WP Engine vs Chemicloud: guide for 2024

WP Engine vs Chemicloud: Final verdict

Looking over WP Engine vs. ChemiCloud, it’s clear why both hosts are so popular. They have both hosted millions of
websites that run on WordPress for decades, building up a loyal customer base.

• 
  ChemiCloud (Overall grade: 8.5)
  
  offers a wide range of hosting plans, including shared, cloud, and VPS hosting, making it a versatile option for different needs. It offers a user-friendly cPanel interface, strong email hosting services, and generous features like free domain registration and unlimited bandwidth, catering to budget-sensitive users.
• 
  WP Engine (Overall grade: 8.6)
  
  excels in managed WordPress hosting with advanced tools, security features, and performance optimizations. It guarantees 99.99% uptime, provides detailed control over user roles, and offers extensive support and reliability tailored for WordPress sites.

Hosting types offered

Both platforms provide a variety of hosting types, each designed to meet the different needs of users.

Although both offer a variety of hosting plans tailored to different needs, in
certain cases, one platform may prove to be more suitable.

Detailed comparison

🏆 Winner WP Engine: WP Engine offers exceptional uptime and availability for managed WordPress hosting needs.

WP Engine leads the pack with a demonstrated 100% uptime over a two-month period, backed by a strong 99.99% Service Level Agreement (SLA). Their proactive monitoring and automated updates for WordPress core, plugins, and PHP ensure the stability and security of your site at all times. Additionally, their extensive network of global data centers reduces latency, providing an optimal experience for visitors worldwide.

On the other hand, ChemiCloud also offers a 99.99% uptime guarantee and impressive infrastructure, including advanced DDoS protection and real-time threat detection. Their compensation policy for downtime is generous, offering free hosting months when uptime falls below 99.99%. Despite these features, the comprehensive performance and support offered by WP Engine make it the preferred choice for those prioritizing uptime and availability.

🏆 Winner WP Engine: Known for delivering exceptional WordPress performance and reliability.

When comparing the general performance of WP Engine and ChemiCloud, WP Engine takes the lead with its fast page load times and proprietary EverCache® Technology, which ensures optimal speed even during high-traffic periods. WP Engine utilizes a Global CDN with over 200 points of presence and offers data centers positioned in various global locations, enhancing speed and uptime. ChemiCloud also provides impressive speed with LiteSpeed Web Server, HTTP/3, and 100% NVMe storage. Both offer free CDN services—the Global CDN for WP Engine and Cloudflare CDN for ChemiCloud. ChemiCloud also boasts multiple server locations worldwide.

Website Speed

WP Engine’s website speed excels due to its advanced caching strategies through EverCache® Technology, ensuring swift page load times crucial for SEO and user retention. By running the latest PHP versions, WP Engine ensures up to 3x more request handling per second. ChemiCloud’s performance benefits from LiteSpeed Web Server and NVMe storage, promising fast access to files and data, alongside features like HTTP/3 and Redis for enhanced loading speed. Both platforms significantly reduce page sizes to boost speed through techniques like GZIP compression and file minification.

Scalability

Both WP Engine and ChemiCloud offer scalable architecture to handle traffic spikes, but the specifics vary. WP Engine features isolated resources for consistent performance and reliability. The process of scaling resources with WP Engine is seamless, leveraging their advanced infrastructure. ChemiCloud provides the necessary resources to handle increased traffic, but details about whether scaling requires plan upgrades or occurs automatically are unclear. Both have provisions for scaling, but WP Engine’s architecture provides a clearer path to seamless growth.

🏆 Winner WP Engine: Delivers superior enterprise-grade security features to safeguard WordPress websites.

Both WP Engine and ChemiCloud have notable differences in their approaches to technical and operational security, as well as in their compliance with regulations.

Technical security measures:

WP Engine offers enterprise-grade technology, automating threat detection to block 72 million attacks daily and continuously monitoring with automated updates and proactive threat detection. It also has Cloudflare CDN and data encryption. ChemiCloud utilizes Imunify360, advanced firewall, and CloudLinux OS to isolate tenants and protect against cyber threats. Both hosts provide free SSL certificates, with WP Engine including Argo Smart Routing for enhanced performance. ChemiCloud supports multiple PHP versions, giving users flexibility in their setups.

