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. 
Hi guys!
This lines is for telling you that I had a really good experience with DreamHost, they resovled avery problem that I had.
I recommend this host always!
Thanks, Camila.
Man, you should consider maintain your website in PHP5, because PHP3 is older than my grandma!
Imagine how much bugs and security issues must have in this old version!
I am totally discussed with the quality of the support. I will be looking for a new host. This level of support is unacceptable.
The issue is still unresolved after about a month.
It usually took about 10 hours for a response.
The responses I did get were totally inadequate.
Signed,
A formerly satisfied customer
30 Nov 15
I have been trying for months to get back as a subscriber. My VISA card ran out of date so it now appears all my Data has been lost for my website. I have tried to resubscribe but have failed to persuade Dreamhost to recognise me. Very sad as I really appreciated bing a customer.
John Hemson.
My site quit working as a result of the “upgrade” from PHP 3 to PHP 5. As a result I am forced to make (or have made for me, as I am not a web programmer) major changes in my site. It would be much easier if Dreamhost would continue to make PHP 3 available. Is that possible?
Coming from a host that used CPanel, I had a bit of a learning curve to learn how to do stuff on DreamHost. But the wiki documentation is amazing and I quickly found my way around the DreamHost interface.
I’ve found customer support from DreamHost is prompt and very helpful. You are contacted by a real person who really wants to help and the same person sees through your support issue so you don’t need to keep repeating the whole story.
Thanks DreamHost!
As a new DH customer, some of the setup requirements are a little foreign to me — every hosting company has its own setups, especially where Linux servers are concerned because of the tremendous variability of linux add-ons from one host to another.
Along the way I have relied on the technical support folks via the live chat, and I’ve not once been disappointed. Everyone has been eager to help, provided an answer or a solution in only moments, and I couldn’t be more pleased.
So far, I would give DH an A+ for their service both in terms of timeliness and quality and I’m equally thrilled with the performance of their servers and hardware infrastructure. My site has never been so quick.
I’ve been very happy with my dealings with their technical and accounts support. Prompt replies, problems solved, and very understanding.
I am a happy customer of DreamHost. I always appreciate the amazingly quick response times from them, and I really appreciate that the people who work there try their best to help me with my problems. They go above and beyond, sometimes I feel like I have professional web programmers on call, but I get people who actually care and do research and troubleshoot whatever problems I may be having. Very stable hosting, fair pricing, I cannot complain. Have been with DreamHost for a number of years, and I would not think to look elsewhere for my hosting and domain needs.
Dreamhost is the best! 10/10
Dreamhost is the best hosting provider I have ever worked with. 10/10.
I am very impressed with the technical support, very helpful and timely responses.
This is a bit of a mixed bag for me. First, I would give the employees I’ve dealt with regarding tech support issues–during many, many years of being a DreamHost customer–high marks. They are reasonably prompt, courteous, and as helpful as they can be.
On the other hand, for some issues, I often receive from DH links to wiki entries that provide very detailed and complex instructions for researching and addressing my problem. These instructions presume a good bit of expertise. So, for my purposes, DH is more self-service oriented than I would like. I have a chronic database problem with a very large phpBB forum that’s hosted on DH and there appears to be no way I can just get their people to find the problem and fix it. Instead, I get referred to some materials about how I might use shell access to find the problem and fix it myself. I have better-than-average tech skills, but no experience of knowledge of MySQL and related services. So, I’m stuck.
Given that DH is quite inexpensive, I don’t really expect employees to spend the kind of time I need. So, how about a paid service of some kind for more complicated support issues?
Bottom line: Great support people, but a company that can’t seem to provide, even for a fee, the kind of advanced help I need.
I was very impressed with technical support, especially when it was determined that the problem was with my ISP, they kept tracking the problem with my ISP and let me know when the ISP problem was resolved.
DH is one of two ISPs I use and definitely the better. Their interface is cleaner and the support excellent. I’m more than happy to recommend them.
Excellent service! Dreamhost has a great customer support. Its an awesome company, I definitely recommend it! 🙂 Five stars.
I am dreamhost user since 2006, and always had an adequate and rapid support. Definitely my problems with hosting stopped after signing the service dreamhost. the best
Always easy to work with. Thanks for your help. Fast and on the ball.
JC
Everything is good excepting low speed and lack of cpanel
as a standard SOA and DNS option, dreamhost works well.
However when looking to rapidly expand within zone files, dream host falls short. the API is not as good as it should be, support team also seem to be unable to answer on the more complicated problems and seem to simply just not answer the more difficult questions.
I personally would not use dreamhost again, but I would recommend them if you use them for what they are, its not a bad option for owner managed and small business, corporate space they dont fair so well.
Customer service for pre-sales was simply excellent. Of course you’d expect that because they want to gain more customers.
After sales – in respect of tech support – outstanding!
I have nothing but good things to say about DreamHost. This is my first time doing everything on my own so I needed help. The response from DreamHost everytime was fast and every issue resolved quickly.
Just received a customer survey from DreamHost inviting me to add a review to this page for an issue that was opened days ago was closed without resolution by DreamHost.
Since DreamHost invited me to leave a review, I’ll take a break from moving sites to another provider to express my disgust.
The original issue(s), caused by DreamHost’s technical team, miscommunicated by dreamhosts marketing team, and adequately addressed by DreamHosts support team has left me flabbergasted.
Obviously with 50+ domains on DreamHost I was a pretty happy long time customer. Spent the bulk of the weekend moving sites to AWS and Digital Ocean to get out from the cloud of another bungle.
We have been locked down for the holiday season for more than a month across all of our sites, this is costing us time and money that could be better used supporting our customers and their sites.
The customer service is detail oriented and they’re always eager to render more help to clients. I recommend Dream Host services to entrepreneurs without reservation.
Dreamhost was great for the last year, until they suddenly changed their VPS policies regarding root with only a few business days notice….over a holiday week no less. Very unprofessional support when I submitted questions, even refused to call me despite the fact that they are costing me thousands of dollars to rapidly move to a new service. Essentially they told me they don’t value my business. It’s really a shame they seemed like a good company up until now. Rating of 1 out of 10.