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Bluehost gets a lot of good publicity, and it seems it’s warranted. The host scored above average for ease of use and support. But in our tests, we noted it falls short in performance and also lacks many features that are standard with our top hosts. Overall, it’s a mixed bag, but it might still be the host for you.
Bluehost Pros, Cons, & Things That Could Be Better
Responsive and helpful customer support
Super user-friendly interface
Tons of WordPress tools and features
NVMe SSD storage is capped
Slower loading speeds than Hostinger
Lacks free features compared to Hostinger
Fewer data center locations than Hostinger
Type “best hosting provider” into any search engine, and you won’t have to scroll far to find Bluehost. Touted as one of the “top hosting services worldwide,” it’s maintained a certain golden status for years. It’s especially popular with first-time bloggers and small e-commerce site owners who are drawn to its generous first-term discounts and simple, beginner-friendly interface.
Few review sites properly test Bluehost’s service, though. I mean, how can you honestly recommend a service that you haven’t even tried out? We did test it, measuring every aspect of hosting a WordPress site using Bluehost – from ease of setup to its uptime rate, page loading speeds, and even how well the support team… well, supports.
Key takeaways? For ease of use, Bluehost’s sleek control panel and fast sign-up process excelled. The support team was also very responsive and helpful. However, performance was a major letdown. And although very affordable when signing up, Bluehost’s hosting renewal rates typically double. I also found the features and “freebies” included in its plans are easy to beat if you shop around for another host.
If you’re skeptical about Bluehost but still want to weigh the pros and cons, this review is for you. I suggest you also take a look at our round-up of the top 10 best web hosting services to see how Bluehost compares to other highly rated hosts.
Many “Free” Features – Which Are Generally Free Anyway
Features add value to a hosting package, but Bluehost may have taken marketing its “extras” too far. The host makes a big deal of certain features being “free,” but this is misleading since you can use these services and plugins for free no matter which hosting provider you’re with. Naturally, first-time website owners won’t know any better.
For example, the “Bluehost WordPress Marketplace” is very similar to the actual WordPress Marketplace. It features a selection of curated free and premium WordPress and WooCommerce themes and plugins. The only difference is that you access them directly via the Bluehost admin panel instead of in the WordPress dashboard.
Likewise, the included “Yoast SEO Free” is just the free version of this popular WordPress SEO plugin. While this integration makes sense considering both Bluehost and Yoast are subsidiaries of Newfold Digital, surely a premium tier plan for Yoast could be included for free instead?
The entry-level shared and WordPress plans from Bluehost allow for 10 websites. The three more expensive ones let you host 50–100 websites. If you only plan to create one website, the Basic hosting package storage limitation of 10GB shouldn’t be too much of an issue.
However, issues may arise if you want to create and manage multiple sites on one of Bluehost’s plans. Mainly, you’ll want to keep an eye on the amount of storage you have remaining, especially if your sites have a lot of large images or other storage-intensive media files.
If you’re hosting text-based blogs, though, the 50–100 GB of space on the top-tier plans should be more than enough for a lot of smaller sites.
If you’re looking to have no such limits on storage, IONOS’s Plus hosting plan with unlimited storage, bandwidth, and websites might be a better fit. Even better, this plan costs less than Bluehost’s equivalent mid-tier plan after renewal.
SSL Certificates & More (Paid) Security Features
In addition to a year of domain name registration, you can expect a number of other add-ons – such as integration with Cloudflare’s CDN and SSL certificates.
The SSL certificates are the standard ones from Let’s Encrypt, which are intended to provide a very basic level of SSL encryption. In other words, it removes the “not secure” warning and adds a padlock icon to the address bar in web browsers when people visit your site.
Paying for backups should never be an option as far as hosting goes
Though affordable, you’ll note that Bluehost’s cheaper Basic and Plus plans don’t come with any more security features than the above, though. In comparison, the premium Choice Plus and Pro shared hosting plans include domain privacy and daily website back-ups – but, disappointingly, only for your first year.
After years of reviewing web hosts, paying for backups should never be standard. Bluehost may have other redeeming qualities, but if you want free security, Hostinger offers free and on-demand backups on both shared and cloud hosting plans – and it’s still cheaper than Bluehost.
After signing up, you can purchase various paid add-ons from the Bluehost Marketplace to ramp up your security. For a fee, you can add a Single Domain SSL and SiteLock Security, which includes the use of the much more secure TrueSpeed CDN and the TrueShield firewall.
