Struggling to pick between Bluehost vs DreamHost to host your WordPress website?
In the budget WordPress hosting space, Bluehost and DreamHost are two of the biggest names, so it makes sense that youâÃÂÃÂd narrow down your search to these two titans. But, while they both offer cheap WordPress hosting, there are some key differences that may push you in one direction or the other
For example, DreamHost are both cheaper and offer better performance (in my tests, at least), which is why I recommend DreamHost as the best option for
*most *people looking to launch a WordPress site on a budget. However, Bluehost have the advantage of offering cPanel access, along with a very well-designed and user-friendly custom hosting dashboard, which may make them a better choice in some situations âÃÂàsuch as if youâÃÂÃÂre a total newbie who wants the simplest way to launch a WordPress website
ðÃÂÃÂá Note: looking for higher-performance WordPress hosting? Check out this other post of ours comparing Kinsta and WP Engine
IâÃÂÃÂm getting ahead of myself, though, because to understand where those conclusions have come from, you really need to read the full comparison
LetâÃÂÃÂs dig in!
== Table of Contents ==
== Features ==
To kick things off, letâÃÂÃÂs go through the features you get with both Bluehost and DreamHost. I never like to devote too many words to this section because you can find all of these details in the marketing copy, but I think itâÃÂÃÂs useful to go through a quick comparison, so you can see how the two hosts stack up
If I mark a feature with a âÃÂÃÂ
emoji, it means itâÃÂÃÂs unique to the host âÃÂàor, in some situations, it means one host offer a feature on
**all** of their plans, while the other host only offer it on limited plans
Bluehost
- Automatic WordPress installation
- Custom hosting dashboard
- âÃÂÃÂ
cPanel access
- Unlimited websites (
except on the cheapest plan)
- Unlimited storage (
except on the cheapest plan)
- Unmetered bandwidth
- âÃÂÃÂ
Free email hosting on
allplans ( DreamHost charge extra on their cheapest plan)
- Automatic WordPress updates
- Free SSL certificates via LetâÃÂÃÂs Encrypt
- âÃÂÃÂ
Staging sites on all plans
- Automatic CodeGuard backups (
only on the most expensive plan)
- Built-in caching
- Free domain name
DreamHost
- Automatic WordPress installation
- Custom hosting dashboard
- Unlimited websites (
except on the cheapest plan)
- Unlimited storage (
except on the cheapest plan)
- Unmetered bandwidth
- Free email hosting on the higher-tier plan, extra fee on the cheapest plan
- Automatic WordPress updates
- Free SSL certificates via LetâÃÂÃÂs Encrypt
- âÃÂÃÂ
Automatic daily backups on
allplans ( Bluehost only offer automatic backups on their highest-tier plan)
- Free domain name
- âÃÂÃÂ
Free domain privacy/WhoIs protection (
Bluehost charge extra)
== Performance ==
Now, itâÃÂÃÂs time to get into the more hands-on sections of this comparison
Performance is one of the most important considerations with any web host, because how quickly your website loads will affect your visitorsâÃÂàuser experience, your search engine optimization (SEO) and even your conversion rates if youâÃÂÃÂre using your website to sell something
Basically, if one host loads your site faster than the other, thatâÃÂÃÂs a big advantage for the faster web host. And, when it comes to performance,
**DreamHost are the overall winner
To analyze how these two hosts compared, I set up an identical test site on both Bluehost and DreamHost. My test site used the Genesis Framework and the Authority Pro child theme, and I then imported the full Authority Pro demo site to create a realistic scenario
Beyond that, I didnâÃÂÃÂt make any changes. That is, everything else was the default experience as configured by each hostâÃÂÃÂs WordPress autoinstaller tool
Then, I used Pingdom to set up automatic performance monitoring over an entire week. I configured Pingdom to run a speed test every 30 minutes from the following locations:
- Eastern USA
- Western USA
- Europe
*For reference, my DreamHost data center is in Oregon, USA and my Bluehost data center is in Utah, USA.*
For each location, there are ~336 different data points, which eliminates single-test variability. Then, Pingdom took the median value of all of those tests
