DreamHost review
We read its page and checked every item we credit, and needed to correct no figure. Here is what we found.
- BySalwa Al-Otaibi · edited by Nora Al-Mutairi
- Read on
- Score6.2 / 10
Built from what DreamHost publishes about itself on its plans page and in its cart, read without an account and without buying. Read on .
DreamHost is the first of five companies we read today whose figures needed no correction. The price, the term, the renewal, the first payment and the refund window are all as we had them.
It writes on its card a line joining two things that rarely appear together: DreamHost writes on the plan card a single line carrying two things: that the subscription renews automatically, and that it renews at ten dollars ninety-nine a month after one year. The opening price is two dollars eighty-nine, so the difference is close to fourfold and it is written on the same line
And it says outright what the plan does not include: DreamHost’s page says outright that the content delivery network and one-click staging come with an upgrade to its managed plan, not with the plan we score. That clarity counts in its favour: we have found others promising staging in page prose while placing it a tier above the plan being sold
How this review was built
We bought nothing from DreamHost. We read its plans page, created no account and typed no personal detail.
We then went back and opened the cart, so the figure is read rather than computed: We opened the cart and it read: first year $34.68 a year, then a hundred and thirty-one dollars eighty-eight a year, with the order total $34.68 and taxes calculated after the billing address. So the figure is read from the page, and a hundred and thirty-one eighty-eight a year is ten dollars ninety-nine a month And we found something in it we had not put there, which has a chapter below.
Speed and uptime sit outside the score, here and at every company on this list, because measuring them needs a bought plan.
Buying and price
5.9
Basis: the company’s own pages · weight 33%
Two dollars eighty-nine, then close to four times it, on one line.
We read the card: DreamHost writes on the plan card a single line carrying two things: that the subscription renews automatically, and that it renews at ten dollars ninety-nine a month after one year. The opening price is two dollars eighty-nine, so the difference is close to fourfold and it is written on the same line
Joining the two on one line counts in their favour. Much of this table writes a renewal price without saying the renewal is automatic, or says it is automatic without writing the price.
| Value | Points |
|---|---|
| Renewal jumps to 3.8× the opening price | 1.59 |
| a 12-month term is available | 8.17 |
| The renewal price is on the pricing page | 10.00 |
| $34.68 today | 8.27 |
Support availability
6.0
Basis: the company’s own pages · weight 27%
Two channels around the clock, and no telephone.
DreamHost advertises support at all hours by chat and ticket, and two channels is what puts the support score where it is. The score looks at published availability and how many routes there are, not at the quality of the answer.
And where this score fails our reader: DreamHost publishes no entries at all in the alternate-language set, and we found no occurrence of the word Arabic and no Arabic text on its page, nor any statement about support languages in either direction. It is one English site, as Verpex, Namecheap, InterServer, FastComet and ChemiCloud are
| Value | Points |
|---|---|
| support around the clock | 10.00 |
| Contact by chat, tickets | 6.67 |
| Publishes no Arabic support | 0.00 |
Published features
5.0
Basis: the company’s own pages · weight 20%
Three items of seven, among the fewer on our table, and much of it said plainly.
The plan carries daily backups, an SSL certificate and a free domain for a year. The email is temporary: The card writes three months free for twenty mailboxes, which is a temporary offer rather than an included item, and that is why we do not count email among this plan’s features. It is the same shape we found at HostGator, whose email is offered as a free trial, and at FastComet, whose free domain is a transfer rather than a registration
And for the network and staging, the page says where they are: DreamHost’s page says outright that the content delivery network and one-click staging come with an upgrade to its managed plan, not with the plan we score. That clarity counts in its favour: we have found others promising staging in page prose while placing it a tier above the plan being sold That clarity deserves mentioning, because this week we found a company promising staging in its page prose while placing it a tier above the plan it was selling.
| Value | Points |
|---|---|
| 3/7 published features | 5.00 |
Refund and billing
8.0
Basis: the company’s own pages · weight 20%
Thirty days, written on the card.
The score looks at three things: is the window written down, are the exclusions published, and does the billing show the renewal price. The company writes the first two, and its renewal price is on the card rather than at the billing step.
We did not read its full terms of service, so what we report is what is on the card rather than what is in the document.
| Value | Points |
|---|---|
| a refund window of 30 days | 10.00 |
| The refund exclusions are written down | 10.00 |
| Billing does not state the renewal and its price | 0.00 |
Speed and uptime: we did not measure them
Speed and uptime sit outside this score because measuring them needs a bought plan.
And the migration question is now closed, by an answer on the page itself rather than from support, which is what we score on.
Arabic: where it reaches and where it does not
No local editions at all, and no Arabic.
We read what it publishes: DreamHost publishes no entries at all in the alternate-language set, and we found no occurrence of the word Arabic and no Arabic text on its page, nor any statement about support languages in either direction. It is one English site, as Verpex, Namecheap, InterServer, FastComet and ChemiCloud are Six of the fifteen companies on our table publish no localisation for anybody, so this is a fact about the market rather than about this company alone. The result for a reader in Riyadh is the same either way.
Migration: an item we could not close
Two items that were not on the card: a migration and an inbox.
The first is migration: A paragraph on DreamHost’s page says every plan includes free site migrations, while the card for the plan we score does not mention migration at all, and the card one tier above lists one professional site migration among its distinguishing features. So we have neither credited migration nor ruled it out — we publish the contradiction
And we closed it by going back to the page: The migration question is closed by an answer in the FAQ on the same page: the free migration is an automatic tool for WordPress sites that the buyer installs themselves, while non-WordPress sites are migrated by hand, by backing up and uploading the files, or by paying for professional services. So the marketing sentence is true within the limits of a plugin the buyer installs, not a managed migration service The marketing sentence is true within its limits, and the limits are narrow: a plugin the buyer installs for WordPress sites, with everything else done by hand or paid for. So the item stays outside our count — but now for a known reason rather than an open question.
