This is the most complete Bluehost vs. DreamHost comparison guide.
- Trying to choose between Bluehost and DreamHost to launch your personal or business website?
- Do you prefer an affordable hosting service that delivers the best performance and customer support?
Then you have to stick around as I share my experiences using Bluehost and DreamHost.
Does Bluehost offer more value for money than DreamHost? Let’s talk about it.
Let’s begin.
- 1.Bluehost Vs. DreamHost At A Glance
- 2. Who Is Bluehost Best For?
- 3. Who Is DreamHost Best For?
- 4. A Close Look At The Features Of Bluehost And DreamHost
- 5. Key Features Of Bluehost
- 6. Key Features Of DreamHost
- 7. Bluehost Vs. DreamHost – Pros And Cons
- 8. Where Do I Get The Most For My Money?
- 9. Conclusion – Which Is Better: Bluehost Or DreamHost?
- 10. Bluehost Vs. DreamHost – FAQ
1.Bluehost Vs. DreamHost At A Glance
Here, we take a quick glance at BlueHost and Dreamhost to help you make the right decisions. Which web host is better?
   4.9 |   4.7 |
| Best Overall. Intuitive platform for starters with features such as one-click WordPress installations to affordable hosting plans. Starts at $2.65/month. | Best for Designers. Provides high-performance hosting with 24/7 support and affordable pricing packages. Starts at $2.59/month. |
| Try Bluehost | Try DreamHost |
Burkhard Berger
Everything you’ll find here is based on my own experience and state of affairs today, more than XX hours of deep research. I do not want to waste your time with false and useless information.” – Designer: Little Visual that shows the number of hours that went into putting this article together.
2. Who Is Bluehost Best For?
Bluehost is suitable for individuals and small businesses that want to host personal and business websites. Bluehost has gained a lot of attention for serving WordPress site owners with cheap WordPress hosting plans, and easy-to-use cPanel interface, and a wide range of features.
3. Who Is DreamHost Best For?
DreamHost is ideal for bloggers, designers, and small businesses. It has the reputation of being one of the oldest web hosting services. If you prefer a custom dashboard that’s different from the traditional cPanel that Bluehost uses, then DreamHost is your best shot.
4. A Close Look At The Features Of Bluehost And DreamHost
Between Bluehost and DreamHost, which company offers the best features for your website and business? Let’s consider the key features in this table:
| Features | | |
| One-Click WordPress Installations |  | |
| Site Migrations | | |
| Shared Hosting | | |
| Website Themes and Templates | | |
| Website Builder | | |
| Site & Visitor Analytics | |  |
| Free Domain Name | | |
| Ecommerce Support | | |
| Email Service | | |
| Site Staging Tools | | |
| Get Started | Try Bluehost | Try DreamHost |
5. Key Features Of Bluehost
In this section, we’ll consider the 5 key features of Bluehost:
#1 Flexible WordPress Hosting Features
One of the reasons I love Bluehost is its seamless support for WordPress sites. From the ground up, these WordPress hosting plans are designed for performance and reliability.
You get a free domain for the first 12 months (to be renewed at the regular price), instant WordPress installations, unlimited bandwidth, automated updates and backups, and 24/7 WordPress support.
If you’re just getting familiar with a new WordPress website or blog, Bluehost has a set of tools to help you achieve your goals and have fun in the process.
The beauty of WordPress hosting plans is that they’re faster and more reliable than shared hosting — thus, you can rest assured that your site will be lightning-fast when users access it.
In addition, WordPress can power eCommerce stores through WooCommerce and other systems. You’ll find a WordPress hosting package designed for your online store.
If you have questions about WordPress hosting, it’s easy to reach their team at +1 888-401-4678 or chat them up.
#2 Powerful and Easy-to-Use Website Builder
Are you ready to launch a profitable website?
You can start your journey with Bluehost. Apart from the free domain you get when you sign up, there’s a built-in free website builder that’s easy to use.
