Bluehost is still recommended by WordPress.org in 2026. And, in our recent testing, Bluehost posted good speed test results. However, that doesn’t tell the whole story. Here in my Bluehost Review, I’ll go over what else we found in using Bluehost, what has changed, and if you should still choose their web hosting.
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As I mentioned, Bluehost has been recommended by WordPress.org for many years. However, they have really stepped things up the past year or so. I’m definitely very impressed by what they’ve done in both simplifying the WordPress site creation process for beginners, yet still including many premium features that experienced WordPress site owners can use to their benefit. Let’s go over why Bluehost is now also on our recommendation list for WordPress hosting.
Like many other web hosts, Bluehost has recently increased their pricing on web hosting plans. And unfortunately, they no longer provide as much value as they once included. They now provide weekly data backups as opposed to nightly backups. Phone support is not included with the Starter Plan. Although they apparently still offer a 30 day money back guarantee on annual plans, that no longer applies to monthly plans—something other web hosting companies have also now implemented.
Probably most disappointing to me was the number of upsells you now encounter when working within the Bluehost dashboard (see below). While Bluehost did have some upsell offers in the past, it seems a bit excessive now.
The sign up process at Bluehost is still very easy. But WordPress users get extra benefits now. Bluehost now automatically installs WordPress for you, and when signing up you can select the theme for your website.
There are also guided links within your Bluehost WordPress dashboard that you can use to get started creating your site.
Bluehost has once again updated their user dashboard—and unfortunately, not to my liking. The new interface seems more cluttered and less intuitive. Most annoying, their seem to be more upsells you hit when selecting certain dashboard options. On the plus side, you still get cPanel for managing your website tasks.
Bluehost has always done a great job in providing their customized version of cPanel. And their latest offering is again a nice clean look that is easy to use. cPanel is part of your Bluehost web hosting control panel that you see when you log in to your Bluehost account. Here you can access your websites, email, and domains, in addition to your cPanel functionality.
I’ve already touched on some of the great improvements Bluehost has made with their WordPress web hosting. Here are some of the most significant features you get with your Bluehost hosting plan.
While Bluehost’s guided WordPress site creation makes it easy for beginners to create their websites, their new AI Website Builder makes it even easier and quicker to get your website created and running online.
Click here for my detailed review of the Bluehost AI Website Builder.
Bluehost has done a good job improving their website speed and performance significantly. Keep in mind that your choice of WordPress theme will make a big impact on how fast your site loads. In the case of Bluehost, there is a huge difference in website speed using traditional WordPress as opposed to their AI website builder.
For example, using Bluehost traditional WordPress website creation and the default WordPress.org theme, we achieved great website speed and performance (see below). However, when using the AI website builder and its suggested themes, site speed (in particular page loading time) was significantly slower (again, see below).
While the difference in Bluehost’s speeds may or may not have an effect on your audience, the point to note is that there is a trade off in speed vs convenience. Although Bluehost website speed has definitely improved, be aware that there can be a difference when using their website builder as opposed to creating a traditional WordPress site. While the AI site builder definitely makes creating your websites faster and easier, the themes you get can run slower.
Below is a sample of differences in Bluehost website speeds.
In our latest testing, Bluehost once again posted good speed and performance results. Core Web Vitals were also good. However, we were unable to perform full server load testing due to Bluehost’s network environment. For that reason, we would be cautious if you need hosting for heavy traffic sites.
I have to be honest here. One of the most disappointing parts of Bluehost in the past was their customer support. While the support agents were definitely helpful, response times (especially with live chat) were pretty bad. However, I’m pleased to report that Bluehost has vastly improved their customer support response times.
For the most part, Bluehost customer support continues to be responsive and helpful. It isn’t quite as consisted as it had been recently. But, the live chat support agents did a pretty good job most of the time.
Below is a sample snippet of a live chat support session I had with Bluehost.
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Overall, we’re disappointed that Bluehost no longer offers the value it used to in their hosting plans. While you can still sign up at low prices, a number of features are either no longer included or require an extra fee such as email, phone support, and nightly backups (they now include weekly data backups).
Speed and Performance remains good. However, we would recommend using Bluehost for lower traffic sites. We also preferred Bluehost’s previous user dashboard as it was easier to use. Customer Support is good, but keep in mind that phone support is not available with the Starter Plan. Also, we were able to confirm that Bluehost still offers a 30 day money back guarantee on annual hosting plans (they no longer advertise it on their website). However, the policy doesn’t apply to monthly plans.
The bottom line here is that Bluehost is still a viable hosting option for beginners and low traffic websites. Their website builder is one of our favorites. However, if you’re looking for more value with your hosting plan or need top website speed and performance, there are better options available.
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