BlueHost Plans – Which to Choose for Your Website?

BlueHost is a USA based web hosting company, part of Endurance International Group. The Group has other hosting related companies too, including iPage and HostGator. BlueHost is headquartered in Utah and employs more than 750 people.

BlueHost serves more than 2,000,000 websites and offers complete web solutions from domain registration to web hosting. Its product range includes cheap shared hosting and more advanced dedicated server solutions as well.

We recommend the company because its long life in the web hosting industry, reliable services and a big number of satisfied customers. BlueHost has a big reputation and it is believed to be a good hosting provider. It is also important that in contrast with other low-cost hosting providers, BlueHost does not use classic hard drives, but uses super-fast SSD storages instead. A modern SSD drive can be 3 times faster than a regular HDD when it comes to data reading and 2.5 times faster during data writing.

While this article is mostly dedicated to present the different hosting plans offered by BlueHost, you might also be interested in BlueHost’s uptime, performance as well personal opinion. If you want to find out our experience with this company, please read our BlueHost review. We’ve been hosting with BlueHost for over 5 years.

Shared Web Hosting

BlueHost’s entry service is the shared web hosting, the company offers 3 packages:

1. Basic: This package is ideal for a single website and comes with 50 GB storage and unmetered bandwidth. You can add 5 parked domain names, 25 subdomains and 5 email accounts to it; each of them gets 100 MB of storage. It is available for a $2.95/month starting price.
2. Plus: The Plus package can be a home for an unlimited number of websites and the bandwidth is still unmetered. The number of parked domains, subdomains and email accounts is not limited, and there is unlimited storage for each mail accounts too. Plus also includes marketing offers in the value of $200 and a Spam Experts service. You can buy this package for the $5.95/month starting price.
3. Choice Plus: This biggest package is also available from $5.95/month and it contains the same services as Plus does. However, two more features were added to Plus, one domain privacy, and one CodeGuard Basic backup solution, so it is worth to choose this package over the simple Plus one.
4. Go PRO: This package is available from $13.95/month and gives you a few extra services over Choice Plus. You will get a dedicated IP address, SSL certification, domain privacy and Code Guard Basic for your money.

All shared web hosting packages include a free SSL service. The in-built domain manager is easy to use and you can quickly set add-on, parked and subdomains with it. The email accounts can be accessed via IMAP or POP3 and many filters and spam filtering can be applied to them.

BlueHost is a huge fan of backups, thus offers automatic backup solutions. The company provides you daily, weekly and monthly backups for your entire account; this means your server files and database both are protected against data loss. You can restore the data from backups with a single click. The support is available 7/24.

Cloud Hosting

Cloud Hosting is a more reliable way to serve your visitors with a website since it utilizes a server network where your data is alive in 3 copies. The changes are updated across the network and in case of any hardware failure the other 2 instances handle your visitors. Meantime the system builds up the new 3rd version of your copies.

BlueHost provides a cloud dashboard where you can monitor the usage trends, the speed of display and global reach of your website. The cloud network always makes sure that your site is available, if one server gets too much visitors then the other two locations help it to serve the visits.

There are 3 cloud hosting packages:

1. Starter: This package is ideal for a single website and comes with 100 GB storage and unmetered bandwidth. 1 free domain name, 2 GB memory, and 2 CPUs are also included. The company added marketing offers in $50 value and you can add up to 100 mail accounts, with 500 MB of email storage for each. This offer is available with a $6.95/month starting price.
2. Performance: The middle package can hold an unlimited number of websites, thus there is no limit on storage and bandwidth usage. It also contains the free domain name, 4 GB of memory and 4 CPUs. The marketing offers’ value was increased to $200 and the number of assigned email accounts is not limited, with unlimited storage for each. The package is available from $8.95/month.
3. Business Pro: The bigger package is also for an unlimited number of websites, with unlimited storage and bandwidth usage. Along with the free domain, it offers already 6 GB of RAM and 6 CPUs with a package of $200 marketing offers. The email accounts’ number and their storage have no limits. The package is available from a $15.95/month starting price.

