Bluehost is one of the most popular web hosting companies. Millions of people use Bluehost to power their websites. In this Bluehost review, we’ll take a look at what makes Bluehost so popular and see if it’s the right choice for you.
Spoiler alert: it probably is! Let’s dive in.
In this complete Bluehost review, I’ll be covering the following topics:
- Brief introduction about Bluehost
- Pros and Cons of Bluehost
- Pricing and Features of BlueHost
- Setting up your website with Bluehost
For over a year, I’ve been analyzing the performance of some of the most popular hosting services, and BlueHost ranks second after Cloudways in terms of loading time, uptime, features, and pricing.
I have used Pingdom to watch its performance and speed as well. Pingdom is a service that keeps track of how fast your site loads.
It’s no surprise to me that BlueHost comes second only after Cloudways in terms of performance. The reason why I ranked it second is that, even though Bluehost’s performance is good, Cloudways has an edge over them.
So, if you want to host your website with a reliable service and are willing to pay a little more for it, go with Cloudways.
But if you want an inexpensive and decent hosting solution for your website, then Bluehost is the right choice. Let me clarify that Bluehost is not a bad host; it’s a good and pretty decent option for most people.
However, I believe that it is not fair to compare Bluehost with Cloudways because the resources they offer aren’t the same. Cloudways offers a premium hosting experience while Bluehost is a considerably cheaper option. Either way, both are good choices and will do an excellent job for beginners.
Let’s get on with the review of Bluehost:
Brief Introduction about Bluehost
BlueHost was launched in 2003 and is located in Provo, Utah. It’s a subsidiary of Endurance International Group – one of the largest hosting investing companies in the world. Endurance International Group currently operates web hosting brands such as HostGator, Bluehost, iPage, and others.
It’s one of the oldest hosting companies in the world, and it has been operating successfully for over 19 years.
Bluehost offers an almost similar set of features to its top competitors such as HostGator and GreenGeeks. However, it’s relatively easier to set up your WordPress website with Bluehost. Because it automatically installs WordPress when you make your purchase and log in to your account for the first time.
Bluehost is a good option for beginners and people who are looking to set up their websites without investing too much money.
Bluehost was founded by Matt Heaton as a free web hosting business called Ocatch.com. It was then rebranded Bluehost in 2003, and the company grew successful by providing customers with relatively low shared hosting plans. It has been recommended by WordPress.org ever since 2005.
Some quick information about Bluehost:
- Hosting Plans – Shared, Cloud, VPS, and Dedicated Servers
- Uptime – 99.99%
- Average Load Time – 390 ms
- Support – 24/7 support
- Features – One-click WordPress install, free domain for 1 year, free SSL certificate, unmetered bandwidth, and storage.
- Pricing Plans – Starting at $2.95/month
- Money-Back Guarantee – 30 days
Overall, Bluehost is a good company for beginners. It comes packed with some of the basic features which are enough to build a blog or website. Let’s take a look at what sets Bluehost apart from other hosting companies.
Pros of Bluehost Hosting
The following are the advantages of Bluehost which you should consider before making your purchase. So, let’s have a look:
1. Affordable Pricing Plans
Bluehost offers three types of hosting plans as mentioned on their website. These are shared, cloud, and dedicated servers. The shared plans are the most affordable ones that start at $2.95 per month with a 30-day refund policy.
And, there are no hidden charges either.
You pay what you see on their website.
The only catch is that they only allow one site with the cheapest plan. This may be a deal-breaker for some, but it’s a good value for money.
Bluehost offers a variety of hosting plans such as shared hosting, cloud hosting, WordPress hosting, dedicated hosting, and reseller hosting for bloggers, businesses, companies, and eCommerce websites. Although the first term plans are cheap the renewal plans are a bit expensive.
2. Solid Uptime
Uptime is one of the most important aspects when it comes to choosing a hosting company. Bluehost offers an above-average uptime of 99.99% with an average load time of 390 ms which is quite impressive too.
A good uptime means your website will work 24/7 without any downtime. In most cases, you won’t notice a change in your uptime with Bluehost.
Having a consistently high percentage of uptime should be one of the topmost priorities of every customer.
Speaking about Bluehost’s uptime, they have always been good.
If we talk about the last 12 months, the average uptime of Bluehost is 99.99% which is pretty much awesome. Bluehost doesn’t provide SLA (Service Level Agreement) that guarantees a minimum uptime.
3. Good Customer Support
Bluehost provides 24/7 technical support through live chat, email support, and even phone support. In addition to that, Bluehost also offers a knowledge database where people can also check out their guides, tutorials, and much more.
Although Bluehost offers a variety of mediums to connect with them, you may face slight delays in replies. Overall, you’ll find great friendly support that gives direct answers to each question you ask.
4. Beginner-Friendly
Bluehost is one of WordPress.org’s top-recommended hosting companies, and all of their plans provide one-click WordPress installation.