Overall,
**DreamHost performed better in two out of three tests âÃÂà**and in the one test Bluehost won, the speeds were very close:
Bluehost DreamHost
Eastern USA |2.01 s 2.13 s|
Western USA |2.14 s||1.20 s ðÃÂÃÂÃÂ|
Europe |2.95 s||2.56 sPingdom performance test data for Bluehost vs DreamHost](httpswpmarmalade.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/bluehost-vs-dreamhost-performance-1024x414.jpg)
*Note: If youâÃÂÃÂre wondering why BluehostâÃÂÃÂs Performance Grade is only 80 but DreamHostâÃÂÃÂs is 88, the difference is that DreamHost appear to enable browser caching by default, while Bluehost donâÃÂÃÂt. That is, the test sites are identical âÃÂàthe only difference is in the default hosting configuration.* **Overall, because DreamHost outperformed Bluehost in two out of three locations and were almost equal in the third, I feel confident saying theyâÃÂÃÂre the winner when it comes to performance**
== Dashboard/User Experience ==
If youâÃÂÃÂre looking at cheap shared hosts, such as DreamHost and Bluehost, user-friendliness is probably another big consideration in your choice
Both hosts offer custom dashboards that do a good job of making it easy to manage key aspects of your site. However,
**IâÃÂÃÂd say Bluehost have the edge when it comes to the dashboard experience/user-friendliness
Additionally, while Bluehost have built their own custom dashboard, they also still give you access to cPanel; on the other hand, DreamHostâÃÂÃÂs dashboard is 100% custom. That is, they donâÃÂÃÂt give you cPanel
Bluehost Dashboard
As I mentioned above, Bluehost have a unique hybrid approach where they give you a custom dashboard for day-to-day site management, while still giving you access to cPanel if you need it
For each site, you get a detailed area where you can manage key information. One really nice feature here is that, if youâÃÂÃÂre using WordPress, you can manage important parts of your WordPress site from this area:
For example, if you go to the
**Plugins** tab, you can activate/deactivate plugins and even update them: ![ Bluehost let you manage your WordPress plugins from the hosting dashboardhttpswpmarmalade.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/bluehost-plugins-dashboard-1024x807.jpg)
The
**Performance** tab also lets you adjust your siteâÃÂÃÂs caching or quickly enable a free CDN via Cloudflare: ![ Bluehost lets you manage important performance features from your dashboardhttpswpmarmalade.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/bluehost-performance-dashboard-1024x776.jpg)
Overall, this dashboard is really well done and, at least in my opinion, itâÃÂÃÂs one of BluehostâÃÂÃÂs biggest selling points. Put simply, if youâÃÂÃÂre a beginner, I think youâÃÂÃÂll have a really easy time launching a working website with Bluehost
However, if thereâÃÂÃÂs something you canâÃÂÃÂt do with the custom dashboard, you can always head to the
**Advanced** tab to access cPanel and all of the normal cPanel tools, including File Manager, phpMyAdmin for database editing, and lots more:
Having access to cPanel is another advantage of Bluehost because DreamHost do not give you cPanel
DreamHost
While I think Bluehost win when it comes to dashboard experience, that doesnâÃÂÃÂt mean DreamHost are bad. If you compared DreamHost with many other hosts, DreamHost would look pretty good âÃÂàitâÃÂÃÂs just that Bluehost have one of the best dashboard experiences of any shared host, so theyâÃÂÃÂre tough competition
First, though, the bad news âÃÂàDreamHost donâÃÂÃÂt offer standard cPanel, as IâÃÂÃÂve mentioned a couple of times. You can only manage your site through DreamHostâÃÂÃÂs custom dashboard. If youâÃÂÃÂve built cPanel into your workflows, that may be disappointing for you. However, if youâÃÂÃÂre not familiar with what cPanel is, you probably wonâÃÂÃÂt care either way because DreamHostâÃÂÃÂs custom dashboard still lets you do pretty much everything you need
The main dashboard gives you a quick summary of your site and links to key areas. You can also move around by using the menu on the top-left:
There are some slightly odd choices. For example, if you want to manage one of your WordPress installs, you actually need to look for the
