Both SiteGround and Bluehost are among the biggest hosting companies right now. They’re recommended all the time, so choosing one can be difficult. That’s why I’m reviewing both web hosts, and you’ll be ready to pick one after you’re done.
Hosting is all about stability, performance, and storage. Finding an affordable service that excels in all those aspects is a challenge. For instance, SiteGround has some of the best features and performance in the market. On the other hand, Bluehost is cheaper and has unlimited storage.
In the end, a good hosting service has a good balance between performance and pricing. The key lies in finding the best features available for your budget; in other words, you want to find the most bang for your buck.
If we consider that, SiteGround seems to be a clear winner. Yet, Bluehost is one of the most popular Google searches, so what’s the truth? That’s what we’ll analyze today.
Pricing comparison
Let’s use shared hosting plans for our comparison because they’re the most affordable and popular plans for hosting. At first glance, Bluehost’s cheapest plan is less than half of SiteGround’s cheapest option: $2.95 against $6.99, both monthly.
However, there’s a slight catch there. You’ll have to pay a full year for SiteGround’s StartUp plan to get that price. Bluehost requires you to pay 3 years of their Basic plan if you want the $2.95 offer.
Naturally, that means you can save more in the long-term, yet it’s also a larger upfront investment. Furthermore, you’ll also see that SiteGround closes the gap noticeably with the value it brings on its shared plans.
We also need to keep one factor in mind…
Customer opinion
As I said, you can find many lists and articles recommending both services. However, user comments are just as important, and you can find many users agreeing that SiteGround is among the best. On the other hand, it’s noticeably easier to find negative comments about Bluehost.
The main attraction for Bluehost seems to be its affordability. I’ve noticed the consensus to be “a great web host for its price.” The key phrase there is “for its price,” as it offers solid features to get started. The issue comes when you consider services like SiteGround: still affordable while bringing a lot more to the table.
With that in mind, let’s dive a bit deeper into the exact prices and what you get.
Plans and features
You already know what’s the minimum you can pay for each service. However, every plan has its own features, bandwidth, and other benefits that make it better for certain users. Taking a look at every plan and what you’ll get from it makes it a lot simpler to discover which option is the best for you—even within your preferred company.
Let’s look at the value every platform offers for its asking price.
SiteGround
SiteGround seems to focus on providing all the value it can fit into their price tag. It’s also quite diverse in the type of hosting it offers: you can get shared, cloud, VPS, and dedicated WordPress hosting among other options.
I already mentioned I’d focus on shared hosting plans for both companies. Luckily, you can check out all the options at SiteGround’s official site. Shared hosting also offers a good foundation; advanced plans basically build on their features, so you get to see what’s the fundamental service.
Furthermore, shared hosting is the best option for smaller ventures, like personal blogs and small stores. No matter the plan you get with SiteGround, you also get plenty of features you wouldn’t expect for the price. You have unlimited emails, SSD storage, managed hosting for WordPress and site migrations, free security certificates and backups, guaranteed 99.9% uptime, and website protection against threats like DDoS attacks and bots.
SiteGround is renowned for its performance and uptime, thanks to the technology they implement into their service. All of their hosting solutions split into 3 levels: StartUp, GrowBig, and GoGeek.
Looking at their website’s breakdown, you’ll spot they’re quite balanced in terms of pricing. The mid-tier plan can suffice for most users for a long time, and even the StartUp subscription is enough for smaller businesses.
Let’s go through every plan’s offer quickly and their monthly price (without discounts).
StartUp ($6.99)
The cheapest option at SiteGround is a surprisingly good plan for its tier and price. If you want to run a single website—like a blog or a virtual store—you’ll find this plan is more than enough. It’s likely to be that way for a good while, too.
That’s because you’re limited to a single website, yet that shouldn’t be a problem in the case I mentioned. SiteGround throws in 10GB’s worth of space for your entire website; if you don’t go too crazy with high-resolution images and videos, you’ll have a tough time running out. You can also have 10,000 visitors every month.
What’s surprising is that StartUp users can transfer their WordPress site from a different host for free. That’s a rare feature for basic plans. Website backups are also completely free, and you can create them manually or let SiteGround create daily backups (lasting a month) for you.
