WP Engine has not announced a 2026 Black Friday sale, and its record is mixed: three good years, then none. The entry plan's first year on annual billing was $240 in 2022, $180 in 2023 and $240 in 2024, against a normal $300, and in 2025 WP Engine's pages showed no sale at all. Today that plan is called Essential for 1 site and costs $336 a year or $35.00/mo; the annual price is already 20% under the monthly one.
I tested WP Engine's entry plan on the same WordPress site I use for every host. It answered in 242ms from New York with one visitor and 487ms with 100 visitors at once, and none of 8,250 requests failed. That is dependable, but slower under load than the other managed plans we compared, so this page sets the test next to the price, the past sales and what the plan costs over four years.
The Deal at a Glance
Essential, 1 site tested
- $336 a year today; $180 to $240 in the 2022 to 2024 sales
- Renewal price not printed on the plans page
- 487ms with 100 visitors at once
1 site, 25,000 visits a month, 10GB storage
See WP EngineEssential, 3 sites tested
- $624 a year today; $480 in the 2024 sale
- WP Engine's "Best Value" size
- 435ms with 100 visitors at once
Up to 3 sites, 75,000 visits a month, 15GB storage
See WP EngineEssential, 1 site, monthly tested
- $35.00/mo today
- The past sales were on annual billing only
- No annual commitment
The same plan, billed monthly
See WP EngineWP Engine Prices, Plan by Plan
WP Engine now sells its shared managed WordPress hosting as one plan, Essential, in four sizes. They match the plans it used to call Startup, Professional, Growth and Scale, with the same sites, visits and storage. Annual billing is 20% under the monthly price, and WP Engine labels it first-year pricing for new customers.
| Essential size | Visits a month | Monthly | First year, annual billing | Was called | 2024 sale, first year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 site tested | 25,000 | $35.00/mo | $336 | Startup | $240 |
| Up to 3 sites tested | 75,000 | $65.00/mo | $624 | Professional | $480 |
| Up to 10 sites tested | 100,000 | $130.00/mo | $1,248 | Growth | $924 |
| Up to 30 sites | 400,000 | $330.00/mo | $3,168 | Scale | $2,328 |
US dollars before tax. Storage is 10GB, 15GB, 20GB and 50GB by size. WP Engine meters visits per month, and its footnote warns that "overages may apply during checkout". The "2024 sale" column is the first-year price on WP Engine's plans page in the 2024 offer, which had already been on the page since early October. Above these sizes WP Engine sells Core, from $400 a month on isolated resources, and Enterprise at a custom price.
What WP Engine Offered on Past Black Fridays
We went back to WP Engine's own homepage and plans page as the Wayback Machine saved them around Black Friday each year, and to the same pages a few weeks before and after. WP Engine counts "months free" against the monthly price: in 2022 the entry plan was $30 a month, so "4 months free" meant paying for eight, $240 for the year.
| Year | What WP Engine's page said | Entry plan, first year on annual billing | Lower than before the sale? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | No sale wording on the homepage or plans page | $300, the normal annual price | No |
| 2022 | "You're getting 4 months free!" | $240, then $300 a year | Yes: $270 ("3 months free") in early October |
| 2023 | "Our best deal ever 6 MONTHS FREE!", new customers, annual plans | $180 | Yes: $240 at the end of September |
| 2024 | "Get it before it's gone! 4 months free with annual plan" | $240 | No: the same $240 on October 1; back to $300 by December 8 |
| 2025 | No sale wording on the homepage or plans page | $300, the normal annual price | No |
Prices as shown on WP Engine's plans page, not a checkout. The larger plans followed the entry plan in every sale: in 2023, for example, Professional, Growth and Scale were $30, $58 and $145 a month for the first year. From 2023 the footnote limited first-year pricing to new customers, once at signup, not combined with other offers and not for upgrades or renewals. WP Engine's /black-friday/ address has no saved copy in any year.
What this means for a buyer: WP Engine's sales have not been a fixed yearly event. The deepest was 2023, the 2024 offer cost the same as the price in October, and 2025 had none. Today's annual price is already 20% under monthly for the first year, so a sale only helps if it beats $336 for the first year: at today's monthly price a repeat of "4 months free" would be $280 and "6 months free" $210.
