Bluehost Web Hosting Review For Business
Bluehost is one of the world’s best web hosting services, offering WordPress hosting plans perfect for beginners and large businesses alike.
Our Bluehost review covers pros and cons, hosting plans, pricing, security, and performance. When you’re done, you’ll have the information you need to decide if Bluehost is the right web hosting provider for you and your business.
Recommended: We are impressed with the Bluehost web hosting services. Get started with Bluehost.
Bluehost Web Hosting Review - Summary
In a nutshell, we're impressed with the number of plans Bluehost offers as well as its consistent uptime, low introductory rates, and excellent customer service.
Despite its higher renewal rates and the limited features of its cheapest plans, Bluehost still makes an excellent choice for small business owners.
Pros
- 99.98 percent uptime
- Good loading speeds
- $2.95 per month introductory rate for shared hosting
- Great security features
- Strong ease of use
- Excellent customer support
- 30-day, money-back guarantee
Cons
- $10.95 per month renewal rates for shared hosting
- Limited free site transfers
- Limited backup options
- No Microsoft Windows-based servers
- No cloud hosting
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Best Web Hosting Companies |
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Bluehost 4.7/5 |
BEST WEB HOST OVERALL
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GoDaddy 4.7/5 |
BEST VARIETY OF FEATURES
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Kinsta 4.5/5 |
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HostGator 4.4/5 |
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Web.com 4.2/5 |
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What Is Bluehost?
Bluehost is one of the world’s most popular website hosting companies. They are most widely known for being a reliable WordPress hosting platform.
As a web hosting provider, Bluehost uses its computer servers to store website data for its clients. This can include web pages, photos, and videos. Bluehost has servers all over the world, making it easy for its users to have a global reach and fast load times.
As one of our top 5 web hosting providers, Bluehost offers a number of hosting plans to meet its clients’ needs.
Who Is Bluehost Best For?
With its ease of use and wonderful WordPress integration, Bluehost can make an excellent choice for most any small to medium-sized business.
There’s a number of beneficial add-ons and useful features, making this platform scalable and flexible. Overall, Bluehost offers small businesses an excellent value for their money.
Another bonus is that since it works so well with WordPress, anyone looking to make a content-focused website will find that Bluehost offers small businesses an excellent value for their money.
Bluehost Pricing
Bluehost offers five primary types of hosting: shared, managed, online store, dedicated, and virtual private server (VPS) hosting. Each hosting type has a number of payment tiers and features that can benefit certain types of businesses.
All tiers integrate with WordPress, making Bluehost such a strong option for individuals looking to host their WordPress site with ease.
Bluehost Shared Hosting
Bluehost offers four different types of shared hosting plans: Basic, Plus, Choice Plus, and Pro.
With shared hosting, your website effectively shares server storage space with other websites. Those website owners then share the costs associated with operating and maintaining that server.
If you want an inexpensive hosting package and don’t expect to have more than 450,000 visitors to your site each month, then a Bluehost shared hosting plan probably is the right fit for you.
Bluehost Basic Shared Hosting Plan - $2.95/Month
This entry-level plan offers quite a bit for the low rate of $2.95 a month. Please note the rate changes depending on the length of the contract you sign up for, and all rates will auto-renew at a higher pricepoint after the initial contract period ends.
The Bluehost Basic shared hosting package comes with most everything a small business owner would need to get started hosting a website. Everything from a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certificate for added site protection to 24/7 customer support.
Users of this plan can also enjoy a free domain for the first year and a free and fast content delivery network (CDN) to ensure their site loads quickly from anywhere. You also have access to the Bluehost Website Builder, tons of custom WordPress themes, and plenty of storage.
Who is the Bluehost Basic Plan Best For?
Bluehost’s Basic shared hosting plan can offer the best package for blogs and smaller businesses that only need one website and wont' have a ton of traffic. If you pay for your hosting service with a one-year contract, it’ll cost you $2.95 per month for the first term and then $9.99 per month upon renewal.
