Bluehost is one of the best website hosting providers. Matt Heaton and Danny Ashworth laid the foundation of Bluehost in 2003. In 2010, Endurance International Group acquired it.
They host millions of websites across the globe. They are known for their fast, affordable, and top-notch customer service.
Bluehost is so popular because they offer a wide range of hosting types, such as shared, VPS, dedicated, WordPress, etc.
Besides web hosting services, Bluehost offers domain names, email, SEO services, social media marketing, content creation, and local business listings. These services help you to grow traffic on your website.
Bluehost caters to the needs of everyone from bloggers to e-commerce businesses and many more.
Table of Contents
Table of contents
- What is Bluehost?
- Bluehost Hosting Plans & Pricing
- Bluehost Features
- Why Bluehost?
- Bluehost Pros & Cons
- Bluehost Performance Test
- Conclusion & Recommendation
- Bluehost Alternatives
- Bluehost FAQ
- Review by Our Community
Why Bluehost
There are thousands of hosting companies offering hosting and domain name services.
Why choose Bluehost?
Here are the reasons why Bluehost should be your choice as a web hosting provider.
1. Established Brand
Bluehost has more than a decade of experience in hosting websites. They host over 2 million websites that show the trust they have built in the market.
There are many companies offering web hosting services, and new ones are also coming into this business. But, many of them shut down without any notice and leave their clients without access to their websites. To avoid this situation, you need a trusted web hosting provider. Bluehost has established itself as a brand by building trust with its customers.
2. WordPress recommends Bluehost
WordPress is one of the platforms on which websites are created with ease. They are user-friendly and even a non-technical person can create amazing websites using their plug-ins.
About 30% of websites are created on WordPress which is a remarkable percentage. WordPress recommends Bluehost at the top list of web hosting service providers. This endorsement shows the brand value that Bluehost had made in these years.
3. Affordable Pricing
Bluehost hosting plans start from $2.95/month for their basic plan.
Even, their online stores and managed WordPress Plan cost $15.95/month and $19.95/month respectively. You can easily judge how affordable is Bluehost hosting plans.
All the above plans come with excellent 24/7 customer support.
4. Excellent Customer Support
Most other web hosting providers offer support, but they do not offer 24/7 support for all of the clients. A few of them offer 24/7 support for their premier customers who are paying high for the hosting plan.
But, Bluehost offers round-the-clock technical support for all of their clients, without any discrimination based on their hosting plan.
Having people who can walk you through solutions at any time is something you want in the company that hosts your site.
5. Easy to Use
Figuring out how to explore the universe of web hosting can be interesting and muddled. Bluehost has a very easy installation method. It is so easy that you can install WordPress on your site in no time.
It takes less than 4 minutes to install WordPress on BlueHost Web Hosting.
6. Excellent Up-time
Bluehost claims that their downtime only lasts for 15 minutes, and they have made it.
If you are not satisfied with uptime, the hosting provider allows you to cancel your hosting agreement without penalty. And the company will refund the amount on a pro-rata basis.
But, Bluehost does not promise any such thing. It shows that they are committed to maintaining uptime, which they promised. They are keeping their promise with an uptime above 99.95 percent.
You should search for a better-rated web hosting company that will make that same promise and opt for that company’s hosting service.
7. Security
Bluehost scans your website daily for viruses and malware. It also performs 24/7 network monitoring on company servers.
It also offers backup of your websites, but that is complementary and not guaranteed.
8. Unlimited Domain Hosting
While it may not be a big deal to you if you are just going to start your first website, it can mean a lot as your online presence grows and expands. You want to add other domains and websites to your portfolio without having to switch hosting companies. Bluehost offers you that freedom and you may host as many domains on the same hosting.
9. 30-day Money-back Guarantee
If the above reasons were not enough to convince you Why you choose Bluehost web hosting, maybe their money-back guarantee will do it.
Try Bluehost hosting for 30 days. If you are not satisfied with the services that they are offering, you can take your money back. In my opinion, companies willing to stand behind their product with a money-back guarantee are the ones who know that they will work for you.
Choosing a good web hosting service is very essential for your online presence. All the above-mentioned features of Bluehost make it a good choice for hosting your website.
Bluehost Hosting Plans and Pricing
Bluehost hosting offers the following hosting plans:
- Shared Hosting
- WordPress Hosting
- Online Store Hosting
- VPS Hosting
- Dedicated Hosting
Shared Hosting
Shared web hosting is perfect for you if:
- You are going to start your website
- Your website does not have thousands of visits per day
- Do you want affordable pricing
It is best for bloggers and small business owners.tinger
Bluehost shared hosting is one of the most popular hosting packages because of its low pricing plans. In shared hosting, multiple users are allowed to share space on a single server. That server is maintained by the hosting provider. Thus, the hosting cost remains low and Bluehost passes the savings on to you.
However, the drawback is that you do not get a significant resource allocation to support your website. That is the reason why shared hosting is not ideal for websites having higher traffic.
A shared hosting package can include multiple offers based on their pricing plans.
Bluehost shared hosting offers four different pricing plans. It offers basic, plus, choice plus, and pro plans.
Basic Plan
It starts from $2.95 per month if taken for 36 months. After that period, it will be renewed at $7.99 per month. In this plan, you can host a single website on the server. You will be given 50 GB SSD storage and custom themes.
It also offers a free domain for a year, a free SSL certificate, and round-the-clock customer support.
Plus Plan
It starts from $5.45 per month if taken for 36 months. After that period, it will be renewed at $10.99 per month. In addition to the free domain for a year and a free SSL certificate, you will get unlimited SSD storage. You can host unlimited websites on the server. It also offers 24/7 customer support and free Office 365 for 30 days.
Choice Plus Plan
Pricing of this plan starts from $5.45 a month if taken for 36 months. It will be renewed at the rate of $14.999 per month. In this plan, you will get free CDN, free domain privacy, and an automated backup for a year without spending an extra penny.
Pro Plan
This plan costs you $13.95 per month if purchased for 36 month period. Its renewal cost is $23.99 per month. This plan comes with free domain privacy and free automated backup for your sites. Besides, it provides you free dedicated IP and optimized CPU resources.
