Price on day one
$2.79
against $3.99 for Bluehost Basic
Head to head, renewal included
Bluehost vs Ahosting
Bluehost is cheaper to think about and more expensive to keep. It opens at $3.99 a month and renews at $9.99. Ahosting opens at $2.79 and renews at $2.79, with a dedicated IP, LiteSpeed and cPanel that Bluehost does not include at this tier.
Bluehost figures are their published Starter plan rates, verified 1 September 2026. Ours come from our billing system, so they cannot drift.
24 Years
Trusted Since 2002
99.9% Uptime
Guaranteed SLA
30-Day
Money-Back Guarantee
24/7
Expert Helpdesk
Price at renewal
$2.79
against $9.99, the same plan
Dedicated IP
Included
Bluehost does not offer one at any shared tier
Where Bluehost leads
WordPress.org
an official recommendation we do not have
Line by line
Entry plan against entry plan
Ahosting WP Bronze against Bluehost Basic, the plan each of us puts in front of a first-time WordPress customer.
| Feature | Ahosting $2.79/mo same at renewal | Bluehost $3.99/mo then $9.99+ |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $2.79/mo | $3.99/mo |
| Renewal price | $2.79/mo, unchanged | $9.99/mo |
| Free dedicated IP | ✓ | ✗ |
| Free private nameservers | ✓ | ✗ |
| LiteSpeed with LSCache | ✓ | ✗ |
| Control panel | cPanel | Custom panel |
| Backups | Daily, offsite | Weekly on Basic |
| Staging tool | All plans | Higher plans |
| Website migration | Free, done for you | Self-service plugin |
| AI website builder | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free SSL certificate | ✓ | ✓ |
| Malware scanning | ✓ | ✓ |
| WordPress auto updates | ✓ | ✓ |
| Uptime guarantee | 99.9% | 99.9% |
| Money-back period | 30 days | 30 days |
| Recommended by WordPress.org | ✗ | ✓ |
$2.79/mo, and $2.79/mo again when it renews.
Free dedicated IP, LiteSpeed, cPanel, daily backups, staging and free expert migration, on the entry plan.
Order WP Bronze
Ahosting prices read live from our billing system. Bluehost prices are their published Starter plan rates on 1 September 2026 and can change without notice.
Five differences that cost money
Where Ahosting is ahead
Not a feature list. Five places where the gap changes what you pay or what you have to do yourself.
The renewal is the same number
Bluehost Basic opens at $3.99 and renews at $9.99. Ahosting opens at $2.79 and renews at $2.79. Over three years that is the difference between one predictable invoice and a bill that more than doubles on the second one.
A dedicated IP, at no extra cost
Bluehost does not sell a dedicated IP on its shared WordPress plans at any tier. Ahosting includes one on Bronze, Silver and Gold, so your site has a stable address that is not shared with unrelated accounts.
LiteSpeed instead of Apache
Ahosting runs LiteSpeed Web Server with LSCache, a stack built around WordPress full-page caching. Bluehost serves WordPress from Apache. The practical result is lower time to first byte, and it holds up when traffic arrives.
Migration we do, not a plugin you run
Bluehost gives you a self-service migration plugin. Ahosting moves the site for you: files, databases and email, with most migrations finished inside twenty minutes and nothing to pay for it.
cPanel, so the knowledge travels
Bluehost uses its own panel. Ahosting uses cPanel, the panel most hosts, most tutorials and most developers already assume. If you ever move again, what you learned still applies.
Daily backups on the entry plan
Bluehost backs up the Basic plan weekly, which is up to seven days of work at risk. Ahosting takes a daily offsite backup on every plan, including the cheapest one.
The other side
Where Bluehost is genuinely better
A comparison that only flatters the host who wrote it is worth nothing. These are real, and for some people they decide it.
The WordPress.org recommendation
Bluehost has carried an official WordPress.org recommendation since 2005. It is a commercial arrangement and WordPress.org earns from the referrals, but it is still a real endorsement from the project itself, and we do not have one.
