Bluehost’s checkout page shows $1.99 a month if you commit to 36 months, and that number has almost nothing to do with what you will actually pay to keep the site running. I run Ecommerce Paradise, where I teach high-ticket dropshipping, and hosting is one of the first real costs I walk new store owners through before they sign anything.
Here is exactly what Bluehost costs, plan by plan, including the renewal numbers most people never see until the invoice shows up.
| Plan | Intro Price | Renewal Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $1.99-$3.99/mo | ~$9.99/mo | Personal site, not ecommerce |
| Business | $3.99-$6.79/mo | ~$13.99/mo | New WooCommerce store |
| WooCommerce Essential | $9.95-$14.99/mo | ~$19.99-$24.99/mo | Launching WooCommerce properly |
| WooCommerce Premium | $14.99-$21.99/mo | ~$29.99+/mo | Abandoned cart recovery, one-click checkout |
Want the full feature breakdown before you commit? Read my full Bluehost review →
The 36-Month Trap: How Bluehost’s Cheapest Rate Actually Works
The $1.99 headline rate only applies if you prepay for 36 months upfront. Shorter terms cost more per month even at signup. If you are not confident you will stick with Bluehost for three years, the 12-month term at a slightly higher intro rate is the more honest comparison to make against competitors.
Starter: Why It’s Not the Right Plan for a Store
Starter caps you at one website, does not include daily backups (CodeGuard is a paid add-on), and lacks the WooCommerce-specific configuration that makes checkout reliable. It is fine for a personal blog. It is not fine for anything taking payments.
Business: The Real Minimum for a WooCommerce Launch
Business adds up to 50 websites, automated daily backups through CodeGuard, malware scanning, and 24/7 phone support, which Starter does not include. At $3.99 to $6.79 a month for year one, this is the practical floor for a store with paying customers.
WooCommerce Essential and Premium: Purpose-Built Plans
These two tiers pre-install WooCommerce, include payment gateway integration, Yoast SEO Premium, and daily backups by default. Premium adds abandoned cart recovery emails and one-click checkout for returning customers, both of which are genuinely useful conversion tools for a high-ticket niche store where every completed checkout matters.
Renewal Pricing: The Number That Actually Matters
Bluehost’s renewal jump is steep, in some cases up to 150% higher than the intro rate. According to WPBeginner’s WordPress hosting comparisons, this pattern is common across budget shared hosts owned by larger hosting conglomerates, and Bluehost’s parent company Newfold Digital also owns HostGator, which follows a similar pricing structure. Calculate your real three-year cost using the renewal rate before you lock in a long-term term.
VPS Hosting: When Shared Hosting Isn’t Enough
Standard VPS starts around $19.99 a month (2 GB RAM, 30 GB SSD), scaling to Ultimate VPS at $59.99 a month (8 GB RAM, 120 GB SSD). VPS removes the CPU throttling and process limits that affect shared hosting under concurrent traffic, which matters once a store is doing consistent daily orders.
Add-Ons Worth Paying For (and Ones to Skip)
CodeGuard Backup Basic at roughly $2.99 a month is worth it on any plan that does not already include daily backups. SiteLock Security at a similar price adds malware scanning beyond the free tier. Premium SSL at $44.99 a year is generally unnecessary since the free Let’s Encrypt SSL included on every plan is sufficient for most stores.
How Bluehost Pricing Compares to SiteGround and HostGator
SiteGround starts at a similar intro price but renews even higher than Bluehost in most cases. According to Forbes Advisor’s hosting rankings, SiteGround’s stronger performance and support justify the higher renewal cost for stores that can afford it.
HostGator, under the same parent company as Bluehost, runs a nearly identical pricing structure with a slightly lower entry point. According to Crazy Egg’s hosting comparison research, sibling brands under the same parent hosting company rarely differ enough in underlying infrastructure to justify switching between them for price alone.
Which Plan Should You Actually Buy?
For a new WooCommerce dropshipping store, start on WooCommerce Essential rather than Business or Starter. The pre-configured WooCommerce setup, daily backups, and payment gateway integration save real setup time, and the cost difference over Business is small relative to what it saves you in manual configuration.
Budgeting Hosting Into Your Business Costs
If you are still working through business formation and financial planning, treat hosting as a fixed monthly cost at the renewal rate, not the intro rate. Budget it alongside your supplier and software costs so it does not catch you off guard at month 13.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cheapest Bluehost plan?
Starter at $1.99 to $3.99 a month on a 36-month term, renewing around $9.99 a month. It is not recommended for a store taking payments since it lacks daily backups by default.
Does Bluehost’s price go up after the first term?
Yes, significantly, in some cases up to 150% higher. Always check the renewal rate before signing up, not just the advertised intro price.
What’s the best Bluehost plan for a WooCommerce store?
WooCommerce Essential at $9.95 to $14.99 a month intro. It comes with WooCommerce pre-installed, daily backups, and payment gateway integration already configured.
Does Bluehost charge extra for backups?
Only on the Starter plan, where CodeGuard is a paid add-on around $2.99 a month. Business and both WooCommerce plans include daily backups by default.
Is Bluehost cheaper than SiteGround?
At renewal, generally yes. SiteGround’s renewal rates tend to run higher than Bluehost’s at comparable tiers, though SiteGround delivers stronger performance and support for the difference.
Building a WooCommerce store and want your hosting and tech stack sorted from day one? See how my done-for-you store build service works →
Or grab my free beginner’s guide to see how hosting fits into a complete high-ticket dropshipping system.
Trevor Fenner is an ecommerce entrepreneur and the founder of Ecommerce Paradise, a platform focused on helping entrepreneurs build and scale profitable high-ticket ecommerce and dropshipping businesses. With over a decade of hands-on experience, Trevor specializes in high-ticket dropshipping strategy, niche and product selection, supplier recruiting and onboarding, Google & Bing Shopping ads, ecommerce SEO, and systems-driven automation and scaling. Through Ecommerce Paradise, he provides free education via in-depth guides like How to Start High-Ticket Dropshipping, advanced training through the High-Ticket Dropshipping Masterclass, and fully done-for-you turnkey ecommerce services for entrepreneurs who want a faster, more hands-off path to growth. Trevor is known for emphasizing sustainable, real-world ecommerce models over hype-driven tactics, helping store owners build scalable, sellable, and location-independent brands.
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