Bluehost vs SiteGround: Choosing Between Two Bad Options

You’re searching “Bluehost vs SiteGround” because you think you’re making a smart decision, comparing two popular hosts to find the best one.

Here’s the problem: You’re choosing between Newfold Digital’s degraded infrastructure (Bluehost) and forced CPU limit upgrades that cost $1,400/year (SiteGround).

Better alternatives:

1. Hetzner - Best unmanaged VPS
2. Scala Hosting - Best managed VPS
3. ChemiCloud - Best shared hosting

This Bluehost vs SiteGround comparison will show you the documented problems with both, then present better alternatives based on your actual needs.

⚡ Quick Verdict: Bluehost vs SiteGround

TL;DR: SiteGround is better than Bluehost, but has forced CPU limit upgrades that make total annual cost $1,400+/year. ChemiCloud costs $239/year total with no forced upgrades.

Winner: SiteGround is technically better than Bluehost, but ChemiCloud is better than both.

Why: Bluehost is owned by Newfold Digital (former EIG), notorious for degrading services after acquisition. SiteGround is independent and better performing, but CPU limits force expensive upgrades to $1,400+/year plans. ChemiCloud has a higher renewal percentage (344% vs SiteGround’s 501%), but total annual cost is $239/year vs SiteGround’s $1,400+/year after forced upgrades.

Why I Don’t Recommend Either

Bluehost:

• Owned by Newfold Digital, which has documented history of degrading services after acquisition, support outsourcing, and aggressive upselling

SiteGround:

• While better than Bluehost, SiteGround has documented CPU limit issues that force customers into expensive $1,400+/year cloud plans

Better alternatives:

• Hetzner (best unmanaged VPS)
• Scala Hosting (best managed VPS)
• ChemiCloud (best shared hosting by total cost)

You shouldn’t trust me blindly. Verify everything I claim using the sources linked throughout this article.

Bluehost vs SiteGround: The Direct Comparison

Pricing: The Real Cost

Bluehost Pricing

Advertised pricing:

• “Starting at $2.95/month!”

Actual pricing:

• Year 1: $2.95/mo (requires 36-month prepayment = $106.20 upfront)
• Renewal: $9.99/mo (12-month term) or $10.99/mo (month-to-month)
• Increase: 238-272%

Hidden costs:

• Domain renewal: $19.99/year (after “free” first year)
• SSL certificate: Free with Let’s Encrypt
• Backups: Included but restoration may require upgrade
• CDN: Not included
• Migrations: 1 free site

Total annual cost (Year 2+): $120-240/year

Source: Bluehost official pricing

SiteGround Pricing

Advertised pricing:

• “Starting at $2.99/month!”

Actual pricing:

• Year 1: $2.99/mo (12-month prepayment = $35.88 upfront)
• Renewal: $17.99/mo
• Increase: 501%

Hidden costs:

• Domain renewal: $15.95/year (after “free” first year)
• SSL certificate: Free with Let’s Encrypt
• Backups: Included (daily)
• CDN: $19.95/mo extra
• Migrations: 1 free site
• Forced upgrades when you hit CPU limits: $1,400+/year for Cloud plans

Total annual cost (Year 2+): $216/year (StartUp plan) OR $1,400+/year when CPU limits force Cloud upgrade

Source: SiteGround official pricing

Pricing Winner

On advertised pricing: SiteGround wins by $0.04/month (meaningless difference)

On renewal pricing: Bluehost wins at $9.99/mo vs SiteGround’s $17.99/mo

BUT WAIT - Total Cost Analysis:

Bluehost total cost:

• Base renewal: $9.99/mo = $119.88/year
• Domain: $19.99/year
• Annual total: $140/year

SiteGround total cost (if you stay on shared):

• Base renewal: $17.99/mo = $215.88/year
• Domain: $15.95/year
• Annual total: $232/year

SiteGround total cost (when CPU limits hit):

• Forced Cloud upgrade: $120/mo = $1,440/year
• Domain: $15.95/year
• Annual total: $1,456/year

Better alternative - ChemiCloud:

• Base renewal: $19.95/mo = $239.40/year
• Domain: Included
• No forced upgrades: $0
• Annual total: $239/year (stays constant)

Real winner by total cost: ChemiCloud saves you $993-1,217/year vs SiteGround after forced Cloud upgrade, and only costs $99/year more than Bluehost while offering significantly better hardware.

