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WP Engine vs Flywheel

A comparison of WP Engine and Flywheel built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.

Updated 14 criteria compared

The short answer

Pick WP Engine if
WordPress teams that deploy with Git rather than SFTP — GitPush works over SSH — and want bandwidth overages handled by a conversation rather than an automatic charge on shared plans.
Pick Flywheel if
Freelancers and agencies running client sites, where the workflow tools and a Fastly CDN matter more than raw resource ceilings. Bandwidth is stated rather than described as unlimited, so the plan is legible.

4 sourced criteria separate them:

Storage (entry plan)
WP Engine: 10 GB storage on the Essential plan at its cheapest capacity tier
Flywheel: 10 GB on Starter, the cheapest plan; 20 GB on Freelance
Sites or apps included
WP Engine: 1 site on the entry Essential tier (1–30 across Essential capacity tiers); additional sites $20/month each
Flywheel: 1 site on Starter, the cheapest plan; up to 10 on Freelance
Monthly visits cap
WP Engine: 25,000 visits/mo on the Essential plan at its cheapest capacity tier
Flywheel: 25,000 monthly visits on Starter; 100,000 on Freelance
Edge network
WP Engine: Limited
Flywheel: Supported

No affiliate links, sponsored placements or paid rankings appear on this site. Ordering follows the sourced data and the stated criteria.

01.

At a glance.

CriterionWP EngineFlywheel
Limits
Storage (entry plan)
10 GB storage on the Essential plan at its cheapest capacity tier
10 GB on Starter, the cheapest plan; 20 GB on Freelance
Sites or apps included
1 site on the entry Essential tier (1–30 across Essential capacity tiers); additional sites $20/month each
1 site on Starter, the cheapest plan; up to 10 on Freelance
Monthly visits cap
25,000 visits/mo on the Essential plan at its cheapest capacity tier
25,000 monthly visits on Starter; 100,000 on Freelance
Infrastructure
Edge network
Limited
Supported

Only criteria both providers publish appear here; a tinted cell marks a real difference. Criteria only one of them documents are listed below, and an absence there means we found no source — not that the feature is missing. How we source this.

The small bar above a value is inetGeek's own lean toward that side — computed from the same facts shown, never a number the provider published. See the picker below "The short answer" to weigh only the criteria you care about.

02.

Where they differ.

Storage (entry plan)

WP Engine

10 GB storage on the Essential plan at its cheapest capacity tier

Flywheel

10 GB on Starter, the cheapest plan; 20 GB on Freelance

Sources (2) →

Sites or apps included

WP Engine

1 site on the entry Essential tier (1–30 across Essential capacity tiers); additional sites $20/month each

Flywheel

1 site on Starter, the cheapest plan; up to 10 on Freelance

Sources (2) →

Monthly visits cap

WP Engine

25,000 visits/mo on the Essential plan at its cheapest capacity tier

Flywheel

25,000 monthly visits on Starter; 100,000 on Freelance

Sources (2) →

Edge network

WP Engine
Limited
Flywheel
Supported
Sources (2) →
03.

Which should you choose?

Choose WP Engine if…

WordPress teams that deploy with Git rather than SFTP — GitPush works over SSH — and want bandwidth overages handled by a conversation rather than an automatic charge on shared plans.

Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved

Choose Flywheel if…

Freelancers and agencies running client sites, where the workflow tools and a Fastly CDN matter more than raw resource ceilings. Bandwidth is stated rather than described as unlimited, so the plan is legible.

Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved

Consider something else if…

  • WP Engine: Scripts must finish inside 60 seconds; the execution limit can be lowered but not raised.
  • Flywheel: The entry plan is one site at 25,000 visits and 50 GB of bandwidth. A single busy site outgrows the bandwidth line before the visit line, which is not the axis most managed hosts fail on.
04.

Documented by only one.

These criteria are published by one provider and not the other. An absence here means we have not found a source, not that the feature is missing.

Entry paid planFlywheel: $25/month for Starter, billed $300 a year with two months free. Monthly billing is offered at a higher rate.
Pricing modelFlywheel: Annual plans metered on three axes at once — sites, monthly visits and bandwidth — rather than on compute. Two months free for paying yearly.
Egress over allowanceWP Engine: No bandwidth overage charge on Shared plans
When you exceed a capWP Engine: Not throttled or cut off; billed $2 per 1,000 extra monthly visitors
Included bandwidthFlywheel: 50 GB a month on Starter; 200 GB on Freelance. A stated allowance rather than the unlimited claim common in this segment.
Max request durationWP Engine: 60 seconds
Git deploymentWP Engine: Supported
Scheduled jobsWP Engine: Supported
RegionsWP Engine: Google Cloud: Iowa (us-central1), South Carolina (us-east1), Montreal (northamerica-northeast1), Belgium (europe-west1), London (europe-west2), Frankfurt (europe-west3), Netherlands (europe-west4), Finland (europe-north1), Taiwan (asia-east1), Tokyo (asia-northeast1), Sydney (australia-southeast1), Singapore (asia-southeast1), Tel Aviv (me-west1). AWS and Azure regions are Premium-plan only.
Backup retentionFlywheel: Nightly backups. Flywheel does not state a retention period on the pricing page.
05.

Questions this comparison answers.

Storage (entry plan): WP Engine or Flywheel?

WP Engine: 10 GB storage on the Essential plan at its cheapest capacity tier

Flywheel: 10 GB on Starter, the cheapest plan; 20 GB on Freelance

Should I choose WP Engine or Flywheel?

Pick WP Engine if WordPress teams that deploy with Git rather than SFTP — GitPush works over SSH — and want bandwidth overages handled by a conversation rather than an automatic charge on shared plans.

Pick Flywheel if Freelancers and agencies running client sites, where the workflow tools and a Fastly CDN matter more than raw resource ceilings. Bandwidth is stated rather than described as unlimited, so the plan is legible.