The second is the email, and it is not only on the card but in the basket: DreamHost’s cart says the order contains two things, and the second we did not ask for: Professional Email, first three months at zero, then nineteen dollars ninety-nine a year. That explains what the card writes about three months free for twenty mailboxes — it is not a description of the plan but a second product added to the order in advance
The company deserves its due in the same place: the charge today is zero, so the displayed total is unaffected, and the conversion price is printed on the line itself. It is still a product in the basket the buyer did not choose — the same shape we measured at IONOS, where a paid line sat in a basket we never filled.
This is the third time this week we have found the same shape: GreenGeeks ticking an item called Daily Backups on its card while the word daily never appears in its own backup article, and SiteGround promising staging in its page prose while its table puts staging a tier up. One shape, three companies.
The full calculation
| Sub-score | Value | Weight | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 5.9 | 33% | 1.947 |
| Support | 6.0 | 27% | 1.620 |
| Features | 5.0 | 20% | 1.000 |
| Refund | 8.0 | 20% | 1.600 |
| Total | 6.167 → 6.2 |
If not this one, then what
Both picks are computed from the scores rather than written by hand: the first is the one directly above it in the ranking, the second the one that beats it by the widest margin on the criterion it loses on.
InMotion Hosting
6.3The service directly above it in the ranking.
$4.79/mo on a 12-month prepayment: $57.48 today, then $14.99/mo
Read the reviewGreenGeeks
7.2What this page offers instead on the criterion it loses on — Published features.
$2.95/mo on a 12-month prepayment: $35.40 today, then $13.95/mo
Read the review
Bottom line
Buy from DreamHost if daily backups and a free domain are enough for you, you read English, and you accept the month becoming close to four times itself after a year. Stay away if you need email included beyond the third month, or a delivery network, or staging — those are on the plan above, and it says so.
Questions
Did you buy this plan?
No. We read the plans page and opened the cart, created no account and bought nothing. That is why speed and uptime are outside the score.
What will I pay on day one, and after a year?
Thirty-four dollars sixty-eight for twelve months at two dollars eighty-nine. Then the month becomes ten dollars ninety-nine, and the card says so and says the renewal is automatic.
Is email included?
For three months only. The card says three months free for twenty mailboxes, which is a temporary offer rather than an included item, so we do not count it among the features.
Do I get a free migration?
Yes for WordPress sites, with a tool you install yourself. Other sites you migrate by hand or pay for, which is what the FAQ on the page says. That is why we do not count migration among the features.
Does it include a delivery network or staging?
No, and it says so itself: both come with an upgrade to the managed plan. That clarity is worth mentioning.
What we know, and where from
Every figure on this page, where it came from and when we read it.
| What we say | How we know | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| DreamHost writes on the plan card a single line carrying two things: that the subscription renews automatically, and that it renews at ten dollars ninety-nine a month after one year. The opening price is two dollars eighty-nine, so the difference is close to fourfold and it is written on the same line | the company states it | DreamHost — Shared Starter card | |
| DreamHost’s page says outright that the content delivery network and one-click staging come with an upgrade to its managed plan, not with the plan we score. That clarity counts in its favour: we have found others promising staging in page prose while placing it a tier above the plan being sold | the company states it | DreamHost — upgrade wording | |
| We opened the cart and it read: first year $34.68 a year, then a hundred and thirty-one dollars eighty-eight a year, with the order total $34.68 and taxes calculated after the billing address. So the figure is read from the page, and a hundred and thirty-one eighty-eight a year is ten dollars ninety-nine a month | we measured it | DreamHost cart — Web Hosting Launch, yearly | |
| DreamHost publishes no entries at all in the alternate-language set, and we found no occurrence of the word Arabic and no Arabic text on its page, nor any statement about support languages in either direction. It is one English site, as Verpex, Namecheap, InterServer, FastComet and ChemiCloud are | we could not find it | DreamHost — no locales, no Arabic found | |
| The card writes three months free for twenty mailboxes, which is a temporary offer rather than an included item, and that is why we do not count email among this plan’s features. It is the same shape we found at HostGator, whose email is offered as a free trial, and at FastComet, whose free domain is a transfer rather than a registration | the company states it | DreamHost — Shared Starter, mailboxes | |
| A paragraph on DreamHost’s page says every plan includes free site migrations, while the card for the plan we score does not mention migration at all, and the card one tier above lists one professional site migration among its distinguishing features. So we have neither credited migration nor ruled it out — we publish the contradiction | the company states it | DreamHost — page prose against the plan cards | |
| The migration question is closed by an answer in the FAQ on the same page: the free migration is an automatic tool for WordPress sites that the buyer installs themselves, while non-WordPress sites are migrated by hand, by backing up and uploading the files, or by paying for professional services. So the marketing sentence is true within the limits of a plugin the buyer installs, not a managed migration service | the company states it | DreamHost FAQ — how to migrate a non-WordPress site | |
| DreamHost’s cart says the order contains two things, and the second we did not ask for: Professional Email, first three months at zero, then nineteen dollars ninety-nine a year. That explains what the card writes about three months free for twenty mailboxes — it is not a description of the plan but a second product added to the order in advance | we measured it | DreamHost cart — Professional Email line |