9.9 out of 10, which is incredible. They are also rated very high by our web hosting experts who often recommend them to visitors.
In contrast, WP Engine is the winner, thanks to its great power, reliability, and other features!
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WP Engine vs Flywheel FAQs
Do WP Engine and Flywheel restrict plugin usage?
Both WP Engine and Flywheel have restrictions on certain plugin usage. Typically, these restrictions are in place for plugins that can either negatively impact performance or duplicate functionalities that the hosting providers already provide.
Do I get a personal email if I purchase hosting on WP Engine and Flywheel?
No, when you purchase hosting from WP Engine or Flywheel, you do not receive a personal email address as part of your hosting package. Neither WP Engine nor Flywheel includes email services in their plans. To set up email for your domain, you will need to use a third-party email provider.
Can I register a domain name with WP Engine and Flywheel?
No, you cannot register a domain name directly through WP Engine and Flywheel. To register a domain name, you will need to use a domain registrar such as GoDaddy, Bluehost, Hostinger, or another domain registration service.
Can I purchase shared hosting on WP Engine and Flywheel?
No, you cannot purchase shared hosting from either WP Engine or Flywheel. Instead, both providers offer cloud servers, which offer similar features to shared hosting but provide you with dedicated resources, offering better performance and scalability.
Is WP Engine a good host for WordPress?
Yes, WP Engine is indeed considered one of the top managed WordPress hosting services. Even with their WP Engine Startup plan, you can access valuable features like the Genesis Framework, a premium toolkit for designing and optimizing your WordPress website. Additionally, you receive more than 35 StudioPress themes, a free caching tool, integrated Content Delivery Network (CDN), an optimized WordPress installation, and automated updates and backups.
Is Flywheel cheaper than WP Engine?
Yes, Flywheel is generally considered more affordable than WP Engine. Flywheel offers competitive pricing with lower entry-level plans, making it a cost-effective choice for those looking for managed WordPress hosting.
More WP Engine comparisons you might want to read:
Hey there, I'm Aishwar! As an SEO Goon, I am obsessed with optimizing websites and driving organic traffic. With my strong technical SEO skills and deep understanding of search engine algorithms, I specialize in improving website performance, enhancing user experience, and boosting search rankings. I love unraveling the complexities of SEO and implementing strategies that help businesses achieve long-term success in the digital landscape. Let's collaborate to elevate your website's visibility and dominate the search results! You can follow my work at GizmoBase and you can find me on Linkedin, Instagram, & Facebook.
