GreenGeeks vs Bluehost: Full Comparison

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4.8

out of 5

3.5

out of 5

When comparing these two, it’s really no competition. We examined 13 hosting providers in our recent research, and Bluehost is the best overall host, scoring 4.8 out of 5. It came out on top in our VPS, dedicated, and WordPress-managed hosting research, and ranked as the second best for shared hosting.

In comparison, out of the 13 web hosts we analyzed, GreenGeeks sits in the 11th position with a score of 3.5 out of 5 overall. Its key selling point is its eco-friendly values and mission, but GreenGeeks doesn’t really excel at any hosting type in particular, and it doesn’t offer dedicated hosting plans.

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GreenGeeks

Bluehost

Overall rating
3.5
Overall rating
4.8
Starting from

$2.49

Starting from

$2.95

Uptime

99.98%

Uptime

99.98%

Free backups
Free backups
Free domain
Free domain
Storage space

50GB – Unlimited

Storage space

10GB – Unlimited

View GreenGeeks Visit Bluehost

GreenGeeks is best for the eco-conscious...

GreenGeeks is the hosting industry’s leading eco-friendly provider. It’s been recognized as a Green Power Partner by the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the web host returns 300% of the energy it consumes.

Bluehost is the better hosting provider overall...

If you’re looking for a wide range of affordable and feature-rich plans across all hosting types, then Bluehost is your best bet. Bluehost is also fantastic for WordPress hosting – in fact, it’s been recommended by WordPress officially!

However, it’s worth recognizing that both of these hosting providers made it into our list of the top 13 hosts on the market, so while GreenGeeks might not shine as brightly as Bluehost, it’s still a reliable option and could be the perfect fit for your website.

In this article, we’re going to cover each provider’s strengths and weaknesses across all key areas, such as features and pricing, to help you make an informed decision.

Every list, guide, and review we share with you is backed up by almost 2,000 hours of extensive research. At Website Builder Expert, we only want to bring our readers accurate, impartial, and fair recommendations based on the areas that matter most to them.

For hosting providers, our in-house research team focused on five key categories:

  • Price – Is the hosting provider good value for money?
  • Performance – Will your site run smoothly? How much storage is offered?
  • Features – What extras come with your plan?
  • Help and support – Can you get help whenever you need and across a range of channels?
  • Market analysis – How does the hosting provider compare to others in the market?

Altogether, we assessed 360 areas of investigation within these five categories.

Each provider we analyzed – Bluehost and GreenGeeks included – earns a score out of five in each of these categories, and across each different hosting type, from shared hosting to dedicated hosting. These providers then get an overall score out of five, which equates to the average of all of its category scores.

You can read more about how we conduct our hosting research in our detailed guide.

GreenGeeks vs Bluehost: Quick Comparison

Before we dive into the individual sections and breakdown, get a quick overview of the two hosting providers side-by-side in our comparison table:

GreenGeeks Bluehost
Ease of Use
Winner: Bluehost
GreenGeeks keeps the signup process simple and you can easily manage your site through its cPanel dashboard. It's just a little more limiting than Bluehost. Bluehost is incredibly user-friendly and easy to use. We especially love that its cPanel dashboard is so customized for WordPress sites!
Features
Winner: GreenGeeks
GreenGeeks is the best hosting provider for shared hosting features. And, if finding an eco-friendly hosting solution is important to you, you can't beat GreenGeeks - it's even been recognized by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Bluehost covers the basics, such as unlimited bandwidth and free domains. Overall, it offers very feature-rich hosting plans, especially when it comes to dedicated and WordPress hosting.
Pricing & Value for Money
Winner: Bluehost
GreenGeeks is pretty affordable, but it doesn't offer introductory prices on its VPS hosting plans. It also doesn't offer dedicated hosting at all. Bluehost is better value for money, offering cheap introductory prices across all hosting types and plans.
Performance & Security
Winner: GreenGeeks
With daily backups and a free SSL certificate, your site is in pretty good hands with GreenGeeks. It also offers pretty dependable uptime and site speed! Bluehost performed poorly in our site speed and uptime analysis, but it does provide its websites with daily backups and an expected level of security.
Migration
Winner: It's a Tie!
GreenGeeks offers free website and domain migration for all new customers. Bluehost offers free domain migration and free website migration for WordPress sites. Alternatively, you can use Bluehost's paid migration service if you'd rather let experts take charge!
Help and Support
Winner: Bluehost
You can contact GreenGeeks via 24/7 live chat, but its phone and email services are limited. Bluehost lets you reach out via 24//7 live chat, phone, and email channels. It also has a very detailed knowledge base full of guides and tips.
Are You Ready? Visit GreenGeeks Visit Bluehost

Ease of Use

bluehost logo
The Winner

Bluehost is easier to use...