If you have multiple websites, need extra security, or want more advanced features, you might consider the Plus, Choice Plus, or Pro shared hosting plans.
Check out the Bluehost Basic shared hosting plan for $2.95 per month.
Bluehost Plus Shared Hosting Plan - $5.45/Month
The Bluehost Plus shared hosting plan starts out at $5.45 per month when you sign up for a 12 month term. After the initial year-long term, this plan will auto-renew at $13.99 per month. This plan comes with everything included in the Basic plan, but there are some key upgrades here.
The Bluehost Plus shared hosting package comes with unlimited websites, so you’re no longer forced to commit to just one. It also has unlimited storage and a free trial of Office 365 for the first 30 days.
Who is the Bluehost Plus Plan Best For?
This plan is a great for any small or medium business looking grow, franchise, or branch out. Any business or company needing multiple websites will benefit greatly from this plan. However, keep in mind that if your traffic needs grow beyond this plan, you can always upgrade to Choice Plus or Pro plan.
Check out the Bluehost Plus shared hosting plan for $5.45 per month.
Bluehost Choice Plus Shared Hosting Plan - $5.45/Month
The Bluehost Choice Plus shared hosting plan also starts out at $5.45 a month for the first 12 months. After that the plan will auto-renew at $18.99 per month. This plan comes with everything included in the Plus plan, but with some added benefits.
The Bluehost Choice Plus shared hosting package comes with free domain privacy, ensuring our personal information is kept from prying eyes. Plus, with free automated backups you never have to worry about losing any data should a crash ever occur.
Who is the Bluehost Choice Plus Plan Best For?
Medium-sized companies that need to run multiple websites and don't have time to manually backup everything will benefit greatly from the Choice Plus plan. This plan makes it easy to grow your brand, launch several websites dedicated to your business, and so much more. There's a reason why this plan is strongly recommended by most Bluehost users.
Check out the Bluehost Choice Plus shared hosting plan for $5.45 per month.
Bluehost Pro Shared Hosting Plan - $13.95/Month
The Bluehost Pro plan starts at $13.95 per month for the first year of your contract, it will then auto-renew at $28.99 per month after that. This plan also comes with everything included in the Choice Plus plan, but with some added benefits.
The Bluehost Pro shared hosting package also includes optimized central processing unit (CPU) resources and a free dedicated internet protocol (IP), great for businesses needing more processing power and faster load times.
Who is the Bluehost Pro Plan Best For?
Medium-sized businesses needing a little extra power and resources for higher traffic volume. However, should you continue to run into the need for more speed and room for more site visitors, you may need to consider a Virtual Privatte Server or a Dedicated plan.
Check out the Bluehost Pro shared hosting plan for $13.95 per month.
Bluehost Managed WordPress Hosting
For business owners looking to get started building with WordPress, it’s good to know that Bluehost is one of the most reliable hosting platforms available. But Bluehost doesn’t stop there, with Bluehost Managed WordPress Hosting users can gain access to necessary and intuitive features that make it easy to build and grow a professional website.
There are three main managed plans: Build, Grow, and Scale.
Bluehost Build Managed WordPress Plan - $19.95/Month
The Bluehost Build plan starts at $19.95 per month for the first 12-month term, after this it will renew at a rate of $29.99 a month. This plan comes equipped with most everything a small business owner would need to get started building a professional website.
The Bluehost Build managed WordPress hosting package comes with the Jetpack site analytics plugin already installed, making your site secure and providing basic at-a-glance metrics. You also have access to a monitoring center where you can view traffic, social media, and see how well your blog is doing.
This plan also includes access to tons of free WordPress themes to further customize your site as well as daily backups and malware detection.
Who is the Bluehost Build Plan Best For?
Small business owners new to website building and needing a reliable hosting platform to house their WordPress site will find this plan to be a good fit. The inclusion of themes and plugins is already a money-saver, and with automated backups you never have to worry about performing manual backups.
Get started with the Bluehost Build managed WordPress plan for $19.95 per month.
