Detailed Full Review of BlueHost: All you need to know (2024)

What is Bluehost?

Owned by Endurance International Group and created by Matt Heaton, Bluehost is a web hosting company and a domain name registrar that has existed since 2003.

From any point of view, it is a full-service web hosting provider, offering Bluehost domain registration, website builders, marketing tools, and full-time customer support.

At bluehost, you have an easy to use interface, suitable for beginners, a free domain name and a wide range of web hosting plans and options to suit all users.

Over the years, Bluehost has become the most popular web hosting choice among professional bloggers and over 2 million websites in various sectors.

Bluehost has data centers in the USA, China and India to provide its hosting offers (shared hosting, VPS, etc.)

Bluehost has was featured as one of the best web hosts on Business.org and is officially recommended by WordPress to host its CMS.

Ease of use

In the same way that most small businesses want easy setup when creation of websites, they also want the hosting to be set up in a few clicks.

Bluehost is distinguished by the simplicity of its registration process and the ease of managing hosting accounts, thus providing a pleasant and hassle-free user experience.

Here are some of its main characteristics:

• User interface: Bluehost's main dashboard is designed to be intuitive and easy to use. It is very similar to the Microsoft Office, Sharepoint, or Box interface, making it easy for new users to use it.
• Bluehost control panel: Bluehost offers shared plans that include a Bluehost control panel. This is where hosting, accounts, domain name registration, maintenance, users, and billing are managed.
• Unified connection: With Bluehost, you only need one username and password to access all of your Bluehost accounts. This simplifies account management and makes it easy to access all of Bluehost's help and support features.
• Domain name and email management: Bluehost also offers the ability to easily manage their domain name and emails, and allows the capabilities of your server to evolve as your hosting and web traffic needs increase.

Go to the Bluehost site to make your own opinion.

Why Bluehost?

This ensures that it will be developed in a correct manner, without limitations or interruptions.

Bluehost's tech support will make you feel right at home, with 24/7 activity and great service.

This makes using the service much easier, since its professionals will always be available to resolve any inconvenience.

In addition, the fact that Bluehost allows server manipulation through cPanel. makes it a great hosting for installing applications. You can manually install a webmail and even WordPress.

Bluehost is also great for those who don't use tools like cPanel. It offers optimized plans for WordPress.

If you are contracting a shared hosting service or a VPS, technical support can help you with the installation.

Features

In order to better understand Bluehost's offer, we need to analyze the various technical aspects of the service.

You will thus be able to verify that it correctly meets the essential conditions of a storage service.

1. cPanel

Bluehost is one of the easiest hosts to use, even though their site is in English. All the elements are very well organized and the design is user-friendly, So that The interface is beautiful and easy to use.

Also, all of their plans come pre-configured, which means you only need to start enjoying the service as soon as you sign up.

It's also important to note that they have cPanel to manage their servers, making them even easier to use.

It is the most popular admin panel among users, so it is completely positive that you are managing it.

2. Domain names

Bluehost offers domain name registration at a fairly normal market price.

However, we can notice that they are missing a wide variety of extensions that are very popular nowadays.

It's important to note that all plans have a free domain name for 1 year. After this period, it must be renewed for $14.

Whois protection is a bit expensive with a price of $14.

3. Email

In this section, Bluehost's service lags a bit behind its competitors.

At bluehost, you don't have a webmail service outside of its hosting plans or the Google Workspace offer.

For starters, all Bluehost plans are paid on an annual basis.

However, the included webmail is only for 1 month and it is the Office 365 email plan, which must be renewed after the 30 free days are over.

4. Databases

As far as databases are concerned, this provider offers functionalities that could be described as intermediaries.

It is possible to create multiple databases, but the number is not very ambitious.

Each of Bluehost plans only offer 20 databasesS.

This is a fairly acceptable number for small and medium projects. However, it may be a bit short for very ambitious projects.

5. Apps

Bluehost has several applications in its plans that will help you develop all of your ideas.

For example, environments optimized for WordPress, where you can test everything you plan to implement on your site without affecting it.

