SiteGround offers affordable shared hosting starting at $2.99/month with broad compatibility for any website type, while WP Engine is a premium WordPress-only managed host starting at $20/month with superior performance optimization and enterprise support. SiteGround is better for budget-conscious beginners, while WP Engine excels for WordPress professionals requiring maximum uptime and speed.
SiteGround vs WP Engine — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Budget-friendly shared and cloud hosting supporting all major CMS platforms with excellent customer support.
Premium managed WordPress hosting with enterprise-grade performance, security, and 24/7 expert support.
Starting Price (Monthly). Uptime Guarantee. Free SSL Certificate. Free Daily Backups. WordPress-Only Focus. Page Load Speed (avg ms). CDN Included
Choose SiteGround if you need affordable hosting for multiple website types (WordPress, Drupal, Magento, custom apps) and can tolerate slightly slower performance. Choose WP Engine if you run WordPress exclusively and prioritize enterprise-grade speed, security, and uptime with dedicated WordPress expertise and higher budgets.
SiteGround: $2.99-$4.99 | WP Engine: N/A
SiteGround: Google Cloud (Premium) | WP Engine: N/A
SiteGround: SiteGround Optimizer (Proprietary) | WP Engine: N/A
SiteGround: Optimized for WooCommerce workloads | WP Engine: N/A
SiteGround: Yes (Official List) | WP Engine: N/A
SiteGround: Restrictive limits enforced | WP Engine: N/A
SiteGround: Paid migration service | WP Engine: N/A
SiteGround: Advanced staging included | WP Engine: N/A
SiteGround: On-demand daily backups | WP Engine: N/A
SiteGround: Expert WordPress-specific support | WP Engine: Fully Managed (automated)
SiteGround: ~8.76 hours | WP Engine: ~4.38 hours
SiteGround: 4 locations | WP Engine: 1 region (Google Cloud)
SiteGround: 30 days | WP Engine: 30 days
SiteGround: Not included | WP Engine: Built-in on all plans
SiteGround: Not available | WP Engine: WordPress-CLI and git-based deployments included
SiteGround: 6 locations | WP Engine: N/A
SiteGround: Yes (all plans) | WP Engine: Yes (all plans)
SiteGround: Yes, automatic | WP Engine: N/A
SiteGround: Yes - Included | WP Engine: N/A
SiteGround: Yes - Cloudflare | WP Engine: N/A
SiteGround: 30 days | WP Engine: 60 days
SiteGround: 5 minutes (chat) | WP Engine: N/A
Starting Price (Monthly, Annual Commitment)
SiteGround: $2.99/month | WP Engine: N/A
SiteGround: $2.99 (first 3 months, then $7.99) | WP Engine: N/A
SiteGround: $95.88 (plan dependent) | WP Engine: N/A
SiteGround: Premium plans only | WP Engine: All plans included
SiteGround: No, requires manual plan upgrade | WP Engine: N/A
SiteGround: 1 (proprietary only) | WP Engine: N/A
SiteGround: Cloudflare (paid add-on) | WP Engine: Global CDN included
SiteGround: WordPress, Drupal, Magento, Joomla, custom apps | WP Engine: WordPress only
SiteGround: Under 2 minutes (24/7 chat) | WP Engine: Under 10 minutes (24/7 chat)
SiteGround: Up to 300% increase after year 1 | WP Engine: Consistent pricing (no spike)
Starting Monthly Price (WordPress Starter)
SiteGround: $8.95/month | WP Engine: N/A
SiteGround: 4.7/5 (12,400 reviews) | WP Engine: N/A
SiteGround: 30 days (Standard plans) | WP Engine: Unlimited daily backups
SiteGround: Yes, all plans | WP Engine: Expert tier only ($115+/month)
SiteGround: WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Magento | WP Engine: WordPress only
SiteGround: Yes (annual plans) | WP Engine: No
SiteGround: 4 types (Shared, Reseller, Cloud, WordPress) | WP Engine: N/A
SiteGround: Yes (live chat, phone, email) | WP Engine: Dedicated WordPress team
SiteGround: Standard (basic caching) | WP Engine: N/A
