Bluehost review 2023: Pros and cons

4.6 out of 5

• Types of hosting
  4.5
• Help and support
  5
• Features
  4
• Value for money
  4.4
• Up time performance
  4

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Bluehost is an excellent choice for small businesses looking for a web hosting provider. It offers top-notch help and support, as well as strong uptime performance – all at an affordable price. 

In fact, in research conducted specifically for Startups.co.uk, Bluehost was found to be the best overall hosting provider. 

This research included analysis of ten hosting providers across a variety of categories that are crucial for small business owners, including types of hosting, features, and more. 

But what does Bluehost offer specifically that propelled it into the top spot? We’ll cover this, and more, in our dedicated Bluehost review.

Bluehost hosting pros and cons

Bluehost hosting overview

Bluehost

4.6

The best all-rounder for shared hosting.

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• Free domain For 1st year
• Free SSL Yes

• 24/7 customer support
• Unlimited websites
• Custom themes

Summary Bluehost is an excellent choice for small businesses looking for a hosting provider. It offers top-notch help and support, as well as strong uptime performance – all at an affordable price. In fact, in research conducted specifically for Startups.co.uk, Bluehost was found to be the best overall hosting provider. This research included analysis of ten hosting providers across a variety of categories that are crucial for small business owners, including types of hosting, features, and more.

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Bluehost is an established brand in the hosting space, and is particularly well known for its specific WordPress solutions. 

However, what made it shine in our research was its overall offering. Bluehost is our top pick of website hosting providers, and offers the best overall hosting solution. 

Not only did it secure this top spot, but Bluehost was also ranked first for help and support. 

If you’re really focused on finding the cheapest option available, then Hostinger or iPage could be more suitable for you.

But with strong uptime (Bluehost was number two in this category) and a respectable third-place ranking for value for money, Bluehost could be the ideal solution if you’re looking for a reliable hosting provider at an affordable price point.

Bluehost hosting pricing plans

Bluehost is in our top three providers in the value for money category. It offers a range of plans, including specific options for WordPress hosting.

Bluehost WordPress shared hosting prices

Bluehost’s shared hosting for WordPress is available at three price points: Basic, Plus, and Choice Plus. The introductory rates range from £2.26 per month to £4.17 per month, excluding VAT and based on an initial term length of 36 months.

The introductory prices apply for the first term only, and after the initial 36-months have ended, renewals are charged at the regular rates – the prices which apply after the introductory period has ended.

All Bluehost WordPress sharing hosting plans include automatic install and updates for WordPress, as well as a free SSL certificate and a free domain name for the first year.

The Choice Plus plan is Bluehost’s recommended WordPress offering: it includes unlimited websites, unmetered SSD storage, and CodeGuard Basic Backup.

Bluehost managed WordPress hosting pricing

In addition, Bluehost provides a fully managed WordPress hosting solution: WP Pro. 

There are three plans to choose from – Build, Grow, and Scale – costing from £15.25 per month to £38.18 per month. The same conditions apply: these are introductory prices, exclusive of VAT, and are offered on a 36-month initial term length.

This means that once the first term of 36-months is over, they’re renewed at the regular rate, which are the prices that apply to existing customers.

Bluehost recommends the Grow plan – it has all of the key functions you need to develop an audience for a WordPress website, and is priced at a reasonable £22.89 per month. 

Bluehost general hosting pricing

Bluehost also offers general hosting, including shared, VPS and dedicated options. 

These options range in price from £2.26 per month through to £91.72 per month. As with the WordPress plans, these introductory prices are offered without VAT, and are based on an initial term length of 36 months. Renewals are charged at the standard rates (the rates that apply once the first 36-month term has finished).

Shared hosting is the most popular option, with the plan offering all the essentials to begin hosting websites. Bluehost’s shared hosting plan starts at £2.26 per month.

Types of hosting – 4.5/5

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 – 5/5

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 – 4/5

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 – 4.4/5

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 – £10.66 per month
• VPS – £14.52 – £45.86 per month
• Dedicated – £61.14 – £91.72 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 performance – 4/5

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.

Our methodology: How did we evaluate Bluehost hosting for small businesses?

In our research, Bluehost emerged as the best overall website hosting provider. This was based on in-depth analysis of five 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. You can see an overview of each provider in the table below. 

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BEST ALL ROUND
Overall score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 4.6	Overall score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 4.5	Overall score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 4.5	Overall score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 4.0	Overall score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 4.0
Best Overall hosting provider	Best For shared and VPS hosting	Best For Up Time Performance	Best Value for money	Best For customer service
Cost Starting from £2.33 per month	Cost $9.49 $2.99/mo*	Cost $11.95 per month	Cost £2.59	Cost $1.59 – 2.59 per month
Visit Try Bluehost	Visit Try InMotion	Visit Try HostGator	Visit Hostinger	Visit Try A2 Hosting

Learn more with our guide to the best web hosting providers for small businesses.

Bluehost hosting verdict

Bluehost emerged from our research as the overall best web hosting provider. It offers both general and WordPress-specific hosting options, at a workable range of price points.

Starting prices are £2.26 per month for basic hosting for both shared and WordPress plans. At the other end of the scale, managed WordPress hosting is available from £15.25 per month, while dedicated hosting costs upwards of £61.14 per month.

While Bluehost offers good value for money, if price is your number one priority, then cheaper hosting solutions are available. 

However, if you’re most concerned with receiving reliable assistance with your hosting solution, then Bluehost is perfect.

FAQs

How much is Bluehost pricing?

Basic shared hosting plans for both general hosting and WordPress hosting are available from £2.26 per month, as you’ll be sharing the server with other websites. This is in stark contrast to the dedicated hosting plans, which cost from £61.14 per month to £91.72 per month – although this does get you a server all to yourself. 

Is Bluehost a good web host?

Bluehost is our number one overall best web hosting provider. Its help and support offering is excellent, and the value for money and uptime performance it offers are also impressive. However, the types of hosting and the features it offers could be improved – see our methodology section above for in-depth insight. 

Is Bluehost shared hosting?

Bluehost offers shared hosting for both general and WordPress-specific uses. Other types of hosting are available too, including VPS, managed, and dedicated hosting plans.