For stability, you get some of the most advanced protocols, like PHP7, HTTP/2 and NGINX on their servers. Speaking of NGINX, direct delivery is also available in all sites; in case you don’t know, it’s basically a speed boost for content delivery. You also get a free SSL certificate and CDN from CloudFlare.
GrowBig ($9.99)
The GrowBig plan comes with all the features included in StartUp, but it adds a few premium ones for more advanced users. If you only need to run a single site, it should be a while before you need to upgrade. However, larger sites and users with several sites will definitely enjoy GrowBig.
Firstly, your traffic and bandwidth get increased to 25,000 visits every month and 20GB for your site and files. You also receive twice the amount of resources as StartUp websites, so things run noticeably faster. That’s combined with SuperCacher for both static and dynamic content.
Other interesting additions include up to 30 backups for your website every day as well as priority in customer support. You also get a wildcard SSL for your sites, which is basically a certificate you can use for all site copies you have.
GoGeek ($14.99)
Finally, GoGeek is the best solution for larger users who need as many resources as they can get without breaking their budget. Naturally, this plan combines the StartUp and GrowBig features while bringing more features to the table.
Among the most prominent inclusions in the GoGeek plan, we have 40GB of space entirely for your website. You can also accommodate 100,000 visitors every month, so it’s a plan for big websites that’s not as expensive as similar solutions in the market. Speaking of larger websites, you also receive twice as many resources as the GrowBig plan, so loading speeds will be the last of your worries.
Other interesting additions to the GoGeek plan includes WordPress staging; this is implemented through a single-click function. You also get both Git as well as SG-Git to make repository creation a lot smoother. GoGeek users also have access to special staging environments for all sites hosted with SiteGround; backup and restore functionality is also more versatile.
Bluehost
Bluehost also offers plenty of solutions depending on its clients’ needs. You can find most, if not all, the services offered by SiteGround here. From shared hosting to VPS and WordPress hosting, you can expect the industry standards here.
However, we’ll also stick to the shared hosting options for Bluehost. Again, most of the plans build over these features, so they’re an excellent basis for judging the general service quality.
Given its pricing, Bluehost is a good choice for small ventures working on a tight budget. In fact, it’s built its reputation around that niche and audience. It’s far from a premium service, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad option. To simplify things, it gets the job done.
It also has a few impressive features for such a cheap service. You get free additions like CDN centers, a drag-and-drop builder, SSL certificate, and a domain name; the last one is only for a year, though.
Other features include unlimited space and bandwidth, so you don’t have to worry too much about adding files. Just keep in mind that Bluehost doesn’t seem as fast as SiteGround, so your loading speeds might be hindered.
You also get the same server protocols as in SiteGround, WordPress single-click installation and staging site, SSD storage, and full-time support. You also have access to php.ini and other file types.
It’s worth noting that those features are the basic Bluehost experience, and they’re available for all of their plans. As for their tiers, they have 4.
Basic ($2.95)
The Basic plan is somewhat similar to SiteGround’s StartUp subscription. It’s the cheapest option, aimed at single website owners and smaller businesses. Just like StartUp users, the Basic plan lets you host 1 website only.
However, this website gets 50GB’s worth of space, greater than SiteGround’s GoGeek accounts. Basic users also receive unmetered bandwidth, so it’s not a bad deal for the price. Free CDN and SSL certificates are part of the Basic Bluehost experience.
SSD storage guarantees better loading times, yet they’re mostly standard by now. Using NGINX, PHP7 and HTTP/2 is a similar scenario, but you do need to consider your account’s limit to only 5 email accounts and 100MB for each.
You also get a domain name for free, but it’s quite disappointing to see it’s only for a year.
Plus ($5.45)
The Plus tier is a fairly big upgrade to the Basic plan, and it’s easy to see that coming. However, it’s commendable how it adds significant improvements to the previous plan while staying close to the previous costs.
Plus users get all the benefits from the Basic plan: a domain name for a year, SSL certificates, CDN, SSD, and everything I just mentioned. Spam protection is a nice addition to the primary features.
