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Nexcess vs Bluehost – “The Winner Is...
Nexcess and Bluehost are popular web hosting providers serving different needs. Nexcess specializes in managed hosting for platforms like WordPress and Magento, offering performance-optimized solutions with strong security and expert support. Bluehost is a general hosting provider, known for affordable shared hosting and beginner-friendly features, appealing to small businesses and bloggers.
Nexcess focuses on scalable solutions for e-commerce and high-traffic sites, offering features like automatic updates, caching, and excellent uptime. Bluehost provides simple tools like a drag-and-drop builder and WordPress integration, ideal for beginners and small websites.
Nexcess excels in premium hosting with advanced capabilities, while Bluehost offers budget-friendly plans with easy setup for simpler needs. Nexcess suits demanding websites, whereas Bluehost works well for first-time users and basic setups.
Nexcess
Performance: |5.0| 
When it comes to performance, Nexcess is built for speed and reliability, especially for high-traffic or resource-intensive websites. It offers features like built-in caching, a content delivery network (CDN), and scalable resources to handle spikes in traffic seamlessly. Nexcess ensures excellent uptime and optimized performance, particularly for platforms like WordPress and Magento, making it a strong choice for e-commerce and professional websites requiring top-notch speed and stability.
Uptime: |4.9|
Nexcess is known for its exceptional uptime, guaranteeing 99.99% availability across its hosting plans. Its infrastructure is designed for reliability, with features like built-in redundancies, automatic failover, and 24/7 monitoring. This makes Nexcess a strong choice for businesses and e-commerce sites where even minimal downtime can result in lost revenue or customer trust.
Customer Service: |4.8|
Nexcess offers premium customer service with 24/7 support via live chat, phone, and email, handled by highly trained professionals specializing in managed hosting. Their support team is known for resolving complex technical issues efficiently, making it an excellent choice for businesses needing advanced assistance. Nexcess also provides a wealth of resources, including tutorials and documentation, to help users maximize their hosting experience.
Bluehost
Performance: |4.8|
Bluehost, while reliable for basic websites, focuses more on accessibility than high-end performance. It offers decent speeds for shared hosting and includes tools like caching and SSD storage on higher-tier plans. However, it may struggle with performance during heavy traffic or for websites requiring advanced optimizations. For small businesses and personal blogs, Bluehost’s performance is sufficient, but it doesn’t match Nexcess for demanding applications.
Uptime: |4.9|
Bluehost provides a solid uptime of around 99.9%, which is suitable for most small to medium websites. However, its shared hosting plans may experience occasional downtime during high-traffic periods or server maintenance. While Bluehost’s uptime is reliable for personal blogs and smaller projects, it lacks the enhanced reliability and performance guarantees that Nexcess offers for mission-critical sites.
Customer Service: |4.7|
Bluehost also provides 24/7 customer support through live chat and phone but is generally more beginner-focused. While their support team is helpful with basic inquiries and common issues, it may lack the specialized expertise required for more advanced hosting setups. Bluehost is well-suited for users who value accessibility and guidance but may not meet the needs of highly technical users compared to Nexcess.
Overall Comparison Nexcess vs Bluehost
Nexcess and Bluehost both specialize in WordPress hosting, but their differences are significant. Nexcess caters more to businesses, offering advanced management features that help streamline operations. In contrast, Bluehost is a budget-friendly option aimed primarily at beginners.
So, which is the better choice for you? Many reviewers—and even WordPress itself—often recommend Bluehost. However, it’s worth noting that Bluehost actively incentivizes positive reviews with monetary rewards. At Website Planet, we take a different approach, focusing on thorough testing of hosting providers rather than echoing marketing hype.
