DreamHost Review Visit DreamHost »

OVERALL RATING 4.8 / 5.0
★★★★★
Features 5.0 / 5.0
Ease of Use 4.8 / 5.0
Pricing 4.5 / 5.0
Reliability & Support 5.0 / 5.0
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Laura Bernheim

Laura Bernheim,

Hosting Expert:

A leader in high-quality hosting and cloud computing, DreamHost is among the best in the business for powerful infrastructure, nuanced managed services, and reliable support. The price might be a little steep for first-time site owners, but hosting aficionados will recognize the value of DreamHost's robust and impressive platform of services.

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Best Overall Rating

4.8
★★★★★

Price:

Setup Time:

Laura Bernheim

Laura Bernheim (HostingAdvice.com):

“A top-notch host for those who know what they're looking for, DreamHost offers nuanced and performant hosting perfect for scaling websites and applications through the ranks of shared, VPS, cloud, and dedicated hosting.

We love their features but realize that beginners or hobbyist developers might not want to fork over the extra cash to capitalize on the performance, optimization, and managed services that DreamHost offers.

If, however, your site is growing and gathering more and more traffic, few hosts will take care of you as well as DreamHost. Managed services include infrastructure management, automatic backups and updates, malware scans, and DDoS protection.

We appreciate how the independently owned company was built on a passion for open-source technologies. DreamHost developers routinely contribute code back to communities, such as WordPress and OpenStack, and the company has used their brainpower and experience to create the open-source storage system Ceph and OpenStack cloud network virtualization tool Akanda.

As such, DreamHost support agents know what they're talking about. Available all day, every day, the in-house support team provides help worthy of DreamHost's speedy SSD-based architecture, hand-crafted control panel, WordPress-tailored solutions, and reliable managed services.”

  • 100% uptime guarantee
  • In-house, 24/7 customer support
  • FREE SSL/TLS certificates
  • Unlimited storage and bandwidth
  • Supercharged SSDs on all plans
  • Get started on DreamHost now.
Money Back Guarantee
97 days
Disk Space
Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)
Hosting Plans

Cheap Rating

4.6
★★★★★

Price:

Setup Time:

Laura Bernheim

Laura Bernheim (HostingAdvice.com):

“While their price might be a little steep compared to other high-value hosting providers, DreamHost gives customers ample time and reasons to get hooked and stick around. The company, which started in the founders' dorm room in 1997, offers an industry-leading 97-day money-back guarantee. Additionally, DreamHost guarantees 100% uptime and will reimburse customers the cost of a whole day of hosting for each hour of downtime outside of scheduled maintenance.

We love that DreamHost seems to be genuinely built with their customers' experience and success in mind. Beyond unlimited storage and bandwidth, their luxurious shared hosting package boasts high-performance SSDs that make your websites perform at least 20 times faster. Customers can also enjoy unlimited domain hosting, free domain privacy on sites registered through DreamHost, and unlimited email accounts.

We found that DreamHost's hand-crafted control panel gives easy access to all the tools beginners need to start and grow their sites: 1-click installers of top content management systems and eCommerce tools, SSL/TLS certificates from Let's Encrypt, and automated malware scans.

Their award-winning support and service teams are staffed by self-described tech veterans, geeks, and nerds who are trained to Tier II to provide the most knowledgeable and experienced assistance. If the extensive knowledgebase and user forums don't solve your problems, you can reach the in-house support team around the clock through phone callbacks, email tickets, Twitter, and live chat.”

  • Automated malware scans
  • Unlimited domain hosting
  • Unlimited email accounts with POP/IMAP/SMTP
  • FREE eCommerce store tools and PCI compliance
  • Streamlined proprietary control panel
  • Get started on DreamHost now.
Money Back Guarantee
97 days
Disk Space
Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)
Hosting Plans

Dedicated Rating

4.8
★★★★★

Price:

Setup Time:

Laura Bernheim

Laura Bernheim (HostingAdvice.com):

“When your high-traffic site outgrows VPS, turn to DreamHost for premium dedicated hosting at a reasonable rate. The 20-year-old hosting provider offers servers with three times more cores and four times more RAM compared to well-known competitors. What's more, DreamHost includes up to 2TB of SSD storage, unlimited bandwidth, and a 100% uptime guarantee.

All dedicated servers come with full root and shell access, along with DDoS protection, RAID 1 storage, and unlimited MySQL databases. With DreamHost's custom control panel, customers can quickly add, remove, or reboot servers with just a few clicks.

We appreciate that DreamHost prides themselves on providing open-source solutions, contributing to and supporting developer communities, and maintaining expert-level support teams. In addition to running Ubuntu Long Term support, DreamHost supports PHP, Perl, Python, and Ruby.

DreamHost has datacenters on both coasts and offers integration with the Cloudflare content delivery network, making sure your content loads quickly, no matter where your traffic comes from.

