Bluehost and DreamHost offer some of the most affordable and reliable hosting plans. However, when it comes down to deciding between the two, there’s the question of which one is better — Bluehost or DreamHost. This very question is why you’re here, after all.
Well, having tested both in 2026, we must say they’re nearly on par, but we prefer DreamHost over Bluehost. Drawing from our experience, we noticed just how different they can be, so it’s always about which one is better. It’s more about which one you prefer instead.
For this reason, we think it’s very important to read our DreamHost vs Bluehost comparison carefully. We did our best to highlight their differences and explain all the nuances you need to know. Now, let’s dive in and compare their plans, prices, features, performance, and more.
DreamHost vs Bluehost – Quick Comparison
| DreamHost | Bluehost | |
| 🌐 Shared Hosting Price | $2.59/mo | $1.99/mo |
| 💾 VPS Hosting Price | $10/mo | $46.99/mo |
| ☁️ Cloud Hosting Price | $4.50/mo | $75/mo |
| 🧑 Dedicated Hosting Price | $165/mo | $141.19/mo |
| 🆓 1-Year Free Domain | Yes | Yes |
| 🔐 WHOIS Domain Privacy | Yes, in all plans | Yes (Choice Plus at $3.95/mo) |
| 🌎 Data Centers | US, EU | US |
| ✅ Uptime Guarantee | 99.9% | 99.9% |
| 🖥️ Free SSL Certificate | Yes | Yes |
| ⏬ Automated Backups | Yes, in all plans | Weekly; daily updates for a year are in Choice Plus ($3.95/mo) |
| 💿 Storage | 50 GB to unlimited | 10 GB to 100 GB |
| #️⃣ Number of Hosted Websites | 1 to unlimited | 10 to 100 |
| 🤖 AI Website Builder | Yes | Yes |
| 💸 Money-Back Guarantee | 97 days | 30 days |
Hosting Plans, Pricing & Features
The beauty of DreamHost and Bluehost is their versatility. While GreenGeeks, a provider we tested recently, offers only shared and VPS hosting, these two have a full array. A short glance at the table below reveals their excellence. They pretty much have all you’ll want.
| Hosting Type | DreamHost | Bluehost |
| Shared | ✅ | ✅ |
| VPS | ✅ | ✅ |
| Dedicated | ✅ | ✅ |
| Cloud | ✅ | ✅ |
| WordPress | ✅ | ✅ |
| Reseller | ❌ | ❌ |
Reseller hosting isn’t on the list, but everything else is. If this bothers you, then these great reseller hosting options will suit you well. On paper, this DreamHost vs Bluehost comparison is a tie, but let’s analyze each hosting category and determine the winner after that.
Shared Hosting Comparison
Okay, so shared hosting is the most popular option in both and we’ll devote the most attention here. Let’s start with their prices:
- DreamHost’s Starter plan is $2.59/mo for 3 years
- Bluehost’s Basic plan is $1.99/mo for a year
Get the Best Price on DreamHost
It looks like the latter is a bit cheaper, but not if we check out the renewal prices. Bluehost renews at $11.99/mo, while DreamHost is only $5.99/mo. Catch this:
- DreamHost’s Unlimited plan is $3.95/mo for 3 years
- Bluehost’s Choice Plus plan is $3.95/mo for a year
Now, we have an equal playing field — sort of.
You see, DreamHost renews at $10.99/mo for this plan, while Bluehost is a whopping $15.99/mo after its warm welcome. Every DreamHost plan includes an AI website builder and is e-commerce-ready. On the other hand, Bluehost offers the eCommerce Essentials plan.
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It’s the only one with e-commerce tools, with a price of $6.45/mo. In Bluehost’s defense, each plan has managed WordPress, so you can use them as WooCommerce hosting. DreamHost upsells its web hosting plans as DreamPress, where it provides managed WordPress updates at $16.95/mo (minimal price).
Features Comparison
It’s a shame that DreamHost’s features like NGINX servers, staging, CDN, on-demand backups, etc, are locked behind the said price. However, we still think DreamHost has a bit better (and more) features than Bluehost. We’ll compare their Unlimited and Choice Plus plans:
| DreamHost | Bluehost | |
| Free domain | Yes | Yes |
| Number of websites | 50 | Unlimited |
| Storage | Unlimited | 50 GB |
| Other freebies | AI website builder, site migrations, SEO tools, unlimited email, domain privacy for a year | AI website builder, domain privacy for a year, CDN, site migrations, managed WordPress, Yoast SEO |
| Security | Automated daily backups, WAF, free SSL, DDoS protection | Daily backups for a year, DDoS protection, free SSL, malware scanning |
| Data centers | USA, EU | USA |
So, DreamHost and Bluehost offer plenty of features, but DreamHost excels by including unlimited storage and websites at a lower renewal price. We’ll discuss their features in-depth in this DreamHost vs Bluehost comparison, but so far, it’s clear that the former is a better value for money.
