Editor's opinion
Sean Thompson
I am a full-time web developer & IT professional with more than 18 years experience. I have been working with numerous hosting companies over the years.
First impression
Bluehost was founded way back in 2003 by Matt Heaton and Danny Ashworth in Provo, Utah, and has since cemented itself as a major player when it comes to Shared Hosting and WordPress Hosting. They embrace solutions for open-source implementation and development and are even endorsed by WordPress as a recommended hosting provider, a feat rarely seen. This market leader, consisting of more than 750 dedicated and skilled administrators, engineers, and technicians, powers more than 2 million websites across the globe and is one of the most loved and trusted Hosting solution providers around. Besides the aforementioned services, they also offer VPS Hosting, Dedicated Server Hosting & Reseller Hosting.
Their best-in-class, hassle-free solutions are reasonably priced and designed to meet the needs of a wide range of customers, from newbies right through to seasoned pros. They also make onboarding a breeze, all packages come standard with tools that are simple and easy to use, and their setup wizard will guide you through the setup process to help you launch your site in no time!
A Brief Video Introduction from Bluehost Company
Trial Period
There is no free trial on offer to test drive their services, but rather a 30-day money-back guarantee, which is standard practice these days for any quality hosting company worth their salt.
Billing Cycle
With Bluehost, you will have the option to sign-up on either a month-to-month basis or pay annually, this applies to all their packages. One should note that you will be required to take the annual option when first joining, and only when your plan comes up for renewal will you have the option of paying monthly. Personally the annual options make much more sense as these are incentivized by huge discounts. Bluehost accepts all major credit cards or PayPal as payment methods.
Control Panel
Users can manage their files through the ever-popular and easy-to-use cPanel.
Limits
Bluehost offers four plans on their Shared Hosting, namely Basic, Plus, Choice Plus, and Pro, with the biggest difference being the allocated disc space. The Basic Package starts with a mere 10GB SSD Storage (very little compared to most competitors), the Plus Package comes with 20GB, Choice Plus 40GB, and lastly, 100GB for the Pro Package. All come standard with a Free SSL certificate, Free Domain, and Free Content Delivery Network (CDN). On the higher-end packages, you will also have a few value-added services like Domain Privacy and Performance Insights.
One should note that the SSL on the Basic Package is only free for the first year.
Their VPS Hosting offers three choices, starting with 30GB SSD space, 2 GB RAM on the Standard Package, 60GB space and 4GB RAM on the Enhanced, and 120GB space with 8GB RAM on the Ultimate Package. The first two will also have 2 Core CPUs while the Ultimate Package has 4.
Security
Their all-in-one solutions make website protection and reliability easy with a free SSL through Let’s Encrypt that is automatically assigned to all domains, free basic malware detection, and automated security updates.
Should you need more protection, Bluehost also has a paid service called SiteLock. It is their product and comes with varying levels of protection.
The essential plan is charged at $7.99 per month and will only scan website files. The Prevent plan scans all files, as well as the database, and this will set you back $19.99 per month. Lastly, they have the PreventPlus plan for $29.99 per month which includes all of the above, and also provides an Advanced Security Firewall.
OS
Bluehost only offers Linux-based Hosting.
Support
Around-the-clock help is available via phone, email, or live chat.
Bluehost is famous for its "excellent support". I put them to the test and sadly was rather disappointed. I would rate them as average at best. Their online chat representatives disappear at times, leaving you to ponder if you are still connected, and although I eventually got the technical answers I was after, this was still a far cry from superior support.
Is Bluehost suitable for my company?
Who might benefit from Bluehost?
WordPress users: Bluehost is actually officially recommended by WordPress.org, and they offer several attractive features for WordPress users, including one-click installs and automatic updates.
Beginners: Bluehost is known for its user-friendly interface and excellent customer service, including 24/7 support. This can make it a great choice for those who are new to web hosting.
Small to medium-sized businesses: Bluehost's shared hosting plans are competitively priced and offer a good range of features, making them suitable for smaller businesses. They also offer more advanced options, such as VPS and dedicated hosting, for when your business grows.
Who might not benefit from Bluehost?
Budget-conscious users: While Bluehost offers a good value for the price, there are cheaper hosting options available. Those with a very tight budget might prefer to look elsewhere.