As compared the Performance package to Business Pro, there are many differences. The cheaper package comes with 1 Spam Experts service while the bigger one comes with 2. Both include the free SSL encryption but the latter one offers the CodeGuard Basic site backup solution with the one-click restore.

All hosting packages of BlueHost are supported by the company’s expert team, which is available 7/24 via phone or live chat.

VPS Hosting

Once your website grows, it will need more server resources. The next level of server storages is VPS hosting, where you get a virtual server. BlueHost’s VPS solutions are advanced, so you don’t have to wait too long, the purchased VPS is available in minutes.

The hypervisor gives the granted resources to your website continuously and with dynamic storage assigning you can switch to a bigger solution on the fly. There are 3 VPS packages in the company’s product line:

1. Standard: The Standard VPS package comes with 2 CPU cores, 30 GB storage, 2 GB of memory and 1 TB bandwidth. It offers 1 domain name registration and 1 dedicated IP address usage. It is available from $19.99/month.
2. Enhanced: The middle package has improved resources. While it still gives you 2 CPU cores, the other parameters are bigger and 60 GB storage, 4 GB memory, and 2 TB of bandwidth use were packed into it. You can also get a free domain name but also 2 IP addresses are granted. The offer starts at $29.99/month.
3. Ultimate: The biggest VPS package has 4 CPU cores, 120 GB storage, 8 GB RAM and 3 TB of bandwidth in its offer. A free domain name and 2 IP addresses were also added to it. It is available from $59.99/month.

All VPS packages include a free SSL service and give you a 30-day money-back guarantee. The root access is available to manage your own applications and scripts, while the multi-server management can be used to supervise more than 1 VPS packages. This service can also connect your shared hosting and VPS packages to each other, at least you will be able to manage them at one place.

Advanced tools of server management are available widely, for example, you can customize your .htaccess and php.ini files and cron jobs can be set and ran whenever you want. SSH and FTP protocols are ready to serve your job, you can create as many FTP accounts as you want.

There is an expert and in-house team behind VPSs which can be reached 7/24 via chat or phone.

Dedicated Hosting

If you need more server resources, then BlueHost’s dedicated server hosting solutions are for you. With them, you have the chance to own a whole server without handling the hardware and utility problems.

With unmanaged packages, you can build up your own runtime environment, starting with the operating system selection and continuing with adding a web server application. If you prefer a more advanced solution, then you can add the cPanel-based interface where you can manage your websites, domains, emails and other assets in a more user-friendly way.

Multi-server management is also allowed for dedicated hosting customers if you purchase a dedicated package you can connect it with more similar packages or even one of your other VPS or shared hosting packages as well. This way you can manage all of them at one place, giving you extraordinary flexibility.

RAID storages are utilized behind all dedicated hosting plans, so your data will be stored redundantly and will be available in case of hardware failure too. By using the monitoring tools, you can instantly add more storage capacity for your order, without further contracts.

There are 3 dedicated hosting packages available:

All packages include 4 processor cores with 8 threads, but there is a difference between CPU speed and other assets.

1. Standard: The smallest package uses a 2.3 GHz fast CPU with 500 GB storage, 4 GB memory, and 5 TB of bandwidth. It also contains a domain name and 3 IP addresses for the $79.99/month starting price.
2. Enhanced: The middle package’s CPU is 2.5 GHz fast and comes with 1 TB of storage and 8 GB RAM. The bandwidth was improved to 10 TB and among the free domain name; you will get 4 IP addresses as well. It is available from $99.99/month.
3. Premium: The biggest dedicated server package offers you a 3.3 GHz CPU with 1 TB of storage, 16 GB RAM, and 15 TB of bandwidth. A free domain name and 5 IP addresses were also added for the $119.99/month starting price.

All packages include a 30-day money-back guarantee and free SSL encryption service. It is not a miracle at this price level but should be mentioned that a professional support team was assigned to solve the dedicated server users’ problems.

There are optional features that you can buy for a small additional fee, including domain privacy and SiteLock protection against attacks and inbuilt malware detection. The Google-powered Postini filters are a big plus when it comes to spam filtering, so it is recommended to use this service in your mailboxes.