**Websites** option under the **Domains** section. This will let you access most of your siteâÃÂÃÂs settings from one list:
YouâÃÂÃÂll also get other useful tools, such as an in-dashboard file manager, phpMyAdmin for database access, Cron jobs and more
Overall, though, I just donâÃÂÃÂt feel like DreamHostâÃÂÃÂs dashboard is as intuitive and streamlined for casual users as BluehostâÃÂÃÂs is. That, combined with Bluehost giving cPanel access, is why I give the nod to Bluehost
== Pricing ==
Comparing BluehostâÃÂÃÂs pricing vs DreamHostâÃÂÃÂs pricing can be tricky because there are a lot of variables. However, in general, DreamHost are the winners here because theyâÃÂÃÂre cheaper than Bluehost, offer more transparent pricing and let you pay monthly
When trying to compare prices in the budget shared hosting space, itâÃÂÃÂs important to consider two variables:
Promotional vs regular pricesâÃÂàmost shared hosts offer big âÃÂÃÂdiscountsâÃÂàon your first billing cycle (which can be up to three years). However, when you go to renew, youâÃÂÃÂll then need to pay full price, which can easily be double or triple the promotional prices. Term lengthsâÃÂàmost shared hosts only give you the cheapest prices if you pay for three years upfront. Usually, you see the âÃÂÃÂthree-yearâÃÂàprice on the pricing page and youâÃÂÃÂll pay higher amounts if you go with a shorter billing cycle
DreamHost make it very easy to see how these different variables affect the price, while Bluehost make it very difficult. This is why I say DreamHost have more âÃÂÃÂtransparentâÃÂàpricing
LetâÃÂÃÂs talk about each hostâÃÂÃÂs pricing in a vacuum first. Then, IâÃÂÃÂll compare them and also try to account for all of those variables
Bluehost
Bluehost offer three different shared plans:
BasicâÃÂàone website. PlusâÃÂàunlimited sites. Choice PlusâÃÂàunlimited sites plus automatic backups
The Plus and Choice Plus plans have identical promotional prices, though different renewal prices. In my opinion, this is mainly a smart marketing tactic to make you think the Choice Plus plan is a âÃÂÃÂno-brainerâÃÂÃÂ, so to speak
You can choose from three different billing cycles:
- One year
- Two years
- Three years
Bluehost do
**not** let you pay monthly on their shared plans, though. *DreamHost do allow this, which youâÃÂÃÂll see in a second*
One Year Two Years Three Years
Basic Promo/mo. |$4.953.952.95|
Basic Regular/mo. |$8.998.497.99|
Plus Promo/mo. |$7.456.955.45|
Plus Regular/mo. |$12.9911.9910.99|
Choice Plus Promo/mo. |$7.456.955.45|
Choice Plus Regular/mo. |$16.9915.9914.99|
As you can see, there are some big differences between the promo prices and the regular prices. In some situations, the regular prices are almost 3X the promo prices
DreamHost
DreamHost offer only two plans:
Starter âÃÂÃÂallows for one website. Unlimited âÃÂÃÂallows for unlimited websites
You can then choose from three different billing cycles:
Monthly Billing One Year Three Years
Starter Promo/mo. |$4.953.952.59|
Starter Regular/mo. |$6.993.952.59|
Unlimited Promo/mo. |$10.954.954.95|
Unlimited Regular/mo. |$11.999.957.95|
*For your first three months
If youâÃÂÃÂre on the Starter plan, youâÃÂÃÂll also need to pay an extra $1.67 a month for email hosting (which Bluehost donâÃÂÃÂt charge you extra for)
Bluehost vs DreamHost Pricing
In general, DreamHost are cheaper than Bluehost. To make that easier to see, hereâÃÂÃÂs a table that compares the
**one-year prices** for the following equivalent plans:
- DreamHost Starter vs Bluehost Basic âÃÂàone website
- DreamHost Unlimited vs Bluehost Choice Plus âÃÂàunlimited websites with automatic backups
DreamHost Starter Bluehost Basic DreamHost Unlimited Bluehost Choice Plus
Promo Price |$3.954.954.957.45|
Regular Price |$3.958.999.9516.99|
As you can see, unless youâÃÂÃÂre willing to pay for three years upfront to get the cheap Bluehost prices, DreamHost are actually significantly cheaper than Bluehost âÃÂàitâÃÂÃÂs just hard to figure this out because Bluehost arenâÃÂÃÂt very transparent with the many variables that go into their prices
Additionally, DreamHost also let you pay monthly, which is something Bluehost donâÃÂÃÂt allow. If you canâÃÂÃÂt afford a big upfront cost, this is another big advantage for DreamHost
== Support ==
