Bluehost Reviews

Bluehost is one of the biggest web hosting companies in the world and an official WordPress-recommended hosting provider since 2005. But if you’re like most smart people, you don’t make decisions based on endorsements. You want to do your research and see how Bluehost compares to others in the market with real speed test results.

In July 2026, I tested Bluehost the same way I tested 14 other WordPress hosting companies, with an identical WordPress site on a custom domain, the same tools, and the same checklist.

This Bluehost review will show you the real numbers from my rigorous speed test using industry-standard benchmarking tools.

Quick Answer – Is Bluehost Worth It?

Yes, Bluehost is worth it if you are a beginner who’s looking to start a website. It scored 69 out of 100 on our WPBeginner Score, which places it 6th out of our 7 recommended hosts.

In our hosting speed test, Bluehost performed well and the website loaded with a 933 ms LCP (Largest content paint). It is one of the easiest hosts to start with, and WordPress.org has recommended it longer than any other host.

Their entry plan allows you to host up to 10 websites for $2.99 per month, and you get a free domain for the first year. It’s a great pick if you’re launching your first website, blog, or a small online store. However if your priority is raw speed and you have a high traffic eCommerce website, then you may want to look at a more managed WordPress hosting provider like Levamo.

Bluehost at a Glance

You can see how Bluehost ranks against all the hosts I tested in our best WordPress hosting comparison, which uses the same data as this review.

About Bluehost

Bluehost started in 2003 and now powers more than 5 million websites. It has been on WordPress.org’s recommended hosting list since 2005, longer than any other company.

While the official WordPress endorsement matters, I did not let it influence my review. The verdict below comes from what my hosting speed test actually measured.

Pros and Cons of Bluehost

Pros

• Officially recommended by WordPress.org since 2005
• Simplest setup of any host I tested – Bluehost installs WordPress for you at signup
• 10 websites, 10 GB NVMe storage, a free CDN, and AI setup tools on the $2.99 entry plan – most hosts at this price allow one site
• Staging, SSH access, and object caching included on every plan – features some hosts save for higher tiers
• Reasonable renewal at $9.99 per month, with a free domain for the first year
• 100% uptime during our 30-day monitoring window

Cons

• Slower speed than many other hosts we tested – 933 ms LCP, where the fastest host we tested loaded in 358 ms
• Weekly backups only, where DreamHost includes daily backups at a lower price
• No phone support and no domain privacy on the entry plan
• Aggressive upsells during signup – you can uncheck them, but you have to pay attention
• Several “free” extras convert to paid after the first year or first month (more details in the fine print section below)

How I Tested Bluehost (Methodology)

I used the same testing protocol for every hosting company in our comparison. I set up an identical WordPress site with a default theme and test content, including images, on a custom domain with no caching plugins.

Then I ran the same four tests – GTmetrix for speed and LCP, k6 for stress with 50 virtual users at the same time, a response-time test from 6 global regions, and 30 days of Uptime Robot monitoring.

Those four tests make up the performance side of the WPBeginner Score, which counts for 80% of the total. Each test carries a set weight, so no single lucky number can carry a host.

The other 20% of the score comes from value. For that part I look at what the plan really costs and gives you in return – the intro price, the renewal price, how many sites and how much storage you get, the plan limits, and the quality of support.

The full methodology, the exact weights, and every host’s raw numbers are in our best WordPress hosting guide.

Bluehost Performance Test Results

Below you can find my full Bluehost speed test results.

Speed Test – 933 ms LCP

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) measures how quickly the main content of a page appears. It is the speed number Google’s Core Web Vitals care about most.

My Bluehost test site showed an LCP of 933 ms, and the full page loaded in the same time.

I will be honest about this number. Under one second load time is fine for a starter site with no optimization.

However, when I tested other popular hosts, the median LCP was 659 ms, and the fastest hosting company, Levamo, loaded in 358 ms.

If raw speed is your top priority, Bluehost is not the winner on our data.

Server Response Time – 599 ms Global Average

Speed test tools load the whole page with images included, but that’s only one part of the performance. To see raw server speed, I also measured time to first byte (TTFB) from data centers in 6 regions around the world.

Bluehost averaged 599 ms across the 6 regions.

Response times were good in North America and most regions. South America and Japan were noticeably slower.

Our test site ran in Bluehost’s default US location, so this pattern makes sense. If your audience is mostly in the US, then Bluehost speed will be just fine for you.

If your audience is global, then make sure to turn on the included Cloudflare CDN. It serves your content from locations closer to your visitors.

Stress Test – Blocked by Cloudflare Protection

To see how a host behaves under a traffic spike, I send 50 virtual users to the test site with k6 by Grafana Labs and record the P95 response time.

When I ran this on Bluehost’s test site in our latest round, the test could not complete. Bluehost’s built-in Cloudflare integration flagged the synthetic traffic as an attack and blocked it, even after allow-listing.

Our last completed stress run on Bluehost held a 140 ms P95 at 50 concurrent users, with no failed requests.

