Are you struggling to make a decision between SiteGround vs. Bluehost? Both web hosting providers are well-known and have their own unique perks.
In our review of SiteGround vs. Bluehost, we compare how the top options measure up based on user reviews, customer service, additional features and offerings, pricing, and range of hosting options. Read on to learn more about these popular services and find out which one is best for your needs.
Featured Partners
1
Bluehost
$2.95 per month
Unmetered bandwidth, SSD storage starts at 10GB
Free domain name & SSL for a year
2
HostGator
$2.75 per month (for first 36 months)
30 days
Free SSL certificate, free website transfer
3
Web.com
$2.75 per month
Yes
Customizable templates, Easy drag-and-drop technology, SSL certificate
Bluehost vs. SiteGround: At a Glance
SiteGround and Bluehost are both powerhouses within the web hosting industry. Bluehost is known for working well with WordPress and touts a user-friendly interface for newbies to web hosting. While SiteGround is also a web host that is recommended by WordPress, it’s more known for its speed and customer support than for being beginner-friendly.
Bluehost
Starting price
$2.95
per month on an annual basis
Money-back guarantee
30-day
Uptime guarantee
99.99%
$2.95
per month on an annual basis
30-day
99.99%
- Affordable hosting plans
- Unlimited storage and bandwidth on most plans
- Custom, beginner-friendly hosting dashboard
- Does not offer cloud hosting
- Does not offer automatic backups or system updates
- Rudimentary security features
SiteGround
Starting price
$2.99
per month
Money-back guarantee
30-day
Uptime guarantee
99.99%
$2.99
per month
30-day
99.99%
- Exceptional speed
- Robust hosting features like free daily backups
- Great customer support
- Does not offer VPS hosting
- Hosting plans are more expensive
- Storage capped at 40 GB
How These Web Hosting Services Stack Up
| Bluehost | SiteGround | |
|---|---|---|
|
Website Builder
|
Bluehost hosting plans come with access to their proprietary website builder that integrates with WordPress. This drag-and-drop builder is a great option for beginners.
|
SiteGround customers can use the popular Weebly site builder for free. This is an easy-to-use, beginner-friendly builder that excels, particularly in e-commerce.
|
|
Speed
|
Bluehost is adequately fast and reliable with a 99.99% uptime. But it lacks the overall speed that SiteGround offers.
|
SiteGround takes the lead in this arena. This web host has an advanced built-in caching system that helps make your websites load faster. It’s also able to handle more web traffic steadily.
|
|
Security
|
Bluehost users get free SSL certificates, spam protection and easy Cloudflare integration. You can purchase additional security features at a discounted price, such as SiteLock’s web application firewall (WAF).
|
In addition to what Bluehost offers, SiteGround users also get WAF, a real-time monitoring system, artificial intelligence (AI) antibot system and free daily backups. Between the two web hosts, SiteGround offers more than just the basics.
|
|
Ease of Use
|
Bluehost is known for being beginner-friendly with an intuitive dashboard that makes set-up simple. Experienced users can still choose to access the control panel if they prefer.
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Also great for beginners, SiteGround has a dashboard with tips and steps for website setup, navigation and management.
|
|
Hosting Options
|
Bluehost offers shared hosting, virtual private server (VPS) hosting, dedicated hosting, WordPress hosting and e-commerce hosting options.
|
SiteGround offers shared hosting, cloud hosting, dedicated hosting, WordPress hosting and e-commerce hosting options. They also offer a reseller hosting plan for businesses.
|
|
Hosting Features
|
Both SiteGround and Bluehost offer staging areas, but only Bluehost offers free staging even in its most basic plan. Bluehost also offers a free domain for a year, while SiteGround does not.
|
SiteGround offers automatic updates for WordPress software and automatic daily backups of your websites. Higher-tiered hosting plans also offer website staging.
|
|
Customer Support
|
Bluehost offers both 24/7 live chat and phone support. Getting in touch with a customer service representative is nearly instantaneous, but the general consensus is that you may not resolve your issue as quickly or get as thorough of an answer as you would from a SiteGround customer service rep.
There is also a knowledge base that covers popular topics like WordPress, domains, emails, control panel and account settings.
|
For immediate help, there is 24/7 live chat and phone support if the issue is best addressed on the phone. SiteGround customer service representatives are very knowledgeable and quick to answer questions and troubleshoot problems. |
|
Website Migration
|
Users will need to manually migrate websites. A premium migration service can be purchased to move up to five websites for $149.99.
|
Use the free SiteGround Migrator plugin to make website migration easier. Higher-tiered plans also offer progressional website migration services.
|
|
Read our Bluehost Review
|
Read our SiteGround Review
|
Bluehost is a reliable web hosting option that’s easy to use but falls short in nearly every category of our comparison chart. Bluehost has all of the basics you’d expect from a web host at an affordable price. SiteGround, on the other hand, takes it just one step further in each category.
For example, SiteGround offers a free website migration plug-in to make moving websites easier while Bluehost only offers a paid professional service. While Bluehost offers free secure socket layers (SSLs) and spam protection, SiteGround offers a whole suite of security protections.
Bluehost vs. SiteGround: Which One Is Better?
When you stack up all the features and categories of each web host, SiteGround is an attractive option—particularly when it comes to speed, security and customer support. There are also more features available that may attract the more advanced user.
But, with more features comes a greater price tag. New customers are introduced at a promotional rate and will auto-renew at the regular rate. Bluehost’s most basic plan is $9.99 per month after introductory pricing while SiteGround’s most basic plan is more expensive at $7.99 per month.
The more expensive price tag is justified when you see that SiteGround offers more and outperforms in multiple areas of web hosting.
When To Pick Bluehost
If your business doesn’t sell products or services online or anticipate a lot of web traffic, you may be better off choosing Bluehost. Although their speed and security aren’t as robust, those categories do not matter as much if your website will be purely informational or if you’re just testing out the waters.
Another reason you may choose Bluehost is if your business has very high website storage requirements. Bluehost offers unlimited storage on most of their plans, while SiteGround caps out at 40 GB.
Featured Partners
1
Bluehost
$2.95 per month
Unmetered bandwidth, SSD storage starts at 10GB
Free domain name & SSL for a year
2
HostGator
$2.75 per month (for first 36 months)
30 days
Free SSL certificate, free website transfer
3
Web.com
$2.75 per month
Yes
Customizable templates, Easy drag-and-drop technology, SSL certificate
When To Pick SiteGround
In business, web page load time matters. Having a speedy website provides a better customer experience, especially when shopping for products or services. Having a higher web page load time can also help improve your website’s search engine optimization (SEO) rank.
SiteGround offers more security features that businesses are likely to appreciate—like extra security protections and automatic daily backups. Having stellar customer support available also makes SiteGround a less intimidating choice for people new to building, migrating or managing a website. Great customer support can make all the difference.
Bottom Line
Although Bluehost is well-known for being the beginner-friendly choice, SiteGround offers an intuitive dashboard with helpful tips and a top-tier customer support team. If you’re new to web hosting, you should still fare well with SiteGround. Ultimately, the right fit for you will come down to your budget as well as what features you need in your hosting service.