DreamHost's newest facility, dubbed "Data Center Alley," includes 2N+2 power redundancy and dual water lines for redundant cooling. Around-the-clock staffing, a 1GBps internet connection, and emergency generators can give dedicated hosting customers peace of mind that their sites will stay online for the long haul.”

  • Up to 12 cores available
  • Full root and shell access
  • DDoS protection and 24/7 server monitoring
  • Fully managed and customizable hardware options
  • RAID 1 HDD or SSD storage
  • Get started on DreamHost now.
Money Back Guarantee
97 days
Disk Space
240 GB SSD - 2 TB HDD
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)
Hosting Plans

VPS Rating

4.7
★★★★★

Price:

Setup Time:

Laura Bernheim

Laura Bernheim (HostingAdvice.com):

“With scalable RAM and SSD storage, DreamHost's VPS plans give customers a powerful, speedy, and stable environment ripe for growth. RAM ranges from 1GB to 8GB, while storage varies between 30GB and 240GB.

While DreamHost's VPS storage space and RAM options are in line with the industry average, DreamHost layers on a bevy of additional perks that turns their already competitive prices into big bargains.

Starting with all-SSD infrastructure, which boosts your website or application's speed by 20 times compared to standard SATA disk drives, DreamHost also includes a dedicated IP address and free SSL/TLS certificates, as well as unlimited bandwidth, domain hosting, and email accounts.

You can manage your virtual servers through DreamHost's custom control panel, which has been developed for more than 15 years. Although we originally missed the familiarity of cPanel or Plesk, we quickly adapted to DreamHost's sleek, modern panel. Easily scale your virtual servers up or down based on your expected needs.

For an added performance boost, DreamHost offers an add-on MySQL VPS service that puts your website's database on its own isolated server. Linux-VServers dedicate an initial 2300MB of RAM to your site, giving customers a sneak peek at what DreamHost's dedicated hosting looks like.”

  • Custom web-based control panel
  • Unlimited MySQL databases
  • Easily scalable RAM
  • High-performance SSD drives
  • 5 years of security updates with Ubuntu Long Term Support
  • Get started on DreamHost now.
Money Back Guarantee
97 days
Disk Space
30 GB - 240 GB SSD
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)
Hosting Plans

WordPress Rating

4.9
★★★★★

Price:

Setup Time:

Laura Bernheim

Laura Bernheim (HostingAdvice.com):

“One of only four hosting providers recommended by the WordPress Core team, DreamHost has actively contributed to the WordPress community for more than a decade. Their platform is optimized for the incredibly popular content management system, and plans include easy setup, automated updates and backups, unlimited bandwidth, and 24/7 specialized support.

DreamHost does an admirable job tailoring their shared hosting service around WordPress, but we're most impressed with their fully managed WordPress solution, DreamPress. Launched in 2013, DreamPress offers enhanced speed, scaling, and security by configuring various settings and plugins that streamline WordPress installation, databases, and server operations.

DreamPress adds multiple caching layers and isolates server resources to perform more than five times faster than shared hosting. We love that DreamHost allocates two VPS servers for each DreamPress customer: one optimized for the frontend and the other for MySQL. You'll get the same SSD storage found elsewhere in DreamHost plans, but DreamPress dynamically auto-scales memory to grow with your traffic.

Support and security are further tailored to WordPress with automatic updates and a firewall that blocks known WordPress vulnerabilities and offers protection from brute-force attacks. DreamPress uses NGINX, HTTP2, and Let's Encrypt SSL/TLS certificates to balance performance and privacy.”

  • Preconfigured and fully managed option available with DreamPress
  • Multiple caching layers with Varnish, Memcached, and OPcache
  • 1-click install and automatic updates
  • WP-specific firewall for security
  • Pre-installed SSL/TLS certificate
  • Get started on DreamHost now.
Money Back Guarantee
97 days
Disk Space
Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)
Hosting Plans

Website Builder Rating

4.6
★★★★★

Price:

Setup Time:

Laura Bernheim

Laura Bernheim (HostingAdvice.com):

“For a while, the only knock on DreamHost was the lack of a website builder for beginner customers unfamiliar with web design. With the recent beta debut of Remixer, however, DreamHost has come up with yet another way to appeal to site owners.

Hosting providers creating their own site builders can be a risky venture — why devote resources to trying something new when there's a tried-and-true outside option such as Weebly? DreamHost, however, seems to have hit a home run with Remixer. We love how the clean and modern interface directs users straight to whatever tools they need.

Remixer offers only about a dozen templates so far, but we know it's too early to fault them on that. The themes currently available, however, appeal to a surprisingly wide range of uses: small businesses, professionals, travelers, creatives, music, events, and even documentation. Remixer lets you preview each theme in desktop, tablet, and mobile (portrait AND landscape) views before getting to work.

The builder interface itself is equally impressive, giving users the options to customize, move, and add content based on row-based layouts. More experienced site owners will appreciate access to HTML code and the ability to use Markdown to format text.