Winner: DreamHost
VPS Hosting Comparison
DreamHost’s flexibility shines in the VPN hosting ballpark. When we compared Bluehost to DreamHost, we quickly realized just how cheaper the latter is. Their initial plans are:
- Bluehost — Standard NVMe 4, $56.99/mo for 3 years
- DreamHost — VPS Business, $10/mo for 3 years
DreamHost’s plan offers fewer resources, like 2 GB vs 4 GB of RAM and 60 GB vs 100 GB of storage. But does it cost two times or ~5.7 times less? This was a rhetorical question. The best-value DreamHost VPS plan is VPS Professional at only $20/mo for the first 3 years.
This is equivalent to Bluehost’s Standard NVMe 4 plan — sort of. Now, we’re talking about a ~2.9 times less expensive price for 20 GB of NVMe storage on top, unlimited websites and email addresses, traffic analysis, and DreamHost’s bespoke business advisor.
You can compare their prices using the two screenshots above. Yes, Bluehost’s VPS hosting is slightly more powerful but VASTLY more expensive, which doesn’t make it a great value for money. This makes DreamHost the winner here, as well as our go-to VPS hosting option.
Winner: DreamHost
Dedicated Hosting Comparison
DreamHost’s two mini-victories are offset by dedicated hosting. It is configurable, and by extension, very flexible. However, the cheapest you can go is $165/mo and this price affords you:
- 6-core CPU (12 threads)
- 480 GB SSD storage
- 16 GB RAM
- Linux-based servers
- DDoS protection
- Root access
Bluehost offers only one dedicated server plan at $141.19/mo and it offers:
- 8-core CPU (16 threads)
- 1,000 GB NVMe storage
- 32 GB DDR5 RAM
- Unmetered bandwidth
- 3 Dedicated IPs
- Free site migration
DreamHost’s plans, for some reason, aren’t fully customizable. For example, you can get a 6-core CPU but now 32 GB of RAM simultaneously. The 12-core CPU plan is locked to 480 GB and 1,920 GB SSD storage options only. Why? We’re not exactly sure. Either way, DreamHost’s dedicated hosting is… weird.
That leaves us with Bluehost whose sole plan is fantastic for the price.
Winner: Bluehost
Cloud Hosting Comparison
Cloud hosting is very reliable on both sides, according to our tests. Whenever we analyze DreamHost, we’re baffled at how cheap its cloud hosting is. On the other end, we’re shocked at how expensive Bluehost’s equivalent is. So, here are their entry plans:
- DreamCompute (DreamHost) — $4.50/mo
- Cloud 10 (Bluehost) — $75/mo
This is a considerable difference, and that’s because DreamHost’s cloud hosting is less powerful. The starting plan offers 512 MB of RAM, 1 vCPU thread, and 80 GB of SSD storage, while its rival has 20 vCPU threads, 125 GB of SSD storage, staging, unrestricted bandwidth, and much more.
DreamHost’s most expensive cloud hosting plan is $48/mo for 8 GB of RAM, 4 vCPU threads, and 80 GB of SSD storage. Bluehost tops at Cloud 50, with 225 GB of SSD storage, 150 vCPU threads, and other associated features. Bluehost is undoubtedly way pricier. It’s crazy.
But DreamHost’s cloud hosting plans aren’t that beefy. They’re pretty poor in comparison. Bluehost wins in the quality aspect, while DreamHost is cheaper, so take the route you like more. Because of this strange “balance”, we’ll declare this part of the comparison a tie.
Winner: Tie
Overall Winner: DreamHost
The overall winner after our first comparison is DreamHost. Its introductory prices for shared hosting are higher, but renewal prices are way cheaper, plus, you can host unlimited websites on unlimited storage. If you need dedicated hosting, Bluehost remains a superior option, though.
Bluehost vs DreamHost Speed Comparison
In this section, we’ll determine which web host is faster.
To do this, we’ll have to establish our testing principles. Let’s go back to the beginning for a moment and briefly touch on their data centers. DreamHost has data centers in Amsterdam, Oregon, and Virginia, while Bluehost relies on US servers. Does this make a difference?
Sort of.
If you host a website with mostly European visitors, DreamHost’s Amsterdam data center will be handy. On the flip side, Bluehost’s US-only data centers make it suited to the US audience. Of course, you can host a European site on Bluehost, but its rival will be better.
