When it comes to pricing, Bluehost and WP Engine occupy very different positions in the hosting market. Bluehost is designed for beginners and budget-conscious users, offering affordable plans with a range of complimentary features to help you get started. WP Engine, on the other hand, caters to professionals and businesses, providing high-performance managed WordPress hosting with advanced features at a noticeably higher price point.
So, is WP Engine worth the extra cost? Based on our testing, the answer is yes. WP Engine consistently outperforms Bluehost in key areas, including speed, reliability, support, and built-in WordPress tools. Its robust infrastructure and superior customer service justify the premium, especially for mission-critical or high-traffic websites.
That said, Bluehost isn’t without merit, particularly for users just starting out. However, its seemingly low entry price can be misleading. The platform is packed with upsells, hidden fees, and steep renewal rates that can quickly add up, diminishing its long-term value.
Despite WP Engine’s clear lead in most categories, Bluehost did manage to outshine it in a few specific areas, especially in terms of beginner-friendliness and ease of onboarding. If you’re still weighing your options, explore WP Engine’s standout features next, or continue reading for our detailed, side-by-side breakdown of both hosts.
1. Plans and Pricing
Bluehost vs WP Engine: Hosting Plans and Value Breakdown
Bluehost offers a wide variety of hosting types — including shared, VPS, dedicated, and managed WordPress hosting — making it a versatile choice for users at any stage. WP Engine, in contrast, focuses exclusively on managed WordPress hosting, delivering a platform purpose-built for speed, security, and scalability.
To ensure a fair comparison, we’ll focus specifically on the managed WordPress hosting plans from both providers.
WP Engine Hosting Plans
WP Engine provides four tiers of managed WordPress hosting:
- Managed Hosting – The entry-level option, offering shared resources and basic features.
- Managed Hosting Plus – Adds a plugin manager for better control and maintenance.
- Secure Hosting – Includes enhanced security with malware scanning, threat detection, and automated fixes.
- eCommerce Hosting – Tailored for WooCommerce, with optimized store performance and sales features.
Each tier is built for different needs, but all include WP Engine’s hallmark features: automatic backups, daily malware scans, a staging environment, and expert WordPress support.
Bluehost Managed WordPress Plans
Bluehost structures its managed WordPress plans into three tiers:
- Build – The entry-level plan, offering 20 GB storage, Jetpack free, and support for up to 50,000 monthly visitors.
- Grow – Adds Jetpack Premium, SEO tools, and higher performance resources.
- Scale – Includes Jetpack Pro, priority support, and advanced analytics.
At first glance, Bluehost’s Build plan offers more storage and higher traffic capacity than WP Engine’s entry plan — all at just over half the price.
Value Comparison
From a pricing standpoint, Bluehost appears to offer better upfront value, particularly in storage space and visitor limits. However, this advantage comes with caveats:
- Bluehost’s checkout process pre-selects several premium add-ons (such as SiteLock and CodeGuard), which can increase your total if you’re not paying close attention.
- Many of Bluehost’s features come with free trials that auto-renew, which can lead to unexpected charges.
Meanwhile, WP Engine provides greater transparency, includes high-value tools out of the box, and avoids the upsell-heavy checkout flow.
Verdict
If you’re on a budget and willing to manage the add-ons carefully, Bluehost’s Build plan can offer solid value with generous limits. But if you’re looking for a cleaner, more powerful managed hosting experience with enterprise-grade tools and support, WP Engine is well worth the investment.
2. Features
WP Engine Offers More Exciting Features for WordPress
When it comes to features, the gap between Bluehost and WP Engine becomes increasingly clear — especially if you’re looking for true managed WordPress hosting.
At first glance, Bluehost offers a few appealing bonuses — such as a free domain for one year, more generous storage limits, and access to Jetpack on mid-to-high-tier plans. However, once you dig into the details, it becomes evident that Bluehost’s managed WordPress hosting lacks the depth and polish you’d expect from a truly managed service.
Plugin Management & Updates
One of the standout features of WP Engine’s Managed Hosting Plus and Secure Hosting plans is the Smart Plugin Manager. This tool automatically tests plugin updates using AI before applying them. If an issue is detected, the update is skipped to prevent site downtime. This proactive automation is exactly what distinguishes premium WordPress hosting from basic plans.
