DreamHost Review

DreamHost is a web hosting company that has been providing hosting services since 1997. The company offers a range of hosting plans that cater to the needs of different users, including shared hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated hosting. DreamHost also offers a variety of other web services, including domain name registration, website builders, and email hosting. 

With its commitment to open-source technology and user-friendly services, DreamHost has gained a reputation for being one of the most reliable and innovative hosting companies in the industry. In this review, we’ll take a closer look at DreamHost’s hosting plans, features, and performance, to help you decide if it’s the right hosting provider for your needs.

Overview

DreamHost is a web hosting provider that offers a range of hosting solutions to businesses and individuals. Founded in 1997, the company provides shared hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated hosting plans, as well as domain registration and website builder tools. DreamHost’s hosting plans include unlimited disk space and bandwidth, a user-friendly control panel, and 24/7 customer support. 

The company also offers a variety of additional features and tools, such as easy-to-use website builders, one-click installs, and free SSL certificates. With its focus on providing reliable and affordable hosting solutions, DreamHost has gained a reputation for being one of the most popular hosting providers in the industry. 

In this review, we’ll take a closer look at DreamHost’s hosting plans, features, and performance, to help you decide if it’s the right hosting provider for your business needs.

Customer Support

DreamHost is a web hosting company that provides a range of hosting solutions, including shared hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated servers. Along with their hosting services, DreamHost offers a variety of customer support options to help their clients get the most out of their hosting experience.

One of the key customer support options from DreamHost is their 24/7/365 support team. This team of experienced technical experts is always available to assist with any hosting-related issues or questions that clients may have. They can provide support via live chat, email, or phone, depending on the client’s preference.

DreamHost also provides a comprehensive knowledge base on their website. This knowledge base includes a wealth of information on hosting-related topics, including how to manage your hosting account, troubleshoot common issues, and configure your website. Clients can use the knowledge base to find answers to their questions or to learn more about the hosting services that DreamHost provides.

In addition to their live support and knowledge base, DreamHost provides a range of tools and resources to help clients manage their hosting services. For example, their control panel provides easy access to server settings, application management tools, and other important details about your hosting service. They also offer a variety of integrations with popular applications like WordPress, Joomla, and WooCommerce.

Overall, DreamHost provides a comprehensive set of customer support options for their hosting clients. Whether you need help resolving technical issues or simply want to learn more about the hosting services they provide, the DreamHost support team and their online resources are always available to help.

Plans & Pricing

DreamHost is a web hosting provider that offers a range of hosting services including shared hosting, WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated hosting. They pride themselves on offering fast and reliable hosting solutions with excellent customer support. In this article, we will provide an overview of the plans, products, and pricing available at DreamHost. For more detailed information, please visit their official website at https://www.dreamhost.com/.

DreamHost offers various hosting plans with different features and resources. They have different pricing tiers based on the amount of resources and features you need.

Here is a breakdown of the available plans and their pricing:

Shared Hosting

Shared hosting is an affordable and easy-to-use hosting solution for small websites.

WordPress Hosting

WordPress hosting is optimized for WordPress websites and includes pre-installed WordPress, automatic updates, and more.

VPS Hosting

VPS hosting is a scalable hosting solution that allows you to have more control over your hosting environment.

Dedicated Hosting

Dedicated hosting is a hosting solution where you have access to an entire server dedicated to your website.

Ratings

• Overall Score: 90/100
• Reliability: 30/100
• Usability: 94/100
• Customer Support: 80/100
• Features: 90/100

Highlights

• Super Easy to Use
• Full Featured
• 24/7 Expert Support

Sage Weil, Michael Rodriguez, Josh Jones, and Dallas Bethune, four friends from Harvey Mudd College in California, founded Dreamhost web hosting in 1997. The company name, New Dream Network, LLC, was legally registered in 1997, and they started hosting websites at that time. 

Michael Rodriguez is the current CEO of Dreamhost. The web hosting company hosts over 1.5 million websites and has over 400,000 users in over 100 countries worldwide. Dreamhost takes pride in being a multi-award-winning WordPress host. 

Dreamhost has the right to be proud, given that they host over 1.5 million sites for 400,000+ customers and are one of just four web providers that WordPress itself endorses. 

Getting Started With DreamHost

To start, head to the DreamHost website. 

You will be greeted with a blue-toned page with their offers on the lower part of the homepage. DreamHost’s logo, though – reminds me of DreamWorks because of the moon! The Main Menu tab on the upper part would be your way of navigating the DreamHost Homepage. 

