GMEngine vs WPEngine: Who’s the Winner?
- Nathalie from Team Webshop
- April 20, 2022
- 10:48 am
- One Comment
Though GMEngine is a relatively young WordPress hosting provider, it offers remarkable hosting features for half of what WPEngine costs. But, how well do its server uptime, WordPress hosting, and pricing compare to WPEngine? That we’ll find out today, in this guide.
Keep on reading to discover the GMEngine vs WPEngine comparison and find out what’s a better option for your requirements.
Server Performance & Reliability
Here we’ll compare WPEngine and GMEngine in terms of infrastructure to find out how reliable and performance-packed their servers are.
GMEngine
GMEngine is a young WordPress host that got into the business recently. But, the provider uses advanced server technologies to ensure a reliable uptime that falls around 100% or 99.9%.
In fact, GMEngine claims to have its datacenter location backed by emergency generators, cooling systems, and 24/7 uptime monitoring to ensure your website is up round the clock. On top of that, the provider also offers an uptime guarantee.
Regarding server performance, GMEngine has managed to achieve the highest speed to help improve the SEO rankings of its customers’ websites. Its web hosting servers are backed by SSD storage drives to ensure top-tier performance.
Here are some other performance features offered by GMEngine:
- Server caching
- Optimized WordPress
- Optimized plugins
- Powerful administrator panel
- Support for the latest PHP version
- WordPress W3 total cache optimization
WPEngine
WPEngine came out back in 2010 and has been offering reliable WordPress hosting solutions ever since.
The company doesn’t have its own data centers. But, its hosting services are powered by Google Cloud servers and AWS servers to ensure top-tier reliability. The Google Cloud servers are available for all users whereas the AWS servers are only included with the premium plans.
Powered by the most expensive data center providers, WPEngine has achieved a remarkable server uptime of around 99.9%. Its server speed is top-notch as well. That’s why some popular websites like ContactForm7, NeilPatel, and BrowserStack have trusted WPEngine in their businesses.
That said, here are the main performance features offered by WPEngine:
- Server-level caching
- A built-in CDN – Stackpath/MaxCDN
- The latest versions of PHP
Security Features
Security is one of the most important things to consider when choosing a WordPress host. You might want to make sure your WordPress server and dashboard are as secure as possible to prevent data breaches and other displeasing events.
GMEngine
Though GMEngine is relatively new, it has managed to achieve a top-tier security level by offering the following features:
- Multi-factor authorization – to make sure only you can log into your hosting account
- SFTP automation – to automate the exchange of data through a secure SFTP connection
- Let’s Encrypt SSL Certificate – to make sure your website’s address is secure and trustable for users as well as web browsers and search engines
With that at hand, we can say that GMEngine offers the basic security features to protect the sensitive data of users.
WPEngine
WPEngine, on the other hand, also offers remarkable security functionalities to ensure top-level data protection. Its security features include:
- DDoS protection – to keep your network safe and make sure the incoming traffic is not harmful
- Web Application Firewall – to protect the websites of users by monitoring and filtering incoming traffic
- Server isolation – to ensure each user enjoys complete server and hardware privacy
Being in business for over a decade, WPEngine has managed to achieve top-tier security for trustability.
Server Maintenance & Management
Here we’ll look at the server maintenance and managed features of GMEngine vs WPEngine.
GMEngine
GMEngine specializes in offering unmanaged WordPress hosting. So, get easy WordPress installation but GMEngine won’t offer the managed hosting features like automated server updates, data backups, WordPress updates, etc.
However, with WordPress, you get complete control over your website’s customization. You can choose from the 9,500+ free themes at WordPress, preview the one you like, and activate it on your website.
That said, GMEngine offers regular server maintenance to ensure the servers work perfectly and your website remains up 24/7. When it comes to daily backups and WordPress staging, GMEngine has not added those features yet but soon will be.
WPEngine
WPEngine’s focus is on providing managed WordPress hosting and thus, offers complete server management and automated backups. To be clear, if you choose WPEngine, your servers would be managed by the company’s professionals themselves.
Moreover, WPEngine also throws in one-click website staging that makes it easy to make changes to your website while it’s live. This feature is particularly effective for developers who like to track changes in real-time.
Like GMEngine, WPEngine also keeps up with regularly maintaining its servers for optimal performance.
Ease of Use
Here we’ll compare GMEngine vs WPEngine in terms of user-friendliness.
GMEngine
GMEngine offers a clean and user-friendly website interface and control panel. The control panel of GMEngine lets you get an overview of your website, track its performance, and utilize all other features you’ve chosen.
