A2 Hosting and BlueHost are very similar on the surface. Both have built a large userbase over the years and are very popular among individual bloggers and small business owners. Both come with a rock-solid combination of powerful performance and flexibility in very competitively priced packages.
Yet, as they say, the devil is in the detail.
Despite similar foundations, these two hosting giants have many differences that may influence your decision one way or another. If you're searching for a dependable web hosting solution, this comparison guide between BlueHost and A2 Hosting will help you make an informed choice.
Our Ratings & Overall Comparisons
| Features | A2 Hosting | Bluehost |
|---|---|---|
| Our Rating | ||
| Server Plans | Shared Hosting, VPS Hosting, Dedicated Hosting, Managed WP Hosting | Shared Hosting, VPS Hosting, Dedicated Hosting, Managed WP Hosting |
| Shared Hosting | $2.99 - $12.99/mo | $2.95 - $13.95/mo |
| VPS Hosting | $6.59 - $143.00/mo | $19.99 - $59.99/mo |
| Dedicated Hosting | $105.99 - $185.99/mo | $79.99 - $119.99/mo |
| Special Promo Code | WHSR | - |
| Free Domain | Yes | Yes |
| Control | cPanel | cPanel |
| Free SSL Support | Yes | Yes |
| Paid SSL | RapidSSL - $49.99/year | Single Domain SSL - $6.67/month |
| Customer Support | Telephone, Email Ticketing System, Live Chat (Sales) | Live chat, Telephone, Email |
| Telephone No. | +1-734-222-4678 | +1-888-401-4678 |
| Payment | Credit Card, PayPal | Credit Card, PayPal |
| Free Trial | 30 Days | 30 Days |
| Energy Sources | Traditional + Offset with Green Cert | Traditional |
| Server Location | North America, Asia, Europe | North America |
| Payment Support | Credit Card, PayPal, | Credit Card, PayPal, |
| Learn More | A2 Hosting Review | BlueHost Review |
| Order | Click Here | Click Here |
BlueHost – Overall Cheaper Shared Plans
Tl;DR: BlueHost is better than A2 in term of:
- Cheaper shared hosting plans
- Officially recommended by WordPress
Pitting the two together plan to plan, it doesn’t really come to the fore that there is anything remarkably different. BlueHost shared hosting plans start out at a modest $2.95 per month with 50 GB SSD storage and a free one-year domain. A2 Hosting, on the other hand, starts off at $2.99 per month with 100GB SSD storage without the free domain.
With a paltry dollar or so as a difference in sign-up pricing, A2 further pulls ahead with its Anytime Money-back Guarantee; while BlueHost edges off with slightly lower renewal prices at the end of contract ($9.99 vs $10.99 per month for basic shared hosting).
A2 Hosting – Better Server Speed Features
TL;DR: A2 Hosting is better than BlueHost in term of:
- Shared hosting speed features
- Overall web hosting speed performance
Feature-wise, (again) there are a lot of similarities between A2 Hosting and BlueHost at similar price points. Yet, there are some critical shortcomings in BlueHost plans that unfortunately makes it fall behind in performance compared to A2 Hosting.
The first reason for A2 Hosting’s speed advantage is its Turbo server option which it claims can help sites load pages up to 20x faster. It also has unique customized in-house optimization and lets its users have flexibility in server locations. This can make another big difference, especially for sites that are regional-specific or targeted.
These are major features in an industry that must compete neck to neck on technology points. You might say one has NVMe storage and another has not for example, but there no real way to overcome a tried and tested feature such as custom optimization on Turbo A2 Hosting servers.
More on A2 Hosting Speed Features
| Features | Startup | Drive | Turbo Boost | Turbo Max |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SSD Storage | 100 GB | Unlimited | N/A | N/A |
| NVMe Storage (3x Faster) | N/A | N/A | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Physical Memory | 700 MB | 1 GB | 2 GB | 4 GB |
| Core | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Server Locations | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| HTTP/3 (30% faster) | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| A2 Optimized | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Server Rewind Backups | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Signup Price | $2.99/mo | $5.99/mo | $6.99/mo | $12.99/mo |
A2 Hosting Speed Test Results
Speed is one of the key performance indicators. To determine A2Hosting's speed, we host a simple website at A2 Hosting and run regular speed tests on different tools – and I was impressed with A2 Hosting servers. Overall speed results consistently showed outstanding ratings on both Bitcatcha and WebPageTest.org.
Final Thought: So A2 Hosting or BlueHost?
Personally, I feel that if you aren’t too fussy with performance and are only seeking some form of simple online presence, then either one of the affordable shared plans by BlueHost or A2 Hosting can be considered.
For anything else I would strongly recommend you look at A2 Hosting.
This is not to say that BlueHost is a terrible provider, especially since it’s officially still an officially recommended WordPress.org host. However, when it comes to a comparison between these two big names in the business, I can find no option but to recommend A2 Hosting.
More About BlueHost
BlueHost is one of the older shared hosting service providers in the business and today has grown into a highly commercial giant. Acquired by Endurance International Group (EIG) in 2020, the company also has become the proverbial octopus, with tentacles in almost every aspect of the web development and marketing business.
BlueHost Shared Hosting Plans
| Features | Basic | Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Websites | 1 | Unlimited |
| Email Accounts | 5 | Unlimited |
| Website Space | 50 GB | Unmetered |
| Bandwidth | Unmetered | Unmetered |
| Free Domain | Yes | Yes |
| SubDomains | 25 | Unlimited |
| Free Migration | No | No |
| Free SSL Certificate | Auto SSL | Auto SSL |
| WordPress Integration | Yes | Yes |
| Git Support | No | No |
| Backup | No | No |
| MySQL Databases | 20 | Unlimited* |
| Signup Price | $2.95/mo | $5.45/mo |
| Renewal Price | $8.99/mo | $11.99/mo |
Learn more in our full BlueHost review
More About A2 Hosting
A2 Hosting, on the other hand, doesn’t have such a distinctive history but instead has come across my attention time and again as an excellent host with a sterling reputation.
A2 Shared Hosting Plans
| Features / Plans | Startup | Drive | Turbo Boost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Websites | 1 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Storage | 100 GB | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Databases | 5 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Rewind Backups | No | Yes | Yes |
| Turbo Server | No | No | Yes |
| Free Migration | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Free SSL | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Price /mo | $2.99/mo | $5.99/mo | $6.99/mo |
Learn more in our full A2 Hosting review
