Most newbies searching for a web hosting provider must come across Bluehost. It’s one of the biggest players in the industry and it’s featured in almost every review and “top” list. But they don’t always tell you the whole truth!
I don’t personally like Bluehost because of different things, like their poor first-line support, upselling, price hikes, shady billing practices, etc.
But let’s put that behind us. I want to talk about some of the best Bluehost alternatives based on my experience with different hosts and also based on common recommendations on Reddit.
I’ll start with mine;
Shock Hosting is the cheapest alternative I’m using for WordPress hosting. Renewal rates are much lower than Bluehost’s and there are no gimmicky add-ons. Email, SSL certificates, security, and all essential features are included with all plans.
Their pricing is transparent; what you pay initially is the same you’ll pay at renewal, even if you choose monthly billing. Support experience has been flawless so far.
If you only have one website or a few low-traffic sites, Shock Hosting will do at a fraction of the price compared to Bluehost. But if you have resource-heavy sites, you don’t want to cheap out on hosting (see other suggestions below).
2. Namecheap
Namecheap’s shared hosting is another low-cost alternative. I’ve been using it for a while and haven’t had any issues. Renewal price is higher than the introductory price but still reasonable.
Downsides? They don’t offer free SSL certificates. They give you free certificates for the first year, then you’ll have to pay around $13 per year for renewal. You also have to manually install it through cPanel (the process is automated by you have to manually initiate it).
If you want to transfer your domain name, Namecheap is great as a domain registrar even if you intend to host your website at another place.
3. Cloudways
Cloudways is popular among tech-savvy Redditors. It’s a step up from Bluehost and shared hosting in general. It’s a managed cloud hosting platform that appeals more to developers, agencies, and advanced users who plan to scale.
You start with a plan from one of five cloud server providers; DigitalOcean is the top choice since it’s the most cost-effective. They automatically spin up your own cloud server with a pre-installed stack. It’s mainly optimized for WordPress, but you can host any PHP-based CMS or app.
Their “Flexible” server plans allow you to scale up instantly from the dashboard if you need more CPU, RAM or disk space. You can host an unlimited number of sites per server instance (as many as the available resources can handle).
I don’t recommend Cloudways if you are a total newbie. It’s for experienced users who can fix most issues on their own and not those entirely dependent on support to help with every small issue they run into.
4. Hostinger
Hostinger is comparable to Bluehost in terms of popularity and that it tries to be everything to everyone. They offer shared web hosting, WordPress hosting, cloud, VPS, and e-commerce hosting.
Their e-commerce website builder is one of the most affordable out there. They take no fees themselves, although you may have to pay fees to whichever payment gateway you choose. Their builder has limitations but if you just want a basic online store without spending a fortune, it’s a good start.
Support service is okay for the price. Not the best I’ve seen, but I rate it higher than Bluehost. They made it a little harder to get human support since they switched to their AI chat assistant (Kodee), but you can escalate unresolved issues to human support. Sometimes they respond fast and sometimes they take several hours.
5. Pressable
I kept this one for last because not everyone might be interested in it. Pressable offers fully managed WordPress hosting with top-notch support service, but it’s not cheap (this is their biggest drawback).
They only deal with WordPress hosting and they do a solid job at it. Speed, uptime, security and support are head and shoulders above Bluehost’s shared hosting, but again, it comes at a price that may be too high for most regular users.
If you run a WooCommerce store or have other ways of generating money from your website, Pressable is totally worth considering. Otherwise, any of the above providers would be easier on the wallet.
Takeaway
Between my experience and Reddit feedback; Shock Hosting, Namecheap, Cloudways, Hostinger, and Pressable are some good alternatives to Bluehost. I’ve put my two cents about each one above. If anyone has something to add, comments are open.
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