Bluehost remains one of our top picks for web hosting—especially for beginners launching their first WordPress site. While many hosts are reasonably user-friendly, Bluehost goes a step further by eliminating the typical roadblocks that stop people from getting started. With automatic WordPress installation, a guided setup wizard, and a beginner-friendly dashboard, Bluehost makes the entire experience feel approachable and even enjoyable. Plus, the platform includes a wide range of built-in features that help it stand out as one of the best all-around choices today.
If you’re feeling unsure or overwhelmed, Bluehost has your back. Their onboarding process and WordPress guidance make the early steps far less intimidating.
How Bluehost Stacks Up to Other Web Hosts
Bluehost is ideal if you’re looking for a host that’s simple to use, has room to grow with your site, and offers 24/7 support. It’s one of only three providers officially recommended by WordPress, and that partnership translates into expert-level help and optimized features for WordPress users.
From pricing to performance and customer support, Bluehost holds its own in a competitive space. Whether you’re launching a personal blog or building out a small business site, Bluehost makes it easy to get online fast—and stay online without spending a fortune.
Where Bluehost Stands Out
Bluehost is an excellent starting point for anyone new to hosting. It strikes the right balance between guidance for beginners and scalable options for users ready to level up their site over time.
Easy to Use
Bluehost offers four clear shared hosting plans, with an easy-to-follow comparison table that breaks down features across categories. Compared to many competitors, their plan structure is much easier to understand at a glance.
Signing up is simple—you fill out a single-page form. However, note that essential features like daily backups and long-term SSL coverage may cost extra, especially on the Basic plan. Be sure to consider those add-ons when comparing overall costs with other hosts.
No domain? No problem. Bluehost provides a temporary domain during signup, which you can replace later when you’re ready.
Bluehost accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express. If you’re hoping to pay with PayPal or other methods during initial signup, you may need to wait until later in your account lifecycle.
After signup, you’re guided through launching your new site or migrating an existing one. Bluehost’s welcome screen makes that first login a breeze.
You can build a site yourself using Bluehost’s drag-and-drop builder, get hands-on assistance, or outsource everything. Assistance options are subscription-based, while done-for-you design services start at $700 and scale with complexity.
The monthly coaching plan is $119 and includes live screen-sharing sessions with a WordPress expert. While it’s a premium service, the flexibility to add or cancel at any time is a plus for beginners who need short-term guidance.
Bluehost’s user dashboard is well-organized and easy to navigate. Helpful shortcuts and tips are front and center, making it simple to manage:
- Traffic and site analytics
- Marketplace tools and upgrades
- Professional email and productivity suites
- Domain management
- Marketing and SEO tools
Bluehost splits technical controls into a separate cPanel area—great for beginners who don’t need to touch advanced settings. By comparison, other hosts like SiteGround or Hostinger use proprietary dashboards that mix everything together, which can be more confusing for first-timers.
This separation reduces visual clutter and information overload, creating a smoother onboarding experience. When you’re ready to dive deeper, clicking Advanced opens full cPanel access.
Inside cPanel, you’ll find core technical tools organized by category. Site performance stats are always visible, and features like email, file manager, database access, and security settings are just a click away.
Scalability
As your site grows, Bluehost makes it easy to upgrade. Their shared hosting tiers—Basic, Choice Plus, Online Store, and Pro—cover the spectrum from small personal sites to robust business needs.
Start small with the Basic plan (one website, 10 GB SSD storage) and upgrade right from your dashboard if you need more websites or resources.
Higher tiers offer unlimited sites, more storage, and bonus features. Choice Plus gives you 40 GB storage, while the Pro plan and Online Store plan offer 100 GB SSD and additional perks like optimized CPUs and a dedicated IP.
Interestingly, PayPal becomes available as a payment method during self-upgrades—even though it’s not offered during initial sign-up. This could hint at broader payment flexibility coming in future updates.
For users who outgrow shared hosting, Bluehost also offers:
- WooCommerce hosting: from $9.95/month
- VPS hosting: from $29.99/month
- Dedicated hosting: from $89.98/month
These advanced plans are ideal for high-traffic sites, ecommerce businesses, or resource-intensive applications. They provide greater stability and faster performance compared to shared hosting.
