Wondering which Bluehost hosting plan is best for you?
If your answer is yes, then read on to learn everything about Bluehost plan and packages. Also, look at the FAQ’s at the end before purchasing your desired plan.
Until last year, Bluehost has only one shared hosting plan & recently Bluehost added 3 different shared hosting plan which gives us more options to pick from and also save our money.
In this guide, I have shared which shared hosting plan from Bluehost you should choose.
To start with, head over to Bluehost site and check out their existing shared hosting plans.
In 2019, Bluehost offers Basic; Plus and Choice plus shared hosting packages. Plus is the most popular one because it’s completely valued for money. However, you should pick the Bluehost plan according to your need.
If you don’t need the details,
Here is my suggestion for you to quickly pick the right package for you.
- Running only one site: Pick Basic Package
- Running more than one site: Pick Plus package
- Need SSL and dedicated I.P: Pick Prime/Choice plus package
While selecting the right package here, make sure you think about your future plans as well, as if you land with Starter now and want to upgrade to Plus package later, you will end up paying more than you should.
A Definite Guide to Bluehost Shared hosting packages
Before I share the difference between Bluehost Basic, Plus and Choice plus plan, have a look at below image. The below screenshot will give an overview of all the three packages, and later I will explain every package in detail.
Basic Package:
This is the smallest and cheapest shared hosting package you can buy from Bluehost. This is indeed a good package which is a feature rich and cost only $2.95/month for 3 years package with this special sign-up link.
This package allows you to host one website, and this is one reason I recommend my readers to opt for Plus package, as they allow to host multiple websites. Basic Bluehost package offers 50Gb bandwidth/month that is more than enough for you to run your website on shared hosting. Starter package doesn’t come with Cloudflare CDN offered by Bluehost, but you can always directly signup for Cloudflare and integrate free CDN.
This will help you to reduce the bandwidth of your hosting account by a great extent. You should choose a Basic package only when you are planning to host only one website and have no plans for adding more sites in the future. In case if you have more plans, check out the next package.
Plus package (Most popular one):
This is my favourite and most popular package on Bluehost. Pro package is feature-rich and offers everything that starter package offers + up tp 10 website hosting + free marketing coupons worth $150+ free CDN. These marketing coupons are usually free AdWords Coupon, Facebook Ads Coupon that you can use to market your website. This package also comes with 1 free domain which will save extra money for you.
Price for this package is $5.95/month with this discount link (Usually $9.99/month). If you are looking for one recommendation from me, I will recommend the plus package for you. As this is value for money and you should consider buying it for minimum 2 or 3 years term to save a lot on your hosting bill. (Bluehost coupon is valid only on the first bill, there is no discount on renewals).
Read: How to add the extra domain to your Bluehost account
Prime package: (Also known as Choice plus)
This package is targeted to those who are hosting their site on shared hosting and looking for extra features. This hosting package is recommended for those who need a dedicated I.P and SSL certificate. Do remember SSL is now a search engine ranking factor and if you are running an E-commerce website you should have an SSL certificate on your website (HTTPS).
Along with the free domain, you will also get free who.is guard which will hide your domain contact details to the world.
You should watch below video to learn what Who.is guard is:
Conclusion: Which Bluehost Shared Hosting Package is best for you:
If you are planning to buy the starter Bluehost package, I would recommend grabbing the Prime package as the price difference is minimal and in the future, if you want to host more than one website, you don’t have to spend money on web hosting.
Grab your Bluehost Shared hosting package
FAQ’s:
Can you upgrade your Bluehost Plan?
Yes, you can always upgrade your plan at any time from your Bluehost dashboard or you can ask the customer support. However, it would be better if you pick the right plan from day one as when you upgrade the Bluehost plan, you will not get the discounted pricing.
You will be charged regular pricing which adds up a lot of costs. If you are not sure which Bluehost plan to buy, then simply pick Plus plan which is idle for hosting unlimited websites.
Can you change your hosting plan?
Yes, you can anytime upgrade or even downgrade your Bluehost hosting plan.
How long will it take to get my website online with Bluehost?
Bluehost instantly set up your hosting account as you finish the purchase. They also install WordPress on your primary domain which you can also remove if you wish to use any other platform.
Does Bluehost charge monthly or all at once?
Bluehost currently doesn’t let us pay monthly. They do offer the option to buy hosting for 1,2,3 and 5 years term.
What is the difference between Bluehost basic vs plus?
The major difference between Basic and plus package is; basic let you host only one website and Plus let you host multiple websites. Another significant difference is, the Basic package offers only 50GB of space whereas Plus package offers unlimited space.
How much does a Bluehost domain cost?
The first domain name is free and if you wish to buy the domain name from Bluehost, it will cost $11.99.
What is marketing offers in Bluehost? (Bluehost marketing credits)
You will get $25 promotional code for AdWords at the time of signup. Once you have spent it, you will get an additional $100 promotional code for marketing your website.
Apart from AdWords, you will also get marketing credits of:
- $25 in Yahoo Search credits
- $25 Bing Search credits
- Free search engine submission
Which is the best Bluehost plan for WordPress?
All the plans on Bluehost are optimized for WordPress. As Plus package offers unlimited domain hosting and space, and only $2 costlier than the base plan, it’s better to get this for 2 or 3 years term.
Just so you know, every plan offers:
- Free SSL
- WordPress tools
- Instant WordPress installation (Free)
- One domain name
If you have never before purchased hosting, here is the guide to help you buy web hosting from Bluehost.