Though they are affordable, you’ll note that Bluehost’s Basic hosting plans don’t come with more security features than the above. In comparison, every premium WordPress and shared hosting plan from Bluehost comes with domain privacy, malware scanning, and daily website back-ups included.
A Free Domain Name
One value-for-money extra Bluehost includes in its plans is a free domain name. It’s a handy addition if you’re looking to bundle all of your website launch costs into one.
Keep in mind that a domain name is never truly “free” as fees must be paid to the organizations that oversee the domain name system – so, if you decide Bluehost’s services aren’t for you, and you decide to take advantage of Bluehost’s 30-day money-back guarantee, the cost of the domain name will be subtracted from your refund. You can then take the domain name with you to a new provider.
Bluehost Features at a Glance
Free domain name
✔
Free backups
✘ (1 year of free daily backups on top-tier plans)
Free email
✘ (only 3-month Pro Email trial)
Money-back guarantee
30-day money-back guarantee
Uptime guarantee
Partial – 100% SLA on cloud plans only
Data centers
Orem, Utah (US)
4.7
Ease of use
My Hosting Experience With Bluehost
There’s nothing complicated about the Bluehost hosting admin panel – and that’s a good thing
I did appreciate the speed and simplicity of getting started with Bluehost. Featuring a two-step order process, WordPress auto-installer, and an automatic site creation and optimization questionnaire, getting my website up and running was very straightforward.
The Bluehost admin panel was equally delightful to navigate after I signed up. Though it did take a bit of time for certain pages to load, the layout is clean, uncluttered, and made sense.
Creating a New Account With Bluehost
Bluehost’s streamlined sign-up process has no painfully drawn-out marketing and upselling – I only hade to navigate domain setup and payment. I was also be prompted to pay and create my Bluehost account and login credentials simultaneously.
The typical account creation details required on the payment page itself included my name, address, and contact details. The account creation tool also allowed me to specify my chosen service term and paid hosting add-ons. That said, I recommend thoroughly reviewing all of these, as some paid extras are pre-selected. For example, the Professional Email free trial was pre-selected, and if you don’t cancel it, it renews at full price after the 3 months is up.
You’ll be prompted to create your Bluehost account during payment
It’s nice that Bluehost’s accepted payment methods include a number of cards, such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express. It also accepts PayPal, money orders, and checks.
Additionally, all shared Bluehost plans also come with a $100 Google Ads and Bing Ads credit. However, you won’t see this offer listed on your order summary itself and for Google Ads, you’ll need to spend a minimum of $25 on your existing account to claim your credit.
Connecting a Domain and Installing WordPress
After payment for my Bluehost hosting plan was complete, I could focus on setting up my website. Handily, the domain name setup page pops up just before the payment page.
Bluehost’s free domain selection includes a decent range of domain extensions
You can select your free domain from a number of popular domain extensions or add an existing domain, if needed. The inclusion of many popular US, UK, and global domain extensions in Bluehost’s free domain name selection is definitely a win. You can choose one that best fits your unique demographic and audience instead of settling for a generic one. Whether you take advantage of Bluehost’s free domain offer or use your own, Bluehost will point the DNS for you.
Once my account was set up, it was time to install WordPress with Bluehost’s 1-click WordPress installer. Under the Websites tab in my account panel, I clicked on Add FirstWebsite. From here, you can choose between installing WordPress or transferring an existing WordPress site. If you choose the fresh WordPress install, you’ll need to add your site title and link it to a domain name.
Once you click Continue, your WordPress install should begin. The process only takes a few minutes. You’ll need to log into your WordPress admin dashboard to edit your site, which you can do via the Bluehost panel. Overall, it’s a super straightforward, stress-free process. If you can’t find your way around, there are also plenty of self-help guides and tutorials available.
Other Ease-of-Use Features
Easy Access to WordPress From Your Control Panel
Jump straight to your site’s WordPress Dashboard via the Bluehost admin panel
Once WordPress is set up, you can also log in password-free from your Bluehost admin panel. As a WordPress-forward host, Bluehost offers a lot more features for the popular CMS, too. For example, you’ll have access to a WordPress site migration tool and a WordPress AI site builder.
Do note that – as with many providers – Bluehost’s shared and WordPress hosting plans are essentially the same products with different names. If you sign up for a regular web hosting plan, you can still install WordPress.