High-traffic sites: While Bluehost's shared hosting is excellent for smaller sites, it might not be sufficient for sites with very high traffic or resource-intensive applications. In these cases, a cloud hosting or dedicated server might be a better choice, though Bluehost does offer these options as well.
Users needing advanced features: While Bluehost is great for beginners and intermediate users, some advanced users might find it lacks certain features they need. For instance, it doesn't offer hosting based on the Windows operating system and might lack certain developer-friendly tools.
Conclusion
👍 Pros
👎 Cons
Free Domain;
Free CDN (Content Delivery Network);
Free SSL;
Affordable;
Money Back Guarantee.
Lack of Windows options;
Only one option for Control Panel;
Average Support.
Bluehost offers feature-packed, dependable Hosting that is perfect for anyone starting out. They noticeably lack Windows Hosting options, and the support might feel average at times, but overall still a great hosting choice, especially for users that are budget conscious.
FAQ
✅ Can I upgrade or downgrade my Bluehost hosting plan?
Yes, you can upgrade or downgrade your Bluehost hosting plan at any time. If your website grows or your needs change, you can easily move to a different plan that better suits your requirements. To upgrade or downgrade, you can contact Bluehost's customer support, and they will assist you with the process.
✳️ What payment methods does Bluehost accept?
Bluehost accepts major credit cards, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. They also accept PayPal payments. Keep in mind that Bluehost charges for their hosting plans on an annual basis, so you'll need to choose a 12, 24, or 36-month term when signing up.
✴️ Does Bluehost offer a CDN (Content Delivery Network)?
Yes, Bluehost offers free integration with Cloudflare CDN on all hosting plans. A CDN helps improve website performance by caching and delivering content from a network of servers located around the world. This ensures that your website loads quickly for visitors, regardless of their location. To enable Cloudflare CDN, you can follow the steps provided in Bluehost's knowledge base or contact their customer support for assistance.
Plans
Note! Some companies do not include VAT in their prices. Prices are indicated for one month’s pay. If you pay for a longer period - discounts are possible. Domain prices are indicated for new domains registration.
We conducted tests on the website bluehostcom.hostings.info with its help, we conduct testing and monitoring. Plan: Basic Web Hosting (3.95 USD per month)
Uptime: 100 % excellent 0 minutes of downtime per month
This is my favorite Webhost, I called it tension free hosting .It is affordable having many plans for all level users. Support let's Encrypt free SSL and SSH.The Wordpress tool option are great for wordpress hosting. The Cpanel is user friendly and fast. Customer support is good live chat is always working but some disadvantages are like if your account is infected with malware they will suspend the account and took long time for re scanning and reviewing. Overall they try to help you that's why I ignore little negative issues.
Bluehost is excellent for low-cost shared web hosting. The performance is about average from what I’ve seen with shared hosting plans. Their upselling gets rather annoying, though - almost every feature costs extra. Customer service isn’t always helpful or friendly, either.The option to connect with CloudFlare is an excellent addition to see in a shared hosting control panel, considering the popularity CloudFlare has gained recently in assisting with speed and page loads on shared hosting plans.
Hosting rating
verified
Daniel Jones
United States
1 june 2019
I am very happy with the customer support service. The live chat is awesome and speed is very good as compare to other hosting providers.
The support is on a high level and the Shared and WordPress hosting packages are quite affordable. The enhanced cPanel looks very nice as well. VPS and Dedicated hosting can be recommended for more proficient users rather than for beginners.
Hosting rating
verified
Mihajlo Milenovic
Serbia
14 june 2019
Bluehost is great hosting for new users who are starting their website. It is really easy to start if you choose some of their 3 year plans and use their support. Dont expect for support to answer you all the little things, you need to use your brain a bit yourself.
But it comes cheap, service is good, they have fast and reliable servers, good dashboard and UI and overall experience is stellar. They do resell Cloudflare CDN and that might be main reason why experience is good.
The best thing I like about BlueHost is their easy to use control panel that offers some extra features than cPanel.Also, fast response by the support team is always a plus. The hosting plan price is cheap to start but will get double on renewal. Compared to other services that are offered by them, I would say that their WordPress hosting service and Shared Hosting services are somewhat fairly priced. VPS and Dedicated servers are a bit overpriced.
