How to Install SSL Certificates on WP Engine
Published by WP EngineWatch on YouTube
Updated Oct 5, 2026
Web Hosting
WP Engine
Managed WordPress hosting priced by sites and monthly visits
From $28/mo
WP Engine at a glance
from our research
US managed WordPress host for businesses and agencies, sold as Essential, Core and Enterprise plans
Essential is priced in four steps by sites and visits, from 1 site and 25,000 visits to 30 sites and 400,000
Essential runs on shared resources with no SLA; isolated resources and a 99.99% uptime SLA start on Core
Essential, 1 site: $35 a month billed monthly; annual is $28 a month in year one, renewal price unpublished
Overview
What is WP Engine?
WP Engine is a managed WordPress hosting company founded in 2010 in the United States. Its hosting platform is sold as three plans, Essential, Core and Enterprise, and it also sells a headless platform, an ecommerce solution and a newsroom platform, along with separately sold tools such as Advanced Custom Fields, WP Migrate and NitroPack.
Essential is bought by capacity. A buyer picks one of four steps: 1 site and 25,000 visits a month, up to 3 sites and 75,000 visits, up to 10 sites and 100,000 visits, or up to 30 sites and 400,000 visits, with 10 to 50 GB of storage and 75 GB of bandwidth. WP Engine calls the visit figures estimates, and more sites can be added to a plan. Every plan includes SSL and SSH access, one-click staging and development environments, automatic and on-demand backups, the EverCache caching layer, a global CDN, automated WordPress and PHP updates, security patching, plugin risk scans, Layer 3 and 4 DDoS protection and transferable sites. Essential runs on shared resources and moves sites in with a free automated migration plugin. Core moves to isolated resources with managed migrations and a 99.99% uptime SLA, and Enterprise adds SOC 2 Type II compliance and 1-minute target response times.
Essential is bought online and billed monthly or annually. Core and Enterprise are sold through WP Engine's sales team, and add-ons such as uptime monitoring, a managed web application firewall and AI-powered plugin and theme updates are priced separately.
Our verdict on WP Engine
Updated Oct 5, 2026Pricing checked Oct 5, 2026
WP Engine fits businesses and agencies that want WordPress maintained for them. WordPress and PHP updates, backups, caching and security patching run on every plan, staging is one click away, and plugin risk scans are included. The toolset is the same across plans, so a one-site business gets the same staging, backups and CDN as a 30-site agency.
The billing model needs a closer look. Essential is metered by sites and estimated monthly visits, and WP Engine's plans page says overages may apply without listing the rates, so a traffic spike can change the bill. Essential also runs on shared resources with no SLA. Isolated resources and the 99.99% uptime guarantee start on Core, which is sold through sales from $400 a month, and the plans page lists no free trial.
For one site, Essential costs $35 a month billed monthly, covering up to 25,000 visits, 10 GB of storage and 75 GB of bandwidth. Annual billing takes 20% off the first year, $28 a month paid as $336 upfront, but WP Engine doesn't publish the renewal price and says renewal pricing is subject to change, so the $35 monthly rate is the safer figure to budget on. Three sites cost $65 a month, ten $130 and thirty $330, each billed monthly, and an extra site costs $20 a month. That's more per site than a shared host charges, and the difference pays for managed updates, staging and support rather than more storage.
Choose WP Engine for business WordPress sites with predictable traffic, where someone else should handle updates and backups. Developers who want to size their own server can run unlimited sites with no visit limit on a 2 GB DigitalOcean server at Cloudways for $28 a month, billed hourly. A small business on a tighter budget gets daily backups, staging and unlimited websites on SiteGround's GrowBig, which renews at $29.99 a month.