Custom Bluehost Admin Panel & WordPress Dashboard
Manage your WordPress website from your Bluehost admin panel – and vice versa
Bluehost’s admin panel and your WordPress Dashboard are somewhat linked on its WordPress hosting plans. You can publish and edit website content directly from the Bluehost admin panel, or use exclusive Bluehost tools from your WordPress Dashboard.
This feature is useful if you’re new to WordPress hosting as it allows you to edit your website content from your Bluehost panel.
Google My Business Setup
Bluehost offers integration with Google My Business, allowing you to seamlessly connect your site and a Google Business account together. This way, you can get your business listed and mapped out on Google Maps in one place – a nice touch, particularly for those with physical stores or offices.
3.9
Performance
Adequate Performance – But Mainly in the US
Bluehosts’ main demographic is US-based sites and audiences. A contributing factor is that Bluehost’s data centers are located in Utah, meaning Bluehost-hosted sites perform best here and in nearby states and countries like Canada.
These are the assumptions you’d have when signing up to Bluehost, right? But whenI ran my tests, my Bluehost-hosted WordPress site scored somewhat poorly for performance in the US. With a typical page loading time of about 2 seconds or more, I can’t recommend it at all.
Loading speeds were inconsistent overall, regularly dipping to 1.2 seconds and jumping up to over 4.5 seconds over the course of just 24 hours. And, though Bluehost’s uptime was reliable at 100%, it’s not backed by a guarantee unless you buy a cloud plan.
GTmetrix Performance Tests
My Bluehost test site typically took over 2 seconds to load – which is just over the edge of acceptability according to the majority of hosting experts. However, there were many deviations throughout the day and week, with my site frequently takingwell over 3 seconds to load. This is one of the main reasons I just can’t recommend Bluehost, and also why many customers have left the host.
Bluehost’s performance was less than impressive in GTmetrix tests
It’s very difficult to attribute deviations to peak times as performance seemed to ebb and flow throughout the week. But if you think this is normal for a budget host, it’s not. For example, Hostinger offers plans for cheaper (before and after renewal), but consistently served loading speeds of around 1 second or less in our tests for exactly the same test site.
In a one-week period, Bluehost’s performance wavered drastically
The primary problem was identified in the Time to First Byte measure. Once the testing server in Chicago was able to make that first connection with the data center in Utah, page assets would often load in less than a second. But it would frequently take more than a second – sometimes more than two – for the Time to First Byte connection to take place.
Keep in mind that this was the default setup for a Bluehost hosting plan, and with various plugins and other tweaks, it could be better. However, we try to test a hosting plan without these performance tools active to see what you’ll get out of the box.
Sucuri Load Time Tester Global Speeds
Bluehost is highly recommended for US & UK audiences – but less so further afield
From my Sucuri Load Time Tester results, you can see that US-based connections – particularly on the West Coast, near Bluehost’s Utah-based data centers – performed the best. At around half a second or less for a full page load, these speeds are higher than average.
Server connections as far away as London and the Netherlands performed well, too. Other regions showed mixed results. To be fair, servers in some of these locations – particularly France and Germany – may have blocked the Sucuri Load Time Tester connection.
UptimeRobot
Bluehost’s reliability rate was quite impressive
In my UptimeRobot tests, my website averaged a 100% uptime rate over the course of a month. My site only dropped out for a short 3-minute period during this time, which may be attributed to Bluehost’s regular maintenance.
If you’re wondering if Bluehost compensates for downtime, here’s the deal: Bluehost only has a proper service-level agreement (SLA) in place for its cloud plans. It guarantees 100% uptime for your hosted site and compensation if terms aren’t met. While there’s also a 99.9% uptime for VPS and dedicated plans, I couldn’t find any legal documentation to back this up in its Terms & Conditions.
There’s absolutely no SLA for shared plans. Instead, Bluehost’s Network Server Uptime Agreement lists the likelihood of downtime for server maintenance and measures taken to restore your site. If a server goes down, Bluehost claims that most fixes take approximately 15 minutes to a day or more (in extreme cases). And, no, you won’t be compensated for any unexpected downtime. Despite stellar UptimeRobot results, I can’t say I find this lack of accountability reassuring.
