Bluehost Web hosting Review

If we talk about Bluehost Web hosting, it was founded all the way back in 2003 by Matt Heaton.

Bluehost makes it easy and quick to get a website up and running, has an easy-to-use cPanel interface that’s ideal for beginners, features a wide array of great features, is generally fast, has reliable servers, and has some pleasantly surprising security features for a budget-friendly web host.

Here’s a complete review of Bluehost Web hosting

Bluehost is a web hosting company owned by Endurance International Group. It is one of the 20 largest web hosts, collectively hosting well over 2 million domains. The company operates its servers in-house in a 50,000 square feet facility in Orem, Utah. Bluehost employs over 750 people in its Utah facility.

Bluehost Different Plan Comparison

Here you can compare Different Shared Web Hosting Plan in tabular format, for details, can found in the end of the blog

Shared Web Hosting

Pros of Using Bluehost Web Hosting

1. Best Uptime – 99.99% – Throughout the Year

Website uptime is a vital element of the web hosting experience. If your site goes down, clients or customers will be unable to find you or access your products or services.

So ideally, we don’t want to see anything less than that.

The good news is that Bluehost easily surpasses this benchmark, comfortably keeping our test site live for 99.99% of the time during the last 24 months

2. Top 5 Website “Load” Speed – 405ms

A report from Google last year found that the vast majority of mobile websites are way too slow.

That’s a problem for two major reasons. Google’s mobile-first index can either elevate or hide your site in user searches based on its loading speeds. Studies show that slow websites almost always translate into lower sales.

So, after uptime, your host’s page loading times are the second most important thing that can literally make or break your site’s success.

We have been keeping track of Bluehost’s performance using a third-party tool, Pingdom. And once again, we were pleased with the results — an average page loading speed of 405ms which places them as the 5th fastest site out of everybody that we’ve tested.

3. Low Introductory Pricing ($3.95/mo)

We’ll look into Bluehost’s full pricing and plans in just a moment.

However, if you were to go check out the starting prices, you’ll notice the lowest advertised price is $3.95/month. That’s a pretty good deal considering they’ve supposedly reduced it already from $7.99/month originally.

For that price, you get pretty much everything you need for a single website. That includes 50 GB SSD storage, unmetered bandwidth, a free SSL certificate, and more.

So you’d be getting a pretty good value for the price, plus their consistent uptime and page loading speeds.

This is the lowest rate we’ve seen anywhere online (and trust us, our team spends way too much time online as it is). So it’s a great deal if you’re in the market for a new affordable host.

4. Good Security Options

Even though Bluehost is one of the “cheaper” options on the market, we have been pleased to see that they don’t cut too many corners or skimp on critical features like security.

Bluehost provides a lot of good security options by default, including the free SSL certificate for each plan like we mentioned earlier.

All plans also include a domain privacy feature that will help keep the personal information you used to sign up for a domain private. This prevents hackers from finding and using these personal details for phishing schemes to trick you or others into handing over sensitive information.

SiteLock is included to help prevent malware attacks, which are unfortunately fairly common on WordPress sites. CodeGuard is another form for protection, which also provides daily backups so you can roll back previous versions of a site if it does get hacked.

Postini, from Google, is the final security tool worth noting. It provides spam protection for your email, so anything suspicious is prevented from getting in your inbox.

Altogether, this is a pretty decent security package to keep your site safe and sound.

5. Many Integrations, Apps, and eCommerce Features

Beyond the included security features, Bluehost also provides access to a huge number of different apps and integrations so you can use the most popular services on the web.

For example, they have a domain manager if you’d rather just purchase and manage multiple domains through them. You can set daily, weekly, or monthly backups just in case.

You can install WordPress with a single click (more on that in the next section below). You can also install other popular content management systems (CMS) like Drupal, Joomla, run an e-commerce shop, and more.

Plus, Bluehost will even include access to a Content Delivery Network (CDN). These host your images and large files, taking that work off your servers, to deliver them faster to users around the world and keep your site quick at the same time.

6. ‘Official’ WordPress.org Recommended Host

WordPress is the most widely used website platform on the market.

And they only “officially” recommend three hosting partners to use with a WordPress site:

1. Bluehost
2. Dreamhost
3. SiteGround

Of course, you can use almost any web hosting provider to create a WordPress site. But the fact that Bluehost is one of the few officially recognized partners is encouraging.

7. Easy to Use for Beginners

Some of the web hosts we’ve seen are best only for advanced users.

LiquidWeb, for example, is great if you know what you’re doing. But they lack a user-friendly interface for non-technical people. So if you’re a beginner, you’d have a tough time getting a site live.

The layout of Bluehost’s control panel (cPanel) makes it easy to use. You just need to point and click in most cases.

It also has features for advanced users, but beginners too can easily install and start-up WordPress.

