Dreamhost Web Hosting Review In 2021 - What I like The Most

 DreamHost hosts over 1.5 million websites and is almost 25 years old.

Image Credit : wpkube

DreamHost’s main shared hosting plan comes with popular apps like WordPress, website builder options including their own, et al. like Wix or Weebly. These plans have unlimited bandwidth and disc space . And you get a full 97-day money-back guarantee to check the service out. DreamHost's performance is pretty good across the board, from reliable uptime to quick loading times. Their default plan limits are pretty high, offering a bunch of “unlimited” options for disc space , bandwidth, and more. We also really liked that there is no increase when your hosting plan renews.

Their customer support may be a bit limited, however. Migrations also are a pain, not allowing any imports from other cPanel sites and charging you $99/each.

Here’s a transparent check out how DreamHost has performed over the last 12 months.

General Info & Hosting Overview
Our Rating:😎😎😎
Our Verdict: 4.0

SPEED: 1180 ms (February 2020 to January 2021)
UPTIME: 99.62% (February 2020 to January 2021)
SUPPORT: Ticket & Callback
APPS: WordPress, Blogger, Drupal, Shopify, Wix, and more
FEATURES: Unlimited bandwidth and storage, free SSL, free domain 1st year, automated backups
HOSTING PLANS: Shared, Cloud, WordPress, VPS, and Dedicated Servers
SITE TRANSFER: Not Free
PRICING: Starting at $2.59/mo (same renewal price)

What Features Does DreamHost Offer?
Go to the highest
The features DreamHost offers are mostly consistent across all its plans, but can sometimes vary. this relies on two things: the sort of hosting you've got , and therefore the tier of pricing plan you’re on.

To make it easy for you, we’ve weakened a number of DreamHost’s key features, discussing what they're and what you get.

Backups and name
DreamHost provides all its customers with free daily backups, no matter what plan you’re on. this is often an excellent feature, and really gives you peace of mind should something fail .

If you continue to got to purchase a website name, that’s also free for the primary year. To qualify for this, you’ll got to register a website ending in any of the following: .com, .org, .club, .net, or .info.

SSL Security Certificate
A Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certificate helps protect your visitors’ personal information. It’s symbolized by alittle padlock icon next to your URL, which tells folks that your site is safe to browse.

It’s also useful for SEO (Search Engine Optimization), as unsecure sites are usually punished by Google in search results rankings. DreamHost provides a free SSL certificate to each site it hosts.

Bandwidth
Because DreamHost doesn’t track bandwidth or traffic, every plan comes with unmetered transfer. this suggests there's technically no bandwidth limit.

Of course, you'll run into other issues if you experience an enormous spike in traffic, but it’s an excellent bonus that you simply don’t need to worry about bandwidth limits.

RAM
Random Access Memory, or RAM, is how all of your site’s information is stored on its server. The larger your site is, the more RAM is required to store and cargo it.

If you decide for a cloud hosting package, you'll expect RAM limits between 512MB and 16GB. On a fanatical hosting plan, however, that jumps to between 4GB and 64GB.

To give you some context, those RAM limits for dedicated hosting are right up there with the simplest providers around. The cloud hosting RAM limits, though, are pretty average.

One-Click Installs and automatic Updates
These features are specific to WordPress websites, and act as a true time-saver. One-click installs allow you to line up your DreamHost account together with your WordPress site in just that – one click.

DreamHost also automatically keep tabs on any software updates WordPress rolls out, meaning you don’t need to worry about staying up so far . It doesn’t do an equivalent for WordPress plugins, though, so you'll need to manage that yourself.

What Other Services Does DreamHost Offer ?

DreamHost may not be the best provider for overall features, but it can stake a claim to be the host with the most.

On top of offering five different types of hosting, you can also purchase any of these three services.

Domain

If you don’t already have one, it makes sense to purchase your domain name with DreamHost. That way, everything’s kept under one roof, and you don’t have to worry about bills coming from lots of different places.

Email Hosting

Companies can also host their emails with DreamHost. Anything above its most basic shared hosting plan will give you access to unlimited email accounts, which you can link to your domain. 

Website Builder

 Just starting out and don’t even have a website to host yet? Not a problem. You can create and customize one using DreamHost’s own DIY website builder, Remixer. There are tons of professionally designed templates for you to work off, and its editor makes it easy for technical novices, too.

There are two price plans for Remixer – Standard ($4.95/month), and All Access ($7.95/month). Both plans include your hosting costs, come with a free domain and 24/7 support, and are mobile optimized. You can even export your site to WordPress, should you outgrow the platform.

Pros of Using DreamHost Hosting
DreamHost comes with many “unlimited” features.

