A2 Hosting vs WP Engine
Both cover similar ground, so the useful question is which is better for your specific situation. Here is how they differ on the things that change the answer.
Developer-friendly shared hosting with tuned "Turbo" tiers
Managed WordPress aimed at agencies and larger sites
Quick verdict
Neither wins outright: 0 categories each, with 8 undecided on the data we have verified. Which is right for you depends entirely on which categories you care about.
Category by category
Who wins what
A category shows “not enough data” when either side has a gap. We would rather leave it blank than invent a winner.
| Category | Winner | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Not enough dataNeither provider has a verified current price yet, so this cannot be called. | Neither provider has a verified current price yet, so this cannot be called. |
| Performance | TieComparable performance tooling on both, on the data we have verified. | Comparable performance tooling on both, on the data we have verified. |
| Beginners | TieNeither is meaningfully easier to start with than the other. | Neither is meaningfully easier to start with than the other. |
| Support | TieSimilar support coverage on both sides. | Similar support coverage on both sides. |
| WordPress | TieBoth handle WordPress to a similar standard. | Both handle WordPress to a similar standard. |
| Ecommerce | TieNeither stands out for ecommerce on verified data. | Neither stands out for ecommerce on verified data. |
| Developers | TieComparable developer access on both. | Comparable developer access on both. |
| UK visitors | Not enough dataBoth offer UK-region hosting, or neither does. | Both offer UK-region hosting, or neither does. |
Specifications
Feature by feature
| Feature | A2 Hosting | WP Engine |
|---|---|---|
| Control paneldiffers | cPanel | User Portal (custom) |
| UK data centre | Unknown | Yes |
| Free SSL | Yes | Yes |
| Email hostingdiffers | Yes | No |
| Staging | Yes | Yes |
| CDN included | Unknown | Yes |
| Free migration | Unknown | Yes |
| SSH access | Yes | Yes |
| Git | Yes | Yes |
| WP-CLI | Yes | Yes |
| WooCommerce | Yes | Yes |
A2 Hosting in short
Worth a look if you want shared hosting that does not fight you when you need SSH, Git or a specific PHP version.
- + Developer tooling available on shared plans
- + Choice of PHP versions
- + Anytime money-back guarantee
- − No UK data centre
- − Turbo branding makes plan comparison harder than it needs to be
WP Engine in short
A dependable managed WordPress platform for agencies managing many client sites, with tooling built around that workflow.
- + Mature staging and deployment workflow
- + Strong tooling for agencies running many sites
- + UK region available
- − No email hosting included
- − Plugin restrictions rule out some caching and backup tools
Some links here are affiliate links — if you buy through one we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes a Hostoholic Score.