Hostinger vs Bluehost: Price, Limits and Features Compared

Hostinger costs less over time and includes email, while Bluehost includes more websites on its entry plan, a WordPress staging site and a published 99.99% uptime SLA. On the entry plans, Hostinger Premium is $2.99 a month for 48 months and renews at $10.99. Bluehost Starter is $3.99 a month for 36 months and renews at $9.99. Over five years that comes to $275.40 for Hostinger and $383.40 for Bluehost.

This comparison uses what each company publishes on its plan pages, read on October 6, 2026.

Hostinger vs Bluehost: quick answer

Entry plans side by side

The two checkout totals are 12 cents apart. What differs is how long that payment lasts. Hostinger's covers four years. Bluehost's covers three.

Mid-tier plans side by side

At this level the picture changes. Hostinger is $3 a month cheaper in the first term and adds daily backups. Bluehost has the lower renewal price, adds phone support and includes malware removal.

Price: what you pay over time

Headline prices are close. The totals are not, because the terms and renewal rates differ. We added up 60 months for each plan: the prepaid first term, then the listed renewal rate for the remaining months.

Hostinger is cheaper at both levels over five years, by $108 on the entry plans and $192 on the mid-tier plans. The reason is the extra year at the promotional rate.

Look at the renewal column, though. Bluehost's renewal prices are lower than Hostinger's at both levels: $9.99 against $10.99, and $13.99 against $16.99. If you keep a site for eight or ten years and never switch, that gap slowly works in Bluehost's favor. On the entry plans, Hostinger's lead of $108 after five years shrinks by $12 a year after that.

These totals assume you renew at the monthly rate shown on the plan card. Renewal pricing can vary with the term you choose, so check the renewal screen in your account. For the method and a third host, see Web Hosting Renewal Prices: What $2.99 a Month Really Costs.

Price verdict: Hostinger for the first five years. The difference is small enough that features should decide it for most people.

Websites and storage

Bluehost Starter allows 10 websites. Hostinger Premium allows 3. If you run a handful of small sites, or build sites for friends and clients, Bluehost's entry plan fits more of them before you need to upgrade.

Hostinger gives more storage on the entry plan: 20 GB against 10 GB. For context, a typical small business site with a few dozen pages and optimized images uses well under 1 GB. Storage becomes a limit when you host many sites, keep large media libraries or store backups on the same account.

Divide storage by sites to see the trade. Hostinger Premium gives roughly 6.7 GB per site across 3 sites. Bluehost Starter gives 1 GB per site if you use all 10.

Verdict: Bluehost for the number of sites. Hostinger for space per site.

Email

This is the clearest difference on the plan pages. Hostinger lists 2 mailboxes per website on Premium and unlimited mailboxes per website on Unlimited, both free for the first year. Bluehost's Starter and Business plan cards did not list email accounts as included when we checked.

Two cautions apply. Hostinger's wording is "free for 1 year", so find out what the mailboxes cost afterwards. And professional email from a dedicated provider is often worth paying for separately, because your mail then survives a change of web host. If you move hosts with email attached, you have to move the mailboxes too. DNS Records Explained shows how MX records keep email and website apart.

Whichever you choose, set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC on the domain so your messages reach the inbox. See SPF, DKIM and DMARC Explained.

Verdict: Hostinger, if included email matters to you in year one.

Backups

Both entry plans list weekly backups. A weekly schedule means you could lose up to seven days of changes. That is acceptable for a brochure site that changes a few times a year, and risky for a blog you post to daily or a store taking orders.

Hostinger's Unlimited plan moves to daily backups with restore at $3.99 a month in the first term. Bluehost Business, at $6.99, still lists weekly backups.

Do not rely on a host's backups alone at either company. Keep your own copy in separate cloud storage. A free plugin can do this on a schedule, as shown in How to Back Up a WordPress Site.

Verdict: Hostinger Unlimited is the cheapest route to daily backups here.

WordPress tools and staging

Both hosts install WordPress in a click and both include a free SSL certificate and a CDN.

Bluehost lists a WordPress staging site on its Starter plan. Staging gives you a private copy of your site where you can test a theme change or a plugin update before it goes live. For anyone who updates their site regularly, it is one of the most useful features a host can include, and it is unusual on an entry plan.

Hostinger's Premium plan page did not mention staging when we checked. It may be available on higher plans or through a plugin, so confirm with Hostinger if you need it.

Verdict: Bluehost, on what is published.

Uptime and performance

Bluehost lists a 99.99% uptime SLA on its shared plans. That allows about 53 minutes of downtime a year. Hostinger's plan page did not state an uptime figure when we checked, though it may publish one elsewhere.

A published SLA tells you what a company commits to on paper. It does not tell you what actually happens, and the remedy for a missed SLA is usually an account credit. We explain how to read these terms in How to Choose a Web Hosting Provider.

