Bluehost

Introduction

Bluehost is one of the largest web hosts in the world and one of the hosting providers officially recommended by WordPress. It is known for beginner-friendly shared and WordPress hosting with a simple setup and a low entry price.

Who it suits

Bluehost fits a first-time site owner who wants a well-known, easy option and whose audience is international rather than strictly South African. Its guided WordPress setup makes it approachable for people who have never built a site before.

What you get

  • Beginner-friendly shared and managed WordPress hosting.
  • A free domain for the first year and free SSL on most plans.
  • Guided WordPress installation and a simple dashboard.
  • 24/7 support and a large global infrastructure.

Pricing

Bluehost is priced in US dollars, with introductory shared plans from around 3 US dollars a month on longer terms, renewing higher afterwards. Check the current promotional and renewal prices, and the rand cost at today’s rate, before committing.

Our take

Bluehost is cheap and easy to start with, but its servers are overseas, so a South African visitor will usually experience slower load times than on a local host. If your audience is mainly here at home, a local option such as Host Africa will serve them faster. Bluehost makes more sense if your customers are largely international.

See current pricing and plans

Related: Top web hosting for SMEs  ·  Host Africa  ·  Technology explained

Main Features

WordPress Integration: Automatic WordPress installation with managed updates and staging environments.

Storage and Uptime: NVMe SSD storage (ranging from 10 GB on basic tiers to 100 GB+) and a 99.99% Uptime SLA.

Website Builder: Users get access to an intuitive drag-and-drop editor or artificial intelligence (AI) site creation tools for users without technical expertise.

Custom Domain: Free domain registration included for the first year.

Professional Email: You receive a domain-branded email addresses (with Google Workspace integration) to establish corporate credibility.

SEO Tools: Built-in Yoast SEO integration to optimise site visibility and search engine ranking.

Pricing

Bluehost has three priced plans available for SMEs.

Starter Plan – $4.99 per month on the 12-month option, renews at $11.99 per month or $3.99 per month on the 36-month option, renews at $9.99 per month. The Starter plan features:

  • 10 websites
  • 10GB NVMe storage
  • ~40k monthly visits
  • Free domain (1st year)
  • 24/7 chat support

Business Plan – $7.99 per month on the 12-month option, renews at $15.99 per month or $6.99 per month on the 36-month option, renews at $13.99 per month. The Business plan features:

  • 10 websites
  • 10GB NVMe storage
  • ~40k monthly visits
  • Free domain (1st year)
  • 24/7 chat support

E-commerce Essentials Plan – $15.99 per month on the 12-month option, renews at $23.99 per month or $14.99 per month on the 36-month option, renews at $21.99 per month. The E-commerce Essentials plan features:

  • 100 websites
  • 100GB NVMe storage
  • WooCommerce included
  • Free domain + SSL + CDN
  • Malware scan & removal
  • Domain privacy (1yr)
  • Pro Email free trial
  • 24/7 chat + phone support

All plans include: 99.99% Uptime SLA, Weekly Website Backup, AI Site Creation, Multi-site Management, Plugins Management, Yoast SEO, Malware Scanning & Removal, Free WP Migration, Free SSL, Seamless Updates, and Pro Email free trial.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Easy-to-use for beginners
Free domain
Weekly website backup

Cons

Higher domain renewal price.
Dynamic pricing increases
FAQs

Yes, Bluehost is a beginner-friendly platform. They offer a user-friendly interface, one-click WordPress installation, and 24/7 customer support to guide you through the setup process.

Bluehost boasts a 99.9% uptime guarantee. This means you can expect minimal downtime for your website.

Bluehost offers paid backup options. While some plans might include basic backups, comprehensive backup solutions are often add-ons. Make sure to factor potential backup costs into your overall hosting budget.

Bluehost offers e-commerce solutions like WooCommerce integration. However, the level of e-commerce functionality might not be as comprehensive as what specialized e-commerce hosting platforms provide. Consider your online store’s needs before choosing Bluehost.

Bluehost offers a website migration tool, but user reviews on its effectiveness can be mixed. If migrating a complex website, consider professional migration services or choose a provider with a more robust migration solution.

Compare Quotes

Already a Member? Click here to access your unique redemption code

OR

Join the SME Hub Community in 30 seconds to qualify

Lead - Web Hosting