Steve Ramos
In this detailed Bluehost review, I will answer all the questions that you might have regarding this popular WordPress web hosting provider.
The truth is that Bluehost hosts over 2 million websites, so they are doing something right.
The company is among the best web hosting providers in the industry with excellent performance for almost 20 years.
Bluehost has contributed to the WordPress platform, which recommends them on their official website as a great hosting site.
Detailed Bluehost Review
Bluehost is one of the oldest and most popular shared hosting providers in the world, and it’s easy to see why.
The company was founded in 2003 and is a web hosting company owned by Endurance International Group (EIG), which owns various hosting providers (e.g. Hostgator).
It is one of the largest and most popular web hosts.
The company hosts well over 3 million domains and employs over 750 people in its Utah headquarters.
Here’s everything you need to know about Bluehost so you can make an informed decision about using their services!
Bluehost offers many web hosting solutions, such as:
- Shared Hosting
- WordPress hosting
- VPS hosting
- Dedicated hosting
- Woocomerce hosting, as well as other marketing services
Bluehost’s cheapest hosting plan is $3.95/mo and comes with unmetered bandwidth, free global CDN and SSL certificates, as well as free daily, weekly and monthly backups on a reliable platform optimized for speed and security.
Bluehost is one of only three companies endorsed by WordPress (SiteGround & DreamHost are the other two), so if you are planning on creating WordPress websites or blogs, you want to check out Bluehost.
Bluehost Pros and Cons
Pros
Bluehost is a popular web hosting provider with a variety of hosting plans to choose from.
Their servers are reliable and they offer great customer support.
Plus, their prices are very competitive. Overall, Bluehost is a great choice for those looking for a quality web hosting provider.
- Very easy to use
- Excellent uptime
- Free site migration
- Free Domain
- Low introductory prices
- Generous Storage
- 24/7 customer support
- Security features
- WordPress recommended host
- Packed with security features
Cons
Though Bluehost offers some solid features, there are a few things potential customers should be aware of before signing up.
First, web hosting can be a bit pricey with Bluehost after the price renewal.
Additionally, while Bluehost does offer some good hosting plans, they don’t have as many options as some of their competitors.
- Does not offer monthly payment options
- Higher renewal rates
- Not the leader in the industry in load times
Bluehost Server Uptime
Although each company experiences some downtime, they are one of the best in this regard. Uptime measures the amount of time for which your website is up and running.
Their hosting has a solid server performance and scores a 99.99% uptime on average.
Uptime is one of the most crucial aspects when choosing a web host provider because if the site is down, your users cannot access it.
They also allow you to cancel your hosting agreements because of downtime without paying any cancellation fees.
Here you can check out Bluehost’s uptime history in detail.
Performance
Speed is one of the most crucial performance metrics. It affects both your user experience and also your SEO rankings. If your page takes too long to load, your visitors are more likely to leave your site.
A slow website almost always means less traffic and, therefore, lower sales.
Bluehost has offered an average load speed of 688 ms over the past year.
A WordPress website without more than ten plugins and massive traffic should load in less than two seconds without a problem.
Even with considerable traffic coming in, the server load should remain stable.
They are not the top choice in the industry when it comes to performance, but they are pretty good.
If you are not running an extremely large or complicated website that runs lots of tasks simultaneously, speed loading problems should not be noticeable at all.
For the average website, their speed is certainly fine.
Products and services
As mentioned above, the company offers various hosting solutions, so let’s go over their vast catalog:
Bluehost Domains
You can buy domain names directly from Bluehost, although they are not the cheapest place to do it.
For domain names, we recommend Namecheap as it is more affordable and easy to manage.
Bluehost Webmail
They also give you the option of buying a professional domain name with Microsoft 365 applications and tools. Again, their licenses are not the cheapest. We also recommend Namecheap for private email domains.
Bluehost Hosting plans
Bluehost Shared Plans
It is the easiest and most economical way to get your website connected to the internet, so unless you are managing a large project, this is the option you should choose.
