Fast Page Load Speed
Before choosing a web host, there are a few things that you must consider. One of those few things is page load speed. You may not think that page load speed is terribly important, but it is. Research has shown that a web page that loads slowly will have a high bounce rate and may not have a great showing when it comes to SEO.
If search engines don’t rank your site, you can be certain that you won’t get a lot of views. If you don’t get a lot of views, the point of you having a web page in the first instance may get defeated.
That’s why you should care about how fast a prospective web host is. And how do you know how fast Bluehost and Arvixe are? Well, you test.
And we’ve already done that for you.
Bluehost Fast Page Load Speed
Our test on our web page hosted by Bluehost had an average page load speed of 700ms. This is pretty fast, but we were not surprised. We always knew that Bluehost has a reputation for being a really fast web host.
Arvixe Fast Page Load Speed
Our test on our web page hosted by Arvixe had an average page load speed of 2.7 seconds. This is far lower than many web hosts that we’ve reviewed. If your website is this slow, you will most certainly have problems with search engines and views.
But it would not be fair to judge a web host on performance alone. Web hosting is a service that you pay for, and as such it has to be worth your money. That’s why we’ll be looking at the plans of Bluehost and Arvixe to see whether they come at reasonable prices.
Bluehost vs. Arvixe; Pricing And Value For Money Comparison
The best web hosts do not only have great performance, but they also come at the right price. No matter how great a web host’s performance stats are, if it doesn’t come at the right price, it would make an unreasonable buy.
Asides that, it’s important to know if you’re getting your money’s worth when purchasing a web hosting plan. That’s why we’ll be comparing the shared hosting plans of Bluehost and Arvixe to see which web host has the most economically reasonable web hosting plans.
Most web hosts have three tiers of plans. These are the entry-level, mid-tier and top tier levels of plans. Bluehost follows this tradition and has three tiers of shared hosting plans as well. However, here’s where Arvixe is different. Instead of three tiers of plans, they only have two. An entry-level plan, and a maximum level plan.
That’s why we’ll first be comparing the tiers of plans that Arvixe has packages for. We’ll talk about Bluehost’s mid-level plans later.
Entry Level; Basic Plan vs. Personal Class
The Basic plan of Bluehost is their 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 Personal Class plan of Arvixe comes with unmetered Disk Space, unmetered monthly data transfer, 6 websites, and a free domain name. The plan costs $7.70 per month.
The Personal Class plan packs a lot of value, and should ordinarily not be an entry-level plan. Its cost of $7.70 per month is a bit on the high side, but with unmetered disk space and 6 websites, it’s difficult to complain too much. However, when you factor in the fact that the plan doesn’t come with a free SSL certificate like the Basic plan, and that you’d have to pay $25 extra to get an SSL certificate installed, things start to look rather questionable.
The Basic plan is everything you want in an entry-level plan. It is cheap ($2.95 is ridiculously low), it comes with 50 GB of storage, a free domain and it comes with a free SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt.
Top Tier Plan; The Pro Plan vs. The Personal Class Pro 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 Personal Class Pro plan of Arvixe comes with unmetered disk space, unmetered bandwidth, unlimited websites, a free domain name and costs $11.
The Pro plan is a proper top tier plan. It has everything. A free domain, a free SSL certificate, extra security features and unlimited base features. At a cost of $13.95, the Pro plan is one of the best top tier plans on the market.
The Personal Class Pro plan of Arvixe is also decently priced. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come with extra security features (that you may have to pay for eventually) like the Pro plan of Bluehost and you have to pay extra $25 for an SSL certificate.
The Pro plan of Bluehost may be more expensive, but it is obviously a better plan.
The Mid Tier Plans Of Bluehost
The two midtier plans of Bluehost are alike in so many ways, and the only difference between them is that the Choice Plus plan comes with extra security features and costs a bit more to renew.
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.
In terms of price and specs, the midtier plans of Bluehost can be compared to the Personal Class plan of Arvixe. Despite the fact that the Plus plans are cheaper than the Arvixe plan, they come with unlimited websites, a free SSL certificate and extra security features— things that are missing from the Personal Class plan.
It’s clear that the plans of Bluehost pack more value for money than the plans of Arvixe.
The Right Host For You
One wouldn’t think such a gap in quality would exist between these two hosts, but the truth is sometimes uncomfortable. Bluehost is faster than Arvixe, but that’s not all. Bluehost is faster and provides much more value for money. All of Bluehost’s plans come with free SSL certificates. You would have to pay $25 to get an SSL certificate with Arvixe. That clearly shows that you would spend more with Arvixe, and you will in return get less value. That’s no good. That’s no good at all.
Bluehost is clearly the more sensible choice.
Alternative
if you’re not comfortable with using Bluehost, you can try out Arvixe, a sister web host. Bluehost and Arvixe are so alike in many ways. Both hosts have decent uptime, good customer support, and have interfaces that are very easy to use. However, there are a few significant differences. For example, Bluehost has four tiers of shared hosting plans. Arvixe has only two. With Bluehost, all plans come with a free SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt. Arvixe demands that you pay $25 for an SSL certificate. It is also important to note that Bluehost is a way faster host that Arvixe, and Bluehost’s plans have way better value for money.
Of course, this doesn’t make Arvixe a bad host. There are people who prefer Arvixe for good reasons. For example, they have pricing that is way more transparent than Bluehost’s, and they have a way more responsive customer support.