Marketing & Advertising Magazine

Dreamhost Review & Ratings 2021: Pros & Cons (Starts@$4.95)

Posted on the 25 September 2021 by Jitendra Vaswani @JitendraBlogger

In my personal experience no other service has offered me an insurmountable host of features other than Dreamhost. It has enough in its kitty to satisfy all your personal and business needs when it comes to hosting and online requirements.

If you are wondering how then here is my review which I have written after using Dreamhost myself. Also Check out here best web hosting companies

I am not saying that it is the best web hosting service provider out there but it is certainly one of the top most. Most of its hosting plans offer unlimited storage and email accounts which make it a good option for those with lesser needs like newbies and beginners.

The impressive part is that large firms and established digital marketers can also avail a lot of advantages and benefits when using Dreamhost's hosting service.

Bottom Line Upfront:

DreamHost makes sure your website is fast, secure & always up so that your visitors & search engines trust you. DreamHost helps you succeed and grow your website faster by using DreamHost as your foundation. DreamHost's custom control panel is super simple to use and removes the difficulty of managing your web hosting. DreamHost not only just do web hosting but also provide a tool suite that includes everything you need to be successful.

Dreamhost Review & Ratings 2021:  Pros & Cons (Starts@$4.95)

They can carry on their operations smoothly with Linux based dedicated and Virtual Private Servers which have the metal to handle high traffic site.

Dreamhost Review & Ratings 2021:  Pros & Cons (Starts@$4.95)

Let us move towards its various plans and see what they have to offer

Before moving on I should come out and say that if you have not maintained and handles a website before may find Dreamhost difficult because when it comes to assisting in web development the service does not do much.

Now what comes next is one great service with exciting packages, little over-budget-prices but amazing and user-friendly performance. I have to say it is one of the best hosting services I have ever used.

What is DreamHost?

DreamHost is one of the most established web hosting providers available today. DreamHost is one of the top web hosting services for most website owners, with over 1.5 million websites, 400,000 clients, and 750,000 WordPress installs.

DreamHost can help you integrate domain names, website builders, and email hosting into your website effectively and affordably, thanks to a wide range of product offers that aren't limited to hosting plans.

What comes inside DreamHost?

Dreamhost Review & Ratings 2021:  Pros & Cons (Starts@$4.95)

Shared Web Hosting

Shared web hosting is the way to go if you want to establish a website but don't want to invest a lot of money. Shared hosting is a low-cost web hosting option in which your website shares CPU, RAM, and other server resources with other websites. As a result, it's not a particularly powerful hosting tier; if you expect a lot of traffic on your site, you should consider a virtual private server (VPS) or dedicated hosting.

Furthermore, because "shared" in shared hosting refers to the fact that each server may host numerous sites that share the hardware's resources, you are at the mercy of your server mates to some level. If one of them makes it to Reddit's first page, your site can slow to a crawl as a result.

Shared Starter and Shared Unlimited are the two shared hosting plans offered by DreamHost. Unlimited monthly data transfers and storage are available with Shared Starter (beginning at $4.95 per month, or $3.59 per month with a one-year commitment), but email is not included.

That's right, there will be no email. You'll need to upgrade to Shared Unlimited (beginning at $10.95 per month, or $4.95 per month if you commit for a year). This package includes unlimited email and website hosting.

The one-year plan's reduced price (formerly $7.95 per month) puts it within striking distance of the Starter option, making it a far better deal than before.

VPS Web Hosting

For organizations that want more power than shared hosting, DreamHost offers four Linux-based VPS web hosting plans (beginning at $15.00 per month, or $13.75 per month with a one-year commitment).

When compared to shared hosting, VPS hosting puts your website on a server with considerably fewer virtual roommates. As a result, your site will have access to greater server resources.

The VPS plans from DreamHost include unlimited monthly data transfers and domains, which is a fantastic feature. However, the Basic plan only comes with 1GB of RAM and a 30GB solid-state drive.