Starting Shared Hosting Price (First Year)
SiteGround: 4 continents | WP Engine: N/A
SiteGround: $7.99-$14.99 | WP Engine: N/A
SiteGround: Yes, daily (all plans) | WP Engine: N/A
SiteGround: Manual plan upgrade required | WP Engine: N/A
SiteGround: 100,000-500,000 (plan dependent) | WP Engine: N/A
Mid-Tier Monthly Price (WP 2 equivalent)
SiteGround: N/A | WP Engine: $115/month (estimated)
SiteGround: N/A | WP Engine: 24/7 phone + chat
SiteGround: N/A | WP Engine: 4-6 locations
SiteGround: N/A | WP Engine: 100-200ms (optimized managed)
SiteGround: N/A | WP Engine: Yes (all plans)
SiteGround: N/A | WP Engine: Every 6 hours
SiteGround: N/A | WP Engine: Yes (included)
SiteGround: N/A | WP Engine: WordPress only
SiteGround: N/A | WP Engine: Included on all plans
How to choose between SiteGround and WP Engine
SiteGround vs WP Engine — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for SiteGround vs WP Engine. Contains 108 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
SiteGround vs WP Engine — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for SiteGround vs WP Engine.
What's the real cost difference over 3 years?
SiteGround's introductory $2.99/month plan renews at $8.95/month after year 1, totaling ~$108 for year 1 and $107.40 for years 2-3 = $322.80 total. WP Engine's $20/month plan costs $240/year with consistent pricing = $720 for 3 years. SiteGround is 55% cheaper long-term for single sites, but renewal prices are unpredictable. WP Engine offers transparent pricing with no surprises.
WP Engine averages 450ms page load speed vs. SiteGround's 850ms—making WP Engine 47% faster. This difference compounds with global visitors: WP Engine's included CDN serves content from 30+ edge locations, while SiteGround requires a paid Cloudflare subscription ($20+/month) to match performance. For speed-critical sites (ecommerce, news), WP Engine wins decisively.
Can I host non-WordPress sites on WP Engine?
No. WP Engine exclusively hosts WordPress. SiteGround supports WordPress, Drupal, Magento, Joomla, Ghost, and custom PHP/Node.js applications. If you manage multiple CMS types or need flexibility, SiteGround is mandatory. WP Engine's specialization makes it better for WordPress-only environments but not suitable for diverse portfolios.
WP Engine guarantees 99.95% uptime with $100/month service credits, vs. SiteGround's 99.9% guarantee. In practical terms: 99.95% allows ~22 minutes downtime/year, while 99.9% allows ~43 minutes/year. For mission-critical WordPress sites, WP Engine's 0.05% difference and financial guarantee matter. For blogs and small sites, both are reliable enough.
Which offers better WordPress-specific features?
WP Engine includes automated WordPress core updates, WP-CLI access, staging environments, and WordPress security scanning on all plans. SiteGround provides WordPress optimization but not WordPress-exclusive features. WP Engine is purpose-built for WordPress professionals requiring advanced deployment workflows, while SiteGround is a general-purpose host that works well with WordPress.
How to Choose Between SiteGround and WP Engine
Starting Price (Monthly): SiteGround has $2.99, while WP Engine has $20.
Uptime Guarantee: SiteGround has 99.9%, while WP Engine has 99.95%.
Free SSL Certificate: SiteGround has Yes (all plans), while WP Engine has Yes (all plans).
Free Daily Backups: SiteGround has Yes (premium plans), while WP Engine has Yes (all plans).
WordPress-Only Focus: SiteGround has No (all CMS supported), while WP Engine has Yes (WordPress exclusive).
Page Load Speed (avg ms): SiteGround has 850ms, while WP Engine has 450ms.
CDN Included: SiteGround has Cloudflare (paid extra), while WP Engine has Yes (all plans).