If you’re curious about what plan type fits your needs best, check out our full guide on types of web hosting.
You can also transition to managed WordPress hosting from Bluehost—same price, but with added features like daily backups, automatic updates, malware scans, and server-side optimization for WordPress.
This upgrade makes site management easier without requiring you to learn complex backend maintenance. It’s a solid choice for users who want to focus on content, not code.
When upgrading, you can even schedule migrations up to 72 hours in advance. But note: if you’re changing hosting categories (e.g., shared to VPS), you’ll need to contact support. Some users report higher-than-expected migration fees—clarify these ahead of time.
Where Bluehost Could Improve
Customer Service
While Bluehost offers 24/7 live chat and phone support, our experience with their customer service was mixed—and that aligns with what many user reviews report online.
Live chat starts with a bot, which is standard these days. But this one was frustratingly repetitive and often missed the point of our queries. After several attempts at rewording our question, we finally got escalated to a human rep—but not before wasting a lot of time.
Once you’re connected to an agent, you’ll be asked to verify your identity using a secure token. While this adds a layer of protection, the responses we received were still not very helpful. We kept getting canned, copy-pasted replies that didn’t match our questions.
After 30 minutes of back-and-forth, we gave up and called Bluehost support by phone. Although we were disconnected twice, our third attempt reached a knowledgeable agent who resolved our issue quickly. Still, it shouldn’t take three calls to get one answer.
Bottom line: Bluehost’s phone support is decent, but their live chat experience needs serious improvement. For fast and accurate help, pick up the phone.
That said, Bluehost also maintains a solid knowledge base full of tutorials, walkthroughs, and answers to frequently asked questions. If you’re comfortable with self-help, you might find what you need there without contacting support.
Pricing & Plans
Bluehost’s shared hosting plans all include a free domain for the first year, access to WordPress-specific themes, and a built-in content delivery network (CDN). Here’s how their four shared hosting plans break down as of mid-2025:
- Basic: $2.95/month – 1 website, 10 GB SSD storage, free SSL for 1 year
- Choice Plus: $5.45/month – Unlimited websites, 40 GB SSD, free SSL for full term
- Online Store: $9.95/month – Unlimited websites, 100 GB SSD, advanced WooCommerce tools
- Pro: $13.95/month – Same as Choice Plus, with 100 GB SSD, dedicated IP, and optimized CPU
One thing to keep in mind: Bluehost doesn’t offer month-to-month billing. You have to choose between 12-month and 36-month contracts. The 12-month plan gives you the lowest initial monthly rate, but the 36-month option has a lower renewal rate.
To compare, here’s how pricing plays out for the Basic plan over four years:
- 1-year term: $2.95/month upfront = $35.40, renews at $10.99/month ($131.88/year)
- 3-year term: $4.95/month upfront = $178.20, renews at $9.99/month ($119.88/year)
Over four years, the 1-year term will cost you $431.04. The 3-year term saves you money in the long run, totaling $298.08. Even though the upfront monthly rate is higher, the lower renewal price adds up to significant savings.
Keep in mind that Bluehost does not include certain add-ons in their base pricing. These extras should be budgeted for if you want full functionality:
- Daily backups: $2.99/month (billed annually at $35.88) for Basic plan only—other plans include backups by default.
- Domain registration: First one is free for a year, then $12.99+ depending on the extension.
- Domain renewal: .com renewals cost $19.99/year after the first year.
- Domain privacy: $15/year to keep personal registration details private.
- SSL certificate: Free for one year with Basic, then $3.33/month. Other plans include lifetime SSL.
- Site security (SiteLock Essentials): $2.99/month (billed annually at $35.88)
Bluehost does offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, but cancellations must be done via phone or live chat—there’s no self-service option in the dashboard.
We tested cancellation through live chat, and while we did get a refund within 24 hours, it took more than 20 minutes and multiple steps to complete. We also never received the promised confirmation email.
Want to see how Bluehost compares to the competition? Check out our head-to-head with Hostinger—our current top pick—or see all our recommendations in the full guide to the best web hosting services.