DreamHost is a popular award-winning hosting company and one of WordPress.org’s officially recommended hosts. They offer domain registration and web hosting services, including managed WordPress hosting. Their platform offers everything you need to grow your website, whether you’re a new blogger or an established business. See our expert DreamHost review to decide if it’s the right choice for you.
In this detailed DreamHost hosting review, we’ll put their promises to the test. For a comprehensive overview, we’ll look into the following areas:
- Performance: Speed is critical for making successful websites. How fast will your website load with DreamHost?
- Reliability: Will your website be up all the time without any service disruptions?
- Customer Support: How good are DreamHost support options?
- Features: What features do they offer to make it easier to run your website?
- Pricing: How much would it cost you? Are there any DreamHost deals that can save you money?
This is a comprehensive DreamHost review with lots of details. If you don’t want to read the full review, here is the quick scorecard with our verdict right below it.
| DreamHost Review Summary | |
|---|---|
| Performance grade | A |
| Average load time | 1.69 |
| Average response time | 255 ms |
| Free domain | Yes |
| Free SSL | Yes |
| 1-click WordPress | Yes |
| Support | Live Chat / Knowledge base |
| Start with DreamHost | |
Bottom line: We found DreamHost to be fast and reliable. They have flexible hosting plans and friendly technical support.
That being said, let’s get into the detailed DreamHost review so that you can compare our test results and make up your own mind.
About DreamHost
DreamHost was founded in 1997 by four friends at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California: Dallas Bethune, Josh Jones, Michael Rodriguez, and Sage Weil. Since then, DreamHost has become one of the most well-known and popular web hosting companies. They now host over 1.5 million websites, including over 750,000 WordPress installations. They’ve won PCMag’s Business Choice Awards for Best Web Hosting Service for 2014-2016.
DreamHost is also a certified carbon-neutral host and makes every effort to conserve resources in its own offices. They’re also a member of the U.S. Green Chamber of Commerce.
Pros and Cons of DreamHost
DreamHost is a popular web hosting provider, but it may not be right for everyone. Consider these pros and cons before choosing a plan.
Pros
- Award-Winning Hosting – DreamHost has won the PCMag Readers’ Choice Award for best business hosting. They rated high in reader surveys for their reliability and tech support.
- Money Back Guarantee – DreamHost offers a 97-day money-back guarantee. That means you can cancel your account within 97 days of signing up and get a full refund.
- Free Domain and Privacy – Every DreamHost plan includes one free domain name registration plus domain privacy, so your contact information isn’t made public on the web.
- Monthly Billing With No Setup Fee – DreamHost pricing plans allow you to pay month-to-month without a setup fee.
- Automatic Daily Backups – DreamHost plans come with automatic daily website backups. Although we always recommend users to set up their own real-time WordPress backups.
Cons
- Limited phone support – DreamHost does not offer a phone number for technical support. Instead, customers can request a call back during set hours and at an additional cost.
- No Email – DreamHost doesn’t offer email accounts for the Starter plan of their WordPress shared hosting. However, you can get it for $1.67/ mo or use an external business email provider.
DreamHost Performance Tests
WPBeginner users trust our reviews of WordPress products and services because we only recommend the companies that we have used ourselves.
For our WordPress hosting reviews, we sign up for each top hosting provider. After that, we set up demo websites so that we can properly test their claims with our own performance tests.
We signed up for a hosting account and installed WordPress for this DreamHost review. We used the default theme and filled our test site with Theme Unit Test Data, including media and images. This way, our test site looked and behaved like an actual WordPress site.
DreamHost Speed Test Results
No one likes a slow website. A faster website is crucial for a better user experience and SEO rankings.
That’s why we ran the website speed test first. For this test, we used Pingdom, and here are the test results:
Our test site loaded in less than two seconds, which is good. However, this page load time test alone does not show the full picture because our test site has no traffic.
DreamHost Stress Test Results
Next, we wanted to see how well DreamHost handles website traffic during peak hours. To measure this, we used a tool called K6 (formerly called Load Impact).
We gradually built up to 50 unique visitors at once to see how the server would handle increased requests from multiple connections at the same time.
Here is our first stress test result.
