You've invested in premium WordPress hosting because your website matters. Fast servers, reliable uptime, enterprise security—these are table stakes for serious businesses. WP Engine delivers solid infrastructure, and its managed WordPress hosting has earned it a strong reputation.

But here's what catches most businesses by surprise after signing up: when your plugin conflicts with your theme, when custom code breaks after an update, when your WooCommerce checkout throws an error—WP Engine tells you it's outside their support scope. You're left to hire a developer at $100-200 per hour to fix issues on your own website.

That's not comprehensive managed hosting. That's expensive infrastructure with a critical support gap.

FatLab takes a fundamentally different approach to WordPress hosting. We provide enterprise-grade infrastructure and full website support. We don't just keep your server running—we help fix plugin conflicts, debug custom code, troubleshoot theme issues, and resolve the actual problems that happen on WordPress sites every day. We do this at competitive pricing, with none of the plugin restrictions or support limitations that characterize infrastructure-only hosts.

This guide explains the key differences between FatLab's comprehensive WordPress management and WP Engine's infrastructure-focused model, helping you understand which approach better serves your business needs.

The Infrastructure-Only Support Problem

Premium WordPress hosts excel at managing infrastructure. They keep servers running, apply security patches, handle backups, configure CDNs, and maintain impressive uptime statistics. If you have a server-level issue, they're excellent at resolving it.

But most premium hosts, including WP Engine, draw a hard line at infrastructure support. They don't support your website—only the server underneath it.

What WP Engine Actually Supports

When WP Engine says they offer "managed WordPress hosting," here's what they actually manage:

Infrastructure they support:

  • Server uptime and availability
  • Security patches and server-level updates
  • Automated backups and restores
  • CDN configuration
  • Database optimization at the server level
  • PHP version management
  • SSL certificate installation

Website issues outside their scope:

  • Plugin conflicts and errors
  • Theme customization problems
  • Custom plugin or theme debugging
  • WooCommerce configuration issues
  • Form submission problems
  • Integration troubleshooting
  • Custom code that breaks after updates
  • Anything specific to your website's functionality

This infrastructure-only model means that when something breaks on your WordPress site—and things do break when plugins update, themes change, or WordPress core releases new versions—you're on your own to find and pay for solutions.

The Developer Tax

This support limitation creates what we call the "developer tax." You pay premium hosting prices for server management, then you pay again—at $100-200 per hour—every time you need help with your actual website.

Real costs add up quickly:

  • Plugin conflict that crashes your site: $200-400 developer consultation
  • Custom code that breaks after WordPress update: $400-800
  • WooCommerce checkout errors: $300-600 for troubleshooting
  • Theme compatibility issues: $300-500

These costs are in addition to your premium hosting bill, and they occur regularly as WordPress, plugins, and themes continue to update.

FatLab's Comprehensive WordPress Management

FatLab believes premium WordPress hosting should support your entire WordPress site—not just the infrastructure beneath it.

When you have a plugin conflict, we debug it. When your custom theme breaks after an update, we fix it. When your contact form stops working, we troubleshoot it. If it's on your WordPress site, we help resolve it—included in your hosting plan.

What FatLab's Full Support Includes

Our comprehensive managed WordPress hosting covers both infrastructure and website support:

Infrastructure management (like other premium hosts):

  • Cloud hosting with automatic scaling
  • Cloudflare Enterprise CDN (260+ global points of presence)
  • Real-time malware scanning with Imunify360
  • Automatic malware cleanup
  • DDoS protection at layers 3, 4, and 7
  • SSL certificates at all layers
  • 24/7 uptime and security monitoring
  • Daily automated backups (on-server + offsite)
  • Weekly WordPress core updates with rollback protection

Website support (FatLab exclusive):

  • Plugin conflict diagnosis and resolution
  • Theme troubleshooting and fixes
  • Custom code debugging and repairs
  • WooCommerce configuration and error resolution
  • Form submission troubleshooting
  • Third-party integration support
  • Performance optimization for your specific site
  • Emergency response when your site breaks

This unified support model means you have one team that takes ownership of your entire WordPress site—not just your server. When something breaks, you contact us. We don't pass you off to plugin developers or tell you to hire a developer.

Key Differences: FatLab vs. WP Engine

Let's compare what you actually get with each hosting provider:

Support Scope

WP Engine: Infrastructure support only. Plugin conflicts, theme issues, custom code problems, and WooCommerce troubleshooting are outside their scope. You'll be referred to plugin developers or told to hire a WordPress developer.

