DreamHost vs Bluehost (2024 comparison)

DreamHost had its humble beginnings in a dorm room in 1997. Since then, it’s grown to service over 400,000 customers across 100 countries. It’s perhaps best known for its shared hosting, but it also offers robust WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated server hosting, cloud hosting, email hosting and domain name services.

Bluehost likewise has shared hosting, dedicated hosting and VPS hosting, in addition to WordPress hosting, email hosting and domain name services. It’s been around since 2003 and currently services over 2 million users across the globe.

Both come with features such as one-click WordPress installers, site migration tools and website builders. The main difference between the two? These features are all included with DreamHost plans, but you have to pay extra for them in some cases with Bluehost. Other freebies that DreamHost offers include a lifetime SSL certificate and a first-year domain. Bluehost also offers these, but for the first year only.

Overall, we like all the bells and whistles DreamHost has to offer—including its 97-day money-back guarantee. We think it’s best for small businesses just looking for one business website. Its included site builder also means it works well for businesses without a designer on staff.

Bluehost comes with more subdomains than DreamHost, meaning it’s better for businesses that want to manage a few different websites for various aspects of their company. The larger number of plans also gives you more customization when choosing the features you want—great for companies that don’t want to waste money on tools they don’t need.

FEATURED PARTNER OFFER

DreamHost

4.3

Our ratings take into account a product's rewards, fees, rates and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.

Pricing starts at

$2.95 USD ($3.98 CAD) per month (paid annually)

Number of subdomains

Five on base plan

Free SSL certificate

Included

Learn More

On DreamHosts' Website

Pricing starts at

$2.95 USD ($3.98 CAD) per month (paid annually)

Number of subdomains

Five on base plan

Free SSL certificate

Included

Why We Picked It

DreamHost’s two shared web hosting plans are simple and cheap. While the Starter plan just gives you one business site and 50 GB of storage, the more expensive plan lets you host unlimited sites and storage. You’ll also enjoy automated daily backups on all plans, as well as free domain privacy. While the Starter plan doesn’t offer email accounts, the higher-priced plan does.

Pros & Cons

• 97-day money-back guarantee
• Free SSL certificate for as long as you host
• 100% uptime guarantee
• 50 GB of storage on base plan

• No phone customer support
• Only one site on base plan
• Email is paid add-on
• No one-click staging options

FEATURED PARTNER OFFER

Bluehost

4.3

Our ratings take into account a product's rewards, fees, rates and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.

Pricing starts at

$3.98 CAD per month (first year)

Number of subdomains

25 on base plan

Free SSL certificate

First year only

Learn More

On Bluehost's Website

Pricing starts at

$3.98 CAD per month (first year)

Number of subdomains

25 on base plan

Free SSL certificate

First year only

Why We Picked It

Bluehost offers four different shared web hosting plans, meaning you can easily find one that meets your needs. While the base plan just gives you one website and 10 GB storage, the rest offer unlimited sites and up to 100 GB storage. The highest plans even come with a free dedicated IP and domain privacy.

Pros & Cons

• Phone customer support available
• Free CDN
• Staging environments available on higher plans

• No uptime guarantee
• No included website builder
• Only 10 GB of storage on base plan
• Free SSL is only for first year

Comparing DreamHost vs. Bluehost is easier when you can see the stats side by side. Use this table to better understand how they stack up.

	DREAMHOST	BLUEHOST
Starting Price	$2.59 USD ($3.50 CAD) per month (three-year plan)	$3.98 CAD per month (renews at $16.16 CAD per month)
Free Domain Name	First year	First year
Email Hosting	Not on base plan	Free three month trial
Website Builder	Yes	Add-on cost
Bandwidth	Unmetered	Unmetered
Storage	50 GB SSD on base plan	10 GB SSD on base plan
Automated Daily Backups	Included on base plan	Not included on base plan
Number of Websites	One on base plan	One on base plan
Uptime Guarantee	100%	None
Customer Support	24/7 chat and email support, knowledge base	24/7 chat support, phone support 7 a.m. to 12 a.m. ET, knowledge base
Learn More	On DreamHost’s Website	On Bluehost’s Website
Read Reviews	–	Read Bluehost Review

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Both web hosts offer a free domain, but just for the first year. DreamHost wins the automated daily backup battle, as Bluehost only offers this function on its three more expensive plans. And while both hosts do offer the option for unlimited website hosting, they both start at just one website on their base plans.

Strangely enough, Bluehost doesn’t offer an uptime guarantee, which is pretty standard among web hosts. DreamHost’s guarantee is 100%, which is a lofty goal to maintain—though it could result in a refund if your site ever goes down.

Email Hosting

One big drawback of DreamHost’s base plan is that it doesn’t offer email. You can add this on, but it costs $1.67 USD ($2.25 CAD) per mailbox per month on an annual plan.

