Dreamhost, founded in 1997, is one of the oldest web hosting providers. More than 1.5 million websites are currently hosted on Dreamhost, making it one of the most popular hosting providers.
They offer some of the most affordable shared hosting plans along with advanced performance packed hosting plans.
In this Dreamhost Review, I will mainly focus on the shared hosting plans to help you to find the right option for your website.
Dreamhost is one of the popular hosting services among new bloggers starting their first blog.
They have been rated 4.7 out of 5 based on 1,179 reviews on TrustPilot and even WordPress.org endorses them as one of their recommended web host.
Even though WordPress.org recommends Dreamhost but you may still want to see whether it would be the best host for your first blog.
In this review, I will explain all the features, prices, performances and pros & cons of the shared hosting plan offered by Dreamhost so you can see whether it is the most suitable choice for your blog.
Let's begin the Dreamhost review.
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Overview of the DreamHost Shared Hosting Plans
Dreamhost offers one of the cheapest shared hosting plans among its competitors. They have mainly two shared hosting plans.
- Shared Starter - For a single website
- Shared Unlimited - For unlimited website
People looking to start their first blog but don't want to go hard on a budget can surely look at Dreamhost shared hosting plans.
These shared hosting plans are quite affordable and would get you started for your first website.
However, once your blog grows big, getting lots of visitors, you may want to upgrade to a more robust dedicated hosting.
Since this review's scope is shared hosting, let's see the differences between the Shared Starter and Shared Unlimited plans.
| Shared Starter | Shared Unlimited | |
|---|---|---|
| No. of websites | 1 | Unlimited |
| Visits Per Month | Unmetered | Unmetered |
| Bandwidth | Unmetered | Unmetered |
| Email Account | Require purchase | Included |
| FREE Domain | Included | Included |
| Site Storage | 50GB | Unlimited |
| Subdomains | 5 | Unlimited |
| MySQL Databases | 6 | Unlimited |
| SSL Certificate | Included | Included |
| 24/7 Ticket Support | Phone, Chat | Phone, Chat |
| Money-back Guarantee | 97-days | 97-days |
| Monthly Price | $4.95/mo | $10.95/mo |
| Annual Price | $3.95/mo | $4.95/mo |
| 3 Year Price | $2.59/mo | $4.95/mo |
Shared Starter Plan Features
Shared Starter is DreamHost's most basic entry-level shared hosting plan. The Starter Shared plan is an excellent option for people looking to create a single website.
However, since it's a starter plan, you must remain aware of a few limitations that this plan possesses. These are all mentioned below, but they would not hinder you from getting started with your first blog or website.
In fact, you can quickly get your website up and running at a meager cost at Dreamhost.
Let's see some of the essential features.
Under the Shared Starter plan, you can create only one website. So, if you are looking to create only one site, this is the best option.
You get a free domain with the purchase. However, you have to pay for using custom domain emails such as [email protected]. But it would cost only $1.67 a month, which is reasonably affordable.
You can create only five subdomains on your site. MY SQL Databases are also limited to six only. But this should not cause any issue as you are looking to create only one website under the Shared Starter plan.
Site storage is limited to 50GB, which is sufficient for a single small website.
Shared Starter Pricing
Dreamhost has the following pricing options for its Shared Starter hosting plans.
I would recommend you to buy hosting for a more extended period as many hosting companies offer a good discount on the longer term.
From the above price chart, it is clear that Dreamhost also offers a good discount on its shared hosting plan when you buy for a longer-term.
For one year, you would have to pay $3.95 per month, but if you buy for three years, you would only have to pay $2.59 per month, saving you a good amount of money.
Shared Unlimited Plan Features
If you are looking to create more than one website and still don't want to spend a lot on hosting, then you can go with the Shared Unlimited plan offered by Dreamhost.
Dreamhost's Shared Unlimited plan is still much affordable than its competitors.
Let's have a look at the features.
Thus, from the price point of view, the Shared Unlimited plan is costlier than the Shared Starter plan. But you would get additional features such as unlimited websites, free email account and unlimited storage under this plan.
Shared Unlimited Pricing
Dreamhost has the following pricing options for its Shared Unlimited hosting plans.
The monthly price of the Shared Unlimited plans is a bit too expensive. However, it has a very affordable price for a year and three year term period.
You can buy a hosting plan for one year or three years. However, I recommend you buy a hosting plan for a more extended period to lock the price $4.95 per month for the full term of 3 years.
So, you would save a good amount of money, if Dreamhost chose to increase the hosting plan prices within these three years.
Money Back Guarantee
Dreamhost offers a whopping 97-day money-back guarantee. I don't think any other web host offers such a long money-back policy for its customers.
Thus, you can try Dreamhost risk-free for 97-days.
However, if the shared web hosting services you bought didn't work as you had expected, you can apply for cancellation within the ninety-seven (97) days of the initial signup to get your money back.
Please Note. 97-Day Money-Back Guarantee offer is only applicable to a customer's credit card payments on purchasing a shared web hosting plan. Other forms of payment are non-refundable.
Also, note that refunds apply only to the purchase of shared hosting. Domain registrations (including the value of any used free domain registrations included with the plan) are not refundable.
Dreamhost Review: Pros and Cons
Pros
Cons
Do i recommend dreamhost
Yes, I do.
DreamHost's shared hosting plans features and performance are quite good considering that you get quick loading time, unlimited bandwidth, free domain, and reliable uptime at a cost much cheaper than its competitors. Due to these features, DreamHost is considered one of the best shared hosting providers.
Many hosting companies increase their prices by almost 100% when your hosting plan renews.
However, at Dreamhost, there's no increase in price when you renew your hosting on your hosting plan's expiry. That means you could save hundreds of dollars over the long term.