Bluehost’s got it all! Get online quickly thanks to its simple signup process, register your domain name, and manage your site easily with Bluehost’s cPanel dashboard.
Visit Bluehost

The Signup Process

Once you get started, Bluehost will ask you to set up your domain, either by using one you already own or creating a new one (you’ll also have the option to do this later).

Bluehost's sign up process featuring two boxes side by side, one to create a new domain, and the other to input an existing domain
The Bluehost signup process walks you through every step with ease.

Then, you’ll enter account information like your name, your address, and the type of Bluehost plan you want.

The only thing to be wary of during the signup process is that some “package extras” will be automatically added to your total – you can uncheck these whenever you want, but make sure not to scroll past and leave things you don’t want in your basket!

List of package extras in Bluehost's checkout page
We like SiteLock Security as much as the next person, but we didn’t want it automatically added to our basket!

GreenGeeks will also start off by asking for your domain name – however, unlike with Bluehost, you won’t have the option to skip this step and save it for later.

GreenGeeks' sign up process feauting two boxes: one to create a new domain, and the other to input an existing domain you own
Choosing a domain name is required before you can get started with GreenGeeks.

Managing Your Site

Both Bluehost and GreenGeeks use the popular cPanel control panel, which works as a centralized dashboard where you can easily manage your website(s), server functions, and web files.

Bluehost's cPanel dashboard featuring a list of advanced files and functions with icons
cPanel is a really straightforward tool for managing your website and server functions, all in one place.

Bluehost’s cPanel impressed us because it’s so customized for WordPress websites. Bluehost even automatically installs WordPress for you when you activate your account, and it’s an officially recommended hosting provider by WordPress itself – a title that GreenGeeks just can’t claim.

Bluehost also helps you start off on the right foot with an easy-to-follow checklist on your dashboard home page, which we really liked:

Checklist of steps to help you get set up with Bluehost, with an graphic of a man holding a laptop to the right
Bluehost really guides you through the website setup process.

In short, while GreenGeeks is by no means difficult to use, Bluehost just goes the extra mile in our eyes!

Additional Tools

Bluehost and GreenGeeks both make life even easier because they don’t just offer hosting – they also act as domain name registrars, meaning you can browse and purchase domain names without the need for a third-party service. This means you can manage your domain registration and hosting services, all from the Bluehost dashboard.

bluehost logo

Want to Try Bluehost?

Bluehost’s streamlined sign up process and WordPress-oriented dashboard make it incredibly beginner-friendly and easy to use.

More Information

  • Bluehost Review: Take a closer look at our top hosting provider.
  • GreenGeeks Review: Learn everything about this eco-friendly host in our full review.
  • WordPress Review: All you need to know about the internet’s most popular content management system.

Features

greengeeks logo
The Winner

GreenGeeks is the best for features...

Both providers offer strong features and the majority of hosting types, but GreenGeeks secures the victory. It has slightly better tools than Bluehost on its cheapest plan, plus an unbeatable 300% renewable energy match for the eco-conscious.
Visit GreenGeeks

It’s a tight race between the two hosting providers when it comes to features, but GreenGeeks just takes the lead with an overall features score of 4.5 out of 5. In comparison, Bluehost, known for its incredibly feature-rich plans, receives a features score of 4.2 out of 5.

As you can see, both providers perform well in this category, so we wouldn’t recommend pinning your decision on this area alone.

Though Bluehost doesn’t win overall, it’s a better option if you’re looking at WordPress-managed hosting or dedicated hosting plans – scoring 4.4 out of 5 for its features across both hosting types.

GreenGeeks, on the other hand, offers the best features for shared hosting, scoring 4.8 out of 5 which helps push the hosting provider into the lead for this category. However, GreenGeeks is let down by its lack of dedicated hosting plans, so it can’t compete with Bluehost in that department.

What Types of Hosting Do They Offer?

Despite just missing out on the better features score, Bluehost beats GreenGeeks by a long shot when it comes to the types of hosting on offer.

With a score of 4.6 out of 5, Bluehost provides shared, WordPress, VPS, and dedicated hosting to its customers. GreenGeeks, however, scores 2.3 out of 5 for only offering shared, WordPress, and VPS hosting.

Bluehost is also the better option for every hosting type overall. And, out of the 13 hosting providers we tested, Bluehost is the top choice for VPS, dedicated, and WordPress hosting, scoring 4.6 out of 5 or above for each type. But what about shared hosting? Don’t worry, Bluehost came second to HostGator in our research, achieving an impressive score of 4.5 out of 5.

