WP Engine and Nexcess are perhaps the two best managed WordPress hosting providers in the industry. In this comparison of WP Engine vs Nexcess, we’ll take a look at the benefits each has to offer and which of these WordPress hosts is the better fit for you.
Nexcess is now a part of Liquid Web. In our previous comparison of WP Engine vs Liquid Web, it was an extremely close call between two of the best managed web hosting providers—with WP Engine coming out on top. Now that Liquid Web has transitioned their WordPress hosting over to the Nexcess platform, let’s see if there is a difference.
Video: WP Engine vs Nexcess
Check out our video for a quick overview of WP Engine vs Liquid Web/Nexcess.
WP Engine vs Nexcess: Differences
Reasons for Choosing WP Engine over Nexcess:
- Faster Website Speeds with Google Cloud Platform
- More Responsive Customer Support
- Includes Free StudioPress Themes
- Includes Page Performance Tools
- 60 Day Money Back Guarantee
Reasons for Choosing Nexcess over WP Engine:
- Includes iThemes Sync
- No Restrictions on Themes and Plugins
- Automatic Plugin Testing and Updates
- No Pageview or Traffic Limits
- Less Expensive to Host Multiple Websites
WP Engine vs Nexcess Details
| Category | WP Engine | Nexcess | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup | |||
| Control Panel | |||
| Data Centers | WP Engine has data centers in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and Sydney. | ||
| Website Speed | See Below | ||
| Security Features | WP Engine provides Free SSL, Real Time Threat Detection | ||
| Data Backup and Restore | Tie. Both provide Automated Daily Backups Stored 30 Days, plus Snapshot Capability. | ||
| Automatic Updates | With Nexcess you get Automatic Plugin Updates in addition to WordPress Core. | ||
| Servers | |||
| Network | |||
| WordPress Development | Nexcess includes iThemes Sync for managing multiple sites. | ||
| SSL | Tie. Both provide Free Let’s Encrypt SSL. | ||
| Resources | |||
| Staging | WP Engine offers streamlined website staging. See Below. | ||
| Customer Support | See Below | ||
| Money Back Guarantee | WP Engine offers a Full 60 Day Money Back Guarantee. | ||
| Price/Value |
Website Speed and Performance
When it comes to website speed, WP Engine and Nexcess are two of the very best for managed WordPress sites. Through both my own personal experience and our testing results, these two hosts have provided some of the fastest performing websites that we’ve seen.
Overall, Nexcess had slightly better speed, except in the east, where WP Engine was a little faster. While we’ll give the edge to Nexcess in this category, the difference between the two is not a game changer in our opinion. See our speed testing results below.
Website Staging
While both WP Engine and Nexcess provide full website staging for WordPress sites, we prefer WP Engine. I like the way that both hosts easily allow you to make a copy of your live site and place it in the staging area. However, with WP Engine, you can just as easily copy the changes in your staging copy back into your production live website. In this category, WP Engine is the winner.
Data Backup and Restore
With Nexcess and WP Engine, you get top quality data backup and restore capabilities. Both of these managed WordPress hosts provide daily automatic backup, along with the ability to manually create a backup whenever you need to. Restoring your data is also easy to do. We’ll have to call it a draw here.
Customer Support
WP Engine and Nexcess both have quality customer support teams. With both hosts specializing in WordPress hosting, you get true expert support. So which one is the winner in this category? I’ll have to go with WP Engine here. While both provide excellent response times, WP Engine has more consistently provided helpful, friendly assistance. It’s kind of a close call here, but WP Engine gets the edge when it comes to customer support.
WP Engine
Plans:
- Startup ($35 mo.)
1 Website/10GB Storage - Growth ($115 mo.)
10 Websites/20GB Storage - Scale ($290 mo.)
25 Websites/30GB Storage - Premium
25+ Websites/100-300GB Storage - Enterprise
25+ Websites/400GB – 1TB Storage
Data Centers: U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia
Free Domain?: No
Money Back Guarantee: 60 Days
Advantages of WP Engine
- WordPress Hosting Specialist
- Faster Performance with Google Cloud Platform Virtual Machines.
- Proprietary EverCache Technology
- True Staging Environment
- Automated and Snapshot Data Backups
- Free StudioPress themes are included with your hosting plan.
- Transferable Installs and Billing Transfer
- Page Performance Diagnostics
- Enterprise Solutions Available
- Expert WordPress Customer Support
Click Here for More Details on WP Engine
Nexcess
Plans:
- Spark ($19 mo.)
1 Website/15GB Storage - Maker ($79 mo.)
5 Websites/40GB Storage - Designer ($109 mo.)
10 Websites/60GB Storage - Builder ($149 mo.)
25 Websites/100GB Storage
Data Centers: Lansing, Michigan; Phoenix, AZ; Amsterdam, EUR
Free Domain?:: No
Money Back Guarantee: Pro-Rated
Advantages of Choosing Nexcess:
- Specialize in Upscale Managed Hosting
- Automatic Plugin Updates
- 100% Uptime Guarantee
- Auto Image Compression
- Manage Multiple Sites with iThemes Sync
- iThemes Security Pro
- No Pageview Limits
- Automatic Daily Backups Stored Offsite for 30 Days
- Full Server Access
Click Here to See More Details on Nexcess
Recommendation
When it comes to managed WordPress hosting, WP Engine and Nexcess are definitely two of the best hosting providers I’ve used. Both are equally capable of providing excellent hosting features, website performance, and support.
For WooCommerce hosting, I would recommend Nexcess. For all other WordPress websites, including enterprise level applications, I would choose WP Engine. Therefore, in this ultra-close head-to-head comparison, overall WP Engine is the winner.
See our WP Engine Review Ratings below:
The post WP Engine vs Nexcess (September 2021) first appeared on Web Hosting Cat.