Operational security measures:

WP Engine differentiates itself with always-on monitoring, blocking over 26 billion attacks a year, featuring global edge security with advanced DDoS mitigation. Its live team maintains high standards and provides proactive security alerts. ChemiCloud focuses on proactive server monitoring and account isolation using CageFS, which increases security by isolating tenants. Both providers offer daily backups and two-factor authentication, but WP Engine also includes automated core updates and plugin vulnerability notifications.

Compliance and certifications:

WP Engine adheres to multiple high standards, being SOC-2 compliant and ISO 27001-2013 certified, ensuring robust information security management systems. It also offers PCI compliance for sites within its scope. ChemiCloud is GDPR compliant, providing a Data Processing Addendum for organizations needing to meet the EU’s GDPR requirements. HIPAA compliance status for both providers is not specified.

🏆 Winner ChemiCloud: A budget-friendly hosting solution with extensive features and superior flexibility.

When comparing WP Engine and ChemiCloud, it’s clear that each provider caters to different types of users with distinct needs. WP Engine focuses on managed WordPress hosting, providing specialized plans such as Essential WordPress, Essential eCommerce, Core WordPress, and Enterprise WordPress. Their general features include end-to-end management, site speed boost, and advanced user permissions. They also offer performance insights and support for PHP & MySQL updates. Notably, WP Engine provides daily and on-demand backups with Lighthouse performance insights, ensuring optimized site performance.

ChemiCloud, on the other hand, offers broader hosting solutions like Shared Hosting and Drupal Hosting. Features such as unlimited websites, unlimited bandwidth, a free domain, and a free SSL certificate make it appealing for budget-conscious users. ChemiCloud also includes robust developer features like SSH access, multiple PHP versions, and preinstalled Git. One major advantage of ChemiCloud is its user-friendly environment, highlighted by its Softaculous 1-Click App Installer and WordPress staging. These features can be particularly beneficial for users who seek flexible site customization without additional costs. Free website migrations and a 20-day backup cycle add to its appeal for those who prioritize hassle-free transitions and data security.

Both providers support a range of users from beginners to experts with user-friendly website builders and WordPress staging areas. However, in terms of developer tools, both WP Engine and ChemiCloud offer robust options including SSH access, support for multiple programming languages, and Git for version control, thus appealing to developers looking for advanced capabilities.

Email services:

ChemiCloud offers comprehensive email features, including mailbox storage, email forwarders, and spam filters, catering to both personal and business needs. MailChannel and catch-all email add additional layers of functionality. In contrast, WP Engine doesn’t provide email hosting services, focusing strictly on exceptional WordPress hosting performance. Users seeking advanced email functionalities might prefer ChemiCloud for its extensive email hosting provisions, which is more suited for robust email campaign management and operational efficiency.

🏆 Winner ChemiCloud: Offers a variety of economical plans with extensive features suitable for diverse hosting needs.

Evaluating the pricing of plans among various hosting providers can be complex due to their differing pricing and renewal strategies. Additionally, certain plans require annual commitments, which adds to the difficulty of making comparisons. The prices listed are based on monthly commitments; plans requiring annual commitments are indicated. Additionally, although some providers offer identical plans for WordPress and shared hosting, we have created separate tables for each to enhance clarity.

WP Engine and ChemiCloud provide various hosting plans, with notable differences in pricing and features. WP Engine’s plans start at $20/month for managed WordPress hosting, scaling up to $600/month for custom solutions, emphasizing managed resources and extensive support. In contrast, ChemiCloud’s shared hosting plans begin as low as $2.95/month, offering significant discounts and a wide range of benefits, such as free domains and unlimited features. ChemiCloud also provides VPS hosting starting at $29.95/month, with solid storage and bandwidth options, whereas WP Engine’s custom plans require contacting sales for specific needs. ChemiCloud’s higher Value for Price scores across multiple categories give it an edge, especially for cost-conscious users.

Enterprise plans

WP Engine’s enterprise offerings, starting at $600/month, include priority support, advanced DDoS protection, and a dedicated technical account manager. ChemiCloud provides extensive VPS plans up to $153.95/month that include full management and priority support, with scalable bandwidth and storage options but lack some of WP Engine’s managed service aspects.

🏆 Winner
ChemiCloud: In terms of ease of use, ChemiCloud stands out due to its flexible and affordable site migration options, intuitive custom admin panel, advanced setup features, and a highly praised help center.

ChemiCloud employs a custom panel called Site Tools, which replaces the traditional cPanel. This interface is designed to be more intuitive and streamlined, enhancing user experience with advanced tools like SG Optimizer and integration of Cloudflare’s CDN to improve website performance and speed. ChemiCloud’s help center is known for its clear and detailed content, which is highly valued by its users.