Performance: Hardware & Speed

Bluehost Infrastructure

Hardware:

• CPU: Undisclosed (shared resources on Newfold Digital infrastructure)
• RAM: “Unmetered” (actually capped, limits not disclosed)
• Storage: SSD (type not specified, likely SATA)
• Web Server: Apache with Nginx caching

Documented performance:

• Average TTFB: Varies widely, many user complaints about slowness
• Uptime: Claims 99.9% (allows 8.76 hours down/year)

The problem: Newfold Digital owns 80+ hosting brands and is known for oversubscribing servers after acquisition.

SiteGround Infrastructure

Hardware:

• CPU: Google Cloud infrastructure (4-8 CPU cores on Cloud plans)
• RAM: Undisclosed on shared, 8-16GB on Cloud
• Storage: SSD (Google Cloud SSD)
• Web Server: Nginx with custom caching

Documented performance:

• Average TTFB: 400-600ms (decent)
• Uptime: 99.99% average
• The CPU limit problem: Shared plans have undisclosed CPU limits that trigger forced upgrades
• Source: SiteGround CPU Limit Analysis

User quote from RaazKumar:

“SiteGround has CPU limits on shared hosting that aren’t disclosed upfront. Once you hit these limits, they force you to upgrade to Cloud plans costing $120+/month.”

Performance Winner

On paper specs: SiteGround has disclosed Google Cloud infrastructure vs Bluehost’s undisclosed shared resources

Real-world performance: SiteGround is faster and more reliable than Bluehost

BUT: SiteGround’s CPU limits make it a ticking time bomb for growing sites

Better alternative - ChemiCloud:

• CPU: AMD EPYC 9354 @ 3.8 GHz (disclosed, dedicated cores on Turbo plan)
• RAM: 3GB on WP Turbo plan (disclosed)
• Storage: PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs (10x faster than SATA)
• Web Server: LiteSpeed with LSCache
• Documented performance: Fast TTFB with no forced upgrade CPU limits
• Source: ChemiCloud website

Real winner: ChemiCloud has superior hardware (AMD EPYC 9354 @ 3.8 GHz vs SiteGround’s undisclosed Google Cloud) and no CPU limit forced upgrades.

The Hidden Problems Both Hosts Share

While Bluehost and SiteGround have different ownership structures, they share some common industry problems:

Shared problems:

1. Deceptive “starting at” pricing

   • Both advertise $2.95-2.99/mo pricing
   • Both require long-term prepayment for that price
   • Both have massive renewal increases (238-501%)
   • Source: Bluehost pricing, SiteGround pricing

2. WordPress.org recommended list correlation

   • Both are on WordPress.org’s recommended hosts
   • Both are WordCamp sponsors
   • Recommendation correlates with sponsorship, not technical merit

3. Undisclosed resource limits

   • Bluehost: “Unmetered” bandwidth/storage (actually capped in ToS)
   • SiteGround: CPU limits not disclosed upfront, force expensive upgrades
   • Both use vague “unlimited” marketing

4. Limited free migrations

   • Bluehost: 1 free site migration
   • SiteGround: 1 free site migration
   • ChemiCloud comparison: 10-200 free migrations depending on plan

The truth: While SiteGround is technically better than Bluehost (better infrastructure, not owned by Newfold Digital), both use deceptive pricing tactics and resource limit policies that hurt customers.

