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. 
I know Dreamhost’s guys by name, at least a dozen of top notch engineers who help me daily, nightly, every time I need anything. It’s all nonsense about nastiness. Not only engineers there are knowledgeable and prepared for any question, they’re fundamentally nice people. I brought into Dreamhost at least 20 of my freelance clients – all happy! On top of all, Dreamhost has advanced technology and consistently innovates. Wiki is excellent and to date, support – superb. Over the years, I’ve dealt with at least a few hosting companies. Dreamhost is at the top of my list for both quality of technology and service provided, and, trust me – I don’t have neither extra time nor tolerance for incompetence.
I received assistance with my issue in a very timely manner and with professionalism and exactness to assist someone that does not usually work well with these types of things. I was satisfied with Dream Host in this situation.
I am constantly impressed by Dreamhost’s technical support. Everyone I have chatted with has been very knowledgeable and always solves my problem. I especially appreciate that chat is open even late at night. Thanks a million!
yes… such a nasty team. They think they’re above every other co. in this universe, even though there are millions of web hosting Cos that do provide good services !!!
our site is down and the customer support executive did not bother to answer any of our questions , and quit saying that we’ve send you a mail reg this. I contacted the customer support since i could not make anything out from the mail !!
Poorest of poorest customer service from DreamHost !!!!
Let me preface by saying that I’m not some payed shill. I understand that there is a cottage industry built on webhost referral bonuses.
OK, now that that’s out of the way, I think I lucked out. I say that because back when I first got started with Dreamhost, I had no prior experience to compare it with; this changed recently. I’m in the process of helping a friend migrate from another webhost that doesn’t have nearly the quality of customer service that dreamhost has.
Customers can reach Dreamhost customer service in real time using live chat. Also, they’re very understanding. They’re not pedantic or condescending — something that could turn off any noobie.
I’m on the shared server program. I’m loving the quick installs, ssh (way, way superior to ftp), and availability for using PHP, SSI, mysql, and a bunch of other stuff I don’t understand.
I give them five thumbs up.
Excellent choice!
Great service, Im very glad !!
When I’m working on the fly I can always depend on Dreamiest customer service to get me quick answers. Love these guys.
Dreamhost overall is a decent web host, but they are unable to provide any type of robust developer support and basically you must fend for yourself. 2 out of 5 stars
After being a customer for 9 years, dreamhost is disallowing me on hosting backups.
Planning to move out and take a hosting which doesn’t have any restrictions.
VPS server goes down at-least 2 times in a day. support not being helpfull, always sending same wiki articles instead of helping with actual issue.
I was forced to move from shared hosting to VPS due to timeout issues on shared hosting.
now dreamhost is forcing me to add more memory to VPS on added cost.
I am a dreamhost customer from last 6 years and now I am seriously looking for a alternative who is more transparent. I don’t mind paying more for your service at-least tell me why I am doing it ?
The spiking on our VPS is down to poor server tuning issues.
It has been quite tricky to explain this to support which would be a great help – instead of blaming server loading which use an average of under 10% capacity.
Gosh Darn it – dont contact the support on the week-end
Why I hear you say?
Well lazy responses – cant be bothered to check the issues – must get back to my game of table tennis whilst the managers are away!
slap wrist for me.
I was able to get all the support I needed quickly! I love their chat feature.
We have been with Dreamhost for over 5 years and have had no problems other than those caused by ourselves, each and every time I have brought our site or emails down a quick chat on-line with Dreamhost Agents and they fix what we have done. Not only that they have also sent wiki links to pages for us to understand how things went wrong.
We have 8 domains hosted with multiple emails on each and they all run perfect.
Dreamhost deliver a great service, great support at a great price.
I am completely dissatisfied because I requested a backup and it was the same files that were haqueados and support nãodeu no solution.
while i like the dashboard of dreamhost, i find their technical support to be lacking and always difficult. As they try to push you to only work with them via web chat, they tend to ignore things you say and seemingly work from a manual.
If you need excellent customer service, do not go with this provider
I’m a web designer and developer and I am familiar with all the major web hosts. Dreamhost is my favorite by far. The main reason is that their support is excellent. They’re good communicators, I don’t have to wait very long, and when I explain what I’m trying to do they consistently find solutions. In my experience, most other hosts have a much less skilled support staff.
Their tools are easy to use. If I don’t know how to do something I just google “dreamhost [what I’m trying to fix]” and there’s usually very clear step-by-step directions.
What it boils down to is time. I get everything done faster using dreamhost. The reason is twofold: 1. they have better systems with greater horsepower, so things just work more often the first time, and 2. they have support people who are really good at meeting me at my level to solve my problems.
They are one of the secrets to our success. I recommend them.
Dream Host was so swift about answering my questions! Excellent service.
My husband has used dreamhost for many years. When he died suddenly, the dreamhost people suddenly became nasty with totally unrealistic and unsubstantiated demands to allow my friends to continue our little community website. They were not allowed to make a payment, I can send you the list of demands that were made to me because my husband did not think about giving me power of attorney for this particular website. Among other things, they want his last will and testament brought before a judge to have it certified in order to keep our little community alive.
I cannot deal with those demands, am too busy putting my life back together after my loss.
I have never, ever come across a bunch of people less caring than this so-called support team!
I would never recommend them to anybody.
It’s okay. (okay for me is like awesome for everybody else. Awesome for me doesn’t come easily)
I am relatively savvy but not a techie. Dreamhost has been a great resource, especially their live chat customer service available pretty much any time. And the structure of their Wordpress set up is great and easy.
awesome service. used to be with GoDaddy, and about 4 years ago switch to dreamhost. no comparison. Their support has always been top notch, and thats the key to everything.
So far I’ve found Dreamhost’s customer service to be very available and helpful, with actual humans ready to give me a hand.