WP Engine uses a custom control panel specifically designed for managing WordPress sites, providing advanced options tailored for developers and site administrators. This control panel includes features such as Git Push and SSH Gateway setup, which can be incredibly useful for those with technical knowledge. The interface is intuitive, but it does cater more to users who are familiar with WordPress and require more advanced functionality. Technical users will find it comprehensive and efficient, while non-technical users might experience a learning curve due to the specialized features.

Both WP Engine and ChemiCloud offer migration services for websites, but their approaches and costs differ. WP Engine provides free automated migrations for WordPress sites specifically within the first 30 days after purchasing a new shared hosting plan. For non-WordPress sites, however, WP Engine charges $149 for migration services, although users have the option to undertake manual migrations, which demand considerable technical expertise. On the other hand, ChemiCloud offers both automated and manual migration options for WordPress and non-WordPress or custom sites alike. Their paid migration service is considerably more affordable at approximately $30.

The platforms provide extensive knowledge bases filled with guides, how-to articles, and instructional content. WP Engine offers a wide range of resources alongside 24/7 chat and phone support. ChemiCloud also boasts a detailed help center with an intuitive search function and around-the-clock support via live chat, phone, and ticketing, ensuring comprehensive user support.

🏆 Winner
WP Engine: Efficient and detailed user management features for comprehensive user control.

WP Engine and ChemiCloud both offer robust user management systems, but WP Engine stands out with its more granular control over user roles, permissions, and accessibility. WP Engine provides a range of user roles such as Owner, Full, and Partial users, each with distinct capabilities, allowing administrators to finely tune access levels. ChemiCloud also presents a variety of roles like Administrator, Database, Email, and Web within the cPanel Team Manager, but it lacks the same detailed segmentation found in WP Engine.

Both platforms feature user interfaces that are geared towards simplicity and efficiency. WP Engine utilizes a dedicated User Portal for managing users, making tasks like adding, editing, and removing users straightforward. This portal supports a range of management actions with a few clicks. ChemiCloud makes use of the cPanel’s User Manager, which is intuitive and well-integrated but doesn’t match the specialized focus of WP Engine’s user management tools.

WP Engine excels in managing access control for a growing user base, offering detailed account activity logs and filtering options that allow for better tracking and transparency. The granular roles within WP Engine ensure that as an organization scales, user permissions can be meticulously managed to maintain security and access efficiency. ChemiCloud supports a growing number of users through its cPanel interface but offers fewer specific controls for access and activity tracking, which might be a limitation for larger teams.

WP Engine user roles table:

ChemiCloud user roles table:

🏆 Winner
WP Engine: Provides extensive customer service options including WordPress experts and numerous support channels.

WP Engine and ChemiCloud both offer 24/7 support, but differ in the methods and additional support they provide. WP Engine excels with its specialized WordPress support and extensive documentation, offering phone and live chat support but no explicit email support. ChemiCloud, on the other hand, also provides 24/7 availability with fast response times and proactive monitoring but includes email and ticket support, which caters to a different need.

For higher-tier services, WP Engine offers premium support options, which are not available with ChemiCloud. Both have live chat support, but ChemiCloud stands out with its free domain, SSL, and migration services. WP Engine provides a user portal and specialized features like WordPress backups and security, aligning better with intricate WordPress needs.

WP Engine vs Chemicloud: User feedback

WP Engine receives high praise for its exceptional customer support, user-friendly dashboards, and seamless integration with WordPress. Users consistently highlight the platform’s robust security features, automatic backups, and fast website performance. However, many reviews also point out that the service is costly compared to other hosting options, which might not suit smaller budgets or individual projects. Some issues with shared server performance and the costly nature of add-ons were also mentioned, but overall, WP Engine is considered a premium service worth its price for those who can afford it.

ChemiCloud is highly praised for its exceptional customer service, largely attributed to its knowledgeable and responsive support team that is available 24/7. Users appreciate the reliable server performance, user-friendly control panel, and valuable features such as automatic backups and easy setup. Although there are some mentions of limited customization options and storage, the overall sentiment is overwhelmingly positive, highlighting ChemiCloud as a standout hosting provider that delivers on its promises. It is recommended for both small businesses and individuals seeking a dependable and efficient hosting solution.

WP Engine vs Chemicloud: FAQ