They have a extended than average 97-day refund policy to form sure you’re proud of the service before getting locked in. And when your plan eventually does renew, you won’t need to pay an enormous 2-3x increase , like with many other hosts.

Here’s a deep dive into the results from our hands-on test:

1. Month-to-Month Hosting (Cancel Anytime)
The overwhelming majority of all 40+ web hosts we’ve reviewed will offer you a 30-day refund period. that provides you a full month to check out their services before risking your prepaid amount.

A few hosts, like HostGator, will offer you 45 days.

And then there’s DreamHost.

Their money-back guarantee is sweet for up to 97 days. That’s over a full three months to actually confirm you’re happy.

DreamHost doesn’t have any hidden terms or hoops to leap through which may jeopardize your refund, either. Furthermore, you'll pay month to month and cancel anytime. this is often very rare within the web hosting industry.

2. Good Basic Plan Features
DreamHost’s Shared Starter option starts at only $2.59/month. But it comes with plenty of features right out of the gate.

DreamHost features

Image credit by : Website tool tester

You get one website with a free name, and an SSL certificate included. This site can handle unlimited traffic (or bandwidth) and storage.

DreamHost has its own website builder called Remixer, but they also offer access to SquareSpace, Weebly, and Wix in their app library.

You’ll even be ready to find Joomla, phpBB, Zen Cart, Drupal, Magento, Shopify, and Tumblr in there expecting you, too.

WordPress also comes pre-installed. It’s pretty easy to line abreast of most servers with the one-click install option. However, the very fact that it’s immediately ready once you signup is ideal for novice webmasters.

The final little bit of excellent news on these plans is that there’s not a delayed verification system.

The first time we reviewed DreamHost, they required a manual verification that would postpone you having the ability to use the service for a couple of hours after signing up.

Thankfully, their customer support rep told us that they now only require extra verification steps if there’s a drag together with your payment.

You should be ready to hit the bottom running now after signing up.

3. Unlimited disc space and Network Transfer Limits
DreamHost lists tons of “unlimited” features on their pricing and plans, including disc space and bandwidth.

This means you don’t need to worry about disk storage or network transfer when your site gets popular.

There are a couple of caveats to the present policy, but it’s mostly legit.

First and foremost, your site must be built properly. If it’s hogging server resources and causing issues with other sites, they could attempt to move you over to their private servers, instead.

DreamPress, VPS servers, and email don't fall into this unlimited policy.

Email is restricted to only 2 GB limits, while MySQL databases also got to stay under “a few GB in size.”

In other words, DreamHost’s shared servers are perfect for relatively small sites.

4. They’re Carbon Neutral (AKA Green)
You can add DreamHost among the list of web hosts who’re trying to be more environmentally conscious.

They’re going above and beyond just offsetting the carbon footprint of their servers, though.

Their data centers include “high-efficiency” cooling and processors. They’re also involved in state-level ‘clean wind’ programs to harness renewable resources.

Their offices are LEED and EnergyStar-certified, and everything from lighting to HVAC systems also are energy efficient.

5. No Higher Renewal increase
DreamHost offers a lower monthly price if you prepay for 3 years vs. only one or two.

Most web hosts do this, too.

However, the ultimate piece of excellent news is that DreamHost doesn’t increase the worth when it’s time to renew.

For example, another host might offer you a special discount of a dollar or two per month for the primary few years.

But when it’s time for you to decide to automatically renew, the pricing might jump up to anywhere between ~$7-10/month on rock bottom plans.

So overnight you’re literally paying two or 3 times more for an equivalent exact service.

DreamHost, as compared, doesn’t do this. Your plan will renew at equivalent pricing that you simply originally signed up for.

That means you would possibly not save plenty within the first few years, but instead you'll save many dollars over the future.

Cons of Using DreamHost Hosting
DreamHost features a lot to supply , ranging from its handy features and cheap prices.

Unfortunately, there have been still a couple of drawbacks we saw while testing out their services.

Here’s an entire list of the most important cons to consider:

1. Slow Average Speed (1180 ms)
DreamHost’s 1180 ms average loading time over the past 12 months hasn’t been good. It puts them within the lower half the hosts we’ve tested.

Dreamhost Speed Feb 2020 - Jan 2021
DreamHost average speed | See stats
That’s a pity, because not an extended time ago, DreamHost still managed to deliver above-average speeds, but during this year, their performance has gone gradually worse.

2. Average Uptime Not the simplest (99.62%)

Image Credit by :Website setup.org 

DreamHost’s 12-month average uptime is additionally nothing to brag about – 99.62% with over each day of downtime.

That’s bad and will potentially mean lost website visitor traffic and profit for you.

