Are you trying to decide between Dreamhost and DigitalOcean for your web hosting needs? If so, you’re in the right place. In this blog post, we’ll compare Dreamhost vs. DigitalOcean and help you decide between these two popular hosting providers. We’ll cover everything from customer support and ease of use to performance and scalability. By the end of this post, you should have a good idea of which provider is the best fit for your specific needs.
Dreamhost Overview
Established in 1996, Dreamhost is a web hosting business. It is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, and has more than 1.5 million customers worldwide. Dreamhost offers various hosting services, including shared web hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated server hosting, and managed WordPress hosting. It also has a cloud computing service called DreamCompute.
Dreamhost has a strong reputation for reliability and uptime. It offers unlimited bandwidth and storage on specific plans, and all hosting plans include free SSL security and a powerful 1-click installer. Automated backups are included with all plans, and privacy protection is available for free with certain plans.
Dreamhost offers four main types of hosting: shared web hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated server hosting, and managed WordPress hosting. The most basic form of hosting is shared web hosting, where your website coexists with other websites on the same server. VPS hosting is more expensive but gives you access to a private virtual server. Dedicated server hosting is the most expensive but gives you the most control over your server. Managed WordPress hosting is tailored to WordPress websites and includes automatic updates and security monitoring.
Dreamhost Key Features
Unlimited Bandwidth & Storage
One of the key features that sets Dreamhost apart from other hosting providers is its unlimited bandwidth and storage. This means you can host as much data as you want on your website without worrying about exceeding your limits.
Powerful 1-click installer
The Dreamhost 1-click installer is a powerful tool that can help you quickly and easily install popular applications on your web hosting account. You can install WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and many other popular applications with just a few clicks. The 1-click installer makes it easy to get started with your website, and it’s a great way to save time and money.
Free SSL security
Dreamhost offers free SSL security for all of its customers. SSL is an important security protocol that helps to protect your website from hackers and other online threats. With Dreamhost’s free SSL security, you can rest assured that your website is safe and secure.
Automated backups
Dreamhost automatically backs up your website data, so you don’t have to worry about losing anything if something goes wrong. This is a helpful feature if your website contains a lot of important information.
Free Domain
Dreamhost offers a free domain for all of its customers. This means you can get started with your website without worrying about buying a domain name. A free domain is a great way to save money and get started with your website quickly and easily.
Dreamhost Hosting Options And Pricing
Shared Website Hosting
With Dreamhost, you can get started with shared hosting for as little as $2.59 per month. Unlimited Shared hosting plans come with unlimited bandwidth and storage, a free SSL certificate, and a powerful 1-click installer. Plus, all plans come with automated backups and free privacy protection.
VPS Hosting
Businesses that require more power than what shared hosting can offer but don’t want to commit to a dedicated server yet should strongly consider VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting. Dreamhost offers VPS plans starting at $10 per month. All VPS plans come with unlimited bandwidth and allows you to host unlimited websites, plus a free SSL certificate. VPS hosting plans also come with a free dedicated IP address per account. If you want additional IP addresses, there will be an additional charge.
Managed WordPress Hosting
For companies that want to concentrate on running their business instead of worrying about the technical aspects of running a WordPress website, managed WordPress hosting is a great choice. Dreamhost offers managed WordPress plans starting at $12 per month. All plans come with unlimited bandwidth, email, a free SSL certificate, and automatic updates and backups. Plus, you get access to Dreamhost’s award-winning customer support team 24/7/365. All plans include free automated WordPress Migrations, WP Website Builder, and Jetpack Free Pre-Installed.
Dedicated Server Hosting
The most expensive but most potent form of web hosting is dedicated server hosting. Dedicated server hosting is the way to go if you have a high-traffic website or need complete control over your server environment. Dreamhost offers dedicated servers starting at $169 per month. Dreamhost offers a 100% uptime guarantee on these plans with features that include Full Root & Shell Access, Uncapped Bandwidth, DDoS Protection, Unique IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, and Raid 1 Storage, to name a few.
Cloud Hosting
Businesses that require the adaptability to scale their resources up or down as necessary will benefit significantly from cloud hosting. DreamHost’s Cloud platform starts at just $4.50 per month for 512MB of RAM and an 80GB SSD disk. All plans come with unlimited bandwidth and 100GB of block storage. The starter plan is ideal for those just starting out and looking to tinker with their website. The next plan that offers 2GB of RAM is perfect if you’re looking to host websites, and the highest plan of 8GB of RAM is ideal for hosting databases.
DigitalOcean Overview
DigitalOcean is a New York-based cloud infrastructure provider. The company offers various products, including virtual private servers (VPS), managed databases, and object storage. DigitalOcean has been operational since 2011 and now has over 12 million customers.
