Bluehost and Wix are two very different platforms. While the former is a web hosting provider, the latter is a website builder tool. This core difference stems from other pros and cons, such as raw server power, ease of use, and other factors that place the two platforms miles apart.
If you’re someone with prior experience using a hosting service provider or you’re about to manage a company’s professional website, Bluehost could be the better option for you. However, on the other hand, if you’re creating a website for yourself, a blog, or even an Instagram business, Wix could help with its pre-designed templates and drag-and-drop website creation.
This detailed guide will help you know more about how the two platforms compare against each other.
Bluehost
Starting price
INR 169 per month for first year, paid annually
Extras and inclusions
Free domain name, free SSL certificate, one-click WordPress installation, free WordPress website migration, 30-day money-back guarantee
At upto 43% off on Bluehost’s secure website
Starting price
INR 169 per month for first year, paid annually
Extras and inclusions
Free domain name, free SSL certificate, one-click WordPress installation, free WordPress website migration, 30-day money-back guarantee
Pros & Cons
- Value-priced starter plan
- Free domain name
- User-friendly interface
- 24/7 phone and chat support
- One-click WordPress installation
- Free CDN
- Recommended by WordPress.org
- Renewal rates skyrocket
- Lots of upselling
- Limited storage
- Not all plans include daily backups
- No month-to-month plans
- Inconsistent customer service quality
- E-commerce capabilities not available on all plans
Wix
Plan Costs
Free version available with paid plans starting at INR 1,331.40 ($16) per month
Plan Costs
Free version available with paid plans starting at INR 1,331.40 ($16) per month
Pros & Cons
- Easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface
- Built-in SEO
- 200+ App integrations available
- Visitor analytics not available on free or Combo plans
- Storage limits on all plans
- You can’t change templates once your site is live
Bluehost vs. Wix: Overview
Bluehost was founded by Matt Heaton in 2003 in the western state of Utah. In 2010, the web hosting provider was acquired by Endurance International Group (EIG), which owns over 60 hosting brands, including HostGator. Per the official website, Bluehost has over two million users and recommends its services to those who rely on WordPress’ content management services. It also provides online store creation and shared hosting services.
Creating a website for another startup, three Israeli developers came up with the idea of creating Wix, a tool that helped users build Flash-based websites. Initially launched in 2006, Wix switched to HTML5 in 2012. In 2021, the platform achieved the milestone of 200 million users worldwide, which makes it one of the most popular website creator tools ever.
While Bluehost and Wix are two different tools, some common points of comparison are features, pricing, reliability, security, and customer service.
Bluehost vs. Wix: Detailed Comparison
Features
Bluehost is a website hosting provider that offers many options, including Shared, Dedicated, and VPS hosting. While Shared hosting is the most affordable option, Dedicated and VPS hosting are for businesses or organizations.
Users often turn to Bluehost for its WordPress hosting expertise, which is quite affordable. One can also create online stores with the platform’s guidance and security. Bluehost also provides consultation for website designing and digital marketing.
On the other hand, Wix specializes in website creation and easy-to-use, beginner-friendly tools that help users do that, something Bluehost lacks. Wix offers professionally designed website templates, sells domain names, and provides essential web hosting services.
Hence, without writing a single piece of code, one can quickly get their website up and running on Wix.
Pricing and Plans
The most affordable Shared or WordPress hosting plan on Bluehost is Basic. For $2.95 per month (about INR 246), the plan offers hosting for one website, 10GB of SSD storage, and chat support. For someone who requires more storage, the Choice Plus plan for $5.45 per month (about INR 455) offers to host three websites, 40GB of SSD storage, and chat/phone support.
The Online Store plan that enables users to sell products online costs $9.95 per month (about INR 830) and has specifications similar to the Choice Plus plan. The Bluehost Pro plan offers hosting services for five websites, 100GB of SSD storage, and chat/phone support, and is optimized for high traffic. All Shared hosting plans include a free domain and SSL certificate for the first year.
