7 Best Bluehost alternatives 2023: compared and reviewed

For almost 20 years, Bluehost has been the go-to web hosting provider for many. Yet, the service seems to have slept on its laurels and caught a few drawbacks on the way.

Other players in the field have quite a few better things to offer than Bluehost now. This includes lower prices, improved performance, more advanced security features, and more power.

To help you pick the right alternative, we researched and tested dozens of other web hosts. Continue reading to find our list of the 5 best Bluehost alternatives.

Top 7 best Bluehost alternatives

1. Hostinger – best Bluehost alternative for WordPress hosting
2. Liquid Web – Bluehost alternative for large projects
3. HostGator – Bluehost alternative for small businesses
4. DreamHost – best affordable Bluehost alternative
5. InterServer – Bluehost alternative for cheap monthly billing
6. A2 Hosting – secure and fast Bluehost alternative
7. GoDaddy – Bluehost alternative for personal sites

📢 LIMITED OFFER: Get 75% OFF Hostinger!

The best Bluehost alternatives – our detailed list:

We researched dozens of hosting services to find which ones provide you with enough resources, features, and great prices. We also performed performance tests to see which hosts are the best Bluehost alternatives. Keep reading to find out our detailed results:

1. Hostinger – best Bluehost alternative for WordPress hosting

Features	Free SSL, hPanel, and speed-oriented tools
Uptime	100%
Speed	511ms
Best for	Cheap and fast small-to-medium website hosting
Current deal	🔥Get 75% OFF Hostinger!🔥

Visit Hostinger

Hostinger is living proof that you can do a lot of things for little money. The fees may tempt you to question its reliability. But rest assured that Hostinger’s affordable prices do not stand for low quality. This provider offers well-rounded services and is beginner-friendly.

So what does Hostinger actually include?

• Hostinger has its own hosting and site management panel called hPanel. In terms of ease of use, it’s quite similar to cPanel used by Bluehost. So no matter your level of experience, you'll be able to navigate it easily.
• The provider has a 99.9% uptime guarantee, which Bluehost lacks, so you can be sure that your site won’t go out for days.
• Hostinger offers 4 different server locations to choose from with its shared hosting plans. You can either go with Netherlands, Lithuania, the USA, or Singapore.
• Additionally, Hostinger is a very performance-oriented provider. It keeps its hardware and software up to date and integrates many advanced features, which make Hostinger able to handle traffic jumps without any trouble.
• Lastly, the prices are some of the lowest in the market, with shared plans starting at only $2.99/month.

The point is that Hostinger aligned all the planets so that you can create a fully functional website with little money and less effort.

Hostinger pricing

Hostinger delivers 2 shared and 1 cloud hosting plan, as opposed to Bluehost’s 4 shared ones. The Premium shared hosting ($2.99/month), the Business package ($3.99/month), and the Cloud Startup plan ($9.99/month). On the other hand, Bluehost charges $2.95/month (Basic), $4.95/month (Plus & Choice Plus), and $13.95/month (Pro).

For an entry-level website, the plans above give you what you need. You get free custom domain, at least 100 e-mail accounts, decent bandwidth, and good performance, plus a few other benefits like weekly backups and a free SSL certificate.

• Premium ($2.99/month) – with this plan you receive up to 100 websites, 100GB storage, unlimited bandwidth, and databases. Suitable for a personal blog with more traffic, portfolio, or for a freelancer.
• Business ($3.99/month) – the plan includes everything from Premium plus, daily backup and 4 times the processing power and memory. Recommended for a heavier website.
• Cloud Startup ($9.99/month) – the package allows up to 300 sites, and includes 200GB SSD storage space, 2CPUs cores, 3GB RAM, cache manager, free daily backups, and CDN. It's very well suited for large projects.

Lastly, just like Bluehost, Hostinger offers the advertised prices only for the first installment. However, keep in mind, while the renewal rates are quite higher, they're not as steep as with Bluehost.

Hostinger performance

Hostinger doesn’t fail to surprise with its performance results. For this part, I’ve tested the provider’s ability to handle heavy traffic on site.

I’ve sent 50 Virtual Users (VUs) onto the site to see if Hostinger can handle it. Just a quick note, 50 new continuous users each minute for a month could come up to ~50 000 monthly visits.

