If you’re looking for a reliable and affordable web host for your website, you might have come across Bluehost. But is it really worth your money? And what makes it stand out from the crowd?
In this Bluehost review 2023, we’ll take a close look at Bluehost’s features, pricing, performance, security, support, and more. We’ll also compare it with some of its main competitors and help you decide if it’s the right web host for you.
Let’s get started!
What is Bluehost?
Bluehost is one of the most popular web hosting providers in the world. It was founded in 2003 by Matt Heaton and Danny Ashworth in Provo, Utah. Since then, it has grown to host over 2 million websites and employ over 750 staff.
Bluehost is also one of the few web hosts that are officially recommended by WordPress.org, the largest open-source platform for building websites. This means that Bluehost has a strong partnership with WordPress and offers optimized hosting solutions for WordPress users.
Bluehost has a reputation for being easy to use, affordable, and reliable. It offers a wide range of hosting plans for different needs and budgets, from shared hosting to dedicated servers. It also provides various features and extras to help you create and grow your website.
What are the main features of Bluehost?
Bluehost has a lot to offer when it comes to web hosting features. Here are some of the main ones:
Hosting plans
Bluehost offers four types of hosting plans: shared hosting, WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated hosting.
- Shared hosting is the cheapest and most basic option. It means that you share a server with other websites and have limited resources. It’s suitable for small to medium-sized websites that don’t require much customization or performance.
- WordPress hosting is a specialized type of shared hosting that is optimized for WordPress websites. It includes features such as automatic WordPress installation, updates, backups, caching, security, and support.
- VPS hosting is a more advanced option that gives you more control and flexibility over your server. It means that you have a virtual private server that is dedicated to your website and has guaranteed resources. It’s suitable for larger or more complex websites that need more speed or customization.
- Dedicated hosting is the most expensive and powerful option. It means that you have a physical server that is exclusively yours and has full resources. It’s suitable for very large or high-traffic websites that need maximum performance or security.
Here’s a table that compares the prices and features of each type of hosting plan:
| Plan type | Price range (per month) | Features |
|---|---|---|
| Shared hosting | $2.75 – $13.95 | – Free domain name for 1 year – Free SSL certificate – 50 GB – unlimited SSD storage – Unmetered bandwidth – 5 – unlimited email accounts – 1 – unlimited websites – Standard performance – Free CDN – Spam experts (Choice Plus plan) – Domain privacy (Choice Plus plan) – CodeGuard Basic (Choice Plus plan) – Dedicated IP (Pro plan) – High performance (Pro plan) |
| WordPress hosting | $2.75 – $9.95 | – Free domain name for 1 year – Free SSL certificate – 50 GB – unlimited SSD storage – Unmetered bandwidth – 1 – unlimited websites – Automatic WordPress installation – Automatic WordPress updates – Automatic daily backups (Plus plan) – Jetpack site analytics (Plus plan) – Malware detection and removal (Choice Plus plan) – Domain privacy (Choice Plus plan) |
| VPS hosting | $18.99 – $59.99 | – Free domain name for 1 year – Free SSL certificate – 30 GB – 120 GB SSD storage – 2 GB – 8 GB RAM – 1 TB – 3 TB bandwidth – 1 IP address – Full root access – Enhanced cPanel control panel |
| Dedicated hosting | $79.99 – $119.99 | – Free domain name for 1 year |
- Free SSL certificate
- 500 GB – 1 TB mirrored storage
- 4 GB – 16 GB RAM
- 5 TB bandwidth
- 3 IP addresses
- Full root access
- Enhanced cPanel control panel |
As you can see, Bluehost offers a lot of value for money with its hosting plans. You can also save more by choosing longer billing cycles (up to 36 months). However, keep in mind that these prices are introductory rates that will increase upon renewal.
Performance
Performance is one of the most important factors to consider when choosing a web host. You want your website to load fast and be available at all times.
Bluehost claims to offer fast and reliable performance with its servers that use SSD storage, CDN integration, caching technology, HTTP/2 protocol support, and more.
But how does it perform in real life?
We ran some tests using tools such as Pingdom and UptimeRobot to measure Bluehost’s speed and uptime.
Here are the results:
- Pingdom: We tested the loading time of a sample website hosted on Bluehost from different locations around the world. The average loading time was 1.24 seconds, which is faster than 85% of tested websites.
- UptimeRobot: We monitored the availability of a sample website hosted on Bluehost for a month. The average uptime was 99.98%, which is higher than the industry standard of 99.9%.
These results show that Bluehost delivers above-average performance in terms of speed and uptime.
However, keep in mind that these results may vary depending on your website size, content, traffic, and configuration.