WordPress Hosting
Bluehost offers two types of WordPress hosting services – WordPress Hosting and Managed WordPress Hosting.
WordPress Hosting: It offers affordable hosting plans. It is easy to set up fast and secure WordPress hosting in minutes. It includes three plans – basic, plus, and choice plus. All of these plans come with automatic WordPress installation and updates. They also include a free SSL certificate and free domain name for the first year.
Basic Plan
The basic plan starts from $2.95 per month and is renewed at $8.99 per month. In this plan, you can host 1 website. It gives you 50 GB SSD storage, 5 parked domains, and 25 subdomains.
Plus Plan: It starts from $5.45 per month and is renewed at $10.99 per month. Unlimited websites can be hosted under this plan. It comes with unmetered SSD storage, unlimited parking domains, and sub-domains. You will also get 1 Microsoft 365 Mailbox – free for 30-days.
Choice Plus Plan
The cost of this plan starts at $5.45 per month and you have to pay $14.99 per month at the time of renewal. In addition to the features offered under the Plus Plan, it offers the CodeGuard Basic Backup feature.
WordPress recommends by Bluehost since 2005. Bluehost gives you all the power of WordPress along with innovative themes, plugins, and third-party integrations. These features make Bluehost one of the best places to build and manage a beautiful WordPress website.
Managed WordPress Hosting
Bluehost takes the responsibility of managing many things such as hosting infrastructure optimization, maintaining high speed, etc. It comes up with three pricing plans – Builds, Grow, and Scale.
All of these plans offer:
- Lightning-fast site speed
- A suite of marketing tools, and
- Multi-tiered security and backups
Build Plan
This plan starts at $19.95 per month and is renewed at $29.99 per month. You can host 1 website under this plan. This plan is best for websites that have up to 50000 visitors per month. It comes with a free SSL certificate and 20 GB of web storage. It also includes daily scheduled backups, malware detection and removal, and domain privacy and protection.
Grow Plan
This plan starts at $29.95 per month and is renewed at $39.99 per month. 1 website can be hosted under this plan. This is best for websites having up to 150000 visitors per month. It offers 40 GB of web storage. In addition to the features offered under the Build Plan, you will get business review tools and Bluehost SEO tools. It offers blue sky ticket support.
Scale Plan
Its cost starts from $49.95 per month and you have to pay $59.99 per month at the time of renewal. This plan is best suited for websites having a total number of visitors up to 500000 per month. Here, you will get 80 GB of web storage. All the features offered under Grow Plan will also be offered under this plan. In addition, you will get extra features such as PayPal integration, unlimited video compression, and blue sky live chat support.
All the WordPress Hosting Plans provide:
- Multi-layered catching for the best speed of the website
- Auto scalability to manage traffic rise
- Multi-tiered security, updates, and, advanced analytics
- Social media control
Online Store Hosting Plan
Are you planning to start an online store?
If yes, Bluehost comes with two Online Store hosting plans – Standard and Premium. You can build and promote your online store along with the powerful tools of WooCommerce. You can create a safe and secure online store using Bluehost Online Store Hosting Plan.
Bluehost will help you in setting up your online store, add products, and use plug-ins.
Standard Plan
This plan starts at $15.95 per month and is renewed at the rate of $24.95 per month. You can set up your online store website as well as blog. It comes with a pre-installed store-front theme, and you can add unlimited products to your online store. It also offers one-click install payment processing and round-the-clock customer support.
Premium Plan
Their cost starts from $24.95 per month and you have to pay $39.95 per month at the time of renewal. This plan includes all the features offered under the Standard Plan. It also offers some additional features such as offers and discounts, online booking and appointment scheduling, tax management, and subscription services.
VPS Hosting
If you want powerful performance or want more control over your hosting, VPS hosting is the best hosting for you.
Bluehost VPS servers allow resources such as RAM and CPU to all VPS hosting accounts. Unlike shared hosting, you will be allocated a set of CPU and disk space according to the plan you have chosen. It allows greater stability and performance to your website.
VPS hosting is best suited to those clients whose sites require advanced-level security.
Bluehost offers three pricing plans under the VPS Hosting – Standard, Enhanced, and Ultimate.
Standard Plan
The pricing of this plan starts at $18.99 per month and you have to pay $29.99 per month at the time of renewal. This plan comes with 2 GB RAM, 2 cores, and 30 GB SSD storage. It also offers 1 TB bandwidth and 1 IP address.
Enhanced Plan
This plan starts from $29.99 per month and its renewal cost is $59.99 per month. It offers 2 cores, 4 GB RAM, and 60 GB SSD storage. It also offers 2 TB bandwidth and 2 IP addresses.
Ultimate Plan
The cost of this plan starts at $59.99 per month and its renewal cost is $119.99 per month. It comes with 4 cores and 120 GB SSD storage, 8 GB RAM, 3 TB bandwidth, and 2 IP addresses.
Dedicated Hosting
Bluehost dedicated web hosting is a good option for websites that require high performance, security, and control. You need this type of hosting only if your websites receive hundreds of thousands of visits every month.
Dedicated hosting offers
- The best-performing servers
- The best security for the websites
- The best control of your website on the server
Bluehost offers three types of plans – Standard, Enhanced, and Premium under the dedicated hosting.
Standard Plan
This plan starts at $799.99 per month and the renewal cost is $119.99 per month. It offers 4 cores, 4 GB RAM, and 500 GB mirrored storage. It also offers 5 TB bandwidth and 3 IP addresses.
Enhanced Plan
The cost of the plan starts at $99.99 per month and its renewal cost is $159.99 per month. This plan comes with 8 GB RAM, 4 cores, and 1TB of mirrored storage. It also offers 10 TB bandwidth and 4 IP addresses.
Premium Plan
This plan starts at $119.99 per month and its renewal cost is $209.999 per month. This plan comes with 16 GB RAM, 4 cores, and 1TB of mirrored storage. It also offers 15 TB bandwidth and 5 IP addresses.
Bluehost Hosting Features
Bluehost not only provides the best hosting environment for your websites but also gives you the following additional features:
Domain Services
Most of the plans offered by Bluehost have a free domain name.
Subdomains
Bluehost also lets you create subdomain names for different pages, but the number of subdomains that you can create varies with the plan you have selected.
