Bluehost is one of the most popular hosting providers in the market. They offer affordable hosting plans with good speed and uptime, along with 24/7 customer support. However, there are no perfect hosts, and in the case of Bluehost, some security features are locked behind a paywall and they don’t offer free site transfers—at least on their lower tier plans.
With that said, we’ve looked at several Bluehost alternatives that might be better for you—A2 Hosting and WP Engine. Just like Bluehost, these hosting providers are far from perfect, but they have exclusive features that might appeal more to you.
Bluehost Alternatives Comparison Chart
| Bluehost | A2 Hosting | WP Engine | |
| Â |  |  |  |
| Price | Check Price at Bluehost.com | Check Price at A2Hosting.com | Check Price at WPEngine.com |
| Hosting Plans | Shared, WordPress, VPS, Dedicated and Reseller Hosting | Shared, WordPress, Reseller, VPS, Cloud and Dedicated Server Hosting | Managed WordPress |
| Shared hosting Sites | Basic: 1 Plus: Unlimited Choice Plus: Unlimited Pro: Unlimited | Startup: 1 Drive: Unlimited Turbo Boost: Unlimited Turbo Max: Unlimited | n/a |
| Shared hosting Storage | Basic: 50GB Plus: Unlimited Choice Plus: Unlimited Pro: Unlimited | Startup: 100GB Drive: Unlimited Turbo Boost: Unlimited Turbo Max: Unlimited | n/a |
| Shared hosting Bandwidth | Unmetered | Unmetered | n/a |
| Managed WP Sites | Build: 1 Grow: 1 Scale: 1 | 1-Site: 1 3-Sites: 3 Unlimited: Unlimited | Startup: 1 Growth: 10 Scale: 30 Custom: 30 |
| Managed WP Storage | Build: 20GB Grow: 40GB Scale: 80GB | 1-Site: 10GB 3-Sites: 25GB Unlimited: 40GB | Startup: 10GB Growth: 20GB Scale: 50GB Custom: 100GB-1TB |
| Managed WP Bandwidth | Build: 50,000 Grow: 150,000 Scale: 500,000 | Unmetered | Startup: 25,000 Growth: 100,000 Scale: 400,000 Custom: – |
| Free SSL | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Free Domain | Yes | No | No |
| Free Site Migration | Shared: No Managed WordPress: Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Uptime Guarantee | None | 99.9% | 99.9% |
| Standout Features | Free domain (1 year) Marketing credits Free site builder | Perpetual Security Turbo Servers Free Migration | Amazon Web Services Google Cloud Platform WordPress experts support staff |
| Customer Support | 24/7 chat, phone, email/tickets | 24/7 chat, phone, email/tickets | 24/ 7 chat 24/7 phone (not available on Startup plan) |
| Money Back | 30 days | Anytime (30 days full refund, prorated after) | 60 days |
Bluehost
Bluehost is a decent host with affordable plans.
Bluehost offers different types of hosting packages—shared, WordPress, VPS, dedicated and reseller hosting. The most popular out of all of them is their shared hosting service, due to its affordable pricing. Bluehost shared hosting comes with free basic features such as a free domain for 1 year, free SSL certificate, SSD storage, unmetered bandwidth and more.
However, some advanced features such as site security, free site transfers, spam protection and the likes will either need additional payment or they not available all. If you want these features for free, then a good alternative is A2 Hosting.
Another popular service from Bluehost is their WordPress hosting. Performance-wise, they are up to industry standards, but since they offer cheaper prices, they are lacking some features that can further improve your site’s performance. If you don’t mind paying extra for better performance, a very good alternative when it comes to managed WordPress hosting is WP Engine.
A2 Hosting
A2 Hosting has cheaper plans and better features than Bluehost.
A2 Hosting, just like Bluehost, offers four shared hosting plans—Pro, Choice Plus, Plus and Basic. The Basic plan is the cheapest and the Pro is the highest tier shared plan. With the Basic plan, you get to host 1 website and you get 50GB of storage. In contrast, all other plans come with unlimited storage and you can also host unlimited sites with them. The higher priced plans will come with extra features such as A2 Hosting’s Turbo Servers and more.
Speaking of features, this is where A2 Hosting trumps Bluehost. With A2 Hosting, you get their proprietary Perpetual Security for free—even on their lowest priced plans. You also get to transfer existing sites for free. Another feature that you get, although it is only available on the Choice Plus and Pro, is access to A2 Hosting’s Turbo Servers. A2 Hosting’s Turbo Servers are equipped with the latest CPUs and NVME storage drives, and with these, your site will get significant performance boosts.
When it comes to performance, Bluehost and A2 Hosting are not that far apart. Both have an average uptime of 99.95%, and their load times are very close as well. As for customer support, they offer the same—24/7 chat, phone, email and tickets.
A2 Hosting and Bluehost are very similar, however, A2 Hosting offers cheaper shared hosting prices and better features.
WP Engine
When it comes to managed WordPress hosting, WP Engine offers better features and performance than Bluehost.
WP Engine is one of the best managed WordPress hosts in the market. Compared to Bluehost, they offer better performance, features and support. However, their prices are significantly more expensive.
They have four managed WordPress plans—Startup, Growth, Scale and Custom. The Startup plan is their entry-level plan for users with smaller websites, while Growth and Scale are for people that need more resources. Their Custom plan is for users with specific needs.
Some of the standout features that you get with WP Engine are the following: access to Google Cloud Platform, access to Amazon Web Services (AWS), free premium StudioPress Themes along with access to the Genesis framework and more. These premium features are not available with Bluehost managed WordPress hosting.
When it comes to performance, WP Engine has the upper hand over Bluehost as they have the better uptime and load times—99.99% and 500ms. With Bluehost, you get an average uptime of 99.95% and load times of around 600ms. As for customer support, WP Engine employs WordPress experts that know the ins and outs of WordPress, while Bluehost outsources their support department. Needless to say, WP Engine offers better customer support.
Verdict
If you are looking for Bluehost alternatives, A2 Hosting offers a better shared hosting experience, while WP Engine offers better features, performance and support when it comes to managed WordPress hosting.
A2 Hosting offers better value when it comes to shared hosting. Their plans are cheaper than Bluehost’s, and they come with more useful features that are free. You’ll get better site security without having to spend more, you can migrate your site at no extra cost, and you can choose the location of your data center upon signing up.
As for managed WordPress hosting, WP Engine is also better than Bluehost. However, they are significantly more expensive. If you don’t mind paying extra for better customer support, better performance and more useful features, you should go with WP Engine.
FAQs
For shared hosting, A2 Hosting offers a better deal than Bluehost. As for managed WordPress, WP Engine is better than Bluehost.
Yes, they offer basic features that are perfect for beginners. Their plans are also reasonably priced.
A2 Hosting’s data centers are located in Michigan, Singapore and Amsterdam.
Yes, they are one of the leading web hosts when it comes to managed WordPress hosting. While their plans aren’t exactly cheap, they more than make up for it by offering exceptional performance and customer support.
