In our research, Bluehost emerged as the best overall website hosting provider. This was based on in-depth analysis of ten different hosting providers.
Our researchers analysed the hosting providers based on five key factors: types of hosting, help and support, features, value for money, and uptime performance.
Types of hosting
This category refers to the different hosting options that are available from a provider. Examples of hosting options include shared, VPS, and dedicated hosting.
Shared hosting – as its name suggests – is when multiple websites share the same server. Dedicated hosting offers your website its own server – and is thus the most expensive – while VPS hosting is a mid-way point between the two, providing a virtual server specifically for your website.
Other providers were ranked higher than Bluehost in our research for the types of hosting available.
But as mentioned earlier, Bluehost is well known for its specific WordPress options, offering both shared and fully managed WordPress hosting.
All shared WordPress hosting plans offer:
- Automatic WordPress installation and updates
- Secure log-in
- Google My Business verification
The fully managed WordPress hosting plans include:
- Unlimited websites, web storage, domains, and subdomains
- Staging environment for testing websites
- No restrictions on traffic
As well as this, Bluehost offers general website hosting, including shared, VPS and dedicated options.
- Shared hosting – offers the key functions you need to begin hosting; the most popular option
- VPS hosting – a flexible way to control a server according to your requirements
- Dedicated hosting – provides enhanced security and complete custom options
Help and support
Help and support is Bluehost’s standout strength based on our research, and it was ranked in first place for this category.
Bluehost has an online help and support centre, which offers articles, how-to guides, and other resources. You can use these for help with everything from hosting charges to account verification, and more.
If these resources don’t help, then Bluehost offers 24/7 support, including by phone and chat agent. Note that international call rates may apply, as it’s a US phone number.
At the time of writing, phone support is temporarily only available from 1pm-2am BST due to COVID-19. The 24/7 chat agent support is still in place.
While email support isn’t possible, ticketed support is offered.
Features
Although it scored four out of five, Bluehost was ranked a lowly fifth place for features, suggesting there’s a lot more it could do in this category.
A free domain name for the first year is included with all of Bluehost's WordPress shared hosting plans.
Backups are included in the price of the Choice Plus shared WordPress hosting plan, while the Scale managed WordPress hosting plan offers unlimited backups.
All of Bluehost’s shared hosting plans include unmetered bandwidth.
Value for money
Bluehost was ranked third in our research in terms of value for money.
Bluehost offers a 30-day money-back guarantee for hosting products only. This means that you can cancel your hosting services within this timeframe if you’re not happy with them.
However, most additional products – including domain names – aren’t included. Visit the Bluehost page on its 30-day hosting money-back guarantee to learn more.
General hosting prices:
- Shared – £2.26 per month
- VPS – £14.52 per month
- Dedicated – £61.14 per month
Shared WordPress hosting:
- Basic – £2.26 per month
- Plus – £4.17 per month
- Choice Plus – £4.17 per month
Managed WordPress hosting:
- Build – £15.25 per month
- Grow – £22.89 per month
- Scale – £38.18 per month
In contrast, Hostinger’s value for money score was higher than Bluehost’s. Hostinger’s shared hosting plans are available from 99p per month, while pricing for its VPS hosting begins from £3.95 per month. Its cloud hosting solution costs £7.99+ per month. Dedicated hosting isn’t available.
On the other end of the scale, SiteGround scored lower than Bluehost in terms of value for money. Its web hosting solutions are available from £5.99 per month, while its managed cloud hosting begins at £48 per month.
Uptime
Bluehost came in second place in our research, scoring a commendable four out of five for uptime.
Uptime is important because it measures how long a server is available and running for, and is usually offered as a percentage. While it may be easy to think that a high figure means good uptime, there’s more to it than that. In general, 99.9% uptime is an acceptable standard, and 99.999% is the figure to aim for.
According to the Network/Server Uptime agreement resource on Bluehost’s help centre, Bluehost intends to rectify any issues within 15 minutes, although it can take longer than this depending on the issue that needs to be resolved.
via https://www.AiUpNow.com/ by Scarlett Cook, Khareem Sudlow
