In one of the more elite matchups we’ve ever put together here, two of my favorite web hosting companies are pitted against each other in a head-to-head comparison of features, pricing, and overall quality. Should we ever host a jousting tournament filled with competitors from the web hosting world, you get the feeling that companies like BlueHost and Just Host might end up in the final showdown.
So after all that hype, how do they really compare? It’s time to turn to one of our favorite reviewing tools: the Table of Truth.
Comparing Features
The first Table of Truth deals with the big issues – bandwith, domain add-ons, customer support. These are the kinds of things users are looking out for and want to know if they’ll be receiving it before they place an order with any one company. Suffice it to say, it can be a big deal to a lot of people, and if you’re shelling out your own money for a .com acre of your own, you might just be one of those people.
Feature |
BlueHost |
Just Host |
Disk Space | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Bandwith | Unspecified | Unlimited |
Add-on Domains | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Money-back guarantee | Unspecified | Anytime |
Dedicated IP | Unspecified | “Available” |
Anonymous FTP | Unspecified | Yes |
POP3 Email Accounts | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Email Autoresponding | Unspecified | Yes |
Mail Forwarding | Yes | Yes |
MySQL Databases | Yes | Yes |
Google AdWords Credit | Unspecified | $50 |
International Domain Names | Yes | Yes |
CGI | Yes | Yes |
PHP 5 | Yes | Yes |
Spam Assassin Protection | Yes | Yes |
Customer Support | 24 hours/day | 24 hours/day |
Python | Yes | Yes |
Ruby on Rails | Yes | Yes |
Flash | Yes | Yes |
As you can see, BlueHost spends a lot of time in either the “unspecified” or “unlimited” category, suggesting it has a lot of potential as a hit-or-miss hosting provider. But a simpler explanation might be that BlueHost isn’t as good at posting up a lot of its features as it could be, especially considering how much they’ve already got to brag about, keeping up with Just Host in a number of categories that no one else I’ve recently reviewed has been able to.
Pricing
How about the issue of cold, hard cash? Let’s take a look.
Commitment |
BlueHost |
Just Host |
1 Year | $6.95/month | $6.95/month |
2 Years | $6.95/month | $5.95/month |
3 Years | $6.95/month | $4.95/month |
Monthly | Unspecified | $8.95/month |
You’ve got to hand it to BlueHost for keeping things simple – there’s no incentive to committing to more or less time with them because the price remains the same. At least as far as their current offerings are concerned. Just Host gets an edge because you can save a few bucks by going with a longer-term commitment, but the edge is small because I dislike long-term commitments (Not all long-term commitments, ladies).
Note: Prices above don’t include coupons or discounts. Check the web hosting reviews to see if coupons or price cuts are available. We try to list the best and most current discounts in the list and on the shared review pages.
Conclusion
What are we to conclude of these well-matched and entirely-similar hosting providers? Well, there’s simply very few ways you can go wrong if your choice is down to BlueHost vs. Just Host. Both of the companies provide plenty of bang for the buck, unlimited real estate, and generally won’t charge you an arm and a leg for their services. You want more for your money? Start gambling.
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