Hosting
DreamHost
Shared web hosting provider with tiered site, storage, visit, database, email and inode limits.
What it is
DreamHost offers several hosting families; this record focuses on current shared Web Hosting Launch, Growth and Scale plans. They combine managed shared infrastructure, NVMe storage, SSL, MySQL, mailboxes, backups and a proprietary control panel. Headline monthly equivalents require prepayment and renew at different rates, while sites, visits, storage, inodes, mailboxes and databases are tier-limited. “Unmetered” bandwidth remains subject to acceptable-use and shared-resource policies.
Key features
Shared hosting tiers
Launch, Growth and Scale allocate increasing sites, visits, storage, inodes and databases.
Managed essentials
Provides SSL, panel-based administration, automated backups and traffic visibility.
Web and email hosting
Combines website hosting with plan-limited mailboxes and MySQL databases.
Promotional term pricing
Discounts the initial prepaid term and publishes a separate renewal rate.
Strengths and trade-offs
What works well
- Bundled site basics: Shared plans include SSL, storage, MySQL, traffic tools and automated backups.
- Published renewal rates: Current plan cards show both promotional term prices and auto-renewal prices.
- Term flexibility: Monthly, annual and longer prepaid terms are available, with different effective rates.
- Defined tier capacity: Site, visit, storage, inode, subdomain, mailbox and database ceilings aid initial sizing.
Where it falls short
- Large renewal delta: The cheapest advertised monthly equivalent requires a four-year term and renews at a higher rate.
- Shared-resource constraints: CPU, RAM, disk I/O and high-impact scripts remain governed despite unmetered bandwidth.
- Backups are not a guarantee: DreamHost says file snapshots are generally kept about two weeks and recommends independent copies; database restore is separate.
- Email and domain promotions expire: Included mailboxes and domain registration are time-limited offers with later charges.
Who it is for
Individuals and small organizations whose conventional websites fit shared-hosting resource and policy limits.
Our verdict
DreamHost shared hosting is reasonable for conventional small sites, but buy against the renewal rate and real limits—not the teaser price or 'unmetered' label; keep independent file/database backups and move to VPS or managed hosting before shared-resource contention becomes critical.
Closest alternatives we track
Same category, ordered by verified starting price.
Cdnjs
Free
Cloudflare-backed public CDN for versioned assets from open-source web libraries.
Cloud Foundry
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Open-source application platform for deploying and operating code across private and public infrastructure.
ISPConfig
Free
BSD-licensed Linux hosting control panel for single-server and multi-server environments.
What we checked
- Public APIOffers a documented API you can build against.No
- Mobile appHas a native app for iOS or Android, not just a mobile website.No
- Open source / self-hostableSource is open and the tool can be run on your own infrastructure.No
- SSO (SAML)Supports SAML single sign-on on at least one plan.No
“Not checked” means exactly that — we have not verified it, and we do not guess.
Evidence and freshness
Status: Official sources reviewedReviewed: 2026-08-24
- DreamHost — Web Hosting plans ↗
Checked 2026-08-24 · Supports: current promotional and renewal prices, one-year and four-year terms, site visit storage and mailbox limits, unmetered bandwidth, backups SSL and domain inclusions, money-back period, uptime-credit positioning
- DreamHost KB — Web Hosting overview ↗
Checked 2026-08-24 · Supports: shared-server model, Launch Growth and Scale tiers, storage and inode limits, subdomain mailbox and database limits, billing-term options
- DreamHost KB — Website restore ↗
Checked 2026-08-24 · Supports: panel file restore, approximately two-week non-guaranteed retention, files-only limitation, database exclusion, independent local-backup recommendation, dedicated-server boundary
- DreamHost — Acceptable Use Policy ↗
Checked 2026-08-24 · Supports: website-hosting purpose, backup and archive prohibition, shared-resource limits, CPU-intensive script restriction, traffic-capacity boundary, suspension and termination risk
- DreamHost — Unlimited Policy ↗
Checked 2026-08-24 · Supports: unmetered-policy meaning, CPU RAM and disk-I/O constraints, VPS migration possibility, database and email boundaries, prohibited storage and distribution uses
- DreamHost — Pricing ↗
Checked 2026-08-24 · Supports: current plan catalog, first-term prices, renewal disclosure, included feature summaries, domain and email promotional periods
Limit: Official DreamHost plan, knowledge-base and policy pages were reviewed; ToolCompare did not purchase hosting, inspect checkout tax or every billing term, deploy or migrate a site, benchmark shared performance, contact support, measure uptime, validate credits, restore files or databases, test email, scan malware, or compare VPS and DreamPress. Prices, limits and promotions may change after the review date.