DreamHost is one of the leading web hosting service providers. It has grown and maintained a successful hosting business for the last 18 years. It currently hosts around 1.5 million sites, blogs, and applications. IsItWP users get an exclusive 40% discount on web hosting.
4.7 / 5.0 5.0 / 5.0 5.0 / 5.0
4.0 / 5.0 4.0 / 5.0 4.0 / 5.0 4.7 / 5.0
DreamHost is one of the oldest web hosting companies, founded back in 1996, even before the advent of Google. DreamHost is now the home for over 1.5 million websites, blogs, and applications, with over 400k happy customers, spanning throughout more than 100 countries.
DreamHost offers a wide variety of web hosting plans for customers of all sizes. Their hosting services include:
Their team is top-notch, and they are always ahead of the curve when it comes to their technology stack. It is one of the officially recommended web hosts by WordPress.org and also the highest-rated web host by PCMag.com.
They offer everything you need to get your website up and running. They give you free domain registration with annual plans, free SSL encryption with Let’s Encrypt, a one-click installer for WordPress and a website builder known as Remixer for those who want to kick start a website with absolutely no coding involved.
On top of that, every shared hosting plan with DreamHost comes with a 97-day money back guarantee. That means you get full three months to try DreamHost and if you’re not fully satisfied, you can request a full refund.
They are also a domain name registrar and offer domain registration and parking services as well.
DreamHost’s shared hosting plan starts at $8.95 per month (regular price). You’ll find their extensive knowledge base immensely helpful to kick off a website from the ground up.
4.3 / 5.0
DreamHost offers cheap hosting, also known as shared hosting, which is the best choice for entry-level and small websites. With cheap hosting, you share the same physical server with many other DreamHost users. Although you share server resources like physical hard drives and RAM with other users, your website files are secured and only accessible to you.
There are 2 shared hosting plans: Shared Starter and Shared Unlimited. DreamHost lets you pay monthly, annually or every 3 years. DreamHost’s 3-year plan provides the best value with over 47% cost savings over the monthly plan.
With any of the DreamHost hosting options, you can waive off the domain name registration fees for one year. You’ll also get free SSL encryption, and 1-click WordPress installer.
Unlike most other web hosting providers, DreamHost comes with a 97-day risk-free money back guarantee.
5.0 / 5.0
DreamHost’s dedicated hosting could be the best choice for websites with high-traffic volume. With dedicated hosting, you get a complete server for your sole use, giving you much more control over the server and operating environment.
With DreamHost’s dedicated server, you get RAID 1 storage, 24×7 server monitoring and tech support, 100% network uptime guarantee, DDoS protection, full root, and shell access and more.
You get a custom-built control panel for your dedicated hosting needs with the flexibility to add or remove servers, reboot or powercycle your server whenever you need it. Plus, you can also manage your domains, websites and email address with ease.
4.6 / 5.0
Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting is the best bet for you if you want to build websites with secured data or resource-heavy applications that are growing through rapid growth and expansion. With VPS, you get a tremendous amount of bandwidth and storage along with easy backup and scalability.
With every managed VPS hosting plan, you get expert assistance on installing manual security patches, user-friendly control panel, 20 x faster SSD storage.
DreamHost allows you to choose from three different VPS plans based on RAM (1GB to 4GB) and SSD storage capacity ranging from 30GB to 240GB.
If you’re technically inclined and looking for an inexpensive, scalable server that gives you full control with root access, you can choose DreamCompute, which is unmanaged VPS hosting also known as cloud hosting.
5.0 / 5.0
DreamHost’s WordPress hosting protects your website from WordPress specific vulnerabilities and malicious attacks.
With their managed WordPress hosting, you’ll get automatic WordPress updates so you can ensure your site is always updated and secured. With every plan, automatic daily backups and on-demand backups are included.
