Hostinger vs Bluehost – “Which One is the Real Deal?”

Hostinger vs Bluehost

94.8 %

Overall Score

Hostinger vs Bluehost

89.8 %

Overall Score

Hostinger and Bluehost are popular web hosting providers, each catering to different needs. Hostinger is known for its budget-friendly plans and beginner-friendly features, making it a great choice for small websites and those starting out. It offers a fast, user-friendly interface and reliable performance at affordable prices. Hostinger’s data centers are spread across multiple continents, ensuring good global reach.

Bluehost, endorsed by WordPress.org, is a versatile hosting solution with a focus on WordPress optimization. It offers a wide range of plans, including shared, VPS, and dedicated hosting, appealing to businesses and larger websites. Bluehost is recognized for its robust support and extensive resources for growing websites.

While Hostinger prioritizes affordability and simplicity, Bluehost emphasizes scalability and feature-rich options. Your choice depends on your budget, website complexity, and long-term goals.

Hostinger

Performance: |5.0| ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hostinger delivers excellent performance for its price range, with fast loading speeds and a 99.9% uptime guarantee. Its use of LiteSpeed servers, SSD storage, and a built-in caching solution ensures quick response times, especially for smaller websites. It also offers data centers in multiple regions, allowing users to optimize performance for their target audience.

Uptime: |4.9|⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hostinger offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee, and its performance generally aligns with this commitment, ensuring stable website availability. It uses modern infrastructure and global data centers to maintain consistent uptime, making it reliable for small to medium websites.

Customer Service: |4.8|⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Mostly via email and live chat, Hostinger provides round-the-clock customer service. While there’s no phone support, their agents are responsive and knowledgeable, often resolving issues quickly. Additionally, Hostinger provides a well-organized knowledge base with tutorials and FAQs for self-help.

Bluehost

Performance: |4.8| ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Bluehost provides reliable performance with robust infrastructure and consistent uptime. While it may not match Hostinger’s speed for smaller sites, its servers are well-suited for handling higher traffic volumes. Bluehost also includes advanced performance tools like CDN integration and server-side caching, which are particularly effective for WordPress websites.

Uptime: |4.9|⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Bluehost also provides a 99.9% uptime guarantee, supported by its robust infrastructure and server redundancy. While its uptime performance is reliable, occasional minor dips in uptime have been reported during peak traffic, making it slightly less consistent for larger or highly dynamic sites.

Customer Service: |4.7|⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Bluehost also provides 24/7 customer support via live chat, phone, and email, catering to a wider range of preferences. Its support team is generally helpful, especially for WordPress-related issues, thanks to Bluehost’s close partnership with WordPress.org. However, response times can sometimes vary during peak periods.

Both providers prioritize customer support but differ in their approach. Hostinger excels in live chat efficiency, while Bluehost offers more support channels, which may appeal to users seeking flexibility.

Overall Comparison Hostinger vs Bluehost

Both hosting providers are incredibly popular and continuously enhance their services to stay ahead in the competitive market. If you come across a discussion asking which of the two to choose, you’ll likely find countless comments listing their pros and cons, often pitting them against each other in a fierce debate.

But there’s a more effective way to settle this—at least until the next service update rolls out.

By testing and comparing each key area of their performance, we can create a well-rounded analysis that highlights the strengths and weaknesses of both. That’s exactly what I’ve done. So, dive into my Bluehost vs. Compare hosting companies to find the best one for your website.

Aspect HostingerBluehost
Pricing Affordable, beginner-friendly plansModerately priced, scalable options
Performance Fast with LiteSpeed servers Reliable for higher traffic sites
Uptime 99.9% uptime guarantee 99.9% uptime guarantee
Control Panel Custom hPanel Standard cPanel
WordPress Support Managed hosting, LiteSpeed optimization Endorsed by WordPress.org
BackupsWeekly backups Daily backups on higher-tier plans
Support 24/7 live chat, no phone support24/7 support via chat, email, and phone
Freebies SSL, domain (select plans), CDN SSL, domain (1 year), CDN, ad credits
Best For Budget-conscious beginners WordPress users and growing sites

1. Plans and Pricing

Low-Cost Intros With Increased Renewals

Hostinger offers lower pricing than Bluehost, with shared hosting plans starting at $1.66/month compared to Bluehost’s starting price of $1.99/month.

Plan TypeHostingerBluehost
Basic Plan $1.99/month$2.95/month
Premium Plan $2.99/month$5.45/month
Business Plan $3.99/month$5.45/month
VPS Hosting $3.99/month$19.99/month
Managed WordPress$3.99/month$9.95/month
Dedicated Hosting $79.99/month$79.99/month

Shared hosting is the primary and most popular product offered by both providers. It’s user-friendly and typically meets the requirements of small to medium-sized websites.