The main reason to upgrade to the Plus plan is having multiple websites. Plus users can host all the websites they want, and each website gets unmetered bandwidth and space. The other interesting upgrade goes to the email accounts. This plan removes the 5-account limit and storage space altogether; you can add all the accounts you need and use as much space as necessary.
Smaller features include unlimited domains, subdomains, and parked domains.
Choice Plus (formerly Prime) ($5.45)
I have to admit something: this plan seems weird for me. The name does imply it’s basically an extension of the Plus subscription, but that’s an understatement. Both plans are exactly the same, except for a couple of features.
Choice plus has all the features I just described for the Plus plan: SSD, unlimited sites, storage, bandwidth and domains, as well as spam protection. The two additions that set both plans apart is privacy and protection for your domains as well as a free website backup for a year.
That’s it, and it’s not like it has a different price. Choice Plus is also the recommended plan on Bluehost’s official website. As is, I can only assume it’s a way to convince people to pay for this plan instead of the Basic one. If that’s not the case, then I can’t fathom why they don’t remove the Plus plan and just leave this one as the mid-tier account.
Pro ($13.95)
The last plan is noticeably more expensive than the previous ones, but it does add several important features to make up for it. You already know all of the features I mentioned for the previous ones, and Pro users still have access to all of them.
However, Pro users have 2 personal spam experts to help them deal with problematic visitors. The site backup, which was previously free for a year, is now free for as long as you use this hosting service. You also get a dedicated IP address and wildcard SSL.
Most importantly, websites hosted under a Pro account enjoy more resources than all other plans. From Basic to Choice Plus, all plans have the same resources, yet Pro breaks that rule.
As you can see, Bluehost does offer a competitive set of features for a good price. However, you should note the small gap between SiteGround’s GoGeek plan and Bluehost’s Pro plan: just a dollar. Given what you get from SiteGround and its performance, there aren’t many reasons to go for a Pro Bluehost account instead of a GoGeek or even a GrowBig one with SiteGround.
That difference will become more noticeable with the following section.
Stability and performance
The most important aspect of a good hosting service is stability and performance. If you want a live website, you can find myriads of cheap services. What separates good and bad hosts is how websites work with their service.
After all, all technologies, features, and methods used by hosting services aim to ensure stable and responsive websites. From faster content delivery to backups and protocols, all of these features are for a single goal: make everything run smoothly.
Therefore, price and fancy technologies mean little if the websites take long to load or suffer frequent downtimes. That’s why this is, for me, the most important section of this comparison. As you’ll see, it’s also the reason why SiteGround is a better recommendation for most people.
SiteGround
You can check out SiteGround’s features via their dedicated section on their official website. However, we can break down some of the most important aspects mentioned in that section.
The main one is including SSD for all their plans, including shared hosting. SSD drives are becoming more prevalent in web hosts, yet it’s still not a basic feature in many services. With how much they improve website performance, it’s definitely worth mentioning how SiteGround includes SSD storage in its cheapest plans.
Then, we have their servers and protocols. NGINX is one of the best ways to improve static content delivery, and it’s a must-have for bloggers and similar websites. HTTP/2 servers also complement NGINX to make your websites even faster; it’s worth noting that HTTP/2 requires encryption, so it’s always a good sign. Finally, their PHP 7.2 implementation is a huge boost to PHP executions in WordPress.
Back to NGINX, SuperCacher is another integration from SiteGround, based on said server’s reverse protocol. It’s yet another speed improvement, yet this time it’s for dynamic content. That means all websites load as fast as they can regardless of the type of content you’re using.
The free Cloudflare CDN also makes sites load faster via content caching and distribution using different data points. If you have visitors coming from different countries, then this feature is a lifesaver.
Of course, all of these highlights are fully available from the shared hosting plans to all other solutions.
Uptime
Again, SiteGround takes stability seriously, and you can find all the relevant information on their dedicated page. However, I can highlight their 99.99% guarantee as well as several features they implement.
They actively monitor servers to make sure everything is running properly. That includes account isolation and implementing AI to stop bots from messing with your website. Naturally, their automatic and on-demand backups also do wonders to protect users in case something goes awry.