Reseller Hosting

BlueHost’s reseller hosting is trusted by over 200,000 resellers, so the company gained a lot of experience in serving this kind of customers. The company’s offers are offered under an independent brand name, ResellerClub via a standalone website.

ResellerClub offers over 800 products so if you are a reseller, then you can offer these value-added services to your customers. The products can be packed in any versions and you can sell them under your brand name, while BlueHost provides the technical solutions.

There are 4 reseller packages, provided by 3 data locations of the company’s data centers, from the USA, the UK, and India. The prices vary a bit for different centers; we are going to review the USA data center prices to give info to our international readers:

1. R1: The smallest package is ideal to start reselling and can be the home of an unlimited number of websites. It comes with 40 GB disk space and 800 GB data transfer. Unlimited email accounts and cPanel tools can be used, too. It is available from $18.99/month.
2. R2: The improved 50 GB storage and 1000 GB transfer give you more assets. Among with unlimited emails and cPanel accounts, a free WHMCS service was also packed to this offer. Its starting price is $21.99/month.
3. R3: This package offers the same tools as R2 does, but the disk space was lifted to 100 GB and data transfer was increased to 2000 GB. It starts at $29.99/month.
4. R4: The biggest reseller package provides 200 GB storage and 4000 GB data transfer. It also offers the free WHMCS and the unlimited number of email accounts and cPanel instances. The starting price is $44.49/month.

All the reseller hosting packages can use dedicated IP addresses; it is available for $3.99/each. Your purchase will be covered a 30-day money-back guarantee and 24/7 special reseller support.

Your customers can have the benefit of Softaculous, the famous installer with more than 400 applications, and their data will be protected by CloudFlare. If you already have a reseller plan at another provider, the BlueHost pros will move it to your new storage for free of charge.

There are up-to-date hardware and software environments behind the packages. The used operating system is CloudLinux while all the most common scripts and features are available too, including Python, PHP 5 and 7, MySQL, phpMyAdmin and ionCube loader.

WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting

However, WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting are not different types of hosting packages; we should also talk about them, too. They are basically shared hosting solutions, dedicated to the selected software. Because BlueHost provides them as the part of its product range, we are also going to cover them independently.

WordPress Hosting

BlueHost offers special packages for WordPress users and giving them a few extras. If you are also interested in having a WordPress-powered website, you might benefit from it.

The company gives free domain name and free SSL certification along with WordPress packages, starting at $2.95/month. An auto-update function was also utilized, which continuously updates the WordPress core to its latest stable version. With it, your site will be never outdated.

You can also create an unlimited number of email accounts with your chosen domain name, and set forwarders and auto responders to them. A 7/24 WordPress hosting support was created to solve the WP users’ problems.

The 3 WordPress Hosting packages are the same as you can find at Shared Hosting packages; the Basic package starts at $2.95/month and is ideal for a single site. Plus package can serve an unlimited number of sites for a $5.45/month starting price, while Choice Plus contains few value-added features for the same price.

WooCommerce Hosting

WooCommerce Hosting plans were created to serve especially the WooCommerce shops. If you sell online, you can have dedicated eCommerce storage with many related services.

There are 3 WooCommerce packages at BlueHost:

1. Starter: This package gives you 100 GB storage and $100 in PPC credits. You can add a parked domain name, 5 subdomains and 5 email accounts as well. It is available from $6.95/month.
2. Plus: The middle package offers unlimited web storage and you can also assign an unlimited number of parked domains, subdomains, and email accounts. A spam protection for 1 domain and PPC credits in $200 value were also added.
3. Pro: The biggest package has all the features what Plus does and also contains daily website backups, domain privacy, spam protection for 2 domain names and PPC credit in the value of $300. The package is available from $12.95/month.

All WooCommerce Hosting plans include a WooCommerce auto-install service, so you can focus on selling right away. The free SSL make your shop more reliable, by using the advantages of HTTPS. There are also many monitoring tools packed to server your business more.