And Hostinger handled the full 50 VUs, unlike Bluehost – 15 VUs.

Even the cheapest Hostinger’s plan can handle pretty intense traffic without any failed request (red line, which is, thankfully, nowhere to be found) or continuous slowdowns (blue line). At the same time, Bluehost’s can’t.

Also, Hostinger has 4 server locations with its shared hosting plans, whereas Bluehost doesn’t let you choose your server’s location at all.

The outline here is that Hostinger delivers reliable performance at low prices. It may have a few tricks up its sleeve, but at least its prices and performance are better than Bluehost.

2. Liquid Web – best Bluehost alternative for large-scale projects

Features	Fully managed, security features, and InterWorx control panel
Uptime	100%
Speed	521ms
Best for	Large projects looking for dedicated resources and powerful servers
Current deal	🔥 Get Liquid Web, now 75% OFF 🔥

Visit Liquid Web

If you’re looking for more power for your larger-scale projects, Liquid Web is an excellent premium alternative to Bluehost which offers cloud hosting services. It mainly focuses on VPS, dedicated server, and managed WordPress hosting services and has no shared hosting options. This, overall, makes it a great Bluehost alternative for big projects.

So what can you expect from this provider?

• One of Liquid Web’s defining characteristics is that it takes security seriously. All pricing plans come with free SSL certificates, daily backups, integrated firewalls, dedicated IPs, DDoS attack protection, and other advanced features for server security.
• As a fully managed web hosting provider, Liquid Web is a very fast and easy-to-use hosting service. The provider keeps its software and hardware up to date, which guarantees fast loading speeds at all times. Additionally, for added ease of use, you can choose 1 out of 3 panels – InterWorx, Plesk, and cPanel/WHM.
• The provider also offers a 100% uptime guarantee. While absolute 100% is not quite possible due to server maintenance and some other unexpected events, the host takes it upon itself to compensate you for any downtime.

Basically, Liquid Web wants to make sure that your project is 100% live and safe no matter what plan you decide to purchase.

Liquid Web pricing

When it comes to VPS hosting, Liquid Web comes with 4 pricing plans for Linux with prices starting at $15.00/month. In comparison, Bluehost offers 3 VPS plans In comparison, Bluehost offers 3 VPS plans at a lower pricing tier from $19.99/month to $59.99/month.

Regardless of which plan you choose, all of them include 10TB of bandwidth, monitoring, a firewall, and DDoS protection.

While quite similar, here’s how the resources differ throughout – from 2 to 8 vCPU, 40 to 200 GB SSD storage, and 2 to 16 RAM.

Briefly getting back to price, the provider has an introductory discount. This means that after the first installment, the introductory price will get back to the original one, which won't have any increased renewal rates.

Liquid Web performance

When it comes to performance, Liquid Web does a very good job. To explore how much traffic can Liquid Web handle, I’ve sent 50 Virtual Users (VUs) to my site to roam around for 5 minutes.

And let me tell you, the results were very good. The host handled the full 50 VUs test, which is not a joke as such continuous traffic could result in roughly 50 000 monthly visits. That is much better than Bluehost’s success at 15 VUs.

While there were a few jumps in response time (blue line,) the provider crushed this test, no questions asked.

Lastly, if you’re wondering about server locations, know that Liquid Web has servers in the US and EU. To battle latency, choose the server closes to your audience.

The bottom line is that Liquid Web offers fully managed hosting solutions for users who need more in terms of performance and security.

3. HostGator – best Bluehost alternative for small businesses

Features	Free SSL and free domain
Uptime	>99.99%
Speed	525ms
Best for	Small-to-medium business websites or larger personal websites
Current deal	🔥Get HostGator, now 65% OFF!🔥

Visit HostGator

When searching for Bluehost alternatives, you might want to consider HostGator too. While Bluehost and HostGator are highly similar, the latter cuts down on price and increases the ease of use. Affordable and resource-rich plans are what make HostGators such a good rival.

