Ditch WP Engine: Run WordPress on Your Own Server

Managed WordPress hosting is convenient. It is also expensive. WP Engine charges $25 to $600 per month depending on traffic. Kinsta starts at $35 per month. For a business with five WordPress sites, hosting can cost $150 to $500 per month. Self-hosting WordPress on a single VPS costs $10 to $40 per month and can handle all five sites. The trade-off is that you manage the server instead of paying someone else to do it.

What You Need to Self-Host WordPress

A VPS with 2GB RAM comfortably hosts multiple WordPress sites. Install a LEMP stack (Linux, Nginx, MySQL, PHP) or use Docker with official WordPress images. Configure Nginx as a reverse proxy with SSL certificates from Let's Encrypt. Add Redis object caching for performance and configure automatic database backups with Duplicati or Kopia sent to cloud storage.

For multi-site management, deploy WordOps or EasyEngine: command-line tools that automate WordPress deployment, SSL configuration, caching, and updates across multiple sites. For a graphical interface, use Nginx Proxy Manager to route domains and manage SSL certificates without touching configuration files.

The critical difference from managed hosting is that you control every layer. Want to install a specific PHP extension? You can. Want to run nightly database optimizations? You can. Want to configure a custom caching strategy? You can. Managed hosting providers restrict these options to maintain a shared environment. Your own server has no shared environment.

When Managed Hosting Still Makes Sense

If your business generates significant revenue from a single WordPress site and downtime costs more than the hosting premium, managed hosting is worth it. WP Engine's 24/7 support, automatic updates, staging environments, and built-in CDN are genuinely valuable. For sites where uptime is revenue, pay for the safety net. For blogs, brochure sites, and internal tools that do not need five-nines availability, self-hosting provides the same performance at a fraction of the cost.

VPS1 deploys WordPress with Nginx, Redis caching, SSL, and automated backups. Your sites run on infrastructure you control. See our WordPress software page for details.