Ionos and Bluehost are both web hosting giants. So, how do you pick between these two powerhouses? I looked at the details of these platforms closely and compared them against one another. Ionos has better web performance, speed, and bandwidth while Bluehost is cheaper, perfect for WordPress sites, and built for eCommerce businesses.

I picked Ionos as the winner of this faceoff because their hosting plans are more robust. However, it all comes down to your website needs. Keep going so you can make the best choice for yourself.

Overall Comparison Ionos vs Bluehost

Winner: Ionos

Overall, Ionos comes out on top in this battle. The platform offers more sophisticated hosting plans along with cheaper prices. Do you want more insights? Keep reading.

About Ionos and Bluehost

	Ionos is a web-hosting company founded in Germany in 1988. This company has grown from a small group to 4,000 employees in over 40 countries. Ionos has around 90,000 servers stationed around Germany, the USA, and the UK. Currently, this company provides 8,000,000 customers with shared, VPS, dedicated, WordPress, cloud, and agency hosting. There are over 22,000,000 domains registered on Ionos.
	Endurance International Group owns Bluehost. This company was founded in 2003 and despite controversies, it remains one of the leading web hosting companies today. They employ over 750 employees and have registered more than 2 million domains. Currently, they have servers in the USA, India, UK, and China. Bluehost offers Shared VPS, dedicated, and WordPress hosting.

Round 1: Hosting features – Key Hosting Features and Services

Key Ionos Features

Ionos is one of the few web hosting platforms that offer agency hosting. They also offer shared, VPS, dedicated, and WordPress hosting. You get SSL and daily backups for free once you sign up for any plan. The shared hosting plan can accommodate a lot of traffic thanks to unlimited bandwidth.

If your blog audience is not more than 20,000 monthly visitors, Ionos WordPress hosting plans are perfect for you. You also get free WordPress updates and installations. If you are just building your site, you will have to pay a little extra. The website builder on Ionos starts at $1/month and you can pay up to $10 for more extensive editing features.

Key Bluehost Features

Bluehost is a more streamlined web hosting platform focused on shared, VPS, dedicated, and WordPress hosting. The shared hosting plan and the WordPress hosting plan are quite similar. You get unlimited bandwidth and up to 100GB of SSD storage space. You also get a free SSL on every plan. However, daily backups are only available for higher plans.

The VPS hosting plan starts at 1TB bandwidth, and it offers you up to 3TB for higher plans. The dedicated hosting also uses a special RAID level 1 storage which will aid in the security of private data.

And the winner is… Ionos

This round was pretty tight because Bluehost and Ionos both have good, valuable features. However, Ionos offers more storage space and bandwidth on its plans.

Round 2: Prices and Plans

Ionos Pricing Plans

You can always find a good hosting plan for your website on Ionos. The platform offers 13 VPS and 8 dedicated hosting plans for your business. If you are running a small blog or portfolio website, there are three shared hosting plans to cater to you.

• Shared hosting – Best for blogs with less than 5,000 monthly visitors
• VPS hosting – Best for medium/large traffic websites
• Dedicated hosting – Best for eCommerce and online businesses
• Agency hosting – Perfect for freelancers and agencies.

Bluehost Pricing Plans

E-commerce store owners will find a lot of web hosting plans suited to their needs on Bluehost. However, the platform is more expensive than Ionos. If you are on a budget, it might not be the best hosting platform for you

• Shared hosting – Perfect for small-scale online businesses
• VPS hosting – Best for medium/large scale eCommerce stores.
• Dedicated hosting – Best for schools and other corporate institutions
• WordPress hosting – Best for personal blogs and portfolios

And the winner is…Ionos

Ionos is the clear winner of this round. This platform offers more robust hosting plans at cheaper rates than Bluehost. There is also a specialized hosting plan for agencies and freelancers

Round 3: Website Performance (Uptime & Speed)

The uptime of your web host shows how consistently their servers stay up and running. Speed refers to how quickly you get results when you load a page on the website. These two factors (uptime and speed) are completely reliant on the strength of your web host’s servers. Higher uptime and speed mean less bounce rate, better SEO rankings, and more positive KPIs.

Ionos Uptime & Speed

I wanted to test the Ionos server speed so I ran their domain through GTMetrix and Google PageSpeed Insights – These two popular tools gave me the needed results. See for yourself:

On GTMetrix, Ionos had 0.798s TTFB speed and an overall 73% performance score.

PageSpeed Insights showed Ionos has 1.9s TTFB speed. However, they had an overall performance of 27% which is quite low.

Bluehost Uptime and Speed

I ran the exact tests on Bluehost to compare the metrics on both hosting platforms.

On GtMetrix, Bluehost had a 0.513s TTFB speed and a 68% overall performance score. These metrics are fair by all standard

PageSpeed Insights gave the same TTFB results for both Ionos and Bluehost. However, the performance was much lower at 17%.

And the winner is…Bluehost

Bluehost has a faster TTFB speed according to GTMetrix. PageSpeed Insights ranked them on the same level at 1.9s. However, there is a 10% performance gap in favor of Ionos.