The free website builder is included with your shared hosting package, VPS, or a dedicated plan.
There’s a library of 100s of free and premium website themes to choose from. Pick a nice theme and customize the texts, fonts, color, layouts, backgrounds, etc. You’re in control.
With the Bluehost Website Builder, you can design your website as you want, customize the overall design, add a logo and images, and do more.
Burkhard Berger
I have enjoyed building websites using Bluehost’s Site Builder. It’s intuitive and easy to use, even for a beginner. The free themes are okay for getting started, but I prefer one of the premium themes — they add a ton of professionalism to my brand. Yes, DreamHost has a site builder, but I’m more familiar and comfortable with BlueHost’s Site Builder.
#3 Built-in Website Site Security Tools
Bluehost gives you confidence with its range of security tools. First, the free SSL certificate secures your website and its pages from viruses and attacks.
Just make sure it’s turned on from within your Bluehost account.
A built-in malware protection is also included in all Bluehost plans. This is important as it blocks external malware from feasting on your hosting account.
The automated security updates and 24/7 expert support from Bluehost also ensure that your questions are answered on time.
These security features are available — regardless of which CMS you’re hosting your site on — WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal.
Bluehost plans also come with free CDN to ensure high-performance hosting, reliability, and a secured server, no matter what location your visitors are browsing from.
#4 Essential Marketing Tools For Your Website
When you host with Bluehost, you get additional marketing tools to help grow your website’s traffic and revenue.
First, Bluehost websites are built for SEO. So when you design your website using BlueHost Site Builder, you can optimize for your main keywords. This is one step toward increasing your online visibility in search engines.
Before you launch your site, choose the target keywords for your pages and continually optimize your posts for search.
But, SEO takes time (about 8 months) before it delivers any reasonable ranking and traffic (assuming you’re targeting keywords that you can rank for).
To not feel weary while waiting for Google to send you free traffic, Bluehost gives you a $100 Google Ads credit when you spend your first $25. This applies to Google Ads advertisers that live in the US or Canada.
Online advertising is an effective way to drive clicks and traffic to your WordPress sites and landing pages and maximize conversions — especially when your ad copy is compelling.
#5 Bluehost Professional Email With Microsoft 365
Bluehost has a special email service that gives you powerful tools to power your online business.
Whether you’re a coach, freelancer, digital marketer, an agency, or running your eCommerce store, you need custom emails for various purposes.
- These emails are custom to your domain (e.g., customer@awesomex.com).
- The emails are simple, but they aid in effective communication.
- You get access to Microsoft 365 applications and a lot more.
Bluehost has different email pricing and plans. But all plans include:
- Microsoft Outlook Web Access
- Automatic Microsoft Updates
- Intuitive Management Dashboard
- 24/7 Expert Support
- Microsoft 99.9% Uptime Guarantee
- Security and Disaster Recovery
Bluehost’s email solutions give you and your team the tools they need to achieve success.
With integrated video meetings and shared working documents, and some other handy features in Microsoft 365, you’re going to take your teamwork to a new level of ease and transparency.
Minimize data loss or miscommunication between your team members.
6. Key Features Of DreamHost
DreamHost has been a trusted web hosting provider for more than 20 years. It’s been in the trenches for decades, with some of the best features and tools for small businesses.
Here are its 5 key features:
#1 Custom and Easy-To-Use Hosting Panel
Unlike BlueHost, which uses the cPanel dashboard, DreamHost Panel is custom-built to serve your needs.
This custom panel helps you stay focused on what truly matters in your business instead of messing around with the old-fashioned cPanel dashboard.
Essentially, cPanel is not available in DreamHost. You can use the custom-built panel to easily manage your domains, websites, databases, email, and even billing.
You can log into your DreamHost panel to get started.
cPanel is a powerful commercial web application that the majority of web hosting providers use to manage their hosting packages. But, it’s not very user-friendly, and the design is rather confusing.