Our findings? Nexcess emerges as the clear winner. It delivers much faster site loading speeds, superior WordPress-specific features, and more reasonable pricing. Bluehost’s strongest asset might be its marketing prowess, but as a hosting provider, it doesn’t measure up. Read on for a detailed comparison.
| Aspect | Nexcess | Bluehost |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Managed hosting for performance and scalability | Affordable hosting for beginners and small businesses |
| Target Audience | E-commerce, high-traffic websites | Personal blogs, small websites, startups |
| Performance | Optimized for speed with CDN and caching | Decent speeds, performance varies by plan |
| Uptime | 99.99% with robust infrastructure | 99.9%, reliable for small-scale projects |
| Price | Premium pricing for advanced services | Budget-friendly plans for basic hosting |
1. Plans and Pricing
Nexcess Provides Lower Costs and Greater Billing Flexibility
Nexcess is well-regarded for its managed WordPress hosting, but its offerings extend beyond that. It also provides managed hosting for WooCommerce, Magento, and Drupal, as well as premium cloud hosting. These plans can include developer-friendly content management systems like ExpressionEngine and Craft CMS, pre-configured for convenience. Additionally, Nexcess supports agencies with reseller hosting options.
Bluehost, on the other hand, offers a wider range of hosting services, including shared, WooCommerce, VPS, dedicated, and reseller hosting, along with both managed and unmanaged WordPress plans. To keep the comparison fair, we focused on the managed WordPress hosting plans from both providers.
At a glance, Nexcess stands out with several clear benefits. First, it offers a monthly billing option, unlike Bluehost, which begins with a quarterly billing cycle. Additionally, Nexcess’s monthly billing is roughly half the cost of committing to Bluehost’s quarterly plans, making it a more economical choice.
| Plan Type | Nexcess | Bluehost |
|---|---|---|
| Entry-Level (Basic Plan) | Starting at ~$19/month (Managed WordPress) | Starting at ~$2.95/month (Shared Hosting) |
| Managed WordPress | Starting at ~$19/month | Starting at ~$9.95/month |
| E-commerce Hosting | Starting at ~$21.95/month (WooCommerce) | Starting at ~$12.95/month (WooCommerce) |
| VPS Hosting | Not Available | Starting at ~$19.99/month |
| Dedicated Hosting | Not Available | Starting at ~$79.99/month |
That being said, Bluehost provides unlimited resources, such as storage, websites, and bandwidth, whereas Nexcess imposes certain limits. If you plan to manage multiple WordPress sites, Bluehost might still be the more cost-effective option. However, for the majority of users, Nexcess stands out with its affordable pricing and flexible monthly billing, delivering greater overall value.
Hosting Management
| Aspect | Nexcess | Bluehost |
|---|---|---|
| Control Panel | Custom-built, easy to use for managed hosting | cPanel for all hosting plans |
| Managed Services | Fully managed, includes updates, backups, and security | Self-managed with options for upgrades |
| Automatic Updates | Yes, automatic updates for all services | Available on higher-tier plans |
| Security Features | Advanced security, malware scanning, SSL | Free SSL, basic protection on lower plans |
| Backup Options | Daily backups included, automatic | Optional backups on higher plans |
| Performance Optimization | Built-in caching, CDN, advanced optimizations | Caching and SSD storage on higher plans |
| Support | 24/7 expert support for advanced issues | 24/7 support, basic troubleshooting |
| Resource Scalability | Easily scalable based on traffic needs | Limited scalability on lower-tier plans |
2. Features
Nexcess Delivers Advanced WordPress Features – Bluehost Falls Short
While many hosting providers claim to offer managed WordPress hosting, the level of management they provide can vary significantly. Nexcess and Bluehost demonstrate this difference clearly, even though both market and price their services as premium managed WordPress hosting solutions.
Nexcess goes above and beyond with features like AI-powered plugin management, which tests new plugin updates in a staging environment to detect issues before they affect your live site. If problems are identified, the updates are blocked. Nexcess also monitors your plugins over time and alerts you if any are causing performance issues.
Additionally, Nexcess offers unlimited free migrations handled by experienced professionals. No matter how complex your current WordPress setup is, the Nexcess team ensures smooth migrations with minimal downtime, addressing any security vulnerabilities they encounter during the process.
In contrast, Bluehost’s so-called “managed” WordPress hosting mainly consists of keeping WordPress and plugins updated and maintaining the server. These tasks, however, are standard for WordPress installations and shared hosting plans, making Bluehost’s offering fall far short of true managed hosting.
