JustHost vs. DreamHost (2024)

Laura Bernheim

By: Laura Bernheim

Laura Bernheim

Laura has spent more than 12 years crafting engaging and award-winning articles that share the passion behind organizations' products, people, and innovations. As a long-time HostingAdvice contributing expert, she combines a reputation for producing quality content with rich technical expertise to show experienced developers how to capitalize on emerging technologies and find better ways to work with established platforms. A professional journalist, Laura has contributed to The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, the Sun Sentinel, and the world's top hosting providers.

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Editor: Lillian Castro

Lillian Castro

Lillian brings more than 30 years of editing and journalism experience to our team. She has written and edited for major news organizations, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the New York Times, and she previously served as an adjunct instructor at the University of Florida. Today, she edits HostingAdvice content for clarity, accuracy, and reader engagement.

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Laura Bernheim Laura Bernheim Hosting Expert
“We tested DreamHost & JustHost — The winner is DreamHost!”

In a high-speed race to the finish line, web hosts JustHost and iPage rev their engines for a chance at the gold cup. Both hosts offer some of the industry’s most budget-friendly prices, but their low cost doesn’t mean you don’t get quality services. These providers’ packages are full of features developed to support first-time site owners and maximize website performance. Offering a full scope of packages, users will have plenty of options between these two high-value providers. Read on to see how our chosen winner crossed the finish line in first place.

Overall Rating
4.8/5.0 ★★★★★
Visit DreamHost »
Overall Rating
3.7/5.0 ★★★★
Visit JustHost »

Disclosure: When you sign up through links on our site, we often earn referral fees from partners. For more information, see our ad disclosure and review policy.

Overall Hosting Comparison

Best Overall Rating

★★★★★ 4.8/5.0

A top-notch host for those who know what they're looking for, DreamHost offers nuanced and performant hosting perfect for scaling websites and applications through the ranks of shared, VPS, cloud, and dedicated hosting.

We love the company's features but realize that beginners or hobbyist developers might not want to fork over the extra cash to capitalize on the performance, optimization, and managed services that DreamHost offers. If, however, your site is growing and gathering more and more traffic, few hosts will take care of you as well as DreamHost.

Managed services include infrastructure management, automatic backups and updates, malware scans, and DDoS protection. We appreciate how the independently owned company was built on a passion for open-source technologies.

DreamHost developers routinely contribute code back to communities, such as WordPress and OpenStack, and the company has used their brainpower and experience to create the open-source storage system Ceph and OpenStack cloud network virtualization tool Akanda.

As such, DreamHost support agents know what they're talking about. Available all day, every day, the in-house support team provides help worthy of DreamHost's speedy SSD-based architecture, hand-crafted control panel, WordPress-tailored solutions, and reliable managed services.

  • Unlimited traffic, storage, websites, and email
  • US-based customer support available 24/7
  • 200% faster performance with SSDs
  • Industry-leading 97-day money-back guarantee
  • Enjoy preinstalled WordPress and FREE transfer
  • Get started on DreamHost now.
Money Back Guarantee
97 days
Disk Space
Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

Best Overall Rating

★★★★ 3.7/5.0

JustHost includes a lot of free extras that come with its one-size-fits-all shared hosting service, making them a solid, affordable option to power your online presence. The company's website is easy to use, just like its account and site management tools. The JustHost web administration panel, the industry standard cPanel, is designed in the same vein and makes site operation a breeze when compared to other hosts with more complicated interfaces. Both beginners and experienced users will appreciate the ample storage space and unlimited bandwidth JustHost allocates to users, along with the unlimited data transfer and email accounts. The included domain name is also a perk everyone needs and can enjoy. JustHost becomes one of the most affordable shared hosts in existence particularly if you sign up for a two- or three-year plan. For folks who are new to the hosting space, however, this term length can be daunting and hard to justify — fortunately, the company is one of a handful to offer a monthly term option, as well. JustHost also offers a relatively standard 30-day money-back guarantee and 24/7 customer support, positioning the brand among industry leaders.