Unfortunately for GreenGeeks, it simply can’t compete with the likes of Bluehost when it comes to hosting types. For shared hosting, it scores 3.7 out of 5, and for VPS hosting, it scores 3.6 out of 5. But, its best overall rating is for WordPress hosting, scoring 4.1 out of 5. As you can see though, this falls short of Bluehost’s achievements.

What Features Come Included?

Every hosting provider offers a range of features on each of its paid plans. As we’ve already said, GreenGeeks scores an impressive 4.5 out of 5 in our “features” category, while Bluehost earned a still-impressive 4.2 out of 5.

Firstly, if eco-friendly hosting is important to you, then GreenGeeks is the obvious choice for you. Not only has the hosting provider been recognized by the US Environmental Protection Agency since 2009, but GreenGeeks restores three times the amount of energy it consumes, meaning your website will be carbon-reducing!

GreenGeeks also offers free daily backups, generous email accounts, unlimited bandwidth across its shared hosting plans, and advanced security features.

With Bluehost you get unlimited bandwidth, free domains, and excellent tools optimized for WordPress sites specifically, including improved site speed and a kitted out marketing center.

greengeeks logo

Looking for a Feature-Rich Hosting Provider?

While it’s a close race between the two, GreenGeeks just takes the edge thanks to its strong features and eco-conscious pledge.

More Information

Pricing and Value for Money

bluehost logo
The Winner

Bluehost is the best value for money...

Bluehost is an incredibly cost-effective hosting provider, offering cheap introductory prices across its shared, VPS, WordPress, and dedicated hosting plans. In fact, you can save up to 73% on certain plans!
Visit Bluehost

If you’re interested in getting good value for money, Bluehost wins. It scores 4.7 out of 5 for price overall, and it’s especially cost-effective when it comes to VPS, dedicated, and WordPress hosting.

GreenGeeks, however, scores an average 3.2 out of 5 in our pricing research. That being said, it stands equal with Bluehost when it comes to WordPress hosting with both providers receiving a “value for money” score of 3.9 out of 5.

Unfortunately, the value of GreenGeeks’ plans only get worse when looking at other hosting types – for shared hosting, GreenGeeks scores a very low 2.5 out of 5 for price.

So, what do these scores really mean? Since shared hosting is usually the cheapest option, let’s take a look at the 12-month introductory prices for both providers to give you a greater sense of what they have to offer.

  • Bluehost: starting from $2.95 per month / renews at $10.99 per month
  • GreenGeeks: starting from $2.95 per month / renews at $10.95 per month

Introductory prices are discounted rates that last for the first term of your hosting plan. They’re a pretty standard practice throughout the industry, and they have to be paid for in advance. For example, if a discount lasts for one year at $2.95 per month, such as with Bluehost and GreenGeeks, you’ll have to pay for the whole year up front to get that discount. Renewal prices are the regular rates you’ll be paying for every year after that.

But, if you’re unhappy with your hosting plan, both Bluehost and GreenGeeks offer 30-day money-back guarantees, so you can change your mind without losing money!

Still, we’d say Bluehost is the clear winner in terms of value for money. It offers introductory prices on its VPS plans, while GreenGeeks charges full price from the get-go. Plus, Bluehost’s dedicated plans are better value simply because they… exist.

bluehost logo

Looking for Affordable Hosting?

Neither provider will shortchange you, but Bluehost consistently offers reduced introductory rates, and offers more bang for your buck in the long run.

More Information

Performance and Security

greengeeks logo
The Winner

GreenGeeks offers reliable performance...

Of the two hosting providers, GreenGeeks is more reliable when it comes to uptime and overall site performance which is what sets it apart in this category. For security and backups, both GreenGeeks and Bluehost are pretty evenly matched.
Visit GreenGeeks

Uptime

While it’s a close call, GreenGeeks is slightly more reliable, offering a better uptime performance than Bluehost. GreenGeeks scores 3.5 out of 5 for performance overall in comparison to Bluehost’s 3 out of 5 – it even beats Bluehost on performance in our shared and VPS hosting research, too.

With an advertised uptime of 99.98%, Bluehost seems great on paper since that amounts to less than two hours of downtime each per. However, it performed poorly in our site speed and server response time tests.

SSL Security

Both Bluehost and GreenGeeks include free SSL certificates on all of their plans. These certificates are available through Let’s Encrypt, a nonprofit certificate authority that makes it possible to encrypt the information that’s shared between your server and your website visitors.