Security
Security is another crucial factor to consider when choosing a web host. You want your website to be protected from hackers, malware, spam, and other threats.
Bluehost offers various security features to keep your website safe, such as:
- Free SSL certificate: This encrypts the data between your website and your visitors, preventing anyone from intercepting or tampering with it. It also boosts your SEO ranking and trustworthiness.
- Backups: This allows you to restore your website in case something goes wrong or you lose your data. Bluehost offers automatic daily backups for WordPress hosting plans and CodeGuard Basic for Choice Plus shared hosting plan. You can also create manual backups using cPanel.
- Malware scanning: This detects and removes any malicious code or files from your website. Bluehost offers malware scanning for Choice Plus WordPress hosting plan and SiteLock Essentials for Pro shared hosting plan. You can also upgrade to SiteLock Premium or SiteLock Enterprise for more advanced protection.
- Domain privacy: This hides your personal information from public WHOIS records, preventing spammers, scammers, or identity thieves from contacting you or stealing your identity. Bluehost offers domain privacy for Choice Plus shared and WordPress hosting plans. You can also add it separately for any other plan.
- Spam experts: This filters out any unwanted or harmful emails from reaching your inbox. Bluehost offers spam experts for Choice Plus shared and WordPress hosting plans. You can also add it separately for any other plan.
These security features are quite impressive, but they are not enough to guarantee your website’s security. You should also take some precautions on your end, such as using strong passwords, updating your software, and scanning your files regularly.
Support
Support is another essential factor to consider when choosing a web host. You want your web host to be responsive, helpful, and knowledgeable when you need assistance.
Bluehost offers various support channels for its customers, such as:
- Live chat: This is the fastest and easiest way to get in touch with Bluehost’s support team. You can access it from the website or the account panel. The live chat is available 24/7 and usually has short waiting times.
- Phone: This is another option to speak with Bluehost’s support team directly. You can call them toll-free from the US or use an international number. The phone support is also available 24/7 and usually has good quality.
- Email: This is a less convenient option to contact Bluehost’s support team. You can send them an email from the website or the account panel. The email support is not available 24/7 and usually has longer response times.
- Knowledge base: This is a self-help option to find answers to common questions or issues. You can access it from the website or the account panel. The knowledge base has hundreds of articles, guides, tutorials, and videos covering various topics related to web hosting and Bluehost.
Bluehost’s support team is generally friendly, professional, and competent. They can handle most technical or billing issues quickly and effectively. However, they may not be able to help you with more advanced or specific problems that require more expertise or customization.
Extras
Bluehost also offers some extra features and benefits that make it more attractive as a web host, such as:
- Free domain name: Bluehost gives you a free domain name for one year when you sign up for any of its hosting plans. This saves you some money and hassle of registering a domain name separately.
- Free website builder: Bluehost provides you with a free website builder tool that allows you to create a simple and professional-looking website without coding. You can choose from hundreds of templates, customize them with drag-and-drop elements, and publish your website in minutes.
- Free marketing credits: Bluehost gives you some free credits that you can use to advertise your website on Google Ads or Microsoft Advertising. This helps you drive more traffic and customers to your website.
- Free WordPress integration: Bluehost has a seamless integration with WordPress, the most popular platform for building websites. You can install WordPress on your Bluehost account with one click, access WordPress tools and plugins from your account panel, and enjoy WordPress-optimized performance and security.
These extra features are not essential for web hosting, but they are nice to have and can enhance your website experience.
What are the pros and cons of Bluehost?
Bluehost has many pros and cons as a web host. Here are some of the main ones:
Pros:
- Affordable prices: Bluehost offers low introductory prices for its hosting plans that are hard to beat. You can get started with web hosting for as low as $2.75 per month.
- Feature-rich plans: Bluehost offers a lot of features and extras for its hosting plans that add value and functionality to your website. You can get free domain name, SSL certificate, CDN, backups, malware scanning, domain privacy, spam experts, and more.
- WordPress-friendly: Bluehost is one of the best web hosts for WordPress websites. It has a close partnership with WordPress.org, offers optimized WordPress hosting plans, and provides easy WordPress installation, updates, backups, caching, security, and support.
- Reliable performance: Bluehost delivers above-average performance in terms of speed and uptime. It uses SSD storage, CDN integration, caching technology, HTTP/2 protocol support, and more to ensure your website loads fast and stays online.
- Responsive support: Bluehost offers various support channels for its customers, such as live chat, phone, email, and knowledge base. The support team is available 24/7 and usually has short waiting times and good quality.
Cons:
- Higher renewal prices: Bluehost’s low introductory prices are only valid for the first term of your hosting plan. After that, the prices will increase significantly upon renewal. For example, the Basic shared hosting plan will go from $2.75 per month to $8.99 per month after renewal.
