Siteground vs Bluehost: Know Which One We Prefer?
We put these Webhosts to the test to find out which is the best!
We published quite a few web hosting comparisons in recent times- Bluehost vs. GoDaddy, Namecheap vs. Bluehost, SiteGround vs. InMotion, and DreamHost vs.Bluehost.
All of those had an obvious winner because we were comparing a recommended host with a non-recommended one.
This time, we decided to spice it up. We will be comparing two of our favorite web hosts in India, SiteGround and Bluehost. Coincidentally, these two are among the only three web hosts WordPress recommends officially.
To start off, we’d like to say, “you can’t go wrong with either.” Yet one can be better than the other if a particular segment of the hosting is compared. And that’s precisely what we’ll do. Further, you’ll see SiteGround vs. Bluehost comparison based on its features. ease of use, performance, customer support, and pricing.
The last section will decide the winner here; until then, it’s going to be very close!
How do these compare?
Vendor |  |  |
|---|---|---|
Features | 10/10 | 9/10 |
Ease of use | 10/10 | 10/10 |
Performance | 10/10 | 9/10 |
Support | 10/10 | 9/10 |
Value for money | 9/10 | 10/10 |
Cell |
SiteGround vs. Bluehost: Features
It goes without saying that both these giants of hosting companies have all the essential features covered. But sometimes, one might need an extra feature, which one provider has and the other doesn’t. That alone can be a deciding factor. Sure, both hosts have value-added features, but which one’s are better? Let’s find out.
SiteGround
We have always considered SiteGround amongst the features-rich web hosts in the market. It’s evident from our SiteGround review. Why? Because even on its cheapest packages, SiteGround offers the following features:
- Free automatic backups
- Free site migration
- Free SSL certificate
- Free CDN
- Free professional email accounts
- Free website builder
- Top-notch security
- WordPress-optimization: AutoUpdates, WP-CLI enabled, etc.
- Plenty of high-performance storage
- Multiple data centers: Asia, USA, UK, Australia, Germany, and Europe
- Support for all popular CMS including WordPress, Joomla, Magento, and more
- Unmetered traffic
- 30-day money-back guarantee
The value-added features here are awesome — both in the quantity you get and the quality & usability of the features.
Bluehost
Bluehost has all the needed features and decent value-added ones. From what we see & they advertise, it’s features are more relevant to first-time users. The features included with Bluehost’s base plan are:
- Free domain name
- More than needed storage
- Free SSL certificate
- Free site builder
- Free email accounts
- Unlimited bandwidth
- WordPress-optimization
- WordPress staging
- Multiple data centers across the UK, USA, India, China, etc.
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Overall, Bluehost, too, has some fantastic features included, but how does it compare with SiteGround?
Verdict
Both SiteGround and Bluehost pack numerous features alongside the usual storage, bandwidth, etc. Bluehost offers a free domain, which SiteGround doesn’t. But, on the other hand, SiteGround helps you migrate your website for free; plus, it offers free daily backups & comparatively better security.
If only for features, we’d recommend Bluehost if you are a complete beginner because you won’t have any site transfer requirements, and you’ll get a free domain for the first year. Otherwise,
Winner: SiteGround
SiteGround vs Bluehost: Ease of use
Both hosting companies’ target audience is anyone and everyone looking to build a website(s). Meaning, anybody — a tech-savvy person or a tech-illiterate person — can buy it. Therefore, it becomes essential for the hosting company to keep it very user-friendly. Here’s how we perceive Bluehost and Siteground on the “ease of use” scale:
SiteGround
Signing up with SiteGround is straightforward. Just select the plan, add the details, choose your preferred data center, and pay.
On logging in, the first page you see is a dashboard. From there, you can manage your SiteGround account, basically. E.g., Changing the payment details, renewing domains bought through SiteGround, etc.
For the control of hosting/website, you need to click on “Go to Admin Panel”. This will direct you to the SiteGround control panel. In our opinion, it is much more intuitive than the widely-used cPanel. The UX is well thought out, and no functionality is left behind. Moreover, the UI is undoubtedly better than the bloated-looking cPanel.
SiteGround’s implementation of the control panel is quite possibly the best in the commercial hosting market.
Bluehost
The signing up process of Bluehost is more or less similar to SiteGround. You need to uncheck a couple of upsell items, but that’s about it.
The dashboard UI is a bit different from SiteGround, but the functionalities are the same — managing domains, plans, and the account in general.
As for the control panel, Bluehost uses a customized version of cPanel, which is much better on the eye than the traditional cPanel. Moreover, you have all the functionalities you’d find on any cPanel, including one-click installs, domain management, email management, files manager, databases, etc.
Furthermore, Bluehost has many tutorials for beginners to go through and set up a perfect website. And it offering a free domain is also an indication of the emphasis on beginner-friendliness.
Verdict
Adding a free domain in the package and having numerous tutorials (for beginners) on the internet, alongside great UI/UX, makes Bluehost a user-friendly hosting option. At the same time, SiteGround is also no less. Its UI/UX is perhaps the best in the market, making it an equally easy to use provider.
Winner: Both
Siteground vs Bluehost: Performance
Vendor | | |
|---|---|---|
Uptime | 100% | 99.99% |
Server response time | 125 ms | 155 ms |
Loading time | 500 ms | 400 ms |
The first section was facts-based, and the second section had a bit of subjectivity. The third section, i.e., this one, is purely objective. The performance of a host is a major decision-factor while filtering hosting options. In fact, it’s our top priority when recommending one.