Bluehost, in contrast, offers only automatic core updates — no plugin management, no AI-assisted testing, and no rollback tools if something goes wrong. For users managing multiple plugins (which is common), this limitation can quickly become a hassle.
Backup & Restore Functionality
Both hosts provide automatic daily backups, but there’s a notable difference in flexibility:
- WP Engine allows on-demand backups at any time, and users can restore from up to 40 previous backups with just a few clicks.
- Bluehost restricts on-demand backups to its Scale plan, and even then, the experience is less seamless.
This backup flexibility gives WP Engine users far more control — a must-have for developers, eCommerce store owners, and high-traffic publishers.
Side-by-Side Feature Breakdown
| Feature | Bluehost | WP Engine |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting Types | Shared, VPS, Dedicated, Managed WP | Managed WordPress only |
| Free Domain Name | ✔ First year included | ✘ |
| Free SSL Certificate | ✔ Included on all plans | ✔ Included on all plans |
| Number of Websites | 1 – Unlimited (based on plan) | 1 – Unlimited (based on plan) |
| Storage | 20 GB – Unlimited | 10 GB – 500 GB |
| Bandwidth | Unmetered | 50 GB – 500 GB/month (depending on plan) |
| Control Panel | cPanel | Custom WP Engine Dashboard |
| Free CDN | ✔ | ✔ |
| Managed WordPress Tools | Daily backups, core updates, malware scans, Jetpack, SEO tools, staging (Grow/Scale only) | Daily + on-demand backups, core & plugin updates, staging, Smart Plugin Manager, 10 premium themes |
| Money-Back Guarantee | 30 days | 60 days (on most plans) |
Final Verdict
While Bluehost may offer more storage and a lower starting price, the feature set quickly feels shallow once you begin to scale or manage more complex WordPress environments. From plugin management to backup control and WordPress-specific tooling, WP Engine clearly offers a more robust and thoughtful hosting experience.
So if you’re serious about WordPress performance, reliability, and automation, WP Engine is the clear winner — even if it costs a bit more. For casual users or those just getting started, Bluehost can serve as an entry point, but power users will outgrow it quickly.
3. Performance
WP Engine Guarantees Reliable Uptime, but Bluehost Offers No Promises
While Bluehost doesn’t specify the location of its data centers, WP Engine is much more forthcoming with this information. It offers multiple data centers across North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania, covering a substantial portion of the globe.
Both hosts include a free basic CDN regardless of the plan you choose, along with caching technology. WP Engine uses a proprietary caching solution named “EverCache,” which automatically caches all the static content on your site.
Bluehost also includes a proprietary caching system along with the free JetPack plugin, which comes with image CDN and compression. If you upgrade to the Grow and Scale plans, you’ll also have video compression available. Overall, both hosts offer a similar degree of performance optimization features.
However, reliability is a different story. WP Engine offers a strong 99.95% uptime guarantee, with compensation in the form of service credits if this promise is not met. As for Bluehost, it doesn’t offer any form of legal uptime guarantee. If your site goes down for a few hours, or even a whole day, you won’t be compensated for this downtime.
For this reason, I’d say WP Engine is the safer choice. It’s the more trustworthy option when it comes to uptime. For more information, check out our WP Engine review.
Learn More About WP Engine’s Infrastructure >>
4. Security
Bluehost Features a Free Security Suite, While WP Engine Charges a Premium
This is where WP Engine’s performance becomes somewhat lackluster. As previously noted, WP Engine offers a hosting tier called Secure Hosting. This branding choice might not be ideal, as it indirectly suggests potential insecurity with other tiers, a notion that could be somewhat accurate.
WP Engine’s Secure Hosting plans use the Global Edge Security solution. This includes DDoS attack mitigation, along with a managed web application firewall to protect against hacks and malware. This is nice, but without investing more money for this level of security, WP Engine will only protect your site with a basic server-level firewall.
As for Bluehost, it includes a comprehensive security solution with all managed WordPress plans. SiteLock automatically scans for vulnerabilities and patches them. You also get automatic malware removal, a web application firewall, and an email alert service to notify you of any suspicious activity.