With the DreamHost Panel, you can perform most tasks that cPanel can handle. This custom-built Panel runs on separate servers and doesn’t suck up any resources on your server.
#2 Automated Backups and Easy Restore
DreamHost automatically backs up your entire website files and databases. You can even create an additional manual backup for each day.
These backups are stored for up to two weeks, and it’s easy to restore a backup from within your DreamHost Panel.
The best way to secure your website is to back it up. You can’t be so sure that your site won’t be hacked.
Although DreamHost uses SSL security by “Let’s Encrypt to protect your site with HTTPS, you can’t be 100% sure that your site will be hack-free.
Hence, a daily automated backup of your WordPress site is critical, and DreamHost is here for you.
#3 DreamHost Drag-and-Drop Website Builder
Dreamhost has one of the most reliable website builders among web hosting providers.
This web design tool is your best shot if you’re looking to confidently design your site and simplify WordPress. The website builder comes with a quick-start wizard that walks you through the process of laying out your first site.
There are 200+ starter website themes in the library to choose from, and they’re quite easy to customize.
The good part is that the tool uses a drag-and-drop website builder — just click a text or image here, change font and color, and add your preferred image. Change the background color to suit your brand, etc.
DreamHost Website Builder gives you real-time SEO recommendations like title tags, meta descriptions, and URLs that will increase your chances of showing up in the organic search results.
It combines the power of WordPress + a drag-and-drop builder to help you achieve nearly endless design possibilities.
Whether you’re building a business or portfolio website or you need a site for your personal project, the DreamHost builder might just be your best tool ever.
#4 DreamHost 24/7 Customer Support System
DreamHost is unmatched when it comes to customer support. It delivers impressive feats of support that are much-needed in the web hosting space.
It has a well-organized knowledge base, with all of the frequently asked questions answered in detail. There are how-to guides and step-by-step tutorials with screenshots to help you learn faster.
If you want to learn in an interactive state, webinars and discussion boards are your best bet.
When you need to contact a member of the support team, DreamHost provides live chat and telephone support.
However, for overall support quality and WordPress-support customer support experience, a survey of 830+ WordPress hosting users shows that DreamHost offers better quality support that can be trusted.
DreamHost scored 4.0 and 3.9 for overall support and WordPress support, while Bluehost scored 3.2 (overall support) and 3.4 (WordPress support).
#5 DreamHost Site Migration Tools
Dreamhost offers features on how you can migrate any website to a DreamPress plan. The DreamHost Automated Migration is a free WordPress plugin that lets you quickly and seamlessly migrate your WordPress site to DreamHost.
This plugin functions like most WordPress plugins and is compatible with most configurations.
Another viable option for site migration is to move from an old host to DreamHost or simply move a site within DreamHost accounts. This is easier because you’re on the same system.
You can also contact support to see the best option that suits your website. If you’re not a DreamHost customer, you’re required to sign up first before you can successfully migrate your WordPress site.
7. Bluehost Vs. DreamHost – Pros And Cons
Is BlueHost the best web hosting service? Let’s see the pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
| You get access to 100+ stunning themes and templates to make your site amazing. | Bluehost’s support staff isn’t as responsive as DreamHost’s support. |
| Bluehost is cheaper than most providers (pricing starts at $2.65/month). | It doesn’t offer month-to-month shared hosting plans. |
| It offers a ton of security features such as unique IPs, SSL, and SiteLock protection. | Bluehost only offers servers in Linux, no Windows hosting yet. |
| It has an easy-to-use interface for beginners. | It lacks automated backups. You have to do it yourself for full security. |
| It offers free anti-spam solutions built right in cPanel. | |
| You get a free domain name and a free SSL certificate. | |
| It comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee for all hosting plans. |
Why Choose DreamHost? What are the pros and cons?
| Pros | Cons |
| It offers the best automated backup feature. | It lacks features for tracking site analytics. |
| DreamHost provides excellent and 24/7 expert support. | It doesn’t use the well-known cPanel. |
| DreamHost Panel is clean and easy to use. | |
| It’s quite affordable (starts at $2.59/month). | |
| It has WordPress one-click installs. | |
| You can easily install the SSL certificate in one click. | |
| It has great uptime support with limited technical issues. | |
| There’s unlimited disk space and data transfer. |
8. Where Do I Get The Most For My Money?
Take a look at the pricing structures of Bluehost and DreamHost.