DreamHost’s managed WordPress hosting is the best solution for you if you don’t want to perform site maintenance yourself and needs WordPress specific support for maintaining your WordPress site. With Plus plan or higher, you get Jetpack Pro subscription, daily malware and scanning repair, and instant access to the extensive collection of WordPress themes.
4.8 / 5.0
DreamHost offers WooCommerce hosting for users who want to quickly build an online store without the tedious process of WordPress and WooCommerce installation. WooCommerce hosting is almost similar to the Plus plan of managed WordPress hosting. The only difference is that WooCommerce will be preinstalled on your account.
Upon subscribing to a WooCommerce hosting plan, you can easily get your online store up and running just by logging into your WordPress dashboard. The storefront theme is preinstalled with WooCommerce hosting. You’ll also get a Jetpack Pro subscription.
Here’re a few things we liked about DreamHost
Here are a few limitations of DreamHost…
Does Dreamhost live up to their uptime promise?
To test the server performance for our DreamHost review, we’ve created a test WordPress site using the default Twenty Seventeen theme and dummy content for theme development, including images. This way our test site looked and behaved like an actual average WordPress site.
After setting up our test site, we ran a speed test on our site using Pingdom.
As you can see in the results, our DreamHost test site loaded in less than half a second. That’s faster than 97% of all tested sites, which is incredible for a site without any performance optimization plugins.
Apart from Pingdom, we also used a testing tool called Load Impact to figure out whether our DreamHost site can survive a traffic surge. Load Impact sent some virtual users (VUs) to our site and gradually built up to 100 visitors at a time to test how the server handles it.
In the chart, you can find a blue line (VUs active) which shows the number of virtual users sent to our DreamHost site and a green line (VU load time) which represents how much time it took to load a web page for a user.
As you can see, DreamHost’s performed was great and consistent throughout the test. The number of live visitors on the site doesn’t have an impact on site performance.
The content of your site can have an impact on your page loading time. For instance, if your site contains too many images, it will take more time to load. In fact, images account for most of the downloadable bytes in a typical site.
To get a more accurate result for our test, instead of solely analyzing page load time, we decided to test the actual server response time with Bitcatcha by ignoring the content of our page entirely.
Bitcatcha works differently than Pingdom. It ignores the content of your page and records the page loading time from eight different global locations: New York, LA, London, Brazil, India, Singapore, Japan, and Australia. The speed for each location is measured three separate times, and then the results are averaged.
From the result, you can see that DreamHost server response time remained under less than half a second for all geographic locations. It was particularly great in the United States.
If you need help with DreamHost’s hosting service, you can check out their extensive knowledge base that comprises of tutorials and recommendations. You’ll find DreamHost’s support portal immensely helpful for building and growing your website with a DreamHost hosting account.
DreamHost provides live chat and ticket based support for free with every hosting plan. The main drawback is that Live Chat is only available during 5am – 10pm PST, 7 days a week.
The DreamHost support team strives to answer all emails within 24 hours. Although call back requests are available, they’re not included in every hosting package. You’ll have to subscribe to it separately either by making a one-off payment or monthly subscription. Bear in mind that callbacks cannot be made for numbers outside the United States and Canada.
If you’re just starting out with a new website, you can choose DreamHost’s shared hosting plan.
There are 2 shared hosting plans: Shared Starter and Shared Unlimited.
For WordPress optimized hosting, you can choose from their managed WordPress hosting plans.
Take a detailed look at the pricing of different DreamHost hosting plans.
| PLAN | DISK SPACE | BANDWIDTH | PRICE |
| Shared Hosting | Unlimited | Unlimited | $2.59 / mo. |
| WordPress Hosting Starter | Unlimited | Unlimited | $2.59 / mo. |
| Basic VPS Hosting | 30 GB | Unmetered | $10 / mo. |
| Dedicated Hosting | 1 TB | Unlimited | $169 / mo. |
Having helped thousands of users choose a web hosting plan and start their website, we have answered just about every question you can think of. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about DreamHost.
