Introduction

SiteGround and Bluehost are among the top players in the web hosting industry. As two of the most reliable providers, they are known for their easy to use sites and competitive features. Going with either choice is bound to be a safe option, irrespective of your hosting needs.

SiteGround began operation in 2004 in Sofia, Bulgaria. The collective idea of three university students, SiteGround has made a name for itself with high-performing, secure, and reasonably priced hosting. Today, they host more than two million domains managed by a staff of 400 people.

Founders Matt Heaton and Danny Ashworth started Bluehost in 2003 intending to create a better hosting experience. As they have grown, Bluehost has maintained a strong partnership with WordPress as well as open-source platforms. They also host more than two million domains and are adding thousands more every day.

Picking a hosting service is the equivalent of laying a foundation. A robust support system will ensure reliable future website performance with minimal upkeep. That is why we are comparing SiteGround and Bluehost based on four categories to help you pick the option that is right for you.

Pricing – It’s a Tie

SiteGround’s basic hosting, called StartUp, starts at $3.95 per month. The plan offers 10 gigabytes of web space and a host of essential features. Included among those features are free SSL, HTTPS, email accounts, and daily backups. Users also get 24/7 customer support and 30-day money-back guarantees.

The other shared hosting plans are GrowBig and GoGeek. These offer more website advantages, more space, and extra “premium” and “geeky” features. While the pricing is affordable, SiteGround has a one-time $14.95 set up fee, which must be paid every time you renew.

Bluehost’s hosting plans start at $2.95 per month. Users get a single website, 50 gigabytes of storage, unmetered bandwidth, and a free SSL certificate. Additionally, this option will provide another five parked domains and an impressive 25 sub-domains.

Bluehost has three additional shared hosting options, including the Plus, Choice Plus, and Pro plans. The prices range from $5.45 per month for Plus and Choice Plus to $13.95 per month for Pro. Each plan includes unlimited websites, SSD storage, domains, and sub-domains, as well as spam experts.

Support – SiteGround Wins

When it comes to customer support, SiteGround is in the upper echelon of web hosting providers. If you have a problem or query with your services, you can expect to be in touch with a SiteGround expert in mere moments. Their 24/7 live chat and valuable expert insight will ensure that you are covered wherever you are at any moment you need it.

For SiteGround, customer support appears both responsive and friendly. If you sign up for the GoGeek plan, users are granted priority service, too.

Bluehost offers remarkably reliable and consistent customer support services to its users. Their experts are available around the clock, though not always through a live chat. Users can also reach Bluehost through tickets, phone, and email contact points. People are generally positive about their experience in all aspects of hosting services from Bluehost.

Speed – SiteGround Wins

SiteGround has made a name for itself thanks to its speed and general hosting performance. No matter where you look, it is consistently at the top or near the top of any list for the fastest web-hosting providers.

This prowess includes a remarkable 20 to 500 percent speed increase for WordPress sites. Currently, stable page load time is around 700ms.

SiteGround has a myriad of data centers spread across three continents with the nearest location settled as your guaranteed provider, so it doesn’t matter if you’re looking for a website host for Australia, a Singapore web hosting company, or a UK web host, SiteGround has you covered. Also, their platform is built on LXC, which offers reliability even when the web traffic levels spike. Due to the limited capacity of SiteGround’s basic sites, though, one might see more of a performance challenge than others during peak usage times.

Bluehost is comparably fast, and according to Web Hosting Prof, is the fastest web host of 2019. Their sites are consistently quick, with load times around 400ms. Like SiteGround, Bluehost also boasts an impressive 99.99 percent uptime.

While Bluehost doesn’t disclose the specific locations of its data centers, it does have operations across the globe. The 23 data centers are situated in the United States, India, China, and Europe (great for Germany, France, Italy, Spain, etc). Their servers are also Tier 3, which yields superior redundancy and more reliable uptime.

Ease of Use – SiteGround Wins

Both systems are easy to use for everyone from beginner bloggers to webmasters. SiteGround has a particularly sleek interface and allows users to install website builders like Weebly. This handy function allows users to drag-and-drop entire sections until they have initiated the design that they imagined for their web page.

Bluehost has a strong partnership with WordPress, which takes literally one click to install. They are one of the three officially recommended partners of WordPress. (SiteGround and Dreamhost are the others.)

Both hosting providers also offer cPanel, which has become the industry standard. Bluehost has a couple of tiny drawbacks, however, such as the migrating service, which costs a once-off fee of $149. They also have more upsells and promotions for their paid tools, which can be cumbersome at the best of times.

Conclusion – SiteGround Wins

If these were your final two choices for superior web hosting services, you would be in an excellent position, no matter the final decision. While both are among the cream of the crop in web hosting circles, we must give the ultimate award to SiteGround.

The stellar experience makes it an all-rounder, with reliable site speed, and affordability that give its users the best value on the market today.