Round 4: Customer Support – Who has the best support system?

Ionos Customer Support

Ionos has dedicated support staff ready to meet your needs. They are available 24/7 on live chat, phone, and email.

When I tried to start a live chat, I was told to hold on till customer support finished with other customers. After about 15 minutes, I had to move on. To be fair, I reached out to them early in the morning and this might just be the reason.

However, you could call them directly instead of in a live chat. Bluehost has dedicated customer support numbers for the countries they serve.

Their help center/knowledge base also has a vast array of info that will help you navigate the Ionos platform easily. It is useful for both current and potential customers.

Ionos has enough customer support channels to suit your needs.

Bluehost Customer Support

The Bluehost customer support team is always available to their customers 24/7.  You can contact them through a call or via live chat.

If you are not ready to discuss this at length, you can request a call back at a scheduled time comfortable for you.

When I tried to start a live chat, I got an immediate response. However, I think it was a bot replying to me cause the answers sounded pretty automated.

Let’s see where this goes…

So, it was a bot after all. I did provide my name for a later session. However, Bluehost has yet to reach out to me.

You have to give it to Bluehost for a well-structured knowledgebase. All the answers to your questions have already been compiled and all you need to do is ask.

And the winner is…Bluehost

Bluehost has a better live chat system than Ionos. They responded promptly and proceeded to take my complaints. They also have a better knowledge base than Ionos.

Round 5: Ease of use – Which Platform is easier to use?

Ionos Ease of Use

Ionos has a very interactive UI which makes it easy to navigate. The major features of the platform are easily accessible on the first page and you could have an account in a few minutes if you are ready. If you are already a customer, you can log in and access your dashboard without hassle.

After accessing your cPanel, you can easily manage your domains and email addresses. You can also design websites, edit partner profiles and so much more. Ionos uses a custom cPanel in place of the popular traditional panel.

The WordPress dashboard is a bit different and more complex. You should be able to navigate with a few pointers though.

Overall, Ionos is pretty easy to use.

Bluehost Ease of Use

Bluehost will not be one of the leading web hosting companies available today if it had a bad UI. Everything you need is easily accessible on the home page and you can sign up or log in within seconds.

After you sign up for any hosting plan under Bluehost, you can log into your account using your generated domain name or User ID.

The Bluehost dashboard is pretty easy to navigate. You can work on your blog, update plug-ins and write all from a single place. You can also log into the WordPress admin control panel from your dashboard for easier blog management.

The custom cPanel also gives you greater control over your web hosting backend and its features.

And the winner is…Bluehost

The margin between these two web hosting giants is very slim in this round. Both of them have interactive UIs. However, Bluehost is easier to navigate and manage.

Round 6: Security – Which Platform is More Secure?

Ionos Security

When you sign up for any hosting plan on Ionos, you get a free SSL certificate. Along with that, you also get basic DDoS protection for your site. Other security features include free daily automated backups for basic hosting plans and automatic malware scans.

The Ionos platform is CloudFlare compatible and you can easily enable it when you become a customer. If you want the Sitelock security feature, you will have to pay for it. Ionos does not come with a web application firewall but you can install a ModSecurity for free.

Bluehost Security

Bluehost offers you free SSL and free CDN on all hosting plans. Your site is protected through CloudFlare-enabled security and you get to enjoy basic DDoS protection and malware scans. All your data is automatically backed up each day so you don’t lose work progress. Sitelock security is not available on Bluehost. However, you can purchase and integrate this feature on your website easily.

And the winner is…Ionos

Ionos offers more robust security measures on all its hosting plans. Some security features on Bluehost are limited by the hosting plan type and level.

Round 7: Server Locations

The location of your web host’s servers directly affects your ability to reach a wider audience. A web host with servers around the world is the best option if you plan to handle global traffic.

Ionos Server Location

Ionos has a wide server footprint across the US and Europe. These servers are located in Las Vegas, Newark, Frankfurt, London, Berlin, and Logrono. If you live in the US, UK, Germany, or Spain, you will enjoy the best Ionos has to offer.

Bluehost Server Location

Bluehost is headquartered in Orem, Utah USA and its servers are located in this city. It also has servers in Provo, Utah USA. Outside the USA, Bluehost maintains servers in Mumbai India, London UK, Hong Kong China, and Shanghai China.

And the winner is…Bluehost

Bluehost has servers in Asia, the USA, and Europe while Ionos only operates in the US and Europe. This gives Bluehost a wider footprint and the ability to cater to a larger global audience.

Ionos vs Bluehost: Final Recommendations

When to Choose Ionos

Ionos is an effective web hosting provider. You can find multiple web hosting plans at cheap rates on this platform. You should opt for Ionos if:

• You are on a budget
• You own a freelance/agency business
• You run a small/medium-sized online business
• You are based in Europe

Go for Bluehost if you:

Bluehost is the perfect web host for marketers and business owners. Even though this platform is a bit pricey, the value it provides to its users is well worth the money. You can go for Bluehost if;

• You own multiple eCommerce businesses
• Do you want to manage a WordPress website
• Your target audience is based in Asia
• You want access to marketing tools