Guide
Bluehost hosting: what it really costs over three years
The short answer
Bluehost Starter is the cheapest plan for one WordPress site: $3.99 a month, but only if you prepay 36 months ($143.64), and it then renews at $9.99 a month. Add two .com renewals at $23.99 for the free domain and three years cost $191.62.
The short version
- Cheapest plan for one WordPress site: Starter. $3.99 a month, but only on a 36-month term, so you pay $143.64 up front. It allows 10 sites and 10 GB of storage.
- Three years cost $191.62 if you keep the free .com domain at Bluehost: $143.64 for hosting plus two .com renewals at $23.99.
- What renews: hosting goes to $9.99 a month on a new 36-month term ($359.64), and the free domain renews at $23.99 a year.
- Right for: a first WordPress site where you are happy to prepay three years and want a free domain, SSL and staging in one account.
Bluehost sells web hosting built around WordPress. Everything on this page comes from Bluehost’s own pricing, help and terms pages. We have not used Bluehost ourselves.
What the cheapest plan really costs over three years
Bluehost’s pricing pages show Starter at $3.99 a month on a 36-month term only. A 12-month intro price was not published on the pages we checked.
| How you pay | Year 1 | Years 2 and 3 | 3-year hosting total |
|---|---|---|---|
| (a) 36 months up front at $3.99/mo | $143.64, paid on day one for all 3 years | $0 (already paid) | $143.64 |
| (b) 12 months at intro, then 12-month renewals at $11.99/mo | Not published | $287.76 | Year 1 + $287.76 |
The arithmetic:
- (a) $3.99 × 36 = $143.64. In year 4 the plan renews for another 36 months at $9.99 a month: $9.99 × 36 = $359.64.
- (b) Bluehost’s renewal price list shows Starter at $11.99 a month on a 12-month term. Two years: $11.99 × 12 × 2 = $287.76. That is about twice the whole 36-month prepay, before you even count year 1.
- Domain: one free domain for the first year, then a .com renews at $23.99 a year. Add $23.99 × 2 = $47.98 for years 2 and 3. With option (a), that makes $143.64 + $47.98 = $191.62.
Bluehost’s terms say a plan auto-renews for the same length as your first term. To stop a renewal, you must opt out at least 16 days before the term ends.
The plans in one table
| Plan | Intro price and term | Renews at (36-mo term) | Sites | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $3.99/mo, 36 months | $9.99/mo | 10 | 10 GB |
| Business | $6.99/mo, 36 months | $13.99/mo | 50 | 50 GB |
| eCommerce Essentials | $14.99/mo, 36 months | $21.99/mo | 100 | 100 GB |
Renewals cost more on shorter terms. Starter renews at $11.99 a month on a 12-month term and $15.99 on a monthly term. Bluehost’s site-wide sale (October 1 to November 30, 2026) takes 15% to 25% off the first 12-month term only, depending on how many products you buy. Enterprise plans are quoted by sales.
What is included
- SSL: free on every plan, from Let’s Encrypt.
- Backups: every plan lists weekly website backups, though the WordPress hosting FAQ says daily off-site backups. How long they are kept is not published. Bluehost’s terms say you are “solely responsible” for your own backups, that it does not back up accounts over 50,000 files or 30 GB, and that it may charge a restore fee for backup copies. The fee is not published.
- Email: Pro Email comes as a free trial, then renews automatically. The shared hosting page says $2.50 a month; the WordPress hosting page says $2.99 a month. Check the checkout total.
- Free site migration: a free migration tool on every plan. The WordPress hosting FAQ says up to five sites are migrated free within your first 30 days.
- CDN and staging: listed on all three plans.
- Domain privacy: listed as free for the first year on Business and eCommerce Essentials, but not on Starter. Bluehost’s domain price list shows privacy at $15.00.
The uptime promise
Bluehost’s terms say “Shared hosting services shall have an uptime of 99.99%.” If it misses that, you can claim one coupon a month for 5% of that month’s fee. You must claim within 30 days, approval is at Bluehost’s discretion, and it covers shared plans bought on or after March 5, 2025.
So the credit is small: 5% of a $3.99 month is about 20 cents. Note that the WordPress hosting FAQ mentions a 99.9% figure, while the plan pages and terms say 99.99%. Read more about what uptime means.
Leaving later
- Refund window: a full hosting refund if you cancel within 30 days, for credit card payments only and not on monthly terms. No refunds after 30 days.
- Free domain: if you cancel in the first year, the refund is reduced by the domain’s standard fee, but you keep the domain. A new domain cannot be transferred to another registrar for its first 60 days.
- Cancellation fee: the terms do not describe one.
- Your files: the terms say your content is deleted when the account ends and ask you to make a backup before you cancel. They do not describe a download tool. A WordPress site is your files plus a MySQL database; copy both before you cancel.
Our guides to moving your website and transferring a domain walk through the steps.
Who it is right for, and who should look elsewhere
Right for:
- A first WordPress site where you can prepay 36 months to get the $3.99 price.
- People who want SSL, staging, a CDN and a free first-year domain in one account.
- Owners of several small sites: Starter allows 10.
Look elsewhere if:
- You want to pay yearly or monthly without a big renewal jump.
- You want backups with a published retention period and free restores.
- You plan to keep the domain for years and want a low renewal.
Not sure WordPress is the right fit? Compare it with builders in our WordPress review, or price the whole site with the cost calculator.
Sources
Bluehost: shared hosting pricing, WordPress hosting pricing and FAQ, renewal price list, domain name pricing, terms of service (sections 12, 13, 14, 27 and 33), and the sale fine print on bluehost.com.
Questions people ask
How much does Bluehost cost over three years?
On Starter, $143.64 if you prepay 36 months at $3.99 a month. If you keep the free .com at Bluehost, add $23.99 for each of years 2 and 3, for $191.62 in all.
What does Bluehost renew at?
Starter renews at $9.99 a month on a 36-month term, $11.99 on a 12-month term and $15.99 monthly. The plan renews for the same length as your first term unless you opt out at least 16 days before it ends.
Does Bluehost give a free domain?
Yes, one free domain for the first year with a 12- or 36-month plan, redeemed within 90 days. After that a .com renews at $23.99 a year. If you cancel in the first year, the domain fee comes out of your refund.
Can I get a refund from Bluehost?
Yes, a full hosting refund if you cancel within 30 days, paid by credit card and did not choose a monthly term. Domain fees are not refunded, and there are no refunds after 30 days.
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