- 30-days Money-back Guarantee
- Up To 20x Faster Turbo, Free Website Migration, Free website migration
- Support available 24/7/365 via Phone, Tickets, Chat, Knowledge Base
- 30 Day Refund Policy
- Free Domain, Free SSL, Free CDN
- Support available 24/7/365 via Phone, Chat, Knowledge Base and Blog
A2 Hosting vs Bluehost: Quick Summary
A2 Hosting comes out as the winner over Bluehost, mainly thanks to its fast servers, generous features, and budget-friendly plans.
A2 Hosting stands out with super-fast turbo servers, unlimited storage and bandwidth on most plans, solid security, and responsive support.
Bluehost is beginner-friendly, offers intuitive WordPress tools and strong uptime, but some features are limited on lower-tier plans, and prices can be higher for comparable resources.
Overall, A2 Hosting gives more speed, value, and flexibility, which makes it the better choice for most users.
Keep reading and check more details below.
A2 Hosting vs Bluehost: Overview
A2 Hosting Profile
A2 Hosting is a web hosting provider known for fast loading speeds. The web host offers a wide array of services, including shared hosting, WordPress hosting, reseller hosting, and dedicated servers. Other services include domain registration, site builder, professional email service, and support for both. A2 Hosting’s standout features include affordable pricing, unlimited storage, fast servers, managed hosting service, and fast response customer support.
Bluehost Profile
Bluehost is a popular web host known for its beginner-friendly WordPress hosting solutions. The host is one of the few advertised on the WordPress.org website. Bluehost offers shared hosting, WordPress hosting, VPS, dedicated servers, domain registration, business emails, site builders with templates, and private servers like other providers. The web host’s standout features include its accreditation by the WordPress.org website, fast customer support, discounts for first-time users, and robust features for online businesses.
1. Hosting Features and Services Comparison
A2 Hosting Features
A2 Hosting offers many great features on its plans, except its entry-level shared hosting plan. These features include unlimited domains, SSD storage, turbo servers for the top tier plans, unlimited databases, cloud backup, and LiteSpeed web server on top tier plans.
The standout feature, turbo servers, offers fast loading speeds thanks to its AMD EPYC CPUs, NVMe servers, LiteSpeed web server, and Turbo cache. The result is faster loading speeds, the ability to handle more traffic, and increased SEO ranking.
This feature is exclusive to the turbo plans. Other features exclusive to the turbo plans are performance tools like site accelerator, LiteSpeed cache plugins, and a deluxe WordPress toolkit.
Features that cut across all plans include SSD drives, SSL certificates, security tools, 24/7 support, security tools, and standard WordPress toolkit features.
Bluehost Features
Bluehost’s features include SSD storage, chat support, free CDN, and custom WP themes. Bluehost offers a free domain, professional email, and SSL for the first year. Phone support, daily website backups, domain privacy, and malware scanning are not available on the BASIC plan.
Regarding supported websites, the BASIC plan supports 1 website, while the two mid-tier plans support up to 4 websites. The new CLOUD plan can host up to 50 websites. Storage-wise, the BASIC plan has a decent 10GB storage space, while the mid-plans offer 40GB each. The CLOUD plan offers an astonishing 225 GB of storage.
As its name suggests, the ONLINE STORE plan offers e-commerce tools such as store analytics, shopping labels, customer account creation, and gift cards. The CLOUD plan, on the other hand, offers an impressive 100% uptime guarantee, high-performance CPUs, and priority support.
2. Prices and Plans Comparison
Shared Hosting
Shared hosting plans are affordable, low maintenance, and easy to set up. Most websites on the internet run on shared hosting plans.
VPS Hosting
Virtual private servers fall somewhere between shared hosting and dedicated servers. They are affordable alternatives for people who need powerful, secure, and customizable solutions but either cannot afford or do not require dedicated servers.
Dedicated Hosting
Dedicated servers offer the best of web hosting solutions. They are faster, more secure, and offer the most customization options. They are also the most expensive.
A2 Hosting Pricing Plans
A2 Hosting plans begin at $2.99/mo on the cheapest shared hosting plan and go up to $399.99/mo for the managed dedicated hosting plans.
- Shared/WordPress hosting: A2 Hosting plans range from $2.99/mo to $14.99/mo for shared hosting and from $2.99/mo to $41.99/mo for WordPress hosting plans, respectively.
- VPS: A2 Hosting VPS plans offer unmanaged and managed options. The unmanaged VPS plans range from $2.99/mo to $59.99/mo, while the managed VPS plan pricing begins at $35.99/mo and goes up to $79.99/mo.
- Dedicated servers: Dedicated hosting plans from A2 Hosting come in unmanaged and managed categories. The entry plans start at $79.99/mo and go up to $239.99/mo for unmanaged, and $79.99/mo to $399.99/mo and $439.99/mo for the turbo-charged plans for managed dedicated servers, respectively.
Bluehost Pricing Plans
Bluehost’s shared hosting plans start at $2.95/mo, while the most expensive dedicated hosting plan costs $141.99/mo.
- Shared/WordPress hosting: Shared hosting from Bluehost ranges from $2.95/mo to $29.99/mo, depending on your chosen tier. The same applies to Bluehost WordPress hosting.
