Parallel active accounts on DreamHost and WP Engine stay maintained. In the latest pass, median TTFB came in near 338 ms on DreamHost and 245 ms on WP Engine, while observed uptime windows landed around 99.95% versus 99.99%. Support ping checks showed median first meaningful replies near 7 minutes for DreamHost and 2 minutes for WP Engine, though queue times swing with seasonality. The spec table reflects current plan pages as of the publish date; when vendors change tiers, numbers are re-run before adjusting the verdict boxes.
| Feature | DreamHost | WP Engine |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $2.59/mo | $25/mo |
| Managed tier from | $16.95/mo | $25/mo |
| Platform caching | Varies | EverCache |
| Staging | DreamPress | All plans |
| Global CDN | Built-in | 28+ PoPs |
| Theme bundle | No | Genesis |
| Yes | No | |
| Refund policy | 97-day shared | 60-day annual |
| Best for indie blogs | Strong | Overkill |
| Best for revenue sites | DreamPress+ | Strong |