Both Hostinger and Bluehost include free SSL certificates, a free domain, and email accounts with their basic plans. However, the similarities largely end there:

Hostinger’s Shared Premium ($1.66/month) includes 100 websites, 100GB SSD storage, and bandwidth for up to 25k monthly visits.

Bluehost’s Basic ($1.99/month) allows 1 website, 50GB SSD storage, unlimited bandwidth, and unlimited email accounts.

Hostinger is upfront about bandwidth limits, while Bluehost offers unlimited bandwidth. Bluehost also allows unlimited email accounts, whereas Hostinger caps it at 100. In terms of storage, both plans are generous, though Hostinger supports more websites and offers more SSD storage at a slightly higher price.

Hosting Management

FeatureHostingerBluehost
Control Panel Custom hPanel cPanel
Ease of Use User-friendly, streamlined interface Easy to navigate, popular for beginners
Managed Hosting Yes (for WordPress and VPS) Yes (for WordPress, WooCommerce)
Website Builder Built-in website builder (Zyro) Integrated with WordPress, Elementor
One-Click Installer 100+ apps via auto-installer 1-click WordPress install
Automatic Backups Weekly backupsDaily backups (higher plans)
Security FeaturesFree SSL, Cloudflare, advanced firewall Free SSL, SiteLock (paid plans), CDN
Email Management Professional email available (paid)Email accounts included (depending on plan)
Customer Support 24/7 live chat (no phone support)24/7 support via chat, phone, and email

2. Features

Hostinger Provides More Features for Less Cost

Bluehost’s upsells don’t stop at customer support. Its plans are pricier than Hostinger’s upfront and often require costly add-ons to match the features included in a comparable Hostinger plan.

For instance, Hostinger includes unlimited free email addresses with all plans except the Single Shared plan, which offers one email address. In contrast, Bluehost provides only a single Microsoft 365 email address on a 30-day trial, after which you’ll need to pay extra for every additional email account.

While Bluehost includes access to the Weebly website builder with all its plans, Hostinger’s proprietary Zyro website builder requires a separate subscription. 

Ultimately, Hostinger delivers more features at a better value than Bluehost.

FeatureHostingerBluehost
Hosting TypesShared, VPS, cloud, WordPress, email, dedicated serversShared, WordPress, VPS, dedicated servers
Free DomainYes – except Single Shared planYes – all plans
Free SSL CertificateYesYes
Disk Space20GB SSD – 300 GB SSD50GB – unlimited
BackupsWeekly or daily (included in all plans
except the Single Shared plan)
Daily (for an extra fee in Basic and Plus
plans, included in higher-tier plans)
Bandwidth100GB – unlimitedUnmetered
Control PanelcPanelcPanel
Email AccountsUnlimited free email accounts
(one account for Single Shared)
One free Microsoft 365 email
account (30-day trial only)
Advertising CreditsNo advertising credits$200 in Google & Microsoft ads
E-commerceWooCommerce, PrestaShop, Magento
hosting (additional cost)
WooCommerce online stores (additional cost)
Money-Back Guarantee30 days30 days
Subdomains2 – 10025 – unlimited

Both Hostinger and Bluehost provide high-quality WordPress website hosting with intuitive custom dashboards. However, we found Hostinger’s custom WordPress dashboard slightly more intuitive. Additionally, while both hosts provide guided assistance for building your first WordPress site, Hostinger enabled us to set up a site more quickly.

3. Performance

Hostinger Outperforms Bluehost in Speed and Reliability

Hostinger stands out with its 99.9% uptime guarantee, a promise Bluehost does not offer—an immediate concern even before testing began.

Performance tests in the US and European markets confirmed Hostinger’s reliability, consistently meeting its uptime guarantee. Additionally, if the guarantee isn’t upheld, users are compensated with a 5% refund of their monthly fee.

Hostinger boasts a more extensive server network than Bluehost, with data centers in the US, UK, Brazil, the Netherlands, Singapore, Indonesia, and Lithuania.

When it comes to speed, Hostinger excels, with page load times up to 8x faster than Bluehost. Over a three-month test period, Hostinger’s speeds ranked among the fastest available for shared hosting.

Hostinger vs. Bluehost: Website Speed

Hostinger outperforms Bluehost in website speed, consistently delivering better results. Hostinger’s page loading times were significantly faster, and its Core Web Vitals metrics also outshined those of Bluehost.

Thanks to its superior performance, Hostinger claims the top spot in this category. Check out some of our sample speed test results below.