Bluehost Pricing Plans
Although Bluehost Basic plan starts at $2.65/month, you’ll be required to pay for 36 months upfront.
With that sorted, let’s dive into the pricing and plans:
- Basic ($4.95/month): Beginners who want to host their first site can use this plan. Although it costs $2.65/month (but you must pay for 36 months upfront). Users can only create one website, 50 GB SSD Storage, custom themes, 24/7 support, and more.
- Plus ($7.45/month): This is a great plan for businesses that have multiple websites. You can create and host unlimited websites, unlimited SSD storage, custom themes, 24/7 support, and more.
- Choice Plus ($7.45/month): What makes the Choice Plus plan different from the Plus plan? Well, it provides added privacy and security features, free automatic backup for one year, free Office 365 for one year, etc.
- Pro ($18.95/month): When you need greater control over your website with optimized web tools, the Pro plan is most ideal. It includes unlimited websites, unlimited SSD storage, 24/7 expert support, custom themes, free CDN and SSL, plus all the features in Choice Plus.
DreamHost Pricing Plans
DreamHost offers three hosting packages for WordPress sites:
- WordPress Basic ($2.59/month): When you start a new WordPress site, you don’t need to complicate the process or invest a ton of money. Start with this WordPress basic plan — get the one-click installer, free domain, easy-to-use panel, free SSL, and more.
- DreamPress ($16.95/month): DreamPress has been the most popular WordPress hosting plan of the company. In addition to all the features in the basic plan, you also get fast hosting, a staging site, on-demand backups, email, etc.
- VPS for WordPress ($27.50/month): How many WordPress sites do you want to own? This high-performance hosting plan comes with isolated resources and greater control.
9. Conclusion – Which Is Better: Bluehost Or DreamHost?
Bluehost and DreamHost provide evenly matched pricing and features. It’s easy to get started with any of the companies — since they offer free domain, free site builder, WordPress hosting, etc.
However, in the long-term, DreamHost domains are cheaper to renew than Bluehost’s. Keep this in mind.
So, which web host should you choose? Is it Bluehost or DreamHost?
Here’s my final verdict:
If you want a low-cost web host that provides lightning-speed loading times and 24/7 expert support, go with DreamHost.
If you’re looking for a web hosting service that’s easier to use and ideal for beginners — and gives access to cPanel, at affordable price points, Bluehost might be your best choice.
10. Bluehost Vs. DreamHost – FAQ
Let’s answer 4 of the frequently asked questions (FAQs):
Is Bluehost better than Wix?
Bluehost is not better than Wix, they are different companies. While Bluehost provides web hosting and a basic site builder, Wix is a CRM just like WordPress. It gives users more flexibility when creating a website from scratch. Use Bluehost if you’re going to build your site elsewhere (e.g., WordPress). Otherwise, stick to Wix.
Is DreamHost reliable?
Overall, DreamHost is a reliable web hosting service with 24/7 expert support. More than 1.5 million websites are currently hosted at DreamHost, and they have been operating for the past 20 years.
Can Bluehost host Wix?
No, Bluehost is unable to host websites built with Wix. Wix is a site builder and CMS like WordPress and Joomla with independent tools and capabilities to host its websites. Bluehost is a web hosting solution that lets you install scripts such as WordPress or sites built with HTML and CSS.
Are Bluehost and DreamHost owned by the same company?
No, Bluehost is owned by Endurance International Group (EIG), while DreamHost is privately owned.