Bluehost domains
You can opt for a new domain from Bluehost in a very easy way. You just need to type in the domain name you want and then follow the prompts which appear on the screen.
Parked Domains
With Bluehost, you also enjoy the benefit of availing of parked domains for your website, which can be used as aliases for your website. For instance, if your primary domain name is abc.com, you can set abc.net as a parked domain and just need to redirect it to abc.com
Just like subdomains, the number of parked domains also depends on the plan that you have purchased.
Unlimited Domains
By opting for Plus, Choice Plus, and Pro shared hosting plans you can manage an unlimited number of domain names, including parked domains and subdomains.
Bluehost plans provide a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Domain Manager Tool
Bluehost gives its customers access to the company’s domain management tool, with which you can perform the actions such as purchase, track, update, manage, and transfer your domain from one interface.
The best part of Bluehost is its ease of use. This is great not only for beginners but small businesses also enjoy this platform.
Cloudflare CDN (Content Delivery Network)
The Cloudflare CDN is another feature provided by Bluehost. Cloudflare CDN is responsible to speeds up the loading time of your site.
Content delivery networks maintain a cache of your site at data centers throughout the globe. When a visitor comes to your site, the network detects the geographical location of the visitor and “serves” your website to him from the geographically closest network node.
Bluehost speed
Bluehost gives its users mind-blowing Page speed and load time. Page speed is a crucial factor for the success of any site. Bluehost is a perfect choice if you have an e-commerce platform.
Control Panel
Bluehost has a simple and user-friendly WordPress dashboard. It has a highly customizable Cpanel, with the following sections:
- My Sites: In this section, you can manage your websites with your logged-in account. You can even create a new website. From here you can directly go to your WordPress admin dashboard.
- Marketplace: To add features and functionality to your website, you need to go to Marketplace. Here you will find several features such as options to purchase professional services, new add-ons, themes for your WordPress site, and more.
- Email & Office: This is the place from where you can access all your purchased tools. Here you also get cloud-based word processing, spreadsheet tools, and email.
- Domains: From this place, you can access your domain manager. From here you can monitor the registration status of your domains, find and register new domain names, transfer domains, see a list of the domain names you own, update which domain name, set up redirection, and manage your subdomains.
- Advanced: This is the place where you find all your file and database management options and email settings. You can also manage your security and monitor metrics regarding your resource use and site traffic.
Account Security
Bluehost provides its customers a high level of security. It has the following steps to make sure that only authentic persons can use your account:
- Bluehost presents a single sign-on.
- It has two-factor authentication.
- The custom token you generate every time you sign in.
- Moreover, Bluehost supports the use of OpenPGP/GPG encryption. Due to this you can send and receive your files securely.
Site Security
Let’s Encrypt is available on Bluehost. It offers free SSL certificates which provide protection to your site.
You can enhance the security of your website by choosing a private SSL certificate. But for this, you will have to purchase a dedicated IP address from Bluehost.
For beginners, Bluehost gives all the relevant information on how SSL certificates work.
The WordPress core software is regularly updated by Bluehost. So you don’t have to bother about updating your WordPress.
However, the WordPress plug-in is not updated by Bluehost. So at this place, you will have to be a bit conscious.
Bluehost tells you about plug-in updates through messages. And now it’s your turn to update those plug-ins.
Bluehost provides SiteLock which is third-party software. It serves as a firewall and malware scanner. It removes malware from your site. If your site gets hacked, Bluehost does not offer any assistance. So you should keep a close eye on the security issues of your site as prevention is better than cure.
A paid service named WP Live service is available in WordPress which can assist you with any site problems including security. You will have to pay a monthly fee to avail of this service and can cancel it at any time. Bluehost has many how-to videos for beginners, on its YouTube channel. It also has videos related to website security.
Site Migrations
Bluehost has a demerit in that it does not provide a free website migration service.
They provide paid website migration service but the cost is very high at $149.99. At this rate, you can cover up to five websites and 20 email addresses.
PCI Compliance
Bluehost selection has a limitation in that it is not PCI Compliance, like other e-commerce platforms in this sector.
However, Bluehost provides secure payment gateways with its WooCommerce plans.
Weebly Site Builder
Bluehost has also partnered with Weebly. This enables users to build their websites very easily.
Its drag-and-drop interface allows even a beginner to create his own website. Here you get multiple pre-designed templates, where you can insert images and text as per your choice.
These templates are highly responsive and adjust automatically to smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc.
Bluehost provides a series of Weebly tutorials on its YouTube channel. So it becomes very easy for everyone to use this platform.
Email Accounts and Email Hosting
Bluehost comes with web-based email services.
Using the Basic plan, you can create up to five email accounts.
Its email services support both the IMAP and POP protocols.
SpamAssassin
The SpamAssassin feature of Bluehost protects you from spam. This is an intelligent tool that identifies which message is likely to be spam.
As you enable SpamAssassin in your control panel, you start getting the benefits of this tool, which too free of cost.
Business Email
Bluehost offers a basic plan that supports email and calendar functionality. This plan gives you 15 GB of storage for your email, and Outlook web access.
You can check this feature for 30 days as this is its trial period, after that you will have to buy it.
Customer Service and Technical Support
24/7 technical support is provided by Bluehost. You can get help via telephone, live chat, or the support ticketing center.
Self-Help Support
Bluehost has a YouTube channel where it uploads tutorial videos on various topics such as email, how to install WordPress, login management, etc.
Troubleshooting
Bluehost has stated that they provide solutions to your problem within 15 minutes. It does not give you any compensation it failed to assist you within this period. But they allow you to cancel your paid plan and receive a pro-rated refund for the time remaining on your plan.
Features for Developers
- Bluehost provides easy and user-friendly developer tools and related interfaces.
- Bluehost cPanel gives very simple access to advanced tools.
- In addition to tools for file and image management, it also gives assistance for various types of FTP connections. Bluehost gives an easy and simple layout for its file manager.
- If you choose Bluehost, you will get support for both MySQL and PostgreSQL databases. For managing your databases, you can use the pre-built wizards, or you can go for phpMyAdmin, phpPgAdmin, and Remote MySQL.