The most expensive plan ($120 per month, or $110 per month with an annual contract) comes with 8GB of RAM and 240GB of solid-state storage. Unfortunately, the Ubuntu Linux operating system is the sole option for VPS plans.

Dedicated Web Hosting

You'll need a dedicated server if you want to get the most out of your web hosting. Your website will be hosted on its own server, allowing you to take advantage of all of the system's resources. If your site is mission-critical and you don't want it to go down or slow down, you should consider dedicated hosting.

DreamHost offers a variety of dedicated server packages. The Standard 4 plan, which includes 4GB of RAM and 1TB of storage and costs $169 per month or $149 for a yearly commitment, is the most basic.

The Enhanced SSD 64 plan, which costs $379 a month and includes 64GB of RAM and 240GB of solid-state storage, is the most expensive. Data transfers are unlimited on all DreamHost dedicated server plans.

Cloud Hosting

Cloud hosting, which distributes resources across numerous servers, is certainly familiar to you (traditional hosting pulls resources from a single server).

When the scenario calls for it, cloud hosting allows sites to easily grow their server demands. Fortunately, DreamHost offers three cloud hosting tiers in Linux, BSD, and Windows: 512MB RAM Server, 2GB RAM Server, and 8GB RAM Server.

DreamHost offers outstanding packages that start at $4.50 per month (for 512MB of RAM, 80GB of storage, and unlimited monthly data transfers) and go up to $48 per month (for 512MB of RAM, 80GB of storage, and unlimited monthly data transfers) (for four CPU cores, 8GB of RAM, 80GB of storage, and unlimited monthly data transfers). As a result of its impressive features, DreamHost is the co-Editors' Choice for cloud hosting services.

WordPress Web Hosting

WordPress hosting is available from DreamHost in three different flavors: WordPress Basic, DreamPass, and VPS WordPress. DreamPress is the default option with managed WordPress hosting, a service that gives your website white-glove treatment by automatically upgrading the popular content management system software, generating daily backups, and offering WordPress-specific security.

The WordPress Basic plan (beginning at $4.95 per month or $3.95 for a three-year commitment) includes 50GB of SSD storage, purchasable email similar to Shared web hosting, and unlimited monthly data transfers, as well as a selection of free WordPress themes.

Starting at $12.00 per month, the DreamPress starter package includes 30GB of SSD storage, unlimited email and monthly data transfers, and support for up to 100,000 monthly visitors.

DreamPress Plus (beginning at $24.00 per month) doubles storage, boosts visitor count to around 300,000, and includes a content delivery network (CDN) for faster site loading.
The top-tier DreamPress Pro plan (beginning at $71.95 per month) includes 120GB of SSD storage and a visitor limit of 1,000,000.

DreamPress allows you to install whatever plug-in you want; Pagely and WP Engine, on the other hand, limit you to a small amount of plug-ins that could slow down your site. DreamHost just added staging to its WordPress capabilities, allowing you to test new site features without affecting your live pages.

Building a Website

Overall, we enjoy DreamHost's user interface-straightforward and well-organized, and it made setting up my test site a breeze. Instead of using adorable, screen-cluttering symbols like HostGator or iPage, DreamHost uses a tree of menu options on the left side of the screen. It's simple to access billing information, manage domains, and view VPS and dedicated server settings. The security options and the third-party app marketplace were both easy to find.

The WP website builder is now available on DreamHost, allowing you to get started on your site right away. You won't have to wait as long for your Dreamhost account to get approved as you once did. It's a wonderful addition. WP Website Builder includes dozens of themes that you may customize with its drag-and-drop capabilities. We found adding photographs (my own or from DreamHost's royalty-free gallery), text, and video to be refreshingly simple. You can also use your account to install third-party apps like concrete5, Joomla, MediaWiki, Piwigo, and, of course, WordPress.

