DreamHost vs Bluehost: Which is Better in 2023?

If you are looking for affordable hosting to host your website then both Bluehost and DreamHost are very strong contenders in the hosting industry.

There are many such users out there who are confused about which one is the better hosting provider out of these two.

Well, after reading this article your confusion will be completely cleared.

Let me tell you that the hosting plans of Bluehost start from just $2.95 per month, whereas for the hosting plans of DreamHost you have to pay just $2.59 per month.

Of course, DreamHost is cheaper than Bluehost but which of the two is worth your money, you will find the answer in this article.

There are many factors in which Bluehost is much better than DreamHost, but in many respects, DreamHost is also many times better than Bluehost.

We've spent a lot of time researching and testing both. So let's find out which one of these two is best for you based on our analysis.

In this article, we will take an in-depth comparison of Bluehost vs DreamHost and discuss their features, performance, pros & cons, hosting plans, prices, and more in detail.

Bluehost vs DreamHost: The Detailed Comparison

Bluehost vs DreamHost Comparison: Which is the Best?

Bluehost vs DreamHost: A Quick Overview

Bluehost Overview: Bluehost was founded by Matt Heaton in the year 2003. In the year 2010, Bluehost was acquired by Endurance International Group (EIG).

EIG owns several major brands like HostGator, iPage, Website Builder, SiteBuilder, and so on.

Bluehost is considered one of the 20 largest web hosts in the world, hosting more than 2 million websites to date.

Bluehost offers a wide variety of major services like Shared Hosting, WordPress Hosting, VPS Hosting, Dedicated Servers, Website Builder, Reseller Hosting, etc.

DreamHost Overview: DreamHost is one of the oldest and most trusted hosting providers in the industry, established in the year 1996.

It is an employee-owned company that is a web hosting provider as well as a domain registrar.

The company is owned by New Dream Network, LLC, and has hosted over 1.5 million websites to date.

DreamHost also offers a wide range of major services like Shared Hosting, WordPress Hosting, Website Builder, VPS Hosting, Dedicated Servers, Domain Name, WooCommerce Hosting, Managed Hosting, Email Hosting, etc.

Bluehost vs DreamHost: Features Comparison

So let's find out which one between Bluehost and DreamHost offers better features with the hosting plan.

Features of Bluehost

• SSD Storage Space
• 1 Free Domain Name for 1 Year
• 24/7 Customer Support
• WordPress Website Builder
• Automatic WordPress Installation
• Free CDN
• Free Professional Email Accounts (Unlimited)
• Free WordPress Migration
• Free SSL Certificate
• Unmetered Bandwidth
• $200 Google/Bing Ads Credits
• 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
• Custom Themes
• Unlimited Websites Installation
• AutomaticWordPress Updates
• 99.9% Uptime Guarantee
• Access to cPanel
• And more

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Features of DreamHost

• Affordable Monthly Hosting Plans
• Pre-Installed WordPress
• Free Automated WordPress Migration (Website Migration)
• WP Website Builder
• Fast SSD Storage
• Free SSL Certificate
• Unmetered Bandwidth
• 100% Uptime Guarantee
• Unlimited Traffic
• Free Domain for 1 Year
• Automatic WordPress Updates: Core & Security
• Automatic Daily Backups
• Free Domain Privacy
• 24/7 US-Based Customer Support
• 97-Day Money-Back Guarantee
• Custom-Built Control Panel
• And more

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In terms of features, both give tough competition to each other. Both hosting providers offer great hosting features, so there is a tie between the two.

Bluehost vs DreamHost: Customer Support Comparison

Whether you know it or not, customer support matters a lot for every website owner (newbies or experts).

You can face any kind of issues related to your website and hosting at any time. Now customer support service is most needed in this situation.

If your hosting provider provides excellent customer support service, you will surely find a quick solution to any of your hosting-related problems.

So let's find out who offers better customer support between Bluehost and DreamHost.

Bluehost's Customer Support Service

Bluehost provides 24/7 customer support service. Here you are offered live chat and phone support to get in touch with the experts.

Whether you want to build a website, manage a WordPress site, or have any other hosting-related issue, here you get expert guidance that helps a lot in growing your website.