  • FREE domain name, email, and marketing tools
  • FREE site builders and instant account setup
  • $200 in Facebook, Google, and Bing advertising credits
  • 24/7 live phone, chat, and ticket support
  • Easy-to-use cPanel control panel
  • Get started on JustHost now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
50 GB - Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

Cheap Hosting Comparison

Cheap Rating

★★★★★ 4.6/5.0

#9 out of 10 in Cheap Hosting reviews

While DreamHost's price might be a little steep compared to other high-value hosting providers, the company gives customers ample time and reasons to get hooked and stick around.

The company, which started in the founders' dorm room in 1997, offers an industry-leading 97-day money-back guarantee. Additionally, DreamHost guarantees 100% uptime and will reimburse customers the cost of a whole day of hosting for each hour of downtime outside of scheduled maintenance.

We love that DreamHost seems to be genuinely built with their customers' experience and success in mind. Beyond unlimited storage and bandwidth, the company's luxurious shared hosting package boasts high-performance SSDs that make your websites perform at least 20 times faster.

Customers can also enjoy unlimited domain hosting, free domain privacy on sites registered through DreamHost, and unlimited email accounts.

We found that DreamHost's hand-crafted control panel gives easy access to all the tools beginners need to start and grow their sites: 1-click installers of top content management systems and eCommerce tools, SSL/TLS certificates from Let's Encrypt, and automated malware scans.

The company's award-winning support and service teams are staffed by self-described tech veterans, geeks, and nerds who are trained to Tier II to provide the most knowledgeable and experienced assistance.

If the extensive knowledgebase and user forums don't solve your problems, you can reach the in-house support team around the clock through phone callbacks, email tickets, Twitter, and live chat.

  • Automated malware scans
  • Unlimited domain hosting
  • Unlimited email accounts with POP/IMAP/SMTP
  • FREE eCommerce store tools and PCI compliance
  • Streamlined proprietary control panel
  • Get started on DreamHost now.
Money Back Guarantee
97 days
Disk Space
Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

Cheap Rating

★★★★ 4.2/5.0

A lot of freebies come along with JustHost, making the shared hosting brand a great value. The basic plan is very affordable, and the best deals are saved for those customers who sign up for multiple years. Some of the nice features included on the base account are unlimited bandwidth, five email accounts, a free domain name registration, and a drag-and-drop site builder. As you upgrade to the company's larger, yet still affordable plans, you unlock unrestricted email, disk space, domains, and email inboxes. JustHost also has a simple-to-use website builder. The custom-built solution may not be as robust as some of the other offerings you might find, but the platform's user-friendly interface serves beginners remarkably well. Users will find a ton of templates (400+) and support for ecommerce carts. Finally, JustHost offers a 30-day money-back guarantee with all of its hosting plans, which should put some minds at ease about selecting a long-term contract and getting the best deal.

  • Unlimited email accounts and FREE site builder
  • $200 in Facebook, Google, and Bing ad credits
  • 24/7 support via phone, email, and chat
  • Website builder, marketing tools, and SEO tips
  • FREE domain name registration
  • Get started on JustHost now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
50 GB - Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

Dedicated Hosting Comparison

Dedicated Rating

★★★★★ 4.8/5.0

When your high-traffic site outgrows VPS, turn to DreamHost for premium dedicated hosting at a reasonable rate. The 20-year-old hosting provider offers servers with three times more cores and four times more RAM compared to well-known competitors.

What's more, DreamHost includes up to 2TB of SSD storage, unlimited bandwidth, and a 100% uptime guarantee. All dedicated servers come with full root and shell access, along with DDoS protection, RAID-1 storage, and unlimited MySQL databases.

With DreamHost's custom control panel, customers can quickly add, remove, or reboot servers with just a few clicks. We appreciate that DreamHost prides itself on providing open-source solutions, contributing to and supporting developer communities, and maintaining expert-level support teams.