Bluehost’s most affordable VPS hosting plan, Standard, costs $29.99 per month (about INR 2,502) and offers a virtual machine with 2GB of RAM, dual-core CPU, and 120GB of SSD. For organizations exploring Dedicated hosting solutions, Bluehost’s Standard plan offers a server with an Intel Xeon-D CPU (four cores, eight threads), 8GB of RAM, and 1TB of HDD storage.
When it comes to Wix, you can get your website up and running for free without a custom domain, which is an excellent way for someone to experiment with the platform and see if the available tools and services are good enough.
When paid annually, the Wix Light plan costs $16 per month (about INR 1,335), allows two collaborators, and provides 2GB of storage space and 30 minutes of video. Then there’s the Core plan, which costs $27 per month (about INR 2,253) and allows five collaborators, 50GB of storage space, and up to five hours of video. This plan also contains basic e-commerce features for small businesses.
For small businesses, Wix has a Business plan that allows up to 10 collaborators, 100GB of storage space, and 10 hours of video storage. The Business Elite plan, which happens to be the most expensive Wix plan with set pricing, costs $159 per month (about INR 13,265), and it allows 15 collaborators, unlimited storage space, video hours, and advanced e-commerce features. This particular plan also offers priority support.
Usability
Wix’s plans are way more expensive than Bluehost’s simply because Wix provides website creation, whereas Bluehost limits its core services to hosting. You would hardly need a few minutes to establish a website using Wix since the platform offers everything under one umbrella, making it easier to use.
At the same time, Bluehost requires some technical understanding and might only suit some. It has a website designer with fundamental features that aren’t as good as Wix’s.
Reliability and Uptime
Unlike other web hosting providers, Bluehost doesn’t provide an uptime guarantee, which might initially sound discouraging. However, per a review by Cyber News, Bluehost’s real-world uptime is 99.99%. In other words, users can expect a downtime of around 53 minutes every year.
Wix, on the other hand, advertises an uptime of 99.98%, similar to that of Bluehost. This means that users relying on Wix’s servers should expect about 1.7 hours of downtime every year.
Hence, Bluehost and Wix are reliable website hosting tools, and users shouldn’t experience outages too often. It is essential to mention that none of the platforms provide an uptime guarantee that converts into extra months of usage.
Performance and Speed
Unlike uptime, performance is a slightly different story for Bluehost and Wix. While the former has an average response time of 361ms, the latter responds in 461ms, which is about 27% higher. Similarly, Bluehost websites take about 1.8 seconds to load fully, whereas Wix websites take about two to three times more due to more design elements.
Security Measures
Both Bluehost and Wix provide basic security features like free SSL certificates for data encryption, 24/7 server monitoring, and provision for setting up Cloudflare for DDoS protection. However, some advanced features, such as daily backups and web application firewalls with malware removal, are locked behind a paywall on Bluehost. On the other hand, Wix’s optional security features include two-step verification and automatic backups.
Customer Support
In terms of customer support, Bluehost allows assistance over live chat and calls. In comparison, Wix asks users to raise tickets and then connects to customer representatives or arranges a callback depending on the nature of the problem; there’s no live chat option. Both platforms have an extensive library of support content users can refer to for quick solutions.
Bluehost vs. Wix: Bottom Line
Users with performance as their priority should go for Bluehost, as it responds and loads faster. Even without an uptime guarantee, Bluehost provides an excellent average uptime, which suits professionals and enterprises. Its plans are affordable, too.
However, the only drawback is that one might need technical knowledge to handle the platform’s user interface and website creation. Nonetheless, those wishing to use WordPress should go for Bluehost without any second thoughts, as the CMS recommends the hosting provider.
On the other side of the table, Wix is for young or creative professionals who want their website to look different but don’t have technical expertise. Its easy-to-use interface, drag-and-drop tools, and pre-designed templates attract more users yearly. However, the ease comes at a premium.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Does Wix provide web hosting services?
Technically, yes. Even though Wix relies on Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services for hosting, it doesn’t require users to look separately for hosting.
Is Bluehost expensive?
Bluehost is one of the most affordable platforms compared to other hosting service providers.
Is Bluehost reliable?
Yes. Several reviews suggest Bluehost offers an industry-standard uptime, making it reliable and trustworthy.