Bluehost Dedicated Plans
With shared hosting, you will share the server. With dedicated servers, you have your own. It is adequate for those websites that generate more traffic and need a top server.
Bluehost’s VPS hosting options
It is a Virtual Private Server, which is something between shared and dedicated hosting. They are built from the ground and allow increased power, flexibility, and more control for your websites. They are adequate for those needing specific server configurations.
WordPress Plan
If you are thinking about creating a WordPress website, Bluehost offers a WordPress-focused hosting service optimized for WordPress.
Online Store
If you have or want to create an e-commerce website, Bluehost offers their WooComerce hosting, which allows you to start an online store quickly.
All plans include:
- Domain Manager
- Resource protection
- SSL Certificates
- $100 Google Ads credit when you spend your first $25 (US/Canada only)
Bluehost for WordPress
Any of their plans are highly compatible with WordPress. If you are using WordPress, Bluehost is going to make life a lot easier for you. You can use almost any web hosting provider to create a WordPress website. But the fact that they are one of the three officially recognized partners is very encouraging.
WordPress has been recommending BlueHost since 2005 and offers all the features to build and grow a WordPress website.
Bluehost Website Builder
If you’re looking to create a professional, polished website quickly and easily, Bluehost Website Builder is the perfect solution.
It integrates with WordPress so you can customize and publish your site using that platform – meaning you get the best of both worlds: a quick, easy builder AND all the flexibility of WordPress.
Creating a website with Bluehost Website Builder is incredibly easy and fast.
You can have a beautiful website up and running in no time, without having to worry about coding or design.
And because it integrates with WordPress, you can easily add new features and functionality as you need them.
So if you’re looking for the best of both worlds – a quick, easy way to create a professional website – Bluehost Website Builder is the perfect solution.
Bluehost Website Builder Features:
1. The Bluehost website builder is a wonderful tool that can help you create a professional-looking website in minutes.
2. It is very user-friendly and has a lot of features that can help you customize your site to look exactly the way you want it to.
3. One of the best things about the Bluehost website builder is that it is completely free to use.
4. Another great thing about the Bluehost website builder is that it is very easy to use. Even if you have never created a website before, you will be able to use this tool without any problems.
5. The Bluehost website builder also allows you to create a blog on your website.
6. You are not limited to just creating one page for your website with the Bluehost website builder. You can add as many pages as you need or want with ease.
7. With the SEO tools offered by Bluehost website builder, it is possible to increase the traffic to your site and rank higher in search engines like Google so more people find your site when they are searching online for what you offer.
If you don’t want to build your own site, you can always outsource it, using a website such as Fiverr, for example.
Free WordPress Site Transfer
Within 30 days of activating your Bluehost subscription, they give you an option of a free WordPress migration tool, so that you can move your WordPress website (if you already have one) from your existing hosting provider over to your Bluehost account. Please note that this is a service that most companies would charge you for.
They do not just migrate it to you and then leave you to it, they give you access to check it all over to make sure everything is working before it goes live after the free WordPress site transfer.
All you have to do is contact their support and follow their instructions. The migration process usually takes around 1-3 business days.
Portal/Dashboard
Bluehost CPanel is great for beginners and for anybody who is not too tech-savvy. The whole layout is clean, intuitive, and extremely easy to understand. Everything is laid out in such a way that even if you are entirely new to web hosting, it is not going to seem too complicated.
When you log in there are minimal different sections, and menus and everything is clearly labeled and reasonably self-explanatory. It is hard to get overwhelmed or caught up with complications.
Security features
They offer many security features such as:
- Antispam tools
- Hotlink protection
- Password-protect directories
- IP address blocklists
- Managing private keys and digital certificates
- Creating filters for email accounts and so much more
They also provide your site with a free SSL certificate, even with the cheapest plan.
What is SSL, and why is it necessary?
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is an encryption protocol, a series of instructions your server and browser must follow when sending and receiving information to ensure that the data is not intercepted in the process.
