If you’re thinking about signing up with Bluehost, it’s crucial to choose the plan that best suits your needs. This ensures you don’t pay more than necessary for top-notch hosting services.
In this article, I’ll review all of Bluehost’s offerings, from their basic shared hosting options to the specialized WordPress tiers. By the end of this, you’ll have a clear idea of which hosting plan is right for you. Let’s dive into the details!
If you already know which plan you’re interested in, you can click below to jump to that specific section:
Shared hosting
Shared hosting tends to be the cheapest option across the board for most hosting companies. Bluehost isn’t the exception to that rule – its shared hosting plans start at $1.99 per month.
| Basic | Choice Plus | Online Store |
|---|---|---|
| $1.99 | $3.99 | $7.45 |
| 1 website | 3 websites | 3 websites |
| Free SSL for a year | Free SSL | Free SSL |
| 10 SSD Storage | 40 SSD Storage | 40 SSD Storage |
| Chat Support | Chat Support/Phone | Chat Support/Phone |
| Free CDN Enabled | Free CDN Enabled | Free CDN Enabled |
| Free Domain 1st Year | Free Domain 1st Year | Free Domain 1st Year |
Here’s the deal – the Basic $1.99 per month plan is one of the cheapest you can find on the web. However, to get that price, you need to pre-pay for three years of service.
If you’re comfortable paying a little bit more, though, the Choice Plus tier offers the best value among shared hosting plans. You can host 3 websites at the same time, and you get 40 GB of SSD storage, a free domain for one year, and more. All that comes out to $7.45 per month.
Unfortunately, Bluehost doesn’t offer monthly payments on the shared plans.
Which shared hosting plan you should get: 🏆 The Choice Plus plan offers the best value for most users.
VPS hosting
If you need access to dedicated resources and better performance than shared hosting can offer, a virtual private server (VPS) is the logical next step. When it comes to VPS plans, Bluehost offers three tiers:
| Standard | Enhanced | Ultimate |
|---|---|---|
| $46.99 | $41.99 | $71.99 |
| 2 cores | 2 cores | 4 cores |
| 120 GB SSD storage | 165 GB SSD storage | 240 GB SSD storage |
| 2 GB RAM | 4 GB RAM | 8 GB RAM |
| Unmetered bandwidth | Unmetered bandwidth | Unmetered bandwidth |
| 1 IP address | 2 IP addresses | 2 IP addresses |
The difference when it comes to each VPS tier is the number of resources you get. On paper, you always want a more powerful system (be it virtual or real). However, you don’t want to pay for a more powerful VPS than you’ll actually need.
In our experience, the Standard tier is more than enough for most websites. That tier gives you enough resources to run a content management system (CMS) such as WordPress without a hitch.
As you might expect, to get the lowest possible price, you need to sign up for a three-year contract. However, with VPS plans there are also month-by-month, three-month, and six-month options. In those cases, the price of the Standard plan goes up to $41.99 per month.
Which VPS plan you should get: 🏆 Unless you’re absolutely sure you need more resources and dedicated IP addresses, the Standard plan is the way to go
Dedicated hosting
Dedicated hosting plans are usually the most expensive options that hosting companies offer. You’re paying for an entire machine and top-of-the-line performance, so the costs are well in line. Bluehost pricing for dedicated servers starts at $141.19 per month:
| Standard | Enhanced | Premium |
|---|---|---|
| * All three plans offer ‘mirrored’ storage. This means your data is also saved to a backup drive. | ||
| $141.19 | $121.88 | $141.99 |
| 4 cores @ 8 thread | 8 cores @ 16 thread | 8 cores @ 16 thread |
| 1 TB storage * | 2 TB HDD storage * | 2 TB HDD storage* |
| 8 GB RAM | 16 GB RAM | 30 GB RAM |
| Unmetered bandwidth | Unmetered bandwidth | Unmetered bandwidth |
| 3 IP addresses | 4 IP addresses | 5 IP addresses |
Just as with a VPS, the difference between dedicated plans comes down to resources. With the first two plans, you get processors with roughly similar clock speeds, while the Premium plan comes with much higher settings. Likewise, each tier doubles the amount of RAM of its predecessor.
