Attempting to create a website for your business or organization for the first time could be overwhelming. Since various web services are currently available, it might be challenging to figure out where to start!
Who is a web host, exactly? What steps do I need to take to create a website? What is the best platform for my needs?
What is web hosting?
Imagine the internet as a town. In this town, websites are like plots of land. Just as you need a piece of land to build a house, you need a space on the internet to build a website. This space is provided by a web hosting company.
When Internet users want to view your website, they type your website address into their browser. Their computer will then connect to your server (provided by your web hosting company), and your webpages will be delivered to them through the browser.
Web hosting companies require that you own your domain in order to host with them. If you do not have a domain, the hosting companies will help you purchase one.
There are various types of web hosting services available to host your website, including shared hosting, virtual private server (VPS) hosting, dedicated server hosting, and cloud hosting, each serving different needs and providing different levels of customization, server resources, and technical knowledge requirements.
Bluehost vs Wix
In the expansive universe of web hosting, two stars have continued to shine brightly in recent years: Bluehost and Wix. Both platforms have garnered reputations for reliability and user-friendly experiences, yet they offer uniquely different services to cater to the diverse needs of website owners.
Bluehost, known for its robust offerings and exceptional customer service, has been a favorite amongst tech-savvy users who require extensive customization. On the other hand, Wix, with its intuitive website builder and array of design templates, has become a go-to for beginners and creatives seeking a hands-on approach to website creation.
In this article, we dive deep into an extensive comparison of these two titans in the web hosting arena. Our aim is to help you navigate the differences and similarities between Bluehost and Wix, understand their strengths and weaknesses, and ultimately guide you to make an informed decision based on your individual website needs.
Whether you’re a novice blogger, a seasoned online retailer, or a small business looking to make an online footprint, this comprehensive analysis will provide valuable insights to align with your web hosting requirements. So let’s delve into the world of Bluehost vs Wix.
What is Wix?
Wix is by far the most widely used website builder available today. It is a web application that is pre-installed and prepared to use to develop, deploy, and manage online projects. The system supports over 4.5 million active sites.
Wix has an ever-expanding community of users and provides cutting-edge website creation technology and artificial intelligence-based tools to provide a smooth experience for users of all experience levels.
What is Bluehost?
Matt Heaton formed Bluehost a few years before Wix in 2003. He later departed the firm in 2011. Wix was established in 1999. Endurance International Group, a company that provides hosting for more than 2 million domains throughout the globe, seems to be the owner of this name. In their facility in Orem, Utah, which is 5,000 square feet in size, every one of the servers is managed by the company’s employees.
Performance
Performance is the factor that may truly determine the success or failure of the website. Both services have passed all three of my reliability and speed-related tests, but I’m still not sure which one is the quicker option. In addition, it would appear that both suppliers are equally dependable. However, despite Bluehost’s superior speed, Wix could accommodate more visitors.
The number of individuals accessing the internet through their mobile devices, namely their smartphones, continues to rise, and this pattern shows no signs of abating shortly. In the Time to Interactive test, we investigate the possibility of interoperability between different platforms. The outcomes were comparable to those of the last test; however, Bluehost was much quicker.
If you anticipate receiving a significant amount of mobile traffic, you will have to consider your approach when utilizing Wix seriously; otherwise, your website will move at an unacceptable pace.
Uptime
Both Wix and Bluehost were analyzed independently throughout distinct periods. Bluehost was observed for two months, while Wix was only tracked for slightly more than a month.
During that month, Wix was offline for a total of 7 minutes due to 5 separate service interruptions. In the grand scheme of things, that comes out to an impressive 99.99 percent uptime.
Wix provided a fairly realistic result when speaking about the typical amount of time required to respond. The typical reaction time was 461 milliseconds. That is already a positive result on its own. For comparison, the typical amount of time it takes for a server to respond is 600 milliseconds.
Both Wix and Bluehost have an extremely reliable uptime of 99.99%.
On the other hand, compared to Wix’s, its reaction time was noticeably quicker. Bluehost had a response time of an average of 361 milliseconds. This is an excellent time, and it would have been even more spectacular if it weren’t for one huge leap amid something like the examination session.
Design and Functions
Bluehost and Wix provide a comprehensive set of capabilities necessary to fulfill their combined potential fully. Bluehost, a hosting web service, provides a high level of versatility, and this is true regardless of whether you want to use it using WordPress or some other platform.
On the other hand, Wix is a completely integrated solution that includes all of the essential features in one location for easy access. It implies that you will not be required to activate or set them up in any way manually.
Let’s look at both systems’ primary aspects right now so we can determine which one will serve your site design goals most effectively. When it comes to Bluehost, however, it becomes sensitive to evaluate it in conjunction with WordPress, the solution that is the most generally used, to have a better understanding of the specific benefits that come with selecting this alternative.
Bluehost provides a variety of functions.
- Easy and quick integration with 5 hosting plans: Shared, managed, WordPress, VPS, dedicated
- Free domain name
- Free email integration with webmail
- Free antispam solution you can configure in your cPanel
- 30 day money back guarantee
- 99% uptime
- Choose a low-budget yearly plan
- Free SSL
- 1-Click WordPress support that lets you launch your WP site in minutes
- 24/7 support
Wix includes the following features:
- Templates Already Constructed Save moment and allow the use of pre-made templates to create forms with a professional appearance and automate the process.