In addition to running Ubuntu Long Term support, DreamHost supports PHP, Perl, Python, and Ruby. DreamHost has datacenters on both coasts and offers integration with the Cloudflare content delivery network, making sure your content loads quickly, no matter where your traffic comes from.

DreamHost's newest facility, dubbed "Data Center Alley," includes 2N+2 power redundancy and dual water lines for redundant cooling. Around-the-clock staffing, a 1Gbps internet connection, and emergency generators can give dedicated hosting customers peace of mind that their sites will stay online for the long haul.

  • Up to 12 cores available
  • Full root and shell access
  • DDoS protection and 24/7 server monitoring
  • Fully managed and customizable hardware options
  • RAID-1 HDD or SSD storage
  • Get started on DreamHost now.
Money Back Guarantee
N/A
Disk Space
240 GB SSD - 2 TB HDD
Domain Name
New or Transfer

Dedicated Rating

★★★★ 3.8/5.0

JustHost's modern hardware and multiple dedicated IP addresses are the centerpieces of the company's dedicated server offerings. Each machine is fully-managed with an enhanced cPanel, making JustHost a good choice for a first-time user's dedicated server. Experienced users who want to manage or configure all aspects of their servers, however, still have root access. Instant provisioning is a greatly-appreciated and rare feature for dedicated servers, which can often take hours to configure and deploy. What's more, all storage comes with RAID-1 protection and available storage upgrades of up to 2TB. JustHost is one of the rare companies to included dedicated servers in its 30-day money-back guarantee, providing uncertain customers a chance to check out the company's services and support without risk. Even better, customers can register a new domain name for free for one year. Customers can reach JustHost's support teams around the clock through phone calls, chat messages, and email tickets. Those with dedicated servers have exclusive access to a dedicated team of server experts, making the company an excellent and affordable option for your first dedicated server.

  • Fully-managed hosting plans with instant provisioning
  • Instant provisioning with root access and cPanel
  • Mirrored storage with automatic RAID-1 protection
  • Enhanced write-back caching with its own RAM
  • Dedicated support team available 24/7
  • Get started on JustHost now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
500 GB - 2 TB
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

VPS Hosting Comparison

VPS Rating

★★★★★ 4.7/5.0

With scalable RAM and SSD storage, DreamHost's VPS plans give customers a powerful, speedy, and stable environment ripe for growth.

RAM ranges from 1GB to 8GB, while storage varies between 30GB and 240GB. While DreamHost's VPS storage space and RAM options are in line with the industry average, DreamHost layers on a bevy of additional perks that turns their already competitive prices into big bargains.

Starting with all-SSD infrastructure, which boosts your website or application's speed by 20 times compared to standard SATA disk drives, DreamHost also includes a dedicated IP address and free SSL/TLS certificates, as well as unlimited bandwidth, domain hosting, and email accounts.

You can manage your virtual servers through DreamHost's custom control panel, which has been developed for more than 15 years. Although we originally missed the familiarity of cPanel or Plesk, we quickly adapted to DreamHost's sleek, modern panel.

Easily scale your virtual servers up or down based on your expected needs. For an added performance boost, DreamHost offers an add-on MySQL VPS service that puts your website's database on its own isolated server.

Linux-VServers dedicate an initial 2300MB of RAM to your site, giving customers a sneak peek at what DreamHost's dedicated hosting looks like.