- With Bluehost, you can do a lot with emails such as set up email accounts, set up autoresponders and change the amount of storage allocated to each account, forwarders, and filters. Not only this, but you can also tackle spam, manage mailing lists, and use the calendars and contacts feature.
- Bluehost provides a high level of security by allowing you to set up SSH access to your account, block IP addresses, add hotlink protection, and install SSL certificates.
- With the above features, it also provides some other software and advanced features. These are PHP PEAR packages, Perl modules, Cron jobs, and Apache handlers.
- In shared hosting, you can manage multiple domains from one control panel but you cannot manage the server completely. On the other hand, in VPS and dedicated hosting plans, you can completely manage the server alongside the normal cPanel settings.
- Bluehost operates only on Linux servers. But in India. It works with full efficiency on both Linux and Windows servers. Really this is good news for India.
Bluehost Marketing Services
Bluehost provides its users all the basic services and infrastructure which are needed for their e-commerce website. In addition to this, Bluehost also gives its customers professional marketing services which help them to bring visitors to their site.
Definitely, Bluehost gives full-fledged offers in the field of digital marketing services. The company is not limited to this only but it can also assist you in the following areas:
- Bluehost has excellent search engine optimization, where you can insert appropriate keywords with suitable title tags and meta descriptions.
- You also get the facility to manage local listings. This facility makes sure that you can be easily found by people around you.
- With Bluehost, you get monthly content marketing. This includes Bluehost writing articles and creating content which in turn increases your search engine rankings.
Bluehost marketing services are very basic, but if you need some assistance due to your busy schedule, or you’re not familiar with the digital marketing arena, Bluehost marketing services might be a good option for you.
You can do all the things yourself and save some money as Bluehost is offering the thing that you can do on your own with some effort.
Bluehost Pros & Cons
Advantages of Bluehost Hosting
1. Bluehost is Easy to Use
It is very easy to use Bluehost hosting. First of all, you have to sign up for the account. Then, after logging in to your account, just click on the ‘next’ button a few times and WordPress gets automatically installed and ready to go.
You do not need to worry about getting it installed in the wrong folder, or drastically messing something up. You will just work on customizing your website and looking it pretty while Bluehost will take care of the backend.
Moreover, you can easily customize your website even if you don’t have any website-building experience. Bluehost offers free as well as paid themes for website building.
2. High-Performance Servers
Bluehost offers High-Performance Servers that are suitable for your needs – if you are running a large online business.
Why High-performance servers are important?
In shared hosting, you are sharing the space with other users which helps in the reduction of the cost. But, some users might use up way more resources than allocated. It means that everyone else sharing that server will experience site slowdowns. And, sometimes their sites won’t even load at all, and hence downtime of the websites increase.
Bluehost has high-performance servers and it allocates a few users per server. In addition, each user has been allocated a file count of three hundred thousand. This leads to more computing resources per user, consistent website load speed, and hence, less downtime of the website.
But, there is a catch with this high-performance server. These servers are only available with their Pro Plan, which is costlier than the shared hosting plans.
3. Fast Speed
Site speed plays an important role in a successful online business. The server response time plays a very important role in the fast loading speed of the websites.
Since Bluehost has merely 1 datacenter that is located in the USA. So, we thought that Bluehost would not do very well on the server speed test. But, the reality was not so and Bluehost responded exceptionally well.
Bluehost is one of the fastest A-ranked hosting providers with an average speed score of 153ms across the globe. So, you can be assured that no matter where your target audience resides, Bluehost will deliver!
4. Best Security Features
When we are talking about security, it does not mean features that just keep your website safe from those fiendish hackers. For us, security means – peace of mind, and keeping spam away from your brand-new email inbox.
Let’s know what is peace of mind?
You would prefer not to go through days, weeks, and months, altering and tweaking your business site to get it to look awesome and fit to rank on the first page of Google. Just to stack it up to find that somebody messed everything up and your whole site is no more.
For this, Bluehost offers their users with CodeGuard basic at $2.99 per month.
CodeGuard Basic
This is just a fancy name given by Bluehost to their daily backup service.
It is good as it monitors your website and database frequently. If there are any changes in the website or database, it will notify you, and automatically perform backups.
The basic CodeGuard version provides 1GB of storage space, daily monitoring and backup, and up to three restorations per month.
And, if you need more features, you can choose any of the higher plans of CodeGuard – Professional, Premium, and Enterprise. But, you have to pay higher prices for those plans.
SpamExperts
SpamExperts is an advanced email filter that Bluehost uses to save your website from spam attacks of spammers.
It scans incoming emails for spam, phishing, viruses, and other email-related attacks by spammers. They filter them with 99.98% accuracy and restrict these messages to reach your inbox mail.
Thus, it keeps your mailbox clean and junk-free.
SiteLock
To protect your website from external threats, Bluehost comes with a basic firewall that offers a minimal level of protection against external threats. But, if you need enhanced protection, you can get it in the form of SiteLock.
SiteLock service is offered in three tiers: Essential, Prevent, and Prevent Plus.
Essential: You will get automatic malware removal but it does nothing against DDOS attacks or any major attacks.
Prevent: It is the middle-tier security level that comes with automatic malware removal, DDoS Protection, and a 6-hour response time.
Prevent Plus: It has all the features of Prevent Plan with the added benefit of having a daily scan.
No doubt, SiteLock is a good security feature, but for this, you have to pay extra money.
5. A Buffet of Benefits
Bluehost shared hosting plans offer a buffet of benefits, and the best thing is, almost everything is unlimited. These benefits include
- Unlimited websites
- Unlimited SSD storage
- Unmetered bandwidth
- Unlimited parked domains
- Unlimited subdomains
You can create and host as many sites as you want. And you need not have to worry about the number of monthly visitors to your site.
6. Quick Support
If your website needs quick attention, you need quick support from your hosting provider. And if you have to wait for the support, it will be infuriating.
Bluehost support team never disappoints you. While most of the hosting companies take 15 minutes for live chat support response, the Bluehost team responds within 5 minutes.
They also offer round-the-clock phone and e-mail support and hence you won’t have to worry about support in different time zones.
7. Freebies Offered
Some companies entice you to sign up for their service stating that they are giving freebies. They say that freebies such as free 24/7 customer support or free WordPress installation.
But that’s not the case with the Bluehost. It offers freebies that will make a difference in your bank account.