The light blue line represents the page response time, and the purple line represents the number of requests on the site.
As you can see, our site remained available throughout the test. However, the response time fluctuated with users increased.
That’s because we turned off DreamHost’s pre-installed WordPress caching solution. Once we enabled a caching plugin, the stress test result improved dramatically.
As you can see, our test site handled 39.6 requests per second (6.600 requests total) with an average response time of 255 ms.
That’s incredible.
This means that if you have a WordPress blog, a small business website, or an online store, your website can easily handle sudden traffic spikes.
DreamHost Response Time Test Results
Next, we wanted to test how our DreamHost test site responds to requests from different geographic locations. To measure this, we used a tool called Bitcatcha.
As you can see, our response times remained steady across the globe. They were particularly great in North America and Europe.
DreamHost Uptime Test Results
It is also important to note that our website didn’t go down during testing. We enable the downtime tracker because often, during stress tests, some hosting servers will crash.
This is another sign that DreamHost is a reliable hosting platform.
DreamHost Hosting Plans and Features
DreamHost provides hosting for web designers, developers, bloggers, and online businesses. They support and use open-source technologies, apps, and platforms like WordPress and Joomla.
Their one-click installer includes configurations for many open-source apps. As a Dreamhost customer, you get expert support, free migrations, and built-in security features.
Their hosting options include shared hosting, email hosting, managed WordPress hosting, VPS hosting (Virtual private servers), and dedicated servers. They also offer cloud hosting packages and cloud storage.
All of DreamHost’s plans use SSD drives for faster loading. DreamHost also uses a proprietary control panel instead of cPanel.
Shared hosting includes:
- One free domain registration and Let’s Encrypt free SSL
- Unlimited storage and bandwidth
- Easy-to-use control panel
- Unlimited email accounts and subdomains (with WordPress unlimited shared plan)
- 1-click installation of WordPress
Shared Hosting Pricing
DreamHost’s shared hosting plans start at $2.59 monthly (3 years billed). You can also pay monthly for the Shared Starter plan, but the price goes up to $4.59 per month.
For additional functionality and email accounts, you can upgrade to the WordPress Shared Unlimited plan, which starts at $3.95 (billed 3-years). This plan also allows you to add unlimited websites to your account.
Managed WordPress Plans
DreamHost also offers a managed WordPress hosting plan called DreamPress. DreamPress is over five times faster than shared hosting. The Linux servers are optimized for WordPress, and they can handle traffic spikes (millions of visitors) without your website going down.
Managed WordPress hosting also includes:
- Automatic WordPress core updates for security
- Private IP address and SSL certificate pre-installed for eCommerce sites
- SSD storage and unmetered bandwidth
- Web application firewall to block malware and brute-force attack mitigation.
- One-click staging site set up
- Free website builder along with on-demand as well as daily backups
- DreamPress Pro and Plus plans also include unlimited CDN and Jetpack Professional add-on features.
- Dedicated hosting with your own CPU server resources for maximum performance
In our DreamHost review, we found that they provide high-quality, reliable hosting at very affordable prices. Their plans include everything you need to build your website and room to upgrade when your site grows.
Support and Customer Service
DreamHost offers 24/7 email support via a ticket system. You can open a request for support through your DreamHost account dashboard.
They also offer 24/7 Live Chat support through the panel. You can also request a callback service for an additional fee.
Customers can also access their vast knowledge base resources, including tutorials and troubleshooting articles.
Many reviews mention the quality of their support, though some reviewers were frustrated by not having access to immediate phone support (24/7).
While live chat and phone support can be helpful for simple questions, the support team can ask users to open a ticket for more complicated issues.
More experienced users would find their support resources and articles quite helpful when dealing with some common hosting issues.
Dreamhost used to offer a community support forum, but they ended it in 2022 because the reliability of information in forums cannot be guaranteed.
Conclusion: Is DreamHost Right for You?
Now that you have read through our entire DreamHost review, you might be wondering whether DreamHost is the right web host for you.
After reviewing DreamHost services in detail, we award them with the title “Best DIY Hosting” for WordPress users.
DreamHost is highly rated for its fast and reliable hosting. They’ve won numerous awards and get rave reviews from their customers. But it may not be the right choice for you if you need a lot of help getting started.
