DreamHost Review

DreamHost is a web hosting company situated in Los Angeles that was formed in 1996. For entrepreneurs and developers, DreamHost provides shared, VPS, and dedicated hosting, as well as cloud storage and computing services. The control panel used by users to administer all services is an in-house developed application that includes integrated billing and a support ticket system. DreamHost does not provide phone assistance, however clients can pay an additional fee to receive callbacks from support professionals. The company hosts over 1.5 million websites. DreamHost’s customer base has expanded to over 400,000 people in over 100 countries since its foundation.

  • Speed: 1498ms (Refer to: Compare Top Web Hosting Providers)
  • Uptime: 99.84% (Refer to: Compare Top Web Hosting Providers)
  • Pricing: Shared Hosting (12months): $2.95/mo for Starter Plan, and also $2.95/mo for Unlimited Plan for new customer.
  • Money Back: 97 days money back guarantee.
  • Renew: Shared Hosting (12months): $6.99/mo for Starter Plan, and $12.99/mo for Unlimited Plan.
  • Customer Support: 24/7/365 Live Chat.
  • Other Features: See the detailed information on DreamHost website screenshot below.

The following are the primary benefits of choosing DreamHost Web Hosting:

Monthly Web Hosting (Cancel at any moment.)

The great majority of the 40+ web hosts we’ve analyzed offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. This offers you a full month to try out their services before putting your prepaid funds at danger. Some hosts, such as HostGator, will allow you 45 days. DreamHost is another option. Their money-back promise lasts up to 97 days. That’s over a three-month period to ensure your satisfaction. DreamHost has no hidden clauses or hoops to jump through that could compromise your return. You can also pay month to month and cancel at any moment. This is extremely uncommon in the web hosting sector.

Features of a Good Basic Plan

DreamHost’s Shared Starter plan starts at at $2.95 per month. However, it comes with a plethora of functions right out of the box. You receive one website with a free domain name and an SSL certificate. This website can handle an infinite amount of traffic (or bandwidth) and storage. DreamHost has its own website builder called Remixer, but their app collection also includes SquareSpace, Weebly, and Wix. There will also be Joomla, phpBB, Zen Cart, Drupal, Magento, Shopify, and Tumblr waiting for you.

Limits on Network Transfer and Disk Space

DreamHost’s price and plans include many “unlimited” services, including as disk space and bandwidth. This implies that if 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. If it is using server resources and causing problems for other sites, they may attempt to relocate you to their private servers instead. This unlimited policy does not apply to DreamPress, VPS servers, or email. Email is limited to 2 GB, and MySQL databases are likewise limited to “a few GB in size.” In other words, DreamHost’s shared servers are ideal for tiny websites.

They are CO2 neutral (AKA Green)

Add DreamHost to the list of web hosting attempting to be more ecologically friendly. They’re going above and beyond just mitigating their servers’ carbon footprint. Their data centers are outfitted with “high-efficiency” cooling and computers. They are also active in ‘clean wind’ programs at the state level to utilize renewable energy. Their buildings are LEED and EnergyStar certified, and everything from the lighting to the HVAC systems is energy efficient.

Control Panel Made to Order

Instead of the industry-standard cPanel, DreamHost use a custom-built control panel. For cPanel enthusiasts, it may appear to be a disadvantage rather than a benefit, but it is actually incredibly simple to learn and user-friendly. Control panel for DreamHost You may manage your databases, email, billing, and websites from there. The WordPress editor is also accessible with a single click.

The following are the drawbacks of using DreamHost Web Hosting:

Average Speed Is Slow

One of the most essential considerations when selecting 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, however, results in a loss of profit. So, it goes without saying, the faster your website loads, the better. Unfortunately, DreamHost’s average loading time over the last 24 months has been less than stellar.

Inadequate Average Uptime

DreamHost’s 24-month average uptime is similarly unimpressive. That’s problematic since it could result in lost website visitor traffic and profit for you. The good news is that DreamHost offers an uptime guarantee. If your monthly average falls below that threshold, you’ll receive a credit for the cost of the service, just like other hosts. Most uptime promises we’ve observed may be about 99.84 percent. So these hosts believe in and stand behind their services, but they also allow for some wiggle room in case natural variations occur.

Excellent, but Limited Live Chat Assistance

DreamHost provides a mandatory knowledge base and discussion boards to assist clients in resolving their own problems. They also advertise “24/7 in-house help.” Our tests, however, indicated the contrary. A small messaging icon can be found in the lower right-hand corner of their screen. When you click on it, instead of being presented with an open box, you are presented with a few pre-set replies. In other words, they’re attempting to automate the live chat process by using something resembling a phone tree (called a chatbot). We attempted to avoid these options in order to get a sales professional on the phone as quickly as possible. But no one was available when we tried.