Here you have WordPress, Hosting, Websites, Domains, Email, Pro Services, and Academy. You will be redirected to a page where you sign up for Shared Hosting, specifically by clicking Get Started. If you wanted to explore their offers first, then you could always click the Hosting tab and browse from there. Shared Web Hosting – a shared web hosting plan with a custom-built control panel 

VPS Hosting – A high-performance VPS Hosting 

DreamPress WordPress Hosting – a managed WordPress Hosting 

Dedicated Server Hosting – a fully-managed dedicated hosting 

Cloud Hosting – A type of web hosting that makes your site accessible using cloud resources 

For this DreamHost review, we went for the cheapest Shared Web Hosting plan – Shared Starter. This subscription costs $2.59/month for a 3-year subscription. With Shared Starter, you get one website, a free domain name, pre-installed WordPress, Free automated WordPress migrations, WP website builder, Fast SSD storage, and a free SSL certificate. 

To start, click ‘Sign Up Now.’ Here, you will have three steps to complete the sign-up process with picking your plan as the first step. Step 2: Choose a Domain

Here, you can set up your domain, or if you already have an existing domain, you can transfer it here as well. In addition, DreamHost offers a free domain with the Shared Starter plan for annual terms. Step 3: Secure Checkout 

You have two payment options – you can pay via Credit Card or using PayPal. On this page, you need to type in your card details and billing information. 

You will also need to key in your email address, name, and phone number as you scroll down. An alternative to that would be signing up using Google to speed up the process. 

You can purchase additional software and plugins to boost your site’s performance and security on this tab. Once you’re done filling out all the forms, click Submit Order. 

Note: The account verification might take about 24 hours. After completing the signup process, you will receive an email informing you that your account has been created. You can then log in to the panel. Then you’re all set!

Using and Managing Your Website on DreamHost

To log in, enter the credentials provided in the email you received here. 

After logging in, you will now have access to your account’s dashboard. 

Here, you have the navigation menu on the left side of your page. This is the master list for all of the pages in your panel. Each part comprises information about the various activities you can take once they are selected.

DreamHost Panel

DreamHost somehow doesn’t make use of cPanel. Instead, they created their own custom control panel with all of the management tools found in cPanel. You can simply manage MySQL databases, change PHP versions, get 1-click WordPress installs, control SSH and FTP access, and far more.

Home

The only button is ‘Get Started,’ which takes you to the main dashboard page of the panel, where you can read about DreamHost offerings.

Websites

Domain services such as hosting, DNS, MySQL databases, and SSL/TLS certificates are managed here. To log onto your server, you can alternatively use a file manager. 

The Manage Websites page gives an updated and graphical display of each of your domains, providing you with a consolidated perspective from which you can quickly make features and setting updates to any of your DreamHost domains. 

You can access your domain files and add new FTP/SFTP/Shell users to your server via the Files page. The MySQL Databases page allows you to add/manage databases that your website will use. 

You can add an SSL certificate to your domain on the Secure Certificates page, allowing it to be accessible via the HTTPS protocol.

File Manager

DreamHost’s control panel includes a file manager that you can use to upload and administer your website’s files. The file manager in the panel is a faster and easier solution than a fully-functional FTP client like Filezilla, and it can handle most of your site’s demands.

Domains

In this section, you may handle domain registrations and transfers. You can manage multiple aspects of your domain’s hosting from the Manage Domains page. You can add hosting here, change the domain’s configurations, and recover previously backed up site files. 

The Registrations tab allows you to establish a new domain and manage existing domain registrations with DreamHost. Domain WHOIS changes, including nameservers and registration renewal settings, and domain locking, can be made from this page. You can transfer the domain registration to or from DreamHost on the Reg. 

Transfer page, as well as acquire the domain’s authorization code. You can install and manage WordPress on the One-Click Installs page.

WordPress

This part includes links to see your DreamPress site’s information and add more resources to improve your WordPress sites.

• One-Click Installs — Opens your panel’s One-Click Installs page, where you may install and administer WordPress.
• Managed WordPress — Access signup details as well as general information about your DreamPress site.
• DreamPress Resources — Browse additional resource solutions to help you improve your DreamPress website.

Mail

In this section, you may manage email accounts and services such as filters, Discussion/Announcement Lists, MX records, and more. 