They offer a free domain name with every hosting plan for a year, even with the shared hosting plan.
Besides, you will also get and enjoy free SSL – it’s not a big deal, but every little bit definitely helps to make a difference to small businesses.
Disadvantages of Bluehost Hosting
As we know that every rose has its thorn. So, Bluehost also has some disadvantages.
1. Bluehost has only one Datacenter
Every millisecond counts when it comes to website load speed. We know that Bluehost has only one data center, which is located in the USA. They might actually perform better if they had data centers on different continents to support audiences across the globe.
They might have one of the best worldwide average speeds. But if they have data centers in different regions, the sites will load up faster for the target audiences located in those regions.
2. No Uptime Guarantee
Bluehost does not allow any uptime guarantee.
Downtime is quite harmful to any website as it may lead to a loss of potential sales or conversions. If your site has experiencing downtime, and the downtime is consistent, your site might not be listed by the search engines. It may be detrimental to your websites and ultimately to your business.
This is the reason why an uptime guarantee is important for any online store or website. This guarantee shows the hosting company is committed to keeping your site up and running. And they are willing to pay compensation to the customers if they face downtimes, below a certain level.
We agree that Bluehost’s uptime is very fantastic, but if they give an uptime guarantee, it will be an added advantage.
3. Dodgy Checkout Process
You should be extra careful while purchasing hosting from Bluehost. Upon checkout, SEO tools and Sitelock boxes are checked in that pushes the price up to about $60 a year.
These things are nice to have but since it is complementary, the toolboxes should not be checked at the time of checkout. The buyers who need these features may check the boxes and then proceed further.
Many buyers do not need those features and they might just click next and make the purchase unknowingly – thereby paying an extra amount.
So, be cautious of add-ons while purchasing Bluehost hosting plans.
Bluehost Performance Tests
Loading speed and uptime are the two most important performance metrics that you should look for. They not only affect user experience on your website, but they also affect your WordPress SEO rankings. Studies have revealed that a 1-second drop in website speed can decrease your conversion rate by 7%. And you can lose 50% of your traffic if your website is delayed by 3 seconds.
Bluehost Speed Test
Till now, you have got an idea of how important is the loading speed of the website. Speed gives the best user experience and improves the search engine rankings of your website.
I have done a comparison of Bluehost’s speed to the most popular shared hosting competitors. I used Pingdom, GTmetrix, and PageSpeedInsight to check their loading times.
| Test | Loading Time (Average) |
| GT Matrix | 2.74 s |
| Pingdom Test | 3.32 s |
| Page Speed Insights (Google) | 2.52 s |
These tests were carried out under the same conditions (e.g. same page and content) spread out over almost 3 months.
On our test, Bluehost is not at the top when it comes to loading speed. Several hosting providers outperformed them in the tests.
If you are concerned about speed, SiteGround and Hostgator have better loading speeds.
Bluehost Uptime Test
There is no hosting service provider that provides 100% uptime. Due to technical reasons, e.g., server maintenance, your site will be down for short instances of time. Therefore, no hosting provider can guarantee 100 percent uptime practically.
Downtime is terrible as your visitors and search engines will not be able to reach your website. You should go with the hosting providers who guarantee at least 99.95% uptime.
| Hosting Provider | Uptime is 2020 (Percentage) |
| Cloudways | 100 |
| Dreamhost | 99.99 |
| WP Engine | 99.99 |
| GreenGeeks | 99.98 |
| SiteGround | 99.97 |
| Bluehost | 99.96 |
| HostGator | 99.91 |
| GoDaddy | 99.90 |
| Hostinger | 99.48 |
As you can see in the table, Bluehost has shown good uptime results in 2020. I am quite satisfied with the uptime performance of Bluehost.
However, you should keep in mind that they don’t offer any uptime guarantee. So, they will not be going to compensate you if the downtime increases. On the other hand, other hosting providers will compensate you if their global uptime drops below a certain level.
Some Bluehost Alternatives
WordPress is the most powerful and one of the easiest Content Management Systems to use. But, to unleash its full potential, you need a good website hosting provider. Bluehost has maintained its position as one of the most popular WordPress hosting providers and has a good reputation among first-time users.
There is no doubt that Bluehost is a popular hosting provider, but it might not be the best option for you. In this section, we will know about the top Bluehost alternatives, and why you should try them out.
1. SiteGround
SiteGround is one of the top Bluehost alternatives for all types of users. SiteGround WordPress hosting plans are affordable and reasonably priced. It is at par with most other providers when it comes to functionality.
They present their plan realistically. Their WordPress Plans do not make any promise of unlimited storage or traffic. For example, their cheapest plan – StartUp Plan – is recommended for websites having 10000 visits per month, and you can use 10 GB of space.
In terms of user ratings, SiteGround beats Bluehost. They get 3 and 4.6 out of 5, respectively.
How SiteGround is better than Bluehost
Pricing Plans:
There are three pricing plans at $6.9, $9.99, and $14.99 per month respectively.
Main Features:
- SiteGround has a fast loading speed, and advanced caching techniques help in getting fast speed.
- It offers a free SSL certificate
- It offers automated backups and WordPress updates including plugins
- SiteGround comes with security monitoring of WordPress vulnerabilities
- It comes with a free Cloudflare Content Delivery Network setup
- You can create staging copies of your sites with a single click under the GrowBig and GoGeek plans
When to Use SiteGround
You can use SiteGround if looking for a stable service that can handle the unique needs of your WordPress website. SiteGround offers affordable prices, fast loading speeds, excellent support service, and fantastic all-around features for WordPress users.
2. DreamHost
DreamHost is a web hosting company that guarantees a fast and secure hosting solution. WordPress also recommends DreamHost as a web hosting provider.
DreamHost provides you a control panel, using which you can manage your website with ease. It offers different scalable hosting solutions.
DreamHost provides a 100% uptime guarantee and remains true to its word.
It offers multiple security features with free SSL on all plans. It provides live chat and emails support round-the-clock.
Main Features:
- It offers a free domain and privacy protection
- Free SSL certificate for all the hosting plans
- It offers unlimited domains hosting, unlimited storage, and unlimited bandwidth
- You can install WordPress with a single click
- DreamHost provides automatic backups of websites
- It provides 24/7 support – through chat and emails.