However, the great news is that DreamHost has an uptime guarantee. Like other hosts, if your monthly average falls beneath that threshold, you’ll get a credit for the value of the service.

Most uptime guarantees we’ve seen might hover round the 99.98% mark. So these hosts believe and stand behind their services, but they’re also giving themselves a touch flexibility just in case normal fluctuations hit.

DreamHost, though, guarantees 100% uptime in their Terms of Service. confine mind that care or user errors aren’t covered during this guarantee.

However, the other DreamHost issue that messes together with your site, database, email, or webmail can trigger the guarantee. You’ll get a free day’s worth of service for every hour of service interruption. the sole catch is that there’s a tenth max of your “next prepaid hosting renewal fee” (so it applies within the future, as against a retroactive discount or refund).

DreamHost last 12-month uptime and speed
DreamHost average uptime | See stats
Last 12-month average uptime:
January 2021: 100%
December 2020: 99.99%
November 2020: 100%
October 2020: 100%
September 2020: 99.78%
August 2020: 99.62%
July 2020: 99.84%
June 2020: 99.98%
May 2020: 99.93%
April 2020: 99.98%
March 2020: 96.48%
February 2020: 99.96%

3. Good, but Limited Live Chat Support

Image Credit By: website setup.org

DreamHost provides the obligatory knowledge domain and discussion forums to assist customers solve their own issues.

They also claim to supply “24/7 in-house support.” Although, our tests actually revealed the other .

In the lower right-hand corner of their screen may be a little messaging icon. Click thereon , and rather than being met with an open box, you've got to pick from a couple of pre-set answers.

Dreamhost live chat

In other words, they’re trying to automate the live chat process with something that mimics a phone tree.

We tried bypassing these options to urge a sales rep on as soon as possible. But at the time we tried, nobody was available.

So not really “24/7” then. These hours (Monday-Friday 8-4 PM PT) overlap with business hours in most time zones within the U.S., but not if you’re in other parts of the planet .

We had to return back later during these hours to check the method everywhere again. It took a couple of minutes for a sales rep to finally join, and that they were both knowledgeable and helpful.

It is unfortunate that you simply need to jump through hoops (show up at specific hours) to urge access to anyone within the first place.

4. No “Free” Migrations”
DreamHost doesn't offer any free site migrations on their shared hosting plans.

Instead, they’ll charge you a $99 one-time fee to maneuver each site. this will really add up if you’re trying to maneuver several clients or company accounts at an equivalent time.

There are a couple of other limitations around how their paid migration services work.

Multisite WordPress sites can't be moved. WordPress.com transfers will only grab content inside posts or pages. So you’ll need to reinstall and found out your theme and plugins.

Any website builder sites, on Wix, Weebly, or SquareSpace, can't be moved, either.

They do offer some documentation to manually move your site.

But that’s still not very satisfactory when most other services will do all of the heavy liftings for you.

DreamHost Pricing, Hosting Plans & Quick Facts

Image credit : Website builder expert 

Here’s a fast overview of DreamHost’s Shared Hosting plans:

Image Credit by : Dreamhost

Shared Starter Plan Shared Unlimited Plan
Pricing $2.59/month $4.95/month
Websites 1 Unlimited
Bandwidth Unmetered Unmetered
Storage Unmetered Unmetered
Email Accounts Costs extra ($1.67/mo) Unlimited
Other Features – • Unlimited Subdomains & MySQL Databases
• Unlimited FTP/SFTP/Shell Users
Beyond these two options, DreamHost also offers three Managed WordPress Hosting plans.

DreamPress Plan DreamPress Plus Plan DreamPress Pro Plan

Image Credit By : Website builder expert 

Pricing $16.95/month $24.95/month $71.95/month
Websites 1 1 1
Bandwidth Unmetered Unmetered Unmetered
Storage 30GB 60GB 120GB
Email Accounts Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
Other Features – • Unlimited CDN • Unlimited CDN
• Priority Support

DreamHost VPS Hosting Cost ?

Go to the highest
VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting is once you share a server with other websites, with a number of the server’s resources isolated only for your use. this is often different from shared hosting because while a VPS is technically a shared server, you don’t need to share resources between the opposite sites on the server. VPS sites are costlier and far faster than shared sites.

DreamHost has four different VPS hosting plans:

Dream host dedicated hosting Plan and Pricing 

Image Credit by: Dreamhost 

Quick Facts
Ease of Signup: Long and sophisticated check in process. Signup should be easier.
Free domain: For the primary year on all annual hosting plans.
Money Back: 97-day money-back guarantee.
Payment Methods: mastercard , PayPal, Check, postal order , bank account
Hidden Fees and Clauses: No major ones.
Upsells: a couple of upsells.