Bluehost Grow Managed WordPress Plan - $29.95/Month
The Bluehost Grow managed WordPress plan starts at $29.95 per month for the first term, afterwards it goes up to $39.99 a month. This plan comes with everything included in the Build plan, but includes some significant upgrades.
The Bluehost Grow managed WordPress hosting package comes with Jetpack Premium automatically installed, allowing for further malware scanning and automatic security fixes. You also get the Jetpack Ads integration, allowing you to generate income with just one click.
This plan also includes business review and SEO tools to help your website really thrive. Plus, you now have limited video compression and additional customer support should you ever need it.
Who is the Bluehost Grow Plan Best For?
Any small business owner looking to make some extra money on their blog or website will benefit from this plan. The added features make this plan quite the deal, hence why it comes highly recommended.
Get started with the Bluehost Grow managed WordPress plan for $29.95 per month.
Bluehost Scale Managed WordPress Plan - $49.95/Month
The Bluehost Scale managed WordPress plan starts at $49.95 per month for the first term, after this it will renew at $59.99 a month. This plan comes with everything included in the Grow plan along with some bonus extras.
The Bluehost Scale managed WordPress hosting package has Jetpack Pro already installed, allowing you to restore your site from anywhere in the world. There’s also unlimited backups and restore, so you can rest easy knowing everything is running smoothly.
This plan also comes with a PayPal integration to help you monetize your site, and an advanced filtering system to make it easier for customers to find what they’re looking for on your site. You also have access to unlimited video compression capabilities and even further and advanced customer support.
Who is the Bluehost Scale Plan Best For?
Content-focused businesses needing to have added security and room for tons of professional videos on their site will find this plan to be a good fit. Plus with the PayPal integration, it's easy to accept payments for your premium content.
Get started with the Bluehost Scale managed WordPress plan for $49.95 per month.
Bluehost Online Store Hosting
Bluehost offers two ecommerce hosting options: Standard and Premium. Both come with WooCommerce, a powerful ecommerce tool for WordPress.
Bluehost Standard Online Store Plan - $15.95/Month
The Bluehost Standard online store hosting plan starts at $15.95 per month with a 36 month term. After this initial term the plan will auto-renew at a rate of $24.95 a month. This plan comes with most everything an entrepreneur would need to get an ecommerce store up and running.
The Bluehost Standard online store package comes with WooCommerce already installed so you can get to building your online store right away. Rest easy knowing that you have unlimited products and access to advanced email marketing features. There’s even manual order creation capabilities so you can send clients invoices for items outside your online store.
Advanced payment processing allows for one-click installation of top payment processors so you can start making money right away. With site analytics you view real time data on site traffic, orders, and more. Plus, it’s easy to collect and manage customer reviews on your store and products. Offer discount codes and more with this small yet mighty ecommerce hosting plan.
Who is the Bluehost Standard Plan Best For?
Small business owners looking get their online shop up and running with WordPress and WooCommerce will find this introductory plan a solid fit. With plenty of features to help your ecommerce business thrive, and all at a price that's lower than most of the competition.
Build your online store with the Bluehost Standard plan for $15.95 per month.
Bluehost Premium Online Store Plan - $32.95/Month
The Bluehost Premium online store hosting plan starts at $32.95 per month for the first 36 months, and then renews at a rate of $39.95 a month afterwards. This plan comes with everything included in the Standard plan, along with some key upgrades.
Bluehost Premium offers online booking and appointments, allowing customers to schedule time slots with you, reserve rentals, and more. You can also offer subscriptions for any product or service available on a recurring monthly basis.
Offer customers custom options for items in your store, anything from specific sizing, colors, patterns, you name it. Plus, never worry about manually calculating sales tax for purchases from anywhere in the United States and beyond.
Who is the Bluehost Premium Plan Best For?
Any small to medium ecommerce busienss would find this plan really useful. With the inclusion of scheduling and subscription services, this is a great fit for anyone looking to offer a good or service on a recurring or exclusive basis.
Build your online store with the Bluehost Premium plan for $32.95 per month.
