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A great hosting provider guarantees that the website is developed correctly without limitations or interruptions. Let’s review Bluehost.
Bluehost technical support will make you feel at home, with 24/7 activity and excellent service. This greatly facilitates the use of the service, since its professionals will always be available to solve any problem.
Besides, the fact that Bluehost allows manipulation of servers through cPanel makes it an excellent hosting to install applications. You can install webmail and even WordPress manually.
Reasons To Choose Bluehost In 2022
Bluehost is also great for those who don’t use tools like cPanel. It offers WordPress optimized plans. If you hire a shared hosting service or VPS, technical support can help you with the installation.
To better understand what Bluehost has to offer, we must carry out an analysis of different technical aspects of the service. This way, you can verify that it correctly complies with the essentials of a storage service.
Bluehost prices
- BASIC $2.95 / month (at time of publication). 1 website, 50 GB of web space, SSL certificate, 5 parked domains
- Plus $5.95 / month (at time of publication). Pretty much everything unlimited
- Choice Plus $5.95 / month (at time of publication). Pretty much everything unlimited like before but this time with an extremely important addition of Site Backup
- Pro $13.95 / month (at time of publication). As before everything unlimited with Site Backup and a dedicated IP address. Another important aspect of Pro is that the performance is much better.
Pros of using Bluehost
Best Uptime — 99.99% — Throughout The Year
Your website is useless if your host can’t keep it online. So your hosting provider is like your Achilles’ heel — it’s the soft spot that could give out at any moment. And you can’t do a thing about it.
After reviewing 32 web hosts, our benchmark for “good” uptime is 99.94%. That might sound pretty high, but it’s actually even slightly below average. Plug that percentage into a calculator and you’ll quickly see it translates into at least 26 minutes of downtime each month or just over five hours over the course of a year.
So ideally, we don’t want to see anything less than that.
The good news is that Bluehost wasn’t anywhere close, comfortably keeping our site live for 99.99% of 2018–2019. Here’s the monthly breakdown, with a scheduled maintenance period in October:
- March 2019 average uptime: 99.99%
- February 2019 average uptime: 100%
- January 2019 average uptime: 99.96%
- December 2018 average uptime: 100%
- November 2018 average uptime: 100%
- October 2018 average uptime: 99.91% (scheduled maintenance)
- September 2018 average uptime: 100%
- August 2018 average uptime: 100%
- July 2018 average uptime: 100%
- June 2018 average uptime: 100%
- May 2018 average uptime: 99.99%
- April 2018 average uptime: 100%
- March 2018 average uptime: 100%
- February 2018 average uptime: 100%
- January 2018 average uptime: 99.99%
- December 2017 average uptime: 100%
- January 2019 average uptime: 100%
2. Fast Page Loading — 427ms (3rd Fastest)
When we last reviewed Bluehost’s services in early 2019, their speeds were, shall we say, less than satisfactory.
With an average speed of more than 1,500 ms, they were too slow to even rank in our top 10 (in fact, their services were #20 on our list from 2019 to mid-2020)
However, since the summer of 2020, Bluehost has improved their load times… By nearly 300%.
With an average load time of only 427 ms, Bluehost managed to pull itself up by the bootstraps and rise through the ranks to the 3rd fastest web host that we’ve ever reviewed.
Surprised by this sudden and unexpected jump in their page load times, I personally reached out to their team and asked how they managed to improve their speeds so drastically.
Their answer was simple, “We wanted to improve our customer experience and decided to invest in upgrading our ‘Bluerock’ server park”
And the results speak for themselves…
Last 8 month average load times:
- January average speed: 415ms
- February average speed: 463ms
- March average speed: 429ms
- April average speed: 409ms
- May average speed: 406ms
- June average speed: 468ms
- July average speed: 418ms
- August(19’th) average speed: 408ms
That’s not bad. In fact, Bluehost hosting ranks 3rd in speed.
A report from Google last year found that the vast majority of mobile websites are way too slow.
That’s a problem for two major reasons. Google’s mobile-first index can either elevate or hide your site from being found based on its speeds. And studies show that slow websites almost always translate into lower sales.
So after uptime, your host’s page loading times can literally make or break your site’s success.
Once again, we kept track of Bluehost’s performance over 2021 using a third-party tool, Pingdom. And once again, we were pleased with the results — an average speed of 406ms that comfortably places them as the 4th fastest site we’ve tested.