Account Activation: Account activation is quick unless you've got payment issues.
Control Panel and Dashboard: Custom DreamHost instrument panel which may be a touch difficult to use.
Installation of Apps and CMSs (WordPress, Joomla, etc.): One-click installer for WordPress and other apps/CMSs.

The Costs Involved in Starting a replacement Website

When it involves getting a replacement website off the bottom , you'll do so for next to zilch . However, there'll likely be some costs to stay in mind as you propose to launch your site.

Let’s check out WordPress, for instance . The software itself is open-source and won’t cost a cent. Still, you’ll got to consider the subsequent costs:

Domain name. counting on what name you’re hoping to attain , domain pricing can have a good range. For a typical .com name, however, you’ll got to plan for anywhere between $10 to $50 per annum .
Premium themes or plugins. If you would like full control over all aspects of your site, you'll got to consider a allow premium plugins and themes. the additional cost is usually worthwhile if you’re looking to line yourself aside from competitors.
Web hosting. Hosting is required to urge your site online and, in most cases, will involve a monthly fee which will vary significantly.

Service Levels

Unmanaged VPS hosting may be a lot like shared hosting. you'll get a couple of extra perks, but you won’t have tons of help managing your website or server.

On the opposite hand, a managed hosting plan provides you with a security net. You’ll have a team of technicians and support staff who are going to be searching for the safety and functionality of your site and server. the precise services you get can vary, but often, your web hosting provider will exerting to form sure your website is optimized and up-to-date in the least times.

Managed hosting is a superb option if you've got a growing website, but aren't able to invest in your own hardware or an IT team to manage everything. you'll get excellent results with little to no technical know-how.

Renewal Pricing

Once you opt whether you would like to travel with a managed or unmanaged VPS plan, you’ll want to start out assessing the pricing options. like shared hosting, VPS plans will got to be renewed either in monthly or yearly increments. For the simplest deal, you’ll want to choose the longest contract (if your budget allows and you’re happy to commit for the long term)..

Do We Recommend DreamHost?
Yes, we do.

Even though DreamHost’s uptime and speed have gone worse over the past year, they still showed reliable results not goodbye time ago, which makes us believe that current low performance is simply a short lived setback.

Moreover, their default plan limits are pretty high, offering a bunch of “unlimited” options for disc space , bandwidth, and more. and that we also really liked that there’s no increase when your hosting plan renews.

On another note, the customer support was pretty limited to only a couple of certain hours throughout the week. and therefore the paid migrations can really add up, especially when there’s no cPanel offered to automatically move sites yourself.

Can you use DreamHost for free?
If you're a non-profit organization, DreamHost offers shared hosting totally free from charge. There also are further discounts for nonprofits on its VPS hosting plans. Unfortunately for the remainder of you, $2.59/month is that the cheapest rate you’ll get!

What is DreamHost’s best service?
From our independent research and testing, DreamHost is best for shared hosting. It offers the most cost-effective non-discounted prices of any top-rated provider and has all the features you would like . Its WordPress hosting isn’t bad either, with one-click installs and automatic WordPress software updates.

What are the simplest DreamHost alternatives?
Bluehost is that the best overall hosting provider. Bluehost excels for WordPress hosting, and is great value for money while providing top-notch help and support. HostGator and InMotion are another top providers. InMotion focuses on shared and VPS hosting, while HostGator has a superb dedicated hosting service.

How Easy is DreamHost to Use?
Setting up your web hosting with DreamHost is straightforward . Before stepping into that, though, you’re getting to got to choose which sort of hosting you would like .

This largely depends on what your website is, and what its requirements are. In most cases, personal sites and startups are going to be fine using shared hosting. skilled businesses might want to seem at VPS hosting, while enterprise-level companies will need a fanatical hosting plan.

Once you recognize what sort of hosting you would like , signing up to a DreamHost plan may be a breeze.

Want to find out more about the various sorts of web hosting? Have a read of our beginner’s guide to hosting here.

dreamhost homepage

Image credit by : Ecommerce Platform

DreamHost features a simple setup process and an intuitive, custom-built dashboard.
Firstly, you’ll be presented with an inventory of optional extras. Things like registering a website name, enhanced security, and email hosting can all be added into your plan at this stage.

After you’re happy and your payment has been processed, you’ll enter DreamHost’s dashboard. Unlike most leading hosting providers, DreamHost doesn’t use a cPanel dashboard.

Instead, DreamHost has its own custom-made dashboard that’s easy to use and super responsive.

If you’re wont to working off a cPanel, it'll take a touch time to urge wont to . But with many tutorials out there, it’s a reasonably gentle learning curve.