Having an SSL certificate is particularly important for online businesses because it helps you keep your site and data secure, increase your customer’s trust in your site, and improve your ranking in search engines.
Bluehost customer support
Bluehost offers a number of customer support options including phone, email, and live chat.
I contacted them via live chat and found the representative to be very helpful.
They were able to answer all my questions and even helped me set up my account. I was very impressed with their customer service.
Bluehost has a big knowledge base of articles, guides, and video tutorials to help you, but sometimes you may need to get personalized help.
They offer 24/7 support, where you can talk to their representatives using live chat or phone, which is helpful when you need quick help.
Bluehost Pricing: Shared Hosting Plans Comparison
They offer a lot more than what you can usually expect from bargain deals. The Basic shared hosting package includes:
- 50GB of storage
- Unlimited monthly data transfers
- Free domain name for the first year
- Free domain name transfer
- SSL certificate
- Free CDN included
- The ability to host one website
Their pricing structure does not offer a monthly price plan.
The options are either a 12-month, a 24-month, or a 36-month plan. This should not be an issue as I do not think many people have a website and plan to keep it for less than a year.
This is one of the main reasons they can keep their prices so low. The longer you get the subscription, the cheaper it works out per month.
If you commit for three years, the price is $2.75 per month, a very attractive rate.
Please keep in mind that, like many other web hosting services, they have low introductory prices, but renewal costs are higher.
Bluehost is still one of the cheapest options in the market.
Whichever package you choose, you will always be getting a good deal because they always keep their prices very competitive.
30-day money-back guarantee
The company offers its customers a 30-day money-back guarantee with all of their hosting plans. You can try their service yourself and if you are not fully satisfied, ask for a refund.
Please note that you only get a refund for your web hosting cost, not other products like domains or add-ons.
Is Bluehost the best web hosting provider for you?
Overall, their services meet the needs of both experienced users and beginners/non-tech customers. Their interface is remarkably intuitive, their performance is reliable, and most definitely one of the most affordable choices.
Bluehost looks like the perfect solution for the budget-minded person who wants to launch a new site quickly.
You can expect all the essential hosting features. You can build an online store or run a blog without much time and effort.
Conclusion
Do we recommend it? Yes, we do.
Bluehost provides a reliable service with decent server speeds. Even though it is not perfect, Bluehost delivers good value for your money.
I’ve made this detailed Bluehost hosting review so that you can make a more informed decision and pick the best hosting website for your project and choose a reliable Bluehost plan.
If you decide to go with Bluehost, you can take advantage of our special Bluehost coupon that saves you up to 66% off on all hosting plans.
Best alternatives
FAQS
Yes, it is one of the oldest companies in the industry and has established trust. Even though they do not have an uptime guarantee, they are very reliable, with an average of 99.9% uptime.
They offer shared hosting, which means that your website is sharing a given server with other websites. No one is paying for their server. It is similar to flat-sharing: more affordable, but noisy.
Yes, you have full ownership of your domain through Bluehost. Also, the first year is free when you sign up for hosting.
Yes, the process is pretty simple. You only need to follow the basic instructions in your dashboard. Most people buy their domains at namecheap.com or godaddy.com (the most popular and affordable marketplaces for domain names) and then transfer them to Bluehost.
Yes, you can upgrade or downgrade your subscription. You have the option to switch off automatic renewal if you want.
If you solely want to build one website for the most competitive price, the basic plan ($2.95/mo) is the perfect choice for you. If you need to host multiple websites, you should choose the Plus ($4.95/mo).
You have three different WordPress plans: The regular WordPress shared hosting plan (the cheapest), The WP Pro for demanding users, and the e-commerce plans for online stores. The regular WP shared hosting plan will work just fine for most people.
The cheapest plan is $3.95/mo if you take the 36-month term (3 years). After the first billing cycle, it renews at a regular price.
The company owned by Endurance International Group (EIG) operates its servers in-house in a 50,000-square feet facility, in Orem, Utah, USA.
