DreamHost powers 1.5+ million sites and is built on open-source tech—true to the vision of its four founders.
One big differentiator: DreamHost’s month-to-month hosting is among the most wallet-friendly you’ll find. You can launch with no long-term commitment for far less than most competitors—often about half what others charge for comparable monthly terms.
Bottom line: if you want flexible, affordable hosting that doesn’t force a long contract, DreamHost is tough to beat.
Compare DreamHost to The Best Web Hosting
We researched the top providers to find the best web hosting available today. Our full roundup breaks down strengths, trade-offs, and pricing so you can pick what fits your needs. See all of our top picks here.
In our latest rankings, DreamHost lands at #3. Hostinger takes #1 for the lowest long-term rates and beginner-friendly tooling, while A2 Hosting is #2 for raw speed and easy one-click installs that are great for first-time site owners.
Here’s why DreamHost still earns a top-tier spot.
DreamHost: The Good and The Bad
DreamHost is an easy recommendation for many use cases, but it’s not perfect. Weigh these pros and cons before you decide.
The Good
Affordable monthly plans: DreamHost’s month-to-month pricing is among the best in the industry. You can cancel any time without extra fees, and monthly plans include the same core features as longer terms. Perfect if you can’t commit up front or you’re validating a project before locking in a multi-year deal.
Uptime backing: Reliability matters. DreamHost advertises a 100% uptime guarantee and backs it with service credits if downtime occurs. That confidence—plus historically steady performance—makes it a safe pick for small business sites and personal projects alike.
Updated money-back window: Shared, VPS, and DreamPress plans carry a straightforward 30-day refund period on new accounts. That gives you a real-world trial run to make sure the platform fits.
Security basics included: Free SSL certificates, easy .htaccess controls, and support for SSH/SFTP come standard. You can selectively block bots from indexing parts of your site, and DreamHost’s custom firewall adds another layer of protection.
Modern stack: Current PHP versions (8.1–8.4) are available, and DreamHost supports modern protocols like HTTP/3 alongside HTTP/2. That means better performance and future-proofing for WordPress and custom apps.
Domains bundled on annual terms: Annual (and longer) hosting terms include one free domain for the first year, with private WHOIS protection. After year one, .com renewals are competitively priced.
Easy, clean control panel: DreamHost uses its own streamlined dashboard instead of cPanel. It’s clean, modern, and beginner-friendly while still giving power users direct access to advanced settings.
Generous resources: All shared plans include unmetered bandwidth and fast SSD or NVMe storage. The Shared Starter plan includes 50 GB storage; Shared Unlimited removes that cap. (As always, fair-use rules apply—no file-sharing or backup-dump sites.)
The Bad
Limited free phone support: You can’t call in directly. Instead, DreamHost offers callbacks—free on higher-tier plans, or paid add-ons for entry-level hosting. Live chat and tickets are 24/7, but if you prefer phone help at no extra cost, look elsewhere.
Email not included on Starter: On Shared Starter, domain email is a separate add-on (inexpensive, but still extra). Shared Unlimited and most other plans include email at your domain.
Fewer global locations than some rivals: DreamHost now operates data centers in Virginia, Oregon, and the Netherlands, which is a welcome expansion beyond the U.S. Still, hosts with many regions across APAC and LATAM may deliver closer-to-user latency in those areas.
Manual installs for some CMSs: One-click installs cover WordPress and a handful of popular apps. For other stacks, setup can be more hands-on compared to hosts that offer broader one-click catalogs.
DreamHost Pricing and Options
DreamHost Pricing
DreamHost offers multiple packages for shared, WordPress, VPS, dedicated, and cloud hosting. Promotional pricing is strongest on annual and three-year terms; month-to-month is available if you want maximum flexibility.
DreamHost Shared Hosting
Shared hosting is the most affordable way to get online with DreamHost.
Typical promo rates start around $2.59/month on a three-year term for a single site (Shared Starter). Annual terms usually run about $2.95/month for year one and renew at standard rates. Month-to-month pricing is also available, with an introductory discount for the first few months before switching to standard monthly rates.
