Company Overview
Bluehost was founded in 2003 in Utah by founders Matt Heaton and Danny Ashworth. They currently power over 2 million websites, employ over 750 people and stand as one of the largest hosting companies in the entire world. In 2010, Bluehost was purchased by website hosting conglomerate Endurance International Group (EIG). This acquisition has provided them with additional capital and resources, and has allowed them to scale into the company they are today.
Bluehost has a strong commitment to WordPress, listed as their preferred host and working with the WordPress development staff and even contributing to updates. This extends to their support staff, as they are knowledgeable and proficient at solving any WordPress related issue you may experience.
In addition to their state of the art WordPress Hosting service, Bluehost also offers a variety of other hosting services and web solutions, including Shared Hosting, eCommerce Hosting, VPS Hosting, Dedicated Servers, domains, web design and more.
Products and Features
Bluehost offers a hosting option for just about any user at any experience level, and is one of the few hosts who can claim to have expertise with all of these services. This is one of the reasons Bluehost is a comforting choice for a new-to-the web user, as they can support you all the way through your journey, whether you stay a small site, or scale up to something much bigger.
Their cheapest hosting options are their Shared Hosting plans, which will give smaller sites with less traffic everything they need to get started online. The Basic Plan will get you 1 website, while the rest of the plans give you unlimited websites. If you need automated backups, go with at least the Choice Plus plan, and if you plan on selling or storing secure information, go with the Pro plan for the free Dedicated IP. Features included with all plans include ample storage, custom themes, 24/7 customer support, a free domain for 1 year, a free CDN and a free SSL certificate.
Basic – $3.95/month for first 3 years and $8.99/month after
Plus – $5.95/month for first 3 years and $11.99/month after
Choice Plus – $6.95/month for first 3 years and $16.99/month after
Pro – $13.95/month for first 3 years and $26.99/month after
If you are looking to run a WordPress site, we recommend Bluehost’s flagship product, Managed WordPress Hosting. Bluehost offers 3 levels of Managed WordPress Hosting: Build, Grow and Scale. These plans are built for 1 website, but scale up in features and resources for a little extra money as your site grows in content and visitors.
The Build Plan should give you everything you need up to 50,000 monthly visitors. Once you exceed that, you can easily scale up to higher tier plans as necessary. The Grow and Scale plans also include some nice extra features such as Jetpack Premium and Professional licenses, respectively, SEO tools, PayPal integration, video compression and more. All plans are built on their optimized infrastructure with multi-layered caching, scalability to handle traffic spikes, analytics and security with auto-updates.
Build – $9.95/month for first 3 years and $19.95/month after
Grow – $14.95/month for first 3 years and $24.95/month after
Scale – $27.95/month for first 3 years and $37.95/month after
If you are running something other than a WordPress site that requires a little more firepower, or if you are selling some products using a platform like WooCommerce, it may be time for you to move up to VPS Hosting. Luckily, Bluehost offers Standard, Enhanced and Ultimate VPS Hosting plans. These hosting options give customers dedicated resources that will not be shared with other users, and are perfect for larger sites with more traffic or eCommerce sites.
Standard – $19.99/month for first 3 years and $29.99/month after
Enhanced – $29.99/month for first 3 years and $59.99/month after
Ultimate – $59.99/month for first 3 years and $119.99/month after
Finally, if you are a power user, Bluehost has competitive Dedicated Server options at reasonable prices. While there are other hosts out there that specialize in Dedicated Server hosting, we’ve found Bluehost’s server options to be sufficient for most Dedicated Server use cases. If you are looking for something customizable, it may be a time you consider moving to a host that specializes in Dedicated Servers.
Standard – $79.99/month for first 3 years and $119.99/month after
Enhanced – $99.99/month for first 3 years and $159.99/month after
Premium – $119.99/month for first 3 years and $209.99/month after
Conclusion
Bluehost is one of the most solid hosting options on the market, and does pretty much everything well. They have a full stable of products that are easily scalable, they are optimized for WordPress, they have a large team and experienced support staff, they have the backing of EIG, and they have a sterling reputation and track record. If you are looking to get into web hosting at the ground level, we recommend giving Bluehost a look!
