Bluehost made its name as an easy-to-use hosting solution with affordable prices in recent years. Hosting service of choice for millions around the globe, the company operates with the motto “A better web for all!” and provides complete web solutions aimed at a wide range of users, from start-ups to personal blogs, small business online stores, news sites, and many, many more.
But should you choose Bluehost for your personal/professional website? It depends on your purpose, priorities, and of course, budget. To help you make up your mind about the company, let’s take a detailed look at Bluehost hosting and the services it provides
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About Bluehost Hosting
Operating since 2003, Bluehost is among the leading hosting companies in the industry today, powering over 2 million personal and professional websites around the globe. In 2010, company was acquired by Endurance International Group (which went public 3 years later). The company launched its VPS and Dedicated hosting solutions in 2013, released optimized hosting for WordPress, and released Cloudsites in 2015. The company provides comprehensive, flexible hosting solutions, as well as a wide range of add-on products for increased speed, security, and functionality.
Bluehost Hosting Packages
Hosting services of Bluehost are branched into 3 main categories; Shared Hosting, VPS and Dedicated Hosting. Let’s take a quick look at them, and see the 2023 pricing of different packages.
Shared Hosting
An affordable and very practical way of getting your web-site going, shared hosting basically works by having multiple users sharing space on a specific server, provided by Bluehost. Usually recommended for bloggers, as well as small businesses. Shared hosting can be used with WordPress.
Shared hosting option starts from $2.95/mo (12/mo term) with Basic package, which includes 1 web-site, 50 GB SSD Storage, custom themes, and 24/7 customer support, as well as Website Builder, free domain for a year, free CDN and free SSL certificate. Other shared hosting packages are Plus and Choice Plus, both $5.45/mo, with added privacy and security features for the latter, and Pro package for $13.95/month, with free domain privacy, free automated backup and free dedicated IP. Plus, Choice Plus, and Pro packages offer unlimited web-sites and unlimited SSD storage.
VPS Hosting
VPS hosting offers full SSD storages dedicated solely to the user, providing more flexibility to the webmasters so they can build and manage their high-performing web-sites exactly the way the want.
Standard VPS package starts from $18.99/mo (36/mo term), and offers 2 cores, 30 GB SSD storage, 2 GB RAM,1 TB bandwidth, 1 IP address, and cPanel/WHM. Enhanced VPS hosting package also has 2 cores, but it offers more storage and higher performance; with 60 GB SSD storage, 4 GB RAM, 2 TB bandwidth, 2 IP addresses, and cPanel/WHM. It starts from $29.99/mo (36/mo term). Finally, the Ultimate package has 4 cores, 120 GB SSD storage, 8 GB RAM, 3 TB bandwidth, and 2 IP addresses, for $59.99/mo (36/mo term). All come with cPanel/WHM.
Dedicated Hosting
If you expect very high traffic and prefer to have a whole server just for yourself and your web-site, Bluehost provides dedicated hosting service, with following packages:
Standard package is $79.99/mo (36/mo term), and it offers webmasters a 2.3 GHz CPU with 4 cores, 4 threads and 3 MB of cache, 4 GB RAM, RAID Level 1 Storage – 2 x 500 GB, 3 dedicated IPs and 5 TB of network bandwidth. Enhanced package has 2.5 GHz CPU with 4 cores, 8 threads and 8 MB of cache, 8 GB RAM, RAID Level 1 Storage – 2 x 1000 GB, 4 dedicated IPs and 10 TB of network bandwidth- it is $99.99/mo (36/mo term). Finally, Premium dedicated hosting package has 3.3 GHz CPU with 4 cores, 8 threads and 8 MB of cache, 16 GB RAM, RAID Level 1 Storage – 2 x 1000 GB, 5 dedicated IPs and 15 TB of network bandwidth, starting with $119.99/mo (36/mo term).
All dedicated web hosting packages come with 1 free domain, as well as cPanel & WHM with Root.
Bluehost Performance
Let’s take a quick glance at Bluehost’s performance with some test scores and general information:
Speed: 153 ms (average)
Uptime: %99 (average)
Support: 24/7 customer support- via call, e-mail or chat. Knowledge base with topics on WordPress, e-mail, domains etc. also available
Apps: WordPress, WooCommerce, Microsoft 365
Hosting Plans: Shared, VPS, Dedicated
Pricing: Starting at $2.95/mo (renews at $9.99 – 12/mo term )
Cancellation: Full refund within first 30 days
Bluehost Additional Services
Add-ons may be necessary to improve site performance, as well as the overall user experience. Bluehost offers a variety of services to webmasters so they can tailor their site as they need. The following are the add-on services available in Bluehost:
- Microsoft 365
- Spam Experts
- Dedicated IP
- Premium SSL
- SiteLock
- Domain Privacy
- SEO Tools
- CodeGuard
Bluehost E-Mail Integration
With Microsoft 365 integration, Bluehost provides webmasters with a professional e-mail address. You can get a personalized e-mail that matches your domain with the following plans:
Essential package ($4.99/mo per license) of Bluehost e-mail comes with 1 mailbox (15 GB) and calendar, Outlook web access and security and disaster recovery options. Business Plus package ($9.99/mo per license) also has all of these, but offers a 50 GB mailbox, Microsoft 365 online, Sharepoint, 1 TB of cloud storage and file sharing, and Microsoft Teams. Business Pro package ($14.99/mo per license) also has all of these features, but also includes Access – Publisher (desktop version), multiple device access per user, Microsoft Lists and Forms, Mile IQ, and appointment booking.
