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Bluehost Hosting Pricing Plans: Which plan to choose?
If you ever read our Bluehost reviews, you might realize that Bluehost has everything you need to build a perfect website from blogs and businesses to online stores and portfolios.
Bluehost is also well-known for being affordable, offering plans to suit a variety of budgets. However, do their plans really work for you? We are here to find out!
Web hosting becomes a bit confusing when you are presented with multiple pricing plans, all claiming to provide awesome features. Different types of hosting can suit different types of websites and users, so we’ll explore the differences to make your life easier.
We should begin right now!
Table of contents
- What is Bluehost?
- What are Bluehost hosting pricing plans?
- Which Bluehost plan is the best fit for you?
- Bluehost pricing vs. Competitor pricing
- 5 hidden costs you should be aware of before signing up
- The bottom line
What is Bluehost?
Without any doubt, Bluehost is one of the leading web hosting providers in the industry. From shared hosting to WordPress hosting to dedicated servers, Bluehost has an answer to all kinds of web hosting needs.
With more than 750 employees, 2 million websites under management, and nearly 20 years of rich industry experience, Bluehost has become one of only three WordPress-recommended hosts since 2005. Thus, you can count on Bluehost web hosting services without a second thought.
What are Bluehost hosting pricing plans?
Bluehost offers six types of hosting, including:
- Shared hosting
- Dedicated hosting
- VPS hosting
- Shared WordPress hosting
- Managed WordPress hosting (WP Pro)
- WooCommerce hosting
Like many other web hosting companies, Bluehost advertises promotional prices for new customers, which are considered reduced rates for your first term. Once your term has expired, your hosting plan will renew at the regular rate (we will look at these rates in more detail later).
The prices that are on Bluehost’s official website, and listed below, are based on a 36-month contract. You can actually choose to pay on a 12-month, 24-month, or 36-month basis. Whichever one you choose is considered your term.
All Bluehost hosting plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, which is excellent for trying it out risk-free. However, you should know that this doesn’t apply to your domain name. If your hosting plan offers a free domain, and you cancel within 30 days, you still get your money back, but Bluehost will deduct the domain fee of $15.99.
This action serves two primary purposes: firstly, it covers Bluehost’s costs, and secondly, it ensures that you won’t lose your domain name (you are free to transfer it elsewhere). The guarantee doesn’t extend to most add-ons either, because they fall outside the main hosting plan.
Shared hosting
Shared hosting is where multiple users are allowed to share space on a single server maintained by Bluehost. It is like living in a shared house where each of you has your own room, but share things like water, electricity, and toilet roll. If someone is too greedy, the rest of you lose out!
This makes shared hosting an extremely affordable option, but very limited. For example, if another site gets a spike in traffic and uses up too many of your shared resources, your site could crash. The significant benefit of shared hosting is its price - it’s cheap, making it a popular choice for anyone just starting out online.
Bluehost offers four shared hosting plans for you to choose from, each providing different levels of features and performance. The more you pay, the more advanced the features. Below is Bluehost pricing for shared hosting plans and different plans comparison along with their features.
| Features | Basic | Plus | Choice Plus | Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Websites | 1 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Disk space | 50GB | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Bandwidth | Unmetered | Unmetered | Unmetered | Unmetered |
| Office 365 Mailbox | x | Free 30 days | Free 30 days | Free 30 days |
| Domain Privacy | x | x | ✓ | ✓ |
| Automated Backup | x | x | ✓ | ✓ |
| Dedicated IP | x | x | x | ✓ |
| Monthly price | $2.95 | $5.45 | $5.45 | $13.95 |
| Renewal price | $7.99 | $10.99 | $14.99 | $23.99 |
Each of the plans in the shared hosting category offered by Bluehost comes with its own specific features, but all the plans have some common features as follows:
- Free Domain for the first year
- Free CDN (Content Delivery Network)
- Free SSL certificate
- Free marketing credits worth $100
- Scalability
- Custom theme
- 24/7 customer support
Is Bluehost’s shared hosting plan the right choice for you?
Before receiving the answer from us, please think about these questions:
- Are you just starting out with a very small and basic website?
- Does your site receive low amounts of traffic?
- Would you like to keep costs low and affordable?