You shouldn’t have to worry about server outages and the potential financial losses these could cause your business. There are definitely better hosts to go with if you need an iron-clad SLA. For example, HostArmada will credit 10% per hour up to 100% of your monthly fee for any downtime – and this is applicable for its shared hosting plans.
4.7
Support
Bluehost support is available 24/7 via phone and live chat
Solid 24/7 Support – Via Phone & Live Chat
Bluehost has a streamlined support offering, with agents available via phone and live chat 24/7. You can also consult the knowledge base on the Bluehost website, which is filled with helpful articles on many relevant topics.
The level of support I received from Bluehost was more than satisfactory. When reaching out to Bluehost through live chat, there were some small problems. Mostly, the Bluehost chat representative was slow to respond at first, taking a minute or longer to answer each message at the start of the chat.
However, he quickly caught up, so I might have just got him at a bad or busy time – I did make contact at around 4:00 p.m. MT on Sunday afternoon.
A bit slow to hop on board, but Bluehost support was helpful and fast thereafter
When I called Bluehost phone support, the phone tree directed me to where I needed to go immediately. Once I was connected to a Bluehost support agent, they were on in less than a single ring and very helpful and friendly.
Even better, the agent asked for a verification token instead of a portion of my Bluehost account password – a less-than-safe practice it’s been found guilty of in the past.
4.5
Pricing
Very Affordable Until the Discounted First Term Runs Out
Bluehost certainly falls in the category of budget hosting, offering amazingly low rates. However, if you plan on staying longer than the initial discounted first term, be prepared for a cost increase. That said, its renewal rates are still quite low, and you can find deals and coupons to reduce the price further.
In terms of value for money, one issue with Bluehost’s hosting plans is their limited capabilities and the lack of truly valuable included features. Most of the “freebies” – such as Cloudflare CDN, Yoast SEO Free, Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates, and WordPress plugins and themes – are free anyway. And others, like domain privacy and daily backups, are only free on the priciest plans for one year.
Both Bluehost basic and premium plans also include less storage and fewer security and performance features than many similarly-priced competitor hosting plans. With this in mind, it may be worth your while to compare a few other hosting providers before you sign up.
Bluehost has a very beginner-friendly setup process and good support, but loses out due to a lack of truly valuable features, and performance that is inconsistent and slow enough that you’ll most likely find better elsewhere.
While Bluehost is a good provider, there are better value options out there – such as IONOS’ low-cost hosting plans. Though comparable to Bluehost in terms of pricing, IONOS packs way more features, such as site analytics, malware scanning, dedicated RAM, and automatic back-ups.
For all-around WordPress hosting, I recommend Hostinger. It offers WordPress-optimized LiteSpeed servers, managed WordPress features, and much more storage on all its affordable shared and cloud plans.
FAQ
Does the free domain name provided by Bluehost belong to me?
Yes, the free domain name included with Bluehost web hosting packages does belong to you. In fact, if you cancel your Bluehost hosting plan, you still retain ownership of the domain name for the full term for which it’s registered. Thereafter, you’ll need to renew it to retain ownership of it. You can use it for any website – whether hosted by Bluehost or built on WordPress or not.
Do Bluehost web hosting plans include webmail hosting?
Most Bluehost hosting plans allow you to create and manage email accounts as long as they are associated with your registered or linked domain name. You can also sign up for a Google Workspace account with Bluehost if you need something more professional. These paid plans include access to advanced Google email management tools.
Do I need to pay for Bluehost web hosting if I have WordPress?
WordPress.com allows you to create and host a WordPress website on WordPress servers. This is different from installing the free WordPress.org software on Bluehost’s server – this is often referred to as “self-hosted” WordPress, and it gives you more customization options.
Can I transfer my website to Bluehost?
If you have an existing WordPress website, you can migrate it to Bluehost during WordPress setup. If you’re moving your site while still on contract, you may also qualify for a credit, but you need to contact Bluehost first to apply. Migration of non-WordPress sites will cost you extra (around $149.99).
How does Bluehost compare to Hostinger?
Bluehost and Hostinger may seem quite similar. For starters, they both offer WordPress-friendly shared plans, an AI site builder, and budget pricing. However, there are differences that make Hostinger the better option, including better performance and features. Hostinger’s shared plans also offer LiteSpeed servers, weekly or daily backups, and advanced security solutions.
Are there hosts with better performance and uptime than Bluehost?
