Bluehost vs. A2 Hosting - In-depth comparison ( 2021 ) Review

Bluehost vs. A2 Hosting: An In-depth comparison guide!



Bluehost and A2 Hosting are both great when it comes to building a better website. Yet most people find it difficult to make choices between these two. Reasons could be that they are afraid of making the wrong selection or they are just being indecisive because they don't know which one suits their budget and plan. 


The truth is that Bluehost and A2 Hosting both offer great services when it comes to hosting websites, but one has to be better than the other in one way or the other and vice-versa. 


Since several new features have been added with improved performance, the best way to know the favorable one is by conducting a comparison check on the two hosting providers.


Therefore, in this article, we'll be providing you with the latest complete head-to-head comparison check and details between Bluehost and A2 Hosting


So, if you are planning on building a WordPress website and you have Bluehost and A2 Hosting in mind but do not know which to go for. Then you can rest assured that at the end of your reading you will be able to make the right decision for your hosting plan. 


So, let’s start with their overview. 




Bluehost vs. A2 Hosting — Overview


Bluehost


The Bluehost is primarily a website hosting platform that allows users to create and host websites without needing to have much technical knowledge. Moreover, when it comes to its performance and reliability, Bluehost being recommended by WordPress.org says it all. 




Moreover, whether you're a newbie or old to WordPress or web building, Bluehost has almost all the essential tools you'll need in building and hosting a spectacular and professional website while being able to access the power, flexibility and tools of WordPress. 


Nonetheless, the hosting provider has been in existence since 1996 and is hosting more than a million websites worldwide. 




A2 Hosting


A2 Hosting is a fast hosting provider and a leading developer-friendly company that provides high-performance hosting solutions for newbies and professional web developers to get their site up and running with speed and enhanced security. 



A2 Hosting was launched in 2003 and since then it has earned recognition and award as one of the top hosting providers.





Bluehost vs. A2 Hosting — latest page speed and uptime


Your page-load Speed and Uptime are determined by your website hosting provider. These factors should be considered important when choosing your hosting provider. Although Bluehost and A2 Hosting have guaranteed their users of super-fast speed and high website availability. 


But we have to confirm the same by running a page speed and uptime check comparison between the two. 


Below is the test that was performed on 2 sites that were hosted with each of them. The test was conducted with the 3rd party speed testing solution for which are


  • Pingdom
  • Webpagetest and
  • GTmetrix 


Pingdom visits the page through a web browser, downloads images, scripts, and other external elements on the site. It uses this process to determine how fast the site loads. 


Webpagetest determines page load time, first-byte time, and start to render time. It uses an actual web browser to test connections speed from different locations. 


GTmetrix analyzes the overall website performance and uses the site URL to provide reports and recommendations on site performance.


From the conducted test, the average result realized for load time, speed index, first byte, and start to render are as follows: 


For Bluehost 


  • The load time was 1.637s
  • Start render was 1.057s
  • The first byte was 0.571s
  • The speed index was 1.453s


For A2 Hosting


  • The load time was 1.515s
  • Start render was 1.302s
  • The first byte was 0.570s
  • The speed index was 1.311s 


From the results, the margin between the two hosting providers is seen to be very close, but A2 Hosting is leading Bluehost with a slight difference.  


The winner in this category, therefore, is A2 Hosting




Bluehost vs. A2 Hosting — Ease of use


Hosting with Bluehost is quick and easy. You can easily create hosting accounts, and also get a free consultation if you are not sure of the hosting plan that's right for you. 


On the other hand, A2 Hosting also provides its users with the option of selecting a high-speed plan for them. That is, the users get to choose between the specific hosting package that fits their needs.  


Moreover, they both have a quick, straightforward signup process, money-back guarantee, and support 1-click WordPress access. Additionally, in the signup process, you will need to register with a new domain or use an existing domain if you have one, and once that is done, you're almost ready to roll!


This means they are both great at managing web hosting accounts.




Bluehost vs. A2 Hosting — Features


Bluehost provides you with all the fundamental and powerful web hosting features and functions you'll need for a full operative website and provides a complete web hosting solution. 


