Editor Sebastiaan Smits ·
Published November 4, 2026 · Updated November 4, 2026
Site owners look past Bluehost when the renewal price is two to three times the sign-up price, when backups are weekly, or when the 36-month term feels long. Most move to Hostinger, SiteGround or IONOS for shared plans, and to Kinsta or WP Engine for managed WordPress.
Short answer: The closest replacements for Bluehost in our web hosting ranking are Hostinger, SiteGround and IONOS. Choose Hostinger if you want daily backups on a mid-priced shared plan with a free first-year domain. All 11 sit in Best Web Hosting in 2026; what follows contrasts them with Bluehost only and says when Bluehost should be kept.
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Bluehost lists Starter at $3.99 a month and $9.99 at renewal, Business at $6.99 then $13.99, and eCommerce Essentials at $14.99 then $21.99. All three are shown on a 36-month term, so the lower figure applies for three years and the higher one afterward.
The shared hosting page shows weekly backups for Starter, Business and eCommerce Essentials alike. A site that changes daily, such as a store taking orders, can lose up to a week of changes between copies, unless you take your own.
The terms give a 30-day money-back window on certain plans, and domain fees are not refundable. Auto-renewal can be turned off in the Renewal Center at least 16 days before the term ends. Content is permanently deleted after cancellation or expiry.
Ordered by how well each fits a team leaving Bluehost; our own placement among 12 ranked products is in the last column.
| # | Alternative | Headquarters | Switch if | Our rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Hostinger | Lithuania | you want daily backups on a mid-priced shared plan with a free first-year domain | #1 |
| 2 |  SiteGround | Bulgaria | you want daily backups and free site transfer on a 12-month term, not 36 | #2 |
| 3 |  IONOS | Germany | you want a one-year contract with a stated price after the introductory month | #4 |
| 4 |  DreamHost | United States | you run many small sites on a yearly term or want a one-site managed WordPress plan | #10 |
| 5 |  one.com | Denmark | you host up to ten sites and want daily backup included on the entry plan | #9 |
| 6 |  OVHcloud | France | you want a larger storage allowance per dollar and separate agency plans | #7 |
| 7 |  Strato | Germany | you want to pay month to month instead of committing three years upfront | #8 |
| 8 |  Hetzner | Germany | you want no minimum term and SSH access to copy your own site | #3 |
| 9 |  Cloudways | Malta | you want usage-based billing on a cloud server and a free first migration | #5 |
| 10 |  Kinsta | United States | your site is WordPress and you want free migrations and 24/7 human support | #6 |
| 11 |  WP Engine | United States | you run business-critical WordPress and want an uptime SLA and managed migrations | #11 |
Premium lists 3 websites, 20 GB SSD and weekly backups, renewing at $10.99 a month on a 48-month term. Unlimited lists unlimited websites, 50 GB NVMe and daily backups, renewing at $16.99. A free domain for the first year is included on both.
Switch from Bluehost if you want daily backups on a mid-priced shared plan with a free first-year domain.
StartUp hosts one website at 1.99 euros a month, renewing at 15.99 euros, prepaid for 12 months and excluding VAT. GrowBig renews at 27.99 euros. Every plan lists a free domain, free site transfer and daily backups, and WP-CLI and SSH appear on the WordPress features.
Switch from Bluehost if you want daily backups and free site transfer on a 12-month term, not 36.
Essential is $4 a month on a one-year term, then $8. Starter is $6 then $10. The page offers a 30-day money-back guarantee and notes that state and local sales taxes may apply. The shorter commitment is the main difference from a 36-month term.
Switch from Bluehost if you want a one-year contract with a stated price after the introductory month.
Launch lists 25 websites and 25 GB NVMe storage at 2.89 euros for the first year, then 10.99 euros. DreamPress 1, managed WordPress for one site with 14 days of backup retention, is 14.99 euros in year one and 19.99 after.
Switch from Bluehost if you run many small sites on a yearly term or want a one-site managed WordPress plan.
Starter lists one website with 25 GB SSD and daily backup, Professional three websites with 50 GB, and Business ten websites with 100 GB. All three include a free domain for the first year, and the page gives a 15-day money-back guarantee.