Yes, there are many hosts that offer better performance than Bluehost. One contributing factor to Bluehost’s unreliable performance is its limited data center locations. Our top web hosting services in 2025 not only provide better performance benchmarks, but they’re also more affordable and offer a lot more for free.
A freelance author, graphic designer, and photographer, Caitlin Greyling writes about web hosting, web builder software, graphic design, tech, and electronics, and has published hundreds of product reviews and comparisons for Website Planet, The Daily Mail, and Durability Matters. Her creative and technical knowledge has been showcased at PictureCorrect, Photutorial, and others. She is currently studying for an NCTJ diploma in journalism. When Caitlin’s not working, she’s exploring nature with her son and dog or relaxing at home with her cat.
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Bluehost it’s a scam
They constantly failed to provide access to DNS zone editor. I can's set up DKIM, DMARC. Also they said they give 3 months free professional email. I never set up that email, I never did anything but they charge the card for an optional servce without my approval. Of course I tried more than eight times to solve this on their support. Bluehost it's a scam.
This is my first review in 10 years of being an IT in Vietnam. Our client wishes to use SEO for USA marketing and I decided to use hosting at bluehost with 100% refund guaranteed. Of course, I had used it at bluehost since 2019 but in this case let them hand our refund 2 months and still in processing..
I and our IT team turn the online chat together at once in each 2 weeks, but they ask us the same information of paypal email and browbeat a bit cause of too long to get refund. They just ignore and let us lose the time to wait and close many times.
This review is just to let anyone ask the bluehost for online marketing such as website, or email and storage/server.. Please take care and even my advice is KEEP AWAY BLEHOST.
(This review was made after I got the 4th time of asking the refund with bluehost and It took us more than 2 months => Really Bad Bluehost at moment)
One of the single worst customer service experiences I've ever dealt with. In my first year as a customer, I contacted them once a month about a very specific issue I was having with Printful and Printify. It took them two or three weeks to reply, and everytime it was the same painful process: Request information on my last ticket, answer all the same questions again, find out my last ticket was closed without being resolved, ask for resolution and support, and then be told that they'll respond soon with help. A month goes by, start it all over again.
After my first year, I attempted to cancel my hosting. Instead, they charged me double. When I asked for a refund the same day, they insisted they would reach out to me to help. When I contacted Bluehost a final time, they said they can't offer a refund because their refund window is 30 days--I contacted them after 21 days. I finally went through my payment processor to request a chargeback, and they are fighting it. The irony is that I expect they will respond to this review.
Bluehost will fail you. Bluehost is possibly the worst option for any hosting, ever, and I recommend literally anyone else. The scammer down the road will at least respond to you.
It use to be reasonable now is just plain bad (avoid it)
I also buyed for a couple of years. Yet even having one more year payed I'm already searching for alternatives. The support is horrible and their monetizing as extras little options that used to be free. I woun't recommend it anymore.
The support is really the worst with ticket numbers and a blend of bots and automatic responses withou a context. Many times I have to repeat 3 to 4 times in the same chat conversation, what's my domain and problem. It's like talking with a frendly Dori fish, joyfull, distracted and with alzheimer.
I admit that I was stupid to buy three years of Bluehost hosting at their high renewal rates. And my my experience with Bluehost was a disaster. Within the first year of my three years, the Bluehost server went down and my website was out for TWO WEEKS. Obviously, I can't allow this to happen a second time, so I has no other option but to switch to a more reliable provider. Because the 30 day refund period was over, Bluehost kept SEVERAL HUNDRED DOLLARS of my money.
1. A very very slow hosting provider. It makes my website keeps lagging.
2. I've got a refund problem. I've been contacting them for 4 times, yet the problem hasn't been sorted out. Really terrible.
3. Ignorant customer service. Slow response and don't keep their promise.
Please please stay away!
Bluehost is one of the most popular web hosting companies in the world, especially among people launching their first site.
They offer great rates, and a beginner-facing platform that makes every aspect of running a website easy.
Most of the time Bluehost will walk you through a task the first time, like setting up a blog or email account on your site.
If you get stuck or have a problem, they have 24/7 support by phone or live chat. They list their support number and live chat options right on their site, so you can reach out for help within two clicks.
Gagan
As user I do not recommend Bluehost to anyone. Bad experience. You will have to pay
more for chosing a good design and themes
Bad support and Communication. Very confusing. No credibility .Misinformation. You will not get what expect from them .loss of money
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