Let’s explore what HostGator has to offer:

• To make hosting and website management that much easier, the provider uses a mix of native panel and cPanel integration. You can either set up your website through shortcuts to cPanel found in the native panel or go to the cPanel directly.
• HostGator comes with a free website builder named Gator Builder. While the builder is very intuitive and easy to use, you will be able to create only a 6-page website with it. Keep in mind that the free website will have a small HostGator banner.
• The provider includes all the necessary tools like a free domain, SSL, and email accounts with all its pricing plans. You can rest assured that no extra expenses will be needed.
• The provider also comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, which is slightly longer than the conventional 30-day money-back guarantee.

Basically, HostGator is an excellent choice, no matter the level of experience. Whether you are a beginner who wants to start a personal blog or an experienced user who wants to create a small business website, HostGator is the one for the job.

HostGator pricing

HostGator provides 3 shared hosting plans, as opposed to Bluehost’s 4. The Hatchling starts at $2.75/month, the Baby plan at $3.50/month, and the Business package starts at $5.25/month.

All HostGator’s plans include a free domain and a free SSL. Here’s how they differ:

• Hatchling ($2.75/month) – you can host 1 website. Suitable for a personal blog, or portfolio for instance.
• Baby($3.50/month) – the difference here is that you can host connect unlimited domains and host unlimited websites.
• Business ($5.25/month) – what’s extra here: free upgrade to positive SSL, a free dedicated IP, and free SEO tools. It’s more suitable if you need more in terms of security.

HostGator performance

HostGator’s performance, without a doubt, was of the highest standards. To test its capabilities in performing under a lot of stress, I’ve sent 50 Virtual Users (VUs) onto the site.

50 VUs is pretty intense traffic that could overwhelm the server entirely. If 50 new visitors appeared on your site every minute for a month, you would have around 50 000 monthly visitors on your hands. Yeah, a lot.

But HostGator had no problems in handling such traffic – it passed the full 50 VUs test successfully. This is much more intense than Bluehost’s 15 VUs.

The response time (blue line) remained highly stable, with no signs of failure to be seen. Truly a powerful provider.

However, I must note that the host only has its data centers in the US, which is similarly limiting as Bluehost with its US-exclusive server locations.

In all seriousness, HostGator may fall under the same category as Bluehost, but it manages to bring more to the table in terms of performance. The plans are affordable and inclusive, and its website builder is a bit more potent.

4. DreamHost – best Bluehost alternative for an affordable hosting

Features	Free SSL, domain, native control panel
Uptime	>99.99%
Speed	231ms
Best for	WordPress-focused business websites or blogs
Current deal	🔥Get DreamHost now, 79% OFF!🔥

Visit DreamHost

DreamHost is a pretty straightforward alternative to Bluehost. The provider is highly WordPress-oriented and offers only 2 shared hosting plans, which are very affordable. Additionally, the provider puts ease of use at the forefront of its services with its native user management panel.

Here are the main features that make DreamHost a good Bluehost alternative:

• DreamHost comes with its own custom control panel, and the user interface is very easy to use. You will be able to navigate it without getting lost, which is a plus for beginners. Managing all essential aspects of your website takes just a few minutes.
• To make website creation that much easier, DreamHost includes a free WordPress-focused website builder. What this means is that the DreamHost’s builder is integrated as a plugin in your WordPress website.
• While it’s pretty rare to have a 100% uptime guarantee for shared hosting plans, DreamHost offers exactly that. So while this is a little ambitious, you can be sure that your site will remain live longer than the average shared hosting website.
• Lastly, compared to Bluehost’s pricing, DreamHost offers good monthly prices regardless of the billing period’s length. Starter plan retails for $1.99 with monthly billing, $2.95/month with an annual, and $2.59/month with a 3-year billing option.

Basically, DreamHost is affordable, reliable, easy to use, and it seems to have a solution for virtually everyone.

DreamHost pricing

DreamHost offers only 2 shared hosting plans. You have the Shared Starter ($2.59/month) and Shared Unlimited ($3.95/month). Bluehost has 4 plans and noticeably less reasonable prices.

Both plans come with a free domain and its privacy, unlimited traffic, and a pre-installed WordPress. Not to mention that you can use a WP website builder, enjoy fast SSD storage, and a free SSL certificate. However, there are a few differences between the two.

• Starter ($2.59/month) – allows connecting only 1 website and if you want an e-mail account, you have to pay $1.67/month for it. But it’s ideal if you want a simple personal website.
• Unlimited ($3.95/month) – allows connecting unlimited websites, and includes a free e-mail account. You can use this plan to create a small business website.

