Every hosting newbie and expert knows Bluehost… so it makes sense I made a straight-talking review to help you decide if it’s the one for you. My personal website itself is hosted on BlueHost and they’re one of three hosts recommended directly by WordPress (incredible bragging rights).
In the rest of this piece, I’ll share my thoughts on the host’s pricing plans, support, user-friendliness, and overall features… and why I’d recommend them to you. Let’s dive in!
Founded in 2003, Bluehost boasts a rich heritage in the hosting domain. Their suite spans across shared, VPS, and dedicated hosting, with a pronounced focus on WordPress and its associated apps like WooCommerce. Their commitment to open-source solutions and a range of third-party reseller plans showcase their flexibility and adaptability to varied user needs.
Bluehost has received a mix of reviews from users around the globe. While their rating on HostAdvice stands at 2.8 based on 375 reviews, they fare better on Trustpilot with a score of 4.2 from 8260 reviews, highlighting a broader satisfaction among a larger user base.
With its rich history, dedication to the WordPress community, and versatile hosting solutions, BlueHost emerges as a go-to choice for many seeking reliable web hosting.
There are many hosts on the market. How to effectively compare and rate them? Our experts at HostAdvice create a standardized hosting rating methodology that helps us compare each host based on a number of factors and give them relevant scores.
With these, you’ll be able to see real numbers that give you an idea on each host’s quality and can decide which is better for your website.
| Parameter | Score | Why did we give this score |
| PRICES | 8.0 | BlueHost has fair pricing plans but they’re not the cheapest. I gave them an 8.0 because while their packages are great, many other hosts offer more affordable plans. |
| FEATURES | 8.7 | Excellent features overall – a free domain & SSL, SSD, free CDN, etc. However, I gave them an 8.7 because BlueHost only offers free migrations for WordPress. |
| PERFORMANCE | 9.0 | 300 ms average response time, 99.9% uptime guarantee, high-performance SSD, etc. However, I give them a 9.0 because some hosts are even faster. |
| USER-FRIENDLINESS | 9.5 | Auto WordPress and popular app installs, a modern cPanel, and the BlueHost builder take the hassle out of managing your website and getting it up and running. However, I gave them a 9.5 because other hosts are now offering custom panels for even more ease of use. |
| SUPPORT | 8.5 | BlueHost offers 24/7 support through vast knowledgebase, live chat, phone, and socials. However, I’d give them 8.5 because it took a while for the agent to join the live chat. |
BlueHost offers shared hosting, dedicated hosting, VPS, and WordPress-heavy plans. On every plan, you get a 30-day money-back guarantee on every plan (minus domain names) and their plans are changed on at least 12-month durations and also 36-month durations.
BlueHost accepts different payment methods depending on your locations – but mainly via a credit card or Paypal.
Wondering what plan to choose? We’ll now see the different plans offered by BlueHost, their pricing, and who they’re best suited to:
| Plan Name | Space | Bandwidth | OS | Panel | Number of Sites | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | 10 GB | Unlimited | cPanel | 1 | $2.45 | Details | |
| Choice Plus | 40 GB | Unlimited | cPanel | 3 | $4.95 | Details | |
| Online Store | 40 GB | Unlimited | cPanel | 3 | $9.95 | Details | |
| Pro | 100 GB | Unlimited | cPanel | 5 | $13.95 | Details |
BlueHost’s Choice Plus is their recommended shared hosting plan as on top of the basic shared features, you get free domain privacy, free backups for 1 year, and other pro tools like updates, plugins, client invoicing etc. at $5.45/month (charged for 12 months at once).
BlueHost’s ENHANCED VPS plan gives you double the resources on their basic VPS – storage, RAM, bandwidth. You also get 25 extra cPanel accounts and 2 dedicated IPs.
BlueHost’s ENHANCED (mid-level) dedicated hosting plan is their recommended and gives more CPU power, a bigger cache, bigger RAM, twice the storage, and double the bandwidth on their basic dedicated plan.
BlueHost doesn’t offer reseller plans directly but rather recommends ResellerClub as your best reseller provider.
Key features
Of all BlueHost’s key features and out-of-the-box goodies, I’d say their most unique offering and package are their WP Pro plans – WordPress plus marketing tools.
