WP Engine Wins
Score Comparison
Criteria
WP Engine
HostGator
Overall Score
8.7
7.7
Performance
9.5
7.5
Features
9.0
8.0
Ease of Use
8.5
8.0
Pricing/Value
7.5
7.5
Support
9.0
7.0
Pricing & Features
Specification
WP Engine
HostGator
Starting Price
$20/mo
$2.75/mo
Pricing Model
Subscription
Subscription
Making Your Decision
When to Choose WP Engine
Serious WordPress sites and businesses that need enterprise-grade performance
WP Engine is the gold standard in managed WordPress hosting, offering unmatched performance, security, and WordPress-specific features for businesses where website quality is a priority.
Strengths
- Premium managed WordPress hosting with exceptional performance
- Automatic daily backups with one-click restore
- Built-in staging environments for safe testing
- Genesis Framework and StudioPress themes included ($500+ value)
Limitations
- Premium pricing makes it expensive for small sites
- Only supports WordPress (not general web hosting)
- Visit limits can restrict high-traffic sites
When to Choose HostGator
Budget-conscious users who need generous storage and bandwidth
HostGator offers solid value with unmetered resources and a generous money-back guarantee, though support quality has declined and the checkout experience includes many upsells.
Strengths
- Unmetered bandwidth and storage on most plans
- 45-day money-back guarantee (longer than industry standard)
- Free website builder with hundreds of templates
- Wide range of hosting options from shared to dedicated
Limitations
- Customer support quality has declined over the years
- Backup restoration costs extra on basic plans
- Many add-ons pushed during checkout process