Bluehost is certainly the more secure option, and you won’t even need to pay a penny extra.
5. Support
Bluehost Drags Out Conversations with Needless Upsells, WP Engine Offers Fast Responses
Bluehost offers 24/7 live chat and phone support for every plan, while WP Engine only offers 24/7 live chat as standard. WP Engine’s phone support is only available for more expensive plans, which is disappointing. Setting this aside, I decided to try out the live chat support with some basic questions.
I reached out to the Bluehost support team and was pleasantly surprised by their quick initial response time. Upon entering a brief description of my issue, I instantly connected with an agent.
Sadly, this responsiveness didn’t continue into the rest of the conversation. I found myself waiting 1-2 minutes between each response. It doesn’t sound like much, but with a few questions and some back and forth, the chat lasted 38 minutes – much longer than it should have been.
The agent was eager to help, but they didn’t seem too technically informed. Additionally, the agent attempted to upsell me to a higher performance plan after I enquired about performance in Asia. They did state that they thought the basic plan would be enough for my needs, but it still felt rather pushy.
As for WP Engine’s live chat, I found it to be a much faster experience. Response times were prompt from start to finish – though sometimes, it was a little too quick. Some of my questions were met with a simple “yes” or “no” response, which wasn’t too helpful.
On multiple occasions, I found myself having to nudge the agent for further details. I got satisfactory responses when I did, but it still would’ve been nice to receive comprehensive answers the first time around. Unlike Bluehost, there were no attempts to upsell when I asked about performance in Asia, which I appreciated.
Overall, I’d say WP Engine offers the superior support service, despite the lack of phone support in the basic plans.
See WP Engine’s Latest Deals >>
WP Engine Is the Superior WordPress Host
This was a surprisingly closer race than I first envisioned, but ultimately, I have to say that WP Engine is the better option of the two. WP Engine is more reliable and features a stronger level of management for WordPress. It also isn’t as eager to upsell at every turn, unlike Bluehost.
But is WP Engine the best host out there? I wouldn’t say that. Some hosts, such as Hostinger, offer comparable performance and features at much lower prices. In fact, Hostinger is several times cheaper than Bluehost.
Bluehost
WP Engine
Plans and Pricing
Much cheaper overall, but has hidden charges and add-ons that automatically renew at high prices.
Several times more expensive than Bluehost, but no upsells or hidden charges.
Key Features
- Disappointing level of managed service, along with no on-demand backups – though you’ll get a free domain and more storage space
- Impressive AI-driven plugin management with a flexible backup solution
Performance
- Good performance with some proprietary caching tools but no uptime guarantee
- EverCache caching system offers a significant speed boost and there’s a 99.95% SLA uptime guarantee
Security
- Comprehensive SiteLock security solution included for free
- Little security features unless you pay extra for the Secure Hosting tier
Support
- Good initial response time for live chat but slow responses that drag out conversations
- Quicker responses for live chat that can sometimes lack detail, and no phone support for basic plans
FAQ
Is Hostinger better than WP Engine?
Hostinger offers managed WordPress plans at much cheaper prices than WP Engine, while still offering superior performance and reliability. While it lacks some advanced features offered by WP Engine, such as a plugin manager, it’s definitely worth considering. Hostinger is also very user-friendly, which is a plus if you’re new to website building.
Why is WP Engine so expensive?
A big part of WP Engine’s premium prices stems from its comprehensive managed service. Hosts that provide less management features tend to be much cheaper. If you’re looking for some great WP Engine introductory deals, take a look at our coupons and deals page.
Is Bluehost a good host for WordPress?
Bluehost isn’t a bad host for WordPress – but it doesn’t bring anything unique to the table. In terms of service, its managed service only covers the bare minimum, like core updates and automatic backups. You can find better hosts for managed WordPress in our list of the best web hosting services in 2025.
Is WP Engine fast?
WP Engine provided good speeds in our tests. However, it isn’t the fastest out there. Some managed WordPress hosts, such as WP Engine, managed to be even faster. That’s why it’s the top host in our list of best WordPress hosts in 2025.