They also have applications that automatically update WordPress as well as all the plugins you have installed.

This guarantees much better security for your website.

Also, all of their plans give their users $100 in Google Ads credits. You can thus boost the visibility of your website from the very first moments.

6. Storage

Storage is one of the standout features of Bluehost.

It can be said that it far exceeds all its competitors in this field. The most basic plan offers 30GB of SSD storage for its VPS offering.

All the Other plans have unlimited SSD storage. This is a welcome feature considering the limitations of many hosts.

The fact that they have SSD storage is a nice bonus for any type of project. It guarantees a much higher speed on your website.

7. Transfer

Transferring websites to Bluehost is another area that leaves something to be desired.

Migrating from another provider to your servers on “My Sites” is offered as a completely independent service, the base price of which is $144.

If we take into account that it is an accommodation WordPress specialized, the price is a bit high, because with a plugin installed on your website, you can perform this task in a few minutes.

8. SSL certificate

Another area where Bluehost clearly stands out is SSL certificates.

All plans offer this certificate for free to any domain name hosted there, which is a definite advantage for your project.

This certificate is of paramount importance, as it provides security to your website.

People who visit certain pages are very attentive to them. If you don't have an SSL certificate, a big red sign indicates that your website is not secure at all.

In “My Sites” it is possible to deploy it in 1 click for your showcase site or e-commerce..

How do I set up a hosting like Bluehost?

Setting up hosting is very easy if you already have some knowledge.

In the case of Bluehost, you can access your cPanel account and install everything manually.

You can install WordPress to your webmail in “My Sites”.

If you don't use cPanel, Bluehost technical support is always available to help you install any feature, like WordPress.

Optimized plans are pre-configured with WordPress and all the other necessary additional modules (plug ins).

This makes it easy for novice users to use the cPanel area.

Bluehost offers easy, simple, and one-click installation. Plus, it's fully set up so you can start working right away. This is an advantage for those who prefer the easy and quick self-management of their website.

The WordPress CMS is the easiest and most convenient with quick installation. This is currently a technical support task. Some providers share this task: they entrust the most complex part to their specialized technical support and delegate the less complicated part to the user, but always counting on their assistance.

However, most applications come pre-installed or have an automatic installer. In general, this is a solved task.

Installing the hosting service is very easy. Many users have left in their reviews that they have achieved it in a simple and fast way. They were able to start enjoying the benefits of the company in the blink of an eye.

Here, it is important to note that the best hosting companies, such as Bluehost, which we recommend, have a support service to install the service in the best possible way.

Speed test

The speed of your website is a crucial element for user experience and SEO.

Bluehost is known for its fast performance, but how do they actually perform in tests?

How we tested the speed of Bluehost

• We created a test site with WordPress and the default Twenty Twenty theme.
• Fake content has been added to fake domain names to simulate a real site.
• Pthem was used to measure the loading speed on this domain name

Bluehost speed test results

• The test site on Bluehost loaded in under two seconds on these domain names.
• No caching plugins or specific speed optimizations have been used.
• Speed tests are insufficient by themselves because they don't take into account how the site behaves under high load.

How we tested the high load

• A tool called K6 (formerly LoadImpact) was used to simulate an influx of users on our domain name.
• Server load time remained stable, even with an influx of traffic.

Bluehost availability

• Bluehost offers great availability in addition to the fast loading speed on your domain name
• There was no downtime recorded during our test period.

Response time

• When using tools like Pthem to test a website live, all elements of the site are loaded, including images that take longer to load than plain text.
• To obtain a more accurate server response time on a domain name, another tool called Bitcatcha was used, which allows the server response time to be tested without having to load data.
• Bluehost's server in the US responded in under a split second.
• In other locations, the response time was slightly longer but still under one second.
• If your target audience is in the United States, your site will benefit from these quick response times on their domain names.
• If the majority of your users are from other parts of the world, you may want to consider changing your server location for better response times.

How to sign up with Bluehost.

