DreamHost Review 2022 :
Owned by New Dream Network, LLC, the Los Angeles-based hosting company was founded in 1996 and began hosting client websites in 1997.
Dreamhost has around 200 employees and around 400,000 customers.
We’ve never hosted a website with Dreamhost before, so we were excited to give it a try. See how they compare to their competitors. In this review, I will rely on the information we recorded during performance testing. Include interaction with customer support
Dreamhost makes it easy to create new websites. Because there is a free domain name for the first year. Plus a free website builder and one-click WordPress installation.
All plans come with 24/7 support, a free SSL certificate, and unlimited data. Want a little more money per month? You get unlimited file storage. Free backup and extra security
Your shared hosting starts at $2.59 per month and they have a 97 year money back policy which is a plus. Shared hosting also comes with a free domain name.
You can choose a one-year or three-year plan term. Unfortunately, you have to pay for email with the default shared hosting plan. It’s free for your unlimited shared hosting plan.
The performance is better than average according to our test labels:
Uptime: 99.96%
Response time: 916ms
WordPress processing time: 182 ms.
Three main considerations
speed and reliability
Most website owners lose money if their site goes down or someone leaves their site due to slow performance. At the very least the host should be able to provide 99.95% uptime and load web pages in seconds.
DreamHost offers an uptime guarantee. Like other landlords, if your monthly average falls below the guaranteed threshold, you will be refunded the service fee in the form of a credit.
Most of the uptime we see is usually around 99.90%, so Dreamhost builds and supports your service. But it also offers little room for general volatility.
However, DreamHost guarantees 100% uptime in its terms of service.
Please note that this warranty does not cover scheduled maintenance or user error.
However, there are other DreamHost issues that can interfere with your website, database, email or webmail. May void your warranty You get the true value of a day of free service for every hour of downtime
Only catch is up to 10% “next prepaid internet hosting renewal” (so future usage not discounts or rebates)
We run Dreamhost speed and reliability tests monthly using a simple WordPress site as a test beacon.
Dreamhost was able to exceed our expectations for uptime and speed. They also played better than most games. Below is a breakdown of performance by month:
- July 2019 average uptime: 99.71% average load speed: 848 ms
- Aug 2019 average uptime: 99.96% average load speed: 528 ms
- Sep 2019 average uptime: 100.00% average load speed: 518 ms
- Oct 2019 average uptime: 99.93% average load speed: 518 ms
- Nov 2019 average uptime: 99.99% average load speed: 565 ms
- Dec 2019 average uptime: 99.99% average load speed: 544 ms
- Jan 2020 average uptime: 99.99% average load speed: 553 ms
- Feb 2020 average uptime: 99.98% average load speed: 1,667 ms
- Mar 2020 average uptime: 99.98% average load speed: 1,717 ms
- April 2020 average uptime: 99.99% average load speed: 1,694 ms
- May 2020 average uptime: 99.98% average load speed: 1,622 ms
- June 2020 average uptime: 99.99% average load speed: 1,839 ms
- July 2020 average uptime: 99.96% average load speed: 763 ms
- Aug 2020 average uptime: 99.96% average load speed: 761 ms
- Sep 2020 average uptime: 99.86% average load speed: 788 ms
- Oct 2020 average uptime: 99.99% average load speed: 628 ms
- Nov 2020 average uptime: 100.00% average load speed: 672 ms
- Dec 2020 average uptime: 99.99% average load speed: 698 ms
- Jan 2021 average uptime: 99.98% average load speed: 786 ms
- Feb 2021 average uptime: 99.98% average load speed: 833 ms
- Mar 2021 average uptime: 99.95% average load speed: 902 ms
- April 2021 average uptime: 99.99% average load speed: 1,009 ms
- May 2021 average uptime: 99.99% average load speed: 756 ms
- June 2021 average uptime: 99.98% average load speed: 815 ms
- July 2021 average uptime: 100.00% average load speed: 681 ms
Quick Overview
July 2019 Thru July 2021
| Average Page Speed | 916 ms |
| Average Uptime | 99.96% 180 minutes over 19 outages |
| Average Render Time | 180 ms |
| Average Security Threats | 39 attempts |
| Support | Chat,Ticket & Callback |
| Apps | WordPress, Blogger, Drupal, Shopify, Wix, and more |
| Features | Unmetered bandwidth, free SSL, free domain (for the first year, SSD storage |
| Plans | Shared, Cloud, WordPress, VPS, and Dedicated Servers |
| Transfer | Not free |
| Pricing | Starting at $2.59/mo (same renewal price) |
Support quality
Dreamhost has a simple chat system. They allow you to browse knowledge bases and forums while waiting for an agent.