Security and Other Features

DreamHost's email service includes antispam, but no antimalware protection. Apart from that, we appreciate its focus on other aspects of website security.

An easy-to-find link in the control panel allows you to update the.htaccess file to control site access or create a password. You can restrict spiders from indexing areas of your site that you don't want to be indexed by search engines.

Cron jobs (automatic batch jobs) can be used to schedule tasks and monitor site processes. DreamHost also provides free secure-socket-layer (SSL) certificates, which are a must-have for anyone selling anything online.

If you're a developer or in charge of a software development team, you'll like DreamHost's inclusion of Subversion, which allows you to manage your source code files.

Most web hosting companies limit you to the programs available on their software marketplace. It's wonderful to have the opportunity to build up your own repository, as version-control techniques like Subversion rarely make it into these marketplaces.

DreamHost Plans & Prices

Dreamhost Review & Ratings 2021:  Pros & Cons (Starts@$4.95)

The price is a big advantage of using DreamHost as your web hosting service. When you consider the high-quality services it gives to its users, it is one of the most economical items on the market. DreamHost offers three major hosting plans, each of which can be paid for a year at a discounted rate.

Within each of the three tiers, Shared, DreamPress, and VPS, there are extra possibilities. For example, DreamPress, DreamPress Plus, and DreamPress Pro, as well as Shared Starter and Shared Unlimited.

The VPS plan is then divided into storage sizes, ranging from 30 GB SSD storage on the VPS Basic to 240 DB SSD storage on the VPS Enterprise. Between those two VPS plans, there are two more.

Let's have a look at the Shared plan first. The Shared Starter option is ideal for those who are just getting started with their first website and aren't sure where to begin. It includes all of the essential hosting features, such as one WordPress website, a free domain, and unlimited bandwidth.

Users receive a lot of bang for their buck with the WP website builder and free automated WordPress integrations for $3.95 per month if paid annually. These typically range from $2.59 to $9.95 each month, so having both included in the package for free is a huge benefit to your company.

For $9.95 per month paid annually, DreamHost also offers the Shared Unlimited plan, which includes everything in the Shared Starter plan plus unlimited emailing and websites. This is a wonderful option for users who have various websites and require multiple email addresses.

DreamPress is the next main DreamHost pricing package. When you pay $16.95 per month annually, you save 15%. This package offers on-demand backups, jetpack free pre-installation, and one-click staging in addition to everything in the Shared Unlimited plan.

This plan is best for people who already have a WordPress website because it was designed to work perfectly with this builder. There are two other DreamPress options:

$24.95 a month for DreamPress Plus, which includes double the SSD storage, Jetpack Professional, and limitless themes. CDN (Canada Dollars)
DreamPress Pro costs $71.95 a month and includes 120GB of SSD storage, 1 million or more monthly visitors, and one staging website. These pricing plans are better suited to WordPress websites that get a lot of traffic and require a lot of tools.

Dreamhost Review & Ratings 2021: Pros & Cons ([email protected]$4.95)

1) Shared Web Hosting Services

Dreamhost Review & Ratings 2021:  Pros & Cons (Starts@$4.95)

There is no classification of packages based on anything and I like that. It is like the services enforces equality and wants to give everyone a fair chance at availing good service. There is a unified plan which starts at $10.95 or $9.95 a month. The deal is that you have sign up for at least a yearly contract. That is kind of taxing but everyone does that. You get quite a load of stuff like:

  • Unlimited Disk Storage
  • Unlimited network bandwidth
  • Unlimited number of domains
  • Unlimited email accounts
  • Some of the domains even come for free like .com, .net, .org and .info
ATTENTION: DreamHost Hosting Promo Code: $97 Off

This is great because most of the other services offer unlimited domains only when you sign-up for higher-tier plans. This is what makes Dreamhost very attractive to everyone, especially newcomers as they get more free services for a lot less!