The block itself has an upside. The same protection that stopped my load test is what stands between your site and a real DDoS attack.

But it also means I cannot give you a current under-load number for Bluehost server, and I would rather tell you that than pretend otherwise.

Uptime – 100% Over 30 Days

I monitored the Bluehost test site with UptimeRobot, checking every 5 minutes. Over the 30-day window, it recorded 100% uptime with no incidents.

Bluehost also guarantee their shared hosting with a 99.99% uptime SLA. The fine print is worth knowing because if uptime falls below that, then you can claim a single 5% monthly credit, and you must claim it within 30 days.

In our monitoring window, Bluehost stayed above its own promise.

How Bluehost Compares to Other Hosts We Tested

The speed test numbers on their own do not give you the full picture. Here is how Bluehost performed compared to other similarly priced hosts from our comparison, all tested with the identical setup.

The WPBeginner Score weighs performance at 80% and value at 20%. Bluehost’s 69 reflects exactly what you see above – it trails on speed and response time, while its value for a beginner is strong (10 websites where most entry plans give you one).

To see the full rankings, and the raw data for every host we tested, check out our best WordPress hosting guide.

Bluehost’s Infrastructure and Technology

Most other Bluehost reviews skip what’s under the hood on their shared hosting platform, and I believe it’s worth highlighting.

Storage and caching – every plan runs on NVMe SSD storage, which is the faster generation of SSD. You also get two caching layers included, static content caching and object caching, on every plan.

Some hosts charge extra for object caching, so seeing it in the $2.99 plan at Bluehost is a genuine plus.

Data centers – Bluehost recently migrated to the Oracle Cloud data centers which offer state of the art infrastructure. Bluehost allows you to choose from different data center locations across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia during checkout. I recommend choosing the one closest to your audience.

CDN and security – free Cloudflare CDN comes with every plan, along with free SSL from Let’s Encrypt and malware scanning. The Business plan and higher add an extra web application firewall and DDoS protection.

Developer and maintenance tools – every plan includes SSH and WP-CLI access, a one-click WordPress staging site, and managed WordPress updates. Bluehost keeps your WordPress core updated for you, which removes a maintenance task most beginners forget.

Bluehost Hosting Plans and Pricing

Bluehost offers shared, VPS, dedicated, cloud, and WooCommerce hosting. For most readers of this review, the shared WordPress plans are the relevant ones.

• Starter – 10 websites, 10 GB NVMe storage, 5 email accounts, and capacity Bluehost rates at around 40,000 visits a month. $2.99 per month for the first term with our link, renews at $9.99 per month. Staging, SSH, and object caching are included even here.
• Business – 50 websites, 50 GB NVMe storage, unlimited email accounts, and capacity for around 200,000 visits a month. Starts at $5.99 per month, renews at $13.99. This tier adds phone support, a web application firewall, DDoS protection, and free domain privacy for the first year.
• eCommerce Essentials – 100 websites, 100 GB storage, and capacity for around 400,000 visits a month. Starts at $13.99 per month, renews at $21.99. It auto-installs WooCommerce and bundles commerce add-ons – subscriptions, memberships, paid courses, an affiliate program, and one-click checkout – that would cost real money as separate plugins.

All plans include a free domain for the first year, free SSL, the Cloudflare CDN, malware scanning, the free Yoast SEO plugin, free WPForms plugin, and weekly backups. All plans also come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

In my experience, a new site will not outgrow the Starter plan for a long time for most small business use-cases.

You can move to the Business plan when you need phone support, domain privacy, or the firewall, and pick eCommerce Essentials only if you are building an online store on day one.

Free and Paid Hosting Addons

Bluehost’s headline price is honest, but several extras start free and quietly become paid. Knowing these up front will save you surprise charges.

• Free domain – free for the first year on 12 or 36-month terms, and you must claim it within 90 days. After year one it renews at the standard domain rate. If you cancel hosting within the 30-day guarantee window, Bluehost deducts a non-refundable domain fee from your refund. This is fairly standard practice across all shared hosts that offer a free domain.
• Professional Email – a one-month free trial that auto-renews at $2.99 per month unless you cancel. Your 5 included cPanel email accounts on Starter are separate and stay free.
• Domain privacy – free for the first year on Business and up. Starter does not include it at all, so your registration details are public unless you pay for it.
• SiteLock and CodeGuard – paid add-ons Bluehost offers for extra security and backups. The included malware scanning and weekly backups cover the basics, so skip these at signup and add them later if you need them.
• Refund rules – the money-back guarantee covers hosting only, runs for 30 days, and excludes add-ons like domains. Bluehost gives no refunds after day 30.

Bluehost for WordPress Beginners

This is where Bluehost really stands out. When you create a Bluehost account, they install WordPress by default, so there is no setup step to get wrong.

The custom dashboard is the clearest I have used on a budget host. Websites, email, domains, and security sit in one place, and cPanel is still there for advanced tasks like databases.

Bluehost has also added AI site creation tools and AI agents that help you build and manage your website. I would treat these as a convenience rather than a reason to choose a host, but for a first-timer they remove real friction.

