Can You Switch From Blue Host to Regular Wordpress
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Bluehost is part of a massive corporation, Endurance International Group (EiG), which owns various web hosting providers (e.g. HostGator or iPage) and has a colossal market share.
They obviously have the financial muscle to pour millions into marketing. That probably accounts for the huge amount of (overly) positive Bluehost web hosting reviews online.
I read several of those reviews and most talk about their fabulous customer support (really?), good prices and scalability options. But in those reviews, there's very little about their actual flaws.
Hey, even WordPress recommends Bluehost.
But does this mean that Bluehost is a reliable service and a good match for your project?
Check out this Bluehost video-review if you don't feel like reading the whole article:
Let's look around under Bluehost's hood and intensively test their (shared) web hosting.
What Products Does Bluehost Offer?
This US-based web hosting provider offers loads of different hosting-related products, from domain names to dedicated servers. Let me quickly go over their large catalogue.
- Domain names: Although they are not the cheapest domain name registrar, you can buy domain names directly from Bluehost. They start at $18.99 a year at renewal, add $15 a year if you need domain privacy enabled. A personal all-time favorite of mine for domain names is Namecheap as it's cheaper and easier to manage.
- Shared hosting: Unless you are managing a really large project or you need to geek around with your server's configuration, a shared hosting plan is the one you ought to consider. Think of this as sharing a flat; you'll share a server (flat), but you'll have your own hosting space (room) – cheaper but noisier. At Bluehost their shared prices go from $9.99 to $28.99 per month.
- WordPress managed hosting: Bluehost has a WordPress focused hosting service. It's optimized for WordPress sites and comes with several perks like a staging area. It's a bit pricey as it starts at $24.95 a month, more expensive than SiteGround's ($14.99), and other cheap WordPress hosting services.
- VPS: A Virtual Private Server is something in between a shared hosting and a dedicated one (read below). You'll share a server with other clients, but there's a (virtual) wall between your projects and theirs. This type of hosting is recommended for those needing special server configurations (e.g. using a particular programming language). VPS hosting plans go from $29.99 to $119.99 a month at Bluehost.
- Dedicated servers: Adequate for those websites that generate tons of traffic and/or need a top-performing server. You can think of this as having your own house; no neighbors or roommates to bother you. Dedicated hosting plans start at $124.99 per month up to $209.99
These are the most important hosting related products that Bluehost offers. I was surprised to see that they don't have cloud hosting services.
Note: This Bluehost review focuses on their shared hosting services, so from now on I'll be sharing my own experience and knowledge about this Bluehost product.
Bluehost Pricing: What Do Their Shared Plans Include?
The first thing to notice about Bluehost prices is that they have enormous discounts during the first year. Bear in mind that the renewal costs are much higher and they may put you off. Here I mention both prices so you can compare them and decide.
| Basic | Plus | Choice Plus | Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Websites | 1 website | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Allowed subdomains | 5 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Customer Support | Phone and live chat | Phone and live chat | Phone and live chat | Phone and live chat |
| Performance | Standard | Standard | Standard | High |
| Max. files amount | 200,000 | 200,000 | 200,000 | 300,000 |
| Storage | 50 GB | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Email accounts Email storage | 5 100 MB | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Database Max. DB size | 20 5 GB | Unlimited 5 GB | Unlimited 5 GB | Unlimited 5 GB |
| Max. concurrent MySQL connections | 150 | 150 | 150 | 150 |
| Backup | Basic | Basic | Advanced * (for 1 year) | Advanced * |
| Dedicated IP | No | No | No | Yes |
| First-term prices | $2.95/month | $5.45/month | $5.45/month | $13.95/month |
| Renewal price | $9.99/month | $13.99/month | $18.99/month | $28.99/month |
* Integrated system that lets you create and restore your own backups.
The Basic plan is good if you are only going to have 1 website and 50 GB of storage is enough for your project. It also has a limitation on the email storage and accounts you can have, and the databases you can create.
With the Plus plan, you can have as many websites as you need and the storage is unmetered. It also comes with unlimited email accounts.
If you get the Choice Plus package, you'll be awarded with all the Plus features, plus free domain privacy and better backup options (for 1 year). It doesn't really warrant the much higher price compared to the standard Plus plan.
The Pro tier is suitable for those looking for higher performances. The maximum files you can host with this plan jumps from 200,000 to 300,000. It also has permanent advanced backup options.
For more information about Bluehost's products and prices, please check our guide to Bluehost pricing.
Bluehost Pros & Cons
Let me quickly tell you what I think are the most important advantages and disadvantages of Bluehost shared web hosting:
| Bluehost Pros | Bluehost Cons |
|---|---|
|
|
When to Use Bluehost Web Hosting?
If you are looking to host a small-medium project (e.g. a bakery site) and you won't be getting tons of traffic, Bluehost can be an OK option.
But being 100% honest, I think there are similar alternatives with better prices.
When to Avoid Bluehost Web Hosting?
If you are managing a project that depends on your website, and you need the best performance, Bluehost isn't for you. Check out our web hosting reliability tests to help you choose a better cheap web hosting provider if you own an ecommerce business, are a thriving blogger or provide Software as a Service.
