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Bluehost: The Full Domain Registrar Review
Last Updated by Nora on
June 28, 2021
When we hear of Bluehost the first thing that comes to mind is probably their hosting services. However, Bluehost is popular for also being a domain registrar. With its domain lock, a wide variety of top-level domains, and other free services, it’s not to be missed when thinking of domain registrars. In this review, we will talk about the pros and the cons of Bluehost and why it might be the perfect fit for you.
Quick Stats
Plans and Prices
When looking at Bluehost domain registrar, the price is definitely among the most important things to consider, especially since renewal prices with domain registrars are usually higher than the starting prices.
1. Starting price
You can register your .com domain today with Bluehost domain registrar starting at $12.99 per year. The price includes locking your domain, registering it with the ICANN, and a 30-day free trial of shared hosting with WordPress.
2. Renewal price
Like other domain registrars, the renewal price is higher than the starting price. The renewal price for another year with Bluehost domain registrar would be $17.99 per year, which is somewhat higher than the starting price. When comparing prices, it’s important to take into consideration both the starting and the renewal prices.
| Top-Level Domain | Regular Price | Renewal Price |
|---|---|---|
| .com | $12.99/year | $17.99/year |
| .net | $14.99/year | $18.99/year |
| .org | $9.99/year | $17.99/year |
| .co | $14.99/year | $24.99/year |
3. Grace period
The biggest hurdle to any business that owns a domain is losing that domain name after all the hard work that was put into building their name. After all, the name is the one single thing that matters the most.
Hence, some domain registrars offer a grace period to retain your domain name even if you fail to pay on time.
Bluehost domain registrar offers a grace period of 30 days. After 45 days from the expiration date, the domain goes to redemption, which means that you can pay a fee to restore the domain name. This lasts for 30 days. After 75 days, the domain name will go to the public registry. The redemption fee with Bluehost is one of the lowest at $70.
4. Hidden fees
With Bluehost domain registrar, what you see is what you get, and with a new .com domain, you will only pay the registration price until your next billing date. You can opt out of the extra WHOIS privacy and protection to keep your purchase at the base price.
Privacy and Protection
When talking about registering a domain name, there is one essential security feature that you should look for, which is WHOIS privacy and protection. This feature makes sure that your personal information like your name, address, and email address are concealed from the WHOIS database.
WHOIS privacy and protection
For $11.88 a year, you can conceal your personal information from the WHOIS database. This fee is paid per year and per domain name.
Domain lock
Domain lock prevents your domain from getting transferred to another registrar. This feature is also provided by default from Bluehost.
SSL certificate
Bluehost domain registrar provides SSL certificates for free on all your domain names, whether parked or assigned. SSL certificate is usually active by default. If it’s not, then you can activate it manually using the Cpanel on Bluehost.
Bluehost's Domain Transfer
If you already registered your domain with another domain registrar and you wish to transfer it to Bluehost domain registrar, you need to obtain an authorization code from your previous domain registrar. You also need to unlock your domain if it’s locked with your previous domain registrar.
Now, all that’s left is making a payment on the transferred domain as if you are purchasing it from scratch. Bluehost transfers your domain for free.
If you wish to transfer your domain away from Bluehost domain registrar, you can do so by unlocking your domain using Bluehost. This also is done for free.
User Experience
Bluehost is one of the well-known and reputable sites in web services. It’s no surprise that their website is nicely designed and optimized for user experience. It loads quickly, it’s easy to navigate, and it provides a pretty smooth user interface.
Customer support
Bluehost provides support through all three channels of phone, chat, and email. Their chat service is pretty decent if you’re looking for a quick inquiry and you do not want to spend time looking for the answer yourself. The agents are friendly and helpful. The response time for chat is around 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Knowledge base
If you do not feel like contacting their customer support, you can always find the answer yourself using their informative knowledge base. The knowledge base covers all of Bluehost’s services. There is an independent section for domain names and domain registration. Throughout the knowledge base article, Bluehost offers to redirect you to their customer support in case the article is not enough to solve your query.
Other Services and Free Add-ons
Since Bluehost is a hosting website, you can get a 30-day free trial of shared hosting with WordPress and a free SSL certificate with your domain registration. Trying Bluehost’s hosting services is definitely worth a shot since they are recommended by WordPress.
Bluehost also offers a free consultation on everything you might need as you’re starting out your website, like website building, managing, designing, and marketing. They also provide consultations on search optimization. You can request a free consultation by filling a form on Bluehost.
The Final Verdict
In addition to being a great web host, Bluehost doesn’t fall short in domain registration as well. With the flexibility of a 30-day grace period and their great customer support, you can always rely on Bluehost as a domain registrar. You can also get a taste of their web hosting services with the 30-day WordPress free trial.
Bluehost also has its cons. At $17.99, Bluehost does charge quite higher than other domain registrars for the renewal of a plan that doesn’t include WHOIS privacy and protection.
All in all, Bluehost’s reputation guarantees the safety and continuity of your domain name. Taking their pros and cons into consideration, they are a great option for someone using their hosting services. That way, the domain name is for free, and you can get the most out of their top-notch hosting service.