Domain Registration

BlueHost also offers domain registration, so you don’t have to leave the site to have a good domain name. There are 17 different domain endings available, including classic ones like .com, .org and or .info; country-related ones like .co.uk, .org.uk or .us; and new generation of TLDs like .website, .store or .club. There is almost no limit to choosing a catchy name and assigning it to your newly purchased storage.

The domain registration process starts at a designated section of the BlueHost site, where you should enter your name idea or a phrase into a search bar. If it is not available, the site will come up with a few suggestions. By accepting any of them or finding a free domain name, you can continue with the actual purchase.

The company added extra services to domain registrations, like a simple and easy-to-use interface for domain name management. There you can set the name servers or the records, review the expiration date, your personal data and more. The auto-renewal feature automatically renews your names, so you will never lose them. A domain lock can be also applied on the purchases, thus avoiding the unauthorized domain transfers.

BlueHost also has a domain registration support, which is available 7/24.

Which Plan is Right for You

We have just covered 7 types of BlueHost’s web hosting plans and the number of offers can be confusing. And even if not, it is worth to make a summary and few recommendations in general.

Reseller Hosting

Let’s start with special packages. The Reseller Hosting plans are ideal for you if you want to offer such packages, and want to serve your clients with a good value for their money. If you are looking for web storage for your own purposes only, then you can move forward, they are not your solution.

Pros:

• you don’t have to handle the maintenance of your customers’ storages
• easier to manage one reseller account than having a single shared hosting package for all customers
• customization tools to make your own packages
• advanced monitoring

Cons:

• not suitable for standalone or few personal or company websites

WordPress and WooCommerce Hosting

If you want to start especially a WordPress-powered site or a WooCommerce web shop, then you can choose one of the designated web hosting packages. They were optimized for the relevant software and offer related support.

Pros:

• the related application runs faster on a dedicated environment
• special services bend to the software
• good price
• ideal for starting a business or website

Cons:

• not suitable for non-related applications
• can’t hold big traffic
• possible bad neighborhood effect

Shared Hosting

If you want to use your website other than having a WordPress website or WooCommerce shop, your ideal entry solution is the shared hosting. It is cheap and you can launch your site easily.

Pros:

• no server knowledge is needed
• ultra-low-cost solution
• can be launched in a few minutes

Cons:

• not suitable for big traffic
• weaker support
• no chance to manage your storage in server-depth
• possible bad neighborhood effect

Please be aware, that WordPress Hosting and WooCommerce hosting are basically advanced types of shared hosting. Once your WordPress site or WooCommerce shop develops and should handle more traffic, you will need to purchase more powerful hosting types, like VPS Hosting or Dedicated Hosting.

Cloud Hosting

Cloud Hosting packages introduce another advantage since your site is alive in 3 instances. In case of hardware failure of the traffic boom, your customers can be easily served by other 2 website instances.

Pros:

• no server knowledge is needed
• cloud technology with more site instances
• can handle hardware problems or peaks in traffic

Cons:

• not suitable for big traffic
• possible bad neighborhood effect

VPS Hosting

VPS Hosting is an advanced solution to handle bigger traffic on your site, with advanced server management tools. It offers root access to your server, so you are the real administrator of your own storage, you can add any applications.

Pros:

• powerful resources to manage big traffic
• bad neighborhood effect is not possible
• root access to make your own hosting environment
• strong support

Cons:

• server knowledge may be needed
• higher price

Dedicated Hosting

This is the king of hosting solutions, when you are the real administrator of your own server. You don’t have to share the resources with other users and it is totally up to you which applications and runtime environment you create.

Pros:

• literally no limit in server customization and management
• super powerful resources to handle big traffic
• bad neighborhood effect is not possible
• strong support

Cons:

• server knowledge may be needed
• higher price

Conclusion

By arriving at the Conclusion you have had a chance to read our whole review. We have covered many web hosting types and special versions (like WordPress, WooCommerce and Reseller hosting). You already know that it may worth to start with cheap solutions and understand what your options are as your website and business grows and needs more resources.

BlueHost is a reliable provider so one thing is sure, even you might choose the Shared Hosting, the VPS Hosting or Dedicated Server, you won’t make the wrong decision and your website will be always a strong point behind you.