You can add, change, and remove email addresses on the Manage Email page. You can alter passwords, disk limit quotas, and configure the email as fully hosted or as a forward-only address by selecting the Edit button to the right of any address. 

On the Webmail page, you can find the current URL for Webmail and if DreamHost hosts it. You can edit your domain’s MX records on the Custom MX page. You can input custom MX records, use Google Workspace to set up your email, or simply retain your mail services with DreamHost. 

The Announcement Lists page allows you to create an Announcement List. This list enables you to transmit to hundreds or even thousands of subscribers without exceeding your SMTP quota for ordinary email. You can construct filters to stop incoming spam on the Anti Spam page. 

Unfortunately, this feature is not available with non-DreamHost mail services. You can create a Discussion List on the Discussion Lists page so that subscribers can contact each other via a single email. 

This is a great function that does not affect the standard SMTP quota. On the Message Filters page, you may add custom filters. This feature enables you to set particular filters to manage incoming emails in any way you see fit. 

You can create a custom autoresponder on the Autoresponders page. Anyone who sends you an email will receive a response from this autoresponder. This tool is useful when you are unavailable for an extended time, such as during a trip.

Billing and Account

Your panel’s Billing & Account area allows you to manage and track practically all aspects of your account. You may make payments, check invoices, set up security measures, backup your account, create incentives, and view use in this section. 

The Manage Account page gives you a comprehensive overview of your panel. You may add certain email addresses and control what they can access in your panel on the Account Privileges page. 

This allows you to grant specific access to your panel. The Privacy Settings page exposes your privacy gateway, where you may choose which emails you want to receive, examine privacy statements, and see a list of third parties with whom your data is shared. 

You can make a payment on the Manage Payments page. You may also add or edit your payment method information here. You may print or view invoices on the View Invoices page. 

You can also see a detailed record of all charges and credits applied to your account. You may update passwords, multifactor authentications, secret question and answer, IP locking, and check active sessions on the Security page. 

The Backup Your Account page makes it simple to create a full account backup. The Bandwidth Usage page displays bandwidth usage statistics by domain. Disk usage is listed per user, fully hosted domain, email address, database, and Discussion List on the Disk Usage page.

Support

This section contains resources to the Knowledge Base, panel help, data centers, and the Contact Support page.

VPS

This section contains links to help you set up a Virtual Private Server (VPS) and manage its users. You can add a new VPS or manage an existing one on the VPS tab. If you currently have a VPS, go to the right and select the Configure button. This takes you to a different page in which you can change some things:

• Modify the server’s name – Create Root SSH Keys
• Switch from Apache to Nginx as the webserver
• Turn off FTP
• Enabling the POP3/IMAP server

Dedicated Server

Comparable to the VPS category, although this time it pertains to administering a Dedicated Server instead of a VPS.

You can add/manage a Dedicated Server to your account using the Dedicated Servers tab. It also allows you to add an admin user to the server, allowing users to access commands as sudo/root. The account’s Dedicated Servers are listed on the Dashboard page.

Remixer

Remixer is a simple, click-to-edit site builder that requires no coding knowledge. Browse a variety of mobile-friendly, designer themes to quickly and easily establish your own website.

Cloud Services

This area allows you to access DreamObjects and DreamCompute.

DreamObjects is a low-cost cloud storage service that you may use to host statistics for your sites, back up your files, or construct the next great thing. DreamObjects can be accessed in your panel via the built-in interface, dynamically via standard APIs, or an extensive library of apps. It even works with the Amazon S3 API. DreamCompute is a cloud computing service that is highly scalable and designed to power anything. All instances may be administered using the DreamCompute dashboard, which is based on OpenStack’s Horizon.

Advanced Menu

The Advanced menu includes links to additional sections of the DreamHost panel that provide enhancements to your website. These can be used to raise the quality of your experience.

You may view the SSH Fingerprints assigned to your server on the SSH Keys page. When it prompts you to store the Fingerprint and SSH Key, you may confirm you’re connecting to the correct server via SSH. You may add/manage cron jobs on the Cron Jobs page. 

Cron is a method of scheduling jobs on UNIX platforms. You can enable password protection or WebDAV on the Htaccess/WebDAV page. You can create a ‘.htaccess’ file to block specific search engines on the Block Spiders page. 

A Proxy Server can be set up on a DreamHost Virtual Private Server (VPS) or Dedicated Server. You may set it in the DreamHost panel on the Proxy page. On the Site Statistics page, you can activate site statistics. 