One more thing I would like to add here is that whenever we tried to connect with the engineer of Bluehost via live chat, we got an instant response every time.

Most hosting providers give quick responses before purchasing a hosting plan. But after buying the plan, they take a lot of time to respond over live chat.

But Bluehost engineers respond quickly every time, whether you are a new user or an existing user.

The customer support of Bluehost is best as compared to other hosting brands which are included in Endurance International Group (EIG).

Bluehost also offers a vast knowledge base where you can find answers to almost all your queries in the form of well-written articles and video tutorials.

Bluehost does not offer Email Support.

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DreamHost's Customer Support Service

There was a time when DreamHost's customer support was considered the worst.

Earlier DreamHost didn't offer 24/7 customer support service, if you wanted to connect with experts via live chat you were only given 3 AM to 9:30 PM Pacific Time.

But now you can connect with DreamHost engineers via live chat, 24/7. But sometimes the response rate is a bit slower than Bluehost, you have to wait for a maximum of 5 to 10 minutes, which is not bad at all.

You'll be disappointed if you look forward to connecting with a DreamHost engineer via phone chat.

DreamHost offers phone support, but if you want to talk to the team via phone, you'll need to pay upfront.

If you pay, DreamHost's engineers will call you on their own. In short, you have to book the call.

You can also ask your question or problem to the engineer through Ticket Support. Here you get a response within 24 hours.

DreamHost also provides a knowledge base where you can find many articles.

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Hence both are better in terms of customer support. So it's a TIE.

BlueHost vs DreamHost: Hosting Plans and Pricing Comparison

So let us now compare the hosting plans of Bluehost and DreamHost and their prices to find out which one is the best.

Bluehost Shared Hosting Plans, Pricing, and Features

So Bluehost offers 4 different packages and prices in shared hosting, which are as follows:

1) Basic Plan: It is suitable for those users who want to install just one website. You will have to pay $2.95 per month for the basic plan.

With this plan, you are offered 10 GB SSD storage, 1 free domain, free CDN, free SSL certificate, website builder, etc.

2) Plus Plan: It is suitable for those users who want to install unlimited websites on a single hosting account.

You will have to pay $5.45 per month for the plus plan. With this plan, you are offered 20 GB SSD storage, 1 free domain, free CDN, free SSL certificate, website builder, etc.

3) Choice Plus Plan: It is suitable for users who want to strengthen the security of their websites. You will have to pay $5.45 per month for the choice plus plan.

With this plan, you are offered 40 GB SSD storage, 1 free domain, free CDN, free SSL certificate, website builder, free domain privacy, free automated backup (1 year), etc.

4) Pro Plan: Here you get more flexibility, more power, faster speeds, better performance, and stronger security, then go with the Pro plan.

You will have to pay $13.95 per month for the choice plus plan.

With this plan, you are offered 100 GB SSD storage, 1 free domain, free CDN, free SSL certificate, website builder, free domain privacy, free automated backup (lifetime), free dedicated IP, etc.

Get Started with Bluehost

DreamHost Shared Hosting Plans, Pricing, and Features

DreamHost only offers 2 different packages and prices in shared hosting, which are as follows:

1) Shared Starter Plan: It is suitable for beginner users who want to launch their first blog or website. However, you are allowed to set up only one website on this plan.

You'll need to pay $2.59 per month for the Shared Starter plan.

If you choose the month-to-month payment option for Shared Starter you will have to pay $4.95 per month, but the month-to-month payment option does not offer the free domain.

With this plan, you are offered unmetered bandwidth, 50 GB of Site storage, 1 free domain, a free SSL certificate, free WordPress migration, free WP website builder, free automated daily backup, and free domain privacy, etc.

2) Shared Unlimited Plan: Suitable for users who want to set up unlimited websites and also want professional unlimited email accounts.

You'll need to pay $2.95 per month for the Shared Starter plan.

With this plan, you are offered unmetered bandwidth, unlimited websites, unlimited SSD storage, 1 free domain, a free SSL certificate, free WordPress migration, free WP website builder, free automated daily backup, free domain privacy, etc.