Bluehost offers free three month trial for an email accounts on its base plan. Otherwise, you can pay $2.49 USD ($3.36 CAD) per month per user for email access.

If you need a lot of email accounts, you’re likely just better off upgrading to the more expensive plans from either host, as they all include unlimited email.

Website Builder

DreamHost’s included website builder is actually a drag-and-drop WordPress tool. It comes with a quick-start wizard as well as over 200 starter templates. You can even get real-time SEO recommendations as you edit.

Bluehost does offer custom WordPress themes on its hosting plans, but to truly dig deep into design, you’ll need to pay for access to its Website Builder tool. It lets you edit without any coding with Gutenberg blocks, custom fonts, slides and carousels, animated headlines and more. While pricing starts at $3.98 CAD per month, it jumps up to $16.16 CAD per month at renewal.

Bandwidth and Storage

Both hosting solutions offer unmetered bandwidth. This means your site’s visitors can upload and download as much data as they want without it being measured.

DreamHost offers 50 GB of storage vs. Bluehost’s 10 GB, so it’s the clear victor here. However, 10 GB might be plenty if all you’ll need are a few graphics and images on your site. For more resource-heavy sites, such as online catalogues or in-depth product guides, you’ll need more space.

DreamHost and Bluehost have identical costs for the first year. Both starter plans can cost $3.98 CAD per month depending on your configuration. However, when it’s time to renew, you’ll pay $16.16 CAD for the Basic Bluehost plan and $6.99 USD ($9.44 CAD) for the Shared Starter DreamHost plan, so DreamHost wins in that regard.

In fact, DreamHost’s prices are cheaper all around. DreamHost’s top-tier plan, Shared Unlimited, also starts at a low $2.95 USD ($3.50 CAD) per month, but it jumps to $12.99 USD ($17.55 CAD) per month after renewal. Meanwhile, Bluehost comes with three top-tier plans: Choice Plus at $7.37 CAD per month ($29.73 CAD at renewal), Online Store at $13.45 CAD per month ($36.49 CAD at renewal) and Pro at $18.86 CAD per month ($39.19 CAD at renewal).

DreamHost has monthly, yearly and three-year terms, while Bluehost has just yearly and three-year terms.

Both DreamHost and Bluehost have solid customer reviews on the web.

For DreamHost, customers praise its 24/7 support team, which can help you when you’re stuck setting up your site and beyond. They also praised its speed and uptime, noting their sites rarely (if ever) went down. However, reviews aren’t all positive. Some of the negative ones talked about difficulties with malware and bugs in the backend that caused problems with their sites.

Bluehost reviews note how user-friendly the site is, including how to renew and connect domains. Customer service was also a selling point, as knowledgeable representatives were available any time of day. Some people did complain that the servers are slow, resulting in long loading times. This could be a major drawback for businesses wanting to present a fast and sleek website to customers.

When it comes to the best web hosting for small businesses, both Bluehost and DreamHost are among our top picks. They also made the cut for the best shared hosting and best overall web hosting, so they’re clearly powerhouse companies that are doing something right.

But if you’re still on the fence, here are a few more top-ranked companies that might be a better match for your business.

	NUMBER OF WEBSITES	STORAGE	DAILY BACKUPS	STARTING PRICE
IONOS	Unlimited	Unlimited	Included	$1 USD ($1.35 CAD) per month (renews at $12 USD ($16.21 CAD))
InMotion Hosting	Two	100 GB	Not included	$2.49 USD ($3.36 CAD) per month (renews at $8.99 USD ($12.14 CAD))
HostGator	One	10 GB	Not included	$3.75 USD ($5.06 CAD) per month (renews at $9.99 USD ($13.50 CAD))

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Bottom Line

Choosing either DreamHost or Bluehost will likely be a positive experience for your company. They’re both well-known, well-liked players in the web hosting game with plenty of features to make your website creation a success. Freebies such as SSL certificates, first-year domains and 24/7 support help you feel like you’re getting good bang for your buck.

Overall, we think DreamHost is a good idea if your company is looking for a simple website with a lot of storage space. The included 50 GB of storage on the base plan is more than enough for a simple website.

However, if getting a good deal while also optimizing your business email is a priority, consider Bluehost. The free accounts can go a long way in helping you appear more legit and professional.

DreamHost is best for:

• Businesses that need help building and maintaining a website
• Businesses that want to prioritize cost savings
• Businesses looking for included domain privacy

Bluehost is best for:

• Businesses that want professional email accounts at no cost
• Businesses that prefer talking to customer support on the phone
• Businesses that want a CDN to help them deliver content to a large number of users

Canadian specific editing and research (including pricing) conducted by Anna Rey.