DreamHost and Bluehost are top-of-the-line web hosting providers. Both offer the same capabilities at an affordable price, but each has its pros and cons that you should consider when choosing the right web hosting provider for you. Our extensive research shows that DreamHost is a better choice than Bluehost due to its speed, uptime, and long-term pricing. However, Bluehost is still the best in terms of customer service and simplicity.

Bluehost is compared to DreamHost

Bluehost can be a great option if you are looking to make your next website easier than ever. The free website builder was easy to use and very customizable.

To make maintenance and navigation easy, the builder integrates seamlessly with cPanel. It scored well in customer support tests, scoring above average with friendly, quick reps available to assist you 24 hours a day. Bluehost plans start at $2.95 per Month if you are ready to give it a try.

DreamHost offers the most affordable month-to-month pricing plans that we have ever seen. This is a great way to try out building websites without paying for years or incurring huge hosting bills every few years. It has an industry-leading uptime that beats all other shared hosts (including Bluehost) in 30 days. Shared hosting starts at $1.99 per month.

Check out these top web hosting services

Bluehost and DreamHost excel in their respective fields, but many other hosting options might be more affordable. Our research team spent six months testing all types of hosting, including shared, VPS, and cloud hosting, from 10 different providers. We compared their uptimes, response times, ease of use, and customer support.

See all our top picks to see the results. You’ll find information about our shared hosting scoring system, which one is the fastest, which one is the most user-friendly, and a detailed review of each one of our top picks.

Bluehost shines where it matters

Bluehost’s intuitive and easy-to-use cPanel platform is accessible to anyone, even beginners. It clearly outlines all options upfront, as well as flexible features such as program installation, backup management and file organization. DreamHost’s custom control panel may require more time to learn, so users might spend longer trying to get to grips with the platform.

Security: Bluehost and DreamHost are tied in security. Bluehost offers SSL, SFTP, and SSH. While this doesn’t make it any better than DreamHost, they are great to have on your site. HTTP2 is also available automatically. Bluehost offers automatic malware detection and Google blacklist monitoring if you spend $30 per year on SiteLock protection.

Customer Support: DreamHost and Bluehost both offer 24/7/365 customer service, but there are some notable differences when it comes down to how you can get it. Bluehost offers more ways to get the help you need. Bluehost allows you to reach them by phone or chat, while DreamHost offers only the option of contacting them via their online chat or form. Chat is only available during business hours. This makes it difficult to contact them if you have a problem after hours or if your location is outside the United States. Bluehost offers fast, high-quality customer service. However, they may take a while to verify your account. They respond quickly and have knowledgeable representatives that know what they are doing.

Bluehost Falls, Short

Bluehost can be a bit pushy about extra costs and upsells. Bluehost offers many great features. Their marketing and ads clutter the platform. Even if you only want to make site updates, the upsells might get in your way. Bluehost wants you to purchase more hosting plans and upgrades. Even if your current hosting plan is satisfactory, Bluehost will continue to push you to upgrade if it’s not necessary. It’s possible to waste money on something that could be used for your business’s growth.

Bluehost has only one server location: Bluehost only owns one server and it is located in the United States. This can be problematic for international users. Bluehost customer service is available 24/7 so you can be sure that they will help you. SiteGround and other web hosts have more servers around the world, so they might be a better choice if you require international service.

Backups: Bluehost only offers three backup options–daily/weekly and monthly. This is a small amount when you consider the fact that other hosts offer more than 20 backup options. Bluehost will charge you for more backups if you need them. You can get more backups but they are not free. This is not the norm for web hosting services. If you are serious about backing up your website, which is a good idea, you can search for other web hosts that offer more backups without having to pay more.

Bluehost’s page loading speed for shared hosting is an average of 1107 milliseconds. It’s not bad, but it’s still a lot slower than the dreaded 3-second mark. Average load times for top shared hosting providers are around 650 milliseconds. Bluehost’s slower speed puts your site at risk for visitors leaving to go to sites with better speeds.

DreamHost shines

Pricing: DreamHost’s pricing rates are lower than other hosting services like Bluehost. You can get three years of hosting starting at $1.99 per month for $2.59/per month. Or, you can skip the long-term commitment by paying only $1.99 per month. Bluehost only offers two tiers, but you can choose from both. Both tiers offer tons of features at a great price. DreamHost offers unlimited features and unlimited storage, which is a significant advantage over other hosting services.

Scalability: DreamHost offers shared, dedicated, VPS, and WordPress hosting packages. Bluehost does not offer cloud storage. This gives you more hosting options across multiple servers and improves your site’s security. Bluehost will try to sell you many hosting plans and features. DreamHost provides them upfront so that you don’t feel overwhelmed while you work on your site. You also have many options to upgrade. As your business grows, you can move to VPS or dedicated hosting if you start with shared hosting.

Storage: All plans include unlimited storage from DreamHost. This is not a feature offered by every web host. Bluehost is one example of a company that offers tiers. They will give you a certain amount and then limit their storage to the highest tiers. Bluehost, for example, offers 50GB of storage on its Basic plan. Then it goes up to unlimited with higher packages. DreamHost, however, gives you unlimited storage from the beginning, regardless of whether you choose shared, dedicated, or VPS hosting. This ensures that you will never run out on your server.