Low Introductory Pricing ($3.95/mo)
We’ll dive deeper into Bluehost’s full pricing and plans in just a few minutes.
However, if you were to go check out the starting prices, you’ll notice the lowest advertised price is $2.95/month. That’s a pretty good deal considering they’ve supposedly reduced it already from $7.99/month originally.
For that price, you get pretty much everything you need for a single website. That includes 50 GB SSD storage, unmetered bandwidth, a free SSL certificate, and more.
So you’d be getting a pretty good value for all of that, plus their consistent uptime and page speeds.
This is the lowest rate I’ve seen anywhere online. And trust me, I spend way too much time online as it is. So it’s a legit deal if you’re in the market for a new affordable host.
Good Security Options
With the myriad of cyber attacks and major data breaches that have been proliferating the marketplace, finding a web host with sufficient security options is more important now than ever before.
Luckily, Bluehost offers some great tools to combat and prevent some of the most common attacks and risks.
For example, you can prevent spam with tools like SpamAssassin, Spam Experts, and Spam Hammer. They also support CloudFlare, which helps prevent pesky DDoS attacks that can bring a site down by sending an overwhelming amount of “fake” traffic from different sources.
They also offer hotlink protection (which prevents people from stealing your images and content), IP address blacklists to block problematic individuals, SSH access for secure web sessions, and optional filters that you can use for specific users and email accounts.
You can also password protect your directories, create blacklists for IP addresses, and manage digital certificates and private keys right from Bluehost.
But they don’t stop there.
Bluehost has also integrated several layers of security to protect you on the account level.
You can enable two-factor authentication with your Bluehost account, and they’ve built the entire site with token account validation.
With token validation, you can prove your identity when you contact customer support by giving a six-digit code to verify your identity before having to give your password to a customer support agent.
All in all, Bluehost comes armed to the teeth with plenty of security features that will keep you, your audience, and your website safe.
Many Integrations, Apps, and eCommerce Features
Beyond the included security features, Bluehost also provides access to a ton of different apps and integrations so you can use the most popular services on the web.
For example, they have a domain manager if you’d rather just purchase and manage multiple domains through them. You can set daily, weekly, or monthly backups just in case.
You can install WordPress with a single click (more on that in the next section below). You can also install other popular content management systems (CMS) like Drupal, Joomla, run an e-commerce shop, and more.
Plus, Bluehost will even include access to a Content Delivery Network (CDN). These host your images and large files, taking that work off your servers, to deliver them faster to users around the world and keep your site fast at the same time.
In addition to the many security features listed above, Bluehost also comes equipped with an application-rich dashboard that allows you to integrate different services such as Google Apps and the aforementioned CloudFlare directly in the cPanel.
By integrating Google Apps into the Bluehost platform, you’ll be able to bring all of the perks of Google to your business right from the heart of your hosting account.
Cloudflare, on the other hand, is a popular, free CDN service that can boost your site’s speed and help keep it secure from potential hacks and breaches.
Furthermore, Bluehost has radically simplified its eCommerce features, allowing customers to seamlessly setup an online store with an endless number of shopping cart options. Simply click “Install” and get down to business.
Bluehost also says that you can use MOJO Marketplace to install shopping cart software, manually install software on your own, or hire a developer to install and/or manage it for you.
Simply choosing Bluehost allows eCommerce sites to obtain a free SSL security certificate, OpenPGP/GPG Encryption, and more right away.
Easy to Use for Beginners
Some of the web hosts we’ve seen are best only for advanced users.
LiquidWeb, for example, is great if you know what you’re doing. But they lack a user-friendly interface for non-technical people. So if you’re a beginner, you’d have a tough time getting a site live.
I liked that even though Bluehost uses cPanel, it’s still easy to use. You just need to point and click in most cases.
They have features for advanced users. But beginners can easily fire up a WordPress. Or, they can use the Bluehost website builder site to start with a template that you can customize by just dragging-and-dropping features.
30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
Getting the best deal on web hosting means you’re usually prepaying for a few months or years at a time.
Bluehost is no different — more on that below. But they do offer a 30-day money-back guarantee on their plans.
You can try out the service to gauge their performance for yourself, and then still ask for a refund if you’re not completely satisfied. There are a few caveats, though.
According to their terms, here’s what does and doesn’t fall under that guarantee:
- You can only get refunds on the web hosting cost, not any other products like domains or other add-ons.
- A $15.99 fee will be deducted if you received a free domain name in your plan.
