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There are many different web hosting options available on the market today. Hosting providers offer various packages, cost-effective and flexible services, and reliable, secure, and scalable technology. These days, it’s all about having better tools to build sites faster, with comprehensive security and an even better user experience.
Choosing a web host is important if you want to build and maintain a successful website. It’s not just about your website’s content — it’s your landing page, solid internet marketing, and promotion strategy, email service, and safety. With over 10 million hosted domains, Dreamhost and Bluehost are the two most prominent players in the hosting game. Which should you choose? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? Here’s an unbiased comparison of Bluehost vs Dreamhost to help you decide which hosting provider will work best for your website or business.
Dreamhost Vs Bluehost Hosting: Side by Side Comparison
| Dreamhost | Bluehost | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 10 April 1996 | 2003 |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, United States | Orem, Utah, US |
| Data center/server location | Irvine, California and Ashburn, Virginia | Provo, Utah |
| Price | Dreamhost’s introductory prices start at $2.59 per month, and its renewal prices start at $5.99 per month | Bluehost’s introductory prices start at $2.95 per month, and its renewal prices start at $7.99 per month |
| Payment types | Credit/Debit Card, Electronic Check / ACH, PayPal, Check or Money Order | Credit card and PayPal |
| Storage space | Unlimited | 50GB – unlimited, depending on your plan |
| cPanel | Custom control panel | Modern native dashboard with the classic cPanel integration |
| Average speed | 231ms | 361ms |
| Bandwidth | Unmetered bandwidth | Unmetered bandwidth |
| Money-Back Guarantee | 97 days | 30 days |
| One-click app installation | Yes | Yes |
| Free Domain | Available | Available |
| Security | SSL certificates, domain privacy protection, daily backup, and Web Application Firewall | Free SSL, Cloudflare DDoS protection, and 24/7 server monitoring |
| Website migration | Free website migration plugin, paid options for website migration | Free automated WordPress migration or paid ($149.99) professional site transfer |
| Types of Support | Live chat (5:30 AM – 9:30 PM PT), 24/7 ticketing system, paid phone support, knowledge base | Phone, 24/7 live chat, ticketing system |
| Bonuses & Extras | Free Domain with Whois Privacy, Free SSL Certificates, up to $75 Google Adwords Credit | Staging, Cloudflare CDN (content delivery network), website builder, emails, free Yellowpages listing |
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Dreamhost Vs Bluehost Hosting: What is the Difference?
Both Dreamhost and Bluehost are excellent choices for hosting your website. However, there are some critical differences between the two that you should be aware of before making a decision.
Security
Dreamhost is one of the most secure web hosting providers available on the market today. This is due to several factors, including their use of SSL encryption, 2048-bit keys, and VaultPress backups. In addition to these measures, Dreamhost also offers 24/7 customer support via email, live chat, telephone, and social media platforms such as Twitter or Facebook; all methods can be used at any time, day or night, without waiting for an employee to respond.
With Bluehost, backups are performed at the company’s discretion; thus, you must perform your own backups for complete security. They only keep backups for a maximum of 30 days and won’t take ownership of damaged or lost backups. Daily malware scans are conducted. Your website could also be hosted on the cloud. If so, it will be automatically duplicated across three devices so that, if hardware malfunctions at one location, their “failover” technology picks the best backup to serve as your new master copy and fixes the malfunctioning version.
Scalability
Scalability refers to how easily your website can grow as a business grows. You want a company that can handle your site’s load without crashing or slowing down. In addition to the pro-rata cost, Bluehost won’t impose additional charges to increase your plan. Since there are no lock-in contracts, upgrading is quick and simple.
The sole cost associated with Dreamhost is the difference between the old and upgraded plans. Plans may be paid for yearly or monthly. Choose a one-month option if you’re unsure which plan is best because that time will allow you to see what’s required and what’s accessible in the upgrade. That being said, the Cloud hosting of Dreamhost vs Bluehost VPS and even dedicated plans go hand-in-hand, so scalability options are there with both providers.
Bandwidth
All plans from Dreamhost have limitless bandwidth for all hosting plans. Contrarily, Bluehost limits bandwidth as you go up, such as to VPS hosting, although it is unrestricted for shared hosting. You’ll never need to upgrade your plan with Dreamhost based only on bandwidth. That implies you won’t have to pay extra for your company’s expanding success because your site won’t crash under heavy traffic.
Ease of Use
The registration process for Dreamhost is quick; after your account has been set up, you can access the Dreamhost control panel. As opposed to Bluehost, Dreamhost developed its dashboard. Your account, domain, and hosting information is accessible through it. You may also access website databases and files, build new websites, customize settings and features, and do a lot more. With only one click, Dreamhost can set up WordPress for you. In my experience, installation takes a little while; you might have to wait up to 10 minutes before receiving an email letting you know your new website is live.
