Bluehost vs Hostwinds: Complete 2026 Comparison
Bluehost and Hostwinds are both shared hosting providers, but they suit different priorities. Across our 7-category breakdown, Bluehost comes out ahead, winning 4 of them — including Price, Support and WordPress.
Data last updated June 2026
Overall Winner
Bluehost
- Wins in 4 of 7 categories
- Top in: Best Price, Best Support, Best for WordPress
- 3.4/5 overall rating
Bluehost vs Hostwinds: Overview
On entry pricing, Bluehost is the cheaper option at $3.99/mo versus $4.54/mo for Hostwinds. Renewal tells the real story: Hostwinds marks prices up about 10% at renewal versus roughly 150% for Bluehost, making it the better long-term value. Bluehost also gives you a longer 30-day money-back window to test risk-free.
Bluehost's standout is only host officially recommended by WordPress — a natural fit for wordPress beginner wanting official endorsement and phone support. Hostwinds, by contrast, leans on 99, ideal for developer wanting customizable VPS with transparent pricing and strong uptime guarantee.
Category Winners
Bluehost
$3.99/mo vs $4.54/mo
Hostwinds
Lower renewal markup (10% vs 150%)
Hostwinds
99.9999% uptime, 4.0/5 rating
Bluehost
Live chat, Phone, 24/7
Bluehost
Optimized, Staging, WooCommerce
Tie
Similar developer features
Bluehost
Higher ease of use score (9.0/10)
Feature Comparison
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Essential Info | ||
| Hosting Type | Shared Hosting | Shared Hosting |
| Monthly Price | $3.99/mo | $4.54/mo |
| Renewal Price | $9.99 | $4.99 |
| Renewal Markup | 150% | 10% |
| Overall Rating | 3.4/5 | 4.0/5 |
| Uptime Guarantee | 99.99% | 99.9999% |
| Trustpilot Rating | 4.6/5 | 2.9/5 |
| Trustpilot Reviews | 27,784 | 716 |
| Free SSL | ||
| Free Domain | ||
| Free Migration | ||
| Pricing Details | ||
| First Year Cost | $47.88 | $54.48 |
| Second Year Cost | $119.88 | $59.88 |
| Money Back Guarantee | 30 days | 3 days |
| Setup Fee | Free | Free |
| Monthly Billing | — | |
| Minimum Contract | — | 1 months |
| Technical Specs | ||
| Storage | 10 GB | Unlimited |
| Storage Type | NVME SSD | SSD |
| Bandwidth | Unmetered GB | Unlimited |
| Max Websites | 10 | 1 |
| Max Databases | 20 | Unlimited |
| PHP Versions | 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4 | 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 |
| 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 | DDoS protection and Web Application Firewall included on all plans | Enterprise-level DDoS protection included |
| Malware Scanning | ||
| Malware Removal | ||
| Firewall Included | ||
| Backup Frequency | Weekly | Nightly (automated) |
| Backup Retention | — | — |
| Backup Restore Fee | Free | Free |
| On-Demand Backup | ||
| Two-Factor Auth | ||
| Wildcard SSL | ||
| Dedicated IP | ||
| Support | ||
| Support Channels | Phone, Live Chat, Knowledge Base, Webinars, Blog, Academy | Live Chat, Phone, Ticket, Knowledge Base |
| Live Chat | ||
| Live Chat Hours | 24/7 | 24/7/365 |
| Phone Support | ||
| Phone Support Hours | 24/7 | 24/7/365 |
| 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 | 5 | Unlimited |
| Mailbox Size | 0.1 GB | — |
| Webmail Access | ||
| Spam Filter | ||
| Email Forwarding | ||
| Performance | ||
| CDN Included | ||
| CDN Provider | Cloudflare CDN | — |
| Server Locations | 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) | Seattle, WA (US), Dallas, TX (US), Amsterdam (Netherlands) |
| Server Location Count | 11 | 3 |
| 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 | Bluehost Website Builder | Weebly |
| Migration | ||
| Migration Websites Limit | 1 | Unlimited |
| Migration Turnaround | 4 days | 3 days |
| Paid Migration Cost | $149.99 | Free |
| Migration Quality | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Compliance | ||
| GDPR Compliant | ||
| PCI Compliant | ||
| HIPAA Compliant | ||
| Data Center Certs | — | SOC 2 |
| Ratings | ||
| Value for Money | 3.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Performance Rating | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Support Quality | 3.5/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Security Rating | 3.0/10 | 3.5/10 |
| Features Rating | 3.5/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Ease of Use | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Transparency Rating | 2.5/10 | 4.5/10 |
| Suitability Scores | ||
| For Bloggers | 4.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| For E-commerce | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Agencies | 3.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Developers | 3.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| For Beginners | 5.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| For Enterprise | 2.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| Policies | ||
| Bandwidth Overage | Unmetered within fair use; excessive use may require upgrade | Unlimited within fair use; excessive use may require upgrade |
| Storage Overage | Must upgrade plan; inode limits apply (200K soft, 1M TOS violation) | Unlimited within fair use; must upgrade for excessive use |
| Adult Content Allowed | ||
| Gambling Sites Allowed | ||
| Crypto Sites Allowed | — | |
| Reseller Hosting | ||
| White Label | ||
| API Access | ||
| Company Info | ||
| Year Founded | 2003 | 2010 |
| Headquarters | United States | United States |
