Hosting.com vs Bluehost: Complete 2026 Comparison
Hosting.com and Bluehost are both shared hosting providers, but they suit different priorities. Across our 7-category breakdown, Bluehost comes out ahead, winning 4 of them — including Value, Performance and Support.
Data last updated June 2026
Overall Winner
Bluehost
- Wins in 4 of 7 categories
- Top in: Best Value, Best Performance, Best Support
- 3.4/5 overall rating
Hosting.com vs Bluehost: Overview
On entry pricing, Hosting.com is the cheaper option at $2.99/mo versus $3.99/mo for Bluehost. Renewal tells the real story: Bluehost marks prices up about 150% at renewal versus roughly 301% for Hosting.com, making it the better long-term value.
Hosting.com's standout is turbo servers with LiteSpeed caching claiming 20x faster speeds than standard hosting — a natural fit for speed-focused user who wants developer tools and doesn't mind renewal price increases. Bluehost, by contrast, leans on only host officially recommended by WordPress, ideal for wordPress beginner wanting official endorsement and phone support.
Category Winners
Hosting.com
$2.99/mo vs $3.99/mo
Bluehost
Lower renewal markup (150% vs 301%)
Bluehost
99.99% uptime, 3.4/5 rating
Bluehost
Live chat, Phone, 24/7
Hosting.com
Optimized, Staging, WooCommerce, LiteSpeed
Hosting.com
SSH, Git, Staging, Node.js
Bluehost
Higher ease of use score (9.0/10)
Feature Comparison
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Essential Info | ||
| Hosting Type | Shared Hosting | Shared Hosting |
| Monthly Price | $2.99/mo | $3.99/mo |
| Renewal Price | $11.99 | $9.99 |
| Renewal Markup | 301% | 150% |
| Overall Rating | 3.6/5 | 3.4/5 |
| Uptime Guarantee | 99.9% | 99.99% |
| Trustpilot Rating | 4.7/5 | 4.6/5 |
| Trustpilot Reviews | 5,066 | 27,784 |
| Free SSL | ||
| Free Domain | ||
| Free Migration | ||
| Pricing Details | ||
| First Year Cost | $35.88 | $47.88 |
| Second Year Cost | $143.88 | $119.88 |
| Money Back Guarantee | 30 days | 30 days |
| Setup Fee | Free | Free |
| Monthly Billing | — | |
| Minimum Contract | 1 months | — |
| Technical Specs | ||
| Storage | 15 GB | 10 GB |
| Storage Type | NVME SSD | NVME SSD |
| Bandwidth | Unmetered GB | Unmetered GB |
| Max Websites | 1 | 10 |
| Max Databases | Unlimited | 20 |
| PHP Versions | 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 | 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4 |
| SSH Access | ||
| Git Deployment | ||
| Staging Environment | ||
| Cron Jobs | ||
| Redis Available | — | |
| Programming Languages | ||
| Node.js Support | ||
| Python Support | ||
| Ruby Support | ||
| WordPress Features | ||
| WordPress Optimized | ||
| WordPress Auto-Install | ||
| WordPress Auto-Updates | ||
| WordPress Staging | ||
| WooCommerce Optimized | ||
| LiteSpeed Cache | ||
| Object Caching | ||
| WP Multisite | — | |
| WP-CLI Access | ||
| Security | ||
| DDoS Protection | ||
| DDoS Protection Level | Reinforced DDoS Protection included | DDoS protection and Web Application Firewall included on all plans |
| Malware Scanning | ||
| Malware Removal | ||
| Firewall Included | ||
| Backup Frequency | Daily (Turbo plans) / Weekly (basic plans) | Weekly |
| Backup Retention | — | — |
| Backup Restore Fee | Free | Free |
| On-Demand Backup | ||
| Two-Factor Auth | ||
| Wildcard SSL | ||
| Dedicated IP | ||
| Support | ||
| Support Channels | Phone, Live Chat, Ticket, Knowledge Base | Phone, Live Chat, Knowledge Base, Webinars, Blog, Academy |
| Live Chat | ||
| Live Chat Hours | 24/7/365 | 24/7 |
| Phone Support | ||
| Phone Support Hours | 24/7/365 | 24/7 |
| Ticket Support | ||
| Priority Support | ||
| Support Languages | English | English |
| Knowledge Base Quality | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Avg Support Wait | — | — |
| Email Accounts | ||
| Email Account Limit | 25 | 5 |
| Mailbox Size | — | 0.1 GB |
| Webmail Access | ||
| Spam Filter | ||
| Email Forwarding | ||
| Performance | ||
| CDN Included | ||
| CDN Provider | Cloudflare CDN (free) | Cloudflare CDN |
| Server Locations | Ann Arbor, MI (US-East), Phoenix, AZ (US-West), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Singapore | Provo, UT (US), Orem, UT (US), Frankfurt (Germany), Mumbai (India), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Paris (France), Sydney (Australia), London (UK), Madrid (Spain), Hong Kong (China), Shanghai (China) |
| Server Location Count | 4 | 11 |
| Choose Server Location | ||
| HTTP/2 Support | — | |
| Brotli Compression | — | |
| Uptime SLA Credit | ||
| Platform Support | ||
| Drupal Support | ||
| Joomla Support | ||
| Magento Support | ||
| Laravel Support | ||
