Bluehost web hosting is one of the best web hosting services for beginners out in the world. It powers millions of websites across the globe and stands out for its good uptime rates, low prices, and ease of use.
The company offers some of the cheapest web hostings that will not let anyone down. And when one is ready to grow, they can simply upgrade to a premium Bluehost plan instead of switching web hosts. Here is a review of it in detail.
While Bluehost offers a lot of great features, there are several that really stand out. Some of them are as follows.
Bluehost web hosting features
Low pricing option
One will spend much less money by going with Bluehost, without sacrificing quality. That’s great especially if he or she is looking to build a site on a budget. The introductory rates for Bluehost web hosting start at just $2.75 per month. This is for the shared user. If one is able to host their site for less than $50, it is a great deal.
All Bluehost shared hosting plans come with a free SSL certificate and free marketing credits. When one factor in the storage and bandwidth they are getting, that’s a decent value for the price. Overall, this is one of the lowest prices one will see for a legitimate web host.
Great security
Bluehost gives one all the crucial security features at a great price. An SSL certificate comes standard, regardless of which plan one chooses. Their plans have a feature to hide personal information that one has used when signing up for a private domain. Often, hackers will target this information from website owners.
Bluehost has features to prevent malware attacks, as well as tools used for automatic daily backups. One will also get a security tool that offers spam protection for the email address associated with one’s website. Again, this is all a great value considering how much these plans go for.
Bluehost web hosting is very easy to use
One does not need to be a tech expert to host their website with Bluehost. Nearly anyone, regardless of their experience level, can find a beginner hosting plan from this platform. There are plenty of web hosts out there that are specifically designed for advanced webmasters. If one is new, they would want to avoid those hosts.
Whether one is using WordPress or taking advantage of the Bluehost website builder, everything will be pretty straightforward and easy to follow.
Excellent support
Even though Bluehost is easy to figure out, one may still find himself or herself in a situation where they need some help or guidance. One should be able to find an answer through their knowledge base page.
This is a support center that has how-to guides, tutorials, and articles with instructions for troubleshooting and FAQ. One can simply search for what they are looking for, and there will likely be a resource to help him or her out.
Bluehost has 24/7 phone support, which is great for those who like to be talked through problems. They will probably use their live chat agents. It’s a fast and easy way to get an answer without having to leave their website.
Reliable uptime and site speed
One can never give a web hosting review without referring to uptime rates and site speed. These are both critical because if one’s site is down, people can’t come, and if it’s slow, they will leave. One of the reasons Bluehost is so popular is that it almost never goes down. Even people who aren’t happy about the renewal rates talk about its dependability.
One will find a variety of results for speed tests of web hosts out there. But they must bear in mind that it’s not all on the host. One can break things on their site or install too many plugins. Because of it, their page load speed will slow way down. Bluehost is an incredibly user-friendly platform. This means that one will have an easier time diagnosing issues and keeping their sites at top speed.
Money-back guarantee
Like most web hosting services, one will not get a free trial to try them out. With that said, Bluehost does offer a 30-day money-back promise. So, if one is on the fence about using Bluehost, it’s comforting to know that they will get refunded if they are not ultimately satisfied in the first month.
It’s worth noting that the refund only applies to web hosting costs. So, if one uses Bluehost for a domain name or other add-ons, those purchases are final. Bluehost offers a lot of great features. However, it also has its share of downsides.
Here are a few drawbacks that you should take into consideration when looking at Bluehost.
Renewal rates
One might see their rates jump up quite a bit when the initial offer runs out. Depending on one’s plan, the monthly rate for Shared Hosting will change as follows:
- Basic — $2.75 to $8.99
- Plus — $5.45 to $11.99
- Choice Plus — $5.45 to $16.99
Bluehost offers plans for 12, 24, or 36 months. So, if one knows that they are ready to commit to this web host, it is recommended to go with a three-year contract when they first sign up. It will save them money down the road.
Site migration cost
Some web hosts migrate one’s website from one web host to theirs for free. Bluehost does not offer free website migrations. In fact, they will charge one a pretty penny for it.
For $149.99 they will migrate up to five websites and 20 email accounts. This gets handled by experts at Bluehost, so one will not have to do any heavy lifting. In people’s opinion, it is well worth the price.
With that said, you do have to pay for it, which can be a turn-off for those of you with an existing site.
Compare Bluehost Web Hosting Plans
Web hosts come in many different shapes and sizes depending on one’s needs. BlueHost offers three common ones:
- Shared
- VPS (virtual private server)
- Dedicated server
What one will choose is determined by a number of factors including his or her expected site traffic, and the type of website they have. Below is given a more detailed description of the differences between these hosting options.
Shared hosting
If one has a new website and he or she is on a tight budget, shared hosting might be their best option. Bluehost offers four different pricing plans for its shared hosting services.
- Basic — $2.75 per month
- Plus — $5.45 per month
- Choice Plus — $5.45 per month
- Pro — $13.95 per month
Bluehost has managed shared hosting platforms, meaning one does not have to worry about managing servers or anything like that.
VPS hosting
VPS hosting from Bluehost is the middle-tier option of the three plans. There are three pricing options for a Bluehost virtual private server.
- Standard — $18.99 per month
- Enhanced — $29.99 per month
- Ultimate — $59.99 per month
The biggest differences in these plans are the cores, SSD storage, RAM, bandwidth, and IP addresses.
With the Standard plan, one will get 1 core, 30 GB of SSD storage, 2 GB of RAM, 1 TB of bandwidth, and 1 IP address. Cores, SSD storage, and RAM double at each tier for the Enhanced and Ultimate packages.
Dedicated hosting
Picking a dedicated server plan from Bluehost means one will be taking advantage of their top-of-the-line services. These plans are made for those who are tech-savvy and want complete control over your server.
- Standard — $79.99 per month
- Enhanced — $99.99 per month
- Premium — $119.99 per month
As it is seen, top-tier plans come at higher price points. With VPS hosting, one is maxed out at 120 GB of SSD storage, 8 GB of RAM, 3 TB of bandwidth, and 2 IP addresses. But dedicated servers from Bluehost go all the way up to 1 TB of storage, 16 GB of RAM, 15 TB of bandwidth, and 5 IP addresses.
Conclusion
Bluehost web hosting is one of the best web hosting providers out there — especially if one is a beginner or creating a new website for the first time. There’s a reason why it’s one of the most popular services on the market today.
Bluehost has exceptionally fast loading times as well as one of the highest uptime rates that have been seen in the last year.
They offer different hosting types, plans, and options to meet the needs of any website. One will surely be able to find a plan from Bluehost that is suitable for their web hosting needs.