Thanks to its beginner-friendly features, creating your website with Bluehost is very easy.

The first step is to sign up with Bluehost.

1. Visit Bluehost.com.

When you visit Bluehost.com, on the home page, you will find a “Get Started” button. Click on it to enter information and continue with the registration process. Choose a password and login if you don't have an account.

2. Select a web hosting plan.

Then, you will be taken to a new page where you will see 4 shared hosting plans, namely Basic, Plus, Prime, and Business Pro.

Here is a brief description of the features you'll get with each one:

Whether they're simple bloggers, online store owners, or fast-growing businesses, there's a Bluehost plan that can be perfectly tailored to your specific needs.

If you're a blogger or run a simple online store, you might want to consider one of Bluehost's basic plans.

However, if you manage multiple sites or plan to launch an e-commerce site, Plus, Prime, and Pro plans may be better suited to your needs.

3. Select a domain name

When choosing a plan, you are prompted to enter your domain name.

Here you have two options:

Either you register an existing one (new free domain name) or if you have one, choose the “I have a domain name” option.

Then decide if you want your website to be in .com, .org, .net, etc. and then a password to access it remotely.

Step 4: Enter your personal details and choose the add-ons

Once you have chosen your domain name (or leaving it for later), go to this new section by entering your “personal information” to create your account.

You will need to enter information such as your first and last name, email address, password, country, phone number, etc.

Scroll down to the “Package Information” section. Here you can choose how long your Bluehost plan lasts (12, 24, or 36 months) and select a few more options. Common add-ons include SiteLock Security Find, Codeguard Basic, and Bluehost SEO Tools Start.

You are unlikely to need all of the add-ons. So be sure to only choose the ones that fit your needs.

Then, you'll need to choose a payment option as well. Bluehost offers two payment options: by credit card or by PayPal.

Step 5: You have successfully registered with Bluehost

It's done! You've finally signed up for Bluehost.

All you have to do is hit the “Submit” button and Bluehost will send you a welcome email confirming your hosting account. It will have all the login details you need to get started.

After completing the registration process, you can choose to install WordPress from the cPanel.

Go to the Bluehost site to make your own opinion

Alternatives to BlueHost

If you still think that Bluehost is not for you, here are two best Bluehost alternatives that you can choose from;

1. Hostinger

If your budget is really tight, you can opt for Hostinger, which starts at just $0.99 per month.

We use Hostinger for one of our secondary blogs and we really found this service to be very profitable.

2. A2 Hosting

If budget is not an issue, you can opt for A2 hosting, which has Turbo servers that offer page loads up to 20x faster than competing web hosting services.

Pricing

Bluehost offers hosting packages that focus on flexibility and scalability.

While Bluehost is great for shared hosting and optimized WordPress hosting, it also offers plenty of other hosting options.

To help you make an informed decision when creating your website about the various hosting offerings, here's a breakdown of the entire Bluehost hosting package:

1. Shared hosting.

Shared hosting is considered to be one of the most popular forms of web hosting in the world. And one of the main reasons for this popularity is its low cost. In general, most site owners are unable to grow their site enough that it is necessary to upgrade to a higher level of hosting, so they stick to shared hosting.

Here is a brief description of the various shared hosting packages offered by Bluehost:

Choosing a hosting plan that fits your specific needs is a crucial decision when creating your website.

Bluehost offers several plans, ranging from the basic package for beginners to the Pro package for more advanced, high-traffic sites.

Costs and Features of the Different Plans

• Basic formula : Cost of $3.95 per month. Ideal for those who are just starting their web adventure.
• Formula Plus : Cost of $5.85 per month. Recommended for those who manage multiple websites (My Sites).
• Choice Plus package : Cost of $5.95 per month. Choice Plus has similar benefits to the Plus plan, but with added features like more extensive site backups and domain privacy add-ons.
• Pro formula : Cost of $13.95 per month. Ideal for high traffic websites, offering benefits such as unlimited space and bandwidth for websites, dedicated IP addresses, etc.

Who Should Use Shared Hosting?

