What are the cons of WP Engine

Well based on recent reviews and benchmarks, some drawbacks or trade‑offs with WP Engine seem to include:

  1. Price / Cost
    WP Engine is more expensive than many shared or low‑cost hosts. Prices start from AUD$35/ month, and as you scale (traffic, sites, disk, etc) this cost can increase exponentially, especially for online stores fore example, that start from AUD$560/ month.
  2. Plugin restrictions / disallowed plugins
    Some time tested WordPress plugins are not allowed because they either duplicate what WP Engine already offers, conflict with its performance/security setups, or place heavy load on the server.
  3. Less control / flexibility
    Because it’s a managed host, some server‑configuration freedoms are limited. If low‑level system tweaks, custom server setups or running certain kinds of software is important, WP Engine’s “managed” environment might restrict those. (E.g. via disallowed plugins or limited SSH / access abilities in non‑higher plans.) This should not worry owners of blogs and small static sites though.
  4. Complexity and suitability
    For small simple sites, personal blogs, or low‑traffic ones, WP Engine due to pricing is likely to be overkill compared to many other options. Just google ‘budget hosting australia’ and you will find cheaper offers to compare.

In regards to the the latter, I should mention WP Engine can’t be doing too badly given their good and consistent reviews, plus their search engine rankings, but off course sponsored advetisements would be a contributing factor for rankings, as it is for anyone who can afford them. However, a very unhappy camper concerning WP Engine’s common procedures and practices has been wordpress.org itself.

What has WordPress.org have to say about WP Engine? Well……

  • *In September 2024, WordPress.org officially banned WP Engine from accessing WordPress.org’s resources.
    The resources include theme and plugin directories, pattern / block directories, translations, etc. The reason cited: legal claims / litigation and trademark disputes. WordPress.org says WP Engine does not have a required trademark license for using certain WordPress trademarks, and that WP Engine has not made sufficient contributions to the project compared to the value it gets.
  • *The announcement said that pending these claims, WP Engine servers can no longer access many of WordPress.org’s servers “for free”.
  • *The impact: WP Engine‑hosted sites temporarily could not update or install some plugins/themes via WP Admin.
  • *Later, there was a preliminary injunction by a court (in December 2024) ordering Automattic to restore access for WP Engine to WordPress.org resources for its customers and to stop interfering with plugin updates.

What this means (downsides & risk for users)?

Putting together both lists (general cons, and what the WP Engine vs WordPress.org dispute brings, then some risks for someone using WP Engine likely included:

  • *During the ban / legal fight, some plugin/theme updates (especially from WordPress.org ) may have been delayed or disrupted. This can cause security risks if patches aren’t available in time. The ban is currently over, but you would have to wonder how permanent the injunction is.
  • *Dependency on WP Engine to provide alternative update mechanisms for plugins or themes they maintain or distribute would be an outcome if a ban took affect again. I suspect wordpress.org will not bow down happily forever. Who knows?
  • *There is possible instability or uncertainty in the future regarding terms of use, trademark licensing, access to core open‑source components etc. should a ban by Automattic be restored.

Personally I believe that WordPress is an ‘Open Source’ product, so I can see where WP Engine is coming from. At the same time I understand the response by WordPress.org, that seems overall to provide a fair playing ground for the masses of WordPress users. For myself I am a stickler for following rules, whether it is my wife’s rules, search engine rules or platform developer rules. Most WordPress users would be in the same camp for this issue is my belief. And with 40% of all websites around the globe using WordPress, and for this dispute, it is the very brave that has taken on a gigantic time tested platform. The dispute I suspect will continue in some form down the track. Time will tell.

Jack. W