The Bluehost Cpanel layout is very easy to use and you’ll be able to install and start your WordPress website within minutes.
Bluehost also offers website builder tools that allow you to create a template for your website without the need for any coding knowledge.
5. Money-Back Guarantee
Bluehost offers a 30-day money-back guarantee in all their plans.
You can try their services and if you are not satisfied with them, you can get your money back within 30 days.
The best part is you don’t have to pay any hidden fees or penalties for using their services. Although you need to make sure that you’ll get a refund on web hosting and not on other products like domains or add-ons.
Also, if you request after 30 days of using their services, your request will get rejected and you’ll not get a refund.
6. Good Average Loading Time
The average loading time of Bluehost is 390 ms which is very commendable.
Studies say that websites with fast loading times rank higher than sites with slow loading times. This is probably one of the most important aspects when it comes to choosing a host. Bluehost has always been good with this.
The loading time of a website plays a huge role in maintaining bounce rates as 70% of the people move back from a website that loads slower.
So, after uptime, the loading time of a website is the second most important thing that can literally affect your site performance in search engines.
Cons of Bluehost Hosting
The following are some of the disadvantages of using Bluehost hosting:
1. Expensive Renewal Rates
Bluehost offers cheap first term plans, but their renewal plans are quite expensive. If you don’t care about the renewal prices and want to choose a web hosting service depending on its first term prices, Bluehost is a pretty good option.
Although the cheapest plan starts at $2.95 per month, renewal fees start at $7.99 per month if you choose a three-year package plan.
However, for 12 or 24 months, the price rises to $8.99 each month. In addition, they do not provide a 3-month or 6-month hosting plan. As you can see below, the pro plan renewal fees have increased to $25.99/month.
So, the best way to get the lowest price is by choosing the 3-year plan for your site as they will offer you the maximum discount on it.
2. No Free Site Migrations
Bluehost, unlike other web hosting companies, will not migrate your site for free. As a result, you must pay a one-time payment to move your site.
It will cost you at least $149.99 and will allow you to transfer up to 5 websites, 20 email accounts, and other database files.
This is one of the most significant disadvantages of Bluehost as you cannot transfer your site for free. Most web hosting companies do not charge for website migration and even if they do, the charges are low.
3. No Free Automated Backups
Although they do offer backups, there is no guarantee. You can’t just depend on your data to be backed up daily.
Also, once your data is a month old, you won’t be able to back it up. In other words, you will only be able to back up your website’s most current data.
The fact that they are not responsible for the backup of your site is clearly stated on their terms and conditions page.
Their free default backup solution is limited, so in order to use site backup pro which is a paid addon, you need to invest in it.
Bluehost Pricing
Bluehost provides a wide range of hosting-related products and services, including domains, WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, shared hosting, dedicated hosting, and reseller hosting, with different plans and prices.
Let’s take a look at Bluehost’s hosting plans:
Shared Hosting Plans
Shared hosting is the most common type of hosting.
In shared hosting, one server is used to host several different websites. Basically, you need to share your server with other websites. It is like sharing an apartment with others but you’ll have your own room.
Bluehost offers four types of shared hosting plans:
- Basic plan
- Plus plan
- Choice Plus plan
- Pro plan
The price starts from $2.95 per month for the first year only / $9.99 per month after that which are quite standard prices in the web hosting industry.
1. Basic Plan
The price of the basic plan is $2.95/month. This plan is perfect if you want to run a single website for your business.
This plan includes a single website, 50 GB storage, unlimited bandwidth, a 1-year free domain, a free SSL certificate, customizable themes, 24/7 support, and a 30-day free trial. In this plan, you’ll get 5 email accounts.
2. Plus Plan
The price of the Plus plan is $5.45 a month.
This plan is perfect for running multiple sites at a time.
This plan includes unlimited websites, unlimited storage, a 1-year free domain, a free SSL certificate, customizable themes, 24/7 support, access to website analytics, automated backups, and a 30-day free trial. In this plan, you’ll get 100 email accounts and each account has 500 MB of storage in it.
3. Choice Plus Plan
The choice plus plan costs $5.45 a month.
This plan is perfect for running multiple sites at a time as it has the same features as the Plus plan. The difference with the Plus plan is that in this one, you’ll get access to free domain privacy and free automated backup for 1 year.
4. Pro Plan
The price of the pro plan is $13.95 a month. This plan is perfect for top business website performance.
This plan includes unlimited websites, unlimited storage, a 1-year free domain, a free SSL certificate, customizable themes, domain privacy + protection, 24/7 support, access to website analytics, automated backups, optimized website resources, dedicated IP address, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
In this plan, you’ll get unlimited email accounts and each account has unlimited storage in it.
