WP Engine vs Kinsta
Both sell managed WordPress hosting in US dollars, and both size their plans by visits. WP Engine publishes two tiers and sends bigger needs to sales, while Kinsta prints a long ladder of single-site, multi-site and agency prices. Neither lists a permanent free plan.
Sebastiaan SmitsFounderVendors can pay for more visibility on this website, for example a higher place in a ranking or more room on a page. Commercial relationships can also affect which products we feature and how prominently. Every vendor link is marked the same, whatever the arrangement behind it. How that works.
Choose WP Engine ifyou want a tiered plan with bundled bandwidth, a named brand family around WordPress, and a sales route for 800,000+ visits a month.
Choose Kinsta ifyou want to read every price step before talking to anyone, run one site or many, and pay for extra sites or disk in fixed increments.
WP Engine and Kinsta side by side
| WP Engine | Kinsta | |
|---|---|---|
| Our web hosting rank | #11 of 19 | #4 of 19 |
| Established in | United States | United States |
| List price, 4 November 2026 | Essential USD 28 per month billed annually; Business USD 400 per month billed annually; Enterprise on request | Single-site plans from USD 35 per month (about USD 30 annual) to USD 375; WP 2 USD 70 to WP 40 USD 450; Agency from USD 340 |
| Free tier | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Self-hostable | — | — |
| Built for | Businesses and agencies whose revenue depends on WordPress sites staying fast | A WordPress site that earns money and cannot go down |
| Not for | Brochure sites or anything not built on WordPress | A hobby site |
Both are reviewed in full in our web hosting ranking: WP Engine and Kinsta.
Where they differ
WP Engine 1 · Kinsta 3 · open 0- 01
Published entry point
WP Engine's Essential plan is USD 28 per month billed annually (USD 336 due up front), with 25,000 to 400,000 visits. Kinsta's smaller single-site plans start at USD 35 per month, or about USD 30 on annual billing. WP Engine opens lower, though its page notes a first-year discount for new Essential customers.
Edge: WP Engine
- 02
How far the price list goes
Kinsta prints single-site plans up to USD 375 per month, multi-site plans from WP 2 at USD 70 to WP 40 at USD 450, and agency plans from USD 340. WP Engine prints Essential and Business at USD 400, then Enterprise as talk to sales. Kinsta shows more of the bill.
Edge: Kinsta
- 03
Add-ons and overage
Kinsta states extra sites cost USD 30 per month and extra disk USD 20 per month per 20 GB. The WP Engine page we read shows capacity options by sites and visits but blank price fields. For planning growth, Kinsta's increments are easier to model.
Edge: Kinsta
- 04
Free trial and risk of paying first
Neither page offers a free plan. WP Engine mentions only the first-year Essential discount, while Kinsta runs a Pay $0 today, $35 after the first month promotion on some plans. Kinsta lets you test before the first charge on those plans.
Edge: Kinsta
When neither fits
If you want infrastructure control or lower cost for non-WordPress sites, look at Cloudways. If you want a general host with a European footprint, SiteGround is worth pricing.
WP Engine or Kinsta: questions
3 answersWhich is cheaper, WP Engine or Kinsta?
At the entry level WP Engine's Essential at USD 28 per month is below Kinsta's USD 35 starting single-site plan. Check visit and storage limits, because both cap them.
Does either have a free plan?
No permanent one. Kinsta has a first-month promotion on some plans, and WP Engine mentions a first-year discount on Essential.
Who is behind WP Engine?
The terms name WPEngine, Inc., a Delaware corporation in Austin, Texas. The plans page names no parent company.
Sources
Checked 4 November 2026- WP Engine plans page: Essential and Business prices, Enterprise on request, first-year discount, blank capacity prices.
- WP Engine terms of service: contracting entity WPEngine, Inc., Delaware, Austin.
- Kinsta pricing page: single-site, multi-site and agency prices, extra site and disk costs, first-month promotion.