SiteGround vs Bluehost, both recommended by WordPress, but which is better?

WordPress.org recommends both Bluehost and SiteGround, but where does each dominate when comparing Bluehost vs SiteGround?

SiteGround continues to be rated as the best web hosting provider. Not only because is it officially recommended by WordPress, but it is far better at providing quality hosting for small businesses and individuals alike (customer reviews). There are customers who have had drastic WordPress website speed improvements by switching to SiteGround from Bluehost. Although this may be true, it’s worth keeping in mind that this cannot be true for all. To have a fast loading website, you will need to make sure you have a light WordPress theme and limit the use of plugins.

Additional resource: HostGator vs SiteGround

1. SiteGround vs. BlueHost WordPress Hosting

SiteGround was ranked #1 in numerous Facebook and Twitter polls. Bluehost did not score anywhere close to SiteGround. Below I’ve shared screenshots of polls where users were asked which was better, SiteGround vs Bluehost for WordPress hosting.

2. SiteGround vs Bluehost Pricing

Before I get into the advantages and disadvantages of each hosting provider, I figured it’s worth mentioning upfront that both SiteGround and Bluehost have unfair billing options. To get the advertised Bluehost prices, you need to purchase a 3 year plan, otherwise selecting the 1-2 year options, you will pay more. After the 3 year promotional price, you will then pay the regular price.

SiteGround on the other hand offers the same promotional price for 1 year as for 3 years. I personally would choose the 3 year option if you have the means to afford it, because they provide fast & secure hosting with 99.99% uptime. SiteGround hosting is likely the best shared hosting you can find.

Affiliate Disclaimer: If you choose to support my blog posts by signing up using my affiliate links, I greatly appreciate your support! My hosting reviews are based on at least 3-4 quality resources, in the form of real people using the service, tweets, and online research. If you don’t want to use my affiliate link, but want to sign up for SiteGround or Bluehost you can use the following links SiteGround | Bluehost.

3. Bluehost is part of EIG family (Slow server response)

EIG (Endurance International Group) owns over 60 different hosting companies. Majority of these companies are known to offer better deals by putting too many people on the same server.

Reasons why you should avoid EIG:

• Support is not great
• They do not invest in new technology actively (If you’re currently running WordPress 5+ you should be on PHP Version 7.+)
• Put too many people on the same server

4. Server Speed

If you are looking to have a fast loading website, Bluehost and any other major hosting company owned by EIG such as HostGator, iPage, HostMonster, Site5, and many others are a bad choice. The servers are likely to be crowded by users and achieving a fast loading website is just difficult to do.

SiteGround does a great job at not overcrowding their servers and even shows the server resources for each plan with a side-by-side comparison of StartUp vs GrowBig vs GoGeek. You can see that higher plans provide more server resources, which is the #1 factor of fast site speeds.

How to check if your web hosting server is slow
Visit Google PageSpeed Insights and run a website test to see if reduce server response time shows under the “Opportunity” section. If it shows like the screenshot below, this goes to show that your website is hosted on a slow server.

5. Server Uptime

SiteGround is proud of their 99.99% uptime and advertises it with no shame. Bluehost on the other hand, does not seem to advertise their uptime. I searched their website, but could not find the exact uptime that they claim, if you happen to find it, do submit a link in the comments below. According to user complaints, Bluehost seems to continue to have issues with stable uptime.

6. Web Hosting Support

Bluehost simply cannot compare to the support that SiteGround provides for their users. SiteGround’s live chat is almost instant, and it’s someone who knows what to do and provides a quick, accurate response and solution. No matter how many features a hosting company provides, if support is not good, you will begin to feel the service itself is no good. Bluehost support on the other hand is good to an extent, but you will not be as satisfied with Bluehost support as with SiteGround.

7. SiteGround vs Bluehost Hosting Conclusion

To sum up hosting from SiteGround vs Bluehost, I’ve provided the following chart to give you an overview of the features each company provides. The good, the bad, can easily be seen in each.