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BlueHost Web Hosting Review |
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| Excellent bargain w/ exclusive discount; free domain privacy; fast data transfer; great add-ons | |
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[Editor's note: The prices below reflect a special NextAdvisor discount of $2-off on multi-year plans and $3-off on single year plans. There's no need to enter a coupon, just click "Visit Website" or "Go to Site".]
If BlueHost looks suspiciously close to Hostmonster in terms of its cost and offerings, there's a good reason for that. BlueHost is an alternate branding of Hostmonster's services (or vice-versa), with some slight differences in their offerings. How close are the web hosts? According to the whois data for the two sites, they're next door neighbors. So, what's the difference? Is there a BlueHost advantage? BlueHost carries the same exclusive NextAdvisor discount as Hostmonster: $3.95 per month for two- and three-year plans, and $4.95 per month for a single-year plan. Registration, setup and domain privacy (which we recommend for most users) is free. Also like Hostmonster, users can build their sites with the included Pagewizard site builder. We found it to be easy to use, with drag-and-drop simplicity. There's another site builder, Concrete5, included with their SimpleScripts, but it's one of the worst we've used (at least when testing it on our Mac). Best to stick with the Pagewizard. SimpleScripts substitutes for the popular Fantastico scripts that you find with other web hosts. These are the scripts that allow you to install extensions such as blogging platforms, wikis, forums, guestbooks, and shopping carts. The implementation is nice, and we found everything easy to install. You get plenty of shopping cart options with BlueHost's SimpleScripts, including some less common options like OpenCart and Magento. Most of the SimpleScripts are free, but a few carry additional charges. BlueHost has the same speedy upload and download stats that impressed us with HostMonster. Downloading our 78MB movie into the cache took just about forty seconds. In terms of data transfer, you can't do much better than these two web hosts, particularly for the cost. So is there a difference? If there is, it's not much. Both offer non-outsourced, 24/7 support by phone, email, and chat. There's a 30-day money-back guarantee (with a $10 fee for the domain if you cancel). After 30-days, you'll receive a pro-rated refund. BlueHost hits the sweet spot for speed, price, and services. Those with graphically intensive sites will appreciate the data transfer, and beginners will like the Pagewizard site builder. It's hard for anyone to quibble with the price, especially when you factor in the free domain privacy. |
Service Details:
| Cheapest Plan: | $3.95/mo 2 or 3 years (after discount) |
| 1 Year Plan: | $59.40/yr; $4.95/mo (after discount) |
| $ Back Guarantee: | 30-day full refund, prorated after; $10 domain charge (none if canceled under 3 days) |
| Domain: | Free for life |
| Support: | Email, Phone, Chat |
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