DigitalOcean is among the most popular Cloud hosting companies on the market. The company offers a wide range of products and services, making it a good choice for businesses of all sizes. One of the most important features of DigitalOcean is its straightforward pricing model; there are no long-term commitments or additional costs; you only pay for the resources you use.
DigitalOcean offers excellent customer support, with 24/7 live chat and a comprehensive knowledge base. The company’s products are easy to use and scalable, making it a good choice for businesses that are growing quickly.
DigitalOcean Key Features
Transparent Pricing
DigitalOcean’s pricing is straightforward to understand, and there are no hidden fees or complicated pricing structures – you simply pay for the resources you use by the hour. This makes it very easy to budget for your hosting costs, and there are no surprises when your bill comes.
Free SSL
DigitalOcean offers free SSL certificates for all websites hosted on their platform. This is a great security feature, which means your website will be more secure and rank higher in search engines.
CMS Support
DigitalOcean offers support for many popular content management systems (CMS), including WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and Magento. Regardless of your technical expertise level, this makes setting up and managing your website simple.
Tools And Integrations
It is simple to collaborate with other platforms and services when using DigitalOcean because of its wide variety of tools and integrations. For example, they offer integration with Slack, which allows you to receive notifications about your server status directly in Slack. They also integrate with GitHub, enabling you to quickly deploy your code from GitHub to DigitalOcean.
Choice Of Server Locations
DigitalOcean has data centers worldwide, giving you the flexibility to choose the location that best suits your needs. For example, if you’re targeting European visitors, you can choose to have your website hosted in a European data center for faster loading times.
DigitalOcean Options And Pricing
Droplets
DigitalOcean Droplets are Linux-based virtual machines (VMs) that run on top of virtualized hardware. You can select from various instance types, operating systems, and sizes when creating a Droplet, which serves as a new server for your application.
Droplets start at $6/mo for the smallest size, with 1 CPU core, 1GB memory, and 25GB SSD storage. Prices go up to $960/mo for the largest size, with 8 CPU cores and 320GB SSD storage.
You can also add block storage to your Droplets for an additional cost. Block storage starts at $0.10/GB/mo.
Kubernetes
Kubernetes is a platform for container orchestration that can be used to manage your Docker containers. It includes features like container deployment, scaling, and load balancing.
DigitalOcean offers managed Kubernetes clusters starting at $12/mo for 1 node. You can easily upgrade your kubernete to higher plans if you need additional resources.
Databases
DigitalOcean offers managed MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, and Cassandra databases. These are all available as standalone database instances or as part of a managed Kubernetes cluster.
Standalone database instances start at $15/mo for the smallest size (1CPU core & 15GB disk space) and go up to $2,880.00/mo for the largest size (16CPU cores & 1TB disk).
Spaces
Spaces are DigitalOcean’s object storage service compatible with Amazon S3 APIs. Spaces can be used to keep files, backups, images, videos, and any other type of data safe and accessible.
Spaces start at $5/mo for 250GB of data stored and 1TB of outbound bandwidth; prices go up to $960/mo for 12TB of data stored and 30TB of outbound bandwidth. There are no charges for inbound data transfer or requests made to Spaces, and you only pay for what you use beyond the monthly allotment. If you need more than 12TB of data stored per month or 30TB of outbound bandwidth, you can contact DigitalOcean’s sales team for a custom quote.
Load Balancers
DigitalOcean Load Balancers are a managed service that distributes incoming traffic across your Droplets to help ensure high availability for your applications.
Load balancers start at $12/mo per node, and you can add up to 100 of them. This is a flexible choice because nodes can be added and removed as you go. Prices depend on the number of Droplets you’re load balancing and the region where your Load Balancer is located. There is no additional charge for data transfer, and you only pay for what you use beyond the monthly allotment.
Dreamhost vs. DigitalOcean: Customer Support
Dreamhost offers 24/7 live chat support, which is a great way to get help with your hosting account. Additionally, you can send a ticket to their customer service department, which typically responds within a few hours. However, if you require assistance right away, live chat is your best bet.
DigitalOcean Only Offers A Ticketing System
DigitalOcean only offers a ticketing system for customer support, which can be frustrating if you need help with your account immediately. But they have a quick response time and will usually respond to you within a few hours.
Dreamhost Wins This Round Fairly Comprehensively
Overall, Dreamhost wins this round fairly comprehensively. Their live chat support is available 24/7, and their support team is very responsive. If you need immediate assistance with your account, Dreamhost is the better option.
Dreamhost vs. DigitalOcean: Ease Of Use
Dreamhost is straightforward to use. Even if you’re a beginner, you’ll be able to get your website up and running in no time. Popular applications like WordPress can be installed with just one click thanks to the 1-click installer, and managing your website is a breeze thanks to the user-friendly control panel.