If your answer to all of those is “yes,” we recommend starting out from the Basic plan, depending on your specific needs. This is a perfect solution for anyone looking to get started with their first website.
In case you’re expecting a moderate level of traffic, have lots of media to upload, or have an interactive site (rather than a static brochure site), then Bluehost’s shared hosting isn’t for you.
VPS hosting
VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting is where a virtual server is split into separate sections, with resources shared out between websites. Imagine it like living in an apartment block - you still share the building, but you each have your own individual flat. Security is certainly better, and you get your own gas, water, and other things rather than sharing with anyone else!
Your account will be allocated the set amount of CPU, RAM, and Disk Space you have chosen, regardless of what others are doing on the server. This allows for more excellent stability and performance of your website. You also don’t share the Operating System with other users, providing better security for your website resources.
Bluehost offers three VPS hosting plans for you to choose from, each providing different features and performance levels. The more you pay, the more advanced the features. Below is Bluehost pricing for VPS hosting plans and different plans comparison along with their features.
| Features | Standard | Enhanced | Ultimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| RAM | 2GB | 4GB | 8GB |
| Disk Space | 30GB | 60GB | 120GB |
| Bandwidth | 1TB | 2TB | 3TB |
| IP Address | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Monthly price | $18.99 | $29.99 | $59.99 |
| Renewal price | $29.99 | $59.99 | $119.99 |
On top of standard features, all VPS hosting plans provide:
- Free domain for the first year
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- 24/7 support
- Multi-server management
- Access control
- File management
Is Bluehost’s VPS hosting plan the right choice for you?
Most websites will need VPS hosting rather than shared or dedicated plans. Unless you have tight budget restraints or specific needs for your website, chances are VPS hosting will be just fine.
However, if your website is extremely large and needs to handle a huge amount of traffic, or provide you with total control over your server, then dedicated hosting may be a better option.
Dedicated hosting
Dedicated server hosting provides users with an isolated website hosting environment that comes with the highest level of resource control and privacy. This is where your website has a whole server to itself, meaning it has the ultimate level of security, customization, and resources.
Unlike the two previous plans, dedicated servers provide each user with a separate server to avoid any kind of direct or indirect effect on the user’s website. You can think about this as having your own house, no roommates or neighbors to bother you.
Bluehost offers three dedicated hosting plans for you to choose from, each providing different levels of features and performance. The more you pay, the more advanced the features. Below is Bluehost pricing for dedicated hosting plans and different plans comparison along with their features.
| Features | Standard | Enhanced | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | 4 cores @ 2.3 GHz | 4 cores @ 2.5 GHz | 4 cores @ 3.3 GHz |
| RAM | 4GB | 8GB | 16GB |
| Disk Space | 500GB | 1TB | 1TB |
| Bandwidth | 5TB | 10TB | 15TB |
| IP Address | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Monthly price | $79.99 | $99.99 | $119.99 |
| Renewal price | $119.99 | $159.99 | $209.99 |
Like all Bluehost’s hosting plans, these dedicated servers come with
- Free domain name for the first year
- Free SSL certificate
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- 24/7 support
Is Bluehost’s dedicated hosting plan the right choice for you?
Dedicated web hosting is actually the most advanced type of hosting on offer. Although Bluehost’s pricing plans are some of the most affordable compared to its top competitors, it’s still not ideal for small budgets. So, before purchasing, ask yourself:
- Does your website generate huge levels of traffic?
- Do you have any specific or complicated needs? (e.g., large media files or programs, custom settings, or high-security requirements)
If yes, dedicated servers sound like a good call. Each website is different, so you should choose the plan that best fulfills your needs.
Shared WordPress hosting
Shared WordPress hosting plan works the same way as normal shared hosting, in that different websites all share the same server and resources. The major difference is that it is specifically designed for WordPress sites. It is still limited but comes with extra, WordPress-specific features to make your site run as easy as possible.
No matter if it’s choosing a theme, updates to the platform, or ensuring you’ve got the latest and most secure version of WordPress for your site, this plan is excellent for anyone looking for a dynamic WordPress website.