How WP Engine Held Up in Our Tests
We ran the same WordPress site on three WP Engine plans and on the managed WordPress and cloud plans buyers usually compare them with. We measured response time (TTFB) from 10 locations at the origin server, with no CDN in front, a load ramp from 0 to 250 clients requesting pages at once (8,250 requests per host), and uptime over 54 days. Full method: How We Test.
| Host | TTFB, New York | 10 locations | 100 at once | Failed | Uptime |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WP Engine Startup (Essential, 1 site) | 242ms | 540ms | 487ms | 0% | 99.97% 23 minutes down |
| WP Engine Professional (3 sites) | 230ms | 513ms | 435ms | 0% | 99.97% 23 minutes down |
| WP Engine Growth (10 sites) | 215ms | 480ms | 380ms | 0% | 99.979% 16 minutes down |
| Kinsta Single 20GB | 64ms | 143ms | 92ms | 0% | 99.99% 8 minutes down |
| Cloudways DigitalOcean Premium | 54ms | 121ms | 86ms | 0% | 99.985% 12 minutes down |
Lower is better for response times. "10 locations" is the average TTFB across our 10 test locations; "100 at once" is the response time with 100 visitors at the same moment. No host in this table failed a request on the climb to 250 clients. We tested the WP Engine plans under their old names; each matches an Essential size in sites, visits and storage. Cloudways is a cloud server you size yourself, so it has no single plan price to set beside these.
What this means for a buyer: WP Engine did not fail a request and lost little time to downtime, but under load its plans were the slowest managed WordPress plans we compared. The entry plan took 487ms with 100 visitors at once, where Kinsta's entry plan took 92ms, more than five times quicker. The larger WP Engine plans were a little faster, not a different class. Our Cloudways vs WP Engine comparison covers the cloud alternative.
What WP Engine Costs Over Four Years, Compared
WP Engine's plans page prints no renewal figure, but its payment page does: the 1-site plan auto-renews at $420.00 a year, the same as twelve months at the monthly price. The rows below count each year after the first at that rate. Kinsta charges the same rate at renewal.
| Host and plan | Billing | Four-year total | 100 visitors at once |
|---|---|---|---|
| WP Engine Essential, 1 site | Annual, starting on a repeat of "4 months free" | $1,540 | 487ms |
| WP Engine Essential, 1 site | Annual, today's price | $1,596 | 487ms |
| WP Engine Essential, 1 site | Monthly | $1,680 | 487ms |
| Kinsta Single 20GB | Annual, starting on its last sale's $210 | $1,260 | 92ms |
| Kinsta Single 20GB | Annual, today's price | $1,400 | 92ms |
Today's prices before tax. The first row is arithmetic: eight months at today's monthly price for the first year, as WP Engine counted "4 months free" in 2022 and 2024, then the renewal rate the payment page prints; it is not an announced offer. Kinsta's free first month is left out. The test column is the response with 100 visitors at once in our load test.
Over four years, WP Engine's 1-site plan on annual billing costs $1,596, $196 more than Kinsta Single 20GB at today's prices, because the 20% off ends after the first year. Kinsta's last two sales widened that gap, and Kinsta was more than five times quicker under load in our test. Monthly billing on WP Engine adds $84 over the four years.
What Happens When the First Year Ends
WP Engine's plans page calls today's annual price first-year pricing for new customers and says "Product renewal pricing subject to change". It does not print a renewal figure, but the payment page does: the 1-site plan auto-renews at $420.00 a year, the same as twelve months at the monthly price. In 2022 the same page said the sale price renewed at the normal annual rate, $300 a year on the entry plan at the time.
- Read the renewal line on the order summary before you pay, and keep a screenshot of it.
- Put the renewal date in your calendar when you buy, with a reminder about six weeks before.
- Check your visits before it renews. Each Essential size has a monthly visit allowance (25,000 on the 1-site size), and WP Engine notes that overages may apply. If your site has grown past it, price the next size before the renewal rather than after.
- Compare before it renews. Our guide on whether to renew or move walks through the numbers, and our WP Engine review covers the plan in depth.