2) Wordpress Hosting Services

If you are only a core blogger and looking for a good option to manage and host your blog then Dreamhost's WordPress hosting may be a good one for you. The price is a little steep at $ 24.95 a month but a lot of things are take care off like:

Dreamhost Review & Ratings 2021:  Pros & Cons (Starts@$4.95)
  • Installing and Updating CMS
  • Installing and Updating Plug-ins and Add-ons
  • Daily backups
  • Wide array of themes and plugins
Dreamhost Review & Ratings 2021:  Pros & Cons (Starts@$4.95)

I have not used this service till now but people with large scale of work and traffic may be need to place and store there files. You can avail this service which starts at $0.95 a month which gives you 40 GB. You can go up to $299.95 per month which will give you 20 TB data. I think that is enough to get the job done.

Dreamhost Review & Ratings 2021:  Pros & Cons (Starts@$4.95)

4) Virtual Private Server(VPS) Services

Dreamhost Review & Ratings 2021:  Pros & Cons (Starts@$4.95)

The VPS services for higher scale of operations are cost-effective and impressive. The plans start as $15 per month. You get a load of goodies like:

  • Unlimited Storage
  • Unlimited Bandwidth

One downside is that the memory offering as in RAM is quite low as you get only 300 MB in the starting plan. To move up to the likes of 4 GB RAM memory you have to cough up $200 per month. This is a costly affair. In my experience, I remember it as one of the reasons for not availing its VPS services! If you are not concerned about RAM then I think it is a fair deal.

5) Dedicated Servers

Dreamhost Review & Ratings 2021:  Pros & Cons (Starts@$4.95)

The plans start from $169 per month. I will have to say her that most of the service offers the same features like the other web hosting services. You get stuff like:

  • 1 TB storage
  • 16 GB RAM
  • Unlimited data transfers per month. This is a star feature as it attracts many firms which high traffic volumes.

One drawback though is that there are Windows-based servers. If you are cool with Linux then fine but otherwise it is not good for you.

What about the security of your money? Well, there is a 97 day money-back guarantee. I don't think you get that anywhere. This means that you have enough time to try and test the software before making a final decision to stick with it.

It will be interesting now to look at its interface and other aspects and see how good they are

Dreamhost Review & Ratings 2021:  Pros & Cons (Starts@$4.95) Dreamhost Review & Ratings 2021:  Pros & Cons (Starts@$4.95)

The sign-up process will annoy you sometimes. In my case it was quick and straight-forward but I have heard of cases where the buyers got a message that they will be contacted when their accounts were ready. The sad part is that they were contacted after 5 hours.

Once that is done then I think you will appreciate the interface Dreamhost has to offer. It is simple and minimal. There is enough simplicity to guarantee easy understanding and implementation to all procedures.

The only drawback is the Dreamhost does not offer a WEBSITE BUILDER. Therefore, you have to create your site elsewhere and then use FTP to upload it into your Dreamhost account. That is easy but the whole process may come as a pain to many marketers and firms. That is one reason why Dreamhost is more popular among professional web developers.

You can install 3 rd party applications like concrete5, Joomla and even WordPress. There are a host of downloadable applications here which can assist you with building a website therefore, Dreamhost still comes out as a strong contender.

All in all there is no doubt in my mind that Dreamhost Web Hosting services are top notch. The firm has been around for some time and boasts of a large and respected clientele which can be seen on its website. The security features and support are robust and user-friendly along with the host of features it offers at a cost-effective and budget friendly price.