There are two shared tiers—Starter and Unlimited. Starter is ideal for brand-new sites and includes:
- One website
- Free domain on annual terms
- Unmetered traffic
- WordPress installer & free automated WordPress migrations
- AI-assisted website builder
- Fast SSD storage (50 GB)
- Free SSL certificate
- Optional email at your domain (low-cost add-on)
Shared Unlimited adds:
- Unlimited websites
- Free domain on annual terms
- Unmetered traffic
- WordPress installer & free automated WordPress migrations
- AI-assisted website builder
- Fast SSD/NVMe storage
- Free SSL certificate
- Unlimited email @ your domain
If your site grows beyond ~200,000 monthly visits or needs more consistent performance, consider upgrading to VPS or managed WordPress (DreamPress).
DreamHost VPS Hosting
VPS (virtual private server) hosting isolates resources for your site, improving consistency under load and giving you more control. DreamHost’s managed VPS lineup scales from entry-level to business-class configurations, with flexible RAM, vCPU, and storage options.
Plans are organized by resource level (e.g., Business, Professional, Enterprise), and you can scale resources as traffic grows. VPS is a smart upgrade for busy blogs, membership sites, and WooCommerce stores that have outgrown shared hosting.
Promotional VPS pricing is strongest on annual terms, with standard monthly rates after the first year. You can also upgrade RAM and storage from the panel without rebuilding your server.
DreamHost Dedicated Hosting
Dedicated servers give you maximum isolation and control—great for large businesses, agencies, and apps with heavy or spiky traffic. DreamHost can fully manage the server, apply security patches, and monitor uptime so your team can focus on the site itself.
Standard configurations start with a 6-Core/12-Thread CPU, 16 GB RAM, and SSD storage; Enhanced tiers add more cores and RAM. Expect higher monthly pricing than shared or VPS—this is enterprise-grade hardware reserved entirely for you.
Multiple RAM and SSD options are available across Standard and Enhanced tiers, so you can tailor performance (and cost) to your workloads.
DreamHost Cloud Hosting
DreamHost’s cloud lineup includes DreamCompute (scalable VM instances) and DreamObjects (S3-compatible object storage). Cloud makes sense if you want on-demand resources, hourly billing, and developer flexibility.
DreamCompute offers small to larger flavors billed hourly with a monthly cap (you’re charged for up to 600 hours in a month; anything beyond that is free). Entry plans are just a few dollars per month, with options scaling up as you add RAM, vCPUs, and storage.
DreamObjects is pay-as-you-go object storage—ideal for site backups, media libraries, and app assets. Pricing is simple: storage is billed per GB per month and downloads are billed per GB, with API requests currently free.
DreamHost Domain Names
You can register your domain right through DreamHost. Popular TLDs like .com often run first-year promos and include free private registration. Renewals are transparent and in line with the market for major extensions.
When you buy a domain through DreamHost, you get:
- Free private registration (WHOIS privacy)
- Unlimited subdomains
- Easy domain transfers
- A simple management panel
- Broad TLD selection
DreamHost Website Builder
If building a site feels intimidating, DreamHost’s WordPress-focused Website Builder streamlines the process. You’ll get guided theme setup, drag-and-drop editing, and AI-assisted starting points to help you go from idea to published site fast.
The builder integrates directly with WordPress, so you can expand later with plugins, ecommerce (WooCommerce), and custom themes without switching platforms.
Comparing the Best Web Hosting
DreamHost checks a lot of boxes—especially for affordable monthly hosting and no-nonsense WordPress setups. If you want to compare options side by side, don’t miss our guide to the best web hosting services.
Overall, DreamHost is a smart choice for individuals, small businesses, and growing sites. Between flexible pricing, a streamlined control panel, strong baseline security, modern PHP/HTTP support, and a simple upgrade path to VPS, dedicated, or cloud, it earns its place among our top picks.