The control panel makes it easy to update information regarding your sites, add more users for convenient management, and even tweak email settings. What makes GMEngine stand out is its analytics feature that lets you track the traffic and SEO rankings of your website.
Moreover, GMEngine offers 1-click WordPress installation for your convenience – so, you don’t have to manually install WordPress on your hosting account.
WPEngine
WPEngine is also a user-friendly WordPress host. Its control panel is advanced and breaks down the performance of your website, the WordPress version, the IP address, and other technical details.
From the dashboard, you can navigate to Sites to access your different websites and make changes to any of them, from one place. What’s even more exciting is WPEngine’s multisite WordPress feature – it lets you manage multiple websites from a single WordPress dashboard rather than using different WordPress editors every time.
That said, WPEngine also offers 10 premium themes you can apply to your website/s within a few clicks. The automated server migration is another effective feature of WPEngine.
Pricing
HostingHere we’ll look at the pricing & plans of GMEngine vs WPEngine.
GMEngine
GMEngine is much cheaper compared to WPEngine. Its WordPress hosting package starts from €15/mo which falls around 16.36 USD/mo. You can get a domain name for as low as €9/year for the first year (it rounds off to 9.82USD/year).
WPEngine
As a managed WordPress host, WPEngine’s plans start from $25/mo with an annual subscription and from $30/mo with a monthly term. The starter plan lets you host a single website with 50 GB bandwidth and 10 GB local storage. It’s considered suitable for websites that get over 25,000 monthly visits.
WPEngine also offers higher plans that go all the way up to enterprise-level packages for companies and agencies. It also offers a custom package to suit the needs of all businesses.
Pros & Cons
Here we’ll look at the key benefits and downsides of GMEngine vs WPEngine.
GMEngine Pros
Below are the main benefits of GMEngine.
- Offers cheap web hosting and domain name pricing
- Free automated website migration from your previous host
- The control panel lets you monitor website performance
- 1-click WordPress installation
- SSD-powered servers for top-tier performance
- Automation, Multi-factor authorization, and other security features
- Guaranteed server uptime
- W3 – Total Cache Optimized and Varnish Cache
GMEngine Cons
Here are the key downsides of GMEngine.
- Lacks managed WordPress hosting
- Daily backups could be included
WPEngine Pros
Below are the main benefits of WPEngine.
- Quick & easy server migration from your current host
- Fast & friendly customer support that’s available 24/7
- Website staging feature for easy testing
- Free CDN integration for improved performance
- Multiple Google Cloud & AWS server locations
- 10+ premium themes with each plan
- 1-click WordPress installation
WPEngine Cons
Here are the key downsides of WPEngine.
- No free domain name
- A bit expensive
- Shared servers come with managed service only
FAQs Regarding GMEngine vs WPEngine Comparison
Here I’ll answer the most popular questions regarding GMEngine vs WPEngine that I could find.
Is GMEngine good for WordPress hosting?
GMEngine is definitely a great option for WordPress hosting, especially for startup websites. It offers remarkable server uptime, powerful security features, and top-tier server performance to provide the best value for your money.
The best part about GMEngine is user-friendliness. Its control panel is optimized for user experience and lets you monitor your website performance, add users, and make adjustments within a few clicks.
Is GMEngine cheaper than WPEngine?
The starting price of GMEngine’s WordPress is plans is 50% of what WPEngine costs. You can get WordPress hosting at GMEngine for as low as €15/mo whereas WPEngine costs around €25 at the very least.
On top of that, GMEngine doesn’t require you to sign up for long-term to get discounts. You can get started with a month-to-month subscription to test GMEngine before signing up for the long term.
What is WPEngine Multisite?
WPEngine is a powerful feature that lets you develop a network of websites under a single WordPress dashboard. You can access the different websites of yours and your clients, make changes to them, publish blog posts, etc., from one dashboard.
Using WPEngine multisite, you won’t have to switch WordPress editors each time you want to access another website. You can simply select the website whose editor you want to access from the top left corner of your WordPress editor.
Final Words: Who’s the Winner?
Both GMEngine and WPEngine are reliable hosting solutions for WordPress users. Whether you want to power up your own WordPress sites or manage your clients’ websites, both are a great way to go.
But, WPEngine can be expensive in the long run, particularly for starter businesses falling short on budget. So, in case you’re looking for an affordable WordPress host that offers powerful WordPress hosting solutions, GMEngine is your best bet.
Leave a Reply