The hosting features include:


  • Unlimited domain hosting and disk storage
  • Unlimited subdomains, Add-on, and parked domains
  • Secure IMAP Email support and POP3 email support, forward Email accounts, including 3 different webmail solutions.
  • Unlimited transfer, free SSL, and backups
  • Free domain name for the first year
  • Free CDN (offered by Cloudflare)


Coming to A2 Hosting, it provides you with web hosting solutions and features you can count on. 


A2 Hosting features include:


  • NVMe storage option
  • SSD Speed Boost
  • Free website migration
  • Unlimited websites, email addresses transfers, and storages 
  • 24/7/365 call, chat, and email support. 
  • Free SSL and backups 
  • DDoS protection by Cloudflare
  • Perpetual security initiative


By comparison, A2 Hosting is leading Bluehost in terms of features.


The winner therefore in this category is A2 Hosting




Bluehost vs. A2 Hosting — Site management


Both Bluehost and A2 Hosting have the cPanel control software available in their dashboard. The cPanel having a well-organized layout makes it easier to find and use tools from the dashboard, 

making everything about domain management understandable and accessible.  


Therefore, both the hosting provider scores well under this category.





Bluehost vs. A2 Hosting — Hosting types and pricing



Bluehost hosting types and plans


  • Shared Hosting: The shared hosting monthly plans, when billed for 3 years, start with a BASIC plan of $2.95 for just one website, a PLUS plan of $5.45 for unlimited sites, a CHOICE PLUS plan of $5.45 for more security features, and privacy. They also have the PRO plan that offers more power with an optimized web resource for $13.95.


  • WordPress Hosting: Similar to shared hosting plans, WordPress hosting plans also start with a monthly (when billed for 3 years) BASIC plan for $2.95, PLUS plan for $5.45, CHOICE PLUS for $5.45, and PRO plan for $13.95.


  • Ecommerce Hosting: Ecommerce hosting comes with a STANDARD ( $12.95/month, billed every 3 years) and a PREMIUM plan ($24.95/month, billed every 3 years). They both primarily differ on the level of customizations you are looking for to grow your online store.


  • VPS Hosting: VPS hosting consists of 3 plans , STANDARD (for $19.99/month), ENHANCED (for $29.99/month) and ULTIMATE for $59.99/month.


  • Dedicated Hosting too comes with 3 plans : STANDARD (for $79.99/month), ENHANCED (for $99.99/month), and PREMIUM (for $119.99/month),



A2 Hosting types and plans


  • Shared hosting: A2 Hosting shared hosting monthly plans (when billed for 3 years) starts with a startup plan of $2.99 for one website hosting, a Drive plan of $5.99 for unlimited website hosting and SSD storage, a Turbo boost plan of $6.99 with unlimited websites and NVMe storage, and finally a Turbo Max plan for $12.99


  • Reseller hosting consists of  monthly plans (when billed for 3 years) starting from 


    • Kickstart plan for $18.99
    • Turbo Kickstart plan for 22.99 
    • Launch plan for 24.99
    • Turbo launch plan for $32.99 
    • Grow plan for $34.99
    • Turbo Grow plan for $49.99 
    • Scale plan for $44.99 
    • Turbo Scale plan for $52.99


  • VPS hosting comes with 2 plans – ‘managed VPS and ‘unmanaged VPS. You can choose the one according to your management requirements. The plan starts from $4.99/month, when billed for 3 years.


  • WordPress hosting has 4 plans, namely Startup (available at $2.99/month, billed for 3 years), Drive (available at $5.99/month, billed for 3 years), Turbo Boost (available at $6.99/month, billed for 3 years) and Turbo Max (available at $12.99/month, billed for 3 years)


  • Dedicated server: Even here you can have a managed and unmanaged server. The plan starts from $129.99/month when billed for 2 years.


From what we have above, we can see that the A2 Hosting plan for WordPress is affordable, whereas Bluehost's Shared hosting, Dedicated and VPS hosting plans are affordable. 