DreamHost performance

Just like many other Bluehost alternatives on this list, DreamHost’s ability to perform under the stress was just as impressive. I’ve examined the provider’s limits by sending 50 Virtual Users (VUs) onto the site.

Being able to handle 50 VUs is a pretty good achievement as such traffic could easily crash the server and leave your site to sink. Well, that’s not the case with DreamHost. The host handled 50 VUs with no signs of struggle. Clearly, that’s not the limit here.

The response time (blue line) did have a few jumps, but overall it had little impact on the performance as a whole. Much better results than with Bluehost.

And if it weren’t enough, DreamHost actually offers a 100% uptime guarantee. Plus, for each hour of downtime, DreamHost credits 1 day of hosting.

Lastly, I should point out that the provider does have data centers in the US alone. This means that the best performance results can be expected in North America too.

Overall, DreamHost is a reliable and affordable web hosting platform that offers inclusive plans, good prices, and simplicity above all. In my opinion, it’s a good alternative to Bluehost.

5. InterServer – best Bluehost alternative for cheap monthly billing

Features	Free SSL and cPanel
Uptime	99.99%
Speed	662ms
Best for	Smaller sites looking for a month-to-month billing
Current deal	🔥Get InterServer, now 65% OFF!🔥

Visit InterServer

InterServer is not a provider that you hear about a lot, but it offers well-rounded services at competitive prices. You can opt for shared, VPS, or private server hosting. With its ease of use and many resources, InterServer is suitable for both beginners and experienced users.

Here are a few more things that make InterServer a good alternative for Bluehost:

• The provider uses cPanel for all website management tasks. cPanel is known for its simplicity, and it is favored by many. Even Bluehost uses it. However, only for more advanced tasks.
• If you’re looking for a short-term commitment, InterServer offers monthly billing that will not break your bank. If you choose the monthly option, the first month will be only $2.50 and every other will come up to $7. Additionally, with a 6 month billing period, the initial price will be $15 in total and $42 for the next 6 months. That's just $4.00/mo. Bluehost, however, does not offer any monthly billing options – the shortest term is 12 months.
• InterServer is mostly known as a no-nonsense provider. This means that each plan is just an upgraded version of the first one in terms of resources.

My point is that InterServer is affordable, and its plan seems to satisfy a wide range of needs. No flashy additional tools, just more server resources.

InterServer pricing

InterServer has 3 shared hosting plans with prices ranging from $2.50/month to $19.95/month in comparison to Bluehost’s 4 plans.

Regardless of which plan you choose, you’ll be able to enjoy an unlimited number of websites and email addresses, as well as unmetered bandwidth and unlimited storage. More so, you’ll get a free SSL, CDN, automatic backup, and InterShield security package.

Here’s what differs: you can choose from 1 to 4 Cores and 2 to 8GB RAM.

If you are interested in scalability, know that InterServer offers VPS hosting, which starts at $6.00/month. Much cheaper than Bluehost’s cheapest plan at $19.99/month.

InterServer performance

When it comes to performance, InterServer did good but could do better. To really test its limits, I performed a stress test where I’ve sent 50 Virtual Users (VUs) onto the site. And the results were interesting.

As 50 continuos VUs is pretty intense traffic, it’s not very surprising that a host could fail it. InterServer was not able to uphold such traffic. The first win was with 35 VUs.

While 35VUs is a good amount of traffic, this seems to be the absolute roof for InterServer’s entry plan. The response time (blue line) is all over the place, and there are 19 failed requests. It did handle 35 VUs, but that’s a stretch.

Lastly, the host has all its data centers in the US alone. Opt for this provider if your target audience is from here too.

Needless to say, InterServer is worthy of your attention. It’s cheap, it offers solutions for everyone, and its performance is reliable. I’d say that it gives great value for the money you spend.

6. A2 Hosting – best Bluehost alternative for fast and secure hosting

Features	Free SSL, caching, DDoS protection, cPanel
Uptime	99.99%
Speed	597ms
Best for	Fast and highly secure personal or business sites
Current deal	🔥Get A2 Hosting now, 72% OFF!🔥

Visit A2 Hosting

A2 Hosting is a highly secure and performance-focused alternative to Bluehost. As for site management, the host also includes the audience’s favored cPanel for a very straightforward and simplistic process. Best of all, the pricing is pretty affordable with prices starting at just $2.99/mo.

