Fast Page Load Speed
Before choosing a web host you need to be a 100% certain you’re making the right choice. The choice between Bluehost and Fatcow would be made easier by a cursory analysis of their average load speed. As you know, page load speed determines your site’s average bounce rate and how well search engines rank you. If you want to have a successful page with a lot of views and a high conversion rate, these are metrics you need to consider extensively.
So which host has a better fast page load speed? Let’s find out.
Bluehost Fast Page Load Speed
Our Bluehost speed test showed us nothing new. We knew that Bluehost was pretty fast, and with an average page load speed of 700ms, the web host is one of the fastest out there.
FatCow Fast Page Load Speed
When you think of the name FatCow, what do you envision? Do you think of a fast web host? No? Well, you’d be right. Fatcow was pretty slow, and we recorded an average load speed of 2.4 seconds. Although it was not very disappointing. The name of the host is Fatcow after all.
Bluehost vs. FatCow; Pricing And Value Comparison
One of the most important things (some say it’s even the most important) you must consider before choosing a new web host is the price. And no, this isn’t just about which web host has cheaper plans. It’s about how much value you’re getting for what you’re paying.
The cheapest web host may have terrible value for money, and the most expensive could have great value for money. You only know the best web host when you look at the fine print of what’s on offer and compare it to what you’re paying.
Before deciding to publish a web page, you should know the best way to host your site is to buy is a shared hosting plan. Of course, you could get a dedicated server or VPS plan, but that would generally be an overkill. You only want to get those kinds of plans if you have millions of visitors every month.
So, we’ll be comparing the shared hosting packages of both plans to see which host offers the best value for money.
Now, here’s where things get interesting. FatCow offers only one simplified shared hosting plan as opposed to Bluehost’s four plans. Right off the bat, that’s a terrible sign. This is because FatCow doesn’t try to tailor its plan to offer specialised solutions to clients with special needs. A one size fits all approach never works, and it’s sad that that’s the approach FatCow has chosen to take.
Regardless, we’ll compare all the plans of Bluehost to FatCow’s plan to see which plan you should pay for.
Shared Hosting Plan; Bluehost’s Plans vs. FatCow’s plan.
Bluehost has four basic plans. There’s one entry-level plan, two medium-sized plans, and one top tier plans.
The Basic plan, which is the entry-level plan of Bluehost, comes with 1 website, 50 GB of storage space, unmetered bandwidth, a free SSL certificate, 1 included domain, 5 parked domains and 25 subdomains. The plan costs $2.95 per month. If you’re interested in hosting a single website, the plan’s allocation of 50 GB of storage should be more than enough. The fact that bandwidth is unmetered and that the plan comes with a free SSL certificate and a free domain are also extra pluses. Importantly, the plan only costs $2.95. It hardly gets cheaper than that.
Bluehost has two medium tier plans, and they look rather alike to a great extent. They are the Plus plan and the Choice plus plans. In fact, the only appreciable difference between the two tiers is the security features and renewal price of the Choice Plus plans.
The Plus plan comes with unlimited websites, unlimited storage, unmetered bandwidth, a free SSL certificate, standard performance, unlimited domains, unlimited parked domains, unlimited subdomains, Spam Experts and 1 Office 365 Mailbox— free for thirty days. The plan costs $5.45 per month for an initial three-year plan and renews at $10.99
The Choice Plus plan has all the features of the Plus plan plus Site Backup in the form of Codeguard Basic. Additionally, instead of renewing at $10.99, the plan renews at $14.99.
Both plans are great and represent wonderful value for money. However, since the Choice Plus plan costs just as much as the Plus plan and comes with an extra security feature, the Choice Plus plan represents the best value for money.
Bluehost’s top shared hosting plan is the Pro plan and it comes with unlimited websites, unlimited storage, Domain Privacy + Protection, Codeguard Basic for site backup, a dedicated IP, unlimited domains, Spam Expert, free SSL certificate, unmetered bandwidth and 1 Office 365 Mailbox free for thirty days. The plan costs $13.95 per month.
The Pro plan of Bluehost is definitely one of the most appropriately priced top tier plans that we’ve ever seen. It maxes out on almost all specifications, and it even manages to come with more security features. It’s also very cheap.
The FatCow shared hosting plan has no special name. It’s the FatCow plan, and that’s that with that. The plan comes with unlimited websites, unlimited bandwidth and unlimited disk space (subject to Terms Of Service), and unlimited email accounts. The plan comes with FTP access, a website builder, and Web Analytics tools. It has no extra security features.
The plan costs only $4.08 per month.
This price makes it just a bit less expensive the Plus plans and more expensive than the Basic plan. If you wanted unlimited website and space, any of the Choice Plus would do over the FatCow plan. Why? The answer is simple. You’d still have to pay extra for the security features you get for free on the Plus plan on FatCow’s plan. Additionally, it would do you good to note that FatCow is a notoriously slow web host. When one compares all these factors, it’s clear that Bluehost has the better value for money.
The Right Host For You
If you plan on only hosting a single website, the Basic plan of Bluehost provides everything that you could ever want. If you plan on hosting multiple websites but are unwilling to pay more than five dollars, you should consider FatCow’s plan. However, you should know that FatCow is a slow website, and their plan doesn’t have a lot of security features like the Choice plan.
Generally, the plans of Bluehost offer more value for money and better performance than FatCow. Bluehost would undoubtedly be the best choice of a web host when compared to FatCow.
Alternative
If the different tiers of Bluehost’s plans irk or confuse you, then you should consider FatCow. They have only one shared hosting plan that costs a little over $4 per month, so it’s plenty cheap. The plan comes with a free website builder, unlimited bandwidth and disk space (although this is subjected to FatCow’s terms of service), and unlimited domains. Unfortunately, unlike with Bluehost, FatCow’s plans do not come with extra security features. You’ll have to purchase those at check out if they interest you. So on a whole, any of Bluehost’s plans will cost you less than FatCow’s plan.
You should also know that Bluehost is a way faster web host. While Bluehost has an average full page load speed of 700ms, FatCow has an average full page load speed of 2.5 seconds. That, of course, is remarkably slow when compared with Bluehost.