by USR
Doing your homework body and soul to find the best Bluehost review in 2023 so that you can ensure that Bluehost, which they say is the leading web hosting company, will actually turn out the most beneficial one for you?
Whether you are looking to set up an online business or start a blog for yourself or someone else—the need for choosing a web hosting company to host your website is inevitable.
In search of the best and leading web hosting companies online using Google, it is certain that you will come across Bluehost in the first search engine ranking pages.
Considering the same, I am here to share a comprehensive and candid Bluehost review covering its Features, Pros and cons, Hosting Plans, Prices, Sign up process, etc. with you for your general knowledge.
What is Bluehost?
Bluehost is presently looked on as the leading web hosting company today. It has made a mark in the industry with its utmost reliability, uptime, performance, affordability, and its world-class features that progressively contribute to your website’s development.
Bluehost came into view in 1996 for the first time as a free hosting company. Its website domain initially was www.0catch.com but today the company has advanced beyond comparison in every aspect.
Bluehost, which is its present name, came into view in 2003. At present, the company is teamed up with over 700+ employees and hosts over 2 million websites worldwide.
Bluehost has been allied with WordPress as mutual partners for over a decade. The duo company has a support staff to help WordPress users in every way.
They have also armed them with a qualified engineering team responsible for making WordPress core development. Suffice to say now, Bluehost helps its users with world-class WordPress hosting within their budget.
Quick Bluehost Review
>> Uptime Guarantee: 99.9%
>> Response Time: 491 ms
>> Bandwidth: Unlimited
>> Storage: 50 GB
>> Price: $2.95/mo
>> Our Verdict: Quick, reliable and cheap.
Bluehost Features & Upside
99.9% Server Uptime
The standard server uptime of website hosting is believed to be around 99%. So if you hire a web hosting company that delivers less than 99% server uptime, then you bottleneck your efforts to earn income and deliver a substandard experience to your target website users.
A premier web hosting company such as Bluehost exceeds the standards of the industry by offering a whopping 99.9% uptime, which is more than expected! In fact, the uptime is not exclusively applicable to the higher-level shared plans but also their lower-level ones.
If you check online reviews of Bluehost, you will find that the company has other plans such as cloud hosting and dedicated servers offer an uptime of almost 100%! Also, having a look at the website’s network/server uptime agreement page, you will also find that they claim to iron out maximum issues about server downtime in less than 15 minutes.
Daily Automated Backups
Security is generally one of the top priorities of customers who plan to pay for a web hosting service. Keeping the point in mind, Bluehost does not make any cutbacks in terms of security measures. In easy words, choosing Bluehost as your web hosting support, you get daily backups as well as website restorations on any Bluehost plan.
Additionally, Bluehost outsources its safekeeping to Cloudflare, a reliable name in the Content Delivery Network (CDN) industry. What is more, Bluehost offers a lot of safekeeping measures, for example, SiteLock, regular scans to thwart the entry of viruses and malware to your website, invariable monitoring on servers, a free SSL certificate, password protected directories, and so on.
Free Domain Name for 1st Year
Bluehost has carved a niche for itself in the website hosting industry as a result of offering unlimited web hosting with a free Email account for one year.
So, if this is what you are looking for, put an end to your search at Bluehost. In simple words, grab a year hosting plan from Bluehost ($58/year), and this way you will get one year of unlimited storage hosting + 1 free domain + free Email account.
To get your free domain for the first time, please visit the website Bluehost.in and complete the sign-up process there.
Free SSL Certificate
Bluehost’s SSL Certificate is available free of cost and is powered by Let’s Encrypt. One of the important aspects of the free SSL certification of Bluehost is that it works to fortify the connection between websites and its target visitors. Another special thing about the certification is that your personal data, ecommerce transactions, and other sensitive data are all protected very well – and that all without costing a dime!
Sitelock
SiteLock is another great feature Bluehost offers to its customers. Basically the feature is all about ensuring the protection of your website. With Sitelock installed in your website hosting plan, you can ensure regular malware scanning and deletion of malware, protection against DDoS attacks, and spam 24/7. Sitelock Site’s security is ensured by running automatic malware scans.