- VPS: Bluehost VPS plans begin at $31.99/mo and max out at $71.99/mo for first-time customers.
- Dedicated servers: Bluehost dedicated hosting plans begin from $91.98/mo to $141.99/mo.
3. Website Performance Comparison (Uptime & Speed)
A2 Hosting Uptime & Speed Test
A2 Hosting offers 99.9% uptime, which is the industry standard. According to GT Metrix, the provider also boasts a loading speed of less than half a second. Google’s PageSpeed Insights puts the loading speed at 2.2s, which is still above the 3-second benchmark.
Bluehost Uptime & Speed Test
4. Customer Support Comparison: Who’s Got Your Back?
A2 Hosting Customer Support
A2 Hosting offers a handful of direct communication lines. I tried the live chat option by tapping the chat button on the bottom left corner of the page. It led to a pop-up chat box that required my name and email address. It was a sales chat. If I wanted a support chat, I would have to log into my A2 Hosting account.
The sales representative joined the chat quickly, and I posted a query. The rep took a few moments but finally answered my question. I thanked them for the prompt answer, declined to ask further questions, and closed the chat.
Overall, it was a good experience. One must commend A2 Hosting for its prompt and helpful support and sales agents. (Note that it is better to use the ticket support for complex issues if you are a customer.)
Bluehost Customer Support
Bluehost offers live chat and phone support. I used the live chat option and connected with an agent called Joel. This was after I answered a few questions so the system could refer me to the right channel.
I asked about the uptime for the shared hosting plan for this test since it wasn’t included on the product description page. The agent took a minute or two to respond. When they did, they told me it was 99.99%. I thanked them for their response and exited the chat.
From my experience, Bluehost offers fast, responsive customer support. There is also an extensive knowledge base for customers who prefer to go the DIY route.
5. Ease of Use Comparison: Which Platform Is Easier to Use?
A2 Hosting Ease of Use
A2 Hosting makes web hosting easy. Setting up an account only takes a few minutes, and you get your hosting service instantly. The web host also offers domain registration and other services, so you can manage your services with one account – the A2 Hosting Customer Portal.
WordPress users can use the TurboHub control panel to manage their WordPress sites, explore AI optimizations, and quickly access email, files, domains, and other areas of their hosting environment.
A2 Hosting also provides cPanel access to all accounts. cPanel is a user-friendly control panel that you can use to manage your hosting CMS, create email accounts, and customize your hosting environment.
If you run into issues, a vast knowledge base provides answers to common issues. You can also contact the 24/7 multilingual customer support for assistance.
Bluehost Ease of Use
Bluehost is a friendly web hosting provider. The layout of the Bluehost Account Manager makes it easy for users to start a WordPress site or use any other CMS of their choice. For WordPress, there are a lot of plugins and themes that you can use to add enhancements and functionalities to your website.
The dashboard also makes migrating existing websites easy, adding more domains to a single plan and troubleshooting issues. You can check the in-depth knowledge base for guides if you run into issues. You can also connect with the support team for hands-on assistance.
Bluehost also supports cPanel. From the cPanel dashboard, you can manage your hosting environment, review files and databases, and set up, edit, or delete email accounts.
6. Privacy and Security Comparison: Which Platform is More Secure?
A2 Hosting Privacy and Security
A2 Hosting offers vast security and privacy features for all plans. These include cloud backups, SSL certificates, kernel updates, DDoS protection, and web hosting firewalls. Users are also protected against brute-force attacks, viruses, and malicious actors. Lastly, users can add dedicated IP addresses and ID protection to enhance their privacy.
Bluehost Privacy and Security
Bluehost provides security features for users. However, some of these features are free for some plans and as paid add-ons for others. The all-around security features are DDoS protection and SSL certificates. All the plans except the BASIC plan get free daily backups and SSL certificates. The CLOUD plan has a WAF (Web Application Firewall). Bluehost also offers free domain privacy for one year on all plans except the BASIC plan. Users can add these security features to their plans via add-ons.
7. Server Locations Comparison
Using server locations close to your target audience can offer faster loading speeds and a better user experience.
Bluehost Server Location
Bluehost’s primary data centers are in Utah, USA. However, regional subsidiaries such as Bluehost.in and bluehost.ch offer data centers in the USA, the United Kingdom, China, and India.
A2 Hosting Server Location
A2 Hosting has four data center locations: Amsterdam (Europe), Singapore (Asia), Michigan (USA), and Arizona (USA).
A2 Hosting vs Bluehost: Final Recommendations
Why choose A2 Hosting:
Choose A2 Hosting if you want:
- Super-fast servers
- Responsive customer support
- Affordable hosting solutions
- Unlimited bandwidth and generous storage on a small budget
- Comprehensive security solution
When to consider Bluehost:
Choose Bluehost if you want:
- An intuitive account management dashboard
- Mouth-watering discounts
- A WordPress hosting provider endorsed by WordPress.org
The Bottom Line
My choice in the A2 Hosting vs. Bluehost match-up is A2 Hosting. A2 Hosting is generous with its features while keeping prices low. The super-fast servers also make A2 Hosting a top contender against competitors. While Bluehost performs decently for a renowned provider, A2 Hosting is the easy pick, as it outmatches Bluehost in more ways than one.