- Editing in Real-Time, which allows you to make changes to the website.
- Editors that allow you to “drag and drop” items onto pre-designed templates make it simple and fast to build your own website.
- Continual and Accurate Updates – Simple alterations and regular updates may be easily made to your website.
- Integration of Social Media Participates in social media initiatives to improve your ability to generate leads.
- Discounts for Promotional Use You may promote your items online by giving a discount to the people on your email list.
- Keeping tabs on people who go to your website is what’s referred to as “visitor tracking.”
- Website analytics allow you to monitor completed transactions and anticipate more accurate findings.
Prices
The hosting services provided by Bluehost and Wix both provide customers with three preliminary plan options. You will save the most money with Bluehost if you go with the Basic plan, which costs $2.95 per month.
The Basic plan has unlimited bandwidth and storage space of up to 50 GB; however, it only allows you to host a single website. The Combo plan is the most affordable option offered by Wix, whereas this one is a bit more pricey at $11 per month. The Combo plan offers only support for one website, but it does come with 3 gigabytes of storage space and 2 gigabytes of bandwidth. This plan is ideal for home websites.
The Bluehost Plus plan is the second primary plan, costing $5.45 per month. With this plan, you may host an infinite number of websites, and you receive unlimited bandwidth, unlimited hosted domains, and unlimited storage space.
The second plan that Wix offers is called the Unlimited Plan, which is once again quite a bit more expensive than Bluehost’s option, which is $14 a month. It also includes unlimited internet; however, the storage you may use is capped at 10 gigabytes. Other information, such as the total number of email accounts supported, is difficult to locate.
The Choice plan from Bluehost is one of the more costly options available; however, it costs the same as the one that falls in the middle, which is $5.45 a month, and all of the perks you receive, including bandwidth, storage, email accounts, as well as parked domains, are limitless. The Choice plan is ideal for businesses with a sizable customer base.
When it comes to Wix, they offer a VIP hosting package for $29 per month, but you don’t receive nearly as many infinite perks as you would with other platforms. You may anticipate limitless bandwidth with the VIP hosting plan, but you’ll only get a free name for the first year (after that, you’ll have to pay for it) and 20 gigabytes of storage space.
Customer Support
Bluehost
The organization provides dependable customer service in the form of help by email, live chat, and the telephone. You are capable of connecting to the customer care executive for any concerns that are linked to your site via the use of the live chat tool. In addition, it offers a comprehensive body of knowledge systems for users that require further resources. It provides great aid with billing difficulties.
Wix
Wix provides comprehensive service via email and the phone. If you require a solution to any problem that is associated with your website, you will have the ability to send a support request. In addition, it provides a knowledge base with articles you may use as references.
Site Speed
Bluehost
The infrastructure provided by Bluehost was designed with dependability in mind. Redundancy and fault tolerance are built into each of our shared hosting plans, including RAID10 storage and hot-swap drives. In addition, all of their gear is stored in data centers outfitted with numerous network carriers, backup generators, power supply units, and redundant power feeds.
Wix
Wix has always had a reputation for dependability, and if you pick one of its website designs, you won’t have to ever worry about your site falling because Wix hosts all of its customers’ websites. But that’s not all: in addition, they’ve made several significant improvements to their platform, which means that their websites now load in a flash!
For reasons of both speed and safety, every single Wix site is automatically hosted on Google’s Cloud Platform (GCP). This is one of Google’s affiliated businesses, and many people believe Google to be amongst the most trustworthy organizations in the whole globe.
Cons of Bluehost and Wix
Bluehost does not provide you any kind of compensation in the event your website has an extended or unexpected period of outage.
In contrast to some of its rivals, Website Migration Fees Bluehost levies extra fees if you wish to move pre-existing websites or cPanel domains.
Wix’s free version includes ads that are visible to users. If you choose to use the Free Plan offered by Wix, the company will place advertisement logos on the side and at the bottom of each page of your website.
It is difficult to make changes to templates. There is currently no way to switch templates on your website without first erasing all the personalization work you have completed.
Final Remarks: What’s Best For You
When it comes to the competition between Wix and Bluehost, it is essential to keep in mind that although the platforms are comparable, they provide various kinds of services to their users. After all, the primary function of Wix is of a site builder, and of Bluehost is that of a hosting website. However, you can have your website up and operating in a single location if you take advantage of the other services they provide.
Wix is the platform that I believe is the best option for anyone interested in constructing a website but does not have a great deal of prior knowledge. Suppose you are looking for site builders that allow you to get back up and running without compromising professionalism or your brand building.
In that case, Wix is, without a doubt, my favorite website builder overall. Wix offers more choices in terms of templates and customization because it has to be my favorite website builder.
If, on the other hand, you would rather develop your website using a different platform, such as WordPress, it makes perfect sense to utilize a host including Bluehost for the hosting aspect of the business. You can assure speedy load times and outstanding performance.