Bluehost shared hosting won't be for those looking for advanced hosting features like staging areas or Git repositories either.
Bluehost Shared Web Hosting Ratings
| criterion | rating | comments |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of Use | The registration process is somehow challenging, I find their form not intuitive and designed to trick you into buying expensive extras that you won't need. Their backend was redesigned in 2019, it's an easy-to-use cPanel customized version. But I really dislike their constant upsell proposal banners, popups and sneaky links. Once you are used to all these, it's fine. | |
| Domain Names | Bluehost includes a free domain name registration the first year. After that, you'll have to pay $18.99 per year. Be aware that their Basic plan only allows you to have 1 site (domain name), the other plans offer unlimited sites (domains). | |
| Email Rating | With the Basic tier, you are limited to 5 email accounts and 100 MB of email storage, unlimited with higher plans. Be warned that you won't be able to send more than 500 emails per hour – not suitable for sending bulk emails. | |
| Databases | With the Basic package, you can create up to 20 databases. Unlimited databases with the other plans. There is a generous maximum database size of 5 GB. | |
| Applications | Using their automatic installer, you can add all sorts of software: WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Magento and many more. Bear in mind that their WordPress installer will add some plugins you most likely won't want, make sure you delete them after the installation. | |
| Webspace Limit | The Basic shared plan comes with 50 GB of web space, not bad at all. The other plans don't meter the storage. However, the maximum amount of files allowed is 200,000 (300,000 files for the Pro plan). | |
| Monthly Data Transfer Limit | Not metered. | |
| FTP Accounts and Secure FTP | Create as many FTP accounts as you wish. However, be aware that SFTP (secure) is only allowed with the main FTP account. | |
| Server Location | They only seem to have data centers in the US. This may not be ideal for clients outside North America – your site could load very slow outside the US and Canada. | |
| Security Features | Bluehost offers a couple of extra paid add-ons to enhance security. For example, SiteLock prevents hacker attacks and CodeGuard gives you more backup options. I liked the fact that they have an optional two-factor authentication system, even if a hacker breaks your password, they won't gain automatic access to your Bluehost account. | |
| Server Speed | In my experience, Bluehost's speed is disappointing, at this price range it should offer more. | |
| Uptime | In our tests, Bluehost showed solid uptime results. This is important to offer solid user experiences and SEO. | |
| Backups | 'As a courtesy', Bluehost creates monthly, weekly and daily backups that you'll be able to download and restore. So yes, only 3 backups and they can't assure you they'll have them – other providers offer over 20 backups to choose from. If you want extra backup options (e.g. on-demand backups), you can purchase their pricey backup add-on. | |
| CDN | Bluehost don't offer a CDN themselves. However, Cloudflare is pre-integrated, so you can easily enable it – I would suggest you do. | |
| Server Features | It's possible to use PHP 7.3, 7.4 and 8. Databases run on MySQL 5.6. Other programming languages like Perl or Ruby on Rails are also allowed. | |
| Refunds and Guarantees | There is a 30-day money-back policy, no questions asked. Unlike top hosting providers, they don't seem to offer any uptime guarantees. | |
| Assistance and Support | You can contact customer support via live chat and phone. The support agents were nice and helpful, I wish they had an easier way to verify the account owners. | |
| Overall Rating | 3.8/5 | Although Bluehost's performance is acceptable and their system OKish, I think they are a bit overpriced. But for me, their support is a clear no-go if you think you'll need their help often. |
Bluehost Performance Tests
Is Bluehost a slow provider? Is their uptime OK?
To be able to answer all these questions, I've closely monitored Blueshot speed and uptime for months. Let me show you my findings.
Bluehost Speed Test
As a website owner, I don't have to tell you how important speed is for providing the best user experience and improving your search engine rankings.
I compared Bluehost speed to the most popular (shared hosting) competitors. I used GTmetrix, Pingdom and Webpagetest to check their loading times.
| Provider | GTmetrix | Pingdom | Webpage test | PageSpeed Insights | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SiteGround | 0.71 | 0.71 | 1.78 | 2.94 | 1.54 |
| GreenGeeks | 0.81 | 1.49 | 1.79 | 2.2 | 1.56 |
| Namecheap | 0.99 | 1.40 | 1.92 | 2.08 | 1.6 |
| Hostinger | 0.97 | 2.07 | 1.77 | 1.62 | 1.61 |
| WP Engine | 1 | 1.99 | 1.46 | 2.2 | 1.65 |
| Cloudways | 0.80 | 1.39 | 1.89 | 2.84 | 1.73 |
| Kinsta | 0.78 | 2.18 | 2.17 | 1.98 | 1.77 |
| DreamHost | 1.16 | 1.72 | 2.56 | 1.92 | 1.84 |
| GoDaddy | 1.14 | 2.27 | 2.23 | 2.1 | 1.94 |
| IONOS | 1.21 | 2.08 | 1.74 | 2.78 | 1.95 |
| A2 Hosting | 0.96 | 1.40 | 3.78 | 1.9 | 2.01 |
| InMotion | 2.02 | 2.86 | 2.61 | 3.52 | 2.75 |
| iPage | 1.76 | 2.82 | 2.73 | 3.74 | 2.76 |
| HostGator | 2.4 | 5.21 | 1.87 | 1.65 | 2.78 |
| Bluehost | 1.74 | 4.5 | 2.42 | 2.82 | 2.87 |
Results in seconds 2021
These tests were carried out under the same circumstances (e.g. same page and content), spread out over almost 2 months.