Since Bluehost and DreamHost overlap in the US, we decided to take this location for hosting our websites. We made two identical WordPress sites using the same free theme. We then populated them with blog sections, some compressed images, and other standard stuff.
To test them, we relied on GTmetrix and Pingdom, so let’s check out the results.
GTmetrix Test Results Comparison
GTmetrix offers a plethora of servers you can use to test and find the fastest web hosting. However, we opted for its default Canada (Vancouver) server to see how good of a performance an average Canadian user would encounter on our websites.
| GTmetrix Data (Vancouver) | DreamHost | Bluehost |
| TTFB | 199 ms | 463 ms |
| FCP | 376 ms | 278 ms |
| LCP | 444 ms | 572 ms |
| CLS | 0.02 | 0.02 |
| FLT | 639 ms | 732 ms |
Quite an interesting result. It looks like DreamHost is a bit faster overall, although both are blazing fast. Let’s examine the differences. Bluehost’s server takes a bit more to respond, with 463 ms vs 199 ms in DreamHost. It’s way under 2.5 seconds, so both results are excellent.
Bluehost’s FCP was slightly lower, but LCP was a bit higher, at 572 ms vs 444 ms in DreamHost. The final product is FLT or Fully Loaded Time, which was incredibly fast in DreamHost, at only 639 ms vs 732 ms in Bluehost. To be clear again, both are fantastic!
Apart from shorter First Contentful Paint time, Bluehost has no other strings to pull in this round. This renders DreamHost a faster web host in terms of website loading times.
Winner: DreamHost
Uptime and Response Times
But now, let’s see which provider is more reliable. To do this, we launched Pingdom and tested both services for downtimes during the past three months. Bluehost showed impressive results, with no outages, displaying a 100% uptime at the given time.
We don’t say Bluehost is always on point, and we’re sure it does suffer periods of downtimes, but our tests showed the opposite this time. The same goes for DreamHost, whose 100% uptime blew us away, with no outages detected by Pingdom. If they were there, they were ultra-tiny!
We also used Pingdom to measure their average response times. They were:
- 489 ms for Bluehost
- 284 ms for DreamHost
As expected, DreamHost’s average response time was lower, which we observed in our GTmetrix tests. Its servers are slightly faster to respond, but the fact that its maximum response time, which didn’t go over ~400 ms adds to the sense of neck-breaking speed.
Bluehost’s lowest was around 200 ms, but its highest point was close to 800 ms, which produced a slightly “weaker” result in the end. To cap it all off, we tested their shared hosting, where everything under 600 ms is considered class-leading.
Winner: DreamHost
Overall Winner: DreamHost
Bluehost and DreamHost remain some of the most reliable web hosts we compared. However, DreamHost offers European data centers, it’s just a bit faster, and with superior response time, making it our go-to option for the ultimate performance.
Which Hosting Provider is Easier to Use?
You could say that Bluehost is a beginner-friendly hosting service. It blends a standard hosting management interface with a separate cPanel. cPanel is a thousand-times-seen solution, but a powerful one for managing all aspects of your website. It’s pretty simple to use, overall.
You have a search bar up top, which allows you to search for specific apps. Underneath, you have your apps and menus, all beautifully arranged for maximum convenience. Bluehost added a left-hand-side menu, where you get a glimpse of your hosting management menu.
From here, you can access your domains or go to My Sites to install WordPress. Bluehost was always an easy-to-use service but with recent improvements, it’s even better. Okay, so DreamHost is a different story. The dashboard is equally simple for freshly-baked users.
We love that you can install WordPress right from the home screen, with literally one click.
The problem is that DreamHost integrates its control panel into the hosting management dashboard. It’s a minor issue that takes a bit of time to get used to. It does make everything look a bit more “unique”, but far from straightforward compared to traditional cPanel.
However, having examined DreamHost vs Bluehost side by side, we found the former’s control panel logical after a while. We had no problem installing WordPress on our sites, managing your website security, and adding different applications and add-ons.
In this aspect, however, we feel more at home with Bluehost, so we’ll give it a point, but rest assured, we love DreamHost’s custom panel that innovates upon traditional solutions.
Winner: Bluehost
AI Website Building: Our Hands-on Experience
Both providers are great WordPress hosts, but if you want, you can bypass this CMS and use an AI website builder. In our Bluehost vs DreamHost assessment, we tested and observed both, only to end up quite surprised.
Bluehost’s website builder is conventional, but with AI, you can make a website by answering a few prompts, similar to Wix or Hostinger Website Builder. Bluehost made sure to include a section-based editor and ample noteworthy templates. You can also use it to sell online.