On speed, we have no test results to report, and we will not guess. Both hosts use NVMe storage on at least some shared plans and both include a CDN. If speed matters to your decision, use the 30-day refund window to test with your own site. Measure Time to First Byte from where your customers are, as described in What Is TTFB?. Google's guidance is 0.8 seconds or less.

Bluehost also states traffic guidance: Starter is "ideal for 40K visits/mo" and Business for 200K. That is useful for planning. Hostinger's plan cards did not give an equivalent figure.

Verdict: Bluehost publishes more commitments. Neither can be called faster without testing.

Support

Both hosts list 24/7 chat support on every shared plan. Bluehost adds phone support from the Business plan. Hostinger describes its support as live chat, available in multiple languages.

If you want to be able to call someone, that points to Bluehost Business. If chat is fine, the two are level on paper.

The published channels say nothing about quality. Before you buy, open a pre-sales chat with each and ask the same specific question, such as whether a restore from backup is free. Note how long it takes to reach a person and whether the answer is specific.

Verdict: Bluehost Business if you want phone support. Otherwise even.

Refunds and getting out

Both offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. Refunds on hosting normally exclude the cost of a domain registered through the host, so the "free" domain may be deducted if you cancel. Check the refund terms for the exact rule.

Both give a free domain for the first year. It then renews at each company's standard domain rate, which is not shown on the hosting plan cards. Ask before you register.

Both include a way to move an existing site in. Leaving is your responsibility at either host. Make sure you can download a full backup, and read How to Migrate a WordPress Site to a New Host Without Downtime before the first term ends so you have a real choice at renewal.

Which should you choose?

Choose Hostinger Premium if:

• You have one to three sites and want the lowest five-year cost.
• You want mailboxes included in the first year.
• You are comfortable paying for 48 months up front.

Choose Hostinger Unlimited if:

• You want daily backups and more than three sites for $3.99 a month in the first term.
• You accept the highest renewal price in this comparison, $16.99 a month.

Choose Bluehost Starter if:

• You want up to 10 small sites on the cheapest plan.
• A staging site matters to you.
• You prefer a 36-month commitment to a 48-month one.

Choose Bluehost Business if:

• You want phone support and malware removal included.
• You expect higher traffic and value the published 200K visits guidance.

If neither fits, a small VPS or a developer platform may suit you better. Shared vs VPS vs Cloud Hosting explains when to look beyond shared plans.

Alternatives worth a look

• SiteGround StartUp: $3.99 a month for 12 months, then $17.99. A much shorter commitment, a much higher renewal price, and clear traffic guidance of about 10,000 visits a month.
• A DigitalOcean Droplet: $6 a month for 1 GiB of memory with no promotional pricing. Cheaper than either renewal rate, but you manage the server yourself.
• Vercel, Netlify or Firebase: free tiers for developers building with frameworks such as Next.js. See Firebase Hosting vs Vercel vs Netlify.

Frequently asked questions

Is Hostinger cheaper than Bluehost?

Yes, over five years. Hostinger Premium costs $275.40 and Bluehost Starter costs $383.40, based on prices published on October 6, 2026. Hostinger's promotional rate lasts 48 months against Bluehost's 36. Bluehost's renewal price is lower, at $9.99 a month against $10.99.

Which is better for beginners, Hostinger or Bluehost?

Both install WordPress in one click and include free SSL, a CDN and 24/7 chat. Bluehost's entry plan adds a staging site, which helps beginners test changes safely. Hostinger's entry plan includes mailboxes for the first year and costs less over time.

Does Bluehost include email?

Bluehost's Starter and Business plan cards did not list email accounts as included when we checked on October 6, 2026. Hostinger lists 2 mailboxes per website on Premium and unlimited on its Unlimited plan, free for the first year. Confirm current email terms with each host.

How many websites can I host on each?

Hostinger Premium allows 3 websites and Hostinger Unlimited allows unlimited websites. Bluehost Starter allows 10 websites and Bluehost Business allows 50. Shared plans also limit CPU and memory, so the practical number depends on how busy the sites are.

Do Hostinger and Bluehost offer daily backups?

Hostinger Premium and both Bluehost plans in this comparison list weekly backups. Hostinger Unlimited lists daily backups with restore. Whatever your plan includes, keep an independent copy of your site in separate cloud storage.

Do both hosts offer a money-back guarantee?

Yes. Hostinger and Bluehost both list a 30-day money-back guarantee on shared hosting. Domain registration fees are usually excluded from hosting refunds, so read the refund terms before you rely on it.

Which host is faster?

We have not tested either host for this comparison, so we do not name a winner on speed. Use the 30-day refund period to test with your own site, and measure Time to First Byte from your customers' region. Aim for 0.8 seconds or less.

Sources

Prices and features were read on October 6, 2026. Hosting offers change often, so confirm before you buy.

• Hostinger web hosting plans
• Bluehost shared hosting plans
• SiteGround web hosting plans
• DigitalOcean Droplet pricing
• web.dev: Time to First Byte