Multi-Server Management
To describe multi-server management in simple words, the multi-server management of Bluehost helps manage multiple servers, interfaces and logins from a dedicated and exclusive control panel. Even reckoned as a leading web hosting service provider, Bluehost understands how hard it is to deal with a variety of user interfaces, servers, logins, systems, etc. simultaneously. In any case, Bluehost provides substantial help.
Multi-server management extensions of Bluehost help you run hosting services on over a handful of servers. Infrastructure management becomes a walk in the park, as a customer needs not to keep multiple hostnames, their login IDs, passwords, etc. in mind. Also, when it comes to the manipulation of any setting becomes handy and effortless
1-Click WordPress Install
With a 1-click WordPress install application, it is very easy, prompt, and hassle-free to install a variety of apps, software programs, and CMS (Content Management System) on your new website. For example, if you are looking to get a WordPress website created, select WordPress, key in the information and Bluehost will easily and automatically cater to the need.
Automatic WordPress Updates
With WordPress Updates Tool, you get the facility to update WordPress, plugins and themes freely and without any hassle. Bluehost has incorporated this feature since August 2015 and has seemingly turned on every automatic WordPress core update. Also from what we can let you know, they have turned on the theme and plug-in updates too!
30-Day Money-back Guarantee
Although there are almost no odds of your dissatisfaction regarding the Bluehost services, yet in case such a thing happens, the company offers a 30-day money-back guarantee! However, please note that to get your money back within 30 days, you need to inform the company about your service cancellation within 30 days of the service you had chosen.
Making cancellations after the 30-day guarantee period will gain you a prorated refund for the remainder of your term.
24/7/365 Support
Bluehost, the up-and-coming web hosting company, is known for offering world-class 24/7 customer support services in the industry.
In fact, you can get in touch with Bluehost’s customer support team 24 x7x365 via a variety of platforms, for example:
- Live Chat
- Emails
- Ticketing System
- Phone Calls
- Social Media Support
Out of all 5 customer support platforms, reaching the customer support desk via phone support option is seemingly the best and easiest way to get in touch with. Irrespective of the web hosting issues you have, a well-qualified tech support professional will do his/her best to iron out your issues.
However, in general, there are very few chances that you need any professionals for help. In simple words, Bluehost has already installed an exclusive support library to give answers to your questions with comprehensive walkthroughs to typical issues.
Bluehost Hosting Plans, Prices & Packages
Bluehost’s hosting plans and packages are simply one of a kind and they fundamentally cover a broader range of flexibility and scalability. While Bluehost is generally chosen for the shared hosting and optimized WordPress hosting it offers, there are also various other hosting plans to be selected depending on your personal choice and needs.
To help you handpick the best Bluehost hosting plans for your potential website, take a look at the lowdown of the comprehensive Bluehost hosting packages:
Bluehost Shared Hosting
Shared hosting is preferred as one of the most sought-after web hosting plans to other hosting plans. Most webmasters choose the plan as a result of its lesser cost. In general, most webmasters, for certain reasons, are reluctant to build up their sites substantial enough to update it to a higher level of hosting, therefore, they adhere to shared hosting.
Here is the lowdown of the different Shared hosting packages Bluehost offers:
The Basic starter package Bluehost offers to its customers is available at the price of $3.95 per month. The Plus package plan is available at $5.85, the Choice Plus is $5.95, and their Pro plan is $13.95 per month.
If you have a startup, then the Basic plan will be just the ticket for you. You can switch to the advanced plan when your business starts thriving.
If you are more interested in choosing the Plus package plan, you should prefer the Choice Plus plan to the Plus package plan. In fact, both plans have the same pricing. As an extra benefit, the Choice Plus plan comes with bells and whistles features along with additional site backups, domain privacy add-ons, and so on.
Incidentally, having a look at the pricing before purchasing a hosting plan is an idea worth considering, as preliminary hosting offers generally change in terms of pricing.