Pricing Plans
Its WordPress hosting plan starts from $3.95 per month whereas VPS hosting starting cost is $13.75 per. You have to pay $169 per month for its dedicated hosting
3. WP Engine
The previous Bluehost alternatives provide hosting plans for various platforms, whereas WP Engine is all about WordPress. They are dedicated to providing the best experience for WordPress users. Its excellent customer support team is well-versed with the CMS, a robust architecture, and high-security standards.
WP Engine is better than Bluehost in terms of WordPress Optimization.
Pricing Plans:
It offers three types of pricing plans starting from $30 per month. In addition, it offers custom plans for more demanding clients.
Main Features
- It provides 24/7 WordPress-centric support
- It takes daily backups for your WordPress websites.
- Its EverCache technology enables lightning-fast website loading speed
- WP Engine comes with high-security measures, for example, multiple firewalls and regular malware scans.
- Site performance data for all customers will be provided
When to use WP Engine
Considering its high prices, WP Engine should be considered by those customers who are serious about developing their WordPress projects. They need a reliable hosting platform that will help them in scaling up, and also have robust security for sensitive data.
4. HostGator
HostGator is another trustworthy web hosting company and a competitor of Bluehost. It is a leading web hosting provider that guarantees an uptime of 99.99 percent.
It also offers a free domain name for the first year. Based on the pricing it offers various packages, SEO tools, and a drag-and-drop website builder.
You can easily migrate your website from any other hosting services provider to Hostgator without bothering about the contents of your website. This might be useful if you are planning to change your web hosting service.
Main Features
- It offers multiple layers of caching, CDN, low-density servers, and many more
- Guaranteed uptime of 99.99%
- HostGator offers you unlimited email and subdomains.
- You get a free SSL certificate and a free domain name for the first year
- It also offers you free advertising credit for Adwords and Bing
- It comes with a 45-day money-back guarantee.
Pricing Plans:
HostGator web hosting pricing plan starts at $2.75 per month, and you have to pay $5.95 per month for its Business Plan.
5. DigitalOcean
DigitalOcean is not the first name when someone mentions WordPress hosting – and Bluehost alternatives in particular – but DigitalOcean is far ahead of Bluehost in terms of value for money.
DigitalOcean’s main focus is on providing SSD-only cloud servers for their customers. While first-time hosting users might scare away, setting up a WordPress VPS server – called a ‘droplet’ – on the platform is not so difficult.
Pricing Plans
Its pricing plans start from $5 per month and vary as per the cloud storage.
Main Features
- You can deploy your custom VPS, and set up WordPress with a single click.
- It provides the facility of team accounts to provide access to management resources, without sharing sensitive credentials.
- All the VPS servers ‘ droplets provide the highest levels of security and performance.
- It offers unique billing based on cost per hour.
- DigitalOcean comes with a 99.99% uptime guarantee and refunds for any downtime.
When to use DigitalOcean
DigitalOcean offers fantastic service, but it is not for everyone. If you are comfortable with DIY solutions, DigitalOcean will be a good choice for you.
Considering all of the above things, Bluehost is a good hosting service for WordPress users. It is affordable, stable, secure, and comes with many additional features.
However, it lags behind in some qualities that are offered by its alternatives. So, you may revisit your option before choosing Bluehost for website hosting.
6. InMotion Hosting
InMotion Hosting is one of the trustworthy web hosting providers. It delivers fast performance with SSD drives, custom server caching, and the latest PHP 7 versions.
It is a very good choice for beginners and experts as its setup process does not require much effort with one-click installation. InMotion Hosting comes with free WordPress installation for WordPress users.
It offers top security features such as free SSL certificates, custom firewalls, DDoS attack protection,, hack protection, automatic updates, etc.
It assists you through a team of experts – through chat support, email, and phone support. It also offers customer support through Skype.
Main Features
- InMotion Hosting offers unlimited bandwidth
- It also offers a free domain for a lifetime
- You can migrate your site free of cost from any hosting provider
- It also offers you a free SSL certificate
- You can take backups of your websites
- It provides excellent website loading speed SSD, CloudLinux, and Optimum Cache technologies.
- InMotion Hosting has a 90-day refund policy
Pricing Plans
The starting Plan of InMotion Hosting starts at $5.99 per month under the shared hosting plans. Its WordPress hosting plan starting cost is $6.99 per month.
7. Flywheel
Flywheel offer hosting packages for individual WordPress sites, but the bulk of their features are focused on freelancers and agencies. Their tools enable web developers and designers to work together on projects without sharing credentials.
The flywheel is better than Bluehost in terms of WordPress Optimization.
Pricing Plans:
Flywheel offers various pricing plans starting from $15 per month. It also offers custom plans for web developers, freelancers, and agencies in which 10 WordPress installs are allowed.
Main Features
- It offers powerful collaboration tools for freelancers and agencies
- Flywheel offers transferable billings.
- It takes daily backups of your websites
- You can create staging sites and save custom WordPress setups for future use.
- Its support team has WordPress experts.
When to use Flywheel
Flywheel is best suitable for freelancers and agencies working with WordPress. But it also provides a stable hosting service to individual users. It comes up with a fantastic set of features and a support team that is well-versed in WordPress.
8. A2 Hosting
If you want high-quality hosting, A2 Hosting is one of the best solutions for you. Here, you can use many tools and developer-friendly services along with impressive website loading speed. It is one of the web hosting companies that offer about 100 percent uptime.
You get unlimited storage and bandwidth on all of the A2 Hosting plans. It is also known for its excellent customer support service – with its 24/7 live chat support.
A2 Hosting is suitable for all types of customers – from small businesses to large e-commerce giants
Main Features
- It offers unlimited storage and bandwidth
- A2 Hosting comes with a free SSL certificate
- It comes with free site migration
- A2 Hosting has multiple server locations
- A2 hosting provides a 99.99% uptime guarantee
- Excellent 24/7 live chat support
Pricing Plans
A2 Hosting pricing plans start at $2.99 per month with all the essential and advanced features that are needed for the growth of your online business.
