As a newbie, the excitement that comes when you buy a domain is bliss. However, it can be quite short-lived when you realize you have to subscribe to a web hosting plan to house your domain. Thankfully, today, many web hosts offer free domains when you subscribe to their plans.
In this article, we shall be focusing on two popular web hosts, Bluehost, and iPage, available in the market. Because we understand that choosing the right web host provider for your site can be quite tricky, we have compiled a list of their features and differences. This way you can easily choose one that is better for you.
iPage vs Bluehost Comparison
Bluehost was started in 1996 as a web hosting provider. They have since then catered for the needs of millions of websites all over the world. Their popularity is owed to their relatively low hosting prices and they offer a wide range of hosting options. They are also featured on WordPress as the recommended web hosting provider.
IPage, on the other hand, started in 1998 by Endurance International Group. They provide services to millions of websites and are increasingly popular. They are located in the United States and have two data centers there to serve the masses. IPage is favored for its affordable prices, especially the single-hosting plan.
Speed
The speed of your website is crucial to ensure visitors stay and return to your website. Although several factors can cause a website to be slow: large image and video content, high traffic, etc. Your web host has a large part to play. Bluehost and iPage have impeccable speed time with the Bluehost having a load time of 689ms and iPage approximately 3 seconds when tested on a dummy site. This here shows that Bluehost is quite faster.
On high web traffic, Bluehost immediately optimizes your website to manage the unforeseen surge, while with iPage, your site may slow down.
Uptime
Both iPage and Bluehost guarantee 99.9% uptime and quick turnaround in the event of server failure or crash. This is important as you do not want your users to see an error page when they visit.
Ease of Use
Both Bluehost and iPage are fairly easy to use. However, Bluehost’s dashboard is the popular cPanel while iPage uses a custom-made dashboard called vDeck. If you’re accustomed to cPanel, then using Bluehost should be a breeze. With it, you can control your website and manage hosting tools and resources. The dashboard also includes a one-click WordPress installer so you can easily launch your WordPress website.
IPage, on the other hand, offers a drag and drop builder that makes it easy to build a website without writing a line of code. This makes it easy and enjoyable for beginners and non-developers. Its dashboard (vDeck) is intuitive and also includes a WordPress installer.
Other features
When it comes to building a website, everyone has special requirements and wants. This is why web hosts have a range of plans that will cater to your needs. Bluehost and iPage offer affordable hosting for as low as $1.99 per month for single-host plans to enterprise server plans that cost $79.99 per month.
They both offer free domain names on any plan, SSL, WordPress one-click installer, email addresses, etc. But they also have differences, and they are listed below;
- iPage includes a drag and drop builder on their control panel while Bluehost has none
- When you subscribe to a plan on iPage, you are awarded $200 free ad credits worth. Bluehost does not offer any bonuses on smaller plans
- iPage offers single-shared hosting and allows unlimited websites on their shared plan
- Bluehost offers 24/7 customer support via phone and live chat, no option to email, which is frustrating if your complaints/enquires are time tasking and technical. With iPage, you can reach them on email, phone, and live chat. They also have detailed documentation that you can use to troubleshoot your issues.
- iPage offer $1.99 per month on their single hosting while Bluehost offers $2.75 per month. For WordPress sites, iPage offers $3.75 per month while Bluehost offers the same $2.75. VPS hosting for both web hosts cost $19.99 per month. And finally, dedicated servers cost $79.99 for Bluehost and $199.99 for iPage.
Pros and Cons
No web host is 100% perfect. Here’s an overview of the pros and cons of both web host provider
Bluehost (Pros)
- Free domain name upon registration
- Free SSL certificate to keep your website secure by enabling encrypted communication between server and browser
- Affordable services on small plans
- Zero hidden charges
- Fast and reliable, uptime 99.9% and faster than most web hosts
- Unlimited disk space
- Unlimited emails and subdomains
- Ideal for all types of websites: blogs, company websites, e-commerce, etc.
Bluehost (Cons)
- Higher rates on renewal, although this is common with all web hosts provider
- No email support, only phone, and live chat
- No free site migration: They do not offer help if you are setting up your existing site on their servers. This can be frustrating for newbies, and non-technical individuals as the procedure are fairly hard.
- No drag and drop builder: They do not offer this feature on any of their plans. Drag and drop can help you build your site easily without knowing how to code.
IPage (Pros)
- Affordable prices for their smaller plans, start as low as $1.99
- Free domain on registration
- Ad credits and freebies: They offer $200 free ad credits on registration alongside other freebies
- Drag and drop builder for easy building of your website from scratch
- Phone, live chat and email support for seamless customer service
- Unlimited emails and subdomains
- Unlimited disk space
- Ideal for all types of websites: blogs, company websites, e-commerce, etc.
IPage (Cons)
- Does not include cPanel, instead comes with a custom-made control panel called vDeck. You would have to learn how to use the panel if you are already accustomed to cPanel.
- Drag and drop site builder has limitations that can only be lifted when you subscribe to a higher plan. On the regular plan, you can only publish six pages with drag and drop.
- Slower speed and load time compared to other web hosts. However, it gets better on higher plans
Conclusion
If you have read through the review, you will notice that Bluehost has some advantages and peculiarities over iPage and vice versa. For pricing, iPage is cheaper on single-hosting and far expensive than Bluehost on higher plans. If you are on a budget and want to set up a small static website, then iPage may be a better choice. However, Bluehost is faster than iPage, so this should also be put into consideration if your page will receive high traffic.
Bluehost’s control panel is also intuitive and familiar as they use cPanel. They also offer a wider range of hosting options such as WooCommerce and are the recommended web host by WordPress.org. IPage also has an intuitive control panel. It is, however, custom, so it will require some getting used to it. Overall both web hosts are more than adequate to manage your website and they are continually working hard to ensure user satisfaction.