With such a significant gap in features, Nexcess easily wins this category. See the table below for a detailed comparison.
| Feature | Nexcess | Bluehost |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting Types | Managed hosting for WordPress, Magento, WooCommerce | Shared, VPS, Dedicated, and WordPress hosting |
| Storage | 15GB – 800GB SSD | Unlimited SSD |
| Free Domain | ✘ | ✔ |
| Free SSL Certificate | Yes | Yes |
| Number of websites | 1 – 250 sites | Unlimited |
| Bandwidth | 2TB – 10TB | Unmetered |
| Control Panel | Nexcess Client Portal | cPanel |
| Free CDN | Proprietary Edge CDN | Cloudflare CDN, Jetpack Image CDN |
| Money-Back Guarantee | 30 days | 30 days |
| Performance | Built-in caching, CDN, scalable resources | Caching on higher-tier plans, SSD storage |
| Uptime Guarantee | 99.99% | 99.9% |
| Ease of Use | Advanced tools, designed for professionals | User-friendly dashboard, drag-and-drop builder |
| Security Features | Automatic updates, SSL, malware monitoring | Free SSL, basic malware protection |
| Target Users | E-commerce sites, high-traffic websites | Beginners, small businesses, personal blogs |
| Price Range | Higher, for premium features | Affordable, with basic plans |
| Customer Support | 24/7 expert support with advanced technical help | 24/7 support, beginner-friendly assistance |
3. Performance
Nexcess Handles Heavy Traffic Better, While Bluehost May Leave Your Site Vulnerable
Both Nexcess and Bluehost use shared hosting platforms, but Nexcess leverages cloud technology to boost performance.
Nexcess employs several strategies to enhance site speed and reliability. It uses NGINX to cache commonly accessed content, allowing for faster delivery to visitors. Additionally, Nexcess offers auto-scaling of server resources, ensuring your site remains fast and accessible even during traffic surges. You even get 24 hours of auto-scaling for free each month.
Bluehost, on the other hand, provides basic optimization through server-level caching and the Jetpack plugin included in its plans. While these features improve caching and compression for WordPress files, Bluehost does not offer auto-scaling. This means a sudden spike in traffic could slow your site significantly or even cause downtime if your plan can’t handle the load.
In terms of infrastructure, Nexcess has 10 data centers across the US, Europe, and Australia. Bluehost, however, does not disclose details about its data centers, though it claims global coverage.
Nexcess backs its service with a “100% uptime” guarantee and compensates for downtime exceeding 15 minutes per year. In contrast, Bluehost does not provide a formal uptime guarantee, so compensation for downtime is unlikely.
When tested, both hosts delivered similar average response times. However, Nexcess’ free auto-scaling and uptime guarantee give it a clear edge in terms of reliability and flexibility. This category is another easy win for Nexcess!
For detailed performance test results, check out our expert reviews of Nexcess and Bluehost.
Page Performance of Nexcess
Page Performance of Bluehost
4. Ease of Use
User Interface
Nexcess: Custom-built control panel designed for advanced users, offering easy access to managed services and optimizations.
Bluehost: cPanel interface, which is widely used, simple, and user-friendly, especially for beginners.
Setup Process
Nexcess: Quick setup with pre-configured managed solutions, ideal for users with technical expertise.
Bluehost: One-click installation for WordPress and other platforms, making it easy for beginners to get started.
Hosting Provided
What Our Customers Have to Say?
Nexcess:
Excellent Performance – Customers praise Nexcess for its high uptime, fast speeds, and reliability, particularly for e-commerce sites and high-traffic websites.
Expert Support – Users appreciate the 24/7 expert support team, especially when dealing with complex hosting issues or technical setups.
Advanced Features – Many customers value the advanced features like built-in caching, automatic updates, and scalability for growing businesses.
Bluehost:
User-Friendly Interface – Customers frequently highlight Bluehost’s simple, easy-to-use interface, making it great for beginners and small websites.
Affordable Pricing – Users often mention the budget-friendly pricing, especially for entry-level hosting plans, as a key benefit for those on a tight budget.
Reliable Support – While not as specialized as Nexcess, many customers find Bluehost’s 24/7 support to be helpful, especially for basic troubleshooting and setup.