If you’re considering paying for dedicated hosting, you need the best performance you can get. At this level of hosting, high prices are a given. With this, the Enhanced plan gives you more bang for your buck, both in storage and RAM.
The plan starts at $121.88 per month with a three-year contract. Just as with VPSs, you also have a monthly contract option, which doubles the price to $211.99.
Which dedicated server plan you should get: 🏆 The Enhanced plan offers the best value, even for demanding users.
Shared WordPress hosting
If you use WordPress for all your websites, you’ll want a web host that understands the CMS and optimizes its plans accordingly. Bluehost offers just that, with three different types of plans geared towards WordPress users. Bluehost pricing for shared WordPress plans starts at $1.99 per month:
| Basic | Plus | Choice Plus |
|---|---|---|
| 1 website | 3 websites | 3 websites |
| Free SSL certificate | Free SSL certificate | Free SSL certificate |
| 10 GB storage | 40 GB storage | 40 GB storage |
| Free domain registration | Free domain registration | Free domain registration |
| Pre-installed WordPress | Pre-installed WordPress | Pre-installed WordPress |
| Automatic WordPress updates | Automatic WordPress updates | Automatic WordPress updates |
| Access to premium themes | Access to premium themes | Access to premium themes |
As you may notice, those are the exact same options you get as with Bluehost’s standard shared hosting plans, down to the price and features. While this is mostly correct, you do get access to a few extras on WordPress shared hosting:
- Pre-installed WordPress on all your websites.
- Automatic WordPress updates.
- A collection of free and premium themes you can use on any project.
In other words, shared WordPress hosting plans provide slight quality of life improvements if you want to use WordPress. This is all at the exact same prices as their standard shared hosting counterparts, which makes them a great deal.
If you’re an experienced WordPress user, you probably won’t care too much about those features. On the other hand, if you’re working on your first project, they will make your work easier.
Which shared WordPress hosting plan you should get: 🏆 Much like before – you get the best value from the Choice Plus plan.
WooCommerce hosting
Out of all the types of plans Bluehost offers, their WooCommerce offerings are perhaps the most interesting. Bluehost pricing for WooCommerce plans starts at $9.95 per month:
| Online Store | Online Store + Marketplace |
|---|---|
| $9.95 | $12.95 |
| One online store (website) | One online store (website) |
| 40 GB SSD storage | 100 GB SSD storage |
| Wonder Theme powered by YITH pre-installed | Wonder Theme powered by YITH pre-installed |
| Free SSL certificate | Free SSL certificate |
| Single channel inventory management | Multi channel inventory management |
| Customer account creation | Customer account creation |
| Product search and filtering | Product search and filtering |
| 24/7 ecommerce support via phone or chat | 24/7 ecommerce support via phone or chat |
| Automatic backups | Automatic backups |
As you may know, WooCommerce is a plugin that works on top of WordPress.
Since you don’t need any specific type of hosting plan to run an online store using WooCommerce, Bluehost sweetens their plans with some extras, including:
- Automatic WordPress and WooCommerce setup
- 24/7 customer support via chat or phone
- Free WooCommerce SSL to keep your site and transactions secure
- Complimentary domain in your first year
If you’re looking to set up your first online store, these features can be invaluable. Having access to a WooCommerce specialist who can guide you through the platform can be a godsend if you’re new to the plugin. Likewise, the free domain and SSL for your online store are the cherries on top.
The real question here is whether those extras are worth paying $8 to $10 more per month over regular shared WordPress hosting. For new users, this extra expense can pay off big time, but if you know your way around WordPress, it may be unnecessary.
