Disclosure: some links on this page are affiliate links. If you sign up through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It does not change what we recommend.
How we compared them
We did not test, benchmark or use either host for this page. Everything below comes from each vendor's own public pages, read in November 2026, plus the Trustpilot ratings linked in Sources. Pricing pages change often and some pages did not show every limit, so where a number was missing we say so instead of guessing.
Pricing and plan limits
| Item | Kinsta | WP Engine |
|---|---|---|
| Entry plan | $35/month list, 1 WordPress install: Single 35k (35,000 visits, 10GB) or Launch (75,000 visits, 15GB). Half price for new customers until December 1, 2026 | Essential from $28/month billed annually ($336 upfront): 25,000 visits, 10GB storage, 75GB bandwidth at the smallest size |
| Small multi-site | WP 2: $70/month, 2 installs. WP 5: $115/month, 5 installs. Storage and visit limits vary by plan variant | Essential scales up to 400,000 visits and 50GB; the plans page does not show site counts per size, so ask WP Engine |
| Larger multi-site | WP 10: $225/month, 10 installs. WP 20: $340/month, 20 installs | Business (550GB bandwidth) and Enterprise (priced through sales); site counts not shown on the plans page |
| Agency plans | Agency plans for 20, 40 and 60 installs; Agency 20 listed from $170/month for the first three months (new customers, offer ends December 1, 2026). Kinsta's pages give different figures for the price after that, so ask | No separate agency hosting plan found on the plans page; agencies use the plans above or the partner program |
| Refunds | Pricing page advertises a 30-day money-back guarantee after any free period; terms of service say fees are otherwise non-refundable | Terms of service say fees are not refundable except as stated; no money-back guarantee found |
The prices above are monthly figures from each site; WP Engine's page also lists annual totals billed upfront (for example $336 for the smallest Essential plan). Kinsta's pages did not show PHP worker counts, and neither vendor's pages we read gave overage rates. Confirm limits and overage charges on the vendor's site before you move clients.
Agency and partner programs
Kinsta. Its agency page lists lifetime commissions, lead referrals, co-marketing, and up to $10,000 in hosting credits for eligible agencies. You control client billing yourself. WordPress admin and footer mention Kinsta by default, and you can remove that with a line in wp-config.php. Kinsta says its migration engineers handle migrations, with an 18-hour average turnaround and zero downtime, up to the number of installs in your plan. Plans include unlimited users with role-based access, 2FA and SAML SSO.
WP Engine. The partner program has four tiers: Member (no minimum), Preferred (3 referral submissions), Advanced ($1,200 of referred monthly recurring revenue) and Strategic ($5,000). Commissions run for 12 months on referrals at 8% (Member and Preferred), 10% (Advanced) and 12% (Strategic), paid monthly after the referred account has been open and in good standing for 90 days. Partners get one free agency hosting account, a partner portal and a community Slack. The page says partners get discounts but gives no percentages, so ask WP Engine. Approval typically takes 3 to 5 business days. Confirm the current tiers and rates when you apply.
Reputation
On Trustpilot, Kinsta is rated 4.7 out of 5 from 1,100+ reviews and WP Engine 4.2 out of 5 from 1,700+ reviews (checked November 2026). Trustpilot reviews are self-selected and cover all customer types, not only agencies, so treat the scores as one signal.
Real drawbacks
Kinsta:
- Extra installs and storage are priced as add-ons ($30/month per additional site and $20/month per 20GB of disk, per its pricing page), which can add up for a growing client list.
- Many of its single-site plans are priced by server bandwidth or visits, so a traffic spike on one client site can push you to a higher plan.
- Several promotional prices apply to new customers only and end on a set date.
WP Engine:
- Its terms say that if your order sets a usage limit such as visitors, you are responsible for the overages, invoiced monthly in arrears. Rates are set in your order, not on the page.
- Its terms say you can end early only for uncured material breach; other early termination makes remaining fees due, and the agreement renews automatically unless you give notice 30 days before the term ends.
- The 99.99% uptime SLA is listed for Business and Enterprise plans, not Essential.
- Its promotional first-year pricing is for new customers on Essential plans only, and renewal pricing can change.
Which should you choose
Choose Kinsta if client billing and branding matter to you: you invoice clients directly, want WordPress admin to be free of host references, and want a host-run migration for each client. Choose WP Engine if you plan to refer clients and want a program that pays a percentage for 12 months, or if the Essential plan's limits fit your sites. In either case, ask both vendors in writing about overage rates, the exact limits on the plan you need, and refund treatment of a first payment, because the public pages did not settle those points.
Sources
- Kinsta pricing
- Kinsta agency hosting
- Kinsta terms of service
- WP Engine plans
- WP Engine agency partner program
- WP Engine terms of service
- Kinsta on Trustpilot
- WP Engine on Trustpilot
Prices and ratings checked November 2026. They change; confirm on the vendor's site.