Advantage of Nexcess and Bluehost
| Nexcess | Bluehost |
|---|---|
| Optimized for speed with built-in caching, CDN, and advanced features | Decent performance, especially on higher-tier plans with SSD storage |
| 24/7 expert support with advanced technical assistance | 24/7 support with a focus on basic troubleshooting |
| Easily scalable for growing businesses and high-traffic websites | Scalable but with more manual upgrades required on certain plans |
| Fully managed hosting with automatic updates, backups, and security | Self-managed hosting with user control over updates and customizations |
| Advanced security features, including automatic updates and malware protection | Free SSL and basic security options, with more advanced features on higher plans |
Disadvantage of Nexcess and Bluehost
| Nexcess | Bluehost |
|---|---|
| Higher pricing, especially for advanced features and managed hosting | More expensive for higher-tier plans with advanced features |
| May be complex for beginners, with more technical setup required | Limited features on lower-tier plans and less flexibility for advanced setups |
| Focuses on managed hosting, which may not suit all users | Fewer managed options, making it less suitable for high-traffic or e-commerce sites |
| Best suited for e-commerce, may not be ideal for simple websites | Not as optimized for e-commerce or high-traffic websites |
| Highly customizable but can be difficult for users without technical expertise | Limited customization options on lower-tier plans, more flexibility with higher plans |
5. Support
Bluehost's Support Falls Short on Basics, While Nexcess Shines with Expert Assistance
Bluehost and Nexcess both offer round-the-clock customer service via a variety of channels. Nexcess offers support through live chat, phone, tickets, and email, while Bluehost provides assistance via live chat, phone, and select social media channels.
Bluehost also features a dedicated WordPress support team known as WP Live (or Blue Sky), though this service is not included with the entry-level Build plan. Access to WP Live begins with ticket support on the Grow plan and live chat on the Scale plan. Alternatively, WP Live can be purchased as an add-on with any hosting plan. This team goes beyond standard support, assisting with tasks like selecting themes and setting up WordPress elements, but it comes at a significant cost.
In contrast, Nexcess includes expert WordPress support at no additional charge. This raises the question: is Bluehost charging for “expertise” that Nexcess provides for free?
To evaluate this, we tested Nexcess’s U.S.-based phone support line. We asked for recommendations on plugins for a membership-based site—a query that requires some level of expertise. Not only did the Nexcess agent provide helpful guidance, but they also assisted in narrowing down the best options. This level of support is similar to what Bluehost’s premium WP Live promises, but with Nexcess, it’s included at no extra cost.
Although our call was unexpectedly disconnected before we received a complete answer, we were impressed by the agent’s knowledge. To further evaluate Nexcess, we tested its live chat by asking an unrelated question about switching a site to a different Nexcess data center.
This experience highlighted a key difference: while Bluehost struggles to answer basic queries without additional charges, Nexcess delivers comprehensive and expert support as part of its standard offering.
Nexcess:
Expert Support – Nexcess offers 24/7 customer support with highly trained experts, ideal for resolving complex issues, particularly for managed hosting services.
In-depth Knowledge – Support staff have in-depth knowledge of advanced hosting technologies, making it easier to address technical problems quickly.
Proactive Assistance – Nexcess provides proactive support, with monitoring and alerts for potential issues, helping to resolve problems before they affect the website.
Bluehost:
24/7 Support – Bluehost offers round-the-clock customer support via live chat and phone, suitable for general hosting inquiries and troubleshooting.
Beginner-Friendly – The support team is well-equipped to assist beginners with easy-to-follow solutions, making it ideal for those new to web hosting.
Knowledge Base – Bluehost has an extensive knowledge base and tutorials that help users solve common problems on their own without needing to contact support.
Bluehost’s Free Support Falls Short, Highlighting the Need for WP Live
It quickly became clear why WP Live exists—Bluehost’s free support lacks even a basic understanding of its own plans, let alone the expertise to assist with WordPress. When we asked how the WordPress hosting plans differ from shared hosting, the only response was that shared hosting supports other CMS platforms.
This response wasn’t just unhelpful—it was also slow. It took 10 minutes to get an initial reply from Bluehost support, with additional delays of several minutes for each follow-up. The entire process felt frustrating and inefficient, almost as if designed to steer users toward paying for WP Live.
