Bluehost Review : Is this the ideal host for your website? | 2022
Is Bluehost Web Hosting the Best Option for You?
If you take the time to look into the top web hosting companies, Bluehost will come to mind almost instantly. It is extremely popular and frequently utilised. But what distinguishes Bluehost from the competition? Does it contain all you need, or would a different supplier be a better fit?
Particularly strong points for Bluehost included customer service, server uptime, and value for money.
Bluehost is ideal for whom?
Bluehost is a reputable hosting provider thanks to its responsive customer service, high uptime, and cost-effective starting plans. Bluehost is a fantastic option if you’re searching for traditional dependability. Because of this, we have rated it as the top overall hosting provider available. Bluehost is also the ideal option if you’re hosting a WordPress website; according to our study, it has earned the title of “best for WordPress hosting,” and WordPress.org has been endorsing Bluehost since 2005. If you like hosting photography websites, we also think it’s a really wonderful option.
A grilled cheese sandwich shop in Utah called Melty Way talks about how Bluehost has helped their small business develop in the video down below:
Bluehost, a company located in Utah, first appeared in 2003. The Endurance International Group, which also owns rival HostGator, currently owns it after it developed into one of the most well-known providers of web hosting services. Currently, Bluehost runs more than two million websites across the globe, mainly from its data centre in Utah.
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Dependable Server Uptime : A very competitive uptime guarantee of 99.98% is provided by Bluehost. | Additional Costs : You must uncheck all of the extra add-ons that will automatically be added to your basket at checkout. |
| Seamless WordPress Integration : Bluehost makes it incredibly simple to set up a WordPress site. | Storage : Compared to rivals, Bluehost’s Basic plan has a limited quantity of storage. |
| Budget-Level Pricing : Prices are still reasonable even after the first year, and there is a reasonable alternative for any site thanks to the diversity of tiered pricing options. |
Reliability & Performance
Because Bluehost has a fantastic uptime guarantee of 99.98%, when we claimed it was dependable, we really meant it. 99.98% uptime, which equates to about one hour and 45 minutes of downtime annually, is a strong performance considering that no web server can guarantee 100% uptime. Only HostGator, which provides 99.99% uptime, has a higher uptime rate.
Types Of Hosting & Features
Six distinct hosting packages are available from Bluehost: shared, shared WordPress, WooCommerce, VPS, managed WordPress, and dedicated. In our Bluehost Pricing Review, we’ve broken down the specifics of each type, but generally speaking, you can consider the variations as follows:
- Shared : the most affordable and simple general service.
- Shared WordPress : The most affordable and simple method of hosting a WordPress site
- WooCommerce : the ideal method for using WordPress to operate an online store
- VPS : Even though it’s less expensive than dedicated hosting, it’s still appropriate for commercial websites that need more than the bare minimum.
- Managed WordPress : even more features for your WordPress site that is hosted.
- Dedicated : a hosting solution that is both the most expensive and the most potent.
This step-by-step tutorial shows how easy it is to install WordPress using Bluehost :
Additional Bluehost Features
The most striking aspect of Bluehost, but by no means the only one, is its seamless WordPress integration. The remainder of Bluehost’s top products are shown below:
| Domain Registration | When a user signs up for a one-year plan, Bluehost gives them a free domain. However, you will still be required to pay the domain registration charge, which ranges from $10 to $15. |
| Website Builder | For people who have a concept of what they want to construct but lack the necessary HTML and CSS expertise, there is a drag-and-drop site builder. |
| Data Transfer | Many of Bluehost’s plans include unlimited data transfer. Bluehost does, however, also offer CPU protection; read more about this below. |
| cPanel | Bluehost makes use of the well-liked “cPanel” Control Panel for managing websites. To prevent the loss of crucial site files, the firm also offers free backups. |
| Storage | Bluehost offers storage capacity for your site files ranging from 50GB to infinite, depending on the package you choose. The 50GB plan will be plenty if all you intend to do is operate a WordPress blog with text and graphics because it will take some time to fill up that much storage. |
Bluehost and CPU Protection
For all of its shared hosting plans, Bluehost follows a procedure known as “CPU Protection.” When you use shared hosting, more than one website is present on a single server. Because no one is paying to run their own server, Bluehost (and other companies) are able to offer web hosting at such low prices.