| Django Support | ||
| Next.js Support | ||
| Rails Support | ||
| Static Site Support | ||
| Control Panel | ||
| cPanel Included | ||
| Control Panel | cPanel | cPanel |
| Softaculous | ||
| Website Builder | ||
| Builder Name | Site.pro Website Builder | Bluehost Website Builder |
| Migration | ||
| Migration Websites Limit | 1 | 1 |
| Migration Turnaround | 3 days | 4 days |
| Paid Migration Cost | $25.00 | $149.99 |
| Migration Quality | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Compliance | ||
| GDPR Compliant | ||
| PCI Compliant | ||
| HIPAA Compliant | ||
| Data Center Certs | SSAE16 | — |
| Ratings | ||
| Value for Money | 3.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| Performance Rating | 4.5/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Support Quality | 3.5/10 | 3.5/10 |
| Security Rating | 3.5/10 | 3.0/10 |
| Features Rating | 4.0/10 | 3.5/10 |
| Ease of Use | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Transparency Rating | 3.0/10 | 2.5/10 |
| Suitability Scores | ||
| For Bloggers | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For E-commerce | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Agencies | 3.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| For Developers | 4.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| For Beginners | 4.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| For Enterprise | 2.0/10 | 2.0/10 |
| Policies | ||
| Bandwidth Overage | Unmetered within fair use; excessive use may require upgrade | Unmetered within fair use; excessive use may require upgrade |
| Storage Overage | Must upgrade plan; inode limits apply | Must upgrade plan; inode limits apply (200K soft, 1M TOS violation) |
| Adult Content Allowed | ||
| Gambling Sites Allowed | ||
| Crypto Sites Allowed | — | |
| Reseller Hosting | ||
| White Label | ||
| API Access | ||
| Company Info | ||
| Year Founded | 2001 | 2003 |
| Headquarters | United States | United States |
| Parent Company | World Host Group / hosting.com (acquired January 2025; rebranded to hosting.com May 2025; investors include Oakley Capital, Barings, Bain Capital) | Newfold Digital (formerly Endurance International Group, acquired 2010) |
| Green Hosting | — | |
| Instant Activation | — | |
| Managed WordPress | ||
| Managed WP Available | ||
| Pricing Model | — | — |
| Monthly Visit Limit | — | — |
| Visit Overage Cost | — | — |
| PHP Workers | — | — |
| Plugin Restrictions | — | — |
| Dev Environment | — | — |
| Dev Env Name | — | — |
| Regional Info | ||
| Best Countries | United States, Netherlands, Singapore, Germany, United Kingdom | United States, India, United Kingdom, Brazil, Australia |
| Local Currencies | USD, EUR, GBP, INR | USD, INR, GBP |
| Support Languages | English | English |
| Data Sovereignty | GDPR | GDPR |
| External Ratings | ||
| G2 Rating | 4.3/5 | 3.4/5 |
| BBB Rating | A+ | Not Accredited |
| Advanced Technical | ||
| Inode Limit | — | 200,000 |
| Max DB Size | — | 5 GB |
| Max Upload Size | — | 50 MB |
| Database Type | MySQL/MariaDB | — |
| Elasticsearch | — | |
| Image Optimization | — | — |
| PHP Switching | ||
| Subdomains | 25 | — |
| FTP Accounts | 25 | — |
| Additional Pricing | ||
| Free Domain Duration | — | 12 months |
| Money Back Exclusions | 30-day full refund; Prorated refund for unused services available up to 90 days; Domain fees non-refundable; Setup fees non-refundable | Cloud hosting excluded; Monthly term plans excluded; Domains non-refundable ($15.99 deducted if free domain used); Premium domains non-refundable; Setup fees excluded; Most add-on products excluded; Renewals only refundable within 30 days |
| Payment Methods | Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal, Skrill, Bank Transfer, Check | Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal |
| Auto Renewal Default | ||
| Domain Privacy Included | — | |
| Domain Privacy Cost | $14.99/yr | — |
| SSL Provider | Let's Encrypt (auto-renewed) | Let's Encrypt (auto-renewed every 90 days) |
| Dedicated IP Cost | $5.99/mo | — |
| Additional Support | ||
| Phone Support Countries | United States | United States |
| Priority Support Cost | — | — |
| Community Forum | ||
| Support Outsourced | — | |
| Object Cache Type | OPcache/Memcached | — |
| Business & Affiliate | ||
| Affiliate Program | ||
| Commission Type | Tiered per sale | Flat rate (tiered) |
| Commission Amount | $55 (1-10 sales), $75 (11-15), $100 (16-20), $125 (21+ sales); $5 second-tier; 90-day cookie | $65 per sale base; up to $125/sale for high performers; 30-day cookie; $100 minimum first payout; via Impact.com |
| Additional Policies | ||