DigitalOcean, on the other hand, is slightly more complicated to use. While it’s still relatively easy to set up a basic website, you’ll need some technical knowledge to make the most of what DigitalOcean offers. That said, once you get the hang of it, DigitalOcean can be extremely powerful and flexible.
What should you pick then? Dreamhost is the best option if you want simplicity and usability. However, if you’re willing to put in a bit of extra effort to learn how to use DigitalOcean, you’ll be rewarded with a much more powerful and flexible platform.
Dreamhost vs. DigitalOcean: Scalability
Scalability is a crucial factor to take into account when selecting a web hosting company. Both Dreamhost and DigitalOcean offer scalable solutions, but there are some key differences to be aware of.
Dreamhost offers a range of scalable hosting options, from shared hosting to dedicated servers. Their shared hosting plans are particularly scalable, allowing you to add more domains and increase your storage and bandwidth limits as your needs grow. Additionally, their VPS plans can be upgraded to higher-spec servers as your traffic increases.
DigitalOcean, on the other hand, specializes in cloud hosting. Their Droplets can be easily scaled up or down depending on your needs, and you only pay for the resources you use. They also offer Kubernetes, which is a powerful container orchestration tool that can help you manage large-scale deployments.
When it comes to scalability, both Dreamhost and DigitalOcean have a lot to offer. However, Dreamhost’s shared hosting plans may be more suitable for small businesses or those just starting out. At the same time, DigitalOcean’s cloud solutions are more suited to larger companies with high traffic levels.
Dreamhost vs. DigitalOcean: Search Engine Optimization
In order to increase web traffic and increase a website’s visibility, search engine optimization (SEO) involves making your website Google search engine friendly.
DigitalOcean does not offer specific tools or features to help with SEO, but that doesn’t mean you can’t optimize your website on their platform. However, because DigitalOcean doesn’t offer specific SEO tools, you’ll have to put in a bit more work to get your site ranking high in Google search results.
Dreamhost, on the other hand, offers a few features that can help with SEO. For example, Dreamhost’s Site Booster app can help you submit your sitemap to Google Search Console and track your website’s progress as it starts to rank higher. In addition, Dreamhost’s WordPress plans come with Jetpack Premium installed, which includes some features that can help with SEO, such as social media integration and automatic sitemap generation.
Although neither platform is explicitly made for SEO, Dreamhost has a few more features that can help you rank higher in search results.
Dreamhost vs. DigitalOcean: Performance
DigitalOcean outperforms DigitalOcean in terms of uptime and speed. Dreamhost also offers excellent loading times compared to other typical web hosting providers like Bluehost, HostGator, and Siteground. However, when it comes to performance, DigitalOcean is simply better.
DigitalOcean is a hosting service that offers reliable servers for web development. They cater primarily to developers, but you don’t have to be technical to use them. In fact, many people prefer to use them because they offer outstanding performance.
They are one of the best online hosts out there today. Their servers are spread across the world in locations like North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. This allows them to provide better latency speeds to their customers.
They’re so popular among developers due to their ability to give them control over every aspect of their server. They let you install any software you want, including Docker, NodeJS, PHP, Ruby, and Python. If you want to add a database, you can do so easily; there are no limits to what you can customize.
You can choose a server location based on where your target audience resides. For example, if you run a blog about food, you might want to select a server location close to New York City. Or if you sell products overseas, you’ll probably want to pick a server near London.
Critical Differences Between Dreamhost And Digital Ocean
- DigitalOcean is a cloud hosting provider, while DreamHost is a web hosting provider.
- DigitalOcean offers pay-as-you-go pricing, while DreamHost offers monthly or annual plans.
- DigitalOcean provides root access to users, while DreamHost does not.
- DigitalOcean is aimed at developers and more advanced users, while Dreamhost is aimed at beginners.
- DigitalOcean offers a wide range of server locations, while DreamHost only offers servers in the US.
- DigitalOcean provides managed databases, while DreamHost does not offer this service.
- DreamHost only provides a small number of tools and integrations compared to a large selection from DigitalOcean.
- Dreamhost offers excellent customer support, while DigitalOcean’s customer support is not as comprehensive.
Key Similarities Between Dreamhost And DigitalOcean
Both Dreamhost and DigitalOcean offer cheap hosting solutions to get you started. In terms of pricing, both Dreamhost and DigitalOcean are very competitive, with both providers offering a variety of plans to suit different budgets.
They both also offer Cloud hosting solutions, and while DigitalOcean is precisely a Cloud hosting provider, Dreamhost has its own equivalent Cloud hosting solution called DreamCompute.
In terms of customer support, Dreamhost and DigitalOcean offer tremendous and helpful customer support. However, Dreamhost’s live chat support is slightly more comprehensive than DigitalOcean’s, with Dreamhost offering phone support in addition to live chat.