Both hosts give you 24/7 support if you need it. However, Bluehost are a little more flexible in how you get support
Bluehost give you support via live chat, phone or ticket/email and all of their channels are available 24/7
DreamHost, however, only give you free support via email and live chat. Additionally, live chat support is only available from 5.30am to 9.30pm PT. While that should work fine if youâÃÂÃÂre based in the USA, it may be frustrating if youâÃÂÃÂre located elsewhere
*To be clear, DreamHost offer 24/7 email/ticket support âÃÂàitâÃÂÃÂs just the live chat option that has limited hours.*
DreamHost also give you the option to request a phone callback
*for an extra fee*. You can either pay monthly for a certain number of callbacks per month or pay a one-time fee for a single callback. Additionally, phone callbacks are only available from 6am to 10pm PST
Now, while that would seem to give the clear edge to Bluehost, IâÃÂÃÂm actually still going to give the
*slight *edge to DreamHost. Why? Because of support *quality*
To recap:
- In terms of
availability, Bluehost win because they give you phone support and both phone/live chat are available 24/7
- In terms of
quality, DreamHost are ahead
YouâÃÂÃÂll need to decide which aspect of support you value more
== Recapping Bluehost vs DreamHost ==
As we finish this comparison, letâÃÂÃÂs recap some of the biggest differences between Bluehost and DreamHost. Here are each hostâÃÂÃÂs strong points in comparison with the other:
Bluehost
At least personally, I find BluehostâÃÂÃÂs dashboard to be more user-friendly. For example, Bluehost let you manage WordPress settings and plugins from the hosting dashboard. This is somewhat subjective, though, and DreamHost are still better than most shared hosts
- Bluehost still give you access to cPanel, whereas DreamHost use a 100% custom dashboard
- Bluehost offer phone support at no extra cost
- All of BluehostâÃÂÃÂs support channels are available 24/7
DreamHost
- DreamHost performed better than Bluehost in the performance tests
- DreamHost are usually cheaper when you factor in all of the different pricing variables
- DreamHost let you pay monthly, whereas the shortest period with Bluehost is one year
- DreamHost offer automatic backups on all of their plans, whereas Bluehost only do so on the Choice Plus plan
- DreamHostâÃÂÃÂs support quality is generally rated as better than BluehostâÃÂÃÂs
== Which Host Should You Choose? ==
Now for the important question âÃÂàwhich host should you pick when it comes to Bluehost vs DreamHost?
For most people,
**IâÃÂÃÂd recommend starting with ** **DreamHost HereâÃÂÃÂs why:
- DreamHost performed better in our performance tests, which is one of the most important features to look for in any host
- DreamHost offer more flexible billing. For example, you can pay monthly. Bluehost try to lock you into three-year contracts by only offering the best discounts for three-year plans
- DreamHost are cheaper when you consider non-promotional prices. So, while DreamHost may seem a little more expensive at first glance, thatâÃÂÃÂs really just because DreamHost are more transparent with their prices
- While I didnâÃÂÃÂt find DreamHostâÃÂÃÂs dashboard to be quite as user-friendly as Bluehost, itâÃÂÃÂs still quite good and has all of the features most people need
One area where Bluehost do excel is when it comes to beginner-friendliness. Again, DreamHost arenâÃÂÃÂt
*bad *for beginners, itâÃÂÃÂs just that Bluehost are *better*. Still, I think DreamHostâÃÂÃÂs other benefits outweigh this, unless you feel very overwhelmed by the idea of creating a WordPress website and just want the absolute simplest option
Another consideration for some people may be cPanel access âÃÂàBluehost still give you access to cPanel while DreamHost donâÃÂÃÂt. So, if cPanel is really important to you, then that may be another reason to pay a little extra for Bluehost
Overall, though, DreamHost are the better choice for most people who want to make a WordPress site. If you want to get started, click here to go to DreamHost. DreamHost offer a lengthy 97-day money-back guarantee, so you have plenty of time to change your mind if youâÃÂÃÂre not happy with anything
Related Reading:
**Used/using either of these hosts? Thoughts