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Bluehost vs A2 Hosting – who is the better web host in 2020?
In the world of hosting, there are only a selected few that spend abundantly on online marketing. Needless to say, they are the only few that most people know about. For someone looking for a web host for the first time, these popular hosts are the go-to option. Bluehost is an excellent example of the same.
Then there are hosting providers like A2 Hosting that have been in the industry for a long time and are known to offer quality services but are fairly unknown. As a matter of fact, A2 Hosting is older than Bluehost. While Bluehost has been in the industry since 2003, A2 Hosting was established in 2001. Nevertheless, both companies have been in the hosting business for a very long time.
Bluehost vs A2 Hosting Comparison 2020
Now, Bluehost vs A2 Hosting – who actually is a better web host between these two? Is the hosting services of Bluehost are better than that of A2 Hosting? Let us find out in this detailed Bluehost vs. A2 Hosting comparison-
1. Hosting Infrastructure
Bluehost currently operates two main datacenters in the USA. In the past few years, it has also incorporated new datacenters in Asia and the UK. The company is known to have world-class datacenters with top-notch digital and physical security. Moreover, it only uses SSD storage for better security and speed.
A2 Hosting has its datacenters located in the USA, Europe, and Asia. Their datacenters are AASE16 certified and have a number of physical security measures such as video surveillance, access only through security key, and more. Just like Bluehost, A2 Hosting uses SSD storage and also offers something known as Turbo Servers which it claims to offer up to 20x speed. But this feature is only available in more expensive plans.
So, in this regard, there seems to be a draw between Bluehost and A2 Hosting as both of them have an excellent hosting infrastructure.
2. Hosting Services
Bluehost offers many different types of hosting services for all the different types of websites. Some of its most popular offerings are Shared Hosting, Dedicated Hosting, VPS Hosting, WordPress Hosting, and Reseller Hosting. It also offers a few additional services like WP Pro which is a form of managed WordPress hosting.
A2 Hosting also offers Shared Hosting, Dedicated Hosting, VPS Hosting, WordPress Hosting, Managed WordPress Hosting, and Reseller Hosting. However, it is mostly known for its WordPress and Shared hosting. Nevertheless, both the hosting providers do offer a number of services to choose from.
3. Pricing
In order to compare the overall pricing of both the hosts, we will compare the price and features of their cheapest shared hosting plan. In case of Bluehost, it is their Basic plan which is priced at $2.95/month for the initial term. With this plan, you get 50GB SSD storage, free domain for a year, unmetered bandwidth, free SSL, 25 sub-domains and 5 parked domains.
The cheapest shared hosting plan from A2 Hosting is its Lite plan which costs $3.92/month. It comes with unlimited SSD storage, free SSL, free migration, and 5 databases for 1 website. One of the most important things to note here is that A2 Hosting offers unlimited SSD storage while Bluehost only offers 50GB SSD storage in its cheapest plan.
However, as you can see, the Lite plan of A2 Hosting is more expensive than the Basic plan of Bluehost. Overall, both the hosting providers offer value-for-money deals.
Must Check: Which Bluehost Plan is Best for You?
4. Uptime and Speed
For testing the speed of both the hosting providers, we created a dummy website and purchased their cheapest shared hosting plan. We tested this website for over a period of 3 months to get a better idea of their hosting performance. Throughout this duration, Bluehost was able to maintain an average speed of 680ms while A2 Hosting offered an average speed of 1.30 seconds.
In other words, the hosting speed of Bluehost is almost 2 times faster as compared to the hosting speed of A2 Hosting. But if you go with A2 Hosting’s more expensive plans that come with Turbo Servers, the speed does improve drastically. Talking about the uptime, A2 Hosting offers 99.9% uptime commitment and it was actually able to deliver the same.
But while Bluehost does not make any commitment or offer any uptime guarantee, it was able to maintain an average uptime of 99.99% over a period of 3 months. The performance of your hosting service plays a crucial role in not just the browsing experience of your website visitors but also in your website’s ranking in search engines. So, with regards to speed and uptime, Bluehost is a clear winner.