Or, they can use the Bluehost website builder tools(such as Weebly or Drupal) to start with a template that you can customize by just dragging-and-dropping features.

8. 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee

Getting the best deal on web hosting usually means prepaying for a few months, a year or several years at a time.

Bluehost is no different — more on that below. But they do offer a 30-day money-back guarantee on their plans.

You can try out the service to gauge their performance for yourself, and then still ask for a refund if you’re not completely satisfied. We have a few words of caution, though.

According to their terms, here’s what does and doesn’t fall under that guarantee:

You can only get refunds on the web hosting cost, not any other products like domains or other add-ons.

A $15.99 fee will be deducted if you received a free domain name in your plan.
Any requests after 30 days will not be refunded.

It’s not exactly a no-questions-asked policy like we’ve seen from some hosts. So make sure you’re OK with those points before signing up.

9. Customer Support

Bluehost offers everything from a knowledge base, to live chat, email ticket support, and even phone support. We tried out the live chat and Vinutha from Bluehost connected within two minutes.

There were slight delays between each reply, but overall, Vinutha was extremely friendly and offered direct answers to each question. It was a painless experience, which is exactly what you want out of a host’s customer support.

Planning to Buy a Web Hosting? Things that you should know before

Cons of Using Bluehost Web Hosting

Bluehost performs pretty well across the board. There are two big areas, however, where the costs get a little steep. Let’s dive deeper into each one.

1. Higher Renewal Rates (Common in the Web Hosting Industry)

The best way to get the lowest possible price for hosting is to prepay for one, two, or even three years upfront.

On the one hand, the monthly price is low, but on the other hand, prepaying for a longer period of time (between 12–36 months) means that you’re not just committing to a few dollars, but around a hundred dollars.

Another thing to consider is the higher renewal rates after your introductory period expires. In this case, prepaying for a full three years at $3.95 is a good deal because you’re locking in that low rate for as long as possible.

However, at the end of that term, the rates will jump back up to their “Normal” rates. These range from $7.99 – $8.99/month on the most basic shared plan depending on how long you prepay.

2. Site Migrations Are Not Free

Most web hosts we’ve reviewed will move your existing website over to their service for free. They see it as a friendly service that helps make new customers happy, so they’ll wave any fees.

Unfortunately, Bluehost doesn’t do free migrations.

They have a one-time fee of $149.99 that includes the migration of up to five websites, 20 email accounts, and any other database files for these sites.

They claim it’ll be quick and seamless, so you won’t experience any delays or downtime.

However, the fact that you have to pay for it, and pay so much, is a big “Con” to consider.

Bluehost Web hosting Pricing and Plans

Bluehost’s Basic plan will cost you $3.95/mo.

The Plus plan increases to $5.45/mo — the same price as the Choice Plus option for unlimited websites, SSD storage, and bandwidth. They also allow you to manage unlimited domains, parked domains, and subdomains on these plans, too.

The Pro plan starts at $13.95/month with all of these features and high performance from their servers.

In addition, Bluehost has all major web hosting types, including VPS, cloud, and dedicated data centers.

• Free domain? Yes for 1st year, then renews at $15.99.
• Ease of Sign-up: Easy two-page sign-up process.
• Payment Methods: Major credit cards and PayPal.
• Hidden Fees and Clauses: No refund on any domain names. Renewal rates for both domains and hosting increase.
• Upsells: Some Upsells. Unfortunately, it’s a common occurrence in the web hosting industry and happens with a lot of different big-name hosting companies.
• Account Activation: Most users enjoy instant activation. If the information is inaccurate or there’s suspicion of fraud, activation might get delayed.
• Control Panel and Dashboard Experience: Simple and easy-to-use control panel.
• Installation of Apps and CMS (WordPress, Joomla, etc.): Mojo Marketplace makes app installation quick and easy.
• Do We Recommend Bluehost? Yes, we do.

Shared Web Hosting

Shared web hosting is good for people who want an online presence and don’t expect a high traffic volume. The upside? It’s cheap web hosting. The downside? Your website shares server resources with other sites, so your site’s performance can be affected if one of its server mates experiences a traffic surge.

As mentioned above, Bluehost doesn’t offer month-to-month shared web hosting options. Instead, it requires you to sign up for an annual plan. If you sign up for a two-year or three-year plan, you get discounts. If you commit to staying put for three years, the service’s $3.95 per month rate is attractive. Those who don’t want lengthy commitments will probably prefer HostGator’s month-to-month options.

Note: Bluehost—like many other web hosting services—has introductory prices that are discounted from its normal hosting cost. Our reviews don’t consider those deeply discounted fees, which are designed to get you in the door. Instead, we list the true price that kicks in when the introductory period concludes.