Get Started with DreamHost

So DreamHost is better than Bluehost in terms of shared hosting plans and prices as here you are provided with more features at a lower cost including the facility of automatic backups. So the winner is DreamHost.

Bluehost vs DreamHost: Managed WordPress Hosting Comparison

We all know that WordPress is the most popular and largest CMS platform in the world.

But do you know that wordpress.org itself officially recommends both Bluehost and DreamHost on its website?

Yes, you heard right, WordPress only recommends 3 web hosts, which are Bluehost, DreamHost, and SiteGround.

So keeping that in mind, here we will also compare the managed WordPress hosting plans of Bluehost and DreamHost with each other.

Most professional bloggers and website owners opt for managed WordPress hosting.

It is a hosting type in which every single technical aspect related to hosting is managed by the hosting provider.

As a website owner, in managed WordPress hosting, you only need to focus on the content of your website.

So let us now compare Bluehost and DreamHost Managed WordPress hosting, and find out which one is better.

Bluehost Managed WordPress Hosting Plans and Pricing

Bluehost offers 3 different pricing packages in managed WordPress hosting which are as follows:

1) Build Plan: The price of this plan starts from $19.95 per month.

With this Build Plan, you will get: (features)

• Host 1 WordPress Website
• Handle up to 50,000 visitors per month
• 20 GB SSD storage
• 1 Site Cloning/Staging
• 1 Free Domain
• Free Site Migration Tool
• WordPress Auto Updates
• WP Auto Install
• Auto Plugin Updates
• SSL Certificate
• Domain Privacy
• CodeGuard Basic Backup
• 200+ Global Edge Servers
• Free WP Themes
• Malware Detection and Removal
• And more

2) Grow Plan: The price of this plan starts from $29.95 per month.

With this Grow Plan, you will get: (features)

• Similar features to the Build Plan
• 40 GB Storage Space
• Handle up to 150,000 visitors per month
• 3 Sites Cloning/Staging
• 10 GB Video Compression
• Ticket Support
• JetPack Ads Integration
• CodeGuard Premium Backup
• Bluehost SEO Tools
• Business Review Tools
• And more

3) Scale Plan: The price of this plan starts from $49.95 per month.

With this Scale Plan, you will get: (features)

• Similar features to the Grow Plan
• 80 GB Storage Space
• Manage up to 500,000 visitors per month
• 5 Sites Cloning/Staging
• Unlimited Video Compression
• Ticket and Chat Support
• Codeguard Pro Backups
• Premium WP Themes
• 200 WordPress Themes
• PayPal Integration
• Elastic Search
• And more

Get Started with Bluehost

DreamHost Managed WordPress Hosting Plans and Pricing

DreamHost also offers 3 different pricing packages in managed WordPress hosting which are as follows:

1) DreamPress Plan: The price of this plan starts from $16.95 per month.

With this DreamPress Plan, you will get: (features)

• 1 WordPress Website Installation
• It can manage up to 100,000 visitors per month
• Unlimited Emails
• 30 GB SSD Storage
• Unmetered Bandwidth
• 1-Click Staging
• Pre-installed SSL Certificate
• Daily Backups + On-Demand Backups
• 24/7 WordPress Specialized Support
• Free Pre-Installed JetPack
• Free Automated WordPress Migration
• WP Website Builder
• Free Domain
• And more

2) DreamPress Plus Plan: The price of this plan starts from $24.95 per month.

With this DreamPress Plus Plan, you will get: (features)

• Similar features to the DreamPress plan
• It can manage up to 300,000 visitors per month
• 60 GB SSD Storage
• Professional JetPack Plan Included
• Unlimited CDN
• 3 Phone Support Callbacks
• And more

3) DreamPress Pro Plan: The price of this plan starts from $71.95 per month.

With this DreamPress Pro Plan, you will get: (features)

• similar features to the DreamPress Plus plan
• It can manage up to 1 million visitors per month
• 120 GB SSD Storage
• Priority Support
• 5 Phone Support Callbacks
• And more

Get Started with DreamHost

If you want to go with affordable Managed WordPress Hosting then DreamHost is perfect for that.

If you run a high-traffic website, DreamHost's DreamPress Pro plan is perfect for that.

