DreamHost is a US-based web hosting provider that offers a 100% uptime guarantee. Many people love the host, and because of this, the company has received a rating of 4.7 on Trustpilot.
However, a lot of other people believe that DreamHost sucks.
We researched and found out the problems faced by these DreamHost customers. This led us to dig deeper and pinpoint the origin of these problems.
So in this article, we’re sharing the reasons behind people’s dissatisfaction with DreamHost services.
Let’s discuss them one by one in our next section.
Why does DreamHost sucks? (6 reasons)
DreamHost has been in the hosting business since 1996. It used to be an amazing host. However, the company decided to standardize its offerings which led to a decline in its service quality.
DreamHost shifted its focus from its primary offerings to VPS, DreamPress, Cloud, and other ventures. This negatively impacted its main services and they got worse over time.
No cPanel
Many website owners are familiar with cPanel since it is the most popular control panel.
DreamHost doesn’t offer this industry-standard panel for website management. Instead, the hosting provider has a custom-built control panel to manage websites, emails, databases, and billing.
Probably, it is an attempt to save cPanel licensing costs.
It is possible to complete most tasks performed in the cPanel in this DreamHost panel as well. However, it is not as user-friendly as the number one panel in the industry.
Additionally, it is slow and has a lot of bugs.
You’ll find a lot of complaints against the host’s panel at online review sites:
Another issue arises when you want to import your cPanel backup file into the DreamHost panel. You’ll have to complete this cumbersome process manually.
Therefore, DreamHost sucks since it neither offers cPanel nor does it help you transfer your cPanel files.
No Free Emails
DreamHost doesn’t offer any free email with its entry-level hosting plans. Unlike its competitors, the host only has paid email plans for the smallest hosting packages.
So you must spend extra when using the Shared Starter or Remixer Standard plans.
It is a major drawback since other hosting providers, who use cPanel, offer free email services. On the other hand, securing a professional email adds to your concurrent monthly costs with DreamHost.
Slow Servers
DreamHost just sucks with its slow servers. Though shared servers usually perform slower than others, DreamHost could have done a little better.
Many of its competitors deliver faster page load times than the host itself.
The table below shows the loading time of a standard web page with different hosting providers. A lower number indicates faster speed and is, therefore, better than a larger one.
As seen above, DreamHost isn’t the best among its competitors. Its average page load time is 2.65 seconds which is quite a high number for a standard web page.
Additionally, this time can go as high as 21.25 seconds which is quite worrying.
You’ll find a lot of faster hosts delivering page speeds in milliseconds. Remember that your website speed is directly connected to its ranking in SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).
So it is extremely important to choose a hosting provider with fast servers.
DreamHost Support Sucks
DreamHost support sucks with its slow and poor responses. Its customer care team is not up to the standard set by its competitors.
The DreamHost support personnel do not have much knowledge to help its customers and resolve issues.
The hosting provider offers a typical knowledge base consisting of standard answers.
You will get cut-and-paste answers on the chat support, bearing no semblance of true communication or comprehension. Overall, DreamHost lags in providing personalized support to its customers.
Many DreamHost competitors offer varied ways to contact their support departments. However, you’ll get only email and web chat options with DreamHost support.
Even if you have a problem demanding urgent attention, you won’t be able to call DreamHost personnel for a quick resolution. Therefore, no phone support is one of the major drawbacks of hosting your website on a DreamHost server.
Many customers also complain about the automatic closure of complaints. DreamHost does not even ask them whether their issue is resolved or not.
Limited Data Centers
Having a server close to the location of your target audience is extremely important. It helps your website to rank higher in SERPs by improving its page speed.
That is why, most hosting providers have multiple data centers spread across different parts of the world.
DreamHost, on the other hand, is limited to the US region alone. It has its data centers in:
- Ashburn, Virginia to serve the US-East region
- Hillsboro, Oregon to serve the US-West region
It doesn’t matter whether your audience is in the US, UK, Australia, or any other part of the world. DreamHost will host your website in the US only.
Additionally, it automatically assigns a server location to your account without determining your needs. The host says it is possible to change the data center location by contacting support.
However, their customer care executives are quite unhelpful, as discussed above.
Here is a DreamHost customer complaining about the same issue:
Questionable Security
DreamHost servers are not secure enough to host business websites.
The company’s servers have been hacked once, which raises doubt about its security practices. The host left its database exposed in 2021.
It resulted in the leak of 815 million records, including names, usernames, and other client data.
Here is a screenshot from Cybertalk’s news article giving out the incident details:
To make things worse, DreamHost couldn’t even provide clean backups of client websites after the hack.
The hosting provider loaded the customer accounts with new installations containing blank website templates. Many DreamHost users lost their data which negatively impacted their finances and reputation.
Conclusion
DreamHost just sucks because of its slow servers, poor support, limited data center locations, and questionable security. Unlike its competitors, the host doesn’t offer free cPanel or email hosting with its plans.
Having said that, DreamHost is comparatively a better option than EIG companies. Hosting providers under the EIG group deliver pathetic performance.
Talking about DreamHost, it is extremely slow for most website types. Consider using it only for hobby sites and not the ones that bring you business.
DreamHost is not a scam but we recommend choosing a better host if you truly care about your website performance.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Is DreamHost really unlimited?
No, DreamHost is not truly unlimited. The host offers unlimited traffic and unmetered bandwidth with most of its hosting plans. However, a physical server is always limited by its total available resources.
So it is technically not possible to host a website receiving unlimited traffic on a DreamHost shared server.
Does DreamHost offer email?
No, DreamHost does not offer email as part of its entry-level hosting plans. Free email is only available with higher-tier DreamHost plans.
So if you are purchasing a Shared Starter or Remixer Standard plan, you’ll have to buy a premium email package.
