BlueHost is based in Utah and has been in operation since 2003. With over 700 employees this web hosting provider goal is to provide a quality service at a low cost to its customers. This includes high-end servers and networking equipment, industry leading set of features, a secure infrastructure, and excellent customer service. BlueHost is part of Endurance International Group which also own other web hosts like HostMonster.
Shared Web Hosting
Bluehost is best known for their low-cost shared Linux hosting plans. These plans are ideal for the small business owner and the individual who desires full functionality on a small budget. This includes everything from a domain and email management, to automatically installing content management systems in a single mouse click. As matter of fact, WordPress.org endorses Bluehost as the web hosting provider of choice.
| Plan Name | Basic | Plus | Business Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sale Price* | $3.95 / month | $6.95 / month | $14.95 / month |
| Regular Price | $7.99 / month | $10.99 / month | $23.99 / month |
| Subscription Lengths | 12, 24, and 36 months | 12, 24, and 36 months | 12, 24, and 36 months |
| Websites | 1 | 10 | Unlimited |
| Bandwidth | Unmetered | Unmetered | Unmetered |
| Storage | 50 GB | 150 GB | Unlimited |
| Databases | 20 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Email Accounts | 5 x 100 MB | 100 x 500 MB | Unlimited |
| Extras | Free Domain | Same as Basic plan, plus Global CDN | Same as Plus plan, plus high performance server, 1 SSL, 1 Dedicated IP, 1 Domain Privacy, and SiteBackup Pro |
* Prices based on 1 year subscription which will renew at the regular price. Prices can increase/decrease depending on subscription length. All prices in USD unless specified other wise. Costs and features offered last checked January 29, 2016.
While the Pro Package is 3 times the price of the Basic package it has 80% less accounts per server which allows the use of more resources per account (more CPU usage, disk usage, bandwidth). The Pro package offers more speed, more power, with less users and could be well worth the price if your website has an above average amount of internet traffic.
Cloud Hosting
Storing your website on the cloud makes it more reliable as your data at Bluehost is automatically mirrored across 3 different servers. This means if a hardware issue happens with one device the others will continue on as normal. Load times are also extremely fast with Cloud Hosting at Bluehost due to high end hardware and a varnish caching layer along with a global CDN to ensure the server resources are used where needed. If you are already using Bluehost Shared Hosting and wish to upgrade to Cloud Hosting this can be done easily with the automatic migration tool, with a seamless transition in minutes.
The Cloud Hosting dashboard makes tracking your site's performance simple. At a glance find out page download speeds, usage trends, and global reach, and many other statistics. As your website grows instant resource management allows you to increase your cloud usage with just a click of a button by either upgrading your plan, or by adding CPU resources and RAM as needed without reboots or downtime.
| Plan Name | Starter | Performance | Business Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price* | $5.95 / month | $8.95 / month | $15.95 / month |
| Subscription Lengths | 12, 24, and 36 months | 12, 24, and 36 months | 12, 24, and 36 months |
| Websites | 1 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Bandwidth | Unmetered | Unmetered | Unmetered |
| Storage | 100 GB | Unmetered | Unmetered |
| Speed | 2 CPU Cores + 2 GB Memory | 4 CPU Cores + 4 GB Memory | 6 CPU Cores + 6 GB Memory |
| Extras | Free Domain | Same as Starter plan, plus SpamExperts | Same as Performance plan, plus 1 SSL, 1 Dedicated IP, 1 Domain Privacy, and SiteBackup Pro |
* All prices in USD unless specified other wise. Costs and features offered last checked January 29, 2016.
Virtual Private Server Hosting
Bluehosts virtual private servers are built from the ground up on cloud technology with the latest state-of-the-art hardware and open source technologies like OpenStack and KVM hypervisor. With Bluehost VPS hosting you don't have to wait when you activate your subscriptions since with instant provisioning, your Bluehost VPS servers will be ready almost immediately.
Every VPS configuration includes Bluehost improved cPanel interface. It features everything found in the shared solution, along with special tools for VPS management and WHM control. With the enhanced cPanel, server expansions are enabled without requiring admin assistance. You can also dynamically add additional storage on the fly with additional CPU and RAM coming soon. Plus you can add more VPS, or even shared and dedicated hosting services to your account and manage everything in one place.
