BlueHost vs A2 Hosting: Which One Should You Use?

There are many web hosting companies from which to choose for your website. In fact, there are so many plans and features that it can make your head spin. Put some stability into the process and use this head-to-head comparison to narrow your choices.

BlueHost has been in the web hosting business since 1996, so it is a well-established hosting company with over 2 million sites hosted on its servers.

A2 Hosting is newer to the industry, being founded in 2003. A2 Hosting was first launched with developers in mind and was one of the first to offer PHP 5 and Ruby on Rails. Now, their focus is on performance.

BlueHost and A2 both provide shared hosting, managed WordPress hosting, and VPS and dedicated server plans, and are Linux–based.

BlueHost has won many awards, including “Best Affordable Hosting,” and “Best Value Host.” A2 has been the winner of many “best of” awards, several of them as recently as last year.

Endurance International Group (EIG), a company which owns many hosting companies, bought BlueHost in 2010. EIG allows each of its hosting companies to operate under their own name.

While EIG hosting companies are not clones of each other, there are enough similarities that if you have had issues with one EIG company, you may find the same problems with another.

A2 is privately owned. The A2 in A2 Hosting’s name comes from the fact that they are headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

BlueHost vs. A2 Hosting: Uptime and Reliability

Uptime. Even though BlueHost’s uptime stats show it to regularly be 99.9% or better, they do not have an uptime guarantee. A2 Hosting does have a 99.9% uptime guarantee. A2 Hosting will refund 5% of the monthly fee for every hour your website is not reachable due to equipment or network failure.

Performance. BlueHost builds its own servers and uses 16-core AMD Opterons. A2 Hosting uses Dell servers with quad-core processors, and the focus on performance is seen with the use of SSD storage.

A Bluehost hosted site tested on Pingdom resulted in a load time of 2.37s, faster than 65% of the sites tested. An A2 site led to a speedy load time of 1.49s, faster than 81% of the sites tested.

Reliability. The data center for BlueHost is located in Utah. The data center is powered and cooled with redundant sources, and diesel backups are in place for emergencies. BlueHost does no mirrored or redundant backups of data, except for their Cloud Plans. Backups are kept for a maximum of 30 days.

A2 Hosting has data centers in the U.S. (Michigan), Europe (Amsterdam), and Asia (Singapore). The data centers have redundant power and cooling, and there are diesel generators for backup.

The data centers are monitored onsite for security and reliability. They also have quadruple network connectivity for redundant and reliable service.

Opinion

While BlueHost’s reliability is excellent and uptime is good, the lack of an uptime guarantee could be a concern. A2 Hosting does have a guarantee, and A2 Hosting’s load and response times were significantly faster than BlueHost’s.

BlueHost vs. A2 Hosting: Key Features

Note: A common marketing term used by web hosting companies in describing features is “unlimited.” Nothing is truly unlimited. Instead, the terms refer to what hosting companies “deem reasonable usage.” Hosting companies may issue warnings or suspend a site if they believe there has been “excessive use.”

Domain Registration. Both hosts are domain registrars. BlueHost provides a free year of domain registration for new accounts; A2 Hosting does not.

Website Builder. BlueHost provides the drag-and-drop Weebly Basic, which is limited to 5 web pages. Basic is free of charge, and there is an upgrade to Weebly Premium available for an additional fee.

A2 Hosting does not have an integrated website builder in any of its plans, but it does support most of the free and commercial website builders.

Databases. BlueHost offers unlimited MySQL databases. A2 Hosting limits its lowest tier to 5 databases, with unlimited databases on other tiers and plans. A2 Hosting also supports PostgreSQL.

Email Accounts. BlueHost provides unlimited email accounts and email forwarding. A2 Hosting restricts its lowest tier to 25 accounts, with the other tiers may have an unlimited number.

WordPress Hosting. BlueHost and A2 Hosting both offer managed WordPress plans. A managed WordPress plan will usually cost more than a standard shared plan, although A2 Hosting prices both shared plans and managed WordPress plans the same.

Managed WordPress plans are typically hosted on optimized servers, with such features as caching and extra security to enhance performance and stability. Another advantage of managed WordPress hosting is that backups and updating of your WordPress sites are done automatically by the hosting company for you, freeing you to focus on what’s important to you – your content.

eCommerce Solution. BlueHost and A2 Hosting provide free shopping carts through their control panels, such as Magneto, ZenCart, PrestaShop, and others. WP eCommerce plug-ins are available from both hosts for WordPress sites.

Backups. BlueHost provides daily, weekly, and monthly backups. It also provides SiteBackup Pro free for the Business Pro shared plan, and for an additional fee for other plans. SiteBackup Pro allows backup and restores at the file level.

A2 Hosting offers Server Rewind, which takes periodic automatic snapshots of your site and allows restoration of files, databases, or the entire site, free of charge – although it is not available for the lowest tier.

