Best for: cost-focused WordPress users who want low first-term pricing and predictable plan limits.
Avoid if: you need phone support on the cheapest plan, or you rely on cPanel without VPS.
Biggest tradeoff: both providers advertise low intro pricing, but renewal costs change the real 2-4 year bill.
Scope and limits: I compared official plan, legal, and support pages from Hostinger and Bluehost, checked on February 16, 2026. This is a buying and operations comparison, not a fresh lab speed test under identical load.
Head-to-Head: hostinger vs bluehost
| Decision Factor | hostinger | bluehost | What It Means in Practice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price (WordPress/shared) | From $1.99/mo (48-month promo shown) | From $2.95/mo for WordPress Starter | Hostinger usually wins pure sticker price, but only on long commitments. |
| Renewal pricing clarity | Promo cards show explicit renewal, e.g. Premium renews at $10.99/mo | Main sales pages often show Renews at $x.xx/mo; renewal numbers live in KB tables | Bluehost is workable, but you must check a second page to avoid surprise billing. |
| Uptime guarantee | 99.9% uptime guarantee, 5% credit claim | 99.99% shared-hosting uptime guarantee, up to 5% monthly credit | Bluehost’s SLA target is stricter on paper, but credit models are similar and limited. |
| Backups | Weekly on entry plans; daily/on-demand on higher tiers | Weekly on Starter; stronger backup/security bundles on higher tiers | Small blogs can run fine on either; stores should start above entry plans. |
| Support channels | 24/7 live chat/email; claims responses in under 3 minutes | 24/7 chat; phone support included on higher tiers, not on every starter tier | If you need a phone call during incidents, Bluehost has the cleaner path. |
| Control panel | hPanel by default; cPanel/WHM via VPS + separate license | Bluehost panel with WordPress tooling; SSH/WP-CLI and staging listed on plans | Developers who are cPanel-native may face less adaptation friction on Bluehost. |
| Scale indicators | Up to 50 websites on Business, 100 on Cloud Startup | 10/50/100 websites by tier; “ideal” 40K/200K/400K visits guidance | Bluehost gives clearer traffic guidance; Hostinger offers aggressive price-to-resource value. |
Hostinger is better for most buyers because the upfront math is hard to beat and renewal rates are shown directly on product cards. Bluehost competes better when operational support matters more than absolute price, especially for teams that escalate by phone.
Pricing Breakdown
Here’s the tier-by-tier view using public numbers visible on February 16, 2026.
| Tier | hostinger Intro | hostinger Renewal | bluehost Intro | bluehost Renewal (36-mo term) | What It Means in Practice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | Premium: $1.99/mo | $10.99/mo | Starter: $2.95/mo | $9.99/mo | Hostinger is cheaper to start; Bluehost renews slightly lower at this exact tier match. |
| Mid | Business: $2.99/mo | $16.99/mo | Business: $3.95/mo | $13.99-$15.99/mo (plan table variants) | Mid-tier renewals are steep on both; Bluehost often renews lower, Hostinger starts lower. |
| Ecommerce / higher shared | Cloud Startup: $6.99/mo | $25.99/mo | eCommerce Essentials: $3.00/mo | $21.99/mo | Bluehost can undercut Hostinger at higher renewal points if ecommerce tools match your stack. |
Pricing notes that matter
- Hostinger publishes full 48-month totals on plan cards, e.g. $95.52 for 48 months at $1.99/mo and explicit renewal.
- Bluehost’s main sales UX sometimes displays renewal placeholders (
$x.xx/mo). Real renewal tables are available in help docs. - Both offer a 30-day money-back window, with exclusions (domains/add-ons vary).
- Renewal shock is real. On Hostinger Business, $2.99 to $16.99 is about 5.7x. On Bluehost Starter, $2.95 to $9.99 is about 3.4x.
A quick reality check: if you only compare month-one pricing, you will likely pick the wrong host for your year-two budget.
Sources checked (Feb 16, 2026):
- Hostinger web hosting pricing: https://www.hostinger.com/web-hosting
- Hostinger hosting agreement (uptime): https://www.hostinger.com/legal/hosting-agreement
- Hostinger refund policy: https://www.hostinger.com/legal/refund-policy
- Hostinger cPanel support article: https://www.hostinger.com/support/1583565-is-cpanel-whm-supported-at-hostinger/
- Bluehost WordPress hosting pricing: https://www.bluehost.com/wordpress-hosting
- Bluehost shared hosting page: https://www.bluehost.com/web-hosting
- Bluehost renewal price list: https://www.bluehost.com/help/article/shared-hosting-prices
- Bluehost uptime guarantee: https://www.bluehost.com/help/article/bh-uptime-guarantee
- Bluehost refund policy: https://www.bluehost.com/help/article/refundpolicy
Where Each Tool Pulls Ahead
Performance
Bluehost publishes a 99.99% shared-hosting uptime guarantee with up to 5% monthly credit, limited to one claim per month and with exclusions. Hostinger’s hosting agreement states 99.9% uptime and a 5% credit.
Implication: Bluehost has a tighter SLA target on paper, but neither provider gives large compensation. For production stores, build your own monitoring and backup routine either way.
Support
Hostinger states 24/7 live chat/email and says many issues are resolved in under 3 minutes. Bluehost offers 24/7 support too, with phone support included on higher tiers while starter-level offerings can be chat-only.
Implication: solo operators who like async chat will be fine on Hostinger. Teams with non-technical stakeholders usually move faster when phone escalation exists, which favors Bluehost.
Control panel and dev tools
Hostinger defaults to hPanel and only supports cPanel/WHM through VPS with a separate license. Bluehost highlights SSH, WP-CLI, and one-click staging across multiple WordPress plans.
Implication: if you already run cPanel-centric workflows, Hostinger may add migration friction unless you move up to VPS. If you want simple WordPress workflows without cPanel lock-in, Hostinger is straightforward.
Scalability
Hostinger Business includes 50 websites and 50 GB NVMe, while Cloud Startup adds 100 websites, dedicated IP, and higher resource ceilings. Bluehost’s tier matrix gives concrete scale markers like 10/50/100 websites and “ideal” traffic guidance up to 400K visits/month on upper shared tiers.
Implication: Hostinger scales cheaply for multi-site portfolios. Bluehost is easier to capacity-plan if you want traffic estimates pre-labeled.
The Verdict
Winner: hostinger for the majority of users in 2026.
Hostinger wins on total value for most buyers: lower entry pricing, explicit renewal visibility on plan cards, and strong feature density before you hit premium tiers. Bluehost remains a credible pick when phone support and WordPress-native operational tooling matter more than absolute cost.
Ranked picks by user type
- First-time site owner or blogger: pick hostinger. Lower upfront cost, simpler buying path, good enough core stack.
- Freelancer managing multiple small sites: pick hostinger unless you require phone support.
- Small business with non-technical stakeholders: pick bluehost if phone escalation is part of your support policy.
- WooCommerce store with moderate traffic: pick bluehost if you value guided support; pick hostinger if budget is priority and you can self-manage.
- Developer who needs cPanel/WHM specifically: pick bluehost shared/managed, or Hostinger VPS plus separate cPanel license.
Switch trigger: move hosts when renewal pricing jumps beyond your margin, or when your current host’s support channel does not match how your team handles incidents.