Albeit, that’s reserved for the eCommerce Essentials plan at $6.45/mo.
Overall, Bluehost’s website builder is great, especially when paired with its fast hosting. Websites made with it will be faster and more responsive than those made with website builders that natively don’t include the most powerful hosting. DreamHost has Liftoff.
Liftoff is its AI website builder but with a twist — it’s for WordPress! Once installed, it allows you to personalize your WordPress website with no coding. You can even generate all pages with its AI or use it to create content directly inside WordPress Editor! But wait, there’s more!
Liftoff was amazing in our tests because of its SEO tools. Its AI is the star here, as it recommends actionable insights to improve SEO. Overall, Liftoff is a nice package that won’t surpass dominating website builders, but it’s dangerously close just on account of AI alone.
Winner: DreamHost
Overall Winner: Draw
Bluehost is a more “traditional” web hosting experience, while DreamHost’s mixture of the dashboard and control panel might not suit everyone at first. However, DreamHost’s AI website builder is more powerful and simpler to use on WordPress sites, which ultimately leads to a draw.
Which Web Hosting Is More Secure?
If we only look at the available security features, we can conclude that DreamHost and Bluehost are equal. However, this comparison isn’t here to give you a broad picture. We’ll tell you exactly how it is. Security-wise, we prefer DreamHost over Bluehost for one simple reason.
When you purchase Bluehost, let’s say its cheapest plan, you will get:
- Free SSL
- WAF
- Malware scanning
- DDoS protection
On the other hand, DreamHost’s Starter plan offers:
- Free SSL
- WAF (ModSecurity)
- Automated daily backups
- Domain privacy for a year
Judging by this alone, we can see that DreamHost is a bit more generous, especially with domain privacy and daily website backups. To get these, you’ll have to opt for Choice Plus in Bluehost, but even then, your automated daily backups will be free only for the first year!
This is designed to make leeway for Bluehost’s CodeGuard package, which enables daily backups afterward and costs $2.99/mo. SiteLock is another Bluehost package for malware prevention at the same price. As you can see, Bluehost DOES offer everything you need.
Sadly, you have to spend more to get it, which could be a problem on a “tighter” budget.
Winner: DreamHost
DreamHost really upped its security game and managed to conquer Bluehost in this round. With all the essential security features even in the Starter plan, you’ll have everything you need to keep your website safe and sound for years to come.
Customer Support
When we compared DreamHost and Hostinger together, we noticed some holes in the former’s support. Namely, DreamHost does have live chat support, but it’s not 24/7. Instead, it’s available from 8 am to 8 pm Monday through Friday. Is that a big deal? For us, not really.
I mean, that’s plenty of time to get help, and when the support is online, you’ll get answers in no time. We contacted them on multiple occasions, only to be met by a friendly agent who would answer our most mundane questions without hesitation. DreamHost has an AI bot.
However, the bot isn’t particularly helpful, except for basic questions, even though it sometimes fails to comprehend them, too. The Knowledge Base is jam-packed with questions, answers, and guides, making it great for acquiring help whenever you need it.
Bluehost’s support was slightly better in our book. It’s equally fast to respond, but this time, you can contact them 24/7 via live chat, too. In our experience, Bluehost is always friendly and polite, being ready to tackle your problems at the drop of a hat, which is appreciated.
Like DreamHost, Bluehost owns a Knowledge Base where you’ll find tons of useful resources. A considerable advantage over DreamHost is phone support. It’s extremely convenient to get help quickly and discuss your problem with spoken words, rather than typing walls of text.
Winner: Bluehost
DreamHost’s support is stellar but is crippled by the lack of 24/7 live chat service and a semi-useless AI chatbot. Bluehost’s support is bar-none one of the best in the business, it’s available 24/7 and enhanced by phone support for maximum convenience.
Conclusion: Which Hosting Provider is Better?
This marks the end of yet another interesting duel. So, which hosting provider is better, Bluehost or DreamHost? Which one should you choose in 2026? Based on our experience with the two, we would choose DreamHost instead of Bluehost for a few simple reasons.
DreamHost is outstandingly fast, offers versatile hosting plans, packs serious security, and comes with a powerful AI website builder, all while keeping the (renewal) price nice and low. Bluehost’s introductory offers are affordable, but they’re brought down by outrageous renewal prices.
While we prefer Bluehost’s support and ease of use, this isn’t enough to dethrone DreamHost. If you seek maximum value and want a feature-rich hosting provider that won’t break the bank, DreamHost is an excellent choice that we wholeheartedly recommend in 2026.