BlueHost vs. HostMonster: Which One Is Right For Me?

Are you looking to get some idea or comparison on BlueHost vs. HostMonster?  You have nailed it. Here is an unbiased comparison of web hosts of the same company EIG, offering almost similar pricing and features, with a slight twist. Unfortunately, it makes the conclusion time-consuming. 

Going through BlueHost vs. HostMonster comparison lets you understand the features, performance, pricing, and lots more. To begin with: 

BlueHost vs. HostMonster – Establishment

BlueHost is one of the popular web hosting companies founded in 2003, owned by EIG (Endurance International Group). It is the official web host by WordPress and is used worldwide by millions.

HostMonster is founded by the same founder EIG and managed by the same operator, like BlueHost, i.e., Matt Heaton. Therefore, they have many things in common such as the pricing, features, and other features. Yet, there is a slight difference in offering a better deal.

BlueHost vs. HostMonster- Benefits

BlueHost

• A renowned brand hosted by BlueHost, having more than 2,000,000 websites.
• cPanel enhanced features easy-to-use features and installs of WordPress in 1-click.
• Get for a year free domain name as you buy.
• Hosting options includes shared, VPS, and dedicated hosting, expand your website depending on the traffic your site receives.
• Free website scripts include blog support, Drupal, Joomla, social networking scripts, message forums, and so on.
• Databases include PostgreSQL, MySQL, Python, PHP, Ruby on Rails, Perl, CGI-BIN, etc.

HostMonster 

• 1 free domain
• Unmetered bandwidth and website space 
• Free site builders, Weebly
• Free SSL with every hosting plan
• Installation of 1-click CMS such as WordPress.
• Access to control panel

BlueHost vs. HostMonster- Limitations

BlueHost Upselling is a lot, and so people on tight budgets may get irritated. In addition, it has too many add-ons by BlueHost during sign-up.

HostMonster customer service team receives jumbled responses.

BlueHost vs. HostMonster – features

• Offers cPanel built-in and free anti-spam solutions.
• Allows upgrading plan to Dedicated or VPS and no need to move websites. Do it by you or get their customer staff for assistance.
• Provides CloudFlare integration aiming to speed up loading times of your website.
• Exclusive deal for Bloggers Passion readers offering more than 63% discount and a free domain name on BlueHost.

HostMonster:

• cPanel access
• affordable pricing
• unlimited email storage and accounts, sub-domains, parked domains

BlueHost vs. HostMonster- Pricing Plans

The pricing plans are as below.

 Basic: It is the cheapest and starter BlueHost shared hosting plan costing $2.95 per month, and you get one website install, free SSL, website bandwidth and space for 50GB, 5 email accounts and storage 25 parked domains and sub-domains, 1 free domain included, 1 domain privacy, 1 spam experts, and $200 marketing offers.

 Plus: It is from BlueHost as a mid-level plan to install unlimited sites costing you $5.45 per month, and the other features include unlimited websites installation, free SSL,  unmetered bandwidth and website space, unlimited Parked Domains, 1 free domain, 1 spam expert, marketing offers $200, unlimited email accounts, storage, and subdomains.

Choice Plus: It is a popular plan from BlueHost costing $5.45 per month, and the features include free SSL, unmetered website space, install unlimited websites, 1 free included domain, site backup, marketing offers $200, 1 domain privacy, 1 spam expert, unlimited email storage and accounts, parked and sub-domains.

Go Pro: Go Pro gives access to more disk usage, CPU usage, bandwidth, and the cost is $13.95 per month. The other features including unlimited websites installation, free SSL, marketing offers $200, unmetered bandwidth and website space, unlimited email storage, accounts, parked and sub-domains, Comodo Positive SSL, 1 Dedicated IP,  Spam Experts, and Domain privacy.

HostMonster pricing details

HostMonster offers the following pricing plans in shared hosting.

 Basic plan: It is the first shared hosting plan, the starter from HostMonster costing $4.95 per month and includes features unmetered bandwidth, website space of 50GB, 1 website installation, 25 subdomains, 5 parked domains, 1 included domain, 5 email accounts, and 100 MB email storage for each account.

Plus plan: It is the mid-level shared hosting plan costing $6.95 per month, and the features include 150GB website space, 20 website installs; 1 domain, unmetered bandwidth, 50 subdomains, 20 parked domains, 100 email accounts, 500 Mb email storage each account $150 marketing offers, and extras more than $24/year, and spam prevention.

Prime plan: It is a plan costing $6.95 per month, and you can get these features such as included domains 1, unlimited websites install, unmetered bandwidth, unmetered website space, unlimited email storage and accounts, unlimited sub-domains, and parked domains, $200 marketing offers, spam prevention, I privacy protection domain privacy, extras more than $80/ year, and site backup.

Go PRO:  Get more disk and CPU usage, choose Go Pro at $14.95 and these features such as unmetered bandwidth, website space, parked domains,  sub-domains, email storage, and email accounts, install unlimited websites, dedicated IP, 1 domain-inclusive, SSL certificate, 1 domain privacy protection, site backup, domain privacy, and spam prevention.

BlueHost vs. HostMonster- why is it worth?

If you need unlimited bandwidth, storage, domains, databases, and email accounts, go for BlueHost shared hosting. It is at affordable prices. 

BlueHost also offers various hosting options, such as cloud hosting, shared hosting, dedicated hosting, VPS hosting, WooCommerce hosting, Optimized WordPress hosting. BlueHost can be of use to build any website, large or small.