  • Custom web-based control panel
  • Unlimited MySQL databases
  • Easily scalable RAM
  • High-performance SSD drives
  • 5 years of security updates with Ubuntu Long Term Support
  • Get started on DreamHost now.
Money Back Guarantee
N/A
Disk Space
30 GB SSD - 240 GB SSD
Domain Name
New or Transfer

VPS Rating

★★★★ 4.1/5.0

JustHost is a mid-tier web host that has somewhat pricey VPS options, given the amount of processing power you get. With that said, the company's interface is extremely simple to navigate and offers cloud-driven scalability that is likely worth the investment. We'd like to see faster solid-state drives included with the cloud infrastructure, but enhanced virtualization via OpenStack and KVM means resources are provisioned instantly. JustHost paves the way for customer growth and success with its cloud VPS platform. First-time users who know they’ll need a VPS will be happy to have the familiar shared hosting staples like a cPanel control panel and free domain registration. Migrating to a larger server, should you need one, is also painless. Though JustHost doesn't provide huge CPU and RAM numbers, customers receive plenty of storage and bandwidth for most use cases.

  • Guaranteed server resources from enhanced virtualization
  • Cloud-powered scalability with OpenStack and KVM
  • Instant provisioning and guaranteed resources
  • Feature-rich enhanced cPanel control panel
  • FREE domain registration and 24/7 technical support
  • Get started on JustHost now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
30 GB - 120 GB
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

WordPress Hosting Comparison

WordPress Rating

★★★★★ 4.9/5.0

#4 out of 8 in WordPress Hosting reviews

One of only three hosting providers recommended by the WordPress Core team, DreamHost has actively contributed to the WordPress community for more than a decade.

The company's platform is optimized for the incredibly popular content management system, and plans include easy setup, automated updates and backups, unlimited bandwidth, and 24/7 specialized support.

DreamHost does an admirable job tailoring its shared hosting service around WordPress, but we're most impressed with the company's fully managed WordPress solution, DreamPress.

Launched in 2013, DreamPress offers enhanced speed, scaling, and security by configuring various settings and plugins that streamline WordPress installation, databases, and server operations. DreamPress adds multiple caching layers and isolates server resources to perform more than five times faster than shared hosting.

We love that DreamHost allocates two VPS servers for each DreamPress customer: one optimized for the frontend and the other for MySQL.

You'll get the same SSD storage found elsewhere in DreamHost plans, but DreamPress dynamically auto-scales memory to grow with your traffic. Support and security are further tailored to WordPress with automatic updates and a firewall that blocks known WordPress vulnerabilities and offers protection from brute-force attacks.

DreamPress uses NGINX, HTTP2, and Let's Encrypt SSL/TLS certificates to balance performance and privacy.

  • WordPress hosting for up to unlimited sites
  • FREE WordPress website migration
  • Fully managed hosting with DreamPress plan
  • NEW WordPress website builder tool
  • 1 of 3 providers endorsed by WordPress.org
  • Get started on DreamHost now.
Money Back Guarantee
97 days
Disk Space
Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

WordPress Rating

★★★★ 3.9/5.0

Although JustHost doesn't have much in the way of WordPress-specific upgrades, site owners using the world's most popular content management system are still well served by the company's ample resources and reliable infrastructure. JustHost starts users off with unlimited bandwidth, a free domain registration, and a one-click WordPress installation via the Mojo Marketplace script library. From there, site owners can add and install SiteLock security and an SSL certificate, along with a wide selection of ecommerce shopping carts. As you build your brand, the company's free email accounts and marketing credits will help spread the word, all while the company's team of support agents are on standby to offer customer support and troubleshooting if any issues arise. All in all, JustHost is a solid WordPress hosting option for beginners and small businesses testing the WordPress waters and looking for a speedy and secure place to scale.

  • One-click WordPress installations with PHP 7
  • Unlimited bandwidth and included SSL certificate
  • FREE SiteLock security scans and malware protection
  • FREE domain registration and marketing tools
  • HostingAdvice readers receive up to 74% off
  • Get started on JustHost now
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
50 GB - Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

Site Builder Hosting Comparison

Website Builder Rating

★★★★★ 4.6/5.0

For a while, the only knock on DreamHost was the lack of a website builder for beginners unfamiliar with web design. With the relatively recent debut of Remixer, however, DreamHost has come up with yet another way to appeal to site owners.