This does imply, however, that all websites on a particular server require equal access to physical resources. The role of CPU protection is to address this. Your website will be purposefully refused access to additional hardware resources if it places an excessive amount of demands on the server. The final result could be that your website becomes extremely slow or unreachable.
The good news is that it’s uncommon to become a CPU protection target. However, if you run a local news site and your traffic suddenly increases because of a significant article, you might have a problem. If you have a poorly coded piece of JavaScript going amok, CPU protection may also come into play. But for the most part, CPU throttling shouldn’t be a cause for concern.
Pricing
With a score of 4.6/5 in our research, Bluehost is rated highly for value for money. What’s best? A 30-day money-back guarantee is included with each Bluehost package. Bluehost’s most affordable option is shared hosting, which costs $2.95 per month for the first year and $5.45 per month after that. The most expensive package, dedicated hosting, starts at $13.95 per month.
Which plan is the most cost-effective?
Start with Bluehost’s Shared or Shared WordPress plans if you’re new to web hosting or your site isn’t very large. They are the least expensive yet nevertheless provide a respectable range of functions. You can always switch to the more expensive but feature-rich alternatives when your site outgrows these shared plans.
Bluehost Additional Costs
Unfortunately, the majority of hosting companies will add more things to your virtual cart when you check out. Although you can always uncheck them before to making your purchase, these extras will raise the cost of your plan.
Nevertheless, depending on the kind of website you want to launch, some of these extras will be worth the money.
Cancelling Your Bluehost Plan
Because of Bluehost’s 30-day money-back guarantee, you have time to evaluate the platform and decide if it’s right for you. However, it’s crucial to make this choice during the first 30 days because after that point, Bluehost doesn’t grant cancellations or refunds.
Security
An SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate is the best sign of a secure website. SSL certifications, which are denoted by the padlock icon and the prefix “https” at the beginning of a web URL, reassure users that any information they disclose on your site will be secure.
A free SSL certificate is included with every Bluehost plan, so you never have to be concerned that users will be warned that your website is insecure. For a year, you may also get a premium SSL certificate for even greater security. For e-commerce sites or any other website where consumers would be logging in with a username and password and/or supplying sensitive information, this would be a great investment (such as credit card information).
Hotlink prevention, Secure Shell access, and Spam Assassin protection are some more free Bluehost security features. In general, Bluehost comes with more than enough security features to launch a regular site, but if you want to scale your site or sell online, you might want to spend a little extra money.
There are many more security options available from Bluehost, but they can quickly add up and raise your price, so it’s crucial to make the right decision. Even though that doesn’t do anything to protect your online customers, it might be difficult to avoid feeling caught off guard.
Migration
We are aware that many of you read our hosting reviews because you are dissatisfied with your present host and want to transfer. In light of this, we looked at how simple it is to switch to Bluehost.
The good thing is that it’s rather straightforward. You may either pay Bluehost to relocate your site for you or use the DIY route, which we’ll explore briefly below. For websites that qualify, there is also a bonus offer of free migration:
1. Moving Your Own Site To Bluehost
Because Bluehost uses the standard cPanel panel, performing the conversion manually is rather straightforward. This allows you to follow a generic approach to transferring your site (like ours!) without running into any unexpected obstacles.
It’s a time-consuming, step-by-step process, so those who lack a lot of technical confidence might be hesitant to try it.
2. Paying For Site Migration
Bluehost promises minimal downtime throughout this process and round-the-clock assistance both during and after it is finished. For a lot of people, just having someone else take responsibility for this process will be priceless.