Switch from Bluehost if you host up to ten sites and want daily backup included on the entry plan.
Eco Starter is $1.89 a month for one site with 1 GB SSD, renewing at $3.09. Personal is $3.59, renewing at $7.09, with 15 sites and 100 GB. Separate Business and Agency lines exist, and unlimited traffic is listed on the Eco plans.
Switch from Bluehost if you want a larger storage allowance per dollar and separate agency plans.
Hosting Starter is 6 euros a month on a one-month contract with a 10 euro setup fee, listing 50 GB web space and one domain. Basic lists 100 GB and three domains. A 12-month term lowers the monthly price and removes the setup fee on the offer shown.
Switch from Bluehost if you want to pay month to month instead of committing three years upfront.
Webhosting S is 1.60 euros a month excluding VAT with a one-time setup fee of 8.32 euros, and the page states no minimum contract period. Webhosting L adds SSH and Node.js. Plans list 10 GB, 50 GB, 100 GB and larger storage by tier.
Switch from Bluehost if you want no minimum term and SSH access to copy your own site.
Flexible plans are billed hourly in arrears from $11 a month, with a 5-day trial and no card. Cloudways engineers migrate your first website for free. You choose a cloud provider and server size, so it is closer to running a server than renting shared space.
Switch from Bluehost if you want usage-based billing on a cloud server and a free first migration.
WordPress only: a single-site plan is $35 a month, or $30 with annual billing, with 14 days of backup retention, unlimited free migrations and 24/7 human support. Extra sites cost $30 a month each. There are no promotional first-term prices on the page.
Switch from Bluehost if your site is WordPress and you want free migrations and 24/7 human support.
Essential is $28 a month billed annually, which is $336 paid upfront, with daily automated backups, 24/7 chat support, free SSL and SSH. Business starts at $400 a month and adds managed site migrations and a 99.99 percent uptime SLA.
Switch from Bluehost if you run business-critical WordPress and want an uptime SLA and managed migrations.
Stay with Bluehost if you are mid-term on a 36-month plan whose price you already locked, or if you want a US-based provider with a 30-day money-back window on its shared plans. It also fits a small WordPress site where weekly backups, supplemented by your own downloads, are enough.
The terms say content is permanently deleted after cancellation, so download files and databases first. Keep the domain registered in your own account, since domain fees are not refundable and a free-domain promotion reduces any refund. Test the copy on the new host before switching DNS.
Auto-renewal can be turned off in the Renewal Center at least 16 days before the term ends, and the charge falls 15 days before it. Moving a few weeks ahead avoids paying a second term. Some alternatives offer free migration, which saves doing the copy by hand.
Download your site files and databases before you cancel, because Bluehost's terms say content is permanently deleted after cancellation. We could not open Bluehost's help articles on the export steps, so check them in your account.
Starter renews at $9.99 a month, Business at $13.99 and eCommerce Essentials at $21.99, against first-term prices of $3.99, $6.99 and $14.99. All are listed on a 36-month term on the shared hosting page.
Yes, within 30 days of the initial term on certain shared, VPS and dedicated plans, by credit card. Domain registrations, renewals, add-ons, monthly-term products and cloud hosting plans are not covered.
Disable renewal in the Renewal Center of your Account Manager at least 16 calendar days before the term ends. The terms say Bluehost US notifies you at least 30 days before charging terms of three months or longer.
Yes, the terms say you keep ownership and control of a domain received in a free-domain promotion. If you cancel within 30 days, the refund is reduced by the standard domain registration fee.
Yes. Hetzner states no minimum contract period, Strato lists a one-month contract with a 10 euro setup fee, and IONOS and SiteGround list one-year terms. Bluehost lists 36 months on all three shared plans.
The facts below on Bluehost and the other products were copied from official vendor pages visited on November 4, 2026, a date after which any of them may have moved.
Sebastiaan Smits, Founder, wrote, edited and fact-checked this page.
Founder of The Interregnum and of 2 Steps Ahead, an AI search visibility agency. Editorially responsible for every page here; research and drafting are AI-assisted. Last reviewed November 4, 2026.
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