Customer reviews

Dreamhost Review & Ratings 2021:  Pros & Cons (Starts@$4.95)

Pros & Cons of DreamHost

PROS
DreamHost offers a plethora of "infinite" options. They provide a 97-day refund guarantee, which is longer than the industry average, so you can be sure you're delighted with the service before committing. Here's a closer look at the findings of our hands-on experiment:

  • Monthly Hosting (Cancel Anytime)
    The great majority of the 40+ web hosts we tested offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. You'll have a whole month to try out their services before putting your prepaid money at risk. A few hosts, such as HostGator, will provide you with a 45-day trial period. There's also DreamHost.
  • The company offers a 97-day money-back guarantee. That's three months to make sure you're completely satisfied. There are no hidden clauses or hoops to jump through with DreamHost that could compromise your return. You can also pay month to month and cancel at any moment. In the web hosting market, this is quite uncommon.
  • Good Basic Plan Features
  • The Shared Starter plan from DreamHost starts at just $2.59 per month. It does, however, come with a slew of functions right out of the box. You receive one website for free, together with a free domain name and SSL certificate. This website has a limitless amount of traffic (bandwidth) and storage.
  • DreamHost has its own website builder called Remixer, but their app collection also includes SquareSpace, Weebly, and Wix. Joomla, phpBB, Zen Cart, Drupal, Magento, Shopify, and Tumblr will all be waiting for you there as well.
  • WordPress is pre-installed as well. With the one-click install option, it's really simple to set up on most servers. The fact that it's ready right away as you join up, on the other hand, is ideal for inexperienced webmasters. The third piece of good news about these initiatives is that the delayed verification method is no longer in place.
  • When we first reviewed DreamHost, they required manual verification, which might delay your ability to utilize the service for several hours after you signed up. Thankfully, their customer service representative informed us that further verification steps are now only required if there is an issue with your payment. After joining up, you should be able to get started right away.
  • Unlimited Disk Space and Network Transfer Limits
  • DreamHost's price and plans include a lot of "unlimited" services, such as disk space and bandwidth. When your site becomes famous, you won't have to worry about disk storage or network transfer. This regulation has a few exceptions, but it is usually legal.
  • First and foremost, your website must be properly constructed. They might try to relocate you to their private servers instead if it's taking server resources and causing problems with other sites. This policy does not apply to DreamPress, VPS servers, or email. Email attachments are limited to 2 GB, while MySQL databases must be kept to "a few GB in size." To put it another way, DreamHost's shared servers are ideal for tiny websites.
  • They offer Green Hosting
    DreamHost is one of the web hosting that is attempting to be more ecologically friendly. They're going above and beyond simply mitigating their servers' carbon footprint. They have "high-efficiency" cooling and CPUs in their data centers. They're also active in 'clean wind' programs at the state level to utilize renewable resources. Everything from lighting to HVAC systems is energy efficient, and their offices are LEED and EnergyStar certified.
  • Custom-Made Control Panel
    Instead of the industry-standard cPanel, DreamHost use a custom-built control panel. For cPanel lovers, it may appear to be a disadvantage rather than a benefit, but it is actually quite simple to understand and beginner-friendly. Control panel for DreamHost You can manage your databases, emails, billing, and websites from there. It's also only a few clicks to the WordPress editor.
  • Free WordPress Site Migration
  • Until recently, DreamHost did not provide free site migration. However, their WordPress and shared hosting options now feature a free site migration option. Furthermore, there will be no downtime during the relocation. There is, however, a little snag. Only WordPress sites are eligible for free migration. If you use another CMS (Wix, Weebly, etc.), you'll still have to pay a $99.00 one-time cost. This is great news for WordPress users, but not so much for others.

CONS

DreamHost has a lot to offer, such as convenient features and free WordPress site migration. Unfortunately, we discovered a few flaws in their services while trying them out. The following is a comprehensive list of the most significant disadvantages to consider:

  • Slow Average Speed (1320 ms)
    One of the most crucial elements to consider when choosing a host is loading time. Not only can page speed influence visitor bounce rate, but it can also have an impact on your overall SEO (not to mention Google rank). This, on the other hand, is a calculation of lost profit. It goes without saying that the faster your website loads, the better.
  • Unfortunately, DreamHost's average loading time of 1320 milliseconds over the last 12 months hasn't been great. This places them in the bottom half of the hosts we've looked at. That's unfortunate, because DreamHost used to be able to give above-average speeds, but their performance has recently deteriorated.
  • Average Uptime Not The Best (99.90%)
  • DreamHost's average uptime over a 12-month period is similarly nothing to brag about: 99.90 percent with more than eight hours of downtime. That's negative, and it could result in a loss of website visitors and profit for you. The good news is that DreamHost offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee. If your monthly average falls below that threshold, you'll get a credit for the cost of the service, just like other hosts.
  • The majority of uptime promises we've seen are likely to be around 99.98 percent. So these hosts are confident in their services and stand behind them, but they're also allowing for some wiggle room in case regular variations occur. In their Terms of Service, DreamHost, on the other hand, assures 100 percent uptime. Keep in mind that this warranty does not cover scheduled maintenance or user faults.
  • Any other DreamHost problem that affects your site, database, email, or webmail can, however, void the warranty. For each hour of service interruption, you'll receive a free day's worth of service. The only catch is that your "next prepaid hosting renewal fee" can only be increased by 10%. (so it applies in the future, as opposed to a retroactive discount or refund).
  • Good, but Limited Live Chat Support
  • To assist clients in resolving their own issues, DreamHost includes a mandatory knowledge base and discussion forums. They also promise to provide "in-house help 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
  • Our tests, on the other hand, indicated the exact reverse. A small messaging icon can be found in the lower right-hand corner of their screen. When you click it, you'll be presented with a list of pre-selected replies rather than an open box
  • In other words, they're attempting to automate the live chat process using a phone tree-like system (called a chatbot). We attempted skipping over these alternatives in order to get a sales professional on the phone as quickly as possible. However, no one was accessible at the time we tried. We discovered that their live chat service is limited, with hours ranging from 5.30 a.m. to 9.30 p.m. PT every day
  • We have to return at a later time during specified hours to repeat the process. A sales representative finally arrived after a few minutes, and they were both educated and friendly. However, it is sad that you must first jump through hoops (show up at specified times) in order to gain access to anyone.

Who should use DreamHost?

DreamHost is a good option for a lot of website owners. It combines affordable rates with good quality, which is tough to come by these days in the hosting industry. Small projects (such as a dentist's website) searching for the best value for money should select DreamHost, in my opinion.

DreamHost's shared hosting, on the other hand, might be an excellent fit for big sites. For enthusiastic bloggers and dedicated site developers, it has enough performance, strong support, and consistent uptime. DreamHost supports this technology, even though it isn't PCI compliant out of the box - you could make it happen by fiddling around. This is clearly a huge benefit for ecommerce projects.

Who should not use DreamHost?

Their performance is among the greatest I've seen, therefore you can be assured that your project (even large sites) will be hosted safely at DreamHost.

However, DreamHost may fall short if you require professional capabilities such as staging zones, integrated caching, and pre-installed Git repositories.

Also, because they don't have servers outside of the US, it's not ideal if your traffic is primarily from outside North America. That's correct! It's probably not the ideal idea if your audience isn't from North America. A better fit might be WP Engine, SiteGround, or A2 Hosting.

Finally, complex features such as staging zones, an integrated caching system, or pre-installed Git repositories may be missed by tech-savvy users such as developers or agencies. SiteGround is the way to go if you want to have these.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion :Do we recommend DreamHost?

Yes, DreamHost comes highly recommended! Many people may find this hosting provider to be a good fit. Fair costs, reliable service, and a generous unlimited storage and bandwidth policy will appeal to a large number of people.

DreamHost should be one of the first places you go if you want to develop a Linux-powered website. By offering shared hosting, WordPress hosting, virtual private server (VPS), cloud, and dedicated hosting plans, the web hosting service caters to a wide range of personal and commercial web hosting needs. Furthermore, its website-building software provides webmasters with easy-to-use tools for creating appealing, adaptable websites.


Back to Featured Articles on Logo Paperblog