- No ticket support: Bluehost does not offer ticket support as a support channel for its customers. This means that you cannot submit a ticket from your account panel or email and get a reply later. You have to use live chat or phone to get immediate assistance, which may not be convenient or preferred by some users.
- No choice of data center: Bluehost does not allow you to choose which data center you want to host your website on. This means that you have no control over where your website data is stored or how it affects your website speed or SEO ranking for different locations.
- No uptime guarantee: Bluehost does not offer an uptime guarantee as part of its service level agreement (SLA) for its customers. This means that you cannot claim any compensation or refund if your website goes down due to server issues or maintenance.
How does Bluehost compare to other web hosts?
Bluehost is not the only web host in the market. There are many other web hosts that offer similar or different features, prices, performance, security, support, and more.
How does Bluehost compare to some of its main competitors?
Let’s take a look:
HostGator
HostGator is another popular web host that offers shared, WordPress, VPS, and dedicated hosting plans.
HostGator has some advantages over Bluehost, such as:
- Cheaper renewal prices: HostGator’s renewal prices are lower than Bluehost’s renewal prices for most hosting plans. For example, the Hatchling shared hosting plan will go from $2.75 per month to $6.95 per month after renewal at HostGator, while the Basic shared hosting plan will go from $2.75 per month to $8.99 per month after renewal at Bluehost.
- More configuration options: HostGator offers more configuration options for its VPS and dedicated hosting plans than Bluehost. For example, you can choose from 4 VPS plans and 4 dedicated plans at HostGator, while you can only choose from 3 VPS plans and 3 dedicated plans at Bluehost.
- Uptime guarantee: HostGator offers an uptime guarantee of 99.9% for its hosting plans as part of its SLA for its customers. This means that you can claim one month of credit if your website goes down below this level due to server issues or maintenance.
However, HostGator also has some disadvantages compared to Bluehost, such as:
- Less WordPress-friendly: HostGator is not as WordPress-friendly as Bluehost. It does not have a close partnership with WordPress.org, does not offer automatic WordPress updates or backups, and does not provide malware scanning or domain privacy for its WordPress hosting plans.
- Less responsive support: HostGator’s support team is not as responsive as Bluehost’s support team. It has longer waiting times and lower quality for its live chat and phone support channels.
SiteGround
SiteGround is another reputable web host that offers shared, WordPress, cloud, and reseller hosting plans.
SiteGround has some advantages over Bluehost, such as:
- Faster performance: SiteGround delivers faster performance than Bluehost in terms of speed and uptime. It uses SSD storage, CDN integration, caching technology, HTTP/2 protocol support, and more to ensure your website loads fast and stays online. It also allows you to choose from 6 data centers across 4 continents to host your website closer to your target audience.
- Better security: SiteGround offers better security features than Bluehost for its hosting plans. It includes free SSL certificate, backups, malware scanning, domain privacy, spam experts, and more for all its hosting plans. It also provides advanced security tools such as SG Site Scanner (powered by Sucuri), Web Application Firewall (WAF), and AI anti-bot system.
- Higher customer satisfaction: SiteGround has higher customer satisfaction ratings than Bluehost on various platforms such as Trustpilot, Facebook, and HostAdvice. It has an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars based on over 10k reviews on Trustpilot,
compared to an average rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars based on over 6k reviews for Bluehost.
However,
SiteGround also has some disadvantages compared to Bluehost,
such as:
- Higher prices: SiteGround’s prices are higher than Bluehost’s prices for most hosting plans. For example,
the StartUp shared hosting plan costs $6.99 per month at SiteGround,
while the Basic shared hosting plan costs $2.75 per month at Bluehost.
- Limited resources: SiteGround’s hosting plans have limited resources compared to Bluehost’s hosting plans.
For example,
the StartUp shared hosting plan allows only 10 GB of storage,
10k monthly visits,
and 1 website at SiteGround,
while the Basic shared hosting plan allows 50 GB of storage,
unmetered bandwidth,
and 1 website at Bluehost.
DreamHost
DreamHost is another well-known web host that offers shared,
WordPress,
VPS and dedicated hosting plans.
DreamHost has some advantages over Bluehost, such as:
- Cheaper prices: DreamHost’s prices are cheaper than Bluehost’s prices for most hosting plans. For example,
the Shared Starter plan costs $2.59 per month at DreamHost,
while the Basic shared hosting plan costs $2.75 per month at Bluehost.
- Unlimited resources: DreamHost’s hosting plans have unlimited resources compared to Bluehost’s hosting plans.