Hosting rating
verified
Gomez Ojukwu
Canada
6 oct. 2019
I am really impressed with the services of this company. From their low pricing, an uptime of 99.99% and 406ms (0.4 seconds) load time, it is difficult to get better services somewhere else.Bluehost is easy to use for beginners, their control panel is very convenient: just point and click. I can't think of any cons right now.
Hosting rating
verified
Meredith Shepherd
India
14 nov. 2019
I just began a small business and being a one-man army on a small budget, one of the toughest tasks was to find a web hosting company that could provide support, reliance and is easy to understand. There it was, BlueHost. With a simple dashboard and so many domain options available at the lowest prices, it became even better for me when I received instant customer support for all issues. It lets me customize my website the way I wanted to and once it was ready, the load time was commendable. The only issue would be that their free domain renewal price is higher than average.
Hosting rating
verified
Danny Lim
United States
20 nov. 2019
BlueHost is my go-to for anything WordPress / blog related. I'm not sure if it was the marketing / partnership of / with bloggers over the last couple years, but when I gave it a shot, I wasn't disappointed. It was the easiest managed WordPress hosting I've worked with and I got my blogs up and running fairly quickly. The transfer of a Domain was simple too - the process is quick. A con is that the options presented to you on the admin panel are a lot less than what you get on GoDaddy.
Pros:
- Best Managed WordPress hosting
- Simple admin panel
- Easy website transfer
Cons:
- Limited options in admin panel
Hosting rating
verified
Kristijan Savev
Macedonia
6 mar. 2020
Bluehost is one of the biggest web hosting companies in the world, and for beginners, this is probably the best hosting provider there is.
The layout of Bluehost’s control panel (cPanel) is as easy to use as it gets. You just need to point and click on the icons to get to where you need to go.
Bluehost offer their customers 24/7 live chat, and it's easy to set up an online store, which offers many different shopping carts like Zen, Cube, Agora, and OS Commerce.
One thing i don't like about Bluehost is that the renewal rates will increase after the introductory pricing ends. Also, they charge extra for site migrations.
Overall, Bluehost delivers strong performance and in just a couple of moments, you’ll be up and running.
Hosting rating
verified
Muhammad Suhail Ajmal
Pakistan
15 nov. 2022
I opted for Bluehost primarily because it was the top-rated hosting service for WordPress at that time. Its cpanel is full of features; perhaps they are more than enough for a novice. Price-wise, it wasn’t a cheap hosting service, but as I said, it has the most comprehensive cpanel, which is especially helpful for business clients. The support isn’t very impressive because the resolution couldn’t come as quickly as I expected whenever I had an issue. Also, the support team tells you to do this and that and does not resolve your issue themselves.
I moved to Namecheap because it was cheaper than Bluehost, and I do not regret it. Namecheap support is also a lot better than Bluehost.
SIMILAR
Check out companies here from the same country, with similar scores and customer numbers.
We highly recommend not to purchase the cheapest hosting package. Usually, they come with a row of issues: the server is often down, the hardware is outdated, lousy and slow support, registration and payment errors, etc.
For your convenience, we have created a tool that can help you to choose the right hosting package for you just by answering a few simple questions.
CMS is a content management system. A lot of hosting providers offer so-called CMS optimized packages. However, this is a marketing trick because most CMSs do not have special software or hosting requirements.
Bulletproof hosting - it’s a type of service that allows to host almost any type of content, even the restricted one (adult content, warez, spam etc). Bulletproof hosting providers do not remove your content in case someone reports an abuse.
Unlimited hosting - refers to companies that provide packages with unlimited disk space, bandwidth, number of domains, databases or email accounts, etc. This is usually a marketing trick but sometimes you can find something worth a try.
Secure hosting - it’s a type of service when the hosting provider is mostly responsible for the security of the user’s account: updates the software installed on their servers, provides an antivirus and malware scanner, firewalls and basic anti-DDoS protection, etc.
DDoS-protected hosting - companies that provide packages that include anti-DDoS protection. These packages are considerably more expensive than regular ones. Nevertheless, they’re totally worth their price because the company will ensure that your website is secured from cyber attacks.
The more comfortable the control panel is, the easier will it be for you to change the website and hosting account settings.
Most hosting providers that are in TOP20 in our rating offer user-friendly control panels, such as cPanel, Plesk or DirectAdmin. That’s why we recommend to pay attention to other, more important parameters, while choosing a hosting provider.
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