FatLab: Complete website support. We help with plugin conflicts, theme issues, custom code debugging, WooCommerce problems, and any WordPress functionality issues. When your site breaks, we fix it—that's included in your hosting plan.

Plugin Restrictions

WP Engine: Blocks numerous popular plugins, including W3 Total Cache, WP Super Cache, Duplicator, BackWPup, and many performance optimization tools. This limits flexibility and can make existing sites incompatible with their platform.

FatLab: No plugin restrictions. If it's a legitimate WordPress plugin, you can use it. We trust you to choose the tools your business needs. If a plugin causes problems, we help you troubleshoot it rather than blocking it entirely.

Pricing Structure

WP Engine: Starts at $30/month but increases significantly as traffic grows. Plans include visitor limits, and exceeding them results in overage charges. The Growth plan ($115/month) supports 100,000 monthly visits, and the Scale plan ($290/month) handles 400,000 visits. Additional features like advanced caching and security often require add-ons or higher-tier plans.

FatLab: Transparent, straightforward pricing. Watch Dog Starter at $35/month supports up to 20,000 monthly pageviews. Watch Dog Basic at $99/month includes unlimited traffic with no overage charges, comprehensive website support, and a 2-hour response time guarantee. All features included—no add-ons for backups, SSL, malware cleanup, or security. Check out our complete hosting plans to find the right fit.

Response Times and Support Access

WP Engine: Support response times vary by plan tier. You may encounter tiered support systems where basic plans receive standard response times while premium plans get faster access. Support is generally infrastructure-focused.

FatLab: Under 2-hour response time on Basic plans with priority queue access. You talk directly to WordPress developers who understand both infrastructure and website issues—not tier-1 support reading from scripts. Every response aims to solve your problem, not redirect you elsewhere.

Real-World Scenarios: When Support Scope Matters

The difference between infrastructure-only and comprehensive support becomes most apparent when things go wrong. Here's how typical scenarios play out:

Scenario: Plugin Conflict After Update

Your site: WooCommerce checkout page shows a PHP error after a plugin update. Customers can't complete purchases.

WP Engine response: "That's a plugin issue. We only support infrastructure. Contact the plugin developer or hire a WordPress developer. We can't troubleshoot third-party code."

Your cost: $300-600 developer bill + hours of downtime + lost sales

FatLab response: We review your error logs, identify the conflicting plugin, test with the latest version, and either resolve the conflict or recommend a stable alternative. Emergency issues get immediate attention. Included in your hosting plan.

Scenario: Custom Theme Breaking After WordPress Update

Your site: Custom theme elements not displaying correctly after core WordPress update.

WP Engine response: "We only support WordPress core updates themselves. Theme issues are outside our scope. Contact your theme developer."

Your cost: $400-800 developer bill

FatLab response: We test your theme in a staging environment, identify the incompatibility, and either fix the code or roll back the update until a solution is available. We work with your theme developer if needed. Included in your hosting plan.

Scenario: WooCommerce Integration Problem

Your site: Payment gateway stops working after routine updates. Transactions are failing.

WP Engine response: "WooCommerce configuration and payment gateway issues are outside our support scope. Contact WooCommerce support or your payment processor."

Your cost: Hours of troubleshooting between multiple support teams + lost revenue

FatLab response: We check payment gateway credentials, test transaction flow, review WooCommerce logs, and identify whether the issue is configuration, compatibility, or gateway-side. We coordinate with payment processors if needed. Included in your hosting plan.

These aren't edge cases—they're everyday problems that happen on WordPress sites. Infrastructure-only hosts leave you to solve them alone, often at significant cost. FatLab includes this critical support in every hosting plan.

Performance and Infrastructure: FatLab's Technical Foundation

Comprehensive website support doesn't mean sacrificing infrastructure quality. FatLab delivers the same enterprise-grade performance and security you'd expect from premium hosts:

Performance Optimization

  • Server-level caching configuration optimized for WordPress
  • Cloudflare Enterprise CDN with 260+ global points of presence
  • Optimized PHP and MySQL configurations
  • Automatic resource scaling for traffic spikes
  • HTTP/3 and the latest performance technologies
  • Sub-2-second TTFB (Time to First Byte) on properly optimized sites