- Any requests after 30 days will not be refunded.
It’s not exactly a no-questions-asked policy like we’ve seen from some hosts. So make sure you’re OK with those points before signing up.
Customer Support
Bluehost offers everything from a knowledge base, to live chat, email ticket support, and even the phone. I went with live chat, mainly because I’m not 70 years old, and Vinutha connected within about two minutes.
There were slight delays between each question, but overall, Vinutha was extremely friendly and offered direct answers to each question. It was a painless experience, which is exactly what you want out of a host’s customer support.
Cons of using Bluehost
Bluehost performs pretty well across the board. There are two big areas, however, where the costs get a little steep. Let’s dive deeper into each one.
Higher Renewal Rates (Common in Web Hosting Industry)
The best way to get a rock-bottom price is to prepay for one, two, or even three years upfront.
So on the one hand, that kinda sucks because you’re not just committing to a few bucks a month, but about a hundred for a few years from now.
But that’s not the worst-kept pricing secret in the web hosting industry.
No, that award goes to the high renewal rates after your introductory period expires. In this case, prepaying for a full three years at $2.95 is a good deal because you’re locking in that low rate for as long as possible.
However, at the end of that term, the rates will jump back up to their “Normal” rates. These range from $7.99 — $8.99/month on the most basic shared plan depending on how long you prepay.
Site Migrations Aren’t Free…
Most web hosts we’ve reviewed will move your existing website over to their service for free. They see it as a friendly service that helps make new customers happy, so they’ll wave any fees.
Unfortunately, Bluehost doesn’t do free migrations.
They have a one-time fee of $149 that includes up to five websites, 20 email accounts, and any other database files for these sites.
They claim it’ll be quick and seamless, so you won’t experience any delays or downtime.
However, the fact that you have to pay for it, and pay so much, is a big “Con” to consider.
Bluehost Pricing, Hosting Plans & Quick Facts
Bluehost’s Basic plan will set you back $2.95/mo.
The Plus plan increases to $5.95/mo — the same price as the Choice Plus option for unlimited websites, SSD storage, and bandwidth. They also allow you to manage unlimited domains, parked domains, and subdomain is on these plans, too.
The Pro plan starts at $13.95/month with all of these features and high performance from their servers.
However please note that advertised pricing below is a low introductory rate for a three-year term. Rates for shorter plans are more and you can’t get anything lower than 12 months.
Also, the word ‘unlimited’ doesn’t always mean unlimited (as discussed in the last section).
- Basic plan: For 2.95 per month, you get one website max, 50GB storage, and ‘unlimited’ bandwidth. You also get 5 email accounts (with max storage of 100MB each).
- Plus plan: $5.45 per month provides 10 websites, 150GB storage, and ‘unlimited’ bandwidth. You also get 100 email accounts of 500MB each.
- Prime plan: Their largest plan comes normally at $5.45 per month, providing ‘unlimited’ websites, storage, bandwidth, email account and email storage. (Currently On Sale)
You need to pay for three years at once to enjoy the advertised price for their shared hosting plans. It will cost much more if you choose a shorter duration, and the minimum duration you can pay for is 12 months.
In addition, Bluehost has all major web hosting types, including VPS, cloud, and dedicated data centers.
- Free domain? Yes for 1st year, then renews at $15.99.
- Ease of Sign-up: Easy two-page sign-up process.
- Payment Methods: Major credit cards and PayPal.
- Hidden Fees and Clauses: No refund on any domain names. Renewal rates for both domains and hosting increase.
- Upsells: Some Upsells. But it’s common in the web hosting industry, so don’t worry about it.
- Account Activation: Most users enjoy instant activation. If the information is inaccurate or there’s suspicion of fraud, activation might get delayed.
- Control Panel and Dashboard Experience: Simple and easy-to-use control panel.
- Installation of Apps and CMS (WordPress, Joomla, etc.): Mojo Marketplace makes app installation quick and easy.
Do we recommend Bluehost?
Yes, we do.
Bluehost has ranked at or near the top for both uptime and loading times for more than a year.
In addition, they offer strong security support, a money-back guarantee, and plenty of user-friendly apps, all for one of the lowest rates in the industry ($2.95/month).
They’re not perfect, though. Renewal rates will increase after the introductory pricing comes to a close. And they charge extra for site migrations, which other hosts throw in for free.
But overall, Bluehost delivers strong performance for a good value.
- 2.95/mo