VPS Hosting
VPS hosting which is also known as Virtual Private Service is another most popular hosting which comes up with more advanced features than shared hosting.
VPS hosting is used by website owners who are driving medium-level traffic to their websites. The following plans are included in VPS hosting.
1. Standard Plan
The price of the standard plan is $18.99 a month. The plan includes 2 cores, 30 GB SSD storage, 2 GB RAM, 1 TB bandwidth, and 1 IP address.
2. Enhanced Plan
The price of the enhanced plan is $29.99/month. The plan includes 2 cores, 60 GB SSD storage, 4 GB RAM, 2 TB bandwidth, and 2 IP address.
3. Ultimate Plan
The price of the enhanced plan is $59.99/month. The plan includes 4 cores, 120 GB SSD storage, 8 GB RAM, 3 TB bandwidth, and 2 IP address.
All these plans include a free domain for 1 year, 24/7 support, a free SSL certificate, an enhanced control panel, a 30-day money-back guarantee, etc.
Dedicated Hosting
Dedicated hosting is used by large website owners that drive huge traffic. In this hosting, you can have access to the entire server which is similar to owning a home where you can do anything.
It is the most expensive hosting that comes up with both managed and unmanaged forms. The following plans are included in dedicated hosting.
1. Standard Plan
The price of the standard plan is $79.99 a month. This plan includes 4 cores, 500 GB storage, 4 GB RAM, 5 TB bandwidth, 3 IP addresses.
2. Enhanced Plan
The price of the standard plan is $99.99 a month. This plan includes 4 cores, 1 TB storage, 8 GB RAM, 10 TB bandwidth, 4 IP addresses.
3. Premium Plan
The price of the standard plan is $119.99 a month. This plan includes 4 cores, 1 TB storage, 16 GB RAM, 15 TB bandwidth, 5 IP addresses.
All these plans include a free domain for 1 year, dedicated support, a free SSL certificate, an enhanced control panel, and extreme speed.
And, you’ll also get a 30-day money-back guarantee, etc.
WordPress Hosting
WordPress hosting is specially designed for those who use WordPress to create their website. WordPress hosting is quite affordable and it is secured by WordPress experts. These WordPress plans offer high performance and great reliability.
Each plan includes features like a one-year free domain, one-click WordPress installation, unlimited bandwidth, automated updates, and backups.
1. WordPress Hosting
The price of the basic plan is $2.95/month and the Plus plan is $5.45/month. This hosting is for new bloggers and small businesses.
This plan offers everything you need to get started.
It helps to manage low-traffic WordPress websites.
2. WP Pro
Their plans start from $19.95/mo to $49.95/mo. These plans help to manage high traffic and short-term spikes.
It is much faster than shared hosting and is optimized to host complex websites.
3. eCommerce
Their plans start from $5.95/mo which goes up to $12.95/mo. You can start selling your products and services online and much more.
Top Bluehost Alternatives
| Web Hosting | Cost | Load time | Uptime |
|---|---|---|---|
| HostGator | $2.75/mo | 191 ms | 99.99% |
| Cloudways | $10/mo | 106 ms | 99.99% |
| GreenGeeks | $2.95/mo | 375 ms | 99.99% |
| DreamHost | $2.59/mo | 569 ms | 99.92% |
| iPage | $3.75/mo | 709 ms | 99.94% |
Is Bluehost Recommended?
Yes, no doubt!
Although Bluehost is not my favorite (I prefer Cloudways the most), I do recommend purchasing this hosting because it is one of the best web hosting providers with a 99.99 percent uptime and fast loading times.
In addition, they offer a number of features like one-click WordPress install, free domain for 1 year, unlimited bandwidth, and storage.
They are relatively cheaper hosts when compared to other top web hosting services that come with similar features.
Please keep in mind that the first-year cost may be very cheap but the renewal cost is high. Also, the customer service is weak sometimes as they may take too long to answer the question you have asked.
But overall, I’ll give 4/5 stars to Bluehost for its services.
Bluehost is a secure, reliable, and good performing web hosting company that I definitely recommend you to purchase as a newbie.
However, if you are a small-scale business or a freelancer who’s looking for a hosting provider that offers exceptional performance as well as customer support, you may consider opting for Cloudways web hosting service.
In the end, if you liked this Bluehost Review, please feel free to share it.
That’s all in this Bluehost review. I hope it was helpful for you! And, if there’s anything you would like to share, leave a comment.
You May Also Like…
- 25 Best Web Hosting Services for Bloggers and Businesses
- What is Web Hosting and How to Choose the Best?
- How to Start a Blog or Website on Bluehost Step by Step?
- Top 7 Best Indian Web Hosting Providers of All Time
- Bluehost Affiliate Program Review: Earn Up to $125 Per Sale
- 11 Disadavantages of Free Web Hosting Services
- Scala Hosting Review: Is Scala Hosting a Good Web Host?