Bluehost offers three shared WordPress hosting plans for you to choose from, each providing different levels of features and performance. The more you pay, the more advanced the features. Below is Bluehost pricing for shared WordPress hosting plans and different plans comparison along with their features.
| Features | Basic | Plus | Choice Plus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Websites | 1 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Disk Space | 50GB | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Bandwidth | 25K monthly visits | 100K monthly visits | Unlimited visits |
| Parked domains | 5 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Subdomains | 25 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Microsoft 365 Mailbox | x | Free 30 days | Free 30 days |
| Monthly price | $2.95 | $5.45 | $5.45 |
| Renewal price | $7.99 | $10.99 | $14.99 |
Different plans under the WordPress hosting category have different features and specifications but few of the common features are available as follows:
- Free domain for the first year
- Free SSL certificate
- Automatic WordPress installation
- Automatic WordPress updates
- Microsoft 365 available
- Secure configuration of login credentials
- Get verified on Google My Business
- $200 marketing credit (if you spend $25 on a new Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising account)
Is Bluehost’s shared WordPress hosting plan the right choice for you?
Do you already have a shiny new WordPress website that you’re just getting off the ground? Trying to save money by picking cheap hosting, but need some quality features? Bluehost’s shared WordPress hosting plan is a perfect choice.
Starting at just $3.95 per month, it gives you the necessities, along with some WordPress-specific features to make your life easy and your site safe and successful.
However, as with all shared hosting, if you have big plans for your website, you will need bigger and better hosting. So, say hello to managed WordPress hosting (WP Pro) instead!
Managed WordPress hosting (WP Pro)
If you need hosting for your WordPress website but shared WordPress hosting isn’t enough for you, then managed WordPress hosting (WP Pro) might be the way to go. This type is a fully-managed environment allowing you to stay focused on building your site with unique content, whereas Bluehost handles the daily maintenance of your servers and apps that keeps your site running smoothly.
The idea behind managed WordPress hosting (WP Pro) is to give users the best possible experience while building and growing their site. It can remove technical frustrations, and boosts performance with top-notch features.
Bluehost offers three managed WordPress hosting plans for you to choose from, each providing different levels of features and performance. The more you pay, the more advanced the features. Below is Bluehost pricing for managed WordPress hosting plans and different plans comparison along with their features.
| Features | Build | Grow | Scale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Web Storage | 20GB | 40GB | 80GB |
| Backups | Daily | Daily | Unlimited |
| Business Review Tools | x | ✓ | ✓ |
| SEO Tools | x | ✓ | ✓ |
| Video Compression | x | 10GB | Unlimited |
| PayPal Integration | x | x | ✓ |
| Elastic Search | x | x | ✓ |
| Blue Sky Live Chat Support | x | ✓ | ✓ |
| Monthly price | $9.95 | $29.95 | $49.95 |
| Renewal price | $29.99 | $39.99 | $59.95 |
Three managed WordPress hosting plans share the following common features that you can take advantage of:
- 1 WP website
- 200+ Global Edge Servers
- Free SSL certificate
- Built-in high availability
- Staging environment
- Malware detection and removal
- Domain privacy and protection
- 30-day free trial - Microsoft Email
Is Bluehost’s managed WordPress hosting plan the right choice for you?
Managed WordPress hosting by Bluehost is the best choice for any serious WordPress users. It isn’t designed for hobbyists; instead, it can be used by any sized WordPress site that needs professional features and steady, uncapped growth.
Although the Build plan is the cheapest, that doesn’t mean it will limit your growth. In reality, it’s quite generous, so recommend starting out on this plan, and working your way up to the more advanced plans once you are ready.
And in case you are setting up a dedicated E-commerce site, then the final hosting plan by Bluehost is worth your try.
WooCommerce hosting
WooCommerce is an E-commerce plugin developed specifically for WordPress, and is the most popular platform for building an online store. Whether your products are physical or digital, WooCommerce can make it easy to create an online store, which is customized specifically to your business needs.
Like all WordPress websites, you need hosting for your WooCommerce online shop, and that’s where Bluehost comes in. Bluehost has actually partnered with WooCommerce to bring you the most tailored and quality hosting plans. WooCommerce auto-installation is included, along with secure payment gateways and your storefront theme pre-installed.