If you are building your website for the first time, shared hosting is probably the best choice.

It offers the most affordable option and has enough features to support the growth of your site.

Plus, it's always possible to upgrade to a more advanced plan as your site expands.

2. VPS hosting.

Bluehost is known for its affordable and user-friendly web hosting plans that are ideal for beginners. However, as your site grows and requires more advanced features, Bluehost Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting can be an attractive solution. This hosting combines the advantages of a dedicated server at a lower cost.

Features of VPS Hosting Plans

Bluehost VPS hosting plans offer a wealth of features, including:

• 2 to 8 GB RAM
• 2-4 hearts.
• 1-2 IP addresses.
• cPanel and root access.
• 30GB - 120GB SSD storage
• A free domain name for the first year.
• Multi-server management and file management.
• Additional options like SEO tools, domain privacy, SiteLock, etc.

VPS Plan Prices

The price of VPS plans varies depending on the resources:

• Standard plan: $19.99 per month.
• The Enhanced plan: $29.99 per month.
• The Ultimate VPS plan: $59.99 per month.

The main difference between these plans is the amount of storage space, bandwidth, RAM, and IP addresses offered.

Who Should Use VPS Hosting?

VPS hosting is ideal for website owners who have gone beyond the limits of their shared hosting. It is reliable, scalable and allows you to improve the performance of your site in the event of a strong increase in traffic. While offering more customization, it should be noted that it requires some knowledge in server management.

3. Hosting on a dedicated server.

Dedicated server hosting is the most efficient and customizable, although more expensive, solution offered by Bluehost. It is a perfect option for websites that require large storage capacity, optimal performance, and a high level of security.

Characteristics of Dedicated Server Hosting

By opting for a dedicated server, you rent an entire physical server, which offers you significant advantages:

1. Full server customization.
2. Outstanding performances.
3. Massive amount of storage.
4. Higher level of security.

Dedicated Server Hosting Prices

Dedicated server hosting costs vary according to the resources offered:

1. Standard plan: $79.99 per month.
2. The Enhanced plan: $99.99 per month.
3. The Premium Plan: $119.99 per month.

The major differences between these plans are in server speed, storage space, RAM, and the number of dedicated IP addresses.

Who Should Use Dedicated Server Hosting?

Dedicated server hosting is ideal for website owners who want complete control of their server environment. It's also a great option if you want to customize the server to suit your specific business needs.

This type of hosting is commonly used by large sites or those that receive a high volume of traffic. In addition, if your website requires very high levels of security, such as in the case of processing sensitive financial information or other personal data, a dedicated server would be an excellent option.

4. WordPress Managed Hosting & Online Store

If you are planning to create a WordPress site, managed WordPress hosting is a great option to consider.

It offers you an environment optimized for WordPress, with improved performance, increased security and features adapted to this CMS for content management.

Features of Managed WordPress Hosting

Bluehost's managed WordPress hosting plans have some particularly appealing features, including:

• All-in-one marketing center and dashboard.
• SEO, email marketing, and social media tools.
• Optimized performance.
• Unlimited websites and domains.
• No traffic limitations.
• Unlimited web storage.
• Pre-installation of WordPress to make it easy to get started.
• WordPress-specific cPanel, SiteLock security, and a free SSL certificate.

Managed WordPress Hosting Pricing

Bluehost's managed WordPress hosting offers several plans at varying rates:

• Standard plan: $19.99 per month.
• Enhanced plan: $29.99 per month.
• Premium plan: $39.99 per month.
• Ultimate plan: $49.99 per month.

The main difference between these plans is the total number of visitors allowed per month, as well as the storage, RAM, backup size, security level, and quality of the SSL certificate.

Who Should Use Managed WordPress Hosting?

Managed WordPress hosting is particularly suitable for those who host a WordPress site. It offers improved performance and security, in addition to custom tools and an advanced cPanel to facilitate site management.