Enterprise Security

  • Real-time malware scanning with Imunify360
  • Automatic malware cleanup included (no extra charges)
  • Cloudflare Enterprise Web Application Firewall (WAF)
  • DDoS protection at layers 3, 4, and 7
  • SSL certificates at all layers (server, firewall, CDN)
  • 24/7 security monitoring and threat detection
  • Proactive vulnerability patching

Reliability and Uptime

  • 99.9% uptime guarantee
  • 24/7 infrastructure monitoring and alerting
  • Redundant backup systems (on-server + offsite)
  • Quick disaster recovery capabilities
  • Proactive issue detection and resolution

Developer-Friendly Features

  • Staging environments for safe testing
  • Git deployment options when needed
  • SSH access for developers
  • WP-CLI support for command-line management
  • Custom configuration for advanced requirements

The difference is that we add comprehensive website support on top of this infrastructure. You get both premium hosting and premium WordPress expertise—not one or the other.

Who Should Choose FatLab Over WP Engine

FatLab is the right choice if you:

Need more than infrastructure support. If you want experts who help with plugin conflicts, theme issues, and custom code—not just server problems—FatLab provides comprehensive WordPress support that infrastructure-only hosts don't offer.

Run a custom or complex WordPress site. If your site uses custom plugins, custom themes, or specialized functionality, you need a host that will help when things break. Infrastructure-only hosts tell you to hire a developer; FatLab includes that support.

Manage an e-commerce or membership site. WooCommerce, membership plugins, and payment integrations are complex. When something breaks, you need immediate help—not referrals to multiple support teams. FatLab troubleshoots these issues as part of your hosting plan.

Want transparent, predictable pricing. If you're tired of overage charges, surprise renewals, and add-on fees, FatLab's straightforward pricing includes everything you need at one flat monthly rate. Our Basic plan offers unlimited traffic with no surprise charges.

Value responsive expert support. If you want to talk to WordPress developers who actually understand your site—not tier-1 support reading from scripts—FatLab provides direct access to experts with under 2-hour response times on Basic plans.

Operate as a nonprofit or agency. We offer specialized hosting for nonprofits and white label solutions for agencies, with features and pricing designed for your specific needs.

Migration from WP Engine: Easier Than You Think

Worried about migrating from WP Engine? Our team handles everything professionally, ensuring zero downtime and complete data integrity.

Our Migration Process

Free consultation: We review your current hosting setup, discuss your site's specific needs, and create a migration plan tailored to your situation.

We handle the technical work: Our team migrates your files, databases, and configurations. For WP Engine sites, we ensure any previously blocked plugins work properly on our platform.

Thorough testing: We test your site on our servers before going live, ensuring everything works exactly as it should—forms, checkout processes, integrations, everything.

DNS coordination: We guide you through DNS updates or handle them for you, minimizing any potential downtime.

Post-migration monitoring: We closely monitor your site after migration and address any issues immediately.

What to Expect

  • Zero downtime for most migrations
  • No data loss
  • Full functionality testing
  • Free migration included with annual plans
  • Professional migration service for complex sites

Most WordPress sites migrate within 24-48 hours. Complex sites with custom configurations or large databases may take slightly longer, but we keep you informed throughout the process.

Unlike infrastructure-only hosts that offer DIY migration tools, we provide hands-on professional migration service. Your site is too important to risk with automated tools.

Beyond Basic Hosting: Why FatLab Is Different

FatLab isn't just a hosting company—we're a comprehensive WordPress partner. This means we offer services beyond basic hosting that infrastructure-only providers don't provide:

  • Ongoing maintenance and updates: Weekly plugin, theme, and WordPress core updates with manual review and rollback protection
  • Performance optimization: Site-specific speed improvements beyond standard caching
  • Security hardening: Custom security configurations for high-risk sites
  • Custom development: When your site needs functionality beyond plugins, our development team can build it
  • Strategic consulting: Website planning, architecture decisions, and technology recommendations
  • Emergency response: When critical issues occur, we respond immediately with real solutions

Compare this to other premium WordPress hosts, and you'll see why comprehensive WordPress management delivers better value than infrastructure-only hosting.

Getting Started with FatLab

Ready to experience WordPress hosting that supports your entire website—not just the server underneath it?

Explore our hosting options:

Have questions? Contact us for a free consultation about migrating your site from WP Engine or any other premium host.

We offer free professional migration, month-to-month pricing with no long-term contracts, and the confidence that comes from working with WordPress experts who support your entire site—not just the infrastructure.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the main difference between FatLab and WP Engine hosting?