Uptime: DreamHost boasts 99.99% uptime. Bluehost hovers at 99.94%. It sounds great until you realize that it can mean several hours of downtime each year. DreamHost is almost perfect at this, so your site will not go down. However, when it does, it will be back up quickly. When you run a website for a business, performance, and uptime are important. It ensures that your website is up and running, which keeps visitors on the site. It ensures customers find the right product quickly, increases customer satisfaction, and improves your company’s image by creating an online presence.

Bandwidth: DreamHost offers unlimited bandwidth for all plans and all hosting types. Bluehost, on the other hand, has unlimited bandwidth for shared hosting but it limits its usage as you increase your hosting plans, such as VPS hosting. DreamHost doesn’t require you to upgrade your plan solely based on bandwidth. This means that your website won’t be shut down by high traffic, and you won’t need to pay more to ensure your business’s success.

Security: DreamHost’s security is comparable to Bluehost’s. You get the same basic security features like SSL, SFTP, and SSH. DreamHost supports PHP7 and HTTPS2. You can also enable multi-factor authentication, and it has a firewall. DreamShield is available for $3 per month. This provides additional protection against malware and keeps unwelcome eyes from your site.

Backups: DreamHost gives you eight backups. Although it isn’t the best, it’s nearly double what you get from Bluehost without having to pay more. DreamHost also offers an on-demand backup option. BlueHost’s backups will be kept on demand by DreamHost servers. This is the only problem. To ensure that you have the backups, you will need to download them to your computer. This will allow you to restore your site if needed.

Page loading speed: DreamHost meets the three-second rule. Its pages can load in as little as 1.5 seconds. This is twice the speed of Bluehost in the best-case scenario. This means that people will be more likely to visit your site and purchase the product or information you offer, rather than searching elsewhere. DreamHost’s page loading speeds average 2.35 seconds almost one second faster than Bluehost.

DreamHost’s Shortcomings

Server Locations: DreamHost currently has two servers in Oregon and Virginia, but it doesn’t rank higher than Bluehost since both of them are still located in the US. This might make it more difficult for international users due to DreamHost’s inability to provide 24/7 chat support. This means that having two servers does not necessarily mean that it offers more than Bluehost.

It is user-friendly: DreamHost’s platform has a custom control panel that may present some difficulties at first. It’s similar to Bluehost in terms of usability, but it takes some time to get used to. This might not be a problem if you are comfortable with it or have a good understanding of technology. It doesn’t matter how clean it is or how many ads it has; the interface will still be difficult to understand.

Bluehost’s Final Verdict Compared to DreamHost

Both Bluehost and DreamHost offer solid choices for websites of any size. Each plan and package can be tailored to meet your business’s priorities, budget, and needs. They are both top-ranked web hosts for a reason. When you compare them side by side, they are pretty even.

Bluehost has four pricing tiers available for shared hosting. Rates can vary depending on the features you require and how long you are willing to commit.

Bluehost, like most web hosting providers, offers the best deals if you sign up for 36 months.

They’re currently offering the Plus and Choice Plus plans at the same $5.45/month rate. These plans are very similar, but Choice Plus offers you automated backups and domain privacy, as well as other benefits.

The Basic plan is great for beginners who don’t require extra storage or the ability to host multiple sites. It starts at $2.95 per month, which is a great deal for such a trusted provider.

The Basic package includes one website, 50GB of storage, custom themes, and a free domain for a full year. It also comes with a CDN and SSL certificate.

All plans above Basic include unlimited storage and websites. As you upgrade, you’ll get additional features such as a 30-day free trial of Office365, an automatic backup for a year, and a dedicated IP.

DreamHost offers fewer plans. Although you may have fewer options, you still get similar features at a lower price.

Bluehost is a good example of this. A 36-month contract will get you the best rates.

DreamHost offers both a month-to-month or one-year billing option. You can get either one of these plans for $2.95/month.

DreamHost is known for its affordable web hosting prices. At the time of writing, the Shared Starter Unlimited plan starts at $1.99 per month and $2.99 per year, respectively.

The Shared Starter plan has many similarities to Bluehost’s basic plan. This plan supports only one website and includes a free domain as well as a free SSL certificate. It is different from Bluehost because it offers unlimited storage and traffic. Upgrade to Shared Unlimited and get unlimited websites as well as unlimited email addresses for your domain.

All DreamHost plans come with a 97-day money-back guarantee

Comparison of the Top Web Hosting Services

Bluehost and DreamHost were compared using user reviews and our own experience to find the best. You can find our complete comparison guide.

1. Hostinger – Best web hosting for most users
2. SiteGround — Keeps uptime at 99.99%
3. HostGator — Great for scaling small businesses easily
4. DreamHost — Best pay-as-you-go web hosting
5. Bluehost — Best drag-and-drop page builder for beginners
6. InMotion Web Hosting — The best price for hosting two websites with one plan
7. Nexcess — The best for WordPress users who are experienced
8. A2 Host — The most reliable web hosting service for European and Asian customers

Bluehost and DreamHost both offer solid web hosting options. DreamHost is the best option if you want to have high-quality performance and not need to pay for a year upfront. Bluehost offers great customer support and a simple platform that you can use from the beginning.

You know your business best. Bluehost and DreamHost can offer this service, or you can find it in another web hosting provider.