DreamHost General Info & Hosting Overview

Hi friends ✋,

Today we bring you DreamHost, it was founded in 1997 and hosts over 1.5 million websites.

DreamHost's main shared hosting plan includes popular apps like WordPress, website building options including theirs, and others like Wix or Weebly. These plans have unlimited bandwidth and disk space. And you get a full 97-day money-back guarantee to test the service.

Their customer support is a bit limited, however.

Here is a transparent overview of how DreamHost has performed over the past 12 months.

Benefits of using DreamHost hosting:

DreamHost comes with a lot of "unlimited" features.

They have a longer-than-average 97-day refund policy to make sure you're happy with the service before you lock in.

1. Monthly hosting (Cancel at any time)

The vast majority of the 40+ web hosts we reviewed will give you a 30-day money back period. This gives you a full month to test their services before risking your prepaid amount.

Some web hosts, like HostGator, will give you 45 days.

And then there's DreamHost.

Their money back guarantee is valid for up to 97 days. It's over three full months to really make sure you're happy.

DreamHost also doesn't have any hidden terms or hoops to go through that could jeopardize your refund. Plus, you can pay monthly and cancel at any time. This is very rare in the web hosting industry.

2. Good features of the basic plan

DreamHost's shared start option starts at just $ 2.59 / month. But it comes with a ton of features right off the gate

You get a website with a free domain name and an SSL certificate included. This site can handle unlimited traffic (or bandwidth) and storage.

DreamHost has their own website builder called Remixer, but they also offer access to SquareSpace, Weebly, and Wix in their app library.

You can also find Joomla, phpBB, Zen Cart, Drupal, Magento, Shopify and Tumblr waiting for you there too.

WordPress is also pre-installed. It is quite easy to configure on most servers with the one-click install option. However, the fact that it is immediately ready when you sign up is perfect for novice webmasters.

The last good news about these plans is that there is no longer a deferred verification system.

The first time we reviewed DreamHost, they required a manual verification which could delay your use of the service for a few hours after you signed up.

Luckily, their customer service rep told us that now they only need additional verification steps if there is an issue with your payment.

You should be able to get started now after signing up.

3. Unlimited disk space and network transfer limits

DreamHost lists many “unlimited” features in their prices and plans, including disk space and bandwidth.

This means you don't have to worry about disk storage or network transfer when your site gets popular.

There are a few caveats to this policy, but it's mostly legitimate.

First of all, your site must be built correctly. If this hogs server resources and causes issues with other sites, they might try moving you to their private servers instead.

DreamPress, VPS servers, and email are not covered by this unlimited policy.

Email is limited to just 2 GB, while MySQL databases should also be kept below "a few GB".

In other words, DreamHost's shared servers are great for relatively small sites.

4. They are carbon neutral (AKA Green)

You can add DreamHost to the list of web hosts who are trying to be more environmentally conscious.

However, they go beyond just offsetting the carbon footprint of their servers.

Their data centers include "high efficiency" cooling and processors. They are also involved in state-level “clean wind” programs to harness renewable resources.

Their offices are LEED and EnergyStar certified, and everything from lighting to HVAC systems is also energy efficient.

5. Customized control panel

DreamHost uses a custom-made control panel instead of the industry-standard cPanel. For cPanel fans, it can be rather a con than a pro, but it’s actually very easy to grasp and beginner-friendly.

DreamHost control panel From there you can manage your databases, email, billing, and websites. The WordPress editor is also just a click away.

6. Free migration of WordPress sites

It wasn't that long ago that DreamHost didn't offer free site migration. But, now they've included a free site migration option in their WordPress and shared hosting plans. In addition, the migration is promised to be done without downtime.

However, there is a small catch.

Site migration is free only for WordPress sites. This means that if you are using another CMS (Wix, Weebly, etc.), you will still have to pay a one-time fee of $ 99.

For WordPress users, this is good news, for others not.

Cons of using DreamHost hosting

DreamHost has a lot to offer, including its handy features and free WordPress site migration.

Unfortunately, there were still a few drawbacks that we encountered while testing their services.

Here is a full list of the main drawbacks to be aware of:

1. Slow medium speed (1320 ms)

Loading time is one of the most important factors when choosing a host. Not only does the page speed affect the bounce rate of visitors, but the slow load time can also affect your overall SEO (not to mention Google rank). This, however, is calculated as lost profit.

Needless to say, the faster your website loads, the better.

Unfortunately, DreamHost's 1320ms average load time over the past 12 months has not been good. This places them in the lower half of the hosts we tested.