Bluehost does offer a detailed knowledge base with user-friendly tutorials and annotated screenshots, which can help users troubleshoot common issues independently. However, while it promises video tutorials, the links we clicked often redirected to text-based guides instead.
By comparison, Nexcess offers a similarly extensive knowledge base paired with far more responsive and knowledgeable support agents. This combination makes it a superior choice for users seeking reliable guidance without unnecessary delays or extra fees. Yet another clear win for Nexcess.
6. Security
Nexcess Provides a Simpler and More Efficient Backup Solution
Both Nexcess and Bluehost offer essential security features, such as free SSL certificates with every plan, along with DDoS attack protection through Nexcess’ proprietary Edge CDN and Bluehost’s integration with Cloudflare CDN.
Each host also includes third-party services for added WordPress-specific security. Nexcess provides iThemes Security Pro, while Bluehost includes SiteLock (available for free only with managed WordPress plans). Both tools monitor and scan your files for vulnerabilities and malware, resolving any issues they detect.
In terms of backups, Nexcess provides on-demand backups in addition to daily automatic backups that are stored for 30 days. In contrast, Bluehost includes CodeGuard Basic with its managed WordPress plans, offering daily automatic backups but no option for manual backups
While you can manually back up your site via cPanel with Bluehost, the process is slower and less intuitive compared to Nexcess’ simple one-click backup solution. This makes Nexcess the more efficient choice for backups, giving it the edge over Bluehost in this area.
| Security Feature | Nexcess | Bluehost |
|---|---|---|
| SSL Certificates | Free SSL included with all plans | Free SSL included with all plans |
| Malware Protection | Advanced malware scanning and protection | Basic malware protection on higher plans |
| Automatic Updates | Automatic updates for security patches and software | Available on higher-tier plans |
| Firewalls | Advanced server-side firewalls | Basic firewalls included on all plans |
Final Recommendations
| Best For | Nexcess | Bluehost |
|---|---|---|
| Best for E-commerce | Ideal for high-traffic, resource-intensive e-commerce sites (e.g., WooCommerce, Magento) | Suitable for small to medium-sized e-commerce websites, especially on WooCommerce |
| Best for Beginners | Best for users with technical expertise looking for a managed solution | Great for beginners due to its easy-to-use interface and basic hosting options |
| Best for Scalability | Excellent for growing businesses needing advanced features and resources | Good for small businesses but may require manual upgrades for larger-scale needs |
| Best for Budget | Higher cost but justified by premium features and expert support | Affordable for those on a tight budget, with flexible pricing and basic features |
| Overall | High performance with built-in caching, CDN, and optimized resources | Adequate performance for small websites and blogs, but may struggle under heavy traffic |
Frequently Asked Questions
Nexcess specializes in managed hosting for high-performance websites like e-commerce, offering advanced features and expert support, while Bluehost is more beginner-friendly, offering affordable shared hosting and a simple user interface for smaller websites.
Nexcess is better for e-commerce, with optimized solutions for platforms like WooCommerce, Magento, and high-traffic sites, providing advanced features like caching, CDN, and expert support.
Bluehost is more suitable for beginners, with an easy-to-use cPanel, simple setup process, and plenty of resources for learning and troubleshooting.
Nexcess offers expert-level 24/7 customer support with a focus on complex hosting issues, while Bluehost offers general 24/7 support that is more accessible for beginners.
Nexcess tends to be more expensive, with premium pricing for managed hosting and advanced features, while Bluehost offers more affordable plans, particularly for shared hosting.
Yes, Nexcess offers managed WordPress hosting with optimized performance, security, and expert support, ideal for WordPress sites requiring high uptime and performance.
Nexcess guarantees 99.99% uptime with robust infrastructure, while Bluehost offers a reliable 99.9% uptime, suitable for smaller websites but slightly lower than Nexcess.
Nexcess is better for scalability, providing easily adjustable plans for high-traffic websites and growing businesses, while Bluehost’s plans are scalable but may require manual upgrades.
Yes, both Nexcess and Bluehost offer free SSL certificates with all their hosting plans.
Nexcess provides advanced security features, including daily backups, malware protection, and automatic updates, while Bluehost offers basic security, with more advanced options available on higher-tier plans.
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