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Bluehost is the host people arrive at with an opinion already formed, and the current figures do not match the reputation. After Newfold Digital moved it onto Oracle Cloud, the benchmark project recorded a load test at 41 ms with a 0% error rate and hardware at 9.6 of 10. It also recorded 99.99% uptime across nine outages, and cached global delivery of 224 ms across 40 locations. It scores 4.0 in our review, and the reasons to hesitate are all about the account rather than the servers.
Is Bluehost Right for WordPress? The Short Answer
Yes for most WordPress sites, on the 36-month term. Two conditions: decline the extras at checkout, and live with a 100 MB cap per mailbox on Starter. The measured record is strong across load, hardware, uptime and cached delivery. What to watch is the cart, the renewal at $9.99 or $11.99 depending on term, and the published limits that arrive sooner than the storage does.
What Is Measured
Load test. 41 ms with no failed requests, recorded in the project’s July 2026 changelog after the Oracle Cloud move. That is the figure covering carts, logins and search.
Hardware. 9.6 of 10, which is the top of the range among shared plans in that project and the reason sustained work holds up.
Uptime. 99.99% across nine outages, measured from November 2025 to August 2026. Nine is a low count, which matters as much as the percentage, as our guide to reading an uptime report explains.
Cached delivery. 224 ms globally across 40 locations, so readers abroad are served reasonably without adding anything yourself.
| Host | Measurement | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| WP Engine | Global TTFB 65 ms, 1st of 34 hosts | Hostingstep, 2025 ranking, 40 locations |
| WP Engine | US TTFB 365 ms across 22 locations | Hostingstep, 2025 ranking |
| WP Engine | TTFB 355 ms, 349,920 checks | Hostingstep, Oct 2025 – May 2026 |
| WP Engine | Uptime 99.976%, 10th of 14 managed hosts | Study of 14 managed hosts, 2026 |
| WP Engine | Load 27 ms at 0% errors | Hostingstep, 2026 benchmarks |
| Rocket.net | Cached TTFB 85 ms globally | 12-month test, Mar 2025 – Mar 2026 |
| Rocket.net | Origin TTFB 310 ms; checkout bypasses cache | Same 12-month test |
| Rocket.net | Uptime 99.97%, seven outages in the window | Hostingstep, Oct 2025 – May 2026 |
| Rocket.net | Hardware score fell 8.5 → 7.5; not recommended | Hostingstep, 2026, tracked since Oct 2020 |
| Hostinger Business | Global TTFB 223 ms, 5th of 34 hosts | Hostingstep, 2026 |
| Hostinger Premium | Global TTFB 495 ms, 28th of 34; no CDN | Hostingstep, 2026 |
| Hostinger | TTFB 707 ms; server response 246 ms | Cybernews, June 2026 |
| Hostinger | Uptime 99.99%, 33 min down in 2025 | Hostingstep, continuous since 2021 |
| Hostinger | Uptime 99.93%, 6-month window | HostPro Reviews, 2026 |
| Hostinger | LCP 0.607 s, 2nd of 15 hosts | TechRadar, 10-week window, 2026 |
| Bluehost | Hardware score 9.6 of 10 | Hostingstep, 2026 |
| Bluehost | Load 41 ms at 0% errors after the Oracle move | Hostingstep changelog, 9 Jul 2026 |
| Bluehost | Response 411 ms; uptime 99.99% across 9 outages | Hostingstep, Nov 2025 – Aug 2026 |
| Bluehost | Global TTFB 224 ms across 40 locations, cached | Hostingstep Bluehost review, Jul 2026 |
| HostGator | Global TTFB 1.23 s; uptime 99.68%; 762 ms at 500 users | Hostingstep HostGator review, 2026 |
| HostGator | Hardware joint-highest in the field after the Oracle move | Hostingstep, 1 Sep 2026 update |
| ChemiCloud | US TTFB 531 ms; global 460 ms | Hostingstep, Oct 2025 – May 2026 |
| ChemiCloud | Load 1,068 ms at a 4.2% error rate | Hostingstep, same window |
| ChemiCloud | Uptime 99.76%; overall 6.1 of 10, degrading | Hostingstep, tracked since 2021 |
| GoDaddy shared | TTFB 751 ms; load test did not complete | Hostingstep, Nov 2025 – Jun 2026 |
| GoDaddy shared | Uptime 99.76% | Hostingstep, Nov 2025 – Jun 2026 |
| GoDaddy Managed WordPress | TTFB 344 ms; hardware 3.8 of 10 | Hostingstep, 2026 |
| GreenGeeks | TTFB 395 ms North America, 447 ms Europe | Long-term independent testing, 2026 |