FatLab provides complete website support, not just infrastructure management. While WP Engine excels at managing servers with strong uptime, security patches, and backup systems, it stops supporting you when problems occur on your WordPress site itself. If you experience plugin conflicts, theme issues, custom code errors, or WooCommerce problems, WP Engine refers you to plugin developers or recommends hiring a WordPress developer at $100-200 per hour. FatLab includes comprehensive website support in every hosting plan—we debug plugin conflicts, fix theme problems, troubleshoot WooCommerce errors, and resolve custom code issues. When something breaks on your WordPress site, we take ownership and fix it. This is what managed WordPress hosting should mean: managing your WordPress site, not just your server.

Does WP Engine block certain WordPress plugins?

Yes, WP Engine restricts numerous popular WordPress plugins to maintain control over its platform. They block caching plugins like W3 Total Cache and WP Super Cache, backup plugins like Duplicator and BackWPup, and various performance and security plugins. WP Engine implements these restrictions to control caching and backup systems, but this limits your flexibility and can make existing sites incompatible with their hosting platform. FatLab does not restrict plugins—if it's a legitimate WordPress plugin, you can use it on our platform. We trust you to choose the tools your business needs. More importantly, if a plugin causes problems with conflicts, errors, or performance issues, we help you troubleshoot and resolve them rather than simply blocking the plugin. This approach is especially important for businesses with custom plugins, specialized functionality, or sites that rely on specific tools.

How does FatLab pricing compare to WP Engine?

FatLab offers more transparent and predictable pricing than WP Engine. WP Engine starts at $30 per month but quickly escalates as traffic grows—their Growth plan costs $115 monthly for 100,000 visits, and their Scale plan runs $290 monthly for 400,000 visits. They also charge overage fees if you exceed visitor limits, and many essential features require add-ons or higher-tier plans. FatLab's pricing is straightforward: Watch Dog Starter at $35 monthly supports up to 20,000 pageviews, and Watch Dog Basic at $99 monthly includes unlimited traffic with no overage charges. All features are included—SSL certificates, daily backups, malware scanning and cleanup, Cloudflare Enterprise CDN, and most importantly, full website support for plugin conflicts, theme issues, and custom code. When you factor in the developer costs you avoid by having comprehensive support included, FatLab delivers significantly better value. Our pricing is month-to-month with no long-term contracts required, and the price never increases at renewal.

Can FatLab handle high-traffic WordPress sites?

Absolutely, FatLab's infrastructure handles high-traffic WordPress sites with the same reliability and performance you'd expect from premium hosts. Our Watch Dog Basic plan supports unlimited traffic with automatic scaling to handle traffic spikes during campaigns, product launches, or viral content. We use cloud hosting infrastructure with Cloudflare Enterprise CDN featuring 260+ global points of presence, server-level caching, optimized PHP and MySQL configurations, and 24/7 monitoring to ensure consistent performance. Unlike budget hosts that throttle your site during traffic spikes, or infrastructure-only hosts that charge overage fees, FatLab scales resources automatically to handle your traffic needs. The key difference is that we combine this premium infrastructure with comprehensive website support. When your high-traffic site needs performance optimization, troubleshooting, or custom configuration, our WordPress developers help you rather than referring you to hire someone else.

Will FatLab help if a WordPress update breaks my site?

Yes, when updates break your site, FatLab's support team helps resolve the issue immediately—unlike infrastructure-only hosts that tell you to hire a developer. We follow a careful update process by creating backups before every update and testing updates in staging environments when possible. If something breaks after an update, we roll back immediately to restore functionality, then troubleshoot the underlying issue. We'll identify which plugin or theme is causing the conflict, test compatibility, and either resolve the conflict, find an alternative solution, or recommend waiting for a compatibility patch. This is included in all our hosting plans without additional charges. With infrastructure-only hosts like WP Engine, if a plugin update causes your checkout page to show errors or breaks your contact forms, they'll tell you that's outside their support scope and you need to hire a developer at $200-$500 to fix it. FatLab's comprehensive support means you're never stuck paying unexpected developer bills when routine updates cause problems.

Does FatLab support WooCommerce sites?