The Pro plan offers a variety of features and benefits such as unlimited website space, bandwidth, support for a host of websites, dedicated IP addresses, and so on.
A dyed-in-the-wool IP offers exclusive benefits such as Email protection and Server Script requirements.
For whom Shared Hosting is the right choice?
Shared hosting is the right choice for startup entrepreneurs. This is because shared hosting entails the lowest cost and boasts of a variety of sumptuous features and functionalities. The plan comes furnished with all resources that can contribute to growing your website. Depending on other resources and features you need sooner or later, you can freely update your web hosting package. Choosing shared hosting is again the best choice if you are building a site that remains below the mark in attracting good traffic.
Bluehost Dedicated Server
As you choose to add Dedicated Server Hosting to your website, you rent an integral physical dedicated server. Seemingly, the pricing of the Bluehost dedicated server is higher, as it endows you with the exclusive ownership of your server.
With Bluehost Dedicated server hosting, you can reap a variety of whopping benefits. The benefits include complete server customization, virtuoso performance, a large amount of storage as well as an unrivaled level of security. Below is the illustration of the pricing plans for the Dedicated Server Hosting:
Bluehost Dedicated server hosting plan will cost you $79.99 per month and thankfully it is the cheapest dedicated plan offered by Bluehost. Considering the cost of the Enhanced plan of Bluehost, it is $99.99 per month, while the Premium plan is priced at $119.99 per month.
Each plan differs in mutual respect to the server speed, storage space, RAM, and the number of dedicated IP addresses.
For whom Dedicated Hosting is the right choice?
Webmasters who are looking to gain absolute control over their server setting can easily choose a dedicated hosting server. Additionally, if you want to make the server according to specifications to fit your business needs, then no other hosting but only Dedicated Hosting is just the ticket for you.
Choosing Dedicated hosting, you will get massive storage, bandwidth, and RAM – fundamentally an all-in-one and world-class server environment.
Usually, large-scale websites with a great volume of traffic prefer dedicated servers to other hosting types. Moreover, if your website requires a heightened level of security, choosing the dedicated server is truly the best choice. In other words, if you have a website that stores confidential financial information or another personal database, consider choosing this hosting is a levelheaded idea.
Bluehost VPS Hosting
Bluehost has earned a top-level prominence when it comes to considering beginner-level web hosting plans. Therefore, while you choose a Bluehost hosting plan to host your website, what you get from the end of Bluehost is remarkably the affordable price, user-friendly, and, by long odds, feature-rich shared and WordPress hosting.
Also, while your startup starts coming to the front (or its business starts thriving) and you feel like your website entails more state-of-the-art features to accommodate the burgeoning traffic, Bluehost offers virtual private server (VPS) hosting too.
Considering the features and functionality of Bluehost’s VPS hosting, it is analogous to a dedicated server. And its pricing is relatively more affordable than your personal physical dedicated server. Bluehost incorporates innovative virtualization technology into its VPS hosting program to create a virtual dedicated server across multiple shared servers. It directs to the fact that you still share a physical server with other users yet without any overlap. The hosting will not interfere with any other server resources in any case.
With Bluehost’s VPS hosting, you can reap another benefit to upgrade your server resources fast. This is because you will not be limited to the restraints of a physical server.
Have a look below at the salient features of Bluehost’s VPS hosting plans:
- 2-8 GB of RAM
- 2-4 Cores
- 1-2 IPs
- cPanel and Root Access
- 30 GB – 120 GB SSD Storage
- A free domain name for the preliminary year
- Multi-server management & File Management
- Add-ons such as SEO Tools, Domain Privacy, SiteLock, etc.
Here is the pricing for the VPS Hosting plans:
The plan end-to-end appears quite impressive yet the major difference in the plans can be seen in terms of the total storage space, bandwidth, and RAM. As you choose higher-level plans, you can get access to more IP addresses.
At present, the cost of the Standard plan is $19.99/month, the Enhanced plan $29.99/ month, and the Ultimate VPS plan $59.99/month.
