The WordPress Panic Button

Navigating the WordPress hosting ecosystem as both a developer and consultant has led me to carefully evaluate hosting options that align with community values, offer reliability, and support growth. My recent transition from WP Engine to Pressable has provided insights into how hosting services impact development efficiency, budget, and scalability. This move also coincided with significant shifts within WP Engine’s business philosophy, prompting me to seek a hosting solution more aligned with WordPress’s core values and my project needs.

My introduction to Pressable came during a period when I was re-evaluating WP Engine’s multisite management features. Pressable offers a developer-friendly multisite setup, particularly accommodating for those managing many projects under one environment. At around $40 per month, Pressable’s multisite plan allows for up to 80 sites, which is substantial compared to WP Engine’s options. Moreover, Pressable includes white-glove migration services, (which I will be writing about in the future) simplifying transitions from other providers.

I found their alignment with the WordPress Foundation mission appealing; Pressable commits to the Five for the Future movement — I am currently in the process of committing to this movement as well — ensuring contributions toward open-source growth. This consideration strengthened my decision to work with a provider that actively supports WordPress community initiatives.

Before moving to Pressable, I had used WP Engine extensively, leveraging its managed WordPress hosting for a stable environment and reliable performance. WP Engine allowed for custom CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment) setups, which helped streamline development workflows for multiple clients. Setting up a custom GitLab CI pipeline enhanced the flexibility of my WP Engine experience, allowing automated deployments and minimizing configuration challenges with new projects. WP Engine’s multi-environment offerings—development, staging, and production—were valuable for testing updates and ensuring seamless project progression.

However, as my client roster grew, WP Engine’s site limitations and rising costs became notable challenges. The 10-site cap on my grandfathered plan began to restrict my ability to scale, and the expense of upgrading did not align well with project budgets. Furthermore, multisite plans under WP Engine started revealing limitations in both performance and customization, prompting my search for a more adaptable, affordable solution.

Reflecting on my coding journey, I have had the privilege of working with strict standards under WordPress VIP while at Postmedia. VIP’s emphasis on best practices, in-depth code reviews, and strict security guidelines was a learning experience I carried into later roles. Following these standards ensured security, stability, and long-term code health, particularly important in high-traffic environments.

However, when transitioning to smaller agencies, I observed a stark contrast. Coding best practices were often neglected due to tight deadlines and a lack of resources. Many projects were handed off to less-experienced developers who patched together quick fixes that compromised long-term functionality. This environment led to frequent issues with plugin and theme compatibility, with many websites needing repeated redesigns or major overhauls to maintain functionality. Witnessing the effects of poor coding standards and lack of oversight solidified my commitment to applying best practices, regardless of project scale.

When I moved from WordPress VIP to smaller-scale agency work, the challenge was finding a stable, scalable alternative within budget constraints. WP Engine fit these needs well for several years, allowing me to create a structured environment where each client had dedicated development, staging, and production sites. I further customized the setup with a GitLab CI deployment pipeline to automate workflows. Every client project was added to WP Engine, and we utilized an affiliate account to capture revenue as we onboarded new clients to the platform. This streamlined approach enabled the agency to handle client demands efficiently without the need for extensive environment configuration.

While this setup provided a solid foundation, limitations in WP Engine’s multisite plan became apparent as the client base grew. The need for frequent theme updates, plugin compatibility checks, and maintenance was amplified, especially under multisite constraints. WP Engine’s infrastructure proved less adaptable for a high volume of lower-traffic sites, which led me to consider alternative hosting options with more flexibility and a more favorable cost structure.

In September 2024, I closely followed the public tensions between Automattic and WP Engine. Matt Mullenweg, CEO of Automattic and co-founder of WordPress, had expressed concerns about WP Engine’s direction, particularly following WP Engine’s acquisition by Silver Lake. This transition saw WP Engine adopt a more commercially driven approach, leading to what Mullenweg described as a “nuclear” stance against their practices. The disagreements between WP Engine and Automattic over principles and community alignment had become highly publicized, prompting many developers to reconsider their relationships with WP Engine.

Around this time, I discovered Pressable’s offer for those switching from WP Engine. Pressable offered very similar services, allowing revisions ( as WordPress should natively do ) and was inline with my tech stack requirements. This tie to the WordPress community resonated with my values, further solidifying my decision to transition to Pressable.

Full Transparency: This is not a paid post. It is purely an accounting of my personal experience.

At the time of this shift, my WP Engine multisite plan was a grandfathered option at $75 CAD per month, capped at 10 sites. Pressable’s alternative—at $40 monthly—offered significantly more value with an 80-site limit, 30GB storage, and a generous traffic capacity of 1.6 million visits per month. This arrangement suited my projects, which are predominantly headless WordPress installations with moderate traffic.

Pressable’s pricing structure, coupled with the benefits of headless WordPress architecture, made it an ideal choice. For projects that don’t require subdomain installs, Pressable’s single WordPress installation setup with subdirectory support proved advantageous. The flexibility of scaling up or down based on client needs offered substantial cost savings and efficiency gains.

Headless WordPress, which separates the backend content management system (CMS) from the frontend user experience, has increasingly become my preferred development method. This architecture allows the frontend—built with frameworks like React or Next.js—to remain unaffected by backend changes, making migrations smoother and reducing dependency on traditional WordPress theming constraints.

With the migration to Pressable, the headless approach facilitated a seamless transition; only the backend configuration required updating, with the frontend remaining operational and unaffected. This decoupled structure also bypasses many issues related to theme compatibility, plugin licensing, and installation limits, enabling me to optimize site functionality without concerns over proprietary restrictions.

The decoupling between backend and frontend in headless WordPress setups aligns well with Pressable’s infrastructure. During migration, I only needed to update API endpoints in the WordPress backend hosted on Pressable. This flexibility is particularly useful when scaling sites or implementing updates, as the frontend remains isolated from backend adjustments. Additionally, Pressable’s backend-only management approach complements headless WordPress’s independence, allowing me to maximize both performance and customization.

For developers, headless WordPress setups offer a significant advantage in minimizing disruption during migrations and bypassing constraints associated with traditional hosting environments. Pressable’s infrastructure supports this architecture, enhancing my ability to manage projects with greater control over frontend and backend elements independently.

The combination of Pressable’s multisite support and headless WordPress architecture has proven invaluable for my work. This setup allows me to efficiently manage multiple client sites, especially those requiring frequent updates and front-end innovation. The cost-effectiveness of Pressable’s pricing model compared to WP Engine’s previous limitations offers financial flexibility, while the scalability of headless WordPress ensures project longevity without service interruption.

Transitioning to Pressable has ultimately simplified project management, reduced overhead costs, and optimized performance for my clients’ sites. With Pressable’s focus on WordPress community values and dedication to performance, I feel aligned with a provider that emphasizes both functionality and open-source support.

The combination of migrating to Pressable and utilizing headless WordPress has greatly enhanced my workflow and client site management. The decoupling of frontend and backend functionality has provided the flexibility to innovate on the frontend without dependency on the hosting provider’s backend constraints. Pressable’s contract buyout offer and community-focused approach underscore a commitment to the WordPress ecosystem that aligns with my development goals.

Pressable’s cost-effectiveness, scalability, and alignment with WordPress’s community values make it an ideal fit for developers managing multiple WordPress sites. If you’re considering moving your multisite setup or exploring headless architecture, I highly recommend examining Pressable’s offerings. This transition marks a significant step forward in optimizing hosting solutions for modern WordPress development needs.