| File Hosting Allowed | ||
| Proxy/VPN Allowed | ||
| Bandwidth Overage Cost | $0.00 | — |
| Account Suspension Policy | Violation of ToS; non-payment; resource abuse | AUP violations may result in suspension or termination; 48 hours to respond to abuse team before suspension |
| Malware Removal Cost | $0.00 | — |
| Downloadable Backups | ||
| Additional Platforms | ||
| PrestaShop | ||
| Ghost | ||
| Shopify Migration | ||
| Wix Migration | ||
| Squarespace Migration | ||
| Webflow Export | ||
| Editorial Info | ||
| Best For | Speed-focused websites needing Turbo servers; Developers wanting SSH, Git, WP-CLI access; Users wanting multiple data center location options; WordPress sites needing LiteSpeed caching; Budget shared hosting with promo pricing; Reseller hosting with white-label options | WordPress beginners (officially recommended by WordPress.org); Users wanting phone support 24/7; Users who need cPanel; Staging environment included; Free Cloudflare CDN; Global audience (11 data centers Oct 2025); High affiliate payouts ($65-125/sale) |
| Avoid If | Budget-sensitive at renewal time; Need free domain included; Want guaranteed 99.9%+ uptime; Prefer all-inclusive pricing; Need PCI/HIPAA compliance; Want more than 4 data center locations | Budget-conscious at renewal time; Need Node.js on shared hosting; Adult or gambling content; Require large email storage; Dislike aggressive upselling; Need cheap VPS (competitors much cheaper); Enterprise compliance requirements |
| Known Issues | Significant renewal price increase (up to 6x promo price); Reports of declining support quality; No free domain included; $25 fee to change data center location; Uptime occasionally below guarantee (99.95% actual vs 99.9% promised); Some migration issues reported; Turbo servers only on higher-priced plans; Company acquired and rebranded to hosting.com in 2025 | Renewal prices 2-3x higher than promo ($2.95 → $9.99); Aggressive upselling on add-ons; Limited 100MB email on Basic plan; No Node.js on shared hosting; 4,000+ negative reviews cite cancellation/billing issues; VPS pricing significantly higher than competitors; G2 rating only 3.4/5; Not BBB accredited; Some Reddit reports of downtime issues; $99.95 domain redemption fee |
| Unique Selling Point | Turbo servers with LiteSpeed caching claiming 20x faster speeds than standard hosting | Only host officially recommended by WordPress.org with staging on all WP plans |
| Ideal Customer | Speed-focused user who wants developer tools and doesn't mind renewal price increases | WordPress beginner wanting official endorsement and phone support |
| Best Alternative To | SiteGround | HostGator |
| Primary Competitors | SiteGround, Hostinger, InMotion Hosting | HostGator, SiteGround, Hostinger |
We strive for accuracy, but pricing and features change frequently. Some data may be outdated. Report an error and we'll update it promptly.
Our Verdict
Choose Hosting.com if you...
- Want to save money ($2.99/mo vs $3.99/mo)
- Want higher-rated hosting (3.6/5)
- Want LiteSpeed caching for WordPress
- Want to run Node.js applications
Choose Bluehost if you...
- Prefer more predictable renewal pricing
- Require 24/7 live chat support
- Are new to web hosting
- Want more server locations (11 available)
Hosting.com vs Bluehost: Frequently Asked Questions
Is Hosting.com cheaper than Bluehost?
Yes — Hosting.com is cheaper, starting at $2.99/mo compared with $3.99/mo for Bluehost. Factor in renewals too: Hosting.com marks up about 301% after the first term.
Which is better for WordPress, Hosting.com or Bluehost?
Hosting.com is the stronger WordPress host thanks to WordPress-optimized servers, LiteSpeed caching, staging and WooCommerce tuning. If WordPress or WooCommerce is your main workload, it's the safer pick.
Does Hosting.com or Bluehost have better uptime?
Bluehost edges out Hosting.com on performance with a 99.99% uptime guarantee and a 3.4/5 overall rating. For uptime-sensitive sites, it's the more dependable choice.
Which has better customer support, Hosting.com or Bluehost?
Bluehost has the edge on support offering 24/7 live chat and phone support.
Is Hosting.com or Bluehost better for beginners?
Bluehost is friendlier for beginners, scoring higher on ease of use in our assessment. New users will generally find it quicker to get started.
Should I choose Hosting.com or Bluehost?
For most users, Bluehost is the better overall choice, winning 4 of our 7 categories (notably Value, Performance and Support). That said, the right host depends on your specific needs — check the category breakdown above for the factors that matter to you.