Bluehost Rating 4/5
The Spiel
Bluehost is a giant in the web hosting market. Their range of services caters to the varied needs of websites and small business owners. In this Bluehost review, we will look at:
a) what is on offer.
b) What benefits users can get.
c) How do websites hosted on Bluehost fare in performance tests.
Bluehost offers economical web hosting plans. However, economical does not mean underpowered. These are thoughtfully designed plans. They offer you the ideal hosting environment. In addition to their web hosting plans, Bluehost now also offers a Website Builder service. However, this website builder is just a user-friendly interface and it uses WordPress at its core for its functionality. Hence, customers who are familiar with WordPress will find it easier to use this service and publish their website without a hassle. However, those customers who are comfortable with WordPress retain the option to simply sign up for the dedicated WordPress hosting plan.
For the advanced needs of their clients, Bluehost also offers VPS and Dedicated servers. However, Bluehost offers very limited configurations for both. Hence, if you are in search of a very specific set of configurations, you may be better off looking elsewhere.
Tech Talk (Features):
- Linux based hosting
- cPanel
- 30 days money back guarantee
- Free domain with all plans
Talk Up (Pros):
- Economical plans
- Website Builder plus website building professional
- Free Domain with hosting plans
Talk Down (Cons):
- Expensive renewals
A Word About Bluehost
Bluehost has been around since late 2003. Their growth spurt started in 2007 when they went from 500K clients to over one million in just one year. Presently, this number is in excess of 2 million. Endurance International Group (EIG) acquired Bluehost in 2010.
EIG, now Newfold Digital, is an industry giant which owns several such web hosting companies. With a name like Newfold Digital backing its brand, Bluehost provides an impressive array of trustworthy services.
Discourse on what Bluehost offers
Bluehost is one of the largest web hosting providers. They offer all the popular forms of web hosting solutions. However, there are only a limited number of VPS and Dedicated servers on offer.
On the other hand, shared hosting solutions come in many avataars. You have the option of Managed WordPress and Self-Managed WordPress hosting plans. Further, you also get the option of hosting plans centered around the WooCommerce app. All of these come in addition to four shared hosting plans which offer you a great set of features.
Bluehost’s shared hosting plans start at $2.75 per month (for a 3-year term renewable at $9.99 per month thereafter). Yes, the headline price is more than Hostinger’s starting plan. However, Bluehost justifies this by giving you a free domain (and yes this includes a .com domain). Also, you get 50 GB of SSD storage together with a Drag-and-Drop website builder, which is rare to see in base plans.
If you already have a website being hosted by another provider, Bluehost offers you free site migration. For this, they encourage you to use their team of experts, as site migration can be a tricky process.
WordPress Hosting
The Self-Managed WordPress Hosting plans are exactly the same as the shared hosting plans. For the Managed WordPress Hosting, you will have to shell out $9.95 per month (for a 3-year term renewable at $19.95 per month thereafter). These plans come with added security features like Malware protection, Domain Protection and Daily backups. The added benefit of Managed services shield you from the humdrum of site maintenance, allowing you to focus on your content.
Servers
Dedicated and VPS servers are available with three plans each. The VPS plans start with $17.99 per month (for a 3-year term). This plan starts you off with 2 Cores, 2 GB RAM, 30 GB SSD storage and 1TB of bandwidth. It gives you a dedicated IP and access via cPanel.
On the Dedicated Server front, Bluehost offers some very economical plans. The base plan is offered at $73.99 per month (for 3-years renewed at $119.99 per month). This gets you 4 Cores, 4 Thread and 4 GB RAM. The benchmark configuration that we use to judge i.e. 4 Core, 8 Thread and 8 GB RAM is priced at $88.99 per month (for a 3-year term renewed at $159.99 per month).
The Final Word
Bluehost makes sure that it offers a wide range of services to cater to varied needs. They run the play by offering low headline prices. The clients are wooed by offering them more for their money.
All of this is coupled with great customer support that is available on call and live chat. The website’s response times are not the best in the industry, however there is no real cause for concern.
You must consider Bluehost if you are looking for a reliable Web Hosting Provider who gives you great services.
Good write up… Summing up entire Hosting options in snapshot. You have made my decision making easier and more precise. Thanks