Last Updated on 2 years by First Guide
Are you trying to choose between Kinsta and Bluehost to host your WordPress website?
Well, if you’re short on time, I can save you the trouble of reading this post because, put simply, Kinsta is better than Bluehost in some ways, which we’ll be going through as we progress, but bluehost also have some features you will not find in Kinsta. Read on
The review here are First Guide LLC review, This review is to help you better understand both web hosting companies.
Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links where First Guide LLC may receive a small commission for at no cost to you if you decide to purchase one.
Bluehost Background
Bluehost which is always at the top or near the top when ever you are searching for the best web hosting companies on google. Owned by Endurance International Group (EIG), they are based in Orem and Provo, Utah and cater to over 2 million websites worldwide. This fact alone exhibits their reliance and dependability in the web hosting market.
The best part about Bluehost is that it is like a one-stop-shop. It provides an incredible uptime, loading speed, extensive features, affordable pricing plans, and much more.
Kinsta Background
Since they were founded in 2013, Kinsta have been working to become the hosting provider of choice for WordPress users who are prepared to look beyond marketing campaigns and low prices to find a fast and secure home for their website. Kinsta mainly focuses on WordPress users.
Features
Kinsta and Bluehost offer different sets of features, These features make them unique in their own ways. For instance if you want to built a WordPress site, Kinsta outshine bluehost because they have their own customized c-panel and it was specially built for WordPress users, which is why their customer support is really great. Bluehost is great for blog starters and small business owners, they also offer the lowest WordPress hosting price.
See features of both Kinsta and Bluehost below:
Kinsta vs. Bluehost: They’re Almost Different Products
Comparing Kinsta vs. Bluehost is kind of like trying to compare traveling by boat and traveling by airplane.
Sure, both can get you to your destination—hosting a WordPress website—but they do it in radically different ways, and one is a lot faster than the other. Kinsta is the airplane in this metaphor (and you probably don’t want your website’s load times to make visitors feel like they’re taking the Mayflower).
OK, so why are Kinsta and Bluehost different?
Let’s start at the top…
PERFORMANCE
To compare the performance of Bluehost vs. Kinsta, we’ll use Review Signal’s 2018 Performance Benchmarks, which is the last year that Bluehost participated. We use Review Signal’s data because it’s objective and comprehensive.
Additionally, Review Signal tests performance under load, which is an often underlooked, but more real-world, aspect of web hosting performance. You can learn more about the methodology here.
To make this fair, I’ll include data from both Bluehost’s shared and cloud hosting plans, while using the data from Kinsta’s cheapest plan for the Kinsta review part.
When it comes to your WordPress site page speed Kinsta outshine Bluehost.
First, let’s compare data from one-off tests from different locations around the world (using WebPageTest):
Test Location | Kinsta | Bluehost Shared | Bluehost Cloud |
Dulles | 0.387 | 0.605 | 0.525 |
Denver | 1.287 | 1.45 | 1.466 |
Los Angeles | 0.833 | 0.924 | 1.389 |
London | 1.076 | 1.697 | 1.271 |
Frankfurt | 1.014 | 2.552 | 1.32 |
Mauritius | 2.436 | 3.493 | 2.38 |
Unless you’re targeting Mauritius, Kinsta beat out both of Bluehost’s plans in every other test.
These are just one-off tests, though. If your site is successful (which we hope it is), then you’ll probably have multiple people browsing your site at the same time (maybe even hundreds or thousands).
That’s why your WordPress site speed is very important, where Kinsta again beat out Bluehost:
- Load testing, simulating up to 1,000 concurrent users. Kinsta “handled this test without issue.” Bluehost “struggled with this test; they showed errors and increased response times.”
- Load testing, simulating up to 2,000 concurrent users. Kinsta “handled this test without issue.” Bluehost “ran into security issues we couldn’t work to bypass.
Overall, Kinsta earned Review Signal’s Top Tier status, while neither of Bluehost’s plans made the cut.
UPTIME
Uptime monitoring isn’t always the most accurate metric, but because Review Signal collects its uptime data using at least two months of data, it’s worth including to give you an idea of what to expect.
- Kinsta: 100%
- Bluehost: 99.97%
That 0.03% difference isn’t huge, but it does end up being about 15 minutes of downtime per month.
SUPPORT
To gauge the quality of the support you can expect to receive from Kinsta and Bluehost, we’ll turn to the previously mentioned CodeinWP survey of over 800 WordPress hosting users.
In that survey, CodeinWP asked respondents to rank a host’s:
- Overall support
- WordPress-specific support
Both scores are out of 5
Kinsta support not only scored well above Bluehost when it comes to WordPress, Kinsta had the best support scores out of any host in CodeinWP’s survey, beating out other hosts like SiteGround, WP Engine, Flywheel, and more.
Basically, if you value having access to helpful support about WordPress, Kinsta is one of the best options that you’ll find in the entire WordPress hosting space.
The only thing to consider is support channels.
While both hosts offer 24/7 support, Kinsta only offers support via its in-dashboard Intercom live chat/ticket system. You can read Kinsta’s reasoning here.
Bluehost, on the other hand, lets you choose between phone, live chat, or ticket support.
Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links where First Guide LLC may receive a small commission for at no cost to you if you decide to purchase one.
PRICING
It’s hard to compare Kinsta vs. Bluehost prices 1:1 in a table format because the offerings are so different, so I’ve taken a screenshot of each host’s pricing. Bluehost outshine kinsta in this part:
Kinsta Plans:
Bluehost Shared Plans:
Bluehost WP Pro Plans:
Two essential things to understand about Bluehost’s listed prices are that:
- Those prices are promotional prices that only apply to your first billing cycle.
- You need to pay for three years upfront to get the lowest prices possible.
Kinsta, on the other hand, doesn’t play games with its pricing. The price you see is exactly what you’ll pay, even when it comes time to renew. If you want to save a little, you can pay for a year upfront to get two months free.
Our Services
Conclusion
Both web hosts are great in their but if you want a WordPress site that is very fast and you estimate your visitors to reach 1m every month, you should go for Kinsta. While if you just starting a blog or a small business, bluehost is perfect for you because it’s budget friendly and your site speed will still be great.
Finally, if you still have any questions about choosing between Kinsta vs. Bluehost, let us know in the comment section.