The site statistics tool is powered by Analog and generates various data, including statistical reports for your domain.

DreamHost Website Builder

This is a program or tool that allows you to create a website rapidly and effortlessly. These website builders assist you in developing your online presence, a distinct domain name furnished with your brand’s own aspects, content, and offers suited to your specific business aims. 

DreamHost offers WP Website Builder, a premium set of tools that will assist you in creating stylish and functional WordPress sites with no technical knowledge necessary. 

DreamHost simplifies the process of creating a functional and appealing website by combining a collection of easy-to-use WordPress plugins and design tools built by the folks at BoldGrid. 

Additionally, it excels at site creation, making the process straightforward from blank page to publication. Furthermore, starter material is included in every stunning, responsive, and configurable design, making it simple to create a visually appealing site.

Apps Installer

One-Click Install 

Being one of the few hosting providers that WordPress endorse, DreamHost has the One-Click Installer built with its custom-made control panel to install WordPress easily. 

In addition, you can also install programs and applications using a third-party apps installer – Zen Cart. Zen Cart is a piece of free software that allows you to run an eCommerce website. As an online business, you can sell your products directly from your website. 

Zen Cart is not available as a One-Click Install on DreamHost, but it may be installed manually.

WordPress Themes

A WordPress Theme is a compilation of elements that produce a graphical experience for a website with a core cohesive style. These are known as template files. A theme changes the way the site looks without fundamentally altering software.

DreamHost Customer Support

DreamHost support team provides email assistance 24 hours a day, seven days a week via a ticket system. You can open a support ticket from the dashboard of your DreamHost account. 

They also provide Live Chat support through the panel between 5:30 AM and 9:30 PM Pacific Standard time. For an extra cost, you can request a callback service. 

DreamHost provides such support services and has separate sections for knowledge base queries, system status, tech support, and discussion forums.

Buyer’s Guide For DreamHost

DreamHost is a web hosting company that focuses on hosting web designers, developers, bloggers, and online companies. They use and support open source technologies and sites such as WordPress and Joomla. 

Shared web hosting, email hosting, managed WordPress hosting, VPS hosting (Virtual private servers), and dedicated servers are among their hosting packages. They also provide cloud hosting packages and cloud storage.

DreamHost Pricing and Plans

Shared Web Hosting plans start at $2.59/month

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For most small businesses that do not receive a lot of traffic, shared web hosting is the most cost-effective alternative. Shared hosting implies that your website is stored on the same server as other websites. 

DreamHost Shared hosting Starter option is ideal for novices who only have one new website and don’t know where to begin. It provides the fundamental hosting tools your website will require, such as one WordPress website, a free domain, and unlimited bandwidth. 

For $9.95 per month paid annually, DreamHost also offers the Shared Unlimited plan, which includes everything in the Shared Starter plan as well as unlimited emails and websites. This is a wonderful solution for individuals who have various websites and require different email accounts. VPS Hosting plans start at $10.00/month.

If you have a larger company, use e-commerce, or are a designer or developer, a VPS hosting package may be suitable for you. Virtual Private Servers provide the benefits of a dedicated server without the greater cost. 

Individual resources that only your website can use are key features DreamHost offers with VPS hosting. This means that devoted resources will assist your website in achieving low latency and outstanding performance. 

VPS hosting has never been simple to administer because of an intuitive control panel. DreamHost also lets you personalize this control panel based on your tastes. You can also expand your RAM and storage in less than 10 seconds, providing you the comfort of knowing for when your site inevitably evolves. 

DreamPress WordPress Hosting plans start at $16.95/month. 

DreamPress is the next major DreamHost pricing plan. Paying annually at $16.95 per month saves you 15%. This package offers on-demand backups, jetpack free pre-installation, and one-click staging in addition to everything in the Shared Unlimited plan. 

This plan is best suited for users who already have a WordPress website, as it is designed to work in tandem with this builder. WordPress Basic plans start at $2.59/month. 

WordPress is one of the most widely used website builders on the internet. For small business WordPress users, you should look into DreamHost’s WordPress options. Your site can be adequately optimized for WordPress and blogs. 

With robust features, add-ons, and 24/7 support, DreamHost WordPress hosting will entirely transform your website. They accomplish this by collaborating closely with WordPress.org, ensuring that you always get the most recent version and that your website is up and running and secure. 