Written by Lokesh Kapoor
Pros & cons
WP Engine pros and cons
What it does well
- Every plan includes one-click staging, automatic and on-demand backups and a global CDN
- WordPress and PHP updates, security patching and plugin risk scans are automated
- Transferable sites, 10 premium themes and Genesis Blocks come with every plan
- An Essential plan can add sites beyond its allowance at $20 a month each
Where it falls short
- Annual billing's 20% discount covers year one; WP Engine doesn't publish the renewal price
- Visit allowances are estimates, and the plans page lists no overage rates
- No SLA on Essential; Core, with isolated resources, starts at $400 a month via sales
Editor's assessment from vendor documentation and published pricing
Pricing
WP Engine pricing
WP Engine's paid plans start at $28/month, above the $4.99 median across the 5 tools in our Web Hosting ranking.
Essential 1 site
$28/mo
per month, 1 site, 25,000 visits
or $35/mo billed monthly
- 1 site
- 25,000 visits a month
- 10 GB storage
- 75 GB bandwidth
- 24/7 technical support
Usage: First-year price, billed $336 upfront; the page doesn't state the renewal price ('Product renewal pricing subject to change'). Visit counts are estimates, and the page says overages may apply.
Essential 3 sites
$52/mo
per month, up to 3 sites, 75,000 visits
or $65/mo billed monthly
- Up to 3 sites
- 75,000 visits a month
- 15 GB storage
- 75 GB bandwidth
- 24/7 technical support
Usage: First-year price, billed $624 upfront; the page doesn't state the renewal price ('Product renewal pricing subject to change'). Visit counts are estimates, and the page says overages may apply.
Essential 10 sites
$104/mo
per month, up to 10 sites, 100,000 visits
or $130/mo billed monthly
- Up to 10 sites
- 100,000 visits a month
- 20 GB storage
- 75 GB bandwidth
- 24/7 technical support
Usage: First-year price, billed $1,248 upfront; the page doesn't state the renewal price ('Product renewal pricing subject to change'). Visit counts are estimates, and the page says overages may apply.
Essential 30 sites
$264/mo
per month, up to 30 sites, 400,000 visits
or $330/mo billed monthly
- Up to 30 sites
- 400,000 visits a month
- 50 GB storage
- 75 GB bandwidth
- 24/7 technical support
Usage: First-year price, billed $3,168 upfront; the page doesn't state the renewal price ('Product renewal pricing subject to change'). Visit counts are estimates, and the page says overages may apply.
Core
$400/mo
per month, starting price
- 30 to 50 sites
- 400,000 to 800,000 visits a month
- 50 GB to 2 TB storage
- 550 GB bandwidth
- Isolated resources, 99.99% uptime guarantee
Usage: Starting price; the plan is bought through sales ('Get in touch'). Visit figures are estimates and traffic spikes are handled by talking to sales.
Enterprise
Custom
Tailored pricing for larger teams
- 50+ sites and 800,000+ visits a month
- 2 TB+ storage
- SOC 2 Type II compliance
- 1-minute target response times
Checked against WP Engine, Inc.'s pricing page on October 5, 2026 · see the full breakdown
Capabilities
WP Engine features
Checked against the same feature list as every other tool in its category.
Platform
- Included:Agency & white-label toolsClient billing, transferable sites and branded reporting for agencies.
Performance
- Included:Built-in CDNGlobal content delivery included rather than bought separately.
- Included:Free SSL certificatesAutomatic HTTPS certificates issued and renewed at no cost.
- Included:HTTP/3 and modern PHPCurrent protocol and runtime versions rather than legacy defaults.
- Included:NVMe SSD storageFast NVMe drives rather than older SATA SSDs or spinning disks.
- Included:Server-level cachingCaching at the server rather than relying on a plugin.
Management
- Included:Automated daily backupsAutomatic daily backups with self-service restore.
- Not included:Choice of cloud providerPick the underlying infrastructure, such as AWS, Google Cloud or DigitalOcean.
- Included:Free site migrationThe host moves your existing site across at no charge.Managed migration on Core; plugin on Essential
- Included:Git deployment & SSHDeploy from a repository and access the server over SSH.