Hosting Security. To search out, remove, and prohibit malware, BlueHost provides the basic SiteLock service free on its lower tiers, and SiteLock Pro free on its higher tier plans. BlueHost states that it has internal processes to protect against DDoS in place as well.

A2 scans and proactively acts against DDoS threats, malware, and viruses with Perpetual Security and HackScan – provided free of charge. It uses standard Spam Protection, plus Barracuda Advanced Spam Filtering for email.

A2 Hosting also provides the Patchman Enhanced Security Tool, which scans for software and apps that need patching and notifies you when apps are out of date.

All Bluehost plans have a free Shared SSL certificate. The top shared plan on BlueHost comes with a free Private SSL certificate. A2 Hosting provides free shared SSL for its plans through cPanel, and Private SSL may be purchased.

Control Panel. BlueHost uses cPanel but has extensively modified the interface. A2 Hosting uses the industry standard cPanel, as well.

Green. DreamHost purchases Renewable Energy Credits and operates with a carbon-neutral footprint. A2 Hosting also has a 100% carbon-free footprint and actively participates in tree planting and other eco-friendly activities in Ann Arbor.

Affiliate and Reseller Programs. BlueHost’s affiliate program pays $65 per referral. A2 Hosting’s affiliate program pays $85 per referral. A2 also has a reseller program that can be branded with your company’s name.

Extras. BlueHost has $150 in ad credits. BlueHost will migrate an established website if you have one elsewhere, though it charges a premium for the service. A2 Hosting has $50 of ad credit to Bing/Yahoo.

Opinion

Both BlueHost and A2 Hosting provide a good range of features. Both are green, both use cPanel, both have attractive affiliate programs, and both provide security features to keep your site safe.

BlueHost has a slight edge in features by offering a free year of domain registration and providing Weebly, the website builder.

Hosting Plans & Pricing

Note: Aggressive competition leads to constant changes in pricing and a great deal of promotional pricing. Promotion prices typically are limited to the first term of service, so signing up for a longer term equals higher savings.

Even without promos, longer terms of service usually result in a break in pricing. The prices below are listed on the host websites at the time of this comparison.

BlueHost. BlueHost offers three shared plans. Basic, at $3.95 per month, allows one site, provides 50 GB of storage, and allows unlimited bandwidth and email accounts. Plus, at $6.95 per month, permits up to 10 sites, and increases the storage to 150 GB.

A CDN is also part of the Plus Plan. The Business Pro, at $14.95 per month, offers unlimited sites, as well as unlimited bandwidth, storage, and email accounts. A CDN, Private SSL, dedicated IP, and Site Backup Pro are included in this top tier plan.

All the shared BlueHost plans come with a free domain registration for one year. BlueHost offers three scalable Cloud plans for an additional fee, which mirrors your data in three places for reliability and faster load times.

BlueHost has four managed WordPress plans which are based on VPS technology. The smallest plan, blogger, at $12.95 per month, is limited to 100 million visits, 30 GB of storage and five sites. The top plan, enterprise, has 240 GB of storage, unlimited bandwidth, 30 sites, and is priced at $85 per month.

The two middle tiers are professional at $37.50, and business at $60 per month. The professional tier allows 300 million visitors and has 60 GB of storage. The business tier allows 600 million visitors and has 120 GB of storage.

All have free CDN and SiteLock (the bottom two tiers have SiteLock Pro, business has SiteLock Premium, and the top tier provides SiteLock Enterprise).

A2 Hosting. A2 also offers three shared plans. Lite allows one site, five databases, and is priced at $3.92 per month. The Swift and Turbo plans allow unlimited websites and unlimited databases. Swift is $4.90 per month, and Turbo is $9.31 per month.

All have unlimited SSD storage and unlimited bandwidth. A2 Hosting has CloudLinux, a version of the Centos OS that is faster and states that it has fewer customers per server than most.

A2 Hosting has three managed WordPress plans, priced the same as its shared hosting plans. Lite is limited to one website and five databases and is priced at $3.92 per month. Swift, at $4.90 per month, and Turbo, at $9.31 per month, offer unlimited websites and databases.

All plans are SSD-based and have caching, though the Turbo Plan has optimized caching. They all have CDN and extra security options. Swift and Turbo also come with Server Rewind for backups.

VPS and Dedicated Plans: BlueHost has four VPS plans. BlueHost’s VPS tiers are priced at $14.99, $29.99, $44.99, and $55.99 per month. BlueHost VPS plans have bandwidth limits of 1 TB to 4 TB.

A2 Hosting has three unmanaged, and three managed VPS plans, all with SSDs. The unmanaged are $5, $10, and $15 per month, and have 2 TB of bandwidth allowance. They provide 20 GB, 30 GB, and 50 GB of storage, respectively.