Support Quality

Bluehost Support

Claimed support:

• 24/7 live chat, phone, tickets

Actual support quality:

• Average response time: Variable, often 30+ minutes for chat
• Support is outsourced (Newfold Digital cost-cutting)
• Multiple user complaints about support degradation post-Newfold acquisition
• Heavy upselling during support interactions

Support score: 4/10

SiteGround Support

Claimed support:

• 24/7 live chat, phone, tickets

Actual support quality:

• Average response time: 10-15 minutes for chat (faster than Bluehost)
• Support is in-house (better than Bluehost)
• Generally rated highly for helpfulness
• However: Support pushes expensive Cloud upgrades when you hit CPU limits

Support score: 7/10

Support Winner

Winner: SiteGround has objectively better support than Bluehost

Better alternative support:

• ChemiCloud: 24/7 chat/ticket support, average response time under 10 minutes, no aggressive upselling
• Scala Hosting: 24/7 support with SPanel expertise, migration assistance included
• Source: ChemiCloud Review, Scala Hosting Review

Features Comparison

Features winner: SiteGround has better included features than Bluehost, but ChemiCloud matches SiteGround’s features while including free CDN and 10-200 free migrations.

Why You’re Probably Looking at the Wrong Hosts

You searched “Bluehost vs SiteGround” because:

• Both heavily advertise (Bluehost spends millions on ads)
• They’re on WordPress.org’s recommended list (WordCamp sponsorship)
• YouTubers recommend them ($65/sale Bluehost, $50-100/sale SiteGround commissions)

Here’s what they’re not telling you:

About Bluehost:

• Owned by Newfold Digital (former EIG), which owns 80+ hosting brands
• Newfold has documented history of degrading services after acquisition
• Support quality has declined significantly since Newfold acquisition
• Affiliate reviewers make $65/sale promoting Bluehost

About SiteGround:

• 501% renewal increase (highest in industry for this price tier)
• Undisclosed CPU limits force expensive upgrades
• $17.99/mo renewal becomes $120/mo Cloud plan when you grow
• Total annual cost jumps from $232/year to $1,456/year with forced upgrade
• Affiliate reviewers make $50-100/sale promoting SiteGround

The better question: “What hosting should I actually use?”

What You Should Actually Use Instead

If You Need Shared Hosting

Don’t use: Bluehost (Newfold Digital degradation) or SiteGround (forced CPU upgrades)

Use instead: ChemiCloud

Why:

• Modern hardware: AMD EPYC 9354 (3.8 GHz) vs Bluehost’s undisclosed Newfold infrastructure
• No CPU limit forced upgrades (unlike SiteGround)
• Total annual cost: $239/year vs SiteGround’s $1,456/year after forced Cloud upgrade
• 10-200 free migrations vs Bluehost/SiteGround’s 1 free site
• PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs (10x faster than SATA)
• LiteSpeed with LSCache (faster than Apache or Nginx)

Yes, ChemiCloud has 344% renewal increase. But:

• Total cost is $239/year with no forced upgrades
• SiteGround is $216/year initially but becomes $1,456/year with forced Cloud upgrade
• You save $1,217/year with ChemiCloud vs SiteGround’s forced upgrade path

Read full ChemiCloud review

If You Need Managed VPS

Don’t use: Bluehost Cloud ($120-240/mo) or SiteGround Cloud ($120-240/mo)

Use instead: Scala Hosting

Why:

• $44.95/mo managed VPS vs Bluehost/SiteGround Cloud’s $120/mo
• 0% renewal increase on VPS plans (shared hosting has 237% renewal)
• Faster CPU: AMD EPYC 9474F (4.1 GHz)
• SPanel included (saves $15/mo cPanel license)
• Saves $900/year vs Bluehost/SiteGround Cloud

Read full Scala Hosting review

If You Can Handle Unmanaged VPS

Don’t use: Bluehost or SiteGround at any price

Use instead: Hetzner

Why:

• €3.79/mo unmanaged VPS vs Bluehost’s $9.99/mo shared hosting
• AMD EPYC CPUs, NVMe SSDs, German engineering
• 0% renewal increase - price stays the same forever
• Save $72-116/year vs Bluehost, $212/year vs SiteGround

