Fast Page Load Speed
If you’re stuck between choosing either Bluehost or GreenGeeks, there’s an easy way to make your choice easier. What’s that way? A speed test.
A fast page load speed test will tell you how fast a prospective web host is. It’ll also tell you the chances of your site being successful. This is because a fast web host will load your web page faster. If your web page loads faster, search engines like Google will rank you better. If that happens, you’ll get more views, and if you get more views, your conversion rate will most likely increase.
We carried out a speed test on Bluehost and GreenGeeks to see exactly how fast they were.
Bluehost Fast Page Load Speed
Our web site with Bluehost had a remarkable average load speed of 700ms.
GreenGeeks Fast Page Load Speed
GreenGeeks was slower, but not by much. We recorded an average of 1.1 seconds average page load speed. Of course, it wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t as great as Bluehost’s either.
So, there we have it. Bluehost is faster than GreenGeeks. But you would be wrong to make a decision based on this rather limited fact. Before choosing a web host, you need to know which host offers the best value for money. Even the best performing web host can be useless if it’s too expensive or if it offers too little for too much.
That’s why we’re going to be doing a value and price comparison between Bluehost and GreenGeeks.
Bluehost vs. GreenGeeks; Pricing And Value Comparison
One thing that you must know before choosing a web hosting plan is that it must be worth it. Throwing away money on base plans may be unwise, especially if you have to buy other things to complete setting up your web page.
The right plan must have the right specs for your needs, and it must come at the right price. That’s all. But right now, we aren’t looking for the right plans. We’re looking for the best plan. That is, we’re trying to see which web hosting comes with the best value and best price.
If your web site won’t be having hundreds of thousands of visits in the first week, you’ll only need to purchase a shared hosting plan. That’s why our comparison right now will only cover the shared hosting plans of both web hosts.
Entry-level Plan; Basic Plan vs. Lite Plan
The Basic plan is Bluehost’s cheapest shared hosting plan and it 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.
The Lite plan is GreenGeeks cheapest shared hosting plan and it comes with 1 website, unlimited web space, unlimited data transfer, a free domain, and free Wildcard SSL certificate. It costs about $2.95 per month.
The Lite plan and the Basic plans cost the same and have roughly the same value on offer. Both plans provide one website, a free SSL certificate and an included domain. While the Lite plan has unlimited storage, the Basic plan’s 50GB storage is also virtually unlimited. You’ll have to do some real heavy work to exhaust 50GB on a website.
Either plan looks great.
Medium Tier Plan; Plus Plans vs. Pro Plan
Unlike GreenGeeks, Bluehost has two medium-tier hosting plans called the Plus and Choice Plus plans. Both plans are really similar and only have a few differences. Let’s check them about.
The Plus plan of Bluehost has 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
Bluehost’s Choice Plus has all the features of the Plus plan plus Site Backup in the form of Codeguard Basic. However, instead of renewing at $10.99, the plan renews at $14.99.
The Pro plan of GreenGeeks comes with unlimited sites, unlimited websites, unlimited data transfer, a free domain, free Wildcard SSL certificate and an included PowerCacher. The plan costs $5.95 per month.
The Pro plan is quite appropriately priced, and it comes with everything you’d want. Unlimited websites and unlimited web space at $5.95 is a pretty great deal no matter how you look at it.
The Plus plans of Bluehost too are quite appropriately priced, and they come with unlimited website and storage as well. However, what stands the Plus plans apart from the Pro plan is that they come with extra features like the Codeguard Basic (Choice Plus) and Spam Experts (Plus and Choice Plus). These are features that you may have to pay for if you choose the Pro Plan of GreenGeeks. It’s also important to note that it may only be a few cents, but the Plus plans are cheaper than the GreenGeeks Pro plan.
Top Tier Plan; Pro Plan vs. Premium Plan
The Pro plan of Bluehost is their most expensive shared hosting 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 Premium plan of GreenGeeks comes with unlimited websites, unlimited web space, unlimited data transfer, a free domain name for one year, free dedicated IP, included PowerCacher, and 4× more performance. The plan costs $11.95 per month.
The Premium plan of GreenGeeks is cheaper than the Pro plan, and as expected, comes with way less value. Both plans are decently priced and cover the base requirements quite easily. Choosing either plan would not be a waste of money at all.
The Right Host For You
To choose the best host, you need to at least take two things into consideration. The first is performance, and the second is pricing. Bluehost edges GreenGeeks out when it comes to performance, but our pricing comparison showz a more balanced picture.
If you want to buy a basic plan and host a single website, then any of the entry-level plans we compared would be right for you. However, you should know that Bluehost’s entry-level plan has an edge because Bluehost is the host with better performance.
For mid-tier plans, the Plus plans of Bluehost are clearly better because of the extra features they come with. If you want a high-level plan, the Premium plan of GreenGeeks offers great value at a low price, but if you want real value, the Pro value of Bluehost is a better choice.
All in all, I would prefer Bluehost 9 out of 10 times, but it’s understandable if you prefer GreenGeeks
Alternative
GreenGeeks is a great alternative for you if you don’t like or want to choose Bluehost. They tick almost all the boxes. They have great speed, decent uptime, great customer support, and the sign-up process is a dream. They offer free site migration and a free domain as well. You are also entitled to a free Wildcard SSL certificate (very few hosts offer this). In addition, you get free nightly backups for free.
But that’s not all. GreenGeeks, as you may have guessed from their name, are incredibly environment friendly. They try as much as they can to reduce the strain of climate change by using green energy whenever they can.
Unfortunately, when compared to Bluehost, they fall somewhat short in terms of speed. Bluehost is a bit faster, and if you want your page to rank, this may be the difference. You should also know that GreenGeeks (like Bluehost and most other web hosts) has an unfair pricing mechanism. That means you will have to be forced into paying for 3 years upfront if you’re to enjoy amazingly low prices.