If you're just getting started with WordPress, a basic shared hosting plan might suffice. However, with increased traffic, upgrading to managed WordPress hosting can be beneficial. For owners of medium-sized or growing WordPress sites, this type of hosting is ideal. It is also recommended for those who plan to create an e-commerce site with WordPress and WooCommerce.

5. Reseller hosting.

Bluehost's reseller hosting, in partnership with ResellerClub, is designed for web developers or agencies that manage their customers' sites. This service is particularly interesting if you are planning to start your own web hosting mini-business.

Reseller Hosting Benefits

Reseller hosting gives you great flexibility and plenty of options for providing services to your customers.

As a reseller, you have the possibility to:

• Offer VPS, dedicated and WordPress hosting services to your customers.
• Selling over 800 different hosting products.
• Provide support to your customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Offer personalized control panels.

If you're already a Bluehost customer, you also get a 35% discount on reseller hosting.

Reseller Hosting Pricing

Reseller hosting pricing varies depending on the type of hosting you want to offer your customers.

Exact details of these rates can be found on the Bluehost site or by contacting their customer service department.

Bluehost customer service

Bluehost is widely recognized for its exceptional customer service, which is a major asset for users of all skill levels.

• Availability: The customer support team is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, ready to help users with any questions or concerns.
• Communication channels: Users can contact support via live chat, phone, or email. There is also an extensive knowledge base on the website for self-help.
• Team skills: The support staff is knowledgeable, courteous, and quick to respond to requests. They are capable of solving a wide range of technical problems.
• Additional resources: Bluehost also provides a series of guides, articles, and tutorials to help users manage their hosting and navigate the platform.

In conclusion, Bluehost stands out in the field of web hosting for its excellent customer support.

Whether you're a website newbie or a tech expert, you can count on Bluehost's support to help you every step of your online journey.

FAQs

Is WordPress free with Bluehost?

Bluehost offers WordPress hosting for as low as $2.95 per month for a three-year plan.

WordPress is automatically installed when you purchase this plan from Bluehost.

Bluehost also offers a Managed WordPress plan, which offers dynamic scalability to ensure that your website maintains the same speed as your traffic increases. These plans start at $19.95 per month.

Its web hosting is directly recommended by WordPress!

What does Bluehost have to offer for newbies?

Bluehost is intuitive and easy to navigate, and suitable for beginners as well as professional web developers.

Bluehost also offers an impressive WordPress hosting plan, and many beginning website builders choose to use WordPress because of the accessibility it offers.

Can I cancel Bluehost anytime?

You can cancel your plan whenever you want, but after 30 days you won't be eligible for a refund.

What is the difference between WordPress hosting and shared hosting?

Choosing shared hosting is popular for anyone who builds a website but doesn't have high traffic requirements.

This is the most affordable hosting package and is set up so that multiple websites share the same server and bandwidth.

Bluehost Wordpress hosting, on the other hand, is specifically designed for WordPress. It comes with WordPress pre-installed and automatically updates WordPress.

Can I create an online store using WooCommerce on Bluehost?

Yes, you can. In fact, Bluehost is one of the best service providers ofWooCommerce hosting. Their startup plan is perfect for launching an online store.

However, remember that you'll need to upgrade when your store starts getting more traffic.

Hopefully by then, you'll earn enough money to justify the upgrade costs.

Final Verdict

If you consider the wide range of features that come with great customer support, I don't see why you wouldn't try it at least once.

If you are a startup or a small business, Bluehost is one of the best options out there.

Like Bluehost is scalable and used by over 2 million sites, if you need a good hosting provider, you can trust them.

So you can always upgrade to a higher plan when your business starts to grow.

When it comes to uptime and load times, Bluehost continues to rank among the top providers of web hosting services.

Plus, you get a 30-day money-back guarantee, solid security, great customer support, a free SSL certificate, lots of user-friendly apps, and much more. Not to mention one of the lowest price plans in the industry.

However, if you migrate your site from others web hosting services, you need to make a one-time payment of $149. This may make you a bit wary, but again, the services and support you get for that amount of money are well worth it.

Overall, Bluehost offers one of the best web hosting options out there and has my full support.