You can choose the plan in accordance with the extent of the storage and the bandwidth you need.
For whom VPS Hosting is the right choice?
Webmasters who have exceeded their shared hosting may consider switching to VPS hosting. This type of hosting is dependable, scalable, and enables your website to give a better performance particularly if your website is attracting massive traffic.
With VPS hosting, you will have to compromise with a few site constraints whilst you can enjoy improved levels of server customization. In the meantime, you get a super-fast SSD storage, yet you have to manage more by yourself. If you are not a web development geek, it is better you just steer clear of this more innovative approach.
Bluehost WordPress Hosting
Shared WordPress Hosting
Best Managed WordPress Hosting
Planning to launch your something on a WordPress site, but are on the fence which hosting to choose. Well, if you prefer Bluehost hosting services, then you would want to choose managed WordPress hosting as your best option. With Bluehost WordPress hosting, what you get truly is a sumptuous hosting environment that is perfect for your website from scratch. The hosting will do wonders in streamlining the performance of your website whilst you also achieve an increased level of security.
What’s more, you get a variety of other remarkable features, for example:
- All-in-one marketing center and dashboard
- SEO, email marketing, and social media tools
- Streamlined performance
- Unlimited websites & domains
- No traffic limits
- Unlimited web storage
The bottom-line of Bluehost’s WordPress hosting plans is that the plans come pre-installed with WordPress, facilitating the building of a WordPress site from scratch.
Moreover, you get access to a state-of-the-art cPanel designed exclusively for WordPress, SiteLock security, and an SSL certificate that is free of cost.
Here are the pricing plans for Managed WordPress Hosting:
The above-mentioned 3 WordPress hosting plans vary in mutual in terms of the overall number of visitors allowed a month. Variations in the plan can also be found in terms of storage, RAM, integrated CDN, backup sizes, safekeeping, and level of SSL certificate.
Brace yourself to pay $19.99 every month if you want to maximize the Standard plan. On the other hand, the Enhanced plan will cost you $29.99 a month, the Premium plan $39.99 a month, while the Ultimate plan $49.99 a month.
Who should use Best Managed WordPress Hosting?
In general, Best Managed WordPress Hosting is the ticket for those who want to host a WordPress site. The plan covers a heightened level of security and delivers a virtuoso performance. Besides this, the plan comes furnished with personalized tools and state-of-the-art cPanel, to let users deal with the site very easily.
Maybe, the need for using Bluehost managed WordPress hosting immediately is not a must if this is your first time to use a WordPress site. For the first-time users, a basic shared hosting plan will be the ticket. However, when your website starts attracting tremendous traffic, upgrading your website is worth considering.
For an enterprise running a WordPress website and it is fast attaining prominence, the idea to upgrade to WordPress-optimized hosting is again worth considering.
Bluehost eCommerce Powered by WooCommerce
Bluehost Sign Up Steps
As a result of several friendly functions for a first-time user, creating your website with Bluehost is a piece of cake.
The first step you need to take is to sign up with Bluehost.
Step #1 Visit Bluehost.com to create Bluehost Account
As you visit and explore the homepage of Bluehost.com, you will view the “Get Started” button there. All you have to do there is click the button and feed the information. This will carry out the signup process.
Step #2 Select a Web Hosting Plan
As the signup process is successfully over, you will automatically be redirected to a new page that will feature 4 Shared Hosting Plans: Basic, Plus, Prime, and Business Pro to you.
Here is an overview of the features of each plan you may choose:
1. Basic Plan (An ideal plan for first-time users)
- Host a single website with 50GB of space
- Unmetered bandwidth
- 5 email accounts with 100MB per account
- The Plus, Prime, and Pro packages will be beneficial to you if you plan to run multiple websites at once or if you plan to launch an eCommerce site.
2. Plus Plan
- Host unlimited websites with unmetered space
- Unlimited email accounts with unlimited storage space
- No spams
3. Prime Plan
- Host unlimited websites with unmetered space
- Unlimited email accounts and storage space
- Make the most of website backups, domain privacy, etc.