Do you have any question? Feel free to ask via comments. Don’t forget to share this tutorial with others on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Latest posts by Harsh Agrawal (see all)
- Does Bluehost Offer Monthly Payment Plan or All At once? - September 5, 2023
- Which Bluehost Shared Hosting Plan Is Best For You - January 6, 2023
- Bluehost Coupon Code: Latest Promo & Special Discounts [Save 67% off] - January 5, 2023
sam says
Hi Harsh. I am looking for bluehost shared plus review. i already added my domain on bluehost plus plan. then i am looking for review. and i found your post. thank you for helpful review.
kalol says
Nice i will upgrade to bluhost now from blogger
Vk Verma says
How much visitors, Plus plan can handle in a day…..
Lily says
Can you do a the WordPress Hosting plan comparison for both Hostgator and Bluehost?
Harsh Agrawal says
@Lily
Sure will do in the coming days.
maggysterner says
when i click on the link in your article, the server space is only 50GB for the starter plan NOT 100GB. is that right?
Harsh Agrawal says
@Maggy
They have updated their plans & thanks for letting me know. I have updated the article with new data. 🙂
rashmi sharma says
Even I noticed the same and now I am confused between plus and prime. Which one do you suggest
Harsh Agrawal says
@Rashmi
Go for their Prime package as it costs the same as their pro package for now.
Use this link to get discount
Paul says
I am confused by the difference between these shared hosting plans which are very inexpensive and Blue’s “optimized WP hosting”, which more than doubles the price….any advice as to what the difference is and if its worth the cost?
Jit says
I have seen wordpress hosting and shared hosting plans. Which one should I buy? I want to create a wordpress blog.
Harsh Agrawal says
@Jit
Start with shared hosting plan.
Yogesh says
I am using hospapa and some times face 500 error when i try to open 2-3 WordPress back-end links at a time. Will that be resolved if i use bluehost?
Harsh Agrawal says
@Yogesh
Before you change your hosting, I would suggest you to follow following steps:
1) Add a cache mechanism. if you using WordPress, use WP Super cache.
2) Filter spam traffic. You can use Cloudflare & it’s free. Here is the guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-ZwIwWBvjU
3) Optimize your database
If this doesn’t solve your issue on current hosting, than moving to Bluehost is idle choice.
Sue Kim says
I bought the basic plan but is there any way to change it to plus?
niraj says
Hey Harsh ,
i have basic shared plan from bluehost plan for making a travel blog.
1) I am not sure how many pics can i save on the hosting without hitting the limits.
2) Should i store my pics on google drive and link it to the ebsite via gdurl.com ?
Harsh Agrawal says
@Niraj
This should help you: http://www.shoutmeloud.com/host-blog-images.html
Swalfd says
Hi Harsh, thanks for all the input.
1. I’ve seen on another page that bluehost doesn’t offer online-chat, is it true?
2. Do i understand correctly that only “pro” hosting offers an automated backup function for files and databases?
Thanks again
Dre says
While the basics were covered just fine you failed to mention the options when signing up for the “plus” package for example. There’s plenty of add-ons in the checkout that can be confusing to just about any new user.
Nee says
Hi, I am on Plus Hosting and according to the specs I should have a $200 marketing credit available to me. When I got into my account, there’s $100 on Google Adwords, $50 on Bing Yahoo and $50 on WooTheme. However, as I do not reside in U.S, I could not use the credits at all for Adwords and Bing. There are all wasted. Are there any way I can convert them to other credits?
Harsh Agrawal says
@Nee
That’s a big limitation for non U.S. users like you & me. We can’t take advantage of these free credits.
Pronob says
Hey Harsh, I am thinking of buying the plus package.But I have a question that if I parked 2-3 website in one package, will my server become slower than before or not?And how will I move these 2-3 sites on a different hosting company if I need later?
Harsh Agrawal says
@Pronob
That’s an interesting question. You can park as many domains as you want & it won’t slow down your server. That’s one major benefit of shared hosting.
Tageas says
Hi,
I am trying to set up a WordPress website for my small bed and breakfast and am wondering what would be the best hosting plan for me? Plus or Business Pro?
Harsh Agrawal says
@Tageas
You should get there Prime package. For now it’s costing the same.
wrestling culture says
I bought the basic plan but is there any way to change it to plus?
Harsh Agrawal says
Yes, you can upgrade Bluehost basic plan to Plus by contacting the support or by opening a support ticket.
OLUSANYA says
Quite handy,
However I have a question,
Does it matter the denomination my debit card bears, to pay for the package?
In other words, I have a Naira card, must I use a dollar card?
Thanks
Harsh Agrawal says
Your Naira will be converted into USD for the payment as long as it allows international payment. Bank conversion charges apply here.
Valery says
Hello Harsh,
I am a beginner and happy to have come across your article, although I found it helpful I’m still a little indecisive. I purchased 2 domains with the intent of one website being a blog and the other as a business website. Since I will have 2 different sites would it be best for me to go for Plus instead of 2 Basic plans?
Harsh Agrawal says
@Valery
That’s right. You should pick plus package.
Tanshi says
Hello Harsh,
The article is quite useful but i have a question…
Will I be able to earn money with the basic plan??
Harsh Agrawal says
@Tanshi
yes, you can monetize your website anyways you like with this plan.