| Parent Company | Newfold Digital (formerly Endurance International Group, acquired 2010) | HostPapa (acquired April 2026; previously independent, founded by Peter Holden) |
| 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, India, United Kingdom, Brazil, Australia | United States, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Canada |
| Local Currencies | USD, INR, GBP | USD |
| Support Languages | English | English |
| Data Sovereignty | GDPR | GDPR |
| External Ratings | ||
| G2 Rating | 3.4/5 | 4.8/5 |
| BBB Rating | Not Accredited | A+ |
| 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 | — | Unlimited |
| FTP Accounts | — | Unlimited |
| Additional Pricing | ||
| Free Domain Duration | 12 months | — |
| Money Back Exclusions | 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 | 3-day money-back guarantee only; Short refund window; Domain fees non-refundable |
| Payment Methods | Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal | Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency |
| Auto Renewal Default | ||
| Domain Privacy Included | — | |
| Domain Privacy Cost | — | — |
| SSL Provider | Let's Encrypt (auto-renewed every 90 days) | Let's Encrypt (auto-renewed) |
| Dedicated IP Cost | — | $3/mo |
| Additional Support | ||
| Phone Support Countries | United States | United States |
| Priority Support Cost | — | — |
| Community Forum | ||
| Support Outsourced | — | |
| Object Cache Type | — | — |
| Business & Affiliate | ||
| Affiliate Program | ||
| Commission Type | Flat rate (tiered) | Per sale (tiered) |
| Commission Amount | $65 per sale base; up to $125/sale for high performers; 30-day cookie; $100 minimum first payout; via Impact.com | $65 (1-6 sales), $85 (7-12), $100 (13-19), $135 (19+); $25 for unmanaged only; 60-day cookie; $100 minimum payout |
| Additional Policies | ||
| File Hosting Allowed | ||
| Proxy/VPN Allowed | ||
| Bandwidth Overage Cost | — | $0.00 |
| Account Suspension Policy | AUP violations may result in suspension or termination; 48 hours to respond to abuse team before suspension | Violation of ToS; non-payment; resource abuse; illegal content |
| Malware Removal Cost | — | — |
| Downloadable Backups | ||
| Additional Platforms | ||
| PrestaShop | ||
| Ghost | ||
| Shopify Migration | ||
| Wix Migration | ||
| Squarespace Migration | ||
| Webflow Export | ||
| Editorial Info | ||
| Best For | 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) | Developers wanting highly customizable VPS options; Users who value transparent upfront pricing; Adult content websites (rare among hosts); Businesses needing 24/7 US-based phone support; Users wanting both managed and unmanaged options; PC Magazine readers who trust their Editors' Choice |
| Avoid If | 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 | Need longer money-back guarantee; Require many global server locations; Want included CDN; Need free domain; Prefer all-inclusive pricing; Concerned about mixed Trustpilot reviews; Want staging environments |
| Known Issues | 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 | Only 3-day money-back guarantee (extremely short); Low Trustpilot rating (2.9) despite good G2 rating; No free domain included; No staging environment; Limited to 3 data center locations; No CDN included; Renewal prices higher than promo; Some users report billing issues |
| Unique Selling Point | Only host officially recommended by WordPress.org with staging on all WP plans | 99.9999% uptime guarantee with transparent pricing and adult content hosting allowed |
| Ideal Customer | WordPress beginner wanting official endorsement and phone support | Developer wanting customizable VPS with transparent pricing and strong uptime guarantee |
| Best Alternative To | HostGator | InMotion Hosting |
| Primary Competitors | HostGator, SiteGround, Hostinger | InMotion Hosting, A2 Hosting, Liquid Web |
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 Bluehost if you...
- Want to save money ($3.99/mo vs $4.54/mo)
- Require 24/7 live chat support
- Need staging environments
- Are new to web hosting
- Want more server locations (11 available)
Choose Hostwinds if you...
- Prefer more predictable renewal pricing
- Want higher-rated hosting (4.0/5)
- Want to run Node.js applications
- Need enterprise-grade features
Bluehost vs Hostwinds: Frequently Asked Questions
Is Bluehost cheaper than Hostwinds?
Yes — Bluehost is cheaper, starting at $3.99/mo compared with $4.54/mo for Hostwinds. Factor in renewals too: Bluehost marks up about 150% after the first term.
Which is better for WordPress, Bluehost or Hostwinds?
Bluehost is the stronger WordPress host thanks to WordPress-optimized servers, staging and WooCommerce tuning. If WordPress or WooCommerce is your main workload, it's the safer pick.
Does Bluehost or Hostwinds have better uptime?
Hostwinds edges out Bluehost on performance with a 99.9999% uptime guarantee and a 4.0/5 overall rating. For uptime-sensitive sites, it's the more dependable choice.
Which has better customer support, Bluehost or Hostwinds?
Bluehost has the edge on support offering 24/7 live chat and phone support.
Is Bluehost or Hostwinds 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 Bluehost or Hostwinds?
For most users, Bluehost is the better overall choice, winning 4 of our 7 categories (notably Price, Support and WordPress). That said, the right host depends on your specific needs — check the category breakdown above for the factors that matter to you.