4. Business Pro Plan
- Host unlimited websites with unmetered space
- Unlimited email accounts and storage space
- Covers spam security, SSL certificate, dedicated IP, domain privacy, and so on.
- Whether you are a blogger or run a regular web store, then you can maybe choose one of the basic Bluehost plans.
Step #3 – Select a Domain Name.
Based on your preferences and needs, you can choose a specific plan and after you have completed the step, you will be prompted to enter your domain name.
Here, you get two alternatives:
You can either sign up for a “new domain,” which is completely free of cost for the first year.
Or if you already own a domain, then it is worth opting for the “I have a domain name” option.
Next, using your discretion, you can choose your website to be .com, .org, .net, and so on.
Step #4 Enter your Personal Details & Pick Add-Ons
After you have finalized your domain name (or you have postponed it for a later time), you will want to take the next time, which is to feed your “Personal Information” in order to create your account.
The personal information will include details, for example, your first and last name, email address, password, country, phone number, etc.
Scroll down to get access to the “Package Information” section. Reaching here, you can ensure the time period of your Bluehost package to last. In general, the time period ranges from 12, 24, to 36 months. Also, make sure to choose a few add-ons such as SiteLock Security Find, Codeguard Basic, and Bluehost SEO Tools Start.
There is a rare possibility that you will like to include all the add-ons, so it is sensible to choose only the one that fits your needs very well.
Next, you will have to choose a specific payment alternative. Bluehost offers two payment alternatives i.e. credit card or PayPal.
Step #5 – Successfully signed up Notification
So here ends the final step. You have successfully and ultimately signed up Bluehost.
Now, click on the “Submit” button and you will receive a welcome email from Bluehost’s. This email is purposefully sent to confirm your hosting account. The email generally covers your entire login details to help you get started easily.
After the signup process is over, it is time to install WordPress from the cPanel once and for all.
Downside of Bluehost
Increase in the Renewal Price
Not to be surprised, in general, web hosting companies hike up their prices when it involves renewing the services, and, of course, Bluehost is no exception. Bluehost has been offering thin introductory price rates to retain customers with them but there is an increase in the price when it comes to renewing the services.
Basically, this is what every web hosting company does and it is acknowledged as a pricing strategy.
Costly Upgrades & Add-ons
Bluehost is, in fact, relatively less costly than most of its competitors in the industry, albeit when it comes to the cost of its add-ons and account upgrades, it is relatively higher. If you have an SME, you would want to consider and adhere to Bluehost’s account options. In the meantime, if you are interested in getting server or security updates, then get ready to pay a relatively higher monthly fee.
Site Transfer is Not Free
Unlike most of its competitors, Bluehost refrains itself from offering free migrations if you add an existing site to their servers. If you are willing to switch your web hosting services to Bluehost, you have to pay essentially a certain cost for catering to the need. Presently, the cost to switch to 5 websites and 20 email accounts by Bluehost is $149.99. In spite of everything said, the good news is that the customer service and technical support professionals there are greatly helpful and assume complete responsibility to furnish customers with a seamless and back-to-back site transition.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Bluehost enable one to buy an email account from it?
At present, Bluehost does not enable anyone to buy any email accounts. They are presently focused on prompting customers to buy any of their various hosting plans where you can create email accounts.
Does Bluehost charge any hidden or unexpected fees?
It is possible because Bluehost is proverbially known for charging unexpectedly and additionally for their services, particularly renewal services, therefore please do the due diligence.
Does Bluehost offer a money-back guarantee?
Yes, Bluehost offers a money-back guarantee on all its hosting plans. They offer a 30-day money-back policy, meaning that customers can get a refund of their money within the period.
Can I revoke my Bluehost account?
Of course, you can revoke your Bluehost account. It is very easy, just go to the dashboard, locate the renewal options which are under the ‘Billing Information’ section and set it to ‘Do not renew’.
If you wish to revoke your Bluehost account right away, get in touch with their customer support team and ask them to do so.
If you have any question(s) or want to share your experience with other readers, you may leave a comment below.