Finally, in terms of performance, Dreamhost and DigitalOcean are incredibly reliable and offer fast speeds. However, DigitalOcean has the edge over Dreamhost regarding loading speed and overall performance.
The Verdict: Which Hosting Provider Should I Pick?
When deciding between Dreamhost and DigitalOcean, there is no simple solution, and both hosting companies have a range of features that may be a good fit for your requirements. You should consider a few significant differences, though, before making a choice.
Dreamhost is a good choice if you need unlimited storage and bandwidth, free SSL security, and powerful one-click installer tools. However, it is essential to note that Dreamhost does not offer as many server locations as DigitalOcean. Additionally, Dreamhost’s customer support is available via live chat and ticketing system, and they also provide callbacks if you prefer speaking with them. On the flip side, DigitalOcean only offers a ticketing system which can be a bit more frustrating for users that require instant assistance.
DigitalOcean is perfect if you’re looking for a more robust solution with more features, as this platform is aimed more at advanced users. Additionally, DigitalOcean provides a wide selection of tools and integrations. However, it’s important to remember that DigitalOcean doesn’t offer unlimited storage and bandwidth like Dreamhost does. Additionally, while both providers offer 24/7 customer support, Dreamhost’s live chat option gives them an edge over DigitalOcean’s ticketing system.
Choosing which hosting provider to use depends on your specific needs and preferences. If you need unlimited storage and bandwidth or prefer the convenience of live chat customer support, then Dreamhost may be the better choice for you. However, if you want more control over your hosting environment or access to a wide range of tools and integrations, then DigitalOcean may be the better option.
Conclusion
To summarize these two, in a nutshell, Dreamhost is better suited for beginners who are looking for something simple and more user-friendly, as building websites with Dreamhost is effortless. DigitalOcean is a bit more complex and is aimed at developers or more advanced users, and their solutions may not be the best for beginners.
DreamHost and DigitalOcean are great hosting providers with a lot to offer their customers. Before choosing between the two, you should be aware of some significant differences between them.
DreamHost is a good choice for those who need unlimited storage and bandwidth, free SSL security, and automated backups. They also have a powerful 1-click installer that makes it easy to start your website. However, their prices are slightly higher than DigitalOcean’s.
For those who require transparent pricing, more backend control, and a variety of server locations, DigitalOcean is a good option. Their tools and integrations are also beneficial. However, they only offer a ticketing system for customer support, which may not be ideal for everyone.
So, which hosting provider should you choose? Ultimately, it depends on your specific needs and preferences. If you need unlimited storage and bandwidth or automated backups and are looking for a cost-effective hosting solution for a website, then DreamHost may be the better option. However, If you prefer a pay-as-you-go model and are looking for a more robust solution with increased control over your environment, then DigitalOcean may be a better fit. Both providers are great, and we would recommend either of them. It comes down to personal preference.
FAQ’s
What Is The Difference Between A DigitalOcean Droplet And Shared Hosting?
A DigitalOcean droplet is a virtual private server (VPS) that you can use to host your websites, applications, and files. Droplets are similar to traditional web hosting but offer more flexibility and power. With a droplet, you can choose your own operating system, control your resources, and scale your applications as needed.
Web hosting, known as “shared hosting,” involves sharing server space with other websites. This is the most basic and affordable web hosting type, but it has some limitations. For example, you will not have complete control over your server resources or be able to scale your applications as needed, and performance may not always be the greatest.
How Does DigitalOcean Spaces Compare With AWS S3?
DigitalOcean Spaces is an object storage service that is designed to be simple to use and easy to integrate with other applications. Spaces offer high performance and reliability at a fraction of the cost of other cloud storage services like Amazon S3.
Amazon Web Services AWS S3 is a well-known cloud storage solution. It offers high performance and reliability but can be more expensive than other options.
If you’re looking for an inexpensive object storage service that is simple to use and seamlessly integrates with other applications, DigitalOcean Spaces is a good choice.
Is DigitalOcean Good For WordPress?
DigitalOcean is a good option for hosting WordPress websites, and it offers high performance, scalability, and security at a reasonable price. Additionally, many tools and tutorials are available to help you get started with WordPress on DigitalOcean.
When using DigitalOcean for WordPress, remember that you will be responsible for managing your own server and installing WordPress on it. Additionally, you will need to keep your WordPress installation up to date and take care of backups and security yourself.
Why Is Dreamhost Good?
Dreamhost is a good option for web hosting because it offers unlimited storage and bandwidth, free SSL security, a powerful 1-click installer, automated backups, and free privacy protection. Additionally, Dreamhost has various hosting options available to meet the needs of different types of websites. Dreamhost is also very cost-effective and is suitable for beginners on a budget.
Does DigitalOcean Offer A WordPress Website Builder?
No, DigitalOcean does not offer a WordPress website builder. However, many third-party website builders can be used with DigitalOcean droplets.