Their customer support can be slower, but the quality of support is excellent. We recommend DreamHost to DIY users who want affordable prices, a high uptime guarantee, and are comfortable figuring things out on their own using the comprehensive knowledge base.
Ready to get started with DreamHost? Click here to select your DreamHost plan today.
DreamHost Coupon
WPBeginner users get an exclusive 72% discount on shared hosting and a free domain with our DreamHost coupon code or a 16% discount on managed WordPress hosting with our DreamPress coupon code.
All you have to do is click on this link to purchase. The discount will be auto-applied.
Frequently Asked Questions About DreamHost
Following are a few of the commonly asked questions (FAQs) about DreamHost that we have been asked by our users.
Is DreamHost a good host?
Yes, DreamHost is a good host for any type of starter WordPress website. They offer great features, a rock-solid platform, and fast servers at an affordable cost.
Their quality of service and pricing is on par with Hostinger, HostGator, GoDaddy, InMotion Hosting, and Bluehost.
Does DreamHost use cPanel?
No, DreamHost does not use cPanel. Instead, they have built their own custom control panel that has all the management features you’ll find in cPanel.
You can easily do MySQL database management, change PHP versions, access 1-click installers for WordPress, manage SSH & FTP access, and more.
Which is better, Bluehost or DreamHost?
Bluehost and DreamHost offer similar features, and they are both good hosting providers. However, Bluehost has an edge in terms of performance and fast customer support.
Which is better, DreamHost vs SiteGround?
If you were comparing DreamHost vs SiteGround based on shared hosting prices, then DreamHost is better. However, if you were comparing DreamPress managed hosting vs SiteGround, then SiteGround offers a lot more value for better pricing.
DreamHost and SiteGround used to be similar, but recently, SiteGround has significantly improved their web hosting platform. However, they have also increased their pricing by 2x. That’s why the comparison isn’t fair anymore.
Where are DreamHost servers located?
DreamHost servers are located in the United States. They have data centers in Ashburn, Virginia, and Hillsboro, Oregon. DreamHost’s headquarters is located in Brea, California.
Can I Install WooCommerce on DreamHost?
Yes, you can easily install WooCommerce on DreamHost shared hosting as well as VPS plans.
Ready to start with DreamHost? Get 72% off on your DreamHost plan by clicking here to sign up for DreamHost. The discount will be auto-applied.
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Nick says
It didnt correct my problem. I still can’t import DARS from wamp WordPress to dream host WordPress.
Stephen says
Fabulous customer service — I’ve yet to have a bad experience
hamiltro says
I have multiple accounts (for myself and for clients) on both Dreamhost and another hosting provider. Dreamhost’s control panel is less intuitive for the non-programmer but they are always ahead of the curve in terms of advancements in technology. I love their commitment to being engaged with their customers and their technical support is great, especially live chat.
George M says
Setup went OK. I was up and going in less than an hour (including time out for a beer). I’m a happy camper.
Gosia says
As always, Dreamhost helps with every issue.Thank you!
David Paquet says
Service is amazing, really fast. The only exception is that the guys always forward us to the wiki. But most of the time its what we really need.
Thanks.
Eli Smyrloglou says
Got issues resolved, it took a couple of tries. Due to my inability to handle the jargon and understand what means what.
It was more comp[lex than I thought, some of the terminology threw me, but thanks to further discussion with a friend I got a clue of what was going on and resolved the problem.
It could have been easier if there was a direct discussion on a phone.
Martha says
Great customer service with super fast response rate, easy to understand.
Tony says
DreamHost continues to be one of the most amazing hosting companies I have ever used. I have been on a three year hiatus after trying a competitor to save a few bucks. After a relatively painful experience with that company, I am back to DreamHost and delightfully surprised to see that “nothing changed” since I left (except to have gotten seemingly better). I am excited to be back as a DreamHost customer!
Connie says
Excellent customer service! I used the chat feature and got a response to my question within a few minutes. The representative helped me quite a bit. Keep up the great job!
Tobias Merz says
Dreamhost’s customer service is world class level. Very topnotch! Their team members – their Live Chat staff in particular – are very friendly and helpful and really know their job.