How to Buy at the Lowest Price
- Open WP Engine's plans page through our link or directly. In past sales the sale price showed on the plan cards.
- Pick the billing: annual for the lowest price per year (the past sales were on annual billing), monthly if you want to leave without a year's commitment.
- Pick the size by sites and monthly visits: 1 site for a single site, up to 3 sites if you run a second or third.
- Leave the add-ons (plugin updates, extra security, page speed) for later unless you need them; each one raises the bill.
- Read the order summary: check the amount due today and the renewal line before you pay.
Who Should Buy It
Weighing WP Engine against Kinsta? The Kinsta Black Friday page covers its past sales and the same test.
What We Did Not Test
- Black Friday checkouts. The past prices come from WP Engine's saved pages, not from a purchase.
- The 30-site size and Core. We benchmarked the 1, 3 and 10-site plans under their old names; the largest size and the isolated Core plans were not measured.
- WP Engine's CDN and page cache from the edge. Our response times are taken at the origin server with no CDN in front, so every host is measured the same way.
- Uptime guarantees, support and refunds. WP Engine's feature table lists its 99.99% SLA for Core and Enterprise, not Essential. This page measures servers and prices, not how quickly WP Engine answers a ticket or pays back a refund.
What I Would Do
If WP Engine is the host you want, I would not count on a sale: 2025 had none, and today's annual price is already 20% under monthly for the first year. I would check the plans page in the second half of November, and buy annual at $336 if nothing better appears, with the renewal line read before paying. If speed under load matters, Kinsta's entry plan was more than five times quicker in our test, and its last two sales made the first year $210.
See every Black Friday hosting deal we track →
WP Engine Black Friday FAQ
When does WP Engine Black Friday 2026 start?
WP Engine has not announced it. On the records we have, the 2022 and 2023 offers were on the plans page by November 27 or 28 and still there on December 5. In 2024 the "4 months free" price was already on the page on October 1 and was gone by December 8. In 2025 neither the plans page nor the homepage showed a sale around Black Friday.
How much is WP Engine on Black Friday?
On the entry plan, the first year on annual billing was $240 in 2022 and 2024 ("4 months free") and $180 in 2023 ("6 months free"), against a normal $300. There was no sale in 2025. Today the same plan, now called Essential for 1 site, is $336 a year or $35.00/mo. WP Engine counts free months against the monthly price, so at today's prices "4 months free" would make the first year $280 and "6 months free" $210. That is arithmetic on past offers, not an announcement.
Do I need a coupon code for WP Engine Black Friday?
Not on the records we have: the sale prices showed on WP Engine's own plans page, and its terms say first-year pricing cannot be combined with other offers. We hold no record of a working extra code. Check the amount on the order summary before you pay.
Can existing WP Engine customers get the Black Friday deal?
Not on the records we have. From 2023 on, WP Engine's footnote limits first-year pricing to new customers, once at signup, and excludes upgrades and renewals.
What does WP Engine renew at after the first year?
Today's plans page calls the annual price first-year pricing and says "Product renewal pricing subject to change" without printing a renewal figure. The payment page does: the 1-site plan auto-renews at $420.00 a year, the same as twelve months at the monthly price. In 2022 the page said the sale price renewed at the normal annual rate ($300 a year on the entry plan). Read the renewal line on the order summary before you pay, and put the date in your calendar.
Does WP Engine still have a 60-day money-back guarantee?
WP Engine's plans page offered a 60-day money-back guarantee on its shared plans in every copy we hold from 2021 to 2025. Today's plans page does not show it, and the Terms of Service say fees are not refundable except as stated there. Ask WP Engine, or look for it at checkout, before you rely on it.
Which WP Engine plan should I buy on Black Friday?
For one site, Essential for 1 site (the plan we tested as Startup): 487ms with 100 visitors at once in our test, $336 a year today. For up to three sites, Essential for 3 sites at $624 a year (tested as Professional: 435ms).
Is WP Engine fast enough to justify the price?
It was reliable in our test, but not quick. The entry plan answered in 242ms from New York with one visitor, 540ms on average across 10 locations and 487ms with 100 visitors at once, with no failed requests, and uptime was 99.97%. Kinsta's entry plan answered in 92ms under the same load for a similar price.