WordPress VIP is the enterprise WordPress hosting tier from Automattic. The right answer for high-traffic media sites, not the right answer for the typical small business. The pricing is enterprise-tier (custom, starts in the high-five-figures), and the workflow is opinionated.
Table of contents
What WordPress VIP is
WordPress VIP is the enterprise WordPress hosting tier from Automattic. The platform is built on top of WordPress.com’s infrastructure; the customer gets the scale of WordPress.com with the customization of self-hosted WordPress.
The platform is opinionated. The team has to follow the VIP Go coding standards, the VIP CLI is required, and the code review is mandatory. The platform is not for the team that wants to run vanilla WordPress with their own plugins.
The features
The features:
- Performance. Multi-region CDN, edge cache, automatic image optimization, automatic CSS and JS minification.
- Security. WAF, DDoS protection, malware scanning, security audit.
- Scalability. Auto-scaling for the traffic spikes, dedicated database, dedicated search.
- Support. Dedicated support team, dedicated Slack channel, dedicated account manager.
- Compliance. SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS. The team that has a compliance requirement can rely on the platform’s certifications.
The workflow
The workflow:
- The team writes the code locally.
- The team pushes the code to a Git repository.
- The team opens a pull request.
- The VIP team reviews the code.
- The code is merged and deployed to a staging environment.
- The team tests the staging environment.
- The code is deployed to production.
The workflow is opinionated. The team has to follow the VIP Go coding standards, the VIP CLI is required, and the code review is mandatory.
The pricing
The pricing:
- The pricing is custom. The team has to contact sales for a quote.
- The pricing is in the high-five-figures to mid-six-figures per year, depending on the traffic and the feature set.
- The pricing is annual.
The right answer for the team that has the budget. The wrong answer for the team that has a small workload.
When to use it
The team that should use WordPress VIP:
- The team that has a high-traffic media site (a news site, a magazine, a major blog).
- The team that has a compliance requirement (SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS).
- The team that has the budget (high-five-figures to mid-six-figures per year).
- The team that wants the WordPress.com infrastructure with the customization of self-hosted WordPress.
The alternatives
The alternatives:
- WP Engine. The runner-up in the enterprise WordPress hosting. The right answer for the team that wants the enterprise features without the VIP workflow.
- Kinsta. The middle ground. The right answer for the team that wants the performance without the enterprise pricing.
- Pressable. The middle ground. The right answer for the team that is on the Automattic ecosystem.
- Pagely. The legacy. The right answer for the team that has a long-standing Pagely contract.
- Self-hosted WordPress on a managed cloud. The right answer for the team that has the engineering time to operate WordPress.
FAQ
What is WordPress VIP?
The enterprise WordPress hosting tier from Automattic. The platform is built on top of WordPress.com’s infrastructure; the customer gets the scale of WordPress.com with the customization of self-hosted WordPress.
How much does WordPress VIP cost?
The pricing is custom. The team has to contact sales for a quote. The pricing is in the high-five-figures to mid-six-figures per year.
What is the difference between WordPress VIP and WP Engine?
WordPress VIP is the enterprise tier from Automattic, with the WordPress.com infrastructure. WP Engine is the runner-up, with similar features and a more flexible workflow.
Is WordPress VIP worth the cost?
The right answer depends on the team. The team that has a high-traffic media site and a compliance requirement is the team that should use WordPress VIP. The team that has a small workload is the team that should use a cheaper alternative.
What is the alternative to WordPress VIP?
WP Engine (runner-up), Kinsta (middle ground), Pressable (middle ground), Pagely (legacy), self-hosted WordPress on a managed cloud (most flexible).
What is the workflow on WordPress VIP?
The team writes the code locally, pushes to a Git repository, opens a pull request, the VIP team reviews the code, the code is merged and deployed to a staging environment, the team tests the staging environment, the code is deployed to production.
If you are sizing a WordPress hosting tier for a new project, the RunxBuild hosting calculator is the place to model the line items. The instances, the storage, the bandwidth, the WordPress site - each one is a separate number, and the team’s mental model for the platform is the sum of those numbers. The RunxBuild dashboard is where the team sees the actual WordPress site in one place.