As you can see, Bluehost isn't top of the class when it comes to speed, in fact, they are bottom of the class. If you are concerned about speed, SiteGround and DreamHost are, in my experience, are much better performing providers.
Is Bluehost's Uptime Good?
Believe it or not, your web hosting service (most likely) won't have a 100% uptime. Due to technical reasons (e.g. server maintenance), your site will be down for (hopefully) short instances of time.
A bad uptime is terrible as your visitors and search engines won't be able to reach your site. Your goal should be to have an uptime higher than 99.95%.
| Provider | 2019 Uptime | 2020 Uptime | 2021 Uptime | Starts at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kinsta | No data | 100% | 100% | $35/month |
| Cloudways | No data | 100% | 100% | $10/month |
| SiteGround | 99.98% | 99.97% | 100% | $14.99/month |
| Namecheap | No data | No data | 100% | $2.40/month |
| WP Engine | No data | 99.99% | 99.99% | $25/month |
| Bluehost | 99.98% | 99.96% | 99.99% | $9.99/month |
| HostGator | 99.94% | 99.91% | 99.99% | $8.95/month |
| A2 Hosting | 99.93% | 99.99% | 99.98% | $8.99/month |
| GreenGeeks | No data | 99.98% | 99.98% | $10.95/month |
| DreamHost | 100% | 99.99% | 99.96% | $6.99/month |
| GoDaddy | 99.97% | 99.9% | 99.96% | $8.99/month |
| InMotion | 99.97% | 99.73% | 99.95% | $13.99/month |
| IONOS – Uptime test 2 months | No data | No data | 99.93% | $4/month |
| Hostinger | 99.62% | 99.48% | 99.92% | $5.99/month |
| iPage | 99.66% | 98.45% | 99.85% | $8.99/month |
To monitor uptime I use StatusCake, a tool that checks each website every 5 minutes.
As you can see, Bluehost offer solid uptime results. I am quite happy with Bluehost's performance here. However, be aware that they don't offer any uptime warranty, other hosting providers will compensate you (e.g. a free month) if their global uptime drops below certain levels (usually 99.9%).
Bluehost Review: Do I Recommend It?
You've probably noticed already that Bluehost is not my favorite provider. However, if you want a hosting service with unmetered storage and unlimited bandwidth, Bluehost could be a suitable option.
As you can see in the above tests, their speed wasn't the best. However, I was impressed with their uptime scores as they got similar results to top providers like SiteGround and DreamHost (compare it with Bluehost).
Their (first-year) pricing is remarkably cheap, but please consider the renewal prices as these sky-rocket.
> Try Bluehost 30 days for free
Bluehost Alternatives
Alright, if you go with Bluehost, your site is probably going to be OK, at least if your visitors are mainly located in North America.
However, it's not the cheapest option out there, and I think for the same money you could get better performing web hosts that come with advanced options (e.g. backup or staging areas).
- If you are looking for a balanced hosting service (low price and good performance), I'd suggest you check out A2 Hosting or DreamHost. They are a bit cheaper and perform similarly or better than Bluehost.
- In my experience, you'll find the best customer support at GreenGeeks, SiteGround and (again) DreamHost.
- Without a doubt, the best (affordable) performing providers are SiteGround, A2 Hosting, GreenGeeks and DreamHost. In my opinion, SiteGround comes with a couple of features that make it slightly better (e.g. more backup options).
- You'll be able to run WordPress in all these providers. However, SiteGround and DreamPress have the best system to empower WordPress site owners (e.g. built-in caching plugin and speed optimization options).
> But, if you still want to use Bluehost, remember that you can try Bluehost for free for 30 days
Note: I've created a Bluehost vs HostGator comparison so you know which EiG product is better for your project.
Bluehost review Updates
17 Sep 2021: Bluehost reviews fact-checked
17 Sep 2021: Performance and General update. New rating.
23 Oct 2020: General and performance update
02 Jun 2020: Video review added
05 Sep 2019: New dashboard
27 Jun 2019: First review
Please note that we are using affiliate links in this review. Some of the companies mentioned in this text pay us a commission if you make a purchase. This doesn't influence our ratings and we will never shy away from pointing out weak spots in a product.
About Josep Garcia, M.A. Multimedia Applications (UOC)
Hi there, I am Josep Garcia. Since 2014 I've been testing and writing about website builders and hosting services, and I share all my learnings at Tooltester.com. I hope you enjoyed this article, but of course, if you have any questions, please leave me a comment below.
Source: https://www.tooltester.com/en/hosting/bluehost-review/
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