DreamHost Reviews and Expert Opinion
DreamHost Support, Needs to be Overhauled - Three Days Without Email Access/Service Unacceptable and Disturbing
Positive experience for a small business owner
NO SUPPORT
Dreamhost Shared hosting is the worst
12 hours site down. No support available.
DreamHost Expert Review 2018
Written by: Ilya Hazanov
DreamHost: Not Cheapest, But Cool Features
This is a web host that promises a very rare 100% uptime money-back guarantee with a free two-week trial. They aren’t competing for the lowest price, but they say they’ll do more for you and win you over on quality. If you’re not happy in your first 97 days, you get your money back, no questions asked.
Given their service promises, it’s a bizarre twist that DreamHost does not offer user-driven life phone support. Instead, they only offer a ticketed system and a callback service (with some packages, and the number of callbacks is limited even then).
With one-year and two-year contracts to choose from, you’re looking at either a shared hosting plan, VPS, or dedicated hosting plan. The two-year plan doesn’t really offer enough of a discount to make the commitment worth it.
Uptime & Reliability
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Wow! 100% Uptime Guarantee
Although 99.9% uptime is the general promise made by web hosts, DreamHost made the rare step forward and brought it all the way to 100%. Our tests and external reviews show stellar uptime reports. However, if they break that promise, you only get a free day of service for each hour of outage, which seems a little light in terms of penalization.
Security is paramount to DreamHost, and they offer 50 GB of automatic backups. They also include improved security through passwords on directories and other forms of boosted website security.
Features
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Robust Features Plus the Basics
You don’t just get all the unlimited basics that many web hosts offer – like domains, bandwidth, disk space, email accounts, and MySQL 5 databases – but you get advanced features, too. You also get free domain registration, support for multiple coding languages (PHP5, Perl, Python, etc), website traffic statistics, and a variety of plugins, platforms and other solutions.
DreamHost also starts you off with a $100 Google AdWords credit when you launch the included promotional campaign starter.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Bandwidth | Unlimited bandwidth is included in all packages.t |
| Disk Space | Unlimited disk space is included in all packages. |
| Website Builder | DreamHost doesn’t include any site builders, but you can install an add-on like WordPress with a single click. |
| Email Accounts | Unlimited email accounts are included in all packages. |
| Shopping Carts | DreamHost doesn’t include any e-commerce solutions, but you can install an add-on like ZenCart with a single click. |
| Stats | Analog is the default stats package for DreamHost, but Webalizer is also available.t |
| FTP Account | Unlimited FTP accounts are included in all packages, though for anonymous FTP you must pay a fee to get a unique IP. |
| Multiple Domains | An unlimited number of domains are included in all packages. |
Support
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Limited Support
DreamHost has a wealth of functions, but that’s tempered by the somewhat limited technical support. Their tutorials, wiki, and user forums are wonderful, and kudos to them for their dedication to social media, but you can’t connect via live chat or an outgoing phone call. They promise to respond to support emails within 24 hours, which isn’t the best. Even then, the quality of your support technicians is inconsistent.
Pricing
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Better Deals on Longer Terms
DreamHost is on the expensive side of the web hosting world. However, if you are ready to commit to a longer contract, you can get a much better deal.
Most packages don’t include an e-commerce solution, so plan to spend another $30 per month for its CafeCommerce platform.
One bonus with DreamHost is that it does have the capability to take care of you as you grow, so if you get to the point where you need a VPS or a dedicated server, DreamHost can fill that role for you. VPS plans start at $15 per month, and dedicated server plans start at $99 per month.
User Friendly
CompareEasy Setup
Users used to cPanel will notice (or miss) its absence. DreamHost has created their own control panel, which is easy to use; you just need to take a moment to get used to it.
If you had a cPanel account before, you don’t have to start entirely from scratch; you can actually import your information (including all settings), with an “importer” feature.
Summary
This host offers packages starting on the more basic end going all the way through to to dedicated hosting. The big downside is the lack of live chat or phone support.
PROS
- Familiar cPanel
- 100% uptime guarantee
- 2-week trial, 97-day money back guarantee
- Unlimited basic features (domains, emails, bandwidth, MySQL databases, etc.)
- Ability to grow with your company
CONS
- No live phone or chat support
- Poor support
- Slow web loads
DreamHost Prices, Plans & Features - 2018
Shared Hosting Plans
| Plan Name | Space | Bandwidth | Number of Sites | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Everything Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | – | Unlimited | $7.95 | More Details |
VPS Hosting Plans
| Plan Name | Space | CPU | RAM | OS | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| START HERE | 30 GB | - | 1 GB | $15.00 | More Details | |
| SCALE UP | 60 GB | - | 2 GB | $30.00 | More Details | |
| GO BIGGER | 120 GB | - | 4 GB | $60.00 | More Details | |
| MAX IT OUT | 240 GB | - | 8 GB | $120.00 | More Details |
Dedicated Server Plans
| Plan Name | Space | CPU | RAM | OS | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Moon 4 | 1000 GB | 4 cores | 4 GB | $149.00 | More Details | |
| Blue Moon 12 | 2 TB | 12 cores | 16 GB | $279.00 | More Details |
Cloud Hosting Plans
| Plan Name | Space | CPU | RAM | Bandwidth | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 512MB RAM Server | 80 GB | 1 core | 512 MB | Unlimited | $4.50 | More Details |
| 2GB RAM Server | 80 GB | 1 core | 2 GB | Unlimited | $12.00 | More Details |
| 8GB RAM Server | 80 GB | 4 cores | 8 GB | Unlimited | $48.00 | More Details |
A Free Domain is included when purchasing any hosting service from DreamHost Server Locations
Los AngelesDreamHost Refund & Cancellation Policy
- 97-day money back guarantee on Shared hosting plans only, that have been paid with Credit Card or Google Checkout
- Refund does not apply for dedicated server or VPS hosting charges
- Refunds to not apply for the following payment methods: PayPal, Checks, Money Orders, Cashiers Check