BlueHost is now not only offering WordPress plans, but all the analytics and other marketing shenanigans to help you monitor and scale your business and campaigns, You get SEO tools, marketing tools, client management software, ads compatibility, and an all-in-one marketing center and dashboard.
The next factor we’ll consider to rate BlueHost is its performance… based on a number of important metrics namely – speed, uptime, and average website loading time.
The host’s server speed (time to first byte or TTFB) shows how quickly their servers can send the first byte of data to a user visiting your website. Also, a host’s uptime or online time, is how reliably their servers can stay online and keep your website ‘live’.
Then summing both factors, your website’s average load time is how long it takes for a web page to be fully loaded and functional (clickable) after a user clicks on it.
What do these metrics mean for you? The quicker the load time i.e server speed, the quicker your website pages will become available. I.e: increased retention rates, more time spent per session, and better search engine rankings for you.
Like most hosts on the market, BlueHost promises a 99.9% uptime guarantee. To measure the host’s performance metrics, I used GTMetrix to test the performance of corporatelaw.jdsupra.com – a website hosted on BlueHost.
These were the results:
The website had a super impressive TTFB of 150 ms but a fair fully loaded time of 2.0s. They also had an excellent overall performance of 94%:
BlueHost offers 24/7 support via phone, live chat, and a vast knowledgebase.
You can call BlueHost’s sales, support, and international lines for any help you may need. Phone support is especially great if you need answers to urgent questions or solutions to urgent problems.
Note that these phone numbers, however, may not be available depending on your region.
The website owner’s support portal of choice – live chat. BlueHost offers live chat support powered by a bot. I tested out their live chat and had to answer a few screening questions before being redirected to a live agent.
It took a while ( a little disappointing) but the agent eventually joined and I was able to ask questions and get detailed answers in time. They were super courteous and well-knowledgeable.
Don’t want to wait in queues and can figure things out on your own? BlueHost’s knowledgebase powered by a search engine has answers to nearly every question you’ll ask:
Registering and signing up on BlueHost is incredibly easy. To register on BlueHost and have a functioning hosting account, you’ll have to buy one of their hosting plans.
You can go straight to the host’s WordPress plans from their homepage and by clicking the “Get Started” button:
After choosing a plan, you’ll be redirected to the domain page where you can choose to register a new domain with the host or use a domain you currently own… or proceed without a domain.
Next, fill in your info and personal details:
On this page, you can also decide if you want any package extras like Yoast, CodeGuard, and SiteLock. Once confirmed, fill in your payment details and click “Submit”. And voila. You now have your account.
After choosing a username (domain tied to your plan) and password, you’ll be able to login to BlueHost’s super-intuitive dashboard:
From here, you’ll be able to manage your domains, active websites, login to WordPress directly, and your cPanel in ‘Advanced’.
BlueHost features a modern, updated version of the traditional cPanel control panel allowing you manage all your hosting and website backend from a single dashboard:
To login to your cPanel, simply click “Advanced” and you’ll be prompted to input your details. It’s smooth sailing from there on. BlueHost’s cPanel is clean, intuitive, and feature-packed to give you control over everything that matters for your website.
This is where it gets super-sweet. On BlueHost’s plans (especially their shared and WordPress), once you checkout, WordPress is automatically installed. In fact, BlueHost’s website builder has been designed specifically for creating WordPress websites.
Your WordPress is also updated automatically. So no need to worry about installing the right and most updated form of WordPress for your website. BlueHost does it all for you!
It gets a little head-scratchy here but follow me.
BlueHost offers two kinds of user interfaces – Bluerock and Legacy. The one I showed above is the Bluerock with the navigation options arranged vertically and on the left and is likely what you’ll see.
You can use the Emails & Office button or create an email using cPanel.
Using the Emails & Office
Using Emails & Office on the left nav bar (only for Bluerock), you can purchase an email plan or click manage if you have emails included in your plan.
Then click ‘Create’.
Using cPanel
Login to cPanel and click ‘Email accounts’. Click ‘Create’.
Both methods should open a similar prompt with input fields where you’ll be asked to choose the domain you want the email assigned to, email address (username), password (you can generate this), and then optionally set an email quota:
Once you’re done, click ‘Create’. To see your emails, head back to ‘Email & Office’ or ‘Email accounts’ and you can make changes and manage them from there.