Compared to Dreamhost, Bluehost provides a more user-friendly interface with a cleaner look, making it quicker and simpler to move between the tools and services. The Bluehost dashboard is straightforward to use, and you can quickly access any features or data you require via the menu on the left-hand side of the page. Once you have chosen a domain, Bluehost offers a one-click WordPress setup that will automatically set up WordPress for you. Bluehost also makes use of cPanel, allowing you further control over the files, databases, and other features of your website.
Bluehost installs its own Bluehost menu along with WordPress. This is a fantastic solution for newbies who might find the WordPress setup scary or difficult. You can quickly build pages and articles, manage menus, put in themes and plugins, make a staging area, and do many more things from the Bluehost menu.
Customer Support
You can contact Bluehost’s support team via live chat, phone, email, text message, and a members-only forum anytime, day or night. There are tutorials, a library of articles on most pertinent subjects, and access to a sizable knowledge base. The Bluehost website states that they don’t provide technical support through tickets. Your wait time for a response will be less because you’ll have to phone or use live chat. When someone responds to a live chat, there may be a significant wait in the queue because they are juggling numerous clients. Despite the fact that they are meant to be professionals, they openly admit that to potential customers.
Every day of the year, Dreamhost offers 24/7/365 customer support. Only when there are a few personnel handling support tickets, is live chat available. You will always have immediate access to live chat if you have paid their “call back” price. Although Dreamhost claims that email responses take 24 hours, most tickets are resolved significantly more quickly, per the company’s website. You are unable to contact Dreamhost via phone. If you pay the additional charge, they will call you if necessary. On shared plans, users are limited to using the email system. You can read solutions for yourself on the Wiki support group sites that Dreamhost provides.
Reliability
99.9% uptime is the uptime guarantee that Bluehost offers. If they don’t comply, their website doesn’t disclose information about potential credits. You won’t be charged anything if you decide to close your account because they didn’t fulfill their end of the bargain. Your account can be closed at any moment without incurring any fees. Additionally, you’ll be reimbursed for any unused portions of your plan.
Dreamhost guarantees uninterrupted service at all times. You will be given a one-day credit, up to a maximum of 10% of your total hosting charge, for each hour (or portion of an hour) that your site is offline. Scheduled maintenance days are exempt from this. Once a client contacts support to report a problem, downtime starts. You won’t get credits if you’ve harmed your website. Whatever the reason, Dreamhost is under no duty to offer the credits. Therefore take caution when making changes to your website to prevent user errors.
Control Panel
The control panel is software that allows you to manage your website or web hosting account. You can view information about your domain name and manage its settings, such as your domain’s IP address and email address. The “cPanel” control panel is the industry standard, and Bluehost uses it. It is simple to understand even if you are unfamiliar with the control panel. Dreamhost has its own control panel, so getting used to it may take a little longer.
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Dreamhost Vs Bluehost Hosting: Five Must-Know Facts
- Dreamhost is a web hosting company that’s been around since 1996. Bluehost was founded in 2003 and it was one of the 20 largest web hosts in 2015.
- Dreamhost offers a wide range of plans and features at varying price points. They provide unlimited storage space and bandwidth on their shared hosting plans, with higher tiers offering more resources. Their customer support is excellent, and they have a reputation for responding quickly to issues and questions.
- Although Dreamhost does not provide call-in phone help, clients can pay an additional fee to get call-backs from support personnel. Additionally, all accounts get access to live chat when the volume of support emails is low.
- Bluehost provides shared hosting, WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated hosting, WooCommerce hosting, and marketing services.
- Dreamhost is best if you want quality performance without having to commit to a year or more upfront, whereas Bluehost provides excellent customer support and an easy-to-use platform right away.
Pros and Cons of Dreamhost
| Pros! | Cons! |
|---|---|
| Automatic daily backups | No direct phone support |
| Affordable hosting | Live chat support wait times are sometimes long. |
| Reliable, fast support | Text-Based Control Panel is not always as intuitive. |
| High-Speed bandwidth is allowed on every plan |
Pros and Cons of Bluehost
| Pros! | Cons! |
|---|---|
| Easy-to-use interface | High renewal rates |
| Lots of features available | No free website migrations |
| Reliable hosting with a 24/7 support team | |
| Seamless WordPress integration |
Dreamhost Vs Bluehost: Which One Should You Choose?
So, which is better, Bluehost vs Dreamhost? Both are solid web hosting options, whether you’re just starting or expanding your business. Dreamhost is best if you want quality performance without committing to a year or more upfront, whereas Bluehost provides excellent customer support and an easy-to-use platform from the start. Ultimately, you are the one who knows what your company or business requires the most. You can check whether that is something Bluehost or Dreamhost provides or something you will find in another web hosting service provider.
