Hosting.com vs DreamHost
Hosting.com and DreamHost compared on measured uptime, response time, pricing and features from our own tests. Hosting.com scores higher overall.
By Jennifer T. · Updated
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Verdict
Hosting.comWins overall
The former A2 Hosting under World Host Group: stated cores and RAM, 30-day backups, staging from Pro, phone support
Independent since 1997: three shared plans with renewals printed on the card, daily backups and a 100% uptime credit
Hosting.com wins 3 of the six sub-scores and comes out ahead overall (7.7 vs 7.6).
How do the scores compare?
Hosting.com leads on 3 sub-scores, DreamHost on 2. Higher is better.
| Hosting.com | DreamHost | |
|---|---|---|
| Performance | 8.5 (better) | 7.5 |
| Uptime | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| Support | 6.0 | 7.0 (better) |
| Features | 8.5 (better) | 7.5 |
| Value | 7.0 | 8.0 (better) |
| Ease of use | 7.5 (better) | 7.0 |
Which one is faster and more reliable?
| Hosting.com | DreamHost | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 7.7 (better) | 7.6 |
| Uptime (published)Kripesh Adwani 365 d vs WPBeginner 30 d; methods differ | 99.99% | 100.00% (better) |
| Response time (published)HostingStep vs WPBeginner; methods differ | 500 ms (better) | 658 ms |
Which one costs less?
On renewal, DreamHost is cheaper ($10.99/mo vs $13.99/mo). Intro prices need the listed term.
| Hosting.com | DreamHost | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | Starter | Web Hosting Launch |
| Intro price | $1.99/mo (better) | $2.89/mo |
| Renewal price | $13.99/mo | $10.99/mo (better) |
| Required term | 48 months | 12 months (better) |
| Websites | 5 | 25 |
| Storage | 15 GB | 25 GB |
| Money back | 30 days | 30 days |
What does each include?
| Hosting.com | DreamHost | |
|---|---|---|
| Free domain | First year | First year, on annual and multi-year terms only |
| Free SSL | Standard on Starter and Pro; premium certificate on Max | Unlimited certificates on every plan |
| Daily backups | Stored off-server, restore to any point in the last 30 days | Not stated |
| Staging | 3 sites on Starter, 20 on Pro, 200 on Max | No |
| Free managed migration | Yes | Not stated |
| Web application firewall and malware removal | Yes | Not stated |
| Caching and hardware | LiteSpeed caching, tuned MySQL, AMD EPYC CPUs, NVMe storage | Not stated |
| AI website builder for WordPress | Yes | Not stated |
| OpenAPI and MCP server | On every plan; Claude skills pack and Node.js from Pro | Not stated |
| Uptime guarantee | 99.9% per month; 5% of the service fee credited per hour of unscheduled downtime, up to the full month, on request | 100% in the terms, with a credit of one day of hosting per hour of qualifying downtime, up to 10% of the next renewal, counted from the support ticket |
| Service level agreement | Max plan only | Not stated |
| Phone support | +1 (734) 222-4678, 24/7/365 | No |
| Windows hosting | No | No |
| Backups | Not stated | Daily automated backups on every plan, restored from the panel |
| Free migration | Not stated | The product page links a migration path for existing sites; terms not read |
| Free CDN | Not stated | No |
| Caching | Not stated | No |
| Not stated | 20, 40 or 60 mailboxes free for the first three months, then billed separately | |
| Resource limits | Not stated | No |
| Data center choice | Not stated | Oregon, Virginia, Amsterdam and Singapore per the product page and help center; the panel shows where each service lives |
| Performance scans | Not stated | Automated and on-demand performance scans on every plan |
Company facts
| Hosting.com | DreamHost | |
|---|---|---|
| Control panel | cPanel with the hosting.com panel on top | DreamHost's own panel (no cPanel) |
| Data centers | 5 (better) | 4 |
| Support channels | chat, ticket, phone, email, knowledge-base | chat, ticket, email, knowledge-base |
| Founded | 2003 | 1997 |