FAQs
1. Who owns Bluehost?
Bluehost is a web hosting company. It is owned by Endurance International Group. It was established by Matt Heaton and Danny Ashworth in 2003. Additionally, it is among the 20 largest web hosts, hosting over 2 million domains. Besides web hosting services, Bluehost offers domain names, email, social media marketing, and local business listings.
2. Is Bluehost a good web host?
Bluehost is a good web host due to the following reasons:
- It is reliable and has established its brand value.
- You get unlimited SSD storage and can host unlimited domains on the server.
- Bluehost is affordable, and its starter plan starts at $2.95 per month.
- It is easy to use, and even a non-technical person can install WordPress in less than 4 minutes.
- Bluehost hosting is secure and comes with many advanced security features, such as SiteLock, SpamExperts, CodeGuard Basic, etc.
- Its high-performance servers and excellent uptime
3. Why is Bluehost so cheap?
Are you of the opinion that Bluehost is so cheap?
If yes, then you are partially correct, as you are looking at only the starting plan of the hosting company. It offers various pricing plans that start from $2.95 per month and go above $100 per month.
Their basic plan at $2.95 per month is designed to acquire new customers. Many users are sharing the server under this plan. It has many limitations in terms of storage, bandwidth, and security. You have to pay extra for these features.
Moreover, some web hosting providers are offering hosting services at very affordable pricing.
HostGator: It provides unlimited disk space with an uptime guarantee
Hostinger: You can host unlimited domains, and get unlimited stores but its uptime is not excellent.
So, cheap plans are made to get new customers, and hosting providers charge them extra for advanced features.
4. Is Bluehost good for beginners?
Bluehost is good for beginners as it allures them by offering the basic necessities that are required for getting a WordPress site live. Beginners, such as bloggers and small businesses can easily start their blogs as Bluehost hosting offers them:
- An affordable price that starts at $2.95 per month
- The free domain name for the first year
- Round-the-clock customer support
- Free SSL certificate
Thus, beginners can easily start their websites without pondering much over the cost.
5. Is Bluehost the best for WordPress?
Bluehost is the best for WordPress as Bluehost comes with a WordPress-focused hosting service. It offers WordPress Hosting and is optimized for WordPress sites and comes with several add-ons.
Bluehost offers two types of WordPress hosting – Shared WordPress Hosting and Managed WordPress Hosting
Shared WordPress Hosting: The basic shared WordPress hosting plan starts at $2.95 per month. It comes with 50 GB SSD storage, and you get 5 parked domains and 25 subdomains. In higher-tier plans, you will get unmetered SSD storage, unlimited parking domains, and sub-domains.
Managed WordPress Hosting: Managed WordPress hosting plan starts from $19.95 per month. It offers a free SSL certificate and 20 GB of web storage. You can also take daily backups, malware detection and removal, and domain privacy and protection under this plan. Its higher-tier plans offer extra features. So, we can say Bluehost Managed WordPress hosting is the best plan for WordPress Sites.
6. How much does Bluehost cost?
There are six different types of hosting offered by Bluehost. Every type offers multiple plans with varying prices and features. Here is a quick look at the cheapest plans prices and renewal prices for every hosting type:
Shared Hosting: Its Basic Plan starts at $2.95 per month if purchased for 36 months. Its renewal cost is $7.99 per month.
Shared WordPress Hosting: Its starter plan is named Basic Plan. It costs $2.95 per month if taken for 36 months, and its renewal cost is $8.99 per month.
Managed WordPress Hosting: Its starting plan is named ‘Build’ and you have to pay $19.95 per month if purchased for 36 months. You have to pay $29.99 per month at the time of renewal.
Online Store Hosting: Starting Price of the Standard plan is $15.95 per month, and its renewal cost is $24.95 per month.
VPS Hosting: The Standard Plan costs $18.99 per month if taken for 366 months. You have to pay $29.99 per month at the time of renewal.
Dedicated Hosting: Dedicated hosting plan starts at $79.99 per month, and its renewal cost is $119.99 per month
All the plans of Bluehost come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. It also offers additional discounts from time to time.
7. Which is Bluehost’s cheapest hosting plan?
Bluehost shared hosting plans are the cheapest plans of Bluehost. They range from $2.95 per month to $13.95 per month. There are four pricing plans under the Bluehost shared hosting plan.
Basic Plan: It is the cheapest plan and its cost starts from $2.95 per month if taken for 36 months. Its renewal cost is $7.99 per month.
Plus Plan: Its starting price is $5.45 per month. You have to pay $10.99 per month for its renewal.
Choice Plus Plan: Its pricing starts from $5.45 per month, and it will be renewed at the rate of $14.999 per month.
Pro Plan: It costs you $13.95 per month if you take it for 36 months. Its renewal cost is $23.99 per month.
8. What control panel Bluehost has?
The Control panel is the command center where you can access your accounts and manage your domains.
All BlueHost accounts come with the industry-leading control panel. It is well-organized and so you can easily manage your web hosting account and websites. The customized c panel of Bluehost also includes additional features such as backups, security, themes, etc. to make it easier for you to manage WordPress websites.
Bluehost c panel has the following core features:
- C panel will fulfill your entire web hosting needs, whether you are a beginner or an expert.
- If you have more than one website on your hosting, you can add and manage all kinds of websites using the cPanel.
- You can easily switch from different web hosting companies to Bluehost hosting, and you can manage your account without any difficulty.
- Bluehost c panel comes with the simple scripts add-on – from where clients can access various applications such as WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Zen Cart, and many more.
- cPanel has regular updates, with a user guide on their website which is accessible to all the users.
9. Is it easy to upgrade or downgrade Bluehost?
Yes, you can always upgrade or downgrade your plan easily. It can be done at any time from your Bluehost dashboard or you can make a call to customer support for the necessary changes.
First of all, log in to your dashboard and switch to Manual Renewal, then click the Upgrade button. You will see upgrades, downgrades, and renewal options will be listed. If you are unable to do desired changes, please contact the Billing Department at 888-401-4678 to cancel the service before renewal.
However, it would be advised that you pick the right plan from the starting day as when you upgrade the hosting plan, you will not get the discounted pricing.
10. What are Bluehost name servers?
To host your website and/or manage your domain at Bluehost, you need to use its name servers.