Given that we recommend both SiteGround and Bluehost, this one’s going to be too close.
SiteGround
SiteGround’s average server response time measured 125 ms, in our testing using the Bitcatcha tool.
As for the loading speed, it took between 500-550 ms to load a single, text-only web page on the base Siteground shared plan’s server. When tried with concurrent viewers, it didn’t flinch much — this proves the server’s stability and low-density.
The uptime stood at the ideal 100%. It’s quite literally among the most reliable hosts.
Bluehost
Bluehost’s average server response time is approximately 155 ms.
The time it took to load a simple web page was in the 400-450 ms range. However, when concurrent visitors were pushed to the Siteground range, loading time increased to ~650 ms.
As for uptime, it averaged 99.99% in our experiment. It’s among the best uptimes we have measured — not quite 100%, but just one less outage away from it.
Verdict
Though the loading time measured without any concurrent viewers was better on Bluehost, SiteGround has the upper hand in almost every other aspect, as far as performance metrics go. Bluehost’s base plan is easily recommendable for low-traffic sites, but overall, from a performance perspective-
Winner: SiteGround
P.S. The recommended server response time is under 200 ms, and loading time should be under 1 s. Both performed excellently if we look from this standpoint.
SiteGround vs Bluehost: Customer Support
Vendor | | |
|---|---|---|
Support options | 24/7 live chat, emails, and phone support | 24/7 live chat, emails, and phone support |
Knowledge base | Yes | Yes |
Quality of response | 10/10 | 10/10 |
A quality customer support team is as essential as any other thing in a service business. If anything goes wrong with the server — maybe your site’s down, or someone hacked it — that’s where you’ll go. Therefore, the support agents need to be quick & knowledgeable enough to solve your problems. And those are the two factors we check, alongside “professionalism.”
SiteGround
SiteGround is known for its customer support, especially for its WordPress support. And our experience with them made us realize why it is so.
First of all, Siteground offers all the support options any hosting company does. This includes 24/7 live chat, phone support, email support, a well-rounded knowledge base, and even social media support.
Most of our interactions with SiteGround support was through live chat. And in our experience, the support agent connected with us quickly (a mere few seconds). Plus, as advertised, all the support agents we chatted with were experts by knowledge and professional & friendly in interaction sense. Most of our queries got solved in a single interaction within a few minutes.
Bluehost
The Bluehost support team is also good. The support options include live chat, phone support, email support, and knowledge base.
Our communication experience via live chat was excellent. Firstly, the initial response time was under a minute. The support agents we were connected to were professionals. However, occasionally, they had to transfer the chat to other agents. Eventually, the queries were always solved, though.
Verdict
Our experience with SiteGround’s customer support has been the smoothest amongst all the web hosting providers we have dealt with. Bluehost’s support is also great, but SiteGround is a bit faster and hassle-free.
Winner: SiteGround
SiteGround vs Bluehost: Pricing
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|---|
Introductory pricing (of base plan) $6.99/mo |
Renewal pricing: $14.99/mo |
Money-back guarantee 30 days |
VS
|
|---|
Introductory pricing (of base plan) $2.95/mo |
Renewal pricing: $7.99/mo |
Money-back guarantee 30 days |
Everyone wants to buy the best possible product/service. However, there’s this little thing called “budget” that affects the buying decision. From what we’ve discussed till now, you definitely want to buy SiteGround’s plan, but does your budget allow it? Let’s find out.
SiteGround
SiteGround’s shared plans start at $6.99/month for a 12-month tenure. This plan can only host one website. To host more websites, extra space, and more bandwidth, the other plans - GrowBig at $9.99/month and GoGeek for $14.99/month are available.
It also has cloud hosting plans starting at $80/month if you want to look into high-performance options.
Bluehost
Bluehost’s base shared package costs $3.95/month for a 36-month period. The 12-month plan will cost $7.99/month. The Plus, Choice Plus, and Pro plans are priced at $5.95/month, $5.95/month, and $13.95/month.
Bluehost also has VPS, dedicated, and other hosting plans if you are looking for more & better options.
Verdict
If you want to buy a web hosting package for one year only, SiteGround is undoubtedly a better value. However, if you can afford a long-term contract, Bluehost’s price is better. In short, both are bang for the buck web hosts. However, if we had to choose one...
Winner: Bluehost
SiteGround vs. Bluehost: Conclusion
The Winner Is - SiteGround
If budget is not a concern of yours or you want a web hosting for less than a year, we would recommend SiteGround on any given day. Moreover, if you know or feel your site will have a decent amount of concurrent visitors, SiteGround is an overall better choice.
But, as we mentioned, there’s always a budget for things, especially if it’s a business expense. And if that budget doesn’t allow you to purchase a SiteGround plan, Bluehost is a fantastic alternative.
Either way, both are value for money web hosting providers, in our opinion. SiteGround used to cost a lot less, and at that time, SiteGround might have been a clear recommendation.
However, as the situation stands, we recommend both. The choice depends on your budget.
Total Score: 10/10
SiteGround Pros
Starts from
$3.95
per month
• Uptime 99.99%
• Free SSL Certificate
•Officially recommended by WordPress