Are you asking yourself the following question: Does Bluehost charge monthly or all at once for its hosting plans? Well, not many people know about this option, but it is possible.
However, a certain condition must be met so you are eligible to pay on a monthly basis, which will discover next in more detail.
Does Bluehost charge monthly or all at once?
So can you pay monthly for Bluehost? YES, you can if you already have an existing Bluehost account and you are about to renew it, only then you can have the option to pay month to month.
As to the new accounts, users who wish to sign up with Bluehost for the first time for a shared hosting plan will only have 3 of these payment durations to choose from:
- 12-Month Plan
- 24-Month Plan
- 36-Month Plan
As you can see, you get to pick between 1 year, 2 years, or 3 years duration payment. By choosing the longest plan of 3 years (36 months), you benefit from the biggest discount which is a great investment in the long term.
So every time you might be asking yourself the question of whether does Bluehost charges monthly or yearly. It is mainly because you still haven’t finished your first billing cycle. Once that’s done, you can opt-in for the monthly payment.
To get started, sign up to Bluehost.com to get the exclusive deal and benefit from a FREE Domain and SSL Certificate.
Monthly Billing vs Annual Billing
One of the advantages of paying monthly at Bluehost is that you can cancel at any time you like because you are not contractually obligated.
With Bluehost monthly billing, you don’t need to worry about paying upfront large fees like it’s the case with annual payments.
However, you should know that if you choose to pay monthly you won’t get any discounts, but if you pick the annual payment you will be able to save more money by benefiting from their best discounts.
With that said, our recommendation would be to think for the long term and pick the annual payment for at least 1 year duration time, the more you increase the duration the more money you will save, because the discount is only available during the sign up so might as well get the best of it.
Bluehost offers 30 day money-back guarantee this is the best alternative to a free trial since they aren’t offering it anymore. So at any moment, you can cancel your subscription and get your full refund with no questions asked.
We uncover for you next, all the prices that Bluehost has to offer with the shared hosting plans.
Bluehost Complete Cost Breakdown
Basic Plan:
- 1 Month @ $9.99 per month
- 12 Months @ $4.95 per month
- 24 Months @ $3.95 per month
- 36 Months @ $2.95 per month
Plus Plan:
- 1 Month @ $14.99 per month
- 12 Months @ $7.45 per month
- 24 Months @ $6.95 per month
- 36 Months @ $5.45 per month
Choice Plus Plan:
- 1 Month @ $18.99 per month
- 12 Months @ $7.45 per month
- 24 Months @ $6.95 per month
- 36 Months @ $5.45 per month
Pro Plan:
- 1 Month @ $29.99 per month
- 12 Months @ $18.95 per month
- 24 Months @ $15.95 per month
- 36 Months @ $13.95 per month
If you are interested in exploring other alternatives to Bluehost, we’ve got you covered. Later in this article, you find our recommendations for the best month-to-month web hosting alternatives to Bluehost that come at great prices as well.
Getting started with Bluehost
Go to www.Bluehost.com and click the black button Get Started.
Step 1: Choose your hosting plan
After you have clicked on the starting button, you’ll be prompted with the list of different hosting plans you can choose from. In our case, we will pick the Basic plan, which is great for any kind of online business.
Click on Select to choose the basic plan.
Step 2: Choose your domain name
Now that you have selected the basic plan, it’s time to select the domain name for your website.
Basically, you have 2 options, either you acquire a new domain name (which is free for the 1st year) or you can use a domain name that you already own with another registrar.
To choose a new domain use the box on the left, to use an existing domain that you already own, use the box on the right.
Step 3: Add account information
Once you have chosen your domain name, proceed by adding your account information to the form.
Step 4: Choose your package options
Afterward, you can select the billing cycle for your hosting plan. Please note that the longer the Bluehost billing cycle is, the bigger the discount will be on your total price.
So if you wish to save more of your money in the long term, we recommend that you pick the Basic 36 Month Price.
Next, we advise you to uncheck all the options that belong to the extra addons, like Codeguard addon and SiteLock add-on to keep your total price as low as possible. Don’t worry they are all optional, you already have everything to set up your website.
Lastly, you need to make the payment by (PayPal or credit card), after, you have completed this step, you should receive an email with your confirmation and login information.
Congrats! You have done it. You now have your own Bluehost account and you are ready to go!
3 Bluehost alternatives (for monthly-payments)
1. A2hosting
A2hosting is the fastest shared hosting provider in the market. If you care about speed then choosing A2hosting is your best option.
If you go with A2hosting you will get a lot of benefits, such as:
- Excellent Support 24/7
- Ultra-fast servers
- Free backups & migrations
- Server Locations across 3 Continents
- 30-Day money-back guarantee
If you decide to pay monthly that will cost you $10.99, however, if you wish to benefit from the best discount we recommend that you sign up for the 3 year plan that will cost you only $2.99 per month, for a total of $107.64 which is a really a good deal for the long term considering that it includes a free domain name for the first year.
2. Dreamhost
Dreamhost is a great hosting that combines performance, price, and support which is suitable to support any kind of online business.
What makes it stand out more from its competitors is its remarkable money-back guarantee of 97 days. That should tell you how much confident they are in the quality of their services.
They offer some cool features, like:
- Free SSL certificate
- Free backups
- 50GB SSD storage
- Unmetered bandwidth
- Free domain name
With that said, when it comes to email accounts they are not free, the cost per email is $1.67/month.
On the upside, this host is by far the cheapest alternative when it comes to the monthly payment, which costs only $4.95/month.
3. HostGator
HostGator is the direct competitor of Bluehost and one of the most popular hosting, the two hosts belong to the same manager but they operate differently.
When it comes to speed, they don’t perform well in that aspect. But their prices are higher and more flexible on the periods, ranging between (1, 12, 36 months).
One of the key features that it offers:
- Unlimited storage and bandwidth
- Free daily backups
- Offers Windows hosting
- Strong security
- Free site transfer
If you go for the 1-month billing cycle, you will get a discounted price for the first month a cost of $12.95 per month but if you wish to get a better deal, you can opt-in for the 36-months billing cycle of $3.75/month for a total of $135.50
Conclusion
We hope our article has helped you decide and take the right action toward hosting your new site.
We are curious to know which web hosting you have picked. Let us know in the comment section below. We would love to hear from you!
Do you have any questions? Feel free to ask us by leaving us a comment.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Does Bluehost offer monthly payments?
New Bluehost customers can only sign up for a yearly plan or higher. As for existing customers, when they renew their hosting account, they have the option to switch to the monthly payment.
Why won’t Bluehost let me pay for one month?
One month’s billing cycle is only available after the renewal. If you don’t have the option to pay monthly that means that you’ll have to wait until your first Bluehost billing cycle ends so you can switch to monthly payments.
How much does Bluehost cost per month?
If you sign up for the 3-year plan, Bluehost’s monthly billing will only cost $2.75. However, if you go for the month-to-month payment, the Basic plan costs $9.99
Can I pay monthly for Bluehost?
Yes, you can! But only after you renew your subscription with Bluehost.
1.How do I make payment via paypal for Bluehost? i.e account number (details)etc.
2. If you take a 3 year plan , how does Bluehost make sure you do not cancell after a year having paid less for that year?
Hi Xolani,
1. You’ll be able to see the Paypal payment option at the bottom of the checkout page, on the right of the credit card fields.
2. If you choose a 3 year plan, you’ll pay for the total amount in advance, and you’ll have a 30-Days money back guarantee in case you ever decide to cancel.
Hope this answers your questions 🙂