In the past ten years, the way common people access the internet has changed drastically. With faster connection speeds and cheaper data packs, these two factors have changed the entire face of the internet.
Now, everyone has something to show; everyone has something to tell. People love expressing their ideas online, as they get the opportunity to express themselves without anyone knowing who they are.
Other than that, various old businesses are creating their websites, and at the same time, many new ones are sprucing up too. This ultimately leads to a flood of content being posted online.
But how does one manage all this? This is dealt with using content management systems like WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, etc.
Key Takeaways
- WordPress is an open-source content management system that anyone can use, while WP Engine is a managed hosting service specifically designed for WordPress.
- WP Engine offers more security and support features than WordPress, including automatic backups and malware scanning.
- WordPress is more customizable and offers more flexibility in design and functionality, while WP Engine is more streamlined and user-friendly.
WordPress vs WP Engine
WordPress and WP Engine differ because WordPress is a tool used to make websites. At the same time, WP Engine is a service that provides technological solutions to WordPress-specific sites.
WordPress is one of the biggest content systems and website-building tools. Millions are using it to bring forth their productivity and creativity. However, people get confused between the terms WordPress and WP Engine. Sometimes they use it interchangeably, but they are quite different.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | WordPress | WP Engine |
|---|---|---|
| Functionality | WordPress is a tool for creating websites. | WP Engine is a tool to host websites. |
| Compatibility | WordPress is an independent tool and needs to be compatible with anything necessary. | Since WP Engine is WordPress-specific, it must be compatible with WordPress-built sites. |
| Security | WordPress-hosted sites have lesser security than WP Engine-hosted sites. | WP Engine sites are more secure. |
| Price | WordPress hosting costs less. | WP Engine hosting costs more. |
| Speed | WordPress hosting does not optimize site loading speeds for various platforms. | WP Engine optimizes site performance based on the platform it is being used for. |
What is WordPress?
WordPress is a tool used to create websites that look fresh, dynamic, and attractive.
WordPress initially started as a blogging site and still stands out as a great choice for bloggers who like to have a lot of control over the look and feel of their blog.
However, WordPress has moved way forward since its blogging days now.
WordPress is one of the largest tools businesses, creators, etc., prefer using when making a website.
This is because it is fast, easy, has many templates, provides Search Engine Optimization (SEO) options, and has many templates to work with.
Currently, WordPress is used by more than 60 million users, and almost 33.6% of the websites have been made using WordPress.
An American developer, Matt Mullenweg, and an English developer, Mike Little, developed WordPress. Initially, it was created as a fork for b2/catalogue.
The main characteristics that set WordPress apart are the number of themes, templates, and plugins available.
The themes in WordPress alter the look, feel, and functionality of the website, and one could change it countless times based on their preferences and liking.
These themes are divided into two categories, free and premium. The free themes are open to all, and the premium ones are available only when one pays.
To access each premium theme, one needs to pay for each individually.
WordPress is available across all iOS, Windows, Android, WebOS, and even BlackBerry platforms.
WordPress is owned by Automattic, which is responsible for its maintenance and development.
What is WP Engine?
WP Engine is a service that is WordPress-specific, which initially started as a hosting service for all websites built on that site.
WP Engine has then moved out and branched out to provide technological solutions to these websites built on the same platform.
WP Engine was created in 2010, aiming that WordPress requires a premium service that can provide platform optimization, security solutions, and scalability to all the websites that utilize its service.
WP Engine has grown a lot and has a user base of over 95,000 people spanning 150 countries.
The creation of WP Engine was driven to solve the common problems web users faced, such as crashing websites due to heavy traffic, slow loading speeds, etc.
WP Engine was also created to ensure the security of websites and to protect the data of these websites from cyber attacks and similar events.
Of course, one doesn’t need to use WP Engine or any third-party hosting service. One can purchase the hosting service provided by WordPress itself.
However, purchasing the services provided by WP Engine brings many benefits one would not enjoy when using the basic hosting service. Plus, there is the added benefit of security.
Main Differences Between WordPress and WP Engine
- The main difference between WordPress and WP Engine is that WordPress is a content management system. WP Engine is a service that provides technological solutions to websites built on WordPress.
- WordPress is independent of WP Engine, while WP Engine depends on WordPress, as it caters to the websites using it.
- WordPress-provided hosting has lesser security than WP Engine hosting.
- WordPress-provided hosting services are cheaper than WP Engine hosting services.
- WordPress hosting does not optimize the speed of website performance based on platform, while WP Engine does so.
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