Bluehost offers three WooCommerce hosting plans for you to choose from, each providing different levels of features and performance. The more you pay, the more advanced the features. Below is Bluehost pricing for WooCommerce hosting plans and different plans comparison along with their features.
| Features | Starter | Plus | Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online store(s) | 1 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| SSD Storage | 100GB | Unmetered | Unmetered |
| CodeGuard Backup Basic | x | ✓ | ✓ |
| Monthly Price | $6.95 | $8.95 | $12.95 |
| Renewal Price | $13.99 | $17.99 | $31.99 |
Three WooCommerce hosting plans share the following common features that you can make use of:
- Storefront theme installed
- Free SSL certificate
- 1 free domain
- WooCommerce auto-install
- Unmetered bandwidth
- Domain privacy and protection
- Free setup call
- 1 Microsoft 365 Mailbox - Free 30 days
- Get verified on Google My Business
- Get $100 for Microsoft Advertising and $100 for Google Ads (if you spend you first $25 on a new Microsoft Advertising and Google Ads account)
Is Bluehost’s WooCommerce hosting plan the right choice for you?
If you are selling online using WordPress and WooCommerce, it is a no-brainer - Bluehost’s WooCommerce hosting plan is an ideal match. And it’s really a cheap match at that, with two out of three plans coming in under $10 for the initial starter period!
If you are a first-time, small scale seller or a growing business, there is a plan here for you. Only if you are managing a huge online store, should you consider more powerful hosting, such as a dedicated plan.
Which Bluehost plan is the best fit for you?
It goes without saying that only you can understand what is best for your website - its specific needs, amount of traffic or storage, whether you are planning on big steps or keeping things small.
However, we can help you point in the right direction. Following is an outline of each hosting type with which one is most suited to specific needs. Let’s explore!
| Hosting Plan | Best For | Not For |
|---|---|---|
| Shared hosting | - New websites - Small, static blogs or brochure websites - Low-traffic websites - Anyone on a tight budget |
- Sites with growing or huge traffic - Sites with large media files - Interactive and complicated sites |
| VPS hosting | - Small and medium-sized sites - More features and better security - Greater control and flexibility - Appropriate if you want to scale your site as it grows |
- Anyone with WordPress needs - Anyone on a tight budget - Anyone who has just started out |
| Dedicated hosting | - Sites with high traffic - Large websites and online stores - Anyone that wants complete control - Enhanced security |
- Small and low-traffic sites - Anyone on a tight budget - Beginners or people with no technical experience |
| Shared WordPress hosting | - New or small WordPress websites - Personal or blog websites - WordPress-specific support - Anyone on a tight budget |
- Non-WordPress websites - Large and complicated WordPress sites - Traffic-heavy WordPress websites |
| Managed WordPress hosting | - Professional WordPress websites - Anyone that wants improved performance, and features over shared WordPress hosting |
- Non-WordPress websites - Beginner WordPress users |
| WooCommerce hosting | - E-commerce stores - WordPress sites built with WooCommerce |
- Non-Ecommerce sites - Mega-sized online stores - Anyone not building with WooCommerce |
Bluehost pricing vs. Competitor pricing
Bluehost is an extremely common hosting provider, but it is not the only one on the block. We have tested the best ones on the market, scoring them for key features, performance and uptime, security features, support, and more and found out a lot of interesting things.
The top three providers overall were Bluehost, DreamHost, and HostGator - but how do they compare in price alone? Take a closer look at the table below for their initial discount prices (per month) for each hosting type.
| Provider | Shared Hosting | VPS Hosting | Dedicated Hosting | WordPress Hosting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bluehost | $2.95 | $18.99 | $79.99 | $2.95 |
| DreamHost | $2.59 | $10.00 | $149 (yearly plans) | $2.59 |
| HostGator | $2.75 | $19.95 | $89.98 | $5.95 |
You can see that Bluehost is not the cheapest provider on the market - it is pricier than providers like 1&1 IONOS and iPage, for instance - but it comes with a ton of features into its plans, meaning that you are guaranteed great bang for your buck.
For more information about hosting provider comparison, please explore our following blog posts:
5 hidden costs you should be aware of before signing up
After picking your pricing plan, you will be taken to Bluehost’s checkout page, where there are a number of options for you to select, such as your contract length and personal and payment details. Before proceeding to the final step, you should double-check everything beforehand.