- Included:Staging environmentsOne-click copy of the live site for safe testing, with a push to production.
Support & Reliability
- Included:24/7 human supportRound-the-clock access to a person rather than a documentation search.
- Included:Managed security & WAFFirewall, malware scanning and patching handled by the host.
- Included:Uptime SLAA contractual uptime guarantee with credits when it is missed.Core plans and up
Ecosystem
WP Engine integrations
- WordPress
- WooCommerce
- Cloudflare
- Git
- New Relic
Videos
Watch WP Engine in action
Product walkthroughs from WP Engine's own YouTube channel.
How to Update WP Engine Plugins & Themes For Non-WP Engine Hosted Sites
Published by WP EngineWatch on YouTube
Alternatives
Top WP Engine alternatives
Tools that do the same job, from the same category.
Cloudways
Best for developers and agencies that want managed servers on a cloud provider they pick
From $14/mo
SiteGround
Best for small businesses that want daily backups and email on every shared plan
From $3.99/mo
Hostinger
Best for bloggers and small businesses running several WordPress sites on a small budget
From $3.99/mo
Fit check
Will WP Engine fit your team?
Support
- Email support
- Live chat
- Phone support
- Knowledge base
Training
- Live online
- Webinars
- Documentation
- Video tutorials
Deployment
- Web
Typical users
- Small businesses
- Mid-size companies
- Enterprises
FAQs
WP Engine FAQs
Written by our editorial team.
How much does WP Engine cost?
WP Engine's Essential plan costs $35 a month, billed monthly, for 1 site and about 25,000 visits a month. Larger steps cost $65 for up to 3 sites and 75,000 visits, $130 for up to 10 sites and 100,000 visits, and $330 for up to 30 sites and 400,000 visits. Annual billing is 20% lower for the first year, from $28 a month, and the renewal price isn't published. Core starts at $400 a month through sales. See WP Engine pricing.
What happens if you go over WP Engine's visit limit?
WP Engine says its visit numbers are estimates and that overages may apply, but its plans page doesn't list the overage rates. It asks owners of dynamic sites, or sites with traffic spikes, to get in touch with sales. Essential's steps run from 25,000 to 400,000 visits a month and Core covers 400,000 to 800,000, so a site that regularly passes its step's estimate should plan for the next step up.
What's the difference between WP Engine Essential and Core?
Resources, support and the uptime guarantee. Essential runs on shared resources with 24/7 technical support, a free automated migration plugin and no SLA, for 1 to 30 sites. Core runs on isolated resources with managed migration services and a 99.99% uptime SLA, for 30 to 50 sites, 400,000 to 800,000 visits a month, 50 GB to 2 TB of storage and 550 GB of bandwidth. Essential is bought online; Core starts at $400 a month through sales.
Does WP Engine include staging and backups?
Yes, on every plan. Each one includes one-click staging and development environments, automatic and on-demand backups, the EverCache caching layer and a global CDN. WP Engine also handles WordPress and PHP updates, security patching, plugin risk scans and Layer 3 and 4 DDoS protection. Uptime monitoring, a managed web application firewall and AI-powered plugin and theme updates are add-ons, with one AI updates license included on Core and Enterprise.
How does WP Engine compare with Cloudways?
They charge for different things. WP Engine prices Essential by sites and estimated visits, from $35 a month billed monthly for 1 site, with a CDN, staging and backups included. Cloudways bills a server you size yourself by the hour, from $14 a month for a 1 GB DigitalOcean server that can run unlimited sites with no visit limit, and its Cloudflare CDN is an add-on on those servers. See WP Engine vs Cloudways.
Sources & methodology
Product details come from WP Engine, Inc.'s public website and documentation (United States). Every plan and price was checked against the vendor's pricing page on October 5, 2026. We haven't tested this product hands-on; the verdict is a desk assessment. How we research and rank tools
- Founded 2010
- 1 language supported
- wpengine.com
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