Can’t decide between DreamHost and A2 Hosting?
Cell | DreamHost | A2 Hosting |
Owner | New Dream Network (NDN) | A2 Hosting |
Basic Plan | Shared Starter | StartUp |
Price | $2.59/mo | $2.99/mo |
Free Domain? | Yes | No |
Average Uptime | 99.98% (August 2023) | 100% (August 2023) |
Average Speed | 1,836 ms (August 2023) | 288 ms (August 2023) |
One-Click WordPress Installation? | Yes | Yes |
Free SSL? | Yes | Yes |
Number of Sites | 1 | 1 |
Free Email? | No | Yes |
Free Backup? | Automated | Manual |
Moneyback Guarantee | Yes | Yes |
Support Channels | Live chat and Email | Live chat, Email, and Phone |
Control Panel | DreamHost Panel | cPanel |
Space | 50 GB | 100 GB |
Free CDN? | No | Yes |
Migration Services | Yes for WordPress | Yes |
Overall Rating | ||
Get Hosting | ||
Other Plans | Managed WordPress ($16.99), VPS ($10.00) | Managed WordPress ($12.99), VPS ($4.99) |
Cell |
*Pricing September 2021
Here, we’re comparing these two most popular web hosting services to help you make the right choice for your website.
In this DreamHost vs A2 Hosting comparison article, we’ll be looking at their pricing, products and features, uptime and performance, and freebies to see which provider you should choose in 2021.
Let’s get started!
DreamHost vs A2 Hosting Overview
DreamHost is one of the oldest players in the web hosting industry. Founded in 1996 by friends Josh, Sage, Micahel, and Dallas, DreamHost has provided reliable hosting for many of its clients. The company now hosts over 1.5 million websites across the world.
DreamHost offers a variety of services, including:
- Website hosting
- WordPress dedicated hosting
- Email hosting
- Domain registration
- Cloud services
Meanwhile, A2 Hosting was founded in 2003 by Bryan Muthig and his colleague. The service was designed to cater to the needs of developers and was one of the first providers to offer PHP 5 and Ruby on Rails.
Though it isn’t as popular as DreamHost, it is still servicing thousands of websites around the world today.
DreamHost vs A2 Hosting Comparison Review
DreamHost and A2 Hosting offer similar services at (more or less) similar prices. One thing that separates them, though, is that DreamHost is geared more towards bigger websites and A2 Hosting for websites that are just starting out.
To compare both, we’ll look at:
- Uptime and performance
- Products, features, pricing
- Customer support
- Ease of use
Now, let’s get into the details
Uptime and Performance
There are two things that all website owners should consider when looking for a web host: uptime and performance.
The best web hosts will provide you with at least 99% uptime, to ensure your website is always available to your viewers when they need it. Top-notch web hosts will also give you at least 2000ms of loading speed to satisfy the attention of your audience.
A2 Hosting makes sure your site is almost always up and running, with an uptime of 100% (August 2023). That’s already very impressive!
To match that, they boast an average speed of 288 ms (August 2023)!
You can be sure that, with A2 Hosting, you get some of the best uptime and performance.
As for DreamHost, they don’t offer the best uptime or speed. However, their average of 99.98% (August 2023) uptime and 1,836 ms (August 2023) speed is already good enough.
WINNER: A2 Hosting. With better uptime and world-class loading speeds, A2 Hosting will ensure your site users get the best experience possible on your site.
Products, Features, and Pricing
DreamHost is excellent for its scalability and pricing, making it the perfect choice for any medium-sized website looking for ways to leverage its growth and keep momentum.
A2 Hosting, on the other hand, is feature-rich and the perfect companion for websites that are trying to improve their SEO rankings, conversion rates, and bounce rates.
To make the products, features, and prices clearer to you, we’re going to create a chart with both providers’ basic plans.
DreamHost Web Hosting Plans
Plan Name | Storage | Bandwidth | Free SSL | Number of Sites | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
50 GB Storage | Unmetered | Yes | 1 | Starts at $2.59/month* | |
30 GB SSD Storage | Unmetered | Yes | Unlimited | Starts at $10/month* | |
4 GB RAM 1 TB HDD Storage | Unmetered | Yes | Unlimited | Starts at $149/month* | |
100 GB Block Storage 80 GB SSD Disk | Unmetered | Yes | Unlimited | Starts at $4.50/month* |
*Pricing as of Sept 2021
A2 Hosting Web Hosting Plans
Plan Name | Storage | Bandwidth | Free SSL | Number of Sites | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
100 GB SSD Storage | Unlimited | Yes | 1 | Starts at $2.99/month* | |
4GB RAM 150 GB SSD Storage | 2 TB | Yes | Unlimited | Starts at $39.99/month* | |
16 GB DDR4 ECC RAM 2x1 TB SSD Storage | 6TB | Yes | Unlimited | Starts at $179.99/month* | |
60 GB SSD Storage | 600 GB | Yes | Unlimited | Starts at $18.99/month* |
*Pricing as of Sept 2021
Money-Back Guarantee
A2 Hosting offers its clients a hassle-free 30-day money-back guarantee. If you find that their services are not fit for you and your website, you can cancel anytime within the first 30 days of your subscription. You can receive either a full refund or a prorated refund 30 days after cancellation.
DreamHost gives you a longer period to test and try their services with their 97-day money-back guarantee. Explore DreamHost’s features and get to know their control panel to see if they’re the right fit for you.
WINNER: DreamHost. If you’re looking for affordable starting packages, DreamHost excels, with cheaper starting WordPress, VPS, and Cloud-based plans to choose from.
If you’re considering the features, A2 Hosting might pack a punch. However, both hosts offer powerful plans that’ll ensure large sites will get the resources they need to function optimally.
Customer Support
Both DreamHost and A2 Hosting offer 24/7/365 customer support services. Clients can access them through live chat, e-mail, or phone.
However, A2 Hosting also offers phone-based support, something which Dreamhost lacks.
They also both have customer forums full of valuable resources and information that clients can use to solve minor issues by themselves.
WINNER: A2 Hosting. With the extra phone support method, A2 Hosting makes it easier to go through complex topics with your service rep, without having to type long-winded paragraphs to get the point across.
Ease of Use
The great thing about A2 Hosting is that it uses the traditional cPanel. It’s intuitive and easy-to-learn, plus its icon-based interface makes it a straightforward option as opposed to DreamHost’s proprietary control panel.
DreamHost’s cPanel may present a steep learning curve for new users.
What’s more, A2 Hosting uses Softaculous, making it possible (and easier) for users to install hundreds of applications with a single click.
DreamHost, on the other hand, has a one-click installer section, but there’s not much to see there in terms of products/applications.
WINNER: A2 Hosting. With premium features such as site staging and a wide range of different plug-ins to choose from, A2 offers greater flexibility to site creators without making things too complicated, putting it ahead here.
Watch how you can get your site up and running with A2 in just 7 minutes:
DreamHost vs A2 Hosting Verdict
Both DreamHost and A2 Hosting are exceptional web hosting providers. However, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to finding the right web host for your website.
Features | Winner |
|---|---|
Uptime and performance | A2 Hosting |
Products, Pricing, and Features | DreamHost |
Customer Support | A2 Hosting |
Ease of use | A2 Hosting |
If you’re only starting out, the SEO resources and tools that A2 Hosting provides can help you improve your rankings and invite more users to your website.
Alternatively, if your website already has a sizable amount of traffic, then DreamHost’s scalable features would be perfect for you.
We hope this article has helped you in finding the web hosting service for you.