Although A2 Hosting’s VPS standard plans are cheaper as well, in general, Bluehost has cheaper hosting plans. 


Thus, the winner in this category is Bluehost!





Bluehost vs. A2 Hosting — Advantages and Differences


Bluehost advantages


  • Customized WordPress cPanel dashboard.
  • Flat $65 commission for every referral made for their hosting. 
  • WordPress hosting guide.
  • Quick live chat response
  • Marketing assistance and guide. 
  • 24/7 data backups


A2 Hosting advantages


  • Immediate money-back guarantee 
  • Bare metal dedicated server solutions
  • Magento support on managed Dedicated plans.
  • Guru Crew support 
  • Turbo server option for up to 20x faster speed
  • Countless customization options for your needs in managed Dedicated hosting.
  • Expert team help on setup and optimization of software, hardware, network, and security systems.
  • Free account migration 
  • Call, chat, and email support
  • Preinstallation of optimized WordPress, supporting PHP 7 and above
  • Fully white-labeled Reseller hosting solutions. 
  • 99.9% uptime commitment 
  • You can earn from $55/sale up to $125/sale through the affiliate program


It can be derived that A2 Hosting here has more advanced developed settings and advantages, and hence a recommended hosting for effective building. 


The Winner in this category, therefore, is A2 Hosting





Bluehost vs. A2 Hosting — Support and consultation


Bluehost provides additional assistance for website design and promotion, plus fast response through live chat and phone calls. You can also consult with their teams on the best and ideal services that are suitable for your business budget and can also request a review of your website before and after migration. 


A2 Hosting on the other hand provides 24/7/365 response through live chat, phone call, and email. Moreover, they are committed to ensuring a continuous and safe website for their customers, by providing steady support for those who are still on the older version of PHP, while recommending the PHP hardening process for them to strengthen the security operation.   


Thus, the winner for this category is A2 Hosting





Bluehost vs. A2 Hosting — Overall result in different categories


Security


Bluehost website security is an all-in-one protection solution that guarantees its users of website reliability. The security aids include automated security updates and support, free SSL certificates, and malware detection.  


On the other hand, for enhanced security, A2 Hosting provides users with free automated SSL certificates and perpetual security for protection against security threats. The perpetual security initiative include features such as KernelCare (for optimizing Linux kernel security) and HackScan (to help protects users from malware attack).



WordPress


Bluehost offers detailed WordPress hosting options for websites. They provide an unlimited number of themes, with superior design, speed, and performance for WordPress websites


Coming to A2 Hosting, the A2 optimized for WordPress plugin is an exclusive WordPress plugin that provides page and database caching, image compression, JavaScript minification, page compression, and even random URLs for securing your login page.



Hosting


A2 Hosting provides ultra-reliable high-performance web hosting services and great benefits, ranging from high-speed hosting services with 99.9% uptime commitment to a 20X faster turbo boost to help you achieve lower bounce rates and high conversion rates. 


Bluehost, on the other hand, offers affordable hosting plans for website builders or traditional WordPress websites providing efficient tools and guides to economically create and host a user-friendly website. 






Summing up


From a general overview, both Bluehost and A2 Hosting are outstanding hosting providers. They both provide quality and commendable website management services and features respectively. 


Bluehost might be well known due to its WordPress programs and recommendations. However, A2 Hosting has topped up in their game, by introducing new hosting features and improving their service and product quality.  


A2 Hosting also provides its own benefit of high-performance hosting and, in general, A2 Hosting has more advantages than Bluehost. Nonetheless, from a security and hosting point of view, A2 provides your website with all the protection it needs and offers premium and quality web hosting services. 


However, if you want to go for more affordable web hosting services or you need a well-structured and customized WordPress dashboard with a guide on website creation, then Bluehost does the work perfectly. 


Ultimately, we recommend you choose the service provider based on your current hosting needs, budget, type of website, and overall server requirements.



Try H2 Hosting here: https://bit.ly/3uJwUZR 
or
Try Bluehost over here:  https://bit.ly/3B2yisG

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