Morgan Lean says
Dreamhost is a great service with knowledgeable staff, I have over 200 domains on Dreamhost and I haven’t had any clients or any problems that I could not solve using their service.
Tiron says
It took Dreamhost over 24 hours to respond to my urgent support request (I had both of my sites down due to PHP upgrade that Dreamhost forced upon me). Unbelievable!!! If you look for hosting, look eslewhere.
Jason Fox says
I don’t deserve DH. They should find another customer that can treat them as good as they treat me.
dunker says
Dear Dreamhost,
Thanks for making me feel so special with your super service and smart advisors. Can I buy you dinner? You can order anything you want.
Warmly,
dunker.
Karl says
They are super fast and efficient. The chat option always brings quick, concise answers and problems that take other hosts hours to fix are normally fixed under 3 minutes at Dreamhost. They really are a dream host. seriously.
Nancy says
Recently created a WordPress site for my church and changed their hosting over to DreamHost. I’ve gotten wonderful service for everything from getting the domain switched over to email servers to setting up a testing area before the site went public. The support staff really knows their stuff and get back to you in a timely manner. I’ve very pleased with DreamHost!
Geoff Kaman says
I have been with dreamhost since 2007. They have always returned emails within 24 hrs with helpful info and a good attitude, and I can’t remember any downtime. There might have been some, but not enough to even remember. They have good prices and great help. I am technical enough that I do not need immediate help over the phone, so I can speak to that service, but anything you need, they have. I recommend them highly.
Jessica M says
Dreamhost was very helpful and answered all of my questions fast and efficiently. The support staff was also very nice and knew what they were talking about. I appreciate the great customer service! It’s hard to find.
Lee says
I have used DreamHost now for MANY years and never had any problems, they are a fantastic business that offers decent support and an awesome service.
Ciara says
Truly excellent customer service and all round great service in general from Dreamhost, I cannot recommend highly enough – by far the best hosting providers I have ever used. Customer service/technical support especially is top class, they really go the extra mile and treat customers like actual people (who matter). I switched from Bluehost due to awful customer service and couldn’t be happier. Would recommend Dreamhost to anyone very happily.
Mykola says
At first, I was skeptical about no-phone support but my issues was quickly and completely resolved using chat and than via their built-in communication tool. In addition to their superb WordPress hosting they scored high with me on the customer service. This is a winning combination!
Seth Richter says
After being with DreamHost for 1+ years as a designer, here are a few consistent things I have noticed:
1. Easy integration of WordPress at no additional charge.
2. No hidden fees. Their services are exactly what you’d expect and more.
3. Quick and courteous customer service.
Also, Dreamhost is one of the rare company’s that have made me feel a sense of steadfast partnership with, and to me that is simply something that money just can’t buy.
Ilene Hertz says
Fantastic support. They responded quickly and solved my problem. Thanks Dreamhost!
Gd Lorenzo says
The best! On time and very patient on explaining stuff, thank you guys!
Mike M. says
Always proactive with support, and often will resolve issues themselves (and explain what was wrong) instead of just supplying a wiki. But also their wikis are super helpful.
Ian says
In a world where customer service seems so very poor, Dreamhost are always just brilliant, quick, and efficient. They really have always been so kind and dealt with any issues I have had whether complex or very simple. Great job folks!
Fredy says
Gotta love Dreamhost. I have been doing some work for clients who use a host called ‘Go Father’ or similar, and told them to shove all of it last week. By comparison Dreamhost is a savior. Excellent support, no hidden costs.
Angela says
This specific event: it, well…SUCKED. There’s just no other word for it.
In trying to pay hosting fees, the date and CVV fields wouldn’t hold data and I couldn’t complete my purchase. Upon contacting DH Chat, I explained everything and got a lot of silence and “I don’t know what to say.” Then more silence. When asked if seriously stating that he couldn’t help with me GIVING money to DH, I got minutes of silence. Still not sure if I paid once, 5 times or notation all! DH needs a person who is customer centric as well as the tech folks.
Alessandro Gragnani says
I’m in love with DH! they’re absolutely the best!!