Page Performance of Hostinger

Hostinger page performance

Page Performance of Bluehost

Bluehost performance

4. Ease of Use

Hostinger:

Custom hPanel: A simple and intuitive control panel designed for beginners. It’s streamlined, reducing the learning curve for new users.

Website Builder (Zyro): Hostinger includes a drag-and-drop website builder that allows users to create websites without any coding experience.

One-Click Installer: Easy installation of over 100 apps and CMS options, making site management simple.

Optimized for Beginners: Hostinger’s design focuses on simplicity, with clear navigation and accessible features.

Bluehost:

cPanel Interface: The standard cPanel is widely known and user-friendly, though it can be a bit overwhelming for absolute beginners.

WordPress Integration: Bluehost is optimized for WordPress, providing easy setup and management tools like staging environments and a 1-click installer.

Guided Setup: Provides step-by-step instructions to get started, especially for WordPress users, easing the setup process.

Clear Documentation: Extensive knowledge base and tutorials, helping users navigate through common issues quickly.

Hosting Provided

What Our Customers Have to Say?

Hostinger:

Positive Feedback:

Affordable Pricing: Many customers appreciate Hostinger’s budget-friendly plans, especially for small businesses and personal websites.

Fast Performance: Users report quick loading speeds and reliable uptime, especially with LiteSpeed servers.

User-Friendly Interface: Customers find the custom hPanel and website builder intuitive, making it easy to manage their sites.

Great Customer Support: Live chat support is generally praised for its fast responses and helpfulness.

Negative Feedback:

Limited Phone Support: Some users express frustration with the absence of phone support, relying solely on live chat and email.

Upselling: A few customers mention that Hostinger frequently promotes upsell offers, which can feel intrusive.

Bluehost:

Positive Feedback:

WordPress Optimization: Customers often highlight Bluehost’s excellent performance for WordPress websites, with tools like staging environments and 1-click installs.

Comprehensive Support: Bluehost’s 24/7 support via chat, email, and phone is well-reviewed, particularly for new users.

Reliable Uptime: Many users report consistent uptime and stability, particularly for larger websites or e-commerce stores.

Freebies: The inclusion of a free domain for the first year and SSL certificate is a favorite feature among users.

Negative Feedback:

Higher Renewal Prices: Some users complain about significant price increases upon renewal after the first term.

Performance on Lower Tiers: A few customers mention that Bluehost’s basic plans can be slower or less reliable under high traffic compared to other providers.

Advantage of Hostinger and Bluehost

HostingerBluehost
Affordable pricing for all plans Free domain for the first year
Fast performance with LiteSpeed servers Excellent WordPress integration and optimization
User-friendly custom hPanel 24/7 customer service by phone, email, and chat
Free SSL certificates on all plansFree CDN and marketing credits
Global data centers for optimized speed Reliable uptime and stability
Weekly backups included in all plans Availability of VPS hosting options
30-day money-back guarantee Strong support for e-commerce and larger sites
100+ apps via auto-installer Extensive knowledge base and tutorials
Cloudflare integration for added speed Easy-to-use cPanel interface

Disadvantage of Hostinger and Bluehost

Hostinger Bluehost
Limited phone support Higher renewal rates after the first term
Upselling of additional services Slower performance on lower-tier plans
No free domain on basic plans Customer support response time can vary
Limited scalability on lower plans Occasional uptime dips during peak traffic
Limited advanced customization optionsComplicated features for beginners on cPanel

5. Support

Bluehost Support Falls Short

Bluehost technically offers 24/7 support through live chat, phone, and email, along with a well-designed help center on their website. However, when I tested their customer service, my live chat experience was disappointing.

I waited about two minutes for a response, and while the agent seemed to speak English, some of their initial replies felt automated or copy-pasted. Then, during the conversation, the agent disappeared for about seven minutes.

When the agent finally returned, he was professional but continuously pushed upsells. For instance, when I inquired about loading speeds for customers in the Asia/Australia region, he immediately tried to upsell me to a more expensive plan for “better performance” than the one I had asked about.

Hostinger:

24/7 Live Chat: Hostinger offers around-the-clock live chat support, which is responsive and helpful for troubleshooting issues.

Email Support: Email support is available for more detailed inquiries or complex issues, though response times can vary.

No Phone Support: Unlike some competitors, Hostinger doesn’t offer phone support, which may be a drawback for users who prefer direct communication.

Knowledge Base: Hostinger provides a comprehensive library of tutorials, guides, and FAQs to help users resolve common issues independently.

User Feedback: Generally praised for its quick response times and professional agents, though some users wish for more in-depth support options.