| GreenGeeks | TTFB 580–610 ms Asia and Australia | Same testing window |
| GreenGeeks | Load 26 ms at 0% errors; WPBench 5.0 of 10 | Hostingstep, 2026 |
| GreenGeeks | 25 outages in the window; no integrated CDN found | Hostingstep, 2026 |
| Kinsta | Origin TTFB 525 ms; edge figures differ | Hostingstep, 2026 |
| Kinsta | Load 40 ms at 0% errors; WPBench 8.8 of 10 | Hostingstep, 2026 reviews |
| DreamHost | TTFB 450–500 ms band | Hostingstep, 2026 benchmarks |
| Scala Hosting | Uptime 99.97% across twelve months | Live site, 40,000 monthly visitors, UptimeRobot |
| Scala Hosting | 29 ms at the 95th percentile, 50 users | k6 load test, 2026 |
| InterServer | Uptime 99.98% across eighteen months | Six production sites, UptimeRobot |
| InterServer | Load under 700 ms; under 1.5 s by another source | Two 2026 reviews |
| A2 Hosting | TTFB 150–198 ms | 2026 studies; LiteSpeed on Turbo tiers |
| IONOS | Global TTFB 480 ms; WPBench 7.2 of 10 | Hostingstep, 2026 benchmarks |
| IONOS | Uptime 99.99%; load test failed at 65.4% errors | Hostingstep, 2026 benchmarks |
| Namecheap | TTFB 461 ms; global 448 ms; WPBench 5.0 | Hostingstep, Q4 2025; monitoring paused 30 Jun 2026 |
| InMotion | TTFB 300–500 ms shared | Published measurement, 2026 |
| InMotion | Uptime 99.97–99.99%; one account near 99.5% | Several 2026 sources |
| Hostwinds | No independent measurement found | 99.9999% is the company's own claim |
| Liquid Web | Not covered by the benchmarks we cite | VPS and dedicated are outside their scope |
| SiteGround | TTFB 632 ms; 22nd of 34 hosts | Hostingstep, 2026 benchmarks |
| SiteGround | Uptime 99.96% in 2025; 193 min over 44 outages | Hostingstep, full year 2025 |
| SiteGround | WPBench 8.4 of 10; load 170 ms at 0% errors | Hostingstep, Oct 2025 – May 2026 |
| Scala Hosting | TTFB 465 ms; global 501 ms | Hostingstep, 2026 benchmarks |
| Scala Hosting | WPBench 8.8 of 10; load 48 ms at 0% errors | Hostingstep, 2026 benchmarks |
| Scala Hosting | Uptime 99.98% across the year | Hostingstep, 2026 benchmarks |
| Cloudways | Vultr HF: load 288 ms at 1.7% errors; WPBench 7.6 | Hostingstep Cloudways review, 2026 |
| Cloudways | Uptime 99.996% to 99.999% across five plans | Hostingstep, Oct 2025 – May 2026 |
The Limits Are Published, Which Is Rare
Bluehost states figures most hosts keep vague: 50,000 inodes as a soft limit, 200,000 as an acceptable use threshold and a million as a terms violation. It also publishes 5 GB for a single database and 5,000 tables or 10 GB across all of them.
Read that as a planning tool rather than a warning. A WordPress site with a large media the 10 GB of storage on Starter. Our piece on what unlimited hosting means explains why inodes bite first.
⚠️ The mailbox cap is the one that surprises people: 100 MB per mailbox on Starter. A working inbox fills that, and our guide to setting up email on your domain covers moving mail somewhere else.
The Cart Is the Real Problem
Our table of recurring charges records daily backup and security add-ons sold alongside the plan. There is also a premium certificate at $89.88 a year, domain privacy at $15.00 and Yoast SEO Premium at $99.99. None of those is required, and the free certificate does the same cryptographic job, which our page on SSL certificates covers.
There is also a $15.99 deduction from any refund for the free domain, which our guide to canceling hosting and getting a refund covers.
Decline everything at checkout, then add only what you actually miss.
The Renewal, and One Disputed Reading
Starter holds $3.99 for the term. On a 36-month term the renewal is $9.99, a step of 2.5× over 36 months, and three years cost $143.64 because the renewal is never reached.
On a 12-month term the renewal is $11.99, a step of 3.0× over 12 months, and three years cost $335.64. Same plan, and the two totals are not close.
One source reads the intro and renewal as $1.99 and $8.99, which conflicts with Bluehost’s own help page. We record both and lead with the company’s figures, as our page on hosting renewal prices does across the field.
