BlueHost review: An easy way to get started with web hosting, but mixed performance

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• Bluehost is an easy web hosting service to get started with, especially if you’re new to WordPress or building a site for the first time
• It runs pretty well in the US, but if your audience is outside the country, you might notice slower speeds, and I’ve had downtime issues in the past
• The intro pricing is cheap, but once the first term ends, expect higher bills and extra charges for things like backups and privacy.

Bluehost isn’t new to the game. It’s been around since 2003, and has long been a familiar name in the web hosting space. It’s also officially recommended by WordPress.org, which gives it some extra credibility, especially if you’re planning to build a WordPress site.

Also: The best web hosting services: Expert tested

Bluehost powers over 2 million websites, according to BuiltWith Trends. One of those sites happens to be mine. I did host another site with BlueHost, but moved away from them for DigitalOcean, which I’ll cover later. I’ll give you the basics, and then tell you a little about my personal experience using it for several years.

Getting started with Bluehost

Getting set up with BlueHost is easy, as you’d expect. The goal is to make the process simple enough to get beginners through to checkout. After checkout, you’re handed off to Bluehost’s setup flow, which includes an AI-powered website builder called WonderSuite. It asks a few questions about your site, and then generates a pre-built layout to start with.

Once you’re in, you manage your site through Bluehost’s custom dashboard. It covers the basics you’d expect, like domain settings, email, backups, etc., without being too cluttered. Everything’s labeled, and nothing’s buried. But if you do want to peek under the hood, you can check out the advanced tab, which is filled with the usual tools for people who know what SSH and cron jobs are.

Screenshot by Marshall Gunnell/ZDNET

There’s also a button that drops you into cPanel, though you don’t really need to use it unless you know what you’re doing. You can handle all the essentials to get your site up and running through the custom dashboard.

Screenshot by Marshall Gunnell/ZDNET

Installing WordPress takes one click. Connecting a domain takes two. Bluehost doesn’t make you think too hard, which is both a blessing and a red flag, depending on how much you like to know what’s actually happening with your website. It supports both new domains and ones you already own, and it handles DNS setup automatically if you’re using its nameservers.

Performance is solid for this price range. I tested my WordPress site that has your typical images and plugins on the WordPress Choice Plus hosting plan, and it consistently loaded between 1.2 and 1.9 seconds, which is well within acceptable limits.

Screenshot by Marshall Gunnell/ZDNET

It’s worth noting that Bluehost’s primary data center is in Utah, so speeds are best for visitors in the US. If your audience is expected to be global (Europe, Asia, or beyond), load times will take a small hit. Here’s what it looks like testing from London.

Screenshot by Marshall Gunnell/ZDNET

Uptime and security

Uptime was steady enough over a 30-day period. However, the reason I moved my other website to DigitalOcean a few years back is because there was an issue where I had experienced several days of downtime with absolutely no communication from BlueHost.

Eventually, they did announce the issue and said a migration was underway, but the damage had already been done at that point. This may have been just a one-time issue, but it was enough for me to call it quits. The site currently running on BlueHost is no longer updated, so it’s not a big deal if there’s a bit of downtime.

Also: The best cloud hosting services: Expert tested

Moving on to security, you’ll get all of the basics you’d expect. Every site comes with a free SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt, and Bluehost integrates Cloudflare to help fend off DDoS attacks. There’s some basic network-level firewall protection in place too, but it’s more “minimum viable defense” than anything advanced.

Daily backups are included with all plans, and malware scanning is included with the Choice Plus and higher-tier plans until the first year is up. After that, they join the list of paid add-ons (and that list can grow quickly). That’s a little disappointing, especially considering other hosts offer these for free at similar price points.

There’s also no advanced firewall built into the shared hosting plans. If you want more control over traffic filtering or application-level rules, you’ll need to look at plugins or jump to a VPS or dedicated server.

Pricing and features

Feature-wise, Bluehost casts a pretty wide net. Shared hosting, VPS, dedicated servers, WordPress-specific plans, cloud, WooCommerce, you name it. The plans all come with the usual selling points like staging environments, a basic CDN, and email hosting.

The pricing model tells the real story, though. Bluehost is cheap when they’re trying to get you in the door. After that, prices rise fast. VPS starts at $65.99/month. Dedicated hosting is $199.79/month and up. You get a “free” domain name, but if you stay, you’ll pay nearly $24 a year to keep it, which is well above what you’d pay at registrars like Namecheap.

Support is available 24/7 through live chat or phone. Chat agents connect quickly but don’t always offer the clearest answers. In most cases, I found myself turning to the knowledge base for better explanations.

The help articles cover a lot of ground, even though some feel outdated or buried under less useful results. Still, between chat, phone, and self-help options, most users should be able to find what they need.

ZDNET’s buying advice

If you’re starting a WordPress site and just want something that’s easy to set up and doesn’t cost much up front, Bluehost gets the job done. The setup is beginner-friendly, and you get a few nice perks like a free domain and SSL for the first year.

Just be aware that things get more expensive once your first term ends. Features like backups and domain privacy either go away or become paid add-ons after that first year. If you’re planning to grow your site or want better performance and support from the start, you might want to check out hosts like Hostinger or Digital Ocean instead.