Now let’s explore A2 Hosting’s offerings in more detail:

• Talking about ease of use, the provider offers a standard cPanel for all site management tasks. The panel is very functional and intuitive, although slightly outdated. Regardless, both beginners and advanced users will have no issues using it.
• When it comes to security, A2 Hosting is one of the most secure hosting providers. Even the cheapest entry plan comes with tools like an SSL certificate, server-level firewall, DDoS protection, automatic updates, Patchman enhanced security package, and more.
• A2 Hosting pays a lot of attention to the site’s speed. The host even has 2 plans that are hosted on Turbo servers and offer enhanced performance. Features like LiteSpeed web servers and cache, HTTP/3, and more are included with both plans, free of charge. On top of that, you can choose from 4 server locations.

In short, A2 Hosting is a performance-focused provider that brings good ease of use, as well as impressive speed and server power.

A2 Hosting pricing

Just like Bluehost, A2 Hosting offers 4 shared hosting plans, with prices starting at $2.99/mo and going up to $15.99/mo. Alternatively, Bluehost’s prices range from $2.95/mo to $13.95/mo.

Now talking about offerings, all A2 Hosting plans are well-equipped. No matter which plan you’ll choose, it will include a free SSL, unlimited email accounts, an extensive set of security tools, as well as cloning and staging tools. Although Bluehost includes a free domain with all its plans, A2 Hosting charges extra for a custom domain.

Here’s what each plan has to offer:

• StartUp ($2.99/month) – allows hosting 1 site and comes with 100GB SSD storage for it. This plan is best suited for a personal or a small business website.
• Drive ($6.99/month) – comes with unlimited websites, SSD storage, and free automatic backups. The plan will best suit a small business website that requires more server resources.
• Turbo Boost ($7.99/month) – everything from the Drive plan plus it includes advanced caching and your site will be hosted on an NVMe AMD EPYC Server with LiteSpeed Web Server. This is a good solution for sites that value fast and reliable performance.
• Turbo Max ($15.99/month) – everything from the Turbo Boost plan plus even more enhanced performance. Due to high security and many performance optimization tools, the plan is best fitted for medium-sized business sites or online stores.

A2 Hosting performance

When it comes to performance, A2 Hosting is far from disappointing. Especially when performing under stress.

To test the provider's abilities in handling intense traffic, I’ve set 50 Virtual Users (VUs) to the website. Keep in mind, that 50 VUs continuously roaming around the site could result in 50 000 monthly views. And that’s a lot!

Yet it seems that A2 Hosting had no issues. The provider handled the full 50 VUs without breaking a sweat. For comparison, Bluehost can handle only 15 VUs.

The graph shows that A2 Hosting managed to keep a stable response time (blue line) with no fails (red line) in sight. This suggests that the cheapest provider’s plan is capable of even more.

Lastly, while Bluehost has its data centers in the US alone, A2 Hosting

allows you to choose from 4 locations – 2 in the US, 1 in Europe, and 1 in Asia.

As a whole, A2 Hosting is one of the best Bluehost alternatives if you wish to run a fast and secure site. Small business, an online store, or large blog site – A2 Hosting got you.

7. GoDaddy – best Bluehost alternative for personal sites

Features	Free domain, Microsoft 365 email for a year, cPanel
Uptime	99.98%
Speed	341ms
Best for	Hosting small-to-medium personal sites
Current deal	🔥GoDaddy coupon 66% OFF🔥

Visit GoDaddy

GoDaddy is among some of the most popular hosting solutions, and for a good reason. The provider comes bearing simple site management tools, good performance, and generous server resources even on the most basic plan. More so, with a large discount, the price for its services drops as low as $2.99/mo.

Here’s what GoDaddy has to offer:

• When it comes to ease of use, GoDaddy is very simplistic. The provider uses a mix of its native user interface and cPanel integration. Both panels are very well-structured and easy to navigate, with all main site management features like domains, files, databases, and more included.
• GoDaddy is known as the largest domain registrar in the world, so it’s no surprise that all GoDaddy’s shared hosting plans come with free domain registration.
• Talking about server resources, GoDaddy is pretty generous with its offerings – even the entry plan comes with 100GB storage and unmetered bandwidth.
• For improved performance and better user experience, the host offers servers on 3 continents.