Hostinger offers a wide range of web hosting services, including shared, cloud, and VPS hosting. Its features include a user-friendly control panel, a free website builder, and auto-installers for WordPress and other CMS platforms.
Hostinger is known for its affordable pricing, making it a popular choice for small to medium-sized businesses and personal websites. Additionally, it provides 24/7 customer support, free SSL certificates, and guarantees 99.9% uptime, ensuring reliable service for its users.
Learn more about these web hosts in our Hostinger vs Bluehost comparison.
HostGator is a comprehensive web hosting service provider offering a range of hosting solutions including shared, VPS, dedicated, and cloud hosting. Key features include one-click installations for popular applications like WordPress, free website transfers, and a 99.9% uptime guarantee.
HostGator is well-suited for beginners thanks to its user-friendly control panel and website builder tool, making website creation accessible to everyone. Additionally, it offers 24/7 customer support, unlimited bandwidth, and a 45-day money-back guarantee, catering to a wide audience from individual bloggers to larger businesses.
Learn more about these web hosts in our Bluehost vs HostGator comparison.
It’s an easy YES. BlueHost is an incredible web hosting provider especially if you own a WordPress. Their plans are reasonably priced and their performance justifies it. BlueHost also has an easy-to-understand suite of packages and even a hosting newbie will have no problem using the platform.
Their WP Pro plans show their commitment to WordPress and it’s no wonder they are the No. 1 WordPress recommended host and have been for a really long time.
The only thing other hosts may have against BlueHost is that they are one of the daughter brands of Endurance International Group (EIG), a hosting giant with dozens of other hosting acquisitions. But they still shine through.
| Plan Name | Space | Bandwidth | OS | Panel | Number of Sites | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | 10 GB | Unlimited | cPanel | 1 | $2.45 | Details | |
| Choice Plus | 40 GB | Unlimited | cPanel | 3 | $4.95 | Details | |
| Online Store | 40 GB | Unlimited | cPanel | 3 | $9.95 | Details | |
| Pro | 100 GB | Unlimited | cPanel | 5 | $13.95 | Details | |
| Free trail | Unlimited | Unlimited | cPanel | Unlimited | $0.00 | Details |
| Plan Name | Space | Bandwidth | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BASIC | 10 GB | Unlimited | $2.95 | Details |
| CHOICE PLUS | 40 GB | Unlimited | $5.45 | Details |
| ONLINE STORE | 40 GB | Unlimited | $9.95 | Details |
Yes, Bluehost is safe and secure. They are one of the biggest hosting businesses, with many resources dedicated to auditing and managing security at scale. They also provide various customized security solutions (such as SSLs) for hosted websites.
Bluehost offers assistance via live chat, toll-free phone calls, and email. These services are available 24/7. They only offer customer care in English; therefore, you should find another host if you prefer another language.
Accordingly, Bluehost data centers are located in Provo, Utah, and Houston, Texas.
Bluehost has three WordPress plans to choose from. The most cost-effective WordPress shared hosting plan is the standard plan. For the most part, this will suffice. They offer WP Pro, managed WordPress hosting perfect for more demanding users.
Their shared hosting package managed 100 virtual users without slowing or stopping in our test. These solutions can deal with both planned and unanticipated traffic spikes. However, they have a limited amount of server resources. You’ll have to expand your hosting subscription if you predict significant traffic.
Yes, however, the amount you’ll be reimbursed is contingent on how long you’ve been a customer. Most plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, which is plenty of time to see if Bluehost is right for you. If you decide to cancel Bluehost after that, you’ll get a prorated refund for the remaining time on your contract.
Bluehost offers 24/7 via live chat, phone calls, and a support email. The bulk of their customers are English speakers so you may want to opt for their other variants if you want another language. There is BlueHost India and BlueHost China.
BlueHost offers its basic WordPress plans and its BASIC plan is great for most entry-level websites. However, if you want more features for full-blown business operations, the WP Pro may be better suited for you.
Yes. BlueHost provides an incredibly intuitive and beginner-friendly experience on its hosting plans and services. The UI is clean and easy to understand.
BlueHost has currently being reviewed by over 5,100 people and Trustpilot and has an overall score of 4.0
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