Which WooCommerce hosting plan you should get: 🏆 Unless you specifically need multi-channel inventory management or an excessive amount of storage space, then the Online Store plan offers the best value for most people who are just getting started with WooCommerce. However, if you do need those features, then the more expensive Online Store + Marketplace plan is obviously the choice for you.
Cloud hosting
So far, the WordPress plans we’ve talked about were pretty standard. However, with cloud hosting, you get a managed WordPress experience with a whole lot of extra features to sweeten the deal. Bluehost pricing for cloud hosting plans starts at $29.99 per month:
| Cloud 1 | Cloud 10 | Cloud 25 | Cloud 50 |
|---|---|---|---|
| $29.99 | $49.99 | $89.99 | $109.99 |
| 1 websites | 10 websites | 25 websites | 50 websites |
| 10GB SSD Storage | 125GB SSD Storage | 175GB SSD Storage | 225GB SSD Storage |
| 100% Network uptime | 100% Network uptime | 100% Network uptime | 100% Network uptime |
| 2vCPU Compute Power | 20vCPU Compute Power | 75vCPU Compute Power | 150vCPU Compute Power |
| Automatic Updates | Automatic Updates | Automatic Updates | Automatic Updates |
| 24/7 cloud hosting support | 24/7 cloud hosting support | 24/7 cloud hosting support | 24/7 cloud hosting support |
| Automated Protection | Automated Protection | Automated Protection | Automated Protection |
Bluehost Cloud offers a comprehensive Managed WordPress hosting solution designed for lightning-fast page load times and 100% network uptime. Its system is robust, featuring multi-regional fault tolerance that adjusts easily to the needs of your own or your clients’ websites.
If you don’t manage over 10 websites, then Cloud 10 will be a good choice for you. It offers a cost-effective Managed WordPress hosting solution at $49.99, a substantial 125GB of SSD storage and 20vCPU compute power, ensuring optimal performance. This plan includes 100% network uptime, automatic updates, and 24/7 support, making it a reliable and efficient choice for small businesses or developers managing multiple sites.
Which Cloud hosting plan you should get: 🏆 We recommend you opt for the Cloud10 plan with a six-month contract.
Bluehost pricing for domains
If you’re wondering about Bluehost prices for domains, let’s go over the options briefly. Basically, Bluehost doubles as a domain registrar. That’s why most its hosting plans include a free domain for the first year.
But, once the promotion ends, you’ll need to pay to renew your domain name. Therefore, it’s best to look up the price of a domain before you purchase it on a free plan. To do this, simply navigate to the Bluehost domains page and check it out.
The cost of a domain will depend on a few factors, the main one being its domain extension. But, if you want a standard .com domain, it will likely cost between $10 and $15 per year.
Which Bluehost hosting plan is the best fit for you?
Although Bluehost is one of the most popular hosting providers around, a lot of its plans are merely clones and rebrands of one another. While Bluehost isn’t the only provider to accuse of this, it’s something to look out for unless you want to pay more for extras you don’t need.
To help you choose the best plan, let’s focus on what type of user you are:
- If you’re looking for budget hosting. Shared hosting is the way to go. You can get hosting at $1.99 per year, locked in for three years.
- For full control over your hosting environment. Dedicated hosting is probably your best bet. That’s because you configure your servers exactly how you want.
- If you’re a WordPress user. With WordPress, you’ll probably want to opt for a shared WordPress hosting plan or a WooCommerce plan.
- For online stores. This depends on your ecommerce platform and the size of your store. For WordPress stores, WooCommerce hosting is best. Meanwhile, smaller stores on other platforms can likely use a shared plan. For larger businesses or enterprises, weigh the costs of VPS vs dedicated hosting, as they can provide you with more secure servers.
If you’re ready to get started, check out our step-by-step guide on how to set up WordPress on Bluehost.
Do you have any questions about which Bluehost hosting plan to choose? Let’s talk about them in the comments section below!
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