It’s important to note that accounts for reseller, VPS, or dedicated servers cannot use this service.
We definitely check that box because not many hosting companies give such an end-to-end migration solution.
3. Free Site Migration For ( Most ) WordPress Sites
Some WordPress websites may even be qualified for a cost-free migration to Bluehost! Once you’ve signed up for a hosting plan, just complete the form on Bluehost’s website, and as long as there aren’t any difficult add-ons, a Bluehost specialist will migrate your site for free!
Help And Support
According to our analysis, Bluehost has the best customer service, receiving a flawless score of 5/5. Numerous help channels are available, including live chat, email support tickets, and round-the-clock phone service. One client described Bluehost’s customer service as “top notch,” citing his own usage of the live chat feature:
“I’ve had a few issues caused mainly by my own errors, and they’ve always helped me rectify them. They’re easy to contact via live chat, and I genuinely don’t think I’ve had to wait more than ten minutes to chat to someone.”
Bluehost Customer
… But because we were curious about Bluehost’s customer service, we gave it a shot. We specifically evaluated the functionality and usability of Bluehost’s live chat facility and knowledge base. These features surpassed our expectations in general by 9%. Even though Bluehost surprised us in both respects, we were more taken aback by its comprehensive, searchable knowledge base than by its live chat features. If we had more questions later, we would have preferred Bluehost’s live chat service to be more explicit about how we might contact the same team member again.
The live chat service on Bluehost is still really good, though. When we put it to the test, Bluehost stood out against other leading rivals thanks to its agents’ quick responses to our inquiries:
I received prompt, accurate responses to all of my queries, and the entire exchange came across as cordial and genuine.
However, our testers were impressed by answer quality as well as response time.
The agent consistently provided timely information in their responses, frequently with links and longer messages than I had anticipated. They undoubtedly appeared educated and well-equipped to assist me.
Additionally, Bluehost has three separate technical support phone numbers that you can use in place of live chat, depending on your needs:
- General Enquiries
- VPS and Dedicated Hosting
- WordPress Assistance
A wonderful feature of Bluehost’s website is that it provides immediate solutions for some of the more typical problems right on the main support page. If, for instance, you’re having trouble transferring your WordPress site from another host, you may click on that problem on the support page and be shown with a variety of options for getting help, such as a help article, live chat, and the precise phone number you need to dial.
If you’re feeling really tech-savvy, it might be worthwhile to try looking for the solution on Bluehost’s help forums. Independent research can frequently be completed more quickly and will ultimately result in a greater comprehension of how a website functions.
Comparing Bluehost to the other three hosting companies we examined, customer service generally far above our expectations. For instance, HostGator barely met our expectations by 3%, whereas Bluehost met them by 9%. Our customer service standards, which began at 80%, weren’t even met by other providers like A2 Hosting and InMotion.
Customer Satisfaction
Customers of Bluehost are most pleased with the platform’s assistance and support options. Robin, one of the users, wrote:
I’ve been using Bluehost for my WordPress website for more than five years. My site has occasionally crashed because of issues with installed plugins, and I haven’t been able to figure out how to fix it. Each time, they gave me swift solutions to the problem. Highly suggested.
Robin – Bluehost Customer
Limitations
Many Bluehost clients have complained that they are dissatisfied with the dearth of pre-installed features. It is true that Bluehost has a lot to offer, but it is also true that you must actively decide which of those products you want on your website—and frequently at an additional expense.
Our Verdict
Bluehost comes out on top in our overall hosting rankings, beating out industry giants like HostGator and GoDaddy. Bluehost places top in customer service, second in uptime, and second in value for money in each of the respective categories. Additionally, it’s the greatest hosting company for running a WordPress website.
As we’ve seen, Bluehost’s extras and additional prices might be perplexing, so you could be better off with InMotion if seamless features are your primary priority.
Our judgement? It all depends on the objectives of your website, but Bluehost is a good option if you’re seeking for economy and dependability.