The managed VPS tiers from A2 Hosting are priced at $32.99, $46.19, and $65.99 per month. They have 75, 100, and 150 GB of storage and 2, 3, and 4 TB of bandwidth.

BlueHost has three dedicated tiers, allowing 3, 4, and 5 IPs, priced at $74.99, $99.99, and $124.99 per month, respectively. A2 Hosting has three unmanaged, and three managed dedicated server tiers.

The unmanaged are priced at $99.59, $165.99, and $248.99 per month. The managed tiers are $141.09, $207.49, and $290.49 per month.

Money-Back Guarantee: BlueHost has the industry standard 30-day guarantee. A2 Hosting has a 30-day full refund and a pro-rated refund after 30 days. If you have the free domain registration on BlueHost, a domain registration fee will be withheld from any refund, and you will keep the domain name.

Opinion

BlueHost’s shared hosting is just slightly higher than A2 Hosting’s plans, but have more features. A2 Hosting’s pricing and features for its managed WordPress plans make it an attractive choice for WordPress users.

A2 Hosting gives customers more choice in VPS and dedicated plans by providing unmanaged and managed options.

Ease of Use

Control Panel. BlueHost uses cPanel, but with a modified interface, so regular cPanel users will have some adjustments to make. A2 Hosting uses the regular, industry standard, cPanel.

One-click Installer. BlueHost uses the MOJO Marketplace one-click installer for installing nearly one hundred applications easily. A2 provides one-click app installation to hundreds of apps through Softaculous.

Website Navigation. Both BlueHost’s and A2 Hosting’s sites provide all the information you need to choose a plan. Both have convenient comparison charts for comparing tiers in their plans. Both are clean and user-friendly. A2 has a handy feature – links to popups for many of the terms and options shown in its charts.

Opinion

Both have hundreds of applications that can be installed with one-click, both have easy to navigate websites, and both use cPanel – although BlueHost’s is modified. Most users would be happy with the ease of use of either of these hosting companies.

BlueHost vs. A2 Hosting: Technical and Customer Support

Based on customer reviews, this is one area where BlueHost needs improvement. A2 Hosting’s support is consistently rated highly, and its support personnel is considered friendly and knowledgeable.

BlueHost and A2 Hosting have a phone, email, and live chat 24/7. Both have a forum and an extensive knowledge base. A2 Hosting has an active blog.

Opinion

While BlueHost does provide multiple methods of contact, customer reviews repeatedly complain about support. A2 Hosting has the same multiple methods of contact, but its support is highly regarded. A2 is the choice if support is a high priority for you.

User Reviews

Note: Reviews are usually posted by those who have strong opinions, so most customers who post reviews are either strongly negative or strongly positive. For that reason, reviews should not be used as the main factor in choosing a host. However, when something is continually reported, it may be something to consider.

Negative Reviews for BlueHost and A2 Hosting

BlueHost. Negative reviews for BlueHost are overwhelmingly related to poor support. Long wait times, rudeness, and repeated tickets for the same issue are not uncommon.

A2 Hosting. There are fewer negative customer reviews for A2 than for most companies. The negative ones that are posted are usually for bad experiences with customer support.

Positive Reviews for BlueHost and A2 Hosting

BlueHost. Most positive reviews from customers of Bluehost praise the prices and the features provided in the plans.

A2 Hosting. A2 gets far more positive reviews than negative for customer support. Customers are also impressed with the speed of websites on A2, and with the number of features offered for the price.

Opinion

Overall, A2 Hosting gets more positive reviews than negative reviews, by far.

BlueHost vs. A2 Hosting: Which hosting is best for you?

BlueHost and A2 Hosting both have features that would be considered pluses and minuses.

Reasons to choose A2 Hosting over BlueHost:

• SSDs on all its plans
• Anytime (pro-rated) money-back guarantee
• Uptime guarantee
• Fast servers
• PostgreSQL support

Reasons to choose BlueHost over A2 Hosting:

• Free SiteLock
• More “unlimited” features
• Free website builder

Though BlueHost’s managed WordPress plans are more expensive than those from some other hosts, they are very popular – as shown by the fact that more than 1 million WordPress sites are hosted on BlueHost.

However, A2 Hosting’s same-as-shared-hosting pricing for its managed WordPress plans makes it very attractive for WordPress users. Both BlueHost and A2 Hosting have competitively priced VPS and dedicated server options for those with larger sites, or heavier traffic.

Both hosts also have budget-priced shared plans that are full-featured. The difference-maker between these two hosting companies is A2 Hosting’s better record for customer service and support.

There are other web hosting companies to consider. If you don’t mind spending a few dollars more for fast load and response times, as well as premium features, SiteGround would be worth checking out.

Another host with attractive managed WordPress plans, and one of the longest money-back guarantees is InMotion Hosting.

Do you have any questions about BlueHost or A2 Hosting? What have been your experiences with web hosting in general? Leave your comments and let us know.