Now, there’s no way a web host can offer 100% uptime—at least not with current technologies. There are too many variables at play, but SiteGround’s 99.9% guarantee is basically as good as it gets; besides, they have a solid compensation program in case that guarantee breaks.
Besides, 99.99% uptime translates into less than a day’s worth of downtime in the entire year. You can find several tests around the internet to confirm their guaranteed uptime as well, and your SEO will thank you for it.
Speed
Again, fast loading times for your website is another godsend for proper SEO. Thankfully, testing SiteGround’s speed is easy; you can find the right tools without too much effort, and most of them are quite accurate.
Everyone moving to SiteGround from other hosting companies immediately reports better loading times. You can even find changes as drastic as more than 3 seconds in homepage loading, and most tests on SiteGround’s loading speed come out well under a second.
You’ll always find variations depending on the testing method you use. Location is also important, yet all of them have one thing in common. They’re always among the fastest speeds for any web hosting service.
As I said, page loading speeds are paramount if you want to rank on Google. Everyone wants to find what they want in an instant, and slow websites are usually ignored by Google. That’s why SiteGround places so much importance on speed and uptime; it’s a great way to improve your SEO without too much effort or money.
Page loading
However, let’s look at web speed a bit more practically. Most users give websites a few seconds at most to load before skipping to another one. Good loading helps to keep visitors on your website.
However, loading speeds almost always vary for every section. If you’re running a business site or a store, that becomes more obvious. Some elements take longer to load, like high-resolution images and videos. Other elements take much less, and that’s why blogs tend to load a lot faster than other websites.
The page loading time for SiteGround averages at around 1.3 seconds, and that’s including static and dynamic content. If you’re conservative with your content and elements, you can reach much lower times.
Bluehost
Unfortunately, Bluehost lacks most of the information readily available on SiteGround’s official website. Similarly, their support agents seem to know little about these aspects, as they failed to answer most of the questions I had about their service.
Thankfully, they do offer some content on their technologies, and I also managed to find some information about them around the internet.
For the most part, they seem to implement several features present in other hosting services. They even have advanced features like NGINX and HTTP/2 servers, which were also available in SiteGround. As I said, they’re always good signs, even though Bluehost seems to lack some of the more specialized practices from SiteGround.
You can also count on SSD storage for all Bluehost plans, and they include Clouflare’s CDN into their shared hosting accounts. A particularly nice addition is their automated failover practices. In layman’s terms, they can switch devices quickly in case one malfunctions, so uptime isn’t heavily affected by these circumstances.
However, there’s still limited information about their services—at least if we compare them to SiteGround. That said, I did manage to find good information about their server uptime.
Uptime
Monitoring websites hosted using Bluehost shows a nice uptime, seemingly meeting their 99% uptime guarantee. It seems like 80% of the websites hosted with Bluehost actually experienced 100% uptime during the test month.
However, 20% of the websites seemed to experience 99.6% uptime during said month, which translates into about 4 hours of downtime during the month. Considering SiteGround’s downtime is about 12 hours in a year, that’s almost 4 times as much.
Granted, it was only during one month of testing. The real downtime for most websites on a regular basis could be much lower; in fact, I’d say that’s the most likely scenario. Nevertheless, we do have to keep in mind the same could apply to their uptime.
Security and customer support
Performance and uptime are the most important aspects of web hosting for me. However, no one should overlook security and customer support. Many could argue these aspects are just as important, and they wouldn’t be entirely wrong.
DDoS, bots, spam, and other attacks can take a serious toll on your site’s performance and stability. As such, security plays a very important role in keeping your websites up and running properly at all times.
On the other hand, customer support can save your life if you’re new to web hosting and running a website. If something goes wrong, good customer support can make the difference between a quick fix, compensation, or disaster.
SiteGround
Security
Security is another aspect in which SiteGround excels compared to its competitors. Starting with the human factor, their servers have full-time security. They even use biometrics for entry and go as far as bulletproofing their lobbies; you could say they’re quite fortified.
SiteGround also implements UPS (Enterprise level) to keep their operations safe in case a power surge or outage occurs. Considering some countries’ likelihood to face these kinds of problems, this is a stellar extra step.
