WP Engine is a Managed WordPress Hosting service based in Austin, TX. They were one of the (if not the) first companies to provide managed hosting services specifically for WordPress.
PROS
Excellent uptime. Good customer service. Unlimited monthly data transfers. Daily backups. Malware scanning and removal. Useful Staging Area.
While they have plenty of competition in both hosting in general and in the managed WordPress hosting vertical, they are still the market leader in many ways with broad name recognition and cutting edge features.
CONS
Expensive. Visitor caps. No phone support for Personal plan subscribers. No Windows-based servers. Doesn’t sell domain names or email.
Just like any service, WP Engine is not a best fit for everyone. There are plenty of WP Engine complaints around the Internet. Some are anecdotal. Some are hyperbole (ie, SEOs complaining about dev sites). And many are valid because they simply aren’t a fit for everyone. For all their awesomeness in some areas, they have some cons which keep them from being a good fit for some customers.
BOTTOM LINE
Excellent uptime, reliable customer service reps, and many WordPress-friendly features make WP Engine worthy of hosting your WordPress site. A few omissions keep it from a top score, however.
Like any service, it’s not about what is best overall, but what is best for you based on your goals, budget, resources & habits.
If you are in what I think of as WP Engine’s core markets – they offer a great service with a solid product. Their pricing is competitive in the Managed WordPress Hosting space – and they offer more features than “WordPress hosting” plans from other hosting brands. Their feature-set is unmatched for savvy DIYers, WordPress website developers and/or high-traffic sites that don’t want to worry about hosting issues.
If managed hosting is a fit for you – then go check out WP Engine’s plans here.
They do a 60 day money-back guarantee. So do a test install and see what you think of their backend. Be sure to chat w/ support & sales.