Eric U says
Fantastic tech support. Within the space of a couple of days (over the weekend, no less!) I contacted them several times with some really confounding issues with my website, and they handled them all promptly and professionally. I could tell they were tough problems, but they worked at them until it was all resolved. Can’t thank them enough.
Doron says
I’m using DreamHost for who knows how many years, and in the very few times that I needed support, the response was quick and professional.
This is definitely something to take into consideration when choosing who to work with.
In general I feel that the people in DreamHost love their job and you can see it every time you interact with them.
Keep up to good work!
Melina Fit says
DH support was excellent! Quick and the operators solved all my problems!
Lenita says
Sometimes hard to get through to but when you do, they are quite helpful. I find the site interface quite easy to use especially for people who are comfortable with FTP and uploading their own cocntent. A good starter service.
Adam H says
Dreamhost has been amazing. Their customer service has been spot on and instantaneous. I am extremely happy with all they have done for me especially as I am learning as I go. Great job dreamhost!
Heather Clary-Smith says
We have been with DreamHost for almost 13 years and haven’t regretted it for a second. They are affordable, reliable, and their Customer Support is incredible. My last support inquiry was literally resolved within 10 minutes. I would give them 10 stars if I could.
Rich Brown says
Dreamhost has gotten arrogant. As much as their competitor (the one with the scantily clad women in their ads). When is unlimited space not unlimited? Well, it’s not unlimited when they say it’s not. We are serving up our own content and we are serving the community. DH has chosen the path of profit over promises. We plan to look elsewhere. I have contacted tech support and they were not helpful at all.
Mark Bangerter says
Dreamhost Support is absolutely amazing! They are always very quick to answer and very helpful.
Brendan R says
Awesome fast support with real answers, rather than the usual “have you restarted your computer”.
10 out of 10.
Michael says
I have used DH for over 10 years now, and I have had 100% – 99.7% up time. The support is always super helpful with my request. Their control panel is one of the best, CPanel can’t even compete!
Great company and I have never had any issues.
S. Canning says
I was promptly served, my question answered, my problem easily solved. Need I say more?
Robyn G says
Love this amazing company. The Interface is extremely easy to use and I have had no issues. I have contacted support with questions and they get back to you in a very timely fashion and are extremely helpful and knowledgable. I landed at Dreamhost by accident but it was a great find. I’m loving the experience here.
Dean Pentcheff says
On the few times that I’ve posted issues with DreamHost, their responses were quick, professional, and took good care of the problem.
When they needed more information from me, they were clear on what they needed. Recent example: a redesign of the Panel side menu seemed to fail on Safari for me, but work on Firefox. They couldn’t reproduce the problem, so asked me for a little more testing. Testing on my end showed that the problem, though reproducible earlier in the day, had now “healed”. All good, and very professionally dealt with on their end.
I’ve been consistently happy with their responsiveness, and the sense that there’s a real human on the other end, doing what he or she can to help out.
John DeCock says
Dreamhost support responded quickly and clearly. Problem resolved. My experience was great.
Kip Durney says
I have NOT had success with DH support. My site has been attacked by a spambot and over a week later, the issue is not resolved. The site has now been taken down by DH due to the large number of log files being generated. My submitted tickets are being answered (but not all) with a link to a knowledge base article and not always specific to even my issue. There is no ownership of customer support tickets and they seem to be closing them faster than I can open them as long as they provide a link to a support article. Very dissatisfied with DH at this point and am contemplating going back to my former hosting company as their customer service was impeccable.
Evalyn D says
Dreamhost has lived up to its name. It is a dream come true to have reliable hosting and a great support staff available for my websites.
Mikko says
The best support by far that I have seen. I had to move 3 sites to them and it worked very well without issues. I´ve only been a customer for about 2 weeks now but so far 10/10.
Mike h says
Amazing, reliable, fast customer service. Enough said.
Michael Mittman says
I was never contacted by tech support. My rating for them would be a 0.
sandy r says
The most amazing and professional tech support i have ever encountered. They have set the standard for customer support. After experiencing such unprofessional and unhelpful customer service from other hosting companies, I really appreciate how kind and fast dreamhost is! They are so incredibly patient and understanding!!