Which DreamHost plan should I get?
The answer really depends on your hosting needs. When you’re starting out, simply choose their shared hosting plan. DreamHost has only a single shared hosting plan, which makes it easy to get started with an account. If you want to create an online store, then we recommend using their WooCommerce hosting which is specifically designed to handle eCommerce websites.
Can DreamHost handle high traffic?
DreamHost is capable of handling high traffic. But keep in mind that it all depends on the plan you choose. If your site starts consuming too much resources, then DreamHost will ask you to upgrade to a higher plan.
Can I upgrade my DreamHost plan later?
We always recommend users to start with the smaller plans and upgrade as needed. DreamHost makes it very easy for you to upgrade.
Does DreamHost offer a month-to-month payment option?
Yes! DreamHost offers month-to-month payment option. However, keep in mind that they offer significant discounts for longer-term deals.
Can I create subdomains in DreamHost?
Yes, you can easily create subdomains in DreamHost using the cPanel.
Do I have to register my domain name with DreamHost?
No. While you can claim a free domain name while purchasing a hosting plan, you’re not obliged to register a domain name with DreamHost. You can use Godaddy, NameCheap, or any of your preferred domain name registrar.
Does DreamHost offer free SSL?
Yes, DreamHost offers free SSL with all of their plans. Ecommerce plans come with dedicated IPs and private SSL.
Do I need to purchase the addons that DreamHost offers me?
No, you do not need to purchase any addons at the time of purchase. Should you decide that you need them later, you can always add them to your account.
Does DreamHost really offer unlimited disk space and bandwidth?
Just like any other hosting company, DreamHost also advertises unlimited resources. When they say unlimited, it just means that you don’t have to worry about disk storage or bandwidth because you get enough resources to operate a small site in a normal condition.
Can I create an ecommerce site on DreamHost?
Absolutely. DreamHost’s WooCommerce hosting plan comes pre-configured with all the things you need to start an online store.
Wondering how DreamHost stacks up against other web hosting companies? See our side-by-side comparison to see for yourself.
We think DreamHost offers a very reliable platform for hosting your websites. Their starting prices may be slightly higher than the competition, but being upfront about the prices, they leave no room for confusion down the line. With a DreamHost plan, you don’t find any hidden charges and comes with an unlimited website and email hosting.
We were also impressed with their custom control panel and quick support. DreamHost could be the best solution for you if you don’t want a cPanel based backend option. We rate DreamHost as an excellent choice for hosting any kind of website.
All DreamHost plans include a money-back guarantee. 
Recently had a question and was pleasantly surprised at the rapid and clear response. Go Dream Host!
Dreamhost has been great in getting our domain up and running. It was recommended to us by a long time user–and for a good reason! The service was fast, friendly and professional. Thank you!
I have had nothing but an AWESOME experience with DreamHost. These guys are always on point with support, which is essential. I am glad to be onboard and will recommend them to anyone who needs hosting!
Dreamhost Support is very fast and efficient….I recommend them
Terrible! I have two websites with Dreamhost. I let the site affiliated with this email expire and the moment I received an email from Dreamhost saying that site was down I began getting error messages on all incoming messages from my main Gmail account. Every incoming email has an error message attached ….
“This is the mail system at host homiemail-mx8.g.dreamhost.com. I’m sorry to have to inform you that your message could not be delivered to one or more recipients. It’s attached below.”
It refers me to Dreamhost.
I contacted customer service to ask them to fix this. My reply was to pay the $190 past due and it would be fixed. I wrote a second time and was told the Gmail account is not part of Dreamhost so it isn’t their problem.
Since this is how I’m treated at Dreamhost I’m looking for a new hosting company for my second website.
i like there quick support,
while i migrating my site to DreamHost i had WordPress database issue, i ask there Chat/online support and in just 5 minutes they solved that problem.
Excellent support and hosting work.