We’ve compiled a list of 5 most common hidden costs of Bluehost, so that you know exactly what to expect at the checkout.
1. Checkout extras
First and foremost, you should review the “Package Information” section carefully. You can realize that Bluehost automatically sets your contracts for up to 36 months, which gives you the lowest price. However, if you don’t want such a long contract, you can change it using the dropdown list.
Below this section is your “Package Extras.” If you want to add other features that aren’t available in your plan, this is where you can choose and add them to your account. Any extras already included in your plan will have the word “Free” next to them, rather than a checkbox.
For example, you can see Bluehost has already checked one out of three of these following extras:
Make sure that you uncheck any features you don’t want to pay for. These extra features are not included in your plan, so they get added to your bill on top of your hosting plan cost. The benefit of having this “Package Extras” section is that you can tailor your hosting plan to suit your particular needs. For instance, you can select the cheapest shared hosting plan, but then add domain privacy on top if you want it.
Bluehost helps you out by automatically calculating the cost for you and displaying it underneath, labeled “Total” - the amount will change depending on the options you choose. Keep in mind that this is the total of your hosting plans plus all your extra features, so keep an eye on it to ensure you are staying on budget.
Last but not least, read the disclaimer and any terms and conditions thoroughly before confirming your payment. One of the most important things to note is that your hosting subscription will renew automatically unless you cancel. This renewal will last for the same length as your original contract, but it will renew at the regular rate rather than the discounted price.
2. SSL certificate
All Bluehost hosting plans include a free SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate. This encrypts information passing between your website and any visitors. This feature is essential because if you don’t have one, visitors will receive a warning that they are accessing an insecure site!
You don’t need to pay a cent for your SSL certificate, it is free and included in your hosting plan. You will see it in your plan breakdown as “Let’s Encrypt SSL,” which is the most basic SSL security version.
Nevertheless, if you desire a more advanced security level, you can buy a premium SSL certificate, which will cost you at least $49.99 per year. It’s worth mentioning that you also need a dedicated IP address to purchase one of these premium certificates.
3. Domain name
Your domain is your website’s name, and acts as its unique identity on the web - for example, ours is mageplaza.com!
Depending on which hosting plan you go with, Bluehost will provide you with a free domain for the first year. Once the term is up, your domain will renew at the regular rate. You can also buy your domain directly from Bluehost. Here is a list of the most common TLDs (Top-level Domains) and their prices:
- .com: $12.99/ year
- .org: $9.99/ year
- .net: $14.99/ year
- .tech: $4.99 year
- .co: $14.99/ year
- .website: $1.99/ year
You can notice that Bluehost’s domain privacy costs $14.88/ domain/ year at the renewal price. You can actually remove this option by unchecking the box. But what is domain privacy?
Domain privacy and protection can hide your personal details from appearing on the public register. Without it, your name, email addresses, and number are all available on the WHOIS domain register. So, while it isn’t a necessity, it does protect your data. It also helps decrease the chance of receiving spam and lets your website be scanned for malware and security alerts.
4. Backups: CodeGuard Basic
CodeGuard is a backup and security software that runs daily backups for your site. It’s responsible for any changes, offers a one-click restore option, and stores copies of your backups across different secure locations.
CodeGuard is free in some hosting plans, but if your plan doesn’t have one for free, you can purchase it as an extra. CodeGuard Basic costs $2.99 each month, and is added as a lump sum to your plan. For example, if you choose a 12-month subscription, then the cost of $35.88 will be added to your bill.
5. Office 365
Bluehost hosting plans generally include a 30-day free trial of Office 365. But what happens after that free period? In fact, we found that there are three plans for Office 365 of Bluehost, which you can either pay monthly or yearly.
It’s vital to know that all renewals are charged at the one-month term rates, which are more expensive than the annual subscriptions - something to keep in mind when renewal time rolls around!
The bottom line
Bluehost is always our top-rated hosting provider, which offers a wide range of pricing plans and plenty of features, meaning there really is something for you. Before making the final decision, it’s essential to understand your own needs in terms of budget, bandwidth, and file storage.
Hopefully, you can now have a good idea of which Bluehost hosting type works best for you. Make sure you can strike a balance between both - don’t overspend on features you don’t need, while don’t limit your site’s resources to save a few bucks!
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