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Most buyers should pick Cloudways.
Choose Cloudways for lower stated entry pricing ($4/month), a 3-day trial, and hosting options spanning WordPress, WooCommerce, PHP, Node.js, and AI agents. Choose WP Engine when your work is WordPress-focused and you value publishing governance, agency support, or the Business plan’s 99.99% uptime SLA. WP Engine’s published pricing shows €25.60/month for Essential, billed annually, not a USD price; check visit caps and add-on costs. Cloudways prices and limits vary by product.
01Side by side
| WP Engine | Cloudways | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | €25.60/month Essential, billed annually; USD not shown | $4/month listed starting price; monthly pricing |
| Free plan | No free plan; trial not published | No free plan; 3-day trial |
| Best for | Managed WordPress for agencies, stores, publishing teams | Sites, apps, and AI agents across workloads |
| Core strength | WordPress performance, protection, and publishing governance | Cloud-provider choice and multiple workload types |
| Learning curve | Not published on the vendor's site | Not published on the vendor's site |
| Integrations & data | WordPress focus; optional managed vector database | WordPress, WooCommerce, PHP, Node.js, AI agents |
| Team/seat costs | Seat pricing not published | Seat pricing not published |
| Support | 24/7 chat; agencies also get 24/7 support | Support details not provided in published material |
WP Engine Choose WP Engine if
- Choose WP Engine if publishing governance matters to your WordPress team.
- Choose WP Engine if you need listed 24/7 chat support.
- Choose WP Engine if the Business plan’s 99.99% uptime SLA fits.
Cloudways Choose Cloudways if
- Choose Cloudways if you want the lower listed starting price.
- Choose Cloudways if you need a 3-day trial.
- Choose Cloudways if you host Node.js or AI-agent workloads.
02Pricing compared
Cloudways has the lower stated entry price: the published pricing data lists plans from $4/month and a 3-day trial, but no free plan. Its detailed examples include Node.js plans from $20/month and Autonomous WordPress plans from $99/month. Prices are monthly; annual rates are not published, and some promotional prices apply only for the first two months.
WP Engine’s pricing page lists Essential at €25.60/month and Business at €370.92/month, billed annually. USD prices are not shown. Essential covers 25,000–400,000 visits/month; Business covers 400,000–800,000. Check your expected traffic and add-ons before comparing totals: WP Engine lists several optional services, but their prices are not published. Cloudways prices and limits depend on the product.
03Features and depth
WP Engine is the more WordPress-specific option. Its offering includes managed WordPress hosting, publishing approvals and permissions, agency support, and a store growth suite for checkout, search, and store operations. The pricing details list daily automated backups and 24/7 chat support on Essential. Business includes a 99.99% uptime SLA; the homepage also advertises an enhanced 99.99% uptime guarantee.
Cloudways covers more types of workloads. It supports WordPress, WooCommerce, PHP, Node.js, and managed AI agents, and lets customers choose a cloud provider, data center, and server size. For WordPress and WooCommerce, it offers autoscaling. Site Manager brings WordPress sites into one dashboard, while AI Insights monitors apps and servers and SmartFix can address issues with one click, according to the product description.
Choose based on what you run: WP Engine emphasizes WordPress publishing and agency needs; Cloudways offers a wider mix of infrastructure and app options.
04Ease of use and learning curve
Both services handle hosting operations, but Cloudways gives customers more infrastructure choices: its product description says you can select a provider, data center, and server size. That flexibility may suit teams that want those choices, but it also means more decisions to make. Cloudways says its managed AI agents avoid Docker, SSL configuration, and operations overhead.
WP Engine is more tightly focused on WordPress. Its publishing permissions and approvals may suit teams with editorial workflows, while 24/7 chat support is listed for Essential. The published details do not compare setup steps or migration assistance, so we would confirm those before moving a live site. Cloudways lists SmartFix for one-click issue fixes, but the sources do not quantify how much support or maintenance either platform requires.
Questions people ask
Which is cheaper, WP Engine or Cloudways?
Cloudways has the lower stated entry price at $4/month, according to the published pricing data, and offers a 3-day trial. WP Engine’s listed prices are €25.60/month for Essential and €370.92/month for Business, billed annually; USD prices are not shown. Compare the plan limits, not just starting prices.
Is WP Engine or Cloudways better for WordPress?
Both offer managed WordPress hosting. WP Engine is more focused on WordPress publishing, agency support, and store tools. Cloudways also hosts WordPress and WooCommerce, with autoscaling options and a broader set of workloads. The better fit depends on whether WordPress-specific publishing features or infrastructure choice matters more to your team.
Does WP Engine include an uptime guarantee?
WP Engine advertises an enhanced 99.99% uptime guarantee. Its published pricing details specifically list a 99.99% uptime SLA on the Business plan. The source does not specify an equivalent SLA for Essential, so check the plan terms if that commitment is important.
Can Cloudways host Node.js apps and AI agents?
Yes. Cloudways lists Node.js hosting through its Velocity plans, starting at $20/month for Starter, and managed AI agent plans starting at $9.99/month for Scout. The published pricing lists one agent instance on Scout. Cloudways also supports WordPress, WooCommerce, and PHP workloads.