Bluehost Virtual Private Server Hosting
Virtual private server (VPS) hosting allows for more control over your websites. This type of hosting is best for users looking to host unlimited domains and websites and will most likely suit a medium-to-large business.
Bluehost offers three main types of VPS hosting: Standard, Enhanced, and Ultimate.
Bluehost Standard VPS Hosting - $18.99/Month
The Bluehost Standard VPS hosting plan costs $18.99 per month when you sign up for a 36 month term. After this initial period, your rate will renew at a price of $29.99 a month.
This plan includes two core units, 30 GB storage and 2 GB of random-access memory (RAM). It also comes with enough bandwidth for a moderate amount of images and video. If you run a website or brand that includes quite a bit of visual content you might consider upgrading to an Enhanced or Ultimate plan.
Bluehost Enhanced VPS Hosting - $29.99/Month
The Bluehost Enhanced VPS hosting plan starts at $29.99 per month when you sign up for a 36 month term. After this initial term, your price will renew at $59.99 a month.
This plan includes two cores, but comes with double the storage and RAM of the previous plan. It also comes with more bandwidth, but again, if you run a video-heavy business you might still need to upgrade to the Ultimate plan.
Bluehost Ultimate VPS Hosting - $59.99/Month
The Bluehost Ultimate VPS hosting plan starts at $59.99 per month when you sign up for a 36 month contract. After this it will increase to $119.99 a month,
This plan is geared toward larger businesses looking for freedom and flexibility. It comes with double the cores, storage, and RAM of the previous plan, and has even more bandwidth.
See if VPS hosting is right for your business. Bluehost VPS hosting starts at $18.99 per month.
Bluehost Dedicated Server Hosting
Dedicated hosting refers to hosting your business website on a server all to yourself. You will no longer share a server with other members, which does increase the cost quite a bit. Dedicated hosting is not recommended for beginning businesses as the cost can be quite prohibitive. However, if your business is rapidly growing and you need more speed and flexibility, this type of hosting could be for you.
Bluehost Standard Dedicated Hosting - $79.99/Month
The Bluehost Standard dedicated hosting plan starts at $79.99 per month when you sign up for a 36 month term. After this, the price will renew at $119.99 a month.
This plan comes with one server just for you and your business. The top features and general storage levels are good for any business, but server response times could slow if your site nets too much traffic. You get one domain free for the first year and three dedicated IPs. Plus, for those that know what they’re doing, there’s even the option to have an unmanaged server and save a little bit of money.
Bluehost Enhanced Dedicated Hosting - $99.99/Month
The Bluehost Enhanced dedicated server plan begins at $99.99 per month when you sign up for a 36 month term. After this initial period the plan will renew at $159.99 a month.
This plan comes with more cache space, storage, and bandwidth. This plan is great for large businesses that net a lot of online traffic. Although, should you be operating a business that uses a lot of visuals such as a deep video catalog or even a gaming system, you might still need to upgrade to the Premium plan.
Bluehost Premium Dedicated Hosting - $119.99/Month
The Bluehost Premium dedicated hosting plan starts out at $119.99 per month for an initial term of 36 months. Afterwards, this plan will renew at the regular rate of $209.99 a month.
This plan is ideal for large businesses that run high-performance sites. It comes with plenty of storage, bandwidth, and up to five dedicated IPs. The sky's the limit with this plan, but make sure you’re ready for it.
See if dedicated hosting is right for your business. Check out Bluehost Dedicated hosting with plans starting at $79.99 per month.
Bluehost Features and Add-Ons
Bluehost provides a number of standard and premium features that can benefit businesses and their websites. In addition, you can purchase a variety of add-ons to make your business website run even better. Read on for details about some of the most popular Bluehost offerings.
Themes
Bluehost offers a variety of themes to help simplify the entire website design process. These themes serve as templates that business owners and web developers can use as a starting point to build a dynamic site. Access Bluehost’s theme marketplace to obtain one of its free or premium (paid) themes.