But when it comes to features, Bluehost is many times better than DreamHost.

BlueHost vs DreamHost: Customer Rating

So let's find out which one is better between Bluehost and DreamHost in terms of customer ratings.

We have used the Trustpilot website to check customer ratings (real users) of both.

Bluehost Customer Rating

So as you can see in the above screenshot that real users on Trustpilot rated Bluehost 4.1 stars out of 5 stars.

Apart from this, you can also see that 54% of the users have rated it as excellent, while the 35% of the users have rated it as bad.

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DreamHost Customer Rating

So as you can see in the above screenshot that real users on Trustpilot rated DreamHost 4.8 stars out of 5 stars.

Apart from this, you can also see that 85% of the users have rated it as excellent, while the 5% of the users have rated it as bad.

Get Started with DreamHost

So the result is in front of you in terms of customer rating. Most real customers have rated DreamHost as much better than Bluehost. So the winner is DreamHost.

Bluehost vs DreamHost: Performance Comparison

The future of your website depends on the performance (uptime and loading speed) provided by your hosting provider.

If the hosting service you choose has poor uptime and loading speeds, then you should immediately go with another hosting service.

Otherwise, you will neither be able to make customers/visitors nor generate revenue.

So let's find out which one has the best uptime and loading speed between Bluehost and DreamHost.

We have used the HRank tool to check this.

Bluehost's Uptime and Loading Speed Result

So as you can see in the above screenshot Bluehost's uptime is 99.962% in the last 30 days, while the loading speed (average response time) is 1.517 seconds.

Bluehost uptime is good but response time is average.

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DreamHost's Uptime and Loading Speed Result

Usually, DreamHost uptime averages 99.99%, but if you see the above screenshot then its uptime is 99.985% in the last 30 days.

Apart from this, if you look at the above screenshot, the average response time (loading speed) is 0.546 seconds (546 ms).

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DreamHost's uptime in the last 30 days hasn't gotten that much better due to some technical issues, but its uptime is considered one of the best in the industry, and it also boasts of a 100% uptime guarantee on its website.

Looking at the results of the last 30 days, the uptime of Bluehost is better than the uptime of DreamHost.

Whereas DreamHost is much better and faster than Bluehost in terms of response time.

But if we declare either of these two winners based on our experience, it is DreamHost, which usually has 99.99% uptime.

Note: If DreamHost's uptime drops below 100%, it compensates its customers. Hosting credit will be given to the customers whenever downtime occurs.

Bluehost vs DreamHost: Pros and Cons

So let us now go through the advantages and disadvantages to find out which one is better Bluehost or DreamHost.

Pros of Bluehost (Good)

• Bluehost offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. You can cancel the hosting plan anytime within 30 days and get a refund.
• Here you are offered Google/Bing Ads credits of $200 absolutely free. You can use these advertisement credits to promote your blog and website.
• WordPress.org itself recommends Bluehost on its official website.
• Bluehost claims a 99.9% uptime guarantee on its website and its uptime is always above 99.9%.
• It offers 24/7 customer support service, which is pretty impressive.
• Bluehost offers a free domain name with all hosting plans (only for one year)
• It offers a free SSL certificate, free CDN, and a website builder with all hosting plans.
• Bluehost offers an easy-to-use cPanel where you can easily manage everything related to your hosting.
• Bluehost offers a wide range of security features, such as Spam Protection, Domain Privacy, IP Blacklist, SSH Access, etc.
• Bluehost has also recently introduced a free website migration facility.

Cons of Bluehost (Bad)

• Bluehost does not offer a free backup with Basic and Plus plans. You will have to pay an additional fee for the backup (optional).