Bluehost Customer Support

Bluehost offers 24/7 live chat, a large knowledge base with step-by-step guides and videos, and an AI assistant called “Ask Blu” that handles common questions instantly.

The entry plan does not include phone support, so chat is your only option if you start on the Starter plan. There is also no ticket system, so an issue that needs multiple sessions means re-explaining it in chat.

To be fair, phone support is rare at budget hosting prices, and most hosts at this level stick to chat. Bluehost adds phone on the Business plan or higher. Of all the budget hosts that we tested, SiteGround was one of the few that included phone support on every plan.

Who Should Use Bluehost and Who Should Look Elsewhere

Choose Bluehost if you are building your first website, blog, or small business site and want the simplest possible start. The official WordPress.org recommendation, the automatic install, and 10 websites on the cheapest plan make it the lowest-friction way in.

Its 100% uptime in our monitoring backs the reliability claim.

Look elsewhere if raw speed is your priority, since Hostinger and SiteGround both beat Bluehost by a wide margin in our tests. The same goes if you want daily backups on a budget (DreamHost includes them at $1.99), need phone support on an entry plan (SiteGround), or run a high-traffic site that needs proven performance under load (try Levamo and see our full hosting comparison).

Final Verdict – Is Bluehost the Right Choice for You?

Bluehost is perfect for beginners who are just starting out or someone building a small business website. They’re officially recommended by WordPress.org which is a big endorsement.

My verdict – if this is your first website, visit Bluehost and start on the Starter plan. If speed is your deciding factor or you have outgrown your first site, our best WordPress hosting comparison shows which host won each category on the same tests.

FAQs About Bluehost

1. What are the disadvantages of Bluehost?

Based on our tests, the main ones are speed (933 ms LCP, not as fast as others that we tested), weekly rather than daily backups, no phone support or domain privacy on the entry plan, and upsells during signup. Several free extras also convert to paid after the first year, which the fine print section above covers.

2. Is Bluehost good for beginners?

Yes. This is actually where Bluehost really stands out. Bluehost installs WordPress for you at signup, the dashboard is simple, and 24/7 live chat is there when you get stuck. It is the host we recommend most often to someone building their first site.

3. Can Bluehost handle high traffic?

Bluehost rates the Starter plan for around 40,000 visits per month, which covers most new sites comfortably. In our last completed stress test, Bluehost held a 140 ms P95 response with 50 concurrent users and no failures.

Bluehost’s own Cloudflare protection blocked our most recent re-test, so we could not measure its current under-load behavior. For consistently high-traffic or eCommerce sites, a managed host is the safer pick.

4. Can I make an online store with WooCommerce on Bluehost?

Yes. The eCommerce Essentials plan auto-installs WooCommerce and includes premium commerce add-ons like subscriptions, memberships, and one-click checkout.

For a new store with modest traffic it works well. As your store grows, plan to upgrade, because stores are harder on a server than blogs.

5. Is Bluehost better than GoDaddy?

For WordPress, I believe Bluehost is definitely better than GoDaddy. Bluehost’s onboarding and dashboard are more beginner-friendly, and its pricing is clearer for small sites.

We have not run GoDaddy through our new speed test protocol, so I will not compare speed numbers until we have, but based on my historical experience, I am pretty confident in my answer.

6. How does Bluehost compare with SiteGround and Hostinger?

On our identical tests, both SiteGround and Hostinger were faster. SiteGround loaded in 608 ms and Hostinger in 659 ms, against Bluehost’s 933 ms.

Bluehost counters with the simplest setup and 10 websites on its entry plan. SiteGround costs more at renewal ($17.99 per month), and Hostinger also skips phone support.

The comparison table above has the full numbers, and our SiteGround vs Bluehost comparison goes deeper.

7. Where are Bluehost’s servers located?

Bluehost recently moved to Oracle Cloud, and they now offer server locations across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia that you pick at checkout. Our test site ran in the default US location, which is why our North American response times were strong while Japan and South America lagged.

The included CDN closes most of that gap for global audiences.

8. Which Bluehost plan should I get?

We recommend starting with their Starter plan. It covers 10 websites and roughly 40,000 monthly visits, which is more than a new site needs.

Upgrading later takes a few clicks, so there is no reason to overbuy on day one.

WPBeginner users get an exclusive 70% off on Bluehost with our Bluehost coupon.

Changelog

• July 2026 – Rebuilt the review around our July 2026 test data (speed tested July 21, response time July 24, 30-day uptime window). Added the WPBeginner Score, the comparison table against similarly priced hosts, the infrastructure section, the pricing fine print, and corrected the Starter renewal price to $9.99 per month.

We hope this review helped you with your WordPress hosting research and helps you choose the right WordPress host for your needs. You may also want to see our pick of must-have WordPress plugins for business websites.

If you have any questions or feedback about my Bluehost review, please send me a message. I love hearing from our readers. Also you can scroll below to read real Bluehost user reviews from other business owners from around the world.