| Host and plan | How it builds | 36-month total |
|---|---|---|
| ChemiCloud Starter, 36-month term | 36 prepaid months at $2.49 | $89.64 |
| InterServer Standard | 36 months at $2.50, price locked | $90.00 |
| DreamHost Launch, 48-month term | 36 of 48 prepaid months at $2.89 | $104.04 |
| Namecheap Stellar, 24-month term | 24 at $1.98, then 12 at $4.88 | $106.08 |
| Hostinger Premium, 48-month term | 36 of 48 prepaid months at $2.99 | $107.64 |
| HostGator Hatchling, 36-month term | 36 months at $3.75, renewal not reached | $135.00 |
| HostGator Hatchling, with daily backups | 36 at $3.75, plus CodeGuard at $35.88 a year | $242.64 |
| Bluehost Starter, 36-month term | 36 months at $3.99, renewal not reached | $143.64 |
| GoDaddy Economy, 36-month term | 36 months at $5.99, renewal not reached | $215.64 |
| GoDaddy Economy, with SSL from year two | 36 at $5.99, plus $119.99 in years two and three | $455.62 |
| Hostwinds Basic, annual | 12 at $4.54, then 24 at $6.99 | $222.24 |
| SiteGround StartUp, 24-month term | 24 at $2.99, then 12 at $14.99 | $251.64 |
| DreamHost Launch, annual | 12 at $2.89, then 24 at $10.99 | $298.44 |
| Scala Hosting Mini, annual | 12 at $2.95, then 24 at $11.95 | $322.20 |
| Bluehost Starter, 12-month term | 12 at $3.99, then 24 at $11.99 | $335.64 |
| IONOS Plus, annual | 12 at $1.00, then 24 at $14.00 | $348.00 |
| GreenGeeks Lite, 36-month prepay | 36 months at $2.95 | $106.20 |
| GreenGeeks Lite, annual | 12 at $2.95, then 24 at $13.95 | $370.20 |
| SiteGround StartUp, 12-month term | 12 at $2.99, then 24 at $17.99 | $467.64 |
| Cloudways, from | 36 months at $14.00, flat | $504.00 |
| A2 Hosting Turbo Boost, annual | 12 at $6.99, then 24 at $20.99 | $587.64 |
| Rocket.net Starter, annual | 12 at $25.00, then 24 at $30.00 | $1,020.00 |
| WP Engine Startup, annual | 12 at $27.00, then 24 at $35.00 | $1,164.00 |
| Liquid Web managed VPS | 36 months at $33.00 | $1,188.00 |
| Kinsta Starter | 36 months at $35.00, flat | $1,260.00 |
| InMotion Core, 36-month term | 36 months at $3.19, renewal not reached | $114.84 |
| InMotion Launch, 36-month term | 36 months at $4.99, renewal not reached | $179.64 |
Which WordPress Sites Fit
A first site or a blog. The strongest case: good measurements, phone support around the clock, and a low price for three years.
A small store. The load result covers a checkout, which our list of hosting for ecommerce ranks hosts by.
A business site whose owner wants to call someone. Bluehost publishes phone and chat around the clock.
A site with an ordinary media library. Not a photography archive, because inodes and storage both matter on Starter.
Which Should Look Elsewhere
A business running on its inbox. The 100 MB mailbox cap on Starter is the reason. Our list of hosting for small business covers hosts that treat email seriously.
A photographer or anyone with thousands of images. File counts arrive before storage does.
Anyone who will forget to decline add-ons. The cart is designed to be agreed with, and our guide to avoiding checkout upsells covers it.
A buyer who wants a locked price. InterServer holds $2.50 for the life of the account instead.
The Reputation Question
Bluehost belongs to Newfold Digital, the company Endurance International Group became in 2021. Much of what people remember about the brand predates that change, and predates the Oracle Cloud move as well.
Our position is simple: judge it on the figures in front of you and on your own invoice. Our guide to moving away from an EIG brand argues the same thing from the other direction, including when leaving is the right call.
The First Month
Note the resource screen. Inodes and database size, so you know where you sit against the published limits.
Move email if it matters. Before you fill 100 MB rather than after.
Set up backups you control. Rather than buying the add-on, which our guide to setting up automatic backups covers.
Diarize the renewal. With the rate that applies to your term written beside the date.
How We Research
We run no tests. Load, hardware, uptime and delivery figures come from Hostingstep. The load result from its July 2026 changelog, uptime from November 2025 to August 2026, and cached delivery from its Bluehost review of July 2026. Where a second source reads prices differently we print both.
Limits, mailbox caps, add-on charges and refund terms come from Bluehost’s own pages and support articles, read on 20 September 2026, and sit in our tables. Ownership comes from Newfold press releases. The criteria behind our scores are on our about page, and the full workings are in our Bluehost review.
Bluehost for WordPress FAQ
On the measurements, yes. After the Oracle Cloud move the project recorded 41 ms on the load test with no errors and hardware at 9.6 of 10. Uptime came in at 99.99% across nine outages, with 224 ms cached delivery globally.
Starter renews at $9.99 on a 36-month term and $11.99 on a 12-month one: steps of 2.5× over 36 months and 3.0× over 12. Three years cost $143.64 on the longer term and $335.64 on the shorter one.
The account rather than the servers. A cart full of pre-selected extras, a $15.99 deduction from refunds for the free domain, and a 100 MB cap on each mailbox on Starter.
More than most. Inodes at 50,000 soft, 200,000 as a policy threshold and a million as a violation, plus 5 GB per database and 5,000 tables or 10 GB in total. Useful for planning rather than alarming.
Less than people assume. Endurance International Group became Newfold Digital in 2021, and the figures above postdate both that and the Oracle Cloud move. Judge it on the current record and your own invoice.
The Verdict
This is the clearest case we have of measurements outrunning reputation. A clean load result, a low outage count and 224 ms cached delivery: together they make Bluehost a sound WordPress host at $3.99 a month for three years.
The things to manage are all in the account. Decline the extras, move email off Starter if the inbox matters, watch inodes rather than storage, and write down which renewal rate your term carries. Our page on what web hosting costs prices the alternatives across three years.