A much larger body of tutorials
Bluehost has far more customers, so there are far more videos, screenshots and forum answers about doing a specific thing in the Bluehost panel. If you learn by following along with someone else, that is worth something.
Guided WooCommerce onboarding
Bluehost sells WooCommerce-specific plans with a guided store setup. If you are opening your first shop and want to be walked through it rather than handed a cPanel, their WooCommerce track is well built.
Straight recommendation
Which one should you actually buy?
Both run WordPress well. The honest split is about what you value in year two, and how much of the setup you want to do yourself.
Choose Ahosting if
- You care what the invoice says in year two, not just year one
- You want a dedicated IP and private nameservers without an add-on line
- You want LiteSpeed and LSCache doing the caching, not a plugin
- You would rather we moved the site than be handed a migration plugin
- You already know cPanel, or want to learn the panel that transfers
- You want daily backups on the cheapest plan, not weekly
Choose Bluehost if
- The WordPress.org recommendation is what you are buying
- You want a guided WooCommerce setup rather than a blank cPanel
- You learn by following Bluehost-specific tutorials and videos
- You plan to leave before the first renewal lands
If that is you, take the Bluehost trial and check the renewal figure on the order form before you commit. It is the number that decides the next three years, and it is not the one on the advert.
Straight answers
Ahosting or Bluehost?
The questions people actually ask before they switch, answered with the numbers rather than around them.
On day one and at renewal, yes. Ahosting WP Bronze is $2.79 a month on a 36-month term against $3.99 for Bluehost Starter. The larger gap is later: Bluehost Starter renews at $9.99 a month, two and a half times what you signed up for, while Ahosting renews at $2.79, the price you signed up at. Over three years that is the difference that matters.
No. Bluehost does not offer a dedicated IP on its shared WordPress plans at any tier. Ahosting includes one on every plan, Bronze through Gold, at no extra cost. A dedicated IP gives the site a stable address that is not shared with unrelated accounts on the same server.
Ahosting runs LiteSpeed Web Server with LSCache. Bluehost serves WordPress from Apache. LiteSpeed does full-page caching at the server rather than in a plugin, which lowers time to first byte and holds up better when several visitors arrive at once. Both will feel fine on a small brochure site; the difference shows under load.
Our team does it. You give us access, we move files, databases and email accounts, and most migrations are finished inside twenty minutes. There is no charge. Bluehost gives you a self-service migration plugin instead, which means the technical steps and the timing are yours to manage.
Bluehost has held the recommendation since 2005, going back to its early relationship with Automattic and a consistently beginner-friendly setup. It is worth knowing that the arrangement is commercial and WordPress.org earns from referrals. It is a genuine signal of stability, but it is not a technical verdict, and it says nothing about what you will pay in year two.
Two things, honestly. You leave behind the WordPress.org endorsement, and you leave a much larger library of Bluehost-specific tutorials. What you gain is cPanel, which most tutorials elsewhere already assume, a dedicated IP, LiteSpeed, daily backups on the entry plan, and a renewal price that does not move.
Both hosts offer 30 days. Ahosting's 30-day money-back period applies to the WordPress hosting plans, and the terms are shown on the order form before you pay.
Comparing something else
Ahosting against another host
Same format, same billing data, one competitor at a time. The hub page puts all eight in a single table.
One price, first year and after
Move from Bluehost and keep the same price at renewal
Bluehost Starter opens at $3.99 a month and renews at $9.99. WP Bronze opens at $2.79 and renews at $2.79, with a dedicated IP, LiteSpeed and cPanel included. We handle the migration ourselves, free, so moving costs you nothing but the time it takes to ask.
- Free dedicated IP included
- Free expert migration
- Daily backups and staging
- 30-day money-back period
WP Bronze starts from
$2.79 /month
36-month term. Renews at $2.79/mo, no increase and no setup fee.
Introductory pricing depends on the selected billing term. Renewal pricing and money-back eligibility are shown before checkout and governed by the applicable terms.