The Basic shared hosting package (from $7.99 per month with a one-year contract) includes a free domain name you can keep as long as you use Bluehost, free domain name transfer, 50GB of storage, unlimited monthly data transfers. The Plus package (starting at $10.99 per month with a one-year contract) adds an anti-spam tool, as well as unlimited storage and mailboxes.

The Choice Plus package (starting at $14.99 per month with a one-year contract) comes with domain privacy so that you can mask your physical location for enhanced security.

The Pro plan (starting at $23.99 per month with a one-year contract) has all of Choice Plus’ features, plus adds a free, dedicated IP address.

VPS Web Hosting

If you need more power, expect high traffic volumes, or have specific compliance requirements that prevent you from using shared servers, Bluehost’s virtual private server (or VPS) options are worth considering. It’s like shared hosting in that your site shares server resources with other sites, but there are two big differences: VPS hosting has far fewer sites on a server, and the provider guarantees you a particular amount of server resources. A VPS-hosted site can take a Reddit hit and keep on ticking.

Bluehost offers three tiers of Linux-based VPS hosting, ranging from the $29.99 per month Standard (30GB of solid-state storage, 2GB of memory, and unlimited monthly data transfers) to the $119.99 per month Ultimate (120GB of SSD storage, 8GB of memory, and unlimited monthly data transfers). As with the shared web hosting plans, VPS hosting plans include discounts for longer-term contracts. Unfortunately, Bluehost doesn’t offer Windows-based VPS.

Dedicated Web Hosting

Dedicated hosting is a powerful form of web hosting that gives your site full server resources. If you expect huge traffic numbers, dedicated hosting is the only way your site will handle the Internet’s rigors. Bluehost has many dedicated server configurations, too. The servers start at $109 per month and can be outfitted with a Linux operating system and up to 1TB of hard drive space, 16GB of RAM, and 15TB of data transfers per month—the same specs as HostMonster.

WordPress Web Hosting

WordPress is the content management system that powers a good portion of sites on the web. It’s easy to use, and has a thriving theme and plug-in ecosystem for expanding your site’s functionality. If you’re looking to create a WordPress-powered website, consider Bluehost’s three Linux-based packages: Basic, Plus, and Choice Plus.

Basic (starting at $7.99 per month) lets you host one website, and includes 50GB of SSD storage, a free SSL certificate, and a free domain for a year. Next up the ladder is the Plus plan (from $10.99 per month), which includes unlimited site hosting and unlimited SSD storage. The top-tier Choice Plus plan (starting at $14.99 per month) tosses in CodeGuard Basic backup software.

Bluehost has an advanced WordPress hosting category: WP Pro. Available in three tiers, WP Pro is a managed WordPress offering that gives your site’s back end the white-glove treatment, and includes SEO, social media, and email marketing tools. WP Pro’s three plans (Build, Grow, and Scale) all boast unlimited site hosting, monthly data transfers, domains, subdomains, and storage. WP Pro accounts also come with staging areas to test sites before they go live to the web. Build, Grow, and Scale start at $29.99 per month, $39.99 per month, and $59.99 per month, respectively.

The Build plan comes with 100 free WordPress themes, daily scheduled backups, malware detection and removal, and domain privacy protection. The Grow plan uses the Build plan as a foundation and adds SEO tools, 10GB of video compression, and live ticket support. Scales tops all WP Pro plans by adding live chat support, unlimited video compression, PayPal integration, and unlimited backups and restore.

Bluehost doesn’t require you to install the content management system, as it comes preinstalled. Once you’re logged into WordPress, you can create posts, pages, and galleries as you would with any other self-hosted WordPress site.

Reseller Hosting

If you’re looking to get into the web hosting business, but you don’t want to deal with infrastructure matters, check out Bluehost’s reseller hosting packages. The four plans, starting at $18.99 per month, boast unlimited email, website hosting, and cPanel creation across the board.

The servers are of the Linux variety, but Bluehost doesn’t supply them with unlimited storge and monthly data transfers at each tier, as the Editors’ Choice Hostwind does with its offerings. On the upside, Bluehost lets you apply your own branding to the servers you rent, and it also supplies 24/7 tech support.

Lacks Cloud Hosting

With cloud hosting, the resources that your site needs to operate are shared across multiple servers. The benefits? You can scale resources in real time, as your site isn’t limited to physical server constraints.

Bluehost, unlike many other web hosts reviews, does not offer cloud hosting. If you want to explore cloud hosting, I suggest to go with Namehero.

Final Words!

This was the today’s review cum blog on Bluehost Web hosting. Bluehost has ranked at or near the top for both uptime and loading times for more than a year.

In addition, they offer strong security support, a money-back guarantee, and plenty of user-friendly apps, all for one of the lowest rates.

They’re not perfect, though. Renewal rates will increase after the introductory pricing ends. Also, they charge extra for site migrations, which other hosts throw in for free.

But overall, Bluehost delivers strong performance and good value.