SSL Certificates
Bluehost offers new clients a free SSL certificate — an integral part of internet security. Installing an SSL certificate on your website will enable you to activate the hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS), which is an extension of the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP). Using HTTPS instead of HTTP will make your site much more secure. That’s essential because most customers won’t make purchases from online stores that don’t use HTTPS.
Domain Registration
Many of Bluehost’s hosting packages provide a free year of domain registration for your website’s URL. After that, Bluehost will charge you a fee to maintain your domain registration.
Domain Transfers
If you registered your website’s domain with another provider (e.g., GoDaddy, Namecheap™, etc.), Bluehost offers a domain transfer service. This service will transfer the management of your domain registration to Bluehost, allowing you to manage your domain name and web hosting in one place.
Website Transfers
Many Bluehost packages offer free website transfers for businesses that already have a website hosted by another company, such as Doteasy or GoDaddy. With this feature, Bluehost will transfer all the data from your current hosting provider to Bluehost’s servers at no cost to you.
cPanel Access
cPanel is a popular, back-end control panel for websites. Although mainly used by intermediate-level website owners and developers, this great feature gives users access to a website’s files, email setup, and much more.
Jetpack Subscription
As one of the most popular WordPress plugins, Jetpack provides a variety of useful features. Several Bluehost packages include personal or premium Jetpack subscriptions.
The Pros and Cons of Bluehost
Bluehost Pros
- 99.98 Percent Uptime: Your website will rarely experience any downtime, and Bluehost has made a formal commitment to resolving most issues within 15 minutes.
- Fast Loading Speeds: This is not only extremely important for your site’s user experience, but also crucial for your SEO efforts.
- Low Introductory Rates: You can get started with the Basic shared hosting plan for as little as $3.95 per month for the first 36 months.
- Great Security Features: Bluehost offers a number of standard and premium security options to safeguard your site at all times.
- Strong Ease of Use: Everyone from beginners to advanced developers find Bluehost’s system easy to use.
- Excellent Customer Support: Bluehost’s customer support team is available 24/7.
- Money-Back Guarantee: If you’re unhappy with Bluehost, you can cancel your plan within 30 days and get a full refund on your hosting service. This refund does not include domain registration fees or other add-on services.
- Recommended by WordPress: WordPress.org lists Bluehost as one of its three recommended web hosting providers.
Bluehost Cons
- Higher Renewal Rates: Before you enter into a contract with Bluehost, it’s important to understand the renewal rates for your chosen plan. Those renewal rates cost nearly twice as much as Bluehost’s introductory rates.
- Limited Free Site Transfers: Only some of Bluehost’s plans offer free site transfers and those plans will only transfer one site for free. This can become costly for businesses with multiple websites.
- Restrictions on Its Cheapest Plans: Bluehost’s least inexpensive plans often come with the most restrictions. For example, these plans will place limits on your site’s daily visitors, bandwidth usage, and storage space.
- Limited Backup Options: Basic hosting plans offer limited backup options. This means website owners will need to make a point of backing up their sites, and storing the backups, themselves.
- No Microsoft Windows-based servers: While this pertains to more advanced web developers, it’s good to keep in mind if you plan to hire someone to create your website. Bluehost only supports Linux-based servers. If your developer needs to run a Microsoft Windows server, you’ll need to find a different hosting provider.
- No Cloud Hosting: If you want a web hosting provider with cloud hosting plans, you’ll need to look elsewhere. Bluehost no longer offers cloud hosting.
- Strong Upselling: Bluehost will make a number of additional features available to you. Savvy business owners should verify the necessity of these add-ons for their sites prior to purchase.
Bluehost Review: Do We Recommend Bluehost?
Despite some of the bad press Bluehost received in the past, it’s now one of the world’s leading web hosting providers. Bluehost has plans to meet every business owner’s needs and it’s committed to providing the best customer service in the business. If you need a quality web hosting provider for your business, Bluehost can offer a solid choice.
Get Started With Bluehost
Bluehost continues to impress us with their depth of offerings and new features. Hosting your WordPress site is easier than ever with Bluehost. Begin building and hosting your business website today!