- ns1.bluehost.com
- ns2.bluehost.com
Alternatively, you can use the name server’s IP address:
- 162.88.60.37
- 162.88.61.37
You must update your name servers with the domain’s current registrar i.e., the company your domain is registered with. If your domain is registered here, check out Modifying Name Servers for step-by-step instructions. Else, you should contact your domain’s current registrar for assistance.
You should keep in mind; your new DNS settings will begin to propagate as soon as you save your changes. Each ISP takes a different time to update, usually taking 24 to 72 hours to complete worldwide. In the meantime, your emails will not work, and your web traffic will be directed to either of the name servers – the old or the new one – and it depends on the visitor’s ISP.
11. Can you register domain names with Bluehost?
Yes, you can register domain names with Bluehost.
Your website visitors will not have a memorable way to get to your website without a domain name. And there will not be a website to go to without a hosting account.
Bluehost offers both domain names and hosting to make it easy to manage your domains, websites, and emails— all in one place.
In a Bluehost account, you can register new domain names and transfer domains that are already owned by you.
12. Can you automatically install WordPress on Bluehost?
Bluehost has totally revamped its web hosting and made it WordPress oriented. Days are gone when you had to create your blog manually. Nowadays, WordPress is automatically installed and set up on Bluehost hosting.
If you have purchased hosting and the domain name from Bluehost, it will automatically install WordPress for you. You have nothing to do, just wait for a few minutes and get WordPress installed automatically on your Bluehost hosting.
In case automatic installation does not begin or is not completed, login to your Bluehost Dashboard and then click on login to WordPress inside the Bluehost dashboard.
13. Does Bluehost provide a money-back guarantee?
Yes, Bluehost provides a 30-day hosting money-back guarantee.
The discounted price is for the first purchase only and plans are renewed at the regular price. Customer satisfaction is the top priority of Bluehost and they are confident about their services. And, if you feel that hosting does not sufficiently meet your needs, you can cancel your plan within 30 days of your purchase, and refunds are allowed as follows.
- If you cancel your plan within 30 days of your purchase, you receive a full refund on your hosting service only. There is a money-back guarantee on add-on products, such as domains, security features, etc.
- If you cancel your plan within 30 days and your plan includes a free domain, then Bluehost will deduct a non-refundable domain fee of $15.99 from your refund. This ensures that you won’t lose your domain name. You may transfer your domain to another registrar at your convenience.
- Bluehost does not give any refunds for cancellations that take place after 30 days.
14. Will Bluehost back up my website automatically?
Yes, Bluehost takes an automatic backup of your account.
Site Backup and Restore facility helps in protecting account files, databases, and email accounts from getting lost. Restoring files is simple, easy, and quick. Bluehost takes backups of the website automatically on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. You can download a copy of your entire site for safekeeping.
The free version allows users to take a backup of the data, but users cannot restore databases.
The Pro version give allows users to restore any files or databases they need. Users can restore either all databases or a specific database.
15. How is Bluehost support?
Bluehost support is offered by their in-house, expert team. They are always ready to help you by answering your questions and queries whether it is related to purchase or technical issues. Thus, they also help you in growing your presence online.
You can reach out to the expert support team of Bluehost 24/7 on Chat. They also provide phone support between 10 am to 10 pm.
16. What control panel does Bluehost provide?
Bluehost provides cPanel on all of its plans. On shared plans, you can manage multiple domains from a single control panel. On VPS and dedicated hosting plans, Bluehost provides the cPanel – using which you can manage the server in addition to your normal cPanel settings.
17. Does Bluehost provide domain privacy?
Yes, Bluehost provides a domain privacy option.
You get an option to hide your personal information from the WHOIS database. The database includes information on who is the owner of the given domain. You get this option in the marketplace section of your control panel – and from there you can add this to your account. You have to pay extra for domain privacy but the price is not so expensive.
18. Where is the data center of Bluehost?
The data center of Bluehost is located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and managed by Bluehost. They have built their own servers and installed their own proprietary Linux kernel. Their system administrators and developers constantly maintain and upgrade this infrastructure.
Conclusion and Recommendation
If you are looking for a hosting service with a low price and good performance, you can go with DreamHost or A2 Hosting. Their performance is similar to that of Bluehost and that’s too at a lower cost.
SiteGround is slightly better than Bluehost as it offers extra features such as e.g. more backup options, better customer support, etc. SiteGround hosting is best for WordPress site owners as it empowers them with a built-in caching plugin, speed optimization option, and many more.
Bluehost’s first-year pricing is remarkably cheap but before opting for it on a pricing basis, you should consider the renewal prices.
Bluehost is not the best hosting provider but you can opt for it. If you want a hosting service that provides unmetered storage and unlimited bandwidth, Bluehost could be a suitable option for you.
It is clear from the speed test that their website loading speed is not the best. However, the uptime shown by Bluehost is above 99.95% which is considered good. Their uptime result is similar to that of the top hosting providers like SiteGround and WPEngine.
Bluehost is an affordable web hosting services provider that fulfills the needs of many users.
Bluehost Review by Our Community
Community Review 1
In my opinion, overall service is OK. I use Bluehost for my writing blog. I use their WordPress hosting service and I am satisfied with the service, although their support is not great.
Community Review 2
Bluehost has a very nice list of features, such as ‘Unlimited Bandwidth” at a very low cost, but what I don’t like about Bluehost is their poor customer service – some of their staff keep turning rude at some moments!
Community Review 3
Bluehost was a good hosting provider earlier, but the situation has changed now. I get irritated by the low quality of service, and the lack of knowledge of the support staff. Their hosting is indeed cheaper, but their service qualities are very pathetic. So, I don’t suggest going with Bluehost.
Community Review 4
I have been using BlueHost for 3 years and I had mixed experiences – good and bad.
BlueHost Pros
1. Low hosting price,
2. Free domain name for a year
3. No hidden charges
4. Easy-to-use user interface.
Bluehost Cons
1. Page load speed not consistent
2. Its customer support is not excellent. Sometimes, it takes a long time to solve minor issues
Community Review 5
I don’t like Bluehost due to many reasons. I am unable to connect to FTP despite creating many accounts or even after changing the password. Their customer support is not good and they take a long time to solve your issues. There is just one positive thing – it’s low pricing.