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Pros of DreamHost (Good)

• DreamHost offers a 97-day money-back guarantee on shared hosting and WordPress shared hosting, which is the longest duration in the hosting industry
• Here you are offered Unmetered Bandwidth with all hosting plans
• DreamHost offers a 100% uptime guarantee. DreamHost compensates its customers if the uptime falls below 100%.
• A free website migration facility is provided here.
• WordPress.org also recommends DreamHost on its official website.
• Here pre-installed WordPress is offered, which makes getting started with WordPress much easier.
• DreamHost offers Automated Backup, Free SSL, Website Builder, Free Domain, and Unmetered Bandwidth absolutely free with all hosting plans.
• DreamHost also offers privacy protection and SSH Access
• DreamHost also offers month-to-month payment options on all hosting plans, which is extremely affordable

Cons of DreamHost (Bad)

• DreamHost offers 97 days money back guarantee only if you pay with a credit card to purchase the plan

Get Started with DreamHost

What are the Reasons to Choose Bluehost over DreamHost?

So let us now discuss what are the reasons for choosing Bluehost over DreamHost.

1) Free Advertising Credits Worth $200: In the initial days, it is very difficult to bring traffic to the blog or website.

Or you can also say that in the initial days it is very difficult to promote a blog or website organically.

Although, by running advertisements, you can make visitors and customers very quickly, but for this, you may have to spend a lot of money.

The good thing is that Bluehost offers $200 of marketing credits absolutely free with all of their hosting plans.

You can use these free credits to promote your blog and website by running ads on Google ($100) and Microsoft Bing ($100).

On the other hand, DreamHost does not offer marketing credits.

2) Access to cPanel: Bluehost offers a cPanel control panel, which is very easy to use.

If you want to manage anything related to your hosting account and website, then for that you have to access cPanel only.

On the other hand, DreamHost offers its own custom control panel, which is also easy to use, but a bit complicated compared to Bluehost cPanel.

However, most of the hosting providers offer cPanel, so if you ever switch hosting in the future then you will not face any problems.

Get Started with Bluehost

What are the Reasons to Choose DreamHost over Bluehost?

So let us now discuss what are the reasons for choosing DreamHost over Bluehost.

1) 97-Day Money-Back Guarantee: One of the biggest reasons to choose DreamHost is its money-back guarantee period.

Here shared hosting and WordPress hosting plans are offered with a 97-day money-back guarantee, which is the longest in the entire hosting industry.

However, you can avail of this 97-day money-back guarantee period only if you pay with a credit card or debit card.

On the other hand, Bluehost only offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.

If you go with managed WordPress hosting on DreamHost, you only get a 30-day money-back guarantee on that.

2) Free Hosting Credits when the Server is Down: Most hosting providers offer an uptime guarantee of 99.9%, but DreamHost offers a 100% uptime guarantee.

Best of all, if your server goes down, you also get free hosting credits, which can go up to 10% of your next pre-paid hosting renewal fee.

On the other hand, Bluehost does not provide any hosting credits in case the server is down. Although we never faced downtime issues on Bluehost, which is amazing.

Get Started with DreamHost

Final Verdict on Bluehost vs DreamHost

Bluehost and DreamHost are both great and reliable hosting providers, and as we told you that WordPress.org itself recommends both, which is why both are also the first choice for many website owners.

Both are the perfect hosting providers to host your website.

Let us tell you that if you are looking for impressive customer support, an easy-to-use cPanel, a user-friendly interface, and a feature-rich web host then you should go with Bluehost.

But if you are looking for great uptime, fast loading speed, a huge money-back guarantee, affordable price, and month-to-month hosting plans, then DreamHost is the best option for that.

We have tried to cover every single aspect of Bluehost vs DreamHost in this article. If you want to know more about these two or have any other queries, then you can comment below.

And don't forget to give your opinion about Bluehost vs DreamHost.

Also Read:

• Bluehost Review - Is it the Best Web Hosting for Your Site?
• DreamHost Review - Is It Reliable Web Hosting Provider?
• Bluehost VPS Review: Is It Good Over Shared Hosting?
• Which Bluehost Plan is Best for Bloggers and Beginners
• Bluehost vs HostMonster Comparison: Which is the Best?
• Bluehost vs HostGator Comparison: Which is the Best?
• Bluehost vs GoDaddy Comparison: Which is the Best?
• Best Managed WordPress Hosting Providers
• Best Bluehost Alternatives: Based on Real Testing
• Best DreamHost Alternatives and Competitors
• Best Virtual Private Servers VPS Hosting Providers
• HostGator vs DreamHost Comparison: Which is the Best?