Bluehost:

24/7 Support Channels: Bluehost provides 24/7 support via live chat, email, and phone, offering more flexibility in how users can reach out for help.

Phone Support: Many users appreciate the ability to speak with a representative over the phone, especially for complex or urgent issues.

WordPress Expertise: As a WordPress.org-recommended host, Bluehost’s support team has specialized knowledge to assist with WordPress-related problems.

Knowledge Base: Extensive resources, including tutorials, video guides, and FAQs, are available for self-help.

User Feedback: Often praised for its helpfulness, especially with WordPress, but response times may be slower during peak periods. Some users report inconsistent experiences with support quality.

If you need assistance, Hostinger offers 24/7 live chat as its primary support option, with email support also available. Bluehost offers comparable round-the-clock customer service via phone, email, and live chat. Both providers also have comprehensive knowledge bases filled with tutorials and documentation.

6. Security

Your Data Is Safer with Hostinger

Both hosting providers offer a free SSL certificate to protect your site’s visitors’ data, but there are a few differences. With Bluehost, you’ll need to contact support and follow technical steps, while Hostinger’s most basic plan requires an additional fee for the SSL certificate.

Hostinger also includes Cloudflare protection on all plans, safeguarding against spam, DDoS attacks, malware, and other cyber threats.

Security FeatureHostingerBluehost
SSL CertificatesFree SSL included Free SSL included
Firewall ProtectionAdvanced security with custom firewallSiteLock (paid plans) for extra protection
DDoS Protection Included with hosting plans Basic DDoS protection
Backup Frequency Weekly backups Daily backups (higher plans)
Malware Scanning Free malware scanner on paid plans Malware protection (paid plans)
Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)Available for account security Available for account security
Automatic Updates Regular updates for software security Regular updates for WordPress
Spam Protection Email spam filtering available Spam filtering available for emails
Data Encryption SSL encryption for all data SSL encryption for all data

Bluehost, however, relies on a model of expensive add-ons. The only free protection it offers is the SpamExperts email filter. For additional security, you must purchase the SiteLock add-on, which provides similar protection to Hostinger but with limitations—it only checks 5 to 10 web pages at once.

While Bluehost’s free SSL certificate on the basic plan might seem appealing, Hostinger offers more robust, hassle-free security without the need for extra purchases.

Final Recommendation

CriteriaHostingerBluehost
Best For Budget-conscious users, beginners WordPress users, small to medium businesses
Pricing Affordable, great for smaller websites Moderately priced, offers scalability
Performance Fast, reliable for small to medium sitesReliable, good for higher traffic sites
Ease of Use Very user-friendly, streamlinedEasy to use, especially for WordPress
Customer Support 24/7 live chat, no phone support 24/7 support via chat, phone, and email
Security Free SSL, Cloudflare, advanced firewall Free SSL, SiteLock (paid plans), CDN
Hosting Options Shared, VPS, Cloud, WordPress Hosting Shared, VPS, Dedicated, WordPress Hosting
Scalability Limited on lower plans Good scalability for growing websites
Free Features Free SSL, domain (select plans), CDN Free SSL, domain (1 year), CDN, ad credits
Renewal Pricing Transparent, generally affordable Higher renewal pricing after first term

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Yes, Hostinger generally offers more affordable pricing plans, especially for beginners and small websites. Bluehost’s prices are slightly higher but offer more scalability and features for growing websites.
  • Yes, Bluehost offers a free domain for the first year with their hosting plans, making it easier for new users to get started.
  • Hostinger provides 24/7 live chat support and email support. They don’t, however, provide phone assistance.

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  • Yes, Bluehost is highly recommended by WordPress.org and offers excellent performance, tools, and support for WordPress websites.

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  • Yes, Hostinger allows you to upgrade your hosting plan easily, whether you’re moving from shared hosting to VPS or cloud hosting.
  • Yes, Bluehost offers phone support in addition to live chat and email, which is a plus for users who prefer direct communication.
  • Yes, Hostinger includes weekly backups for free with all hosting plans. However, daily backups are available only with higher-tier plans.
  • A 99.9% uptime guarantee is provided by both Hostinger and Bluehost, guaranteeing dependable website performance.
  • Yes, Hostinger allows you to use your own domain name, or you can purchase a new domain through their platform.
  • Yes, Bluehost’s hosting infrastructure is well-suited for larger websites, including dedicated hosting options for higher traffic volumes.
  • Yes, Hostinger includes free SSL certificates with all hosting plans to secure your website and improve its SEO.
  • Indeed, all of Hostinger’s hosting plans provide 1-click WordPress installation, which makes it simple and quick to set up a WordPress website.
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