With access control you can create passwords which grant access to specific aspects of your account. Issue one for ownership information, one for server administration, and/or one master password for everything. For advanced users who wish root access and complete control of the server, the Bluehost enhanced cPanel control panel offers full access to CentOS. Bluehost VPS servers are designed from the ground up to support everything an Admin needs, like server-side includes, Secure Shell (SSH) access, log file access and web-based managers for files, databases and email. You can also customize your own .htaccess files, cron jobs and php.ini files.
| Plan Name | Standard | Enhanced | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sale Price* | $14.99 first month | $29.99 first month | $44.99 first month |
| Regular Price | $29.99 / month | $59.99 / month | $89.99 / month |
| Subscription Lengths | 3, 6, and 12 months | 3, 6, and 12 months | 3, 6, and 12 months |
| IP Addresses | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Bandwidth | 1 TB | 2 TB | 3 TB |
| Storage | 30 GB | 60 GB | 120 GB |
| Speed | 2 CPU Cores + 2 GB Memory | 2 CPU Cores + 4 GB Memory | 3 CPU Cores + 6 GB Memory |
* Prices based on 1 year subscription which will renew at the regular price. Prices can increase/decrease depending on subscription length. All prices in USD unless specified other wise. Costs and features offered last checked January 29, 2016.
An Ultimate plan for $119.99 per month is also available but is not shown in the above chart.
Dedicated Server Hosting
With dedicated hosting you do not share the server with anyone else. You have your own machine that is provisioned within 5 minutes when you purchase a Bluehost dedicated hosting package. All Bluehost dedicated hosting servers come with RAID Level 1 storage which means your drive is mirrored. If one drive goes down you still have the other hard drive which will continue to function with all your data.
Bluehost dedicated servers operate on OpenStack which is a scalable cloud infrastructure software that is open sourced and supported by companies like Cisco, AT&T, and Intel (among many others). The Web Host Manager (WHM) used is an enhanced version of cPanel which allows you to manage your server resources along with giving you complete administrative access to CentOS.
| Plan Name | Standard | Enhanced | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sale Price* | $74.99 first month | $99.99 first month | $124.99 first month |
| Regular Price | $124.99 / month | $169.99 / month | $209.99 / month |
| Subscription Lengths | 3, 6, and 12 months | 3, 6, and 12 months | 3, 6, and 12 months |
| IP Addresses | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Bandwidth | 5 TB | 10 TB | 15 TB |
| Storage | 500 GB (Mirrored) | 1 TB (Mirrored) | 1 TB (Mirrored) |
| Speed | 2 CPU Cores + 4 GB Memory | 4 CPU Cores + 8 GB Memory | 4 CPU Cores + 16 GB Memory |
* Prices based on 1 year subscription which will renew at the regular price. Prices can increase/decrease depending on subscription length. All prices in USD unless specified other wise. Costs and features offered last checked January 29, 2016.
Additional Costs
Most hosting plans at Bluehost offer the following features below for at an additional cost (if they are not already included):
- Domain Names for $15.99 / year (com, .net, .biz, .info, .org, and .us)
- Domain Privacy for $0.99 / month
- Dedicated IP for $3.99 / month
- Site Backup Pro for $1.99 / month
- SiteLock Security for $1.99 / month
- Search Engine Jumpstart for $1.25 / month
- SpamExperts Mail Filtering for $2.99 / month per domain name
- Constant Contact (Email Newsletters Solution) for $20 / month
- SSL Certificates for $59.88 / year
- SAN Storage for Dedicated hosting ranges from $50 for 500 GB to $400 for 4 TB / month
- Migration Services for $149.99 to help with moving your existing website to your new account
- Quickstart for $79.99 to help get your new site up and running with training from a Bluehost expert
Guarantee
Bluehost offers a 30-day money back guarantee if you are not completely satisfied. You can cancel anytime. If you cancel your hosting plan within 30 days you will receive a full refund. Cancelling after 30 days means you will receive a prorated refund based on the remainder of your hosting term. There are no hidden fees or penalties for ending your hosting subscription term early. Some add-on products like domains are not included in the 30 day money back guarantee due to how the pricing structure is setup. Domain names can only be cancelled and refunded within 3 days.
Customer Support
Bluehost customer service is available 24/7 for general support questions and for those hard to troubleshoot problems you might have that can range from account issues to problems with your Wordpress installation. You can contact Bluehost via online chat and a toll free phone number. You can also use Bluehost's in-depth knowledge base to search for answers to more common questions. The knowledge base contains both detailed articles and videos on a variety of topics. Customer support tickets can also be submitted.
Disclaimer: While we make every effort to ensure the accuracy and reliability of our information at Review Chatter we shall not be held responsible for any discrepancy. There is a possibility that the information provided here is outdated or wrong, please check with the companies website directly for the most recent information. As always you should read your terms of service before purchasing any product online or signing up to any online service.