One of the fastest ways to measure technical support knowledge is to ask a simple question. What most techies should know right away:
What version of MySQL is my site running? “
Below is a screenshot of my chat with a support rep:
Chat sessions are very fast. He contacted police officer Andrew M. within a minute. They didn’t verify the account. Not sure if it’s because I didn’t ask questions that would be marked in red.
The staff quickly told me he was using MySQL 5.7 and they were very friendly. Overall, it was a good experience.
Affordability
Dreamhost is one of the cheapest web hosting companies. Get the basic plan for a single site for just $2.59 per month.
This is very important when you consider availability/speed. Features included in the package Free tools and easy-to-use management tools and free domains.
Remember, these are monthly prices if you purchase 3 years of service in advance. If you buy 12 months in advance, the price will be slightly higher.
There is a monthly plan called the Monthly Plan, which starts at $4.95. There is no commitment or contract for this option.
Note that these prices are introductory prices for promotions and come with a 97-day money-back guarantee on all purchases.
Available Plans, prices and details
Start a plan
Dreamhost’s Starter plan starts at $2.59 per month. Note that the 3-year plan is $2.59 and the 1-year plan is $3.95. This comes with web hosting. That’s a lot considering all the freebies you get when you sign up. This includes free domains.
Unlimited plan
The 3-year unlimited plan costs $5.95 per month, and the 1-year plan costs $6.95 per month. This is the highest option they have. Features This includes unlimited websites and unlimited email addresses. It’s a bargain for what’s included in the package.
Plan Feature Comparison
Plan Features
- Domains Included: Yes, it’s free after registration.
- Simple setup process – simple one page registration form.
- Admin Panel Experience: The control panel is very clean and easy to use. Sorry, you don’t have a cPanel.
- Third-Party App Support – One-click integration with Mojo Marketplace for installing popular scripts like WordPress, Weebly, Joomla, Drupal, OpenCart, and more.
- Server Information: Linux CentOS 6, PHP 7, MySQL 5.7, PostgreSQL 10
- Payment Methods: Visa, MasterCard, Discover, Amex and PayPal.
- Hidden Fees and Requirements: We did not find any hidden fees.
- Add-on sales: Some add-on sales. But this is normal in the web hosting industry. so don’t worry
Other Plans
If you need more features, Dreamhost also offers other types of web hosting, including managed WordPress. Virtual Private Server (VPS), Cloud and Dedicated Servers.
Do we recommend Dreamhost?
Yes, we recommend Dreamhost as a hosting provider. This is a good option if you are just starting out.
In all our reports, Dreamhost is the best provider in terms of speed and uptime.
It also has a great admin panel to manage your account and website. Their safety and support are punctual and reliable. We love the money-back guarantee and the lowest prices. The refund period is 97 days.
DreamHost also has no hidden conditions or bypass obstacles that could jeopardize your refund. There are only a few cases where your refund will end up being deducted or not sent. But most are normal.
The first exception is credit card refunds only. Therefore, other pricing methods such as check or money order are non-refundable.
The second exception is that additional services purchased through third parties will also not be refunded. This includes domain names, SSL certificates, AdWords credits, and more.
However, there are some things we don’t like that should be considered. They charge for site migration which is annoying.
Other hosting companies Most of them are free. You think they will do the same for new clients. That’s a hefty $99.00 fee, accurate for each site moved.
While there are some downsides, it offers a great experience and great value.