Website URL in the browser's search bar, highlighting the padlock to the left of the URL to indicate it's a safe site
Websites with a padlock icon and “https” in their address bar are SSL secure.

That said, like most hosting providers, Bluehost and GreenGeeks only cover the basics of SSL security for free. The SSL certificate that comes included in your account will be enough security for many websites, like personal blogs or local business pages.

But if you’re selling online – especially if you’re running a larger ecommerce store – you may want to think about taking some extra security measures. This is because you’ll want to make sure customers know their information is safe, especially if they’re going to be entering payment details on your website.

If you’re considering that extra level of security, Bluehost and GreenGeeks both have options at an additional cost. Bluehost’s cheapest route is the PositiveSSL certificate, at $49.99 per year. GreenGeeks only offers the AlphaSSL Wildcard certificate, which costs $99.95 per year.

Backups and Updates

Neither provider has a very good backup policy.

GreenGeeks performs daily backups on your website, which are retained for 24 hours and then replaced with the most recent backup. The catch is that customers don’t usually have access to those backups – they only exist to protect data in the case of hardware or software failure.

If you do need access to a backup, GreenGeeks offers one free restoration per month. After that, you’ll have to pay $25 per restore.

Bluehost creates backups on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, but they’re “not guaranteed in any way” – and Bluehost recommends that customers create and manage their own backups, too. Then again, it’s wise to do this no matter which hosting provider you use!

It’s also worth noting that backups aren’t included on Bluehost’s cheapest shared hosting plan at all, so you’ll need to upgrade to at least the Choice Plus plan to enjoy this feature.

greengeeks logo

Looking for Dependable Hosting?

Both providers offer free SSL certificates and daily backups, but GreenGeeks offers a more reliable uptime and server response time.

Migrating Domains and Websites

The Winner

It's a tie...

Both GreenGeeks and Bluehost offer free migration services for websites and domains. Bluehost also provides an impressive paid service if you’d rather let the experts handle the process for you.

If you already have a website and are thinking of switching to either Bluehost or GreenGeeks, this section is for you.

Migrating to GreenGeeks

GreenGeeks offers free website migration for every new customer. Once you’ve signed up for a GreenGeeks account, all you have to do is provide the details of your current hosting account (i.e. the account you want to switch from).

You can do this by logging into your GreenGeeks account and submitting a migration request, using the Account Manager part of your dashboard. Just go to Account Manager > Support > Migration Request Form. 

Migrating to Bluehost

Bluehost offers free website migrations for most WordPress sites within 30 days of sign up. You’ll also get to review the site before it goes live.

Once you give Bluehost the credentials of your previous hosting account, the transfer will take about 2-3 days. 

Your site won’t qualify for a free Bluehost migration if:

  • It runs on WordPress.com instead of WordPress.org
  • It runs a WordPress version older than 4.7
  • It runs a PHP version older than 7.0
  • The file size is larger than 2GB
  • The database is larger than 40MB

In that case, you can either pay Bluehost to migrate your site for you, or transfer your own hosting manually without assistance.

Bluehost’s paid migration option costs $149.99. For that price, the Bluehost team will move up to five websites and 20 email accounts for you. Bluehost guarantees no downtime during this process, and there’s no work involved on your part – so some people may find it worth the investment. Just note that this migration service is not available for VPS or dedicated plans.

What About Migrating Domains?

Migration isn’t just about websites – you’ll also want to transfer your domain name to the new hosting provider that you choose, and this process is actually separate from website migration. Luckily, both GreenGeeks and Bluehost make domain transfer pretty simple.

Top Tip: Make Sure Your Domain Can Be Transferred

Before you get started on this process, just note that a domain is not eligible for transfer unless it’s been registered for at least 60 days! Similarly, domains within two weeks of their expiration date are also not eligible for transfer.

GreenGeeks offers a free domain name transfer, which is separate from its site migration service. All you have to do is prepare your domain name for transfer, and then submit the request to GreenGeeks. Once you’ve completed the request, GreenGeeks will transfer your domain from its current registrar to the GreenGeeks registrar.

If you’re switching to Bluehost, you can transfer domains with the following extensions: com, net, org, us, co, info, and biz.

If you want to transfer a domain with one of these extensions, then all you have to do is prepare the domain and initiate the transfer from your Bluehost dashboard.

Help and Support

bluehost logo
The Winner

Bluehost has better help and support...

Not only does Bluehost offer high-quality WordPress support, but its customer team are ready to lend a helping hand 24/7 via live chat, phone, or email.
Visit Bluehost

From our recent hosting research, Bluehost is the better option for help and support, scoring 3.5 out of 5. Its customer team is very responsive, offering 24/7 live chat, 24/7 phone, and email support. And, thanks to its positive relationship with WordPress, Bluehost scores an impressive 4.6 out of 5 for WordPress hosting support as well.