Hosting providers creating their own site builders can be a risky venture — why devote resources to trying something new when there's a tried-and-true outside option such as Weebly?

DreamHost, however, seems to have hit a home run with Remixer. We love how the clean and modern interface directs users straight to whatever tools they need.

Remixer offers several professional-grade templates that appeal to a surprisingly wide range of uses: small businesses, professionals, travelers, creatives, music, events, and even documentation. Remixer lets you preview each theme in desktop, tablet, and mobile (portrait AND landscape) views before getting to work.

The builder interface itself is equally impressive, giving users the options to customize, move, and add content based on row-based layouts.

More experienced site owners will appreciate access to HTML code and the ability to use Markdown to format text. Being a leader in WordPress web hosting, DreamHost enables users to export their Remixer website to WordPress to take advantage of powerful features such as SSL certificates, blogging, ecommerce, WordPress plugins, and other tools associated with the popular CMS.

If you're looking for a sleek, refreshing site builder, sign up for a shared hosting plan with DreamHost to access Remixer. Upgraded plans also include email accounts to give users a well-rounded and complete experience.

  • Remixer enables users to create and manage sites without code
  • Preview themes for desktop, tablet, and mobile (portrait and landscape)
  • Responsive, professional themes
  • Royalty-free images from Pixabay
  • Easily export to WordPress
  • Get started on DreamHost now.
Money Back Guarantee
97 days
Disk Space
Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

Website Builder Rating

★★★★ 3.9/5.0

With JustHost, website building options are seamlessly built into the company's shared hosting service. While not as robust as a Weebly-based drag-and-drop system, JustHost's custom solution includes more than 400 templates, which should satisfy even the pickiest of users. In addition to the site builder, you get all of the perks of the company's shared hosting plans, such as a free domain registration, unlimited email accounts, unlimited data transfer, ecommerce shopping carts, and cPanel, which is further contributes to usability. For business users, the included $150 in advertising credits will help get your new site welcomed exposure. Aimed at the first-time user, JustHost is very intuitive to use. Bundling a free domain and the company's instant provisioning, JustHost gets you up and running and building your site in just minutes, without having to wait for the server to be configured for you. Finally, JustHost offers fantastic 24/7 customer support that is very well known in the industry. The experts at JustHost will help you keep your site running if there are issues, and who better to answer your site builder questions than the developers and employees who created the platform.

  • Custom site builder with drag-and-drop simplicity
  • 400+ templates, including ecommerce stores
  • FREE domain name and email addresses
  • $200 in Facebook, Google, and Bing advertising credits
  • 24/7 support available via phone, chat, and email
  • Get started on JustHost now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
50 GB - Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)
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DreamHost vs. JustHost - Our Conclusion

Laura Bernheim Laura Bernheim Hosting Expert
“We tested DreamHost & JustHost — The winner is DreamHost!”

We’ve come to the end of this race — both hosts put the pedal to the floor to showcase their most impressive features. JustHost’s marketing freebies, including Facebook, Google Adwords, and Bing credits, add a ton of value to the host’s already robust hosting packages. However, iPage’s reliability, high-performing hosting solutions, and ultra-low price tag continue to raise the competitive bar in the hosting industry. But just because we’ve named a winner, doesn’t mean your opinion doesn’t warrant another lap around the track. Take these hosts for a test drive before you decide which is right for you.

Overall Rating
4.8/5.0 ★★★★★
Visit DreamHost »
Overall Rating
3.7/5.0 ★★★★
Visit JustHost »

About The Author

Laura has spent more than 12 years crafting engaging and award-winning articles that share the passion behind organizations' products, people, and innovations. As a long-time HostingAdvice contributing expert, she combines a reputation for producing quality content with rich technical expertise to show experienced developers how to capitalize on emerging technologies and find better ways to work with established platforms. A professional journalist, Laura has contributed to The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, the Sun Sentinel, and the world's top hosting providers.
Laura Bernheim