Bluehost review | Is Bluehost good?
Bluehost is one of the leading open-source Web hosting services, but is it really worth using, or Is it worth hosting your business, where you are just about to start up and your customers can visit you and purchase your offerings?
Absolutely. First of all, you will not be alone here. Bluehost hosts around 237K Websites and domains. It has been proven to be a dynamic resource for businesses just like yours. And facilitates Millions of Dollars worth of transactions every day. But before I get into whether “Is Bluehost good?”, let’s understand about the company itself.
Table of contents
Overview
Founded in 2003 by Matt Heaton and Danny Ashworth in Utah, United States. One of the best hosting services later got backed by Endurance International Group in 2010 for expansion of their portfolio and offerings.
Bluehost is built upon the idea of Open source, in order to give back to the community. The open-source tool lets developers utilize Bluehost’s offerings in a much convenient way. That makes Bluehost, one of the world’s most thriving tools for open source implementation and development.
In the world of Web hosting, this hosting tool is among the most favored by developers and startups due to its reasonable pricing model and user experience. Before we get into the Bluehost review let’s look at the list of companies who rely on Bluehost’s Web servers.
Who uses Bluehost and its market presence?
The legitimacy of any service comes from their clientele and reliability in the market. The technology sector is highly prone to vulnerabilities. Even the slightest bugs or service rundowns may cost a tech service a fortune.
Hence, it is important to analyze the credibility of any Web hosting service. And one of the ways to do that is to understand the market presence and customer reviews of that particular Web hosting service.
When it comes to Bluehost, the clientele is long. Currently, it is hosting around 237k companies on its own servers. Which is a decent number in this segment.
One interesting aspect to note here is that Bluehost is considered ideal for startups and middle-sized companies. This means its pricing model is attractive for beginners and medium enterprises.
Let us have a look at the hosting plans of Bluehost and what does it mean for you:
Hosting can be a complicated subject, especially for first-time users. So, how about I break down Bluehost’s offering into simple words and what does it mean for you:
Bluehost Shared hosting
Bluehost Shared hosting is one of the most affordable and economical packages offered by the company. Here, it works by letting multiple clients share a common server space, hosted by Bluehost. So, if you are planning to start a website for the purpose of Blogging, information, any small business this is ideal for you.
Bluehost provides multiple packages of features or offers when it comes to shared hosting space. You can start by this if you are a beginner and gradually move up as the requirement persists.
Shared hosting comes with 4 plans. It ranges from
Basic Shared hosting ( For one site)
Plus Shared hosting ( For multiple sites)
Choice plus Shared hosting ( With enhanced security and privacy)
Pro shared hosting ( For more optimized web resources)
The benefits of shared hosting include an affordable entry price into the segment. Also, the platform is managed by Bluehost, therefore you need not worry about the technical jargon.
It gives you an entry into the world of hosting and website. You may also take advantage of WordPress to create your website. SSL certificates, domains, etc are part of the shared hosting package.
Note: Shared Hosting vs WordPress Hosting. Which is the best?
Shared hosting and WordPress hosting are two of the most common options for first-time website owners. Shared hosting is a low-cost plan in which you share domain space with other websites. WordPress hosting (whether shared or not) indicates that the server has been configured for the platform read more…
Bluehost VPS hosting review
Virtual Private Server hosting allows you to have a dedicated CPU (Central Processing Unit) and RAM (Random Access Memory) to your account. This means your account shall always have a dedicated CPU and RAM, along with server storage as per your plan, despite other users.
This provides higher stability and enhanced performance to your hosting account. Which in turn leads to higher security to your website and the data that comes along with it. Below I mentioned the Bluehost pricing for VPS hosting.
Customers will have multiple plans under VPS hosting such as Standard plan, Enhanced plan, and Ultimate VPS hosting. You may choose between these plans depending on your current requirements. One more thing, you may upgrade these plans whenever you need to. This situation arises if the website traffic is increasing and you need more CPU power and storage in order to cope up with footfall and transactions.
At Bluehost, the pricing starts from
Standard VPS hosting for 30GB SSD storage and 2GB RAM at $19.99/ mo.
Enhanced VPS hosting for 60GB storage and 4GB RAM at $29.99/mo.
Ultimate VPS hosting for 120GB SSD storage and 8GB RAM at $59.99/mo. Choose wisely!
Note: Should you choose VPS or a Dedicated Server?