In short, GoDaddy is a very beginner-friendly provider that brings generous server resources and good performance to the table.

GoDaddy pricing

Now talking about plans, GoDaddy comes with 3 shared hosting options, with prices ranging from $2.99/mo to $14.99/mo, with a 12-month billing cycle. On the other hand, for the same billing period, Bluehost has 4 plans, with prices ranging from $2.95/mo to $13.95/mo.

All GoDaddy’s plans come with a free custom domain that is hosted in the largest domain registrar and a free Microsoft 365 email account.

As for what each plan has to offer individually:

• Economy ($2.99/mo) – you can host 1 website and get 100GB of disk space and 10 databases. The plan will be a solid option for large portfolios or blog sites.
• Deluxe ($9.99/mo) – unlimited websites, storage, and bandwidth, as well as 25 databases. This solution will work best for hosting multiple sites.
• Ultimate ($14.99/mo) – everything from Deluxe, plus a free SSL, unlimited databases, and premium DNS management. This plan is a good option for small-to-medium business sites.

GoDaddy performance

In terms of performance, GoDaddy proves to have an advantage over Bluehost. Especially when it comes to handling increased traffic on the site.

To see how well GoDaddy performs under pressure, I’ve sent 50 Virtual Users (VUs) to the site. I must note that continuously having 50 VUs could result in around 50 000 monthly visits. And that puts a lot of strain on the server.

So while GoDaddy was not able to handle the full test, it held up 40 VUs, which is just as good. As an example, Bluehost is capable of handling just 15 VUs.

Based on the graph it is clear that the host faced no issues when handling such traffic. The response seed (blue line) was speedy and fairly stable. But most importantly, none of the requests have failed to get delivered.

To finish off, GoDaddy has data centers in North America, Europe, and Asia, while Bluehost allows hosting sites in the US alone.

All things considered, GoDaddy is a simplistic and speedy Bluehost alternative. If you’re looking to run a large blog or a portfolio site, GoDaddy might just be it for you.

Visit our GoDaddy review to learn more about its features.

Best Bluehost alternatives compared

Provider	Hostinger	Liquid Web	HostGator	DreamHost	InterServer	A2 Hosting	GoDaddy
Brand
Speed	511ms	521ms	525ms	231ms	662ms	597ms	341ms
Uptime	100%	100%	>99.99%	>99.99%	99.99%	99.99%	99.98%
Data center location	Yes, 7	Yes, 3	US only	US only	US only	Yes, 4	Yes, 3
Shared hosting	✅	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
WordPress hosting	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
VPS or Cloud hosting	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Control panel	hPanel	multiple	cPanel	Custom	cPanel	cPanel	cPanel
Free SSL	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Free domain	✅	❌	✅	✅	❌	❌	✅
Customer support	24/7	24/7	24/7	24/7	24/7	24/7	24/7
Price range	From $2.99/mo	From $15.00/mo	From $2.75/mo	From $2.59/mo	From $2.50/mo	From $2.99/mo	From $2.99/mo
Review	Hostinger review	Liquid Web review	HostGator review	DreamHost review	InterServer review	A2 Hosting review	GoDaddy review

Best Bluehost alternatives: final recommendations

Knowing Bluehost’s weak points helps to choose the best alternative for you. Maybe you’re looking for a lower price, more resources, or more power. Base your choice on your needs.

In the meantime, let’s take another look at the 5 best Bluehost alternatives and their strong points:

• Hostinger is overall a cheaper, faster, and more reliable Bluehost alternative. The host has many data centers to choose from, can handle heavy traffic and the renewal rates are very reasonable.
• Liquid Web is a premium VPS provider that offers much better performance and more resources for big projects. The provider packs more power offers dedicated resources.
• HostGator is highly similar to Bluehost. Yet HostGator offers noticeably lower prices, increased ease of use, higher speed, and noticeably lower renewal rates.
• DreamHost is a cheaper, more powerful, and reliable Bluehost alternative. The host offers very resource-rich plans that are reasonably priced for monthly as well as yearly billing.
• InterServer is a no-nonsense hosting provider that overpowers Bluehost with its lower prices and generous resources. Its ease of use is also a factor that attracts many new users.
• A2 Hosting is a performance-oriented provider that outruns Bluehost in terms of security and performance. Additionally, A2 hosting is very beginner friendly.
• GoDaddy is a simplistic, yet highly functional hosting provider for those looking to run a personal or small business site. More so, the performance is very good, with multiple data center options.

