DreamHost vs Krystal (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick DreamHost: it is first in our ranking of web hosts, and it grades higher too, 2.2 against 1.6.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
DreamHost grades higher on value for money and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
DreamHost
Independent shared and WordPress host with monthly or multi-year terms
Which one is for you
Pick DreamHost if
- Fits if you'd rather pay month to month than commit for years
- Works for running several small sites, as Launch takes 25
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you need email at your domain included, as it bills after 3 months
- Pricey if you stay on monthly billing, at $11.99 a month after the first 3
- Skip it if you want a free domain on a monthly plan; it needs a yearly term and claiming within 3 months
- Watch out: every intro price is first term only, so Launch's $1.99 becomes $7.99 after four years
- Pricey if you want managed WordPress, as DreamPress is a separate line at $19.99 a month after year one
Pick Krystal if
- Fits if you are in the UK and want a host you can phone
- Makes sense if you want hosting on renewable power
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free trial, as none is listed
- Tight if you have several sites, because Amethyst has 1 and Ruby 5
- Pricey if you cannot commit, since the discounts need annual or two-year terms
- Watch out: domain costs are not refunded under the 60-day guarantee, and prices are in pounds
How we grade them
| 2.2GPADreamHostFair | 1.6GPAKrystalWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | ALaunch on a 2-year term is $2.49 a month paid upfront, so two years cost $59.76, well under the $5.97 a month an A needs in this category. It then renews at $8.99 a month. Paying monthly is $4.99 for 3 months, then $11.99. | CAmethyst is £7 a month billed monthly, about $9, above the $5.28 cheaper-quarter line for web hosts. |
| Free plan and trial | FNothing free: no free plan and no trial. The cheapest way to try it is monthly billing at $4.99 for the first 3 months. | FNo free plan or trial. A 60-day money-back guarantee is not a trial. |
| Features | C25 websites on Launch, daily backups, unmetered bandwidth, free SSL, an AI WordPress builder and a starter site built by DreamHost's team. The gap is email: professional email is free for 3 months, then billed separately. | CcPanel, backups, free SSL and migration, and phone, chat and ticket support. Amethyst hosts one site with no free domain. |
| Ease of use | CNo app store rating to go on. Liftoff sets up WordPress from a few questions and the team builds one starter site, but there's still a domain and email to sort. | CNo store rating on record. cPanel, DNS and migration are yours to run. |
| Platforms and integrations | BA web control panel with no app on record, but there's a DreamHost API: a key from the panel lets scripts reach the account functions you pick. | CWeb only, with WordPress, Drupal, OpenCart and LiteSpeed support. |
| Best for | shared hosting you can pay monthly | UK cPanel hosting with phone support |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: DreamHost and Krystal. How we grade
Price against what you get
DreamHost starts at $1.99 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Krystal starts at about $9.38 a month and scores 2.0.
DreamHost scores higher and starts $7.39 a month lower. Of the other web hosts on the chart, 1 scores higher than DreamHost for less, and 17 score higher than Krystal for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Krystal also covers malware protection.
At a glance
| DreamHost | Krystal | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Starts at | $7.99 per month at renewal (Launch), after a first 4 years at $1.99 a month | £7 per month, billed monthly (Amethyst) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | DreamHost, LLC | Krystal Hosting Ltd |
| Price read from | dreamhost.com | krystal.io |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
DreamHost
- Every intro price is for the first term only: Launch is $1.99 a month for 4 years paid upfront, then $7.99, and monthly billing goes from $4.99 to $11.99 after 3 months.
- Professional email is free for 3 months only and is then billed separately.
- The free domain needs a yearly or multi-year plan, covers the first year, and must be claimed within the first 3 months.
- DreamPress managed WordPress is a separate plan line: DreamPress 1 is $14.99 a month for the first year, then $19.99, for one site.
Krystal
- Prices are in pounds sterling. Annual and two-year billing save 16% and 25%, but the page shows only the monthly figures.
- Amethyst hosts one site and has no free domain; the free domain starts at Ruby.
- Emergency phone support is listed from Sapphire up; the cheaper plans have standard phone support.
- Domain costs are not refunded under the 60-day money-back guarantee, though the domain can be transferred away.
Key features
DreamHost
- Liftoff AI WordPress builder
- Liftoff sets up a WordPress site from your answers to a few questions. Every plan also includes one starter website that DreamHost's team builds for you.
- Daily backups and performance scans
- Shared plans run daily automated backups and on-demand performance scans, with unlimited free SSL certificates.
- Domain with privacy
- Yearly and multi-year plans include a domain free for the first year, with private registration to keep your details out of public records.
- DreamHost control panel
- One panel covers hosting, domains, email and users, with a one-click installer for WordPress and other web apps.
- DreamHost API
- An API key from the panel gives scripts access to the account functions you choose, through calls to api.dreamhost.com.
- Unmetered bandwidth
- The visit counts on each plan are estimates rather than caps, and bandwidth is not metered, so a busy month brings no overage fee.
Krystal
- cPanel control panel
- Plans come with cPanel, one-click installs of more than 380 applications including WordPress, Drupal and OpenCart, and a drag-and-drop site builder.
- Own cloud servers
- Hosting runs on Krystal's own Dell cloud servers with LiteSpeed caching and NVMe storage. Plans state their CPU and RAM allowance.
- Security and backups
- Servers are scanned for malware and protected by firewalls, CloudLinux and DDoS protection. Backups run daily on the smaller plans and as often as every 4 hours on the larger ones.
- Free migration
- The team moves a site from another host, whether it uses cPanel, Plesk or its own system, at no charge.
- Phone, chat and ticket support
- UK-based support answers by ticket, live chat and phone. Sapphire and the plans above it add emergency phone support.
- Other hosting lines
- Krystal also sells business hosting from £19 a month, managed WordPress from £15 a month, VPS from £10