Read full Hetzner review

Migration: Leaving Bluehost or SiteGround

Don’t wait until renewal. Here’s how to migrate:

Backup Everything First

1. Use a backup plugin: UpdraftPlus (free) or All-in-One WP Migration
2. Download backups locally: Don’t trust the old host to keep them
3. Export database: Via phpMyAdmin or cPanel backup
4. Save wp-config.php: You’ll need database credentials

Migration Options

Option 1: Use ChemiCloud/Scala’s free migration

• ChemiCloud offers 10-200 free migrations depending on plan
• Scala Hosting includes free migrations on all VPS plans
• Support handles everything (24-48 hours)

Option 2: DIY migration

1. Sign up for new host
2. Install WordPress on new host
3. Use UpdraftPlus or All-in-One WP Migration to restore backup
4. Test site on temporary URL
5. Update DNS when ready
6. Keep old host active 7-14 days during transition

Timeline

1. Week 1: Sign up for new host, request migration or start DIY
2. Week 2: Test new site, verify everything works
3. Week 3: Update DNS, monitor transition
4. Week 4: Cancel old host (Bluehost or SiteGround)

Migration cost:

Real User Experiences: Bluehost vs SiteGround

Bluehost User Complaints

From Online Media Masters Bluehost Review:

“The popular brands like Bluehost and HostGator grew from their affiliate program, not because the service is actually good. Bare bones service, limited resources, slow architecture with outdated technology, and lack of innovation.”

Pattern: Users report significant performance degradation after Newfold Digital acquisition, outsourced support, and aggressive upselling tactics.

SiteGround User Complaints

From RaazKumar SiteGround Analysis:

“SiteGround has CPU limits on shared hosting that aren’t disclosed upfront. Once you hit these limits, they force you to upgrade to Cloud plans costing $120+/month.”

Pattern: Users hit undisclosed CPU limits as sites grow, forcing expensive $120/mo Cloud plan upgrades. Total annual cost jumps from $216 to $1,456.

ChemiCloud User Experiences

From Online Media Masters ChemiCloud Review:

“Fast TTFB and wp-admin speeds with 3.8 GHz CPUs, NVMe SSDs, and 3 CPU cores + 3GB RAM on WP Turbo plan… Users migrating from SiteGround report no forced upgrades.”

Pattern: Users escaping SiteGround’s CPU limits report stable $239/year total cost on ChemiCloud with no forced upgrades.

The Bottom Line: Bluehost vs SiteGround

Direct comparison verdict:

Bluehost vs SiteGround is like choosing between Newfold Digital’s degraded infrastructure (Bluehost) and forced CPU limit upgrades (SiteGround).

If you must choose between them: SiteGround is objectively better than Bluehost - better performance, better support, independent ownership (not Newfold Digital).

But honestly? Neither.

What you should actually do:

1. Need shared hosting? → ChemiCloud (saves $1,217/year vs SiteGround’s forced Cloud upgrade)
2. Need managed VPS? → Scala Hosting (saves $900/year vs Bluehost/SiteGround Cloud)
3. Can handle unmanaged? → Hetzner

Verify This Yourself

Don’t trust me. Verify everything:

Bluehost claims:

• Pricing: Bluehost official pricing
• Newfold ownership: Newfold Digital hosting companies

SiteGround claims:

• Pricing: SiteGround official pricing
• CPU limits: SiteGround CPU limit analysis

My commission claims:

• Hetzner has no affiliate program: Verify on their site
• ChemiCloud affiliate program exists: ChemiCloud Partners
• Scala Hosting affiliate program exists: Scala Partners

Better alternatives:

• Try ChemiCloud with 45-day money-back guarantee
• Compare performance yourself
• Read independent reviews on Reddit: r/webhosting

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Legal Note: This comparison contains both documented facts (linked to sources) and my personal opinions based on those facts. All opinions are clearly marked as such.

Affiliate disclosure: I make money from affiliate links to ChemiCloud, Scala Hosting, and nothing from Hetzner because they don’t have an affiliate program. I don’t promote Bluehost or SiteGround.