Dreamhost Page Speed Apr. 2020 - Mar. 2021

It's a shame, because not so long ago DreamHost still managed to deliver above average speeds, but lately their performance has gradually deteriorated.

2. Average uptime not the best (99.90%)

DreamHost's 12-month average uptime is also no big deal - 99.90% with more than eight hours of downtime.

This is bad and it could potentially mean loss of website visitor traffic and profits for you.

However, the good news is that DreamHost does have an uptime guarantee. Like other web hosts, if your monthly average falls below this threshold, you will get a credit for the cost of the service.

Most of the uptime guarantees we've seen could hover around the 99.98% mark. Thus, these hosts believe and support their services, but they also give themselves a little leeway in the event of normal fluctuations.

DreamHost, however, guarantees 100% uptime in its terms of service. Keep in mind that scheduled maintenance or user errors are not covered by this warranty.

However, any other DreamHost issue that disrupts your site, database, email, or webmail may trigger the warranty. You will get one free day of service for every hour of service interruption. The only catch is that there is a maximum of 10% of your "next prepaid hosting renewal fee" (so it applies in the future, as opposed to a retroactive discount or refund) .

Average uptime for the last 12 months:

March 2021: 99.76%
February 2021: 99.97%
January 2021: 100%
December 2020: 99.99%
November 2020: 100%
October 2020: 100%
September 2020: 99.78%
August 2020: 99.62%
July 2020: 99.84%
June 2020: 99.98%
May 2020: 99.93%
April 2020: 99.98%

3. Good, but limited live chat support

DreamHost provides a mandatory knowledge base and discussion forums to help customers solve their own problems.

They also claim to offer "24/7 internal support". Although our tests actually revealed the opposite.

In the lower right corner of their screen is a small messaging icon. Click on it and instead of ending up with an open box, you have to choose from a few predefined answers.

In other words, they're trying to automate the live chat process with something that mimics a phone tree (called a chatbot).

We have tried to work around these options to get a sales representative ASAP. But at the time we tried, no one was available.

We found that their live chat option is limited, being available daily from 3:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. PT.

We had to come back later during those hours to test the process again. It took a few minutes for a sales rep to finally join us, and they were both knowledgeable and helpful.

However, it's unfortunate that you have to jump through hoops (show up at specific times) to get access to anyone in the first place.

DreamHost pricing, hosting plans & quick facts

Here’s a quick overview of DreamHost’s Shared Hosting plans:

	Shared Starter Plan	Shared Unlimited Plan
Pricing	$2.59/month Renews at $5.99/mo	$3.95/month Renews at $10.99/mo
Websites	1	Unlimited
Bandwidth	Unmetered	Unmetered
Storage	Unmetered	Unmetered
Email Accounts	Costs extra ($1.67/mo)	Unlimited
Other Features	–	• Unlimited Subdomains & MySQL Databases • Unlimited FTP/SFTP/Shell Users

Beyond these two options, DreamHost also offers three Managed WordPress Hosting plans.

	DreamPress Plan	DreamPress Plus Plan	DreamPress Pro Plan
Pricing	$16.95/month	$24.95/month	$71.95/month
Websites	1	1	1
Bandwidth	Unmetered	Unmetered	Unmetered
Storage	30 GB	60 GB	120 GB
Email Accounts	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Other Features	–	• Unlimited CDN	• Unlimited CDN • Priority Support

DreamHost also has VPS and Dedicated servers, too.

Fast facts

Ease of registration: long and complicated registration process. Registration should be easier.
Free domain: for the first year on all annual hosting plans.
Money Back Guarantee: 97 day money back guarantee.
Payment methods: Credit card, PayPal, Check, Money order, Current account
Costs and hidden clauses: no major clauses. Site migration costs more for CMSs other than WordPress.
Upsells: Some upsells.
Account Activation: Account activation is quick, unless you have payment issues.
Control Panel & Dashboard: Custom DreamHost Control Panel.
Application and CMS installation (WordPress, Joomla, etc.): One-click installer for WordPress and other applications / CMS.

Do we recommend DreamHost?

Yes !! ...Even though DreamHost’s uptime and speed have gone worse over the past year, they still showed reliable results not so long time ago, which makes us believe that current low performance is just a temporary setback.

Furthermore, you can test out DreamHost’s services for a whole 97 days and there’s also a 100% uptime guarantee that should make you feel even safer to try them out.

Moreover, their default plan limits are pretty high, offering a bunch of “unlimited” options for disk space, bandwidth, and more. Also, if you’re a WordPress user, site migration is now free for you.

On another note, the customer support was pretty limited to only certain hours throughout the week.

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