I lost my multi-factor authentication recently and, unfortunately, could not log into my DH account. So, I contacted support and was able to reset my security, log back in, and set up the multi-factor login once more. I suppose if I had actually remembered to search for the one-time codes, I would not have had to go through support. 🙁 Silly me, eh?
Nevertheless, support was fantastic. There was approximately a 24-hour period in between exchanges, but they were courteous and efficient. I was in no special hurry, and so I spent *my* time replying back. I am very satisfied with DH.
I have not needed help often, but when I have needed it, the response has been prompt and to the point. My issues have been resolved quickly, and on several occasions I received suggestions and information beyond the limited scope of my question that was very helpful going forward.
I am delighted with them.
After been moving from one to another hosting provider, I can say that Dreamhost rockz!
Not only unlimited bandwidth and space, but the fastest live chat support and the best security experience.
Recommended 100%!
I had a question about editing the A name on a domain. The support rep quickly guided me through the process and I was done with it in around 5 minutes. Thanks!
EXCELLENT customer service. Signed up for a year long WordPress plan after buying a ready-made template – turns out the template was mis-marked and was NOT a WordPress template. DreamHost was VERY helpful and got my account cancelled and credited. Other hosts would have told you to drop dead. DreamHost keeps my business.
I teach WordPress at a College in Ontario and use Dreamhost as the hosting service on behalf of the students. The One-Click Install feature is terrific and the Extra Security settings issue that dis-allowed acess was identified quickly and we were back up and running. Very pleased.
Many thanks.
This guys are amazing!!
Fast response and problem solved!
5 stars!
DreamHost has given me excellent support as required. I recently used the chat to correct a ‘locked out of sign in due to too many attempts’ problem and that was solved in just a few minutes.
The non-cPanel interface is a little different from a ‘standard’ cPanel so that it is sometimes hard to find exactly what you want, but once you learn where things are located, it works just fine.
Support of the various sites that I administer on DreamHost has been a breeze over the past 2 years. Highly recommend!
Excellent customer service. Two issues with the e-mail were responded to and looked after in a very timely manner. Qute satisfied
Life savers when it came to my wordpress site! I had an issue that had me stumped and an associate recommended calling the host company. Oh yeah, duh!
Speedy response and had me up in running with in 24 hrs.
Fairly new to Dreamhost but so far everything has worked well.
I have been using Dreamhost since… forever. I love this guys. I usually just forget about them, but when you need them, the support is awesome. I report something and will be solved right away.
I was having a problem uploading large files attached to my emails. I had an important file to send and it happened to be on a Sunday. Didn’t expect an answer for a few days, but they responded that same Sunday and solved the problem for me. I have always had terrific response with technical support. Been using Dreamiest almost from their start.
I’m glad that my first hosting engagement is with Dreamhost not the others. Its has been a while now since the first time I put my trust on website hosting with Dreamhost. Great product services and perfect troubleshooting support.
Feeling save and comfort on website hosting is what you need now days. Dreamhost make you feel that way. Keep moving forward Dreamhost! 😉
I am happy with the support. I got an important advice for my Littellin problem. Thanks.
We are a non profit organization. We are using Dreamhost for web hosing service with free domain. By the Grace Of God we are using this service absolutely free and they always respond quickly to any support issues. Dream host is awesome ….I would recommend Dreamhost to any organization or individual that is looking for hosting service.
I have found myself in need of a contant support by Dreamhost for a few days and the service received it has been really professional and especially useful.
Really glad of the five years Hosting too.
So, it seems there is a process in Dreamhost to kill all process under my userid if it goes beyond a certain memory usage. Now, Dreamhost support denied to let me know when it happens, denied to let me know the limit. Moreover, there was practically no change to the site for a while and a very bare minimum usage. Needless to say, I am super disappointed with the support ! Already looking for a replacement.
Though I am not a direct customer have been helping a customer out by contacting Dream Host for them. I find their responses complete and would not hesitate, if I needed a web service, to join up.