What’s wrong with Bluehost?

Saying that something’s wrong with Bluehost is a little far-fetched. The provider can satisfy a relatively wide range of needs. The problem is that it can do that up to a point. A point that may not be enough for some people.

There’s even an expression saying that good is only good enough until something better comes along. And that applies beautifully in Bluehost’s case. So, what’s wrong with Bluehost?

High renewal fees

The Bigfoot jump Bluehost makes from the initial purchase price to the renewal fee is inconvenient, to say the least. The first time you buy a shared hosting plan, prices start at $2.95/month for Basic, $4.95/mo for Plus and Choice Plus, and $13.95/mo for Pro. How you get from those to $9.99, $14.99, $18.99, and $26.99, respectively, is beyond me.

Sure, I get it’s a tactic. Everyone does it. But a jump that high? Not cool, Bluehost! There are Bluehost alternatives that have cheaper renewal fees for sure.

Bluehost can handle relatively small traffic

Bluehost’s shared hosting plans don’t satisfy the needs of a popular, frequently visited website. To test how much traffic the provider can handle, I sent 50 Virtual Users (VUs) to the site for 5 minutes.

I should note that 50 new users each minute would result in a pretty intense monthly traffic of ~50 000 users.

This, however, was entirely too much for Bluehost's Basic plan.

Out of 4077 requests made, more than half (2690 reqs) have failed to get delivered. Simply put, the server took an out with no signs of life. To see how much it actually can handle, I ran the test again until the first signs of success.

That was at 15 VUs.

At this point, the provider did not fail once. And even though the response time could be better, you can still expect your site to handle up to ~15 000 monthly visits. A relatively popular blog, yet no large eCommerce.

Bluehost’s server location

While the host performs pretty well in the United States, that’s where its area of expertise ends. Bluehost’s data centers are located in the US alone. While this is no point of worry for anyone whose audiences reside in the US too, others might give this a second thought.

If your audience is far away from the server, where your website is located, the data to and from the server has to travel a long distance. The long distance equals a long wait time, and that means high bounce rates. So, if your audience is from Europe, Asia, Africa, or Australia (haven’t seen server locations in Antarctica yet), you should opt for a different host.

However, if you have visitors from the US as well as somewhere else, you can enable Bluehost’s free Cloudflare CDN integration. If you choose to use it, your content can be cached on over 200 servers worldwide. While this does not change the actual server, it still helps to perform faster in other regions of the world.

Bluehost’s customer support

When it comes to customer support, Bluehost is a bit of a hit or miss. One notably good thing is that you can expect to reach support agents 24/7 via live chat, phone calls, ticketing, or email. However, while some agents are very well trained, knowledgeable, and eager to help, others might not be so helpful.

In general Bluehost's support is easy to reach and fairly quick to reply to. Yet the biggest drawback is that if you want a guarantee that you'll get only the highest quality services, you have to purchase one of its Blue Sky plans. And those are not cheap, with prices starting at $24.00/mo.

In short, Bluehost's customer support, like most things where a human factor is involved, could be a hit or miss. At the same time, to make sure that you can receive useful help and support, you have to pay extra.

Overall, I have to say that all the drawbacks above are not significant enough to not use Bluehost altogether. It can be the right choice for beginners or small websites. However, if you want to take it up a notch, the provider’s alternatives above should be a better fit.

Final thoughts

While a popular host, Bluehost has developed quite a few cons that urge users to look for alternatives. Its competitors offer much better performance, resources, and great security features at a cheaper price.

Our top Bluehost alternative is Hostinger. Its prices start from just $2.99/mo, and you get a free domain, 100 email accounts, and an SSL certificate with each plan. Plus, our tests revealed great performance results, and you get to choose from 8 data centers.

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