Bluehost vs HostPapa – Which Web Hosting is Better?

You’ve probably heard of BlueHost and HostPapa before. Both these web hosting providers are popular and trusted around the world. 

But when comparing two things, you’ll naturally ask, “Which is better?”

When it comes to choosing a web host, it’s not enough to pick the most popular one. What if it’s too expensive for you? Or, what if it doesn’t have the right features? 

So before you make a decision, let’s take a look at a few things to compare BlueHost vs HostPapa. This way, you’ll have an idea of which one is better for YOU. 

Let’s get started. 

Bluehost vs HostPapa - A Side by Side Comparison

To compare the two, we’ll look at:

• Uptime and performance
• Website building
• Migration services
• Products and features
• Security
• Pricing
• Customer Support

Uptime and Performance

For those of you who don’t know, uptime and performance are two different things. However, some people use it interchangeably. 

Let’s talk about uptime first. 

Uptime is the rate that your site is accessible. The best web hosting providers have at least 99.9% uptime. 

The good news is that both Bluehost and HostPapa have an uptime of 99.93% (August 2023) and 99.84% (August 2023) respectively.

This might just be a small difference, but for website owners who rely on their site to earn revenue, this small percentage can be a big thing. 

Now, what about performance?

There are mixed reviews about HostPapa’s speed, which is why there’s a concern about their consistency. 

While they can load relatively fast, 537 ms (August 2023), their speed is inconsistent. It’s only in good months that HostPapa’s landing page speed is at its fastest.  

However, this speed falters when you have videos, photos, and other multimedia content. 

Website Building

Bluehost is one of only three web hosting providers recommended by WordPress.

But that’s not all. 

Bluehost also comes with a free Weebly website builder. If you’re not into WordPress, then you can find an easy drag-and-drop site builder as well.

Unfortunately, HostPapa’s website builder isn’t as robust as Bluehost’s. 

Sure, it is their own website builder, but it’s not as sophisticated. In fact, there are some that say it’s too basic for most people. I mean, this site builder is easy to use, but it can only allow 2 pages on your website. There aren’t a lot of features and add-ons, too. 

What’s worse is that if you want to create another website, you need to pay an additional fee for the website builder to be used on your second site. 

But businesses may benefit from the ‘Do-it-for-me’ site builder they offer, in which HostPapa will handle the site creation process for you, saving you the effort.

Check out this video for a tutorial on how to create a WordPress website with BlueHost:

Migration Services

Planning to migrate to a new web host? 

You’ll love HostPapa’s free migration services. 

There are no added fees, and the best part of it is that you don’t need to be fully involved in the migration. HostPapa’s customer service is able to do this for you as quickly as they can (sometimes less than a day).

What about Bluehost?

Well, you need to pay for site migrations, unless you use WordPress. In that case, you can migrate it for free.  

To be sure, this won’t be an issue if you’re making a site from scratch with Bluehost.

Products and Features

A lot of website owners often purchase the basic plans of web hosts, so it makes sense that we start with what’s included in the basic plan offered by Bluehost and HostPapa.

Here’s a comparison chart showing the two web hosts’ products and features in their basic plan:

Domain

Both Bluehost and HostPapa have free domain registration for your first year.

However, there’s a catch. 

For the two web hosts, you have to subscribe for at least a year before you become eligible for a free domain. 

Email Addresses

There’s a stark difference between how many email addresses you can make in one basic plan. 

For Bluehost, you are only allowed to have 5 email addresses. I know, this is a lot less compared to HostPapa’s 100, but in reality, you won’t be needing that many email addresses unless you’re a large business. 

Nevertheless, this is a great feature especially if you have a teaching website and you plan to give email addresses to students for their log-ins. 

Backups

Backups are an important feature for any web host. 

Since you never know what might happen to your site, it’s always a big relief to find that your web host has a recent backup of it.  

While Bluehost does offer complimentary backups, these aren’t guaranteed and are done at Bluehost’s discretion. Thus while you do get some support, it can’t be compared to the truly automated backups other hosts provide regularly.

Security

We’ve already talked about backups, so let’s discuss security. 

Fortunately for us, both Bluehost and HostPapa have free SSL certificates. This means that your data is encrypted and no other person can read it. 

Other than that, there are no other free security features included in both web hosts’ basic plans. 

Pricing

It might not seem like it but pricing is a very important consideration. Sometimes, it’s the determining factor. 

So if we’re just going to look at affordability, who’s the cheaper option? 

Here’s a table comparing the different prices for web hosting plans of both Bluehost and HostPapa: 

For any type of web hosting plan, Bluehost offers the most affordable plans. This makes it ideal for price-sensitive website owners. 

Keep in mind that both Bluehost and HostPapa have discounts offered if you subscribe for a longer period.

Customer Support

Finally, we have customer support. 

Customer support is also very important as this will determine how fast you can fix technical problems your site experiences. 

The good news is that Bluehost and HostPapa both offer 24/7 customer support. The channels that they provide are live chat and phone. 

Plus, both providers have great representatives that are responsive and understanding. There are no long waiting times and no aggressive upselling on their products. 

Bluehost vs HostPapa - The Verdict

Based on the considerations we mentioned, Bluehost comes out as the better web host.

Bluehost is much more affordable and has better features. Thanks to its consistent uptime and speed, easy website builder, free backups, and affordable pricing, it’s a great choice for any type of website you want to create. 

But if you’re more interested in more GB space, email addresses, and free migration services, then Hostpapa might be the better pick for you. 

It really all boils down to what YOU need.