VPS Hosting is almost often less costly than Dedicated Hosting for your website, and you also get fewer resources as a result. Consider the kind of platform you’re operating as well as scalability when choosing between the two forms of hosting read more…
Bluehost Dedicated hosting review
Dedicated hosting means the allocation of the highest level of CPU resources and memory. It is considered ideal If you need the highest level of security and privacy as dedicated servers are different from all the other servers.
Here, no other user is sharing any space with you, which means you may customize the resources and configure the servers as per your requirements. No other user will be affected as the whole server belongs to you. You should go for the dedicated hosting, should you expect the highest level of traffic and sensitive data that comes along with it. Below I mentioned the Bluehost pricing for Dedicated hosting.
Dedicated hosting also comes in 3 packages.
Standard dedicated hosting at $79.99/mo for 500GB Storage and 4GB RAM with 5TB Bandwidth.
Enhanced dedicated hosting at $99.99/mo for 1TB storage, 8GB RAM, and 10TB Bandwidth.
Premium dedicated hosting at $119.99/mo for 1TB storage, 16GB RAM, and 15TB Bandwidth.
Bluehost with WordPress
WordPress is a website-building tool. While hosting on Bluehost, you get the option to host on WordPress (Highly recommended) to build, create and manage your website(s). Bluehost, as well as WordPress, are highly user-friendly tools to help you get your business online in the most effective way.
WordPress hosting means Bluehost shall provide you the tools, resources, and products which you would require to create a website, along with the technical help that you may require. One interesting thing here is that with WordPress hosting Bluehost provides 1 domain free for a year and an SSL certificate.
Let us look at Bluehost’s offerings when it comes to WordPress.
Basic WordPress hosting plan at $3.95/mo which includes 1 Website, 50GB storage, custom themes, and 24/7 support. It is recommended for small businesses and hobby groups such as blogs and informative websites.
Plus WordPress hosting plat at $5.95/mo will provide unlimited websites and unlimited storage along with custom themes and 24/7 help. Recommended for scaling traffic and businesses.
Choice Plus WordPress hosting$6.95/mo with almost the same features.
Pros and Cons of Bluehost
To understand the Bluehost even better, it is important to look at the Pro’s and Cons of Bluehost Web services and assess it for yourself:
Let’s start with Pro’s of Bluehost, shall I?
WordPress integration and hosting for Website builders
Any client, be it small or large looks for Web hosting for the purpose of building Websites or any internal tools. Hence, it is important for any Web hosting service to provide a client with a smooth transition to Website builders. WordPress is one of the biggest and user-friendly Website builders in the market. One more interesting aspect to note here is that Bluehost is also recommended by WordPress on their Website.
Check out the image below
Therefore, Bluehost can provide a smooth experience through its WordPress integration.
Ease of use for beginners and small businesses
One of the biggest advantages of hosting on Bluehost is the user interface and ease of use. Many small businesses and beginner-level individuals struggle with hosting and creating a Website interface. Bluehost takes care of this by providing step on a step Website build.
Users can purchase the domain they wish to register.
After going back to the registration page, users may install WordPress in a matter of seconds.
Users will be asked for Website details in 3-4 steps, such as Website name, tagline, the purpose of the Website (E-commerce, Blog Website, or individual Websites).
Users shall be taken to the WordPress page by then, to set up themes, preferences, etc.
And that’s it. The user’s page is ready to go. Install the plugins and customize the content.
Bluehost servers are quick to respond and display!
Bluehost displayed an average speed of 153MS. This is surprisingly good considering Bluehost only has a single data point based out of the United States of America. But this also, one of its biggest disadvantage which I will come to later.
Especially in the USA, the average speed noted there is way more than the world average, due to the location of its data center. Their uptime average is hovering around 99.98%.
Data security
Data security is the most critical aspect of running an online business. Bluehost takes care of this. Bluehost takes regular backups through Codeguard basic. It is up to you to choose how often do you need your backups to be taken. Bluehost offers daily, weekly and monthly backups to its users. It is part of all the plans offered by Bluehost. It also runs Malware scans to check on spam and provides a site verification certificate to provide your customers the assurance while they put sensitive information on your websites such as bank details and card details for any transaction.
Bluehost refund policy
When it comes to the Bluehost refund policy, it offers a ‘Money Back Guarantee’ to its users within 30 days. Should you choose to cancel your subscription within 30 days of purchase, Bluehost shall refund 100% of your amount. Which is a huge relief for their customers. After 30 days, Bluehost will refund you on a pro-rata basis.
Bluehost customer service