All Bluehost e-mail plans include 99.9% uptime guarantee by Microsoft, 24/7 expert support, intuitive management dashboard, and automatic Microsoft updates.
Bluehost Pros & Cons
As is the case with every other hosting service, Bluehost also comes with certain pros and cons. We strongly advise users to check them out before making a final decision. Here is the list of pros and cons of Bluehost hosting:
Pros:
- Beginner-friendly: Starting a new web-site can be a bit painful, especially for those who don’t have previous experience. Bluehost is easy to set-up, and does not require any advanced technical knowledge. It is also partnered with WordPress, so if you are thinking about opening a WordPress blog, Bluehost is one of your best bets!
- Affordable price: If you are on a budget, you might want to consider Bluehost as it offers very good service for its price. Shared hosting -very suitable for those who are just starting their journey with a simple blog- starts from as low as $2.95 monthly (renews at a regular rate), which is a bargain!
- Recommended by WordPress: For some people, this is all they really need to know. With an automatic WordPress installation option available, users can build a web-site in minutes.
- Generous Extras: Free domain for a year, free SSL certificate and free CDN. In other words, you will be able to benefit from the company’s extra offers, while saving some money!
Cons:
- No month-to-month pricing: As we said before, Bluehost prices are very affordable. But, they do not offer month-to-month pricing options, which might be a problem for some users.
- No cloud hosting: Bluehost does not -yet- offer cloud hosting, so if this is what you think you need, you might consider other alternatives.
- Windows hosting not available: Bluehost only offers servers in Linux, which may be undesirable for certain users.
Is Bluehost Good for First-Timers?
Short answer is, yes! If you need a simple-yet-effective web-site and you are having a hard time deciding which hosting service to pick, Bluehost -as we previously mentioned- is a very good option, mainly for the following reasons:
- It provides great value for money
- It is quite easy to set-up, you won’t get lost in technical details
- Bluehost customer service offers around-the-clock support. So whenever you feel like there is a problem, you can contact Bluehost support and find a solution
- You can easily build and launch Bluehost WordPress sites
You can easily select a domain, create your Bluehost account, pick a plan and you are pretty much ready! Bluehost offers its users a broad range of tools for building their web-sites, managing e-mail and domains, filtering spam, getting site statistics, and more…
Can I Open an Online Store with Bluehost?
Yes. With a selection of powerful tools, Bluehost makes it easy for small businesses to open their online stores. The company offers two plans for those who wish to set-up their online store; Standart package for $12.95/mo (12/mo term) and Premium package for $24.95/mo (12/mo term). Unlike shared, dedicated and VPS hosting services, these packages are available for a month-to-month plan as well, with respective prices of $19.95 and $24.95.
Both packages offer an online store (web-site + blog), e-mail marketing, WooCommerce tools, payment processing (one-click install), Jetpack (free for Standard, premium for premium package), traffic analytics, manual order creation, discount codes, and 30 days of free Office 365. Premium package also offers subscription, free domain privacy & protection, product customization, online bookings & appointment scheduling.
Is It Easy to Migrate to Bluehost?
If you already have a web-site that is up and running, you can easily migrate to Bluehost. Bluehost provides migration services so that users can transfer their files securely to their new host. So if you think your site will do better with Bluehost, their team of experts are ready to give you a hand, so that everything goes as smoothly as possible.
How Secure is Bluehost?
Bluehost provides its users a number of very helpful add-ons that will improve security of their sites. For example, SiteLock is a very good choice to defend against hacker attacks, while CodeGuard gives webmasters more backup options. Also, for each web-site, webmasters get a free SSL certificate as well as a free Cloudflare CDN to improve site security.
How Good is Bluehost Support?
Good support is always important, as when a site is down (or not working as it should), every minute can cost the owner money. As we have previously stated, Bluehost support team provides 24/7 reliable support with no extra cost, no matter which type of hosting/plan you opt for. Which means even if you get the most basic plan, you will get full support from the Bluehost customer service. This means users are able to get support from Bluehost help team any day, any time, to solve their technical issues as quickly and effectively as possible.
Summary – Final Verdict: 8/10
After our Bluehost review, all things considered, we rate Bluehost 8 out of 10. It is especially convenient and budget-friendly for those starting out in a specific niche with a simple website. It has around-the-clock support with no extra fees, it is recommended by WordPress, it generously offers free extras which you might need, and has a variety of hosting options/packages for different needs/budgets- still, there are no month-to-month plans, so users should usually commit to 12 or 36-months plans, and of course that might not be the best option for everyone.
If you wish to start your web journey with a WordPress blog or a simple but high-performing online store, look no further. If you need more than that, and wish a more complicated set-up and tailored solutions for high end performance, you can still opt for Bluehost, but compare it with other alternatives first.