Remixer is only available to current customers during the beta test and hasn't been released publicly. If you're looking for a sleek, refreshing site builder, sign up for a shared hosting plan with DreamHost to access Remixer.”

  • Beta of Remixer site builder available to current customers
  • Preview themes for desktop, tablet, and mobile (portrait and landscape)
  • Responsive, professional themes
  • Royalty-free images from Pixabay
  • HTML access for fine-grained control
  • Get started on DreamHost now.
Money Back Guarantee
97 days
Disk Space
Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)
Hosting Plans

Features

(5.0 / 5.0)

Commitment to Customers and Communities

  • DreamHost has remained independently owned for decades and fosters core values, such as a 100% uptime guarantee, to better serve both customers and developers.
  • Passionately protecting users' privacy, DreamHost enforces a strong anti-spam policy and includes domain privacy and SSL/TLS certificates for free.
  • With platforms engineered around WordPress, OpenStack and NGINX, DreamHost backs developer communities by providing open-source tools whenever possible.

Cloud Computing and Object Storage

  • SSD cloud servers create scalable environments billed by the hour at discounted rates.
  • Launch and scale performant virtual machines ready for SSH access in 30 seconds or less with DreamCompute, which gives you fine-grained control with full root access and OpenStack API.
  • For cloud storage needs, DreamObjects offers a fully scalable solution for app developers and anyone with big data. DreamObjects is compatible with Amazon S3 and OpenStack Swift APIs and integrates with WordPress to automate several functions.

Easy and Secure Domain Management

  • Domain privacy is included with all eligible domains registered through DreamHost. Protect yourself and shield your personal information from strangers. ICANN-accreditation means enhanced protection and security.
  • Every domain name comes with flexible autorenewals, locking and forwarding options, along with simplified DNS management tools and custom nameservers.
  • Choose from among more than 350 domain extensions, which DreamHost highlights based on trends, sales, and newness.

Expert Support and Managed Services

  • In-house customer support teams are available 24/7/365 through live chat, Twitter, and email. All technical support agents are trained to Tier II before working with customers.
  • Specialized teams build, support, and closely manage all aspects of WordPress hosting and OpenStack products — freeing you up to focus on your business or web content.
  • Managed services at all hosting levels go beyond updates and monitoring to fine-tune configurations and optimize server operations to boost each site's performance.

Ease of Use

(4.8 / 5.0)
Customized Control Panel
DreamHost Review
Support Tailored to Your Issue
DreamHost Review
Coming Soon: Site Builder in Beta
DreamHost Review

DreamHost engineers have cultivated and developed a proprietary control panel that acts as a hub for everything their customers need. The sleek, minimalist interface gives users complete management over all aspects of their hosting account. In addition to a brand-new site builder called Remixer, customers can contact support and access DreamHost's knowledgebase and forums directly from the panel.

Pricing

(4.5 / 5.0)

3-Year Plan

1-Year Plan

Monthly Plan

While you'll pay a premium for shared hosting, DreamHost is much more competitively priced at the VPS and dedicated hosting levels. We appreciate the unlimited resources, 100% uptime guarantee, and award-winning support, but inexperienced customers will likely skip to a cheaper option. Hosting consumers with a more refined palette might be more willing to pay the steep shared hosting price before scaling to one of the managed offerings. An unheard-of 97-day money-back guarantee, however, gives DreamHost plenty of time to prove they're worth the investment.

Reliability & Support

(5.0 / 5.0)

How can you argue with a 100% uptime guarantee? DreamHost will reimburse customers the cost of one day's worth of hosting for every hour of downtime outside of scheduled maintenance. Between modern infrastructure and an emphasis on managed services, DreamHost takes a uniquely plugged-in and hands-on approach to reliability. Their in-house customer support team provides expert service and technical expertise. Each agent is trained to Tier II, and DreamHost maintains dedicated support teams for WordPress and OpenStack issues.

DreamHost Includes

24/7/365 Tier II Support Through Twitter and Email Tickets, Plus Additional Support via Chat and Phone. Knowledgebase, User Forums, and 100% Uptime Guarantee

Other Hosts vs. DreamHost

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DreamHost is the winner
2 out of 4 times.

The Rundown

Laura Bernheim

Laura Bernheim

Hosting Expert:

To recap, here's a rundown of what DreamHost has to offer

Site owners who are tired of bargain-basement hosting plans and looking to take a more serious step forward will revel in DreamHost's well-rounded feature set and dedication to a positive customer experience. With 100% uptime and 97-day money-back guarantees, in addition to top-level support and managed services, DreamHost caters to user needs with the full range of hosting options. Sit back and rest easy knowing that DreamHost's SSD infrastructure and unlimited storage, bandwidth, domains, and email accounts are all primed to make your dream website a reality.

DreamHost review

Overall Rating

4.8 / 5.0
★★★★★