If we dive into their software practices, things don’t get any worse. I could start mentioning their free SSL certification for all websites in every plan. That shouldn’t be a surprise, though. SSL certificates are standard in the industry right now, and every website managing personal and delicate information must have one. If you’ve ever received a warning message when entering a non-secure site, that’s because they didn’t have an SSL certificate.
Then, we add two firewalls, with security rules written by SiteGround’s security team. If that sounds like a big feat, then it gets better. SiteGround actually developed the CHROOT account isolation, which they use in their shared servers. They always stay on top of any important trend, and as that feat proves, they sometimes lead them.
Back to the standards, SiteGround implements HackAlert to monitor all attacks targeting their websites. This feature is available as an add-on for all users. The Cloudflare CDN also works for more than merely speed. It also migrates any DDoS attempt to keep your websites safe.
You can find SiteGround’s website malware scanner in your cPanel. If that’s not enough, SiteGround also uses SiteLock to cover all the ground possible.
Of course, all of these are current practices. SiteGround always updates their system to keep all users safe.
Customer support
SiteGround also offers plenty of options for any user with doubts or troubles. You can contact customer support via traditional support tickets; response times for these are barely 10 minutes at most thanks to overstaffing their shifts.
If that’s still too long for you, you can contact their support team via live chat. You’re also free to call them any time you need since they have 24/7 phone support.
What I like about SiteGround is their focus on customer support. They regularly invest to implement the most efficient support methods, including inhouse support departments to keep track of all requests and responses.
You can also find an extensive knowledge base with plenty of articles and FAQ’s to help you solve issues yourself. You can find tutorials and updates on the web hosting industry, so you don’t have to rely blindly on their personnel.
SiteGround’s support team feels like having a dedicated IT expert at your disposal, every time you need. Besides, you’re always talking to real people with real knowledge on the subjects you’re consulting about, and SiteGround makes it a point to show you how much they care.
You can find profiles for every support member you interact with. It includes how many clients they’ve served, satisfaction rates, and when they joined the platform. Furthermore, all conversations get transcribed and sent to your email address in case you need to refer back to it in the future.
Bluehost
Security
BlueHost also implements several standard security measures to their servers, so it’s not like you’re sentencing your website by choosing them. They have two-factor authentication as well as SiteLock.
It’s worth noting that they offer cPHulk protection, yet it’s only for dedicated and VPS users.
However, all hosting plans come with free SSL certification and CDN from Cloudflare, so they do have decent protection. The domain privacy and spam experts add-ons on Plus and higher accounts are both great for keeping your personal information safe and free from any malware.
Bluehost also seems to have a strong focus on spam prevention. In addition to spam experts, both Spamhammer and SpamAssassin are available with Bluehost. Their CDN also prevents DDoS attempts, just like with SiteGround.
Bluehost users also enjoy Hotlink Protection. This is a very handy tool that keeps your content safe from anyone looking to steal it. It goes a bit beyond that, too; it lets you blacklist certain IP addresses that could cause trouble in your website.
Bluehost websites also receive SSH access to keep the entire environment safer, and you can use it to filter particular users and emails. You’re free to set passwords for specific directories and even manage your keys and certificates from the Bluehost dashboard.
You can enable the two-factor authentication from your cPanel. Doing so activates an account validation system that uses tokens. Interestingly, it lets you confirm your identity by communicating with Bluehost’s customer support before using your passwords.
Everything sounds great, but Bluehost does have an ugly history with web security. In fact, they received quite a bit of coverage about 5 years ago. They made it into the list of the largest hosting services hacked by the SEA (Syrian Electronic Army).
Sure, it was a long time ago, but it’s something to keep in mind.
Customer support
Admittedly, Bluehost does make it easy to access customer support. You have the now-standard live chat functionality, along with email and phone support. Interestingly, you can call 3 different phone numbers depending on the type of support you need.
There’s a phone number for general support. Dedicated and VPS hosting users have their own support channel, too. WordPress help is also a separate channel.
If you like troubleshooting by yourself, Bluehost also has a comprehensive FAQ section. You can type the subject you need help with; it’s very likely the issue isn’t too rare, and you can often find your answers using this page.
A curious “support channel” many people don’t know is the official Bluehost channel on YouTube. There’s well over a hundred different videos explaining how you can set up your website and hosting, as well as general management tips and tutorials.