5. Security
If we talk about security, both the web hosts are equipped with a host of free and paid tools. Bluehost offers free SSL certificates along with SpamExpert and Cloudflare CDN. There are also a number of great add-on security tools such as malware scan and report, web application firewall, and CDN caching.
Talking about A2 Hosting, it also offers several free security features such as HackScan, SSL certificates, 2FA, virus scanner, DDoS protection, brute force defense, dual firewall, and more. While both the web hosts are great when it comes to the security of their hosting services, A2 Hosting offers a higher number of free security tools. But if you are just building a small website, the free security tools of Bluehost should be adequate.
6. Daily Backups
For website backups, Bluehost offers a 3rd party backup tool known as CodeGuard. This tool costs $3/month. But if you go with more expensive plans of Bluehost, you will get this tool for free. A2 Hosting offers server rewind backup service but it is only available from the Swift plan which costs $4.90/month.
So, if you are going with the Lite plan of A2 Hosting, you will have to purchase a backup tool additionally. Once the backup is created, you can easily restore the same from cPanel which is the most popular hosting account management tool and is also used by both Bluehost and A2 Hosting.
7. Domain Registration
As mentioned above, Bluehost offers a free domain name for a year with all of their hosting plans. After the initial free year, you can then renew the domain name as per the applicable prices. Note that Bluehost has one of the most affordable domain registration and renewal fee. However, A2 Hosting does not offer a free domain.
If you don’t have a domain name yet, you can purchase the same from A2 Hosting. A basic .com domain costs $14.95/year at A2 Hosting. The same at Bluehost costs $11.99/year. Here again, you can see that Bluehost is a more cost-efficient and value-for-money option.
Also check: Bluehost vs Siteground – Who is the Best Hosting Provider in 2020?
8. Customer Support
A2 Hosting offers something known as Guru Crew Support which it claims is available for 24x7x365. The support is available through live chat, phone, and online ticket. But if customer reviews are to be believed, the support team of A2 Hosting is slow and not very knowledgeable. We tried the live chat feature of A2 Hosting and it took more than 1 minute for a representative to reply to our query.
Bluehost has long been known to have one of the best support teams in the industry. It offers 24×7 support through phone, online ticket, and live chat. Their support representatives are known to be highly knowledgeable and eager to help. We also tested Bluehost’s live chat feature and were connected to a representative in less than 10 seconds.
9. User-Friendliness
Both the web hosts excel in this department. Apart from 24×7 support, they have an extensive knowledgebase with hundreds of blogs, articles, and tutorials on their websites to help users find answers to basic queries. Both the providers also offer free website builder to help you start creating your website with a simple drag-and-drop tool.
Even the billing process is fairly simple and someone purchasing hosting service for the first time should not really face any major difficulties.
10. Additional Features and Benefits
A2 Hosting offers free website migration service. However, Bluehost charges a fee of $149 for the same for up to 5 migrations. Apart from hosting, A2 Hosting also offers a host of other solutions for marketing agencies such as analytics services, billing services, and more. All of the hosting plans offered by the company come with an anytime money-back guarantee.
But note that a full refund will be only given if you cancel the plan within the first 30-days of purchase. If you cancel the plan after 30-days, the refund will be on a pro-rated basis. Similarly, Bluehost also offers a number of professional services such as digital marketing, SEO, and PPC. It offers a 30-days money-back guarantee on all of its plans.
A2 Hosting vs Bluehost FAQs
Bluehost vs A2 Hosting – Who Is Better?
While there is no denying that A2 Hosting is a great web host that should definitely be more popular, Bluehost has a significant edge. From cost-efficient hosting plans, speed and uptime, world-class security, to its impressive support team, it has everything you’d expect from a leading hosting service provider.
So, if you are finding it difficult to choose between the two, go ahead with Bluehost and you are sure to experience the modern world of web hosting in an affordable and hassle-free manner.