Flywheel
5.4/10Managed WordPress hosting from WP Engine for designers, freelancers and agencies, with staging, nightly backups, a Fastly CDN and multi-site workflow tools.
Data last updated November 2026 · Our methodology
Overview
Flywheel is a managed WordPress host. It was founded in Omaha, Nebraska in 2012 and has been owned by WP Engine since 2019. It still runs as its own brand, aimed at designers, freelancers and creative agencies, while WP Engine targets larger companies. The platform hosts only WordPress. Flywheel handles core updates, FlyCache caching, a CDN powered by Fastly, free SSL, nightly backups kept for 30 days, staging sites, site cloning, an SSH gateway and free malware cleanup. Agencies can use workflow features such as Blueprints to save and reuse site setups, Organizations to manage teams, collaborator access, and billing transfer to hand a site's invoices to a client. Flywheel also makes Local, a free local WordPress development app that connects to its hosting. Sites can be placed in Iowa, Montreal, London, Belgium or Sydney. Pricing is per plan, sized by number of sites, monthly visits and storage. Starter covers one site and 25,000 visits. Freelance covers 10 sites. Agency covers 30 sites. Custom plans are sold through sales. Paying annually costs less than paying monthly. Going over a plan's limits costs $1 per extra 1,000 visits and $1 per extra GB of storage. Paid add-ons include extra sites, Performance Insights and Managed Plugin Updates. The main drawback is cost: reviewers regularly call Flywheel expensive, especially for many sites or busy sites. Public reviews also include complaints about support quality, overage charges and limited control over server settings. There is no email hosting, and the host cannot run anything other than WordPress.
Our Rating
Who Flywheel is best for
Best software for AgenciesGood fit
Blueprints, Organizations, billing transfer, collaborators and the multi-site Freelance and Agency plans are built for agencies that manage client WordPress sites.
The Freelance plan and the free Local development app suit solo WordPress designers, though the price is high for very small budgets.
Less suited
- Marketing Teams6/10
Marketing teams running WordPress sites get staging and managed updates without needing to run servers.
Hosting is fully managed, which suits a single business site, but the cost per site is above budget hosts.
WP Engine places Flywheel as its small-business and agency brand, so larger companies are steered to WP Engine instead.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Agency tools such as Blueprints, Organizations, collaborator access and billing transfer make it easy to build sites and hand them over to clients.
- Every plan includes staging, nightly backups kept for 30 days, free SSL and a Fastly-powered CDN.
- Malware cleanup and plugin vulnerability alerts are included at no extra cost.
- It works closely with Local, Flywheel's free local WordPress development app.
- Independent tests found fast response times, with no downtime during monitoring periods.
Cons
- Reviewers consistently call it expensive compared with other managed WordPress hosts, especially when hosting many sites.
- Going over visit or storage limits brings extra charges of $1 per 1,000 visits and $1 per GB.
- Hosts WordPress only and includes no email hosting.
- Some users say they have limited control over server and PHP settings, and one review says the control panel hides most features under an Advanced tab.
- Ratings on Trustpilot are much lower than on G2 or Capterra, with complaints about support and billing.
Key Features
Flywheel Pricing
Starter
or $300/year (save 17%)
- 1 site
- 10GB storage
- Staging sites
- 50GB bandwidth
- Free migrations
- 24/7 chat support
- 25,000 visits per month
- Nightly backups kept 30 days
- Free SSL and Fastly-powered CDN
Freelance
or $1,150/year (save 17%)
- 20GB storage
- Up to 10 sites
- 200GB bandwidth
- Nightly backups
- Free SSL and CDN
- 24/7 chat support
- 100,000 visits per month
- Staging and site cloning
Agency
or $2,900/year (save 17%)
- 50GB storage
- Up to 30 sites
- 500GB bandwidth
- 24/7 chat support
- 400,000 visits per month
- Phone support on weekdays, 9am to 5pm Central time
Custom
- Phone support
- More than 30 sites
- Custom storage and bandwidth
- Traffic in the millions of visits
Frequently Asked Questions
WP Engine bought Flywheel in 2019, but Flywheel still runs as a separate brand with its own plans. It is aimed at freelancers and agencies, while WP Engine focuses on mid-sized and larger businesses.
Flywheel's refund policy offers a 60-day money-back guarantee on eligible new plans. No free trial is advertised.
Flywheel's pricing page lists overage charges of $1 for each 1,000 visits and $1 for each GB of storage above the plan's limits.
Flywheel lists data centers in Iowa (US), Montreal (Canada), London (UK), Belgium (EU) and Sydney (Australia). Its CDN has more than 30 locations worldwide.
There is no built-in Git deployment. Flywheel's documentation explains how to deploy from GitHub or Bitbucket through DeployHQ over SFTP, or through GitHub Actions using the SSH gateway.
Every plan includes 24/7 chat and ticket support. One review says an AI agent now answers chats first. Phone support is limited to Agency and Custom plans, on weekdays during Central time business hours.
Yes. Flywheel migrates sites for free within about three business days. A 2025 review reports a $49 option for migration within 8 hours.
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