HostMonster gives 30 days money-back guarantee as a refund within a month if the support and features are not convincing. They offer support staff 24/7 and are available for 365 days. The support is available through live chat or telephone. 

HostMonster offers Hotlink protection, Spamassassin Protection, SSH access, etc., as exceptional security features to safeguard sites from unwanted security threats and spam.

BlueHost vs. HostMonster -Speed and Reliability

BlueHost offers around 99.98% uptime, and there is no downtime experience to get compensation. It claims to offer the best protection and performance, even when many are on the same server. However, the page loading speed of BlueHost is not really impressive and takes a longer time to load. Though the page loading is a crucial factor, BlueHost is slow.

The reliability factor is critical to selling services or products. If not, you lose business. It means there is a need for good uptime, no website downtime, and fast loading speed. HostMonster offers 99.96% and is said to be improving steadily. The maximum uptime is guaranteed, but as such, no uptime guarantee is specified.

BlueHost vs HostMonster- Security

BlueHost signup for any plan, plus plan or basic plan, you are responsible for backups. Automatic website backups are given only for expensive plans. Add CodeGuard Basic as an add-on. It offers security measures in an array for data protection. It includes server-side firewalls, SiteLock security, spam protection, and DDoS protection. BlueHost tries to upsell to one of the SiteLock plans.

HostMonster takes one step ahead and gives more security to its clients with free backups daily. Signing a web host is best, with the assurance that your website is safe from malware, security issues, and DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks. Getting website data backups is crucial, and HostMonster takes care by offering daily backups as complimentary.

Yet you can see a disclaimer that the backups are without guarantee. Besides, if the website size is over 30GB, there are no automatic backups. However, guaranteed automatic backups are in the CodeGuard Basic backup protection and the choice plus plan as an add-on. It includes SpamAssassin Protection, hotlinking protection, email accounts protection and DDoS protection integrated, server-side firewalls, and malware scanning. In addition, there is SiteLock Basic at an 80% discount initially on signing with shared hosting.

BlueHost vs. HostMonster offers no particular security features as a set, but  HostMonster gives a perk of free daily backups for the affordable pricing and hosting plans. 

BlueHost vs HostMonster – Support

BlueHost enjoys the support 24/7, and users can contact via phone and live chat. However, it is available for technical issues, and the response times are not great with BlueHost. There are more complaints regarding the response times. There is always 20 minutes waiting time for human response, and the support quality also calls for a delay when you want to address a specific issue.

The knowledge base is extensive, and there is an official channel on YouTube giving details as short tutorial videos. It helps to get the best of the hosting. Accessing customer support is crucial for newbies and first-timers or beginners. It is also required more for people having no or fewer technical skills.

BlueHost has reps to answer as they are knowledgeable. Yet waiting time continues. They ensure an ideal experience by giving prompt answers. It has WordPress customer service, Blue Flash. It is available over the phone and is free for users. Customers can request to begin Blue flash and connect to WP experts. They will walk through your problems, and you can solve them in no time.

HostMonster gives technical support 24/7, and for billing and sales, it is only during working hours. Accessing customer support through phone, live chat, or the support ticket system is in the facility. The response in live chat is good and fast. It is because the connection is within five minutes, and it is relatively speedy. However, the support quality differs, and the response times are slow for any existing customers. It takes at least 10 minutes to reach an agent or the customer support staff to get a response.

HostMonster has supported its website with a knowledge base of help articles. It has a small collection of articles, and users can find the articles required by using search terms. Relatively HostMonster is better in response time, it is faster, and the support team is clear with their answers and is helpful. However, host monster gives the same customer service as BlueHost, and there are long wait times.

HostMonster customer reps at once attend multiple customers, and sometimes they also consult a handbook to give answers. As a result, there is good access to customer service, and users have to follow a lengthy verification process.

BlueHost vs. HostMonster -Money-Back Guarantee Policy

BlueHost offers a direct way. Buying a shared hosting plan allows testing time for a month. Yet, if you find it not satisfactory, ask for a refund, but ask before the first thirty days, from the day you sign for a hosting plan. Many others are giving more days as money-back, but here it is only 30-days.

You will receive a refund on the hosting cost and not on the add-ons if you have taken anything extra. For example, a deduction of $11.99 is when you have a free domain name, and the remaining amount is refunded.

HostMonster is also giving a refund as a money-back policy for 30 days. The conditions are the same for both, and they also do not refund the amounts on free domain names and add-ons. The refund will come deducting all these charges.

Major Differences between HostMonster and BlueHost

A recap of the major difference between BlueHost vs. HostMonster:

• BlueHost does better in all than HostMonster
• The plans of BlueHost are cheaper relatively than HostMonster’s;
• BlueHost has WordPress hosting plan known as WP pro, and HostMonster does not have one.
• BlueHost offers good customer support in comparison to HostMonster.

Final thoughts

The conclusion is not easy with BlueHost vs. HostMonster as they both are similar web hosts. Yet going through this comparison mentioned above, their features and responses show some differences, though there are many similarities. 

Delving into their comparison deeper gives you insight into who is the best for your requirements and budget. Both web hosts belong to the same EIG Company, yet the support, performance, and speed show slight variation. HostMonster gives daily backups, and this is additional peace of mind. On the other hand, BlueHost is cheaper.

Deciding on BlueHost vs. HostMonster requires you to arrive at a decision, considering the features, plans, support, response times, backups, and lots more.