Bluehost also provides users with a detailed knowledge base full of helpful guides and advice.

GreenGeeks, on the other hand, scores a measly 2.2 out of 5 for help and support overall. It really falls short in comparison to other hosting providers, like Bluehost, which puts it at a disadvantage from the get-go.

GreenGeeks does offer 24/7 live chat support, but its phone service is limited to Monday-Sunday from 9AM to 12AM EST. Alternatively, you can email the web host and log a ticket, but GreenGeeks warns a response will likely take 15-20 minutes. If you’re looking for immediate support, you’d be better off with Bluehost.

bluehost logo

Need Dependable Hosting Support?

Bluehost makes it easy for customers to get in contact with them, and it has a helpful knowledge base to browse as a first step. Bluehost also offers 24/7 phone support which GreenGeeks doesn’t!

GreenGeeks vs Bluehost: Summary

Now that we’ve looked closely at GreenGeeks and Bluehost in all of the most important categories, we can definitively say that Bluehost is a better overall hosting provider than GreenGeeks.

Not only is Bluehost our top web host out of all of the hosting providers we tested, scoring 4.8 out of 5, but its incredible WordPress hosting features, 24/7 support, easy migration tools, and cost-effective plans really set Bluehost apart from GreenGeeks.

GreenGeeks will be the right host for some, especially if you’re looking for an eco-conscious hosting solution, but its lack of dedicated hosting and weak help and support really let it down, resulting in its overall score of 3.5 out of 5.

That said, just because Bluehost is the better provider in general, that doesn’t automatically mean it’s the better provider for you.

You Should Use Bluehost If:

  • You’re running a WordPress site
  • You want an easy setup process
  • You want a really responsive support team
bluehost logo

Want to Try Bluehost?

Bluehost is the best overall hosting provider thanks to its cost-effective and feature-rich plans. And, if you’re looking at WordPress hosting, it’s been officially endorsed by WordPress too!

You Should Use GreenGeeks If:

  • You want eco-friendly hosting
  • You need a lot of email accounts for your site
  • You prefer live chat support over email support
greengeeks logo

Want to Try GreenGeeks?

GreenGeeks is the leading eco-friendly hosting provider in the industry. If you want to minimize your website’s impact on the environment, GreenGeeks can’t be beat!

FAQs

GreenGeeks is pretty decent overall, but it specializes in certain things which make it ideal for some customers. Not only is GreenGeeks the best eco-friendly hosting provider out there, but it also offers great features across its shared hosting plans, such as unlimited storage space and email accounts.
Our recent hosting research has crowned Bluehost as the best overall hosting provider. It performs so well across every key hosting type and research category, from pricing and features to help and support. Of course, we recognize that Bluehost won’t be the right fit for everyone, but if you’re looking for a good all-rounder that’s easy-to-use and gets the job done efficiently, then we’d recommend giving Bluehost a go.
Bluehost is just as bad for the environment as most hosting providers. In other words, GreenGeeks is the exception to the rule, and its 300% renewable energy match is really incredible.

In most cases, web servers are housed in physical data centers, where the hardware tends to get very hot – enter air conditioning, and lots of it. Web hosting actually accounts for 2% of the world’s carbon emissions, and Bluehost contributes to that stat!

Bluehost is an excellent WordPress host, and it’s no less impressive for non-WordPress sites! You’ll just have to base your decision off of other factors. For example, if customer support is your top priority, then go with Bluehost. But if environmentally-friendly hosting is more important to you, choose GreenGeeks.
No, not every web host offers in-house domain name registration. Some providers will direct you to a third-party domain registrar, and you’ll then have to manage your web hosting and your domains from two separate dashboards. In-house domain registration is a major benefit of both Bluehost and GreenGeeks.
Written by:
emma ryan author bio
I’m a Senior Writer at Website Builder Expert, which means I’m part of a great team that produces and updates content for the website. I specialize in writing highly-researched and accessible guides, comparisons, and reviews that provide readers with everything they need to know about getting started and growing online. I’ve also written about small businesses for Startups.co.uk, video optimization for Industry Today, and HTML for Digital Information World. While working for Website Builder Expert, I’ve gained expertise in website builders, ecommerce platforms, and hosting providers through hands-on testing and research analysis. I’ve also attended expos to further my industry knowledge – all of this helps me pitch fresh article ideas for the website. Additionally, I manage our website’s comments which allows me to have a good understanding of what you, our readers, care about.

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