Dedicated Server Hosting 

A dedicated hosting plan can be fully managed for you and is suitable for high-traffic apps and websites, as well as resellers and agencies. This is the most expensive web hosting option. 

DreamHost offers a number of dedicated hosting alternatives. The Standard four plan priced at $169 per month or $149 for a yearly commitment is the most basic, with 4GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. 

The $379 per month Enhanced SSD 64 plan, which includes 64GB of RAM and 240GB of solid-state storage, is the most expensive choice. Every DreamHost dedicated server package includes unrestricted data transfers. Cloud Hosting plans start at $4.50/month. 

DreamCloud is the name of Dreamhost’s Cloud hosting service. DreamCloud comprises two parts: DreamCompute (a public cloud computing service) and DreamObjects (scalable storage solution). 

DreamCompute is superior to VPS since it allows you to deploy and personalize your cloud servers. In addition, you’ll have a fully accessible storage service for all of your data with DreamObjects, and you’ll be able to browse it at any moment. 

Cloud hosting is a great solution for customers who want to host a website using their favorite programs, run their server, play games, or run web-scale applications. DreamHost constantly places a premium on speed and performance for all servers. 

Because of next-generation processors and speedier SSD disks, cloud hosting SSH is available in 30 seconds.

Server Speed and Uptime

Nobody appreciates a sluggish website. A quicker website is essential for improving user experience and SEO. WPBeginner’s speed test revealed that their DreamHost test site loaded in less than half a second, which is fantastic. 

However, because their test site receives no visitors, this test does not provide a comprehensive view. DreamHost stayed available throughout the test even when there was a large volume of traffic. However, as the number of users increased, so did the response time. 

Their test site received 97 queries per second, totaling 16,000 requests with an average response time of 77 milliseconds. 

Another criterion for determining a hosting provider’s reliability is uptime. During testing, WPBeginner’s test site did not go down. Therefore, they activated the downtime tracker since some hosting servers frequently fail throughout stress tests.

Security and Backups

DreamHost offers antispam protection for its email and yet no malware detection security. On a brighter note, DreamHost focuses on other aspects of website security. The control panel includes an easy-to-find option for changing the ‘.htaccess’ file to control site access or create a password. 

You can stop spiders from indexing areas of your site that should not be indexed by search engines. Cron jobs (automatic batch jobs) can be used to schedule tasks and monitor site processes. 

DreamHost also provides free secure-socket-layer (SSL) certificates, which are essential for anyone selling stuff online. DreamHost performs a daily backup of your website, and you may also do a manual backup once a day. 

Backups are kept by DreamHost for up to two weeks. You can restore a backup from your panel if necessary. On the Backup Your Account page, you’ll find the ‘One-Click’ backup option in your panel. 

This is a straightforward method for backing up your complete account, along with all users, databases, and mailboxes.

Features of DreamHost

• 97-day money-back guarantee
• Unlimited bandwidth
• Unlimited storage
• Free SSL
• Free domain for one year
• Automated backups
• Custom-made control panel
• Customer support team available 24/7
• 100 percent uptime guarantee for all plans
• Unlimited email addresses
• Cloud storage
• One-click installation for popular apps
• Remixer – DreamHost’s premium site builder

Pros

• Free site migrations
• Environmentally-conscious web hosting provider
• Unlimited disk space
• Affordable hosting provider
• 97-day money-back guarantee – among the web hosting companies, this is the longest money-back guarantee that I’ve seen
• 100% uptime guarantee
• Extensive customer support
• Unlimited bandwidth
• Unlimited storage
• Unlimited websites
• Unlimited MySQL databases

Cons

• Some essential features on web hosting are sold for an additional price
• Limited chat support hours
• Additional charge for advanced features
• Dreamhost’s website does not contain all of the answers that can be found on the websites of other web hosts.
• No phone support

Final Thoughts

To wrap this DreamHost review, I could say that it is an excellent web hosting company for many site owners searching for good speed and quick adaption at a low cost. With amazing pricing packages and product choices such as WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, and cloud hosting, there is something for everyone with various tastes. 

DreamHost is the most comprehensive web hosting solution for small and large enterprises working on a variety of projects. This is due to its high sufficient performance speed, customer support, and dependable uptime for the majority of site owners. 

DreamHost’s advantages exceed its disadvantages, and it is worthwhile to consider for website growth and advancement. I hope this DreamHost review has been helpful in your path of finding which web hosting provider you’ll go with!