Yes, FatLab specializes in supporting WooCommerce stores and other complex WordPress sites. WooCommerce introduces complexity that infrastructure-only hosts won't help with—payment gateway configurations, checkout process problems, shipping calculation errors, and plugin conflicts with WooCommerce extensions. When your WooCommerce site has issues, infrastructure-only providers tell you to contact WooCommerce support or hire a developer, leaving you to coordinate between multiple support teams. FatLab's WordPress developers troubleshoot WooCommerce problems as part of your hosting plan, including payment gateway issues, checkout errors, plugin conflicts affecting your store, performance optimization for product catalogs, and integration problems with shipping or accounting systems. We also support sites with membership plugins, learning management systems, custom post types, and complex integrations. If your site does more than basic blogging, you need a host that understands and supports that complexity.

How quickly does FatLab respond to support requests?

FatLab provides significantly faster support response than most infrastructure-only WordPress hosts. Our average first response time is under 2 hours, and Watch Dog Basic plans include a guaranteed 2-hour response time with priority queue access. When you contact support, you're talking to WordPress developers who understand both infrastructure and website issues—not tier-1 support agents reading from scripts—so we can diagnose and resolve issues immediately rather than escalating through multiple support tiers. Infrastructure-only hosts often have response times of 4-24 hours for the first response, and actual resolution can take days if your issue requires escalation or falls outside their infrastructure-only support scope. More importantly, when you contact FatLab, we actually solve the problem rather than referring you elsewhere. The combination of fast response times and comprehensive problem-solving makes FatLab support dramatically more effective for real-world WordPress site management.

Can FatLab help with custom WordPress plugins and themes?

Yes, FatLab provides support for custom plugins and themes—a critical difference from infrastructure-only hosts that refuse to troubleshoot third-party code. Many businesses have custom-developed plugins or themes essential to their operations, including custom functionality built specifically for their workflow, industry-specific features, or unique integrations with other systems. When these custom elements break after WordPress updates, have conflicts with other plugins, or need debugging, infrastructure-only hosts leave you completely on your own. FatLab's support team includes experienced WordPress developers who can review custom code, identify problems, debug errors, and often resolve issues directly. While we can't completely rewrite poorly-coded plugins or add major new features without additional development work, we absolutely help troubleshoot, debug, and fix problems with custom code as part of your hosting support.

What security features does FatLab include?

FatLab includes enterprise-grade security features that match or exceed infrastructure-only premium hosts: real-time malware scanning with Imunify360, automatic malware cleanup at no additional charge, Cloudflare Enterprise Web Application Firewall for all sites, DDoS protection at layers 3, 4, and 7, SSL certificates at all layers with automatic installation and renewal, and 24/7 security monitoring with proactive threat detection. The key difference is that infrastructure-only hosts often charge extra for advanced security features, with basic plans including only standard security. FatLab includes comprehensive security in all plans from Watch Dog Starter to Pro with no additional fees. We also provide security support that goes beyond infrastructure—if a plugin vulnerability is discovered, we don't just patch the server; we help you update or replace the vulnerable plugin and ensure your site is protected. When malware is detected, we clean it automatically and help identify how the infection occurred so we can prevent future incidents.

Is FatLab good for nonprofit organizations?

Yes, FatLab specializes in nonprofit website hosting with features and pricing designed specifically for 501(c)(3) organizations. We understand that nonprofits need enterprise-level performance and security, but typically operate with limited budgets. Our nonprofit hosting plans offer significant discounts while including all the comprehensive support, security features, and performance optimization that mission-driven organizations require. We've worked with nonprofits for over two decades and understand the unique challenges they face, including donation processing, member management, event registration, and complex integrations with CRM systems. When your nonprofit's website needs support, we provide the same comprehensive website management we offer to all clients—we don't just manage your infrastructure; we help ensure your entire website works properly so you can focus on your mission rather than technical problems.

How long does it take to migrate from WP Engine to FatLab?

Most WordPress sites migrate from WP Engine to FatLab within 24-48 hours with zero downtime. We provide professional migration services where our team handles everything: moving files, databases, configurations, DNS updates, and SSL certificates. For WP Engine sites specifically, we ensure that any plugins previously blocked on their platform work properly on our platform. Complex sites with large databases, custom configurations, or specialized integrations may take slightly longer. Still, we keep you informed throughout the process and coordinate timing to minimize any potential impact on your business. Unlike infrastructure-only hosts that offer DIY migration plugins and leave you to figure it out yourself, FatLab provides hands-on professional migration service because your site is too important to risk with automated tools. Free migration is included with annual plans, and we offer professional migration services at reasonable rates for monthly plans.