Unfortunately, Bluehost seems to fail at delivering on these expectations, at least on the live support front. It’s quite easy to find negative comments about their support team’s efficiency, and I have to admit it’s quite disappointing, given all the attention they appeared to give to this aspect.
Naturally, not everyone has a bad experience with the Bluehost support team, but it’s important to remember that they’re more an exception than the norm.
WordPress features
Most bloggers and online entrepreneurs know WordPress. This CMS platform is easily the most popular and beloved on the internet. It’s so flexible that it’s managed to be relevant in niches like eCommerce, where specialized solutions have earned lots of fame.
That’s why it’s only natural for hosting companies to offer dedicated hosting for WordPress users. Of course, both Bluehost and SiteGround have their own WordPress plans. We can’t call this comparison “complete” if we don’t cover this feature.
SiteGround
SiteGround hosts WordPress users using their shared servers, but that’s about the only “recycled” feature between the two services. WordPress hosting has its own set of features, like free installations, automated updates, specialized support, and others. Advanced features for higher plans include free site transfers, SuperCacher, single-click staging, Git pre-installation, and more.
All of those features are bundled with the standard shared hosting ones I already covered in the Plans section. Admittedly, the best plan for WordPress users is GoGeeky in terms of server quality. Just keep in mind it’s mostly because of the free on-demand backups and less accounts.
Some might be curious about the lack of VPS WordPress hosting, which is available in Bluehost. However, their Linux containers actually act as virtual servers, albeit different from what it’s traditionally described as a virtual server. Still, it’s just as fast, if not faster, than the traditional approach.
If you’re still interested in learning more about their specific solutions for WordPress, you only need to contact their customer support.
Bluehost
I must admit that Bluehost comes with a very strong hosting offer for WordPress users. I’d understand if people believed it to be superior to SiteGround. That’s because of what I already mentioned in the previous section: Bluehost’s WordPress hosting service uses their VPS solution.
Therefore, Bluehost optimization ensures your WordPress website has its own private server. It’s noticeably more expensive than shared hosting, but it’s still a solid service. Don’t get me wrong, though; it’s still an affordable option, and you can choose the plan that adapts better to your needs. You’re free to upgrade whenever you need.
There’s an important difference between their regular WordPress plans and their WordPress VPS service. WordPress users subscribe to managed hosting, unlike regular VPS accounts, which are unmanaged.
That’s important because managed WordPress hosting means users don’t have root access. However, Bluehost has more features to make up for this, in case you really want to go with them.
Firstly, you get BlueRock, Bluehost’s specialized and improved cPanel for users. Besides, VPS hosting means you have lots more bandwidth and space than other users. Naturally, this also means your website’s stability improves vastly; it might even eliminate any downtime chances because of your dedicated resources.
Likewise, it’s also easier to adapt your website to traffic and growth. You can upgrade or downgrade as necessary. The BlueRock cPanel also makes it a lot easier to set up your website’s specs if needed.
Additionally, VPS hosting translates into better security. You’re free to improve your precautions when required.
However, Bluehost’s WordPress hosting does have its downsides, and they can be quite problematic depending on your experience. For instance, server management will require solid technical experience. Most users will need to hire an administrator for this, especially considering how Bluehost’s support isn’t the best in the industry.
You also need to consider that VPS still exist physically. You’re given your own “portion” of the server, but you still have to share the whole server with other users. Furthermore, maintenance is key to ensure their stability.
That’s why SiteGround’s cloud servers are seen as superior to a VPS. Data in these servers is easy to mirror in an instant, basically migrating your website to a different server. You don’t depend on server maintenance and reparations.
That’s why VPS hosting with Bluehost is so affordable. They can’t offer the real premium experience from other providers without charging more. You could say it’s a consequence of sticking to the “budget platform” niche.
Therefore, SiteGround is still the superior service for WordPress users, despite Bluehost’s seemingly impressive offer. The main reason is that all their plans have managed hosting for WordPress, so you don’t need to be a technical expert.
Like I mentioned, all of SiteGround’s plans update WordPress automatically, and you can install WordPress with just a click. The same goes for their free WordPress site transfer.
In other words, you don’t need to do much to get WordPress up and running with SiteGround.
If you’re a tech expert, then you might enjoy Bluehost’s BlueRock interface more. That’s fair, but SiteGround is the most accessible option between the two.
What I like and dislike about both services
Now, there’s not a perfect solution for everyone. All platforms, services, and products have their pros and cons. As much as I might like SiteGround, I must admit it has its downsides. It’s important to look at the whole picture before making a choice.
With that in mind, let’s summarize what makes each platform different. I’ll go through their pros and cons, so you’ll have an easier time picking the winner for yourself.
SiteGround
The good
Naturally, this is the most extensive portion of the two. SiteGround is easily one of the best shared hosting options available to anyone. It adapts perfectly to most people’s wallets, and you don’t have to sacrifice quality, customer support, stability, or site performance.
Their WordPress solutions are also right there with the best options you have.
They might not be the absolute cheapest hosting service on the internet. However, I haven’t seen any other company offer the same value for such a low price, so it’s commendable how much they offer with how little they ask for.
Security is another advantage of working with SiteGround. They’re always monitoring their physical centers, and offer enough software to keep any danger at bay: spam, IP blacklisting, and more. They also offer free SSL certification and CDN along with the HackAlert add-on.
Their stability and performance is remarkable as well. Their uptime and speed not only match the best in the industry, they easily beat most companies I’ve tested. You don’t have to worry about losing our SEO efforts over poor website loading times and downtime. They’re always on top of industry changes, and you’ll find the latest technologies in their package at all times.
They’re also an official host for WordPress, like Bluehost. All plans include managed hosting for free, so you don’t need to pay extra for this feature, maintenance, and other requirements. That’s also because their customer support is exceptional, easily among the best support teams I’ve seen in my life.
The bad
Now, it’s not perfect. For starters, you have to consider that StartUp users have to deal with limited usage on CPU’s. Your website is at risk of shutting down if CPU’s are overused. That’s also true for executing scripts, and exceeding those limits can result in a temporary site shutdown.
Likewise, I’m not a fan of their limited storage space. One of the few advantages Bluehost has over SiteGround is their unlimited storage. SiteGround is also under the disk space average for most hosting providers on the market right now.
I still maintain that their pros far outweigh these cons, but I know some people might be turned off by these conditions.
Bluehost
The good
Now, Bluehost isn’t a bad hosting service by any means. There’s a good reason why it’s such a popular hosting solution to this day, as well as an official WordPress recommendation.
Speaking of WordPress, their hosting service is stellar for users with the necessary knowledge. Their BlueRock platform in particular is impressive, and it seriously feels like a new level for WordPress management.
Their regular WordPress hosting is still friendly to beginners, although you’ll have to give up a bit of your website’s performance for this benefit.
Besides, they’re extremely cheap. Granted, it sacrifices some features and quality for it, but it’s still a strong selling point for smaller businesses and entrepreneurs on a tight budget. The free domain for a year can also save you a bit of stress.
While not the best, Bluehost also comes with solid features, like SSD storage, SSL certificates for free, CDN, NGINX servers, and more. They might be industry standards by now, but it’s good to see them up-to-date.
The bad
Unfortunately, their cons outweigh the pros when compared to SiteGround. Firstly, they’re just slower and less stable than SiteGround, which can be a problem for your search engine ranking.
It’s also deceivingly expensive. Keep in mind that their cheapest plan is only available if you pay for 3 years at once, which is over $100 immediately. Website migrations are also an extra fee if you want Bluehost to help you.
Their prices also translate into poor quality overall. After all, EIG owns Bluehost, and they’re a company that’s quite famous for cutting costs by sacrificing overall product quality. It’s a lot easier to notice when contacting customer support and reading user reviews.
Conclusion
The overall best option between the two has to be SiteGround. It’s not too difficult to see, either. They charge only a few dollars more than Bluehost, yet they provide a premium experience even when using their shared plans.
Bluehost is only marginally better for people with extensive tech expertise and very tight budgets who are looking for solid WordPress hosting. If that sounds too specific, it’s because it is. That’s why SiteGround is my personal recommendation between the two.