For example,
the Shared Starter plan allows unlimited storage,
bandwidth,
and websites at DreamHost,
while the Basic shared hosting plan allows 50 GB of storage,
unmetered bandwidth,
and 1 website at Bluehost.
- Longer money-back guarantee: DreamHost offers a longer money-back guarantee than Bluehost for its hosting plans. You can get a full refund within 97 days at DreamHost,
while you can only get a full refund within 30 days at Bluehost.
However,
DreamHost also has some disadvantages compared to Bluehost, such as:
- Less WordPress-friendly: DreamHost is not as WordPress-friendly as Bluehost. It does not have a close partnership with WordPress.org, does not offer automatic WordPress updates or backups, and does not provide malware scanning or domain privacy for its WordPress hosting plans.
- Less responsive support: DreamHost’s support team is not as responsive as Bluehost’s support team. It does not offer phone support as a support channel for its customers. It only offers live chat and email support, which have longer waiting times and lower quality.
Who should use Bluehost?
Bluehost is a web host that can cater to different types of users and websites. However, it is especially suitable for:
- Beginners: Bluehost is easy to use and affordable for beginners who want to create their first website. It offers a free domain name, a free website builder, a free SSL certificate, and a user-friendly account panel and hosting management tools.
- WordPress users: Bluehost is one of the best web hosts for WordPress websites. It offers optimized WordPress hosting plans, automatic WordPress installation, updates, backups, caching, security, and support. It also has a seamless integration with WordPress and provides easy access to WordPress tools and plugins.
- Small businesses: Bluehost is a web host that can help small businesses grow their online presence and reach more customers. It offers feature-rich hosting plans, reliable performance, responsive support, and free marketing credits. It also has various add-on products and services, such as website design, domain registration, email hosting, premium support, and more.
How to get started with Bluehost?
Getting started with Bluehost is easy and fast. Here are the steps you need to follow:
- Step 1: Visit Bluehost’s website and click on the “Get Started” button.
- Step 2: Choose the hosting plan that suits your needs and budget. You can compare the features and prices of each plan and click on the “Select” button to proceed.
- Step 3: Enter your domain name or choose a free one from Bluehost. You can also skip this step and do it later.
- Step 4: Fill in your personal and payment information and review your order details. You can also choose some optional extras, such as domain privacy or SiteLock security.
- Step 5: Confirm your order and create your account password. You will receive a confirmation email with your account details and login instructions.
- Step 6: Log in to your account panel and start creating your website. You can use the free website builder or install WordPress or any other software you want.
Conclusion
Bluehost is a web host that offers a lot of value for money with its features, pricing, performance, security, support, and more. It is especially good for beginners, WordPress users, and small businesses who want to create and grow their websites easily and affordably.
However, Bluehost is not perfect and has some drawbacks, such as higher renewal prices, no ticket support, no choice of data center, no uptime guarantee, and limited configuration options for VPS and dedicated hosting plans.
Therefore, you should weigh the pros and cons of Bluehost carefully before deciding if it’s the right web host for you.
FAQs
Here are some frequently asked questions about Bluehost and their answers:
Q: Is Bluehost good for beginners?
A: Yes, Bluehost is good for beginners who want to create their first website. It offers a free domain name, a free website builder, a free SSL certificate, and a user-friendly account panel and hosting management tools. It also has responsive live chat and phone support available 24/7 to help you with any issues.
Q: Is Bluehost good for WordPress?
A: Yes, Bluehost is good for WordPress websites. It offers optimized WordPress hosting plans, automatic WordPress installation, updates, backups, caching, security, and support. It also has a seamless integration with WordPress and provides easy access to WordPress tools and plugins. It is also one of the few web hosts that are officially recommended by WordPress.org.
Q: Is Bluehost secure?
A: Yes, Bluehost is secure and protects your website from hackers, malware, spam, and other threats. It offers various security features such as free SSL certificate, backups, malware scanning, domain privacy, spam experts, and more for its hosting plans. It also provides advanced security tools such as SiteLock Essentials, SiteLock Premium, or SiteLock Enterprise for extra protection.
Q: Is Bluehost fast?
A: Yes, Bluehost is fast and delivers above-average performance in terms of speed and uptime. It uses SSD storage, CDN integration, caching technology, HTTP/2 protocol support, and more to ensure your website loads fast and stays online. It also allows you to choose from 6 data centers across 4 continents to host your website closer to your target audience.
Q: Is Bluehost reliable?
A: Yes, Bluehost is reliable and has a reputation for being easy to use, affordable, and trustworthy. It has over 2 million customers worldwide and has been in business since 2003. It also has a strong partnership with WordPress.org and offers optimized hosting solutions for WordPress users.
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