Fast Page Load Speed
Before you decide whether or not to go with Bluehost or Laughing Squid (which is a very imaginative name, by the way, they get top marks for that), you should probably know one or two things.
The success of your site is dependent on many factors, and your average page load speed is one of those factors. Simply put, if your web host cannot deliver great speed, you won’t get a lot of exposure on search engines. And that’s something that you do not want.
So, you need to know how fast your web page would load if you hosted it with any of these web hosts. And how do you know that? Easy. We’ve gone through the trouble of testing the average load speed of both hosts.
Bluehost Fast Page Load Speed
Our Bluehost web page had an average page load speed of an about 700ms, which is pretty fast. But we weren’t too surprised. Bluehost has a reputation for being pretty fast.
Laughing Squid Fast Page Load Speed
Our site hosted with Laughing Squid had an average page load speed of about 2.5 seconds, which is pretty slow. Your bounce rate, with this sort of speed, is certain to be extremely high.
But speed isn’t the only criteria you need to take cognisance of when choosing a web host. You also need to look into the value of what you’re purchasing, and whether it is really worth it. That’s why we’re going to compare the pricing of both hosts to see which host actually offers the best value for money.
Bluehost vs. Laughing Squid; Pricing And Value For Money
Choosing the right web hosting plan can be a hassle. But with a few tips, you can decide which plan is the best for you.
The first thing you need to figure out is what you’ll need. How many sites will you require? Will you need unlimited disk space or not? What of bandwidth? After figuring that out, you need to look at your budget. How much can you afford over an initial three year period? When that question is settled, all that remains for you is to choose the host that offers what you need at a price within your budget.
Let’s see just how well either of these hosts do regarding that.
Entry Level Plan; Basic Plan vs. Simple Squid
Bluehost’s cheapest plan, the Basic plan 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 Simple Squid plan of Laughing Squid comes with 1 site, 2 GB of storage, 40GB of monthly bandwidth and no mailboxes. The plan costs $5.
It doesn’t take a lot of analysis to see which plan offers more. The Simple Squid plan isn’t only far more expensive than Bluehost’s Basic plan, it also comes with far fewer resources. The Simple Squid plan hardly makes any financial sense, and the Basic plan of Bluehost would be the right and financially prudent choice.
Medium Tier Plan; The Plus plans vs. Micro Squid Plan
Bluehost, unlike other web hosts, doesn’t have one midtier hosting plan. Instead, it has two, and they are the Plus plan and Choice Plus plan. Both plans 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.
The Micro Squid plan of Laughing Squid comes with 3 GB of storage, one site, 50 GB of bandwidth, and 5 mailboxes. Each mailbox comes with 25 GB of space. The plan costs $7 per month.
Again, Laughing Squid’s plan is terribly overpriced. Any of Bluehost’s Plus plans pack way more value and still cost far less. Both plans are incomparable in terms of value for money as Bluehost is so clear of Laughing Squid. We can honestly see no reason why anyone would choose the Micro Squid plan over the Plus plans.
Top Tier Plan; The Pro Plan vs. The Mega Squid 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 Mega Squid is Laughing Squid’s most expensive plan as well and it costs just about $9 dollars. This is the first time that a Laughing Squid plan would cost less than a Bluehost plan, so we’re kind of excited to see whether it would offer more value for money. Sadly, once again, we’re disappointed.
The Mega Squid plan comes with only 4GB of storage, one site, 5 mailboxes, and 60 GB of monthly bandwidth. In terms of quality, it’s not even as valuable as the Basic plan of Bluehost, which is Bluehost’s cheapest plan.
Even if the Pro plan is more expensive than the Mega Squid plan, it has more value for money.
The Right Host For You
To decide the best host for you, you have to consider all the factors. Will your web page load quickly, and does the web host offer the best value for money?
Bluehost will definitely load your page quicker than Laughing Squid would. That’s for sure. When it comes to deciding which host has better value for money, Bluehost takes top marks as well. In fact, Bluehost’s plans pack so much more value for money that their cheapest plan is preferable to Laughing Squid’s most expensive plan.
If you have to decide between choosing Bluehost and Laughing Squid, there’s no contest. Bluehost is clearly better.
Alternative
Laughing Squid is a really catchy name. But what of the web hosting services they provide? Is the service catchy or not?
Well, Laughing Squid has decent uptime and customer support. They have a great interface as well, and you can set your account quickly as well. Laughing Squid hosts your site with Rackspace instead of their own infrastructure, so in a way buying a Laughing Squid plan is like purchasing a reseller plan.
But it isn’t all great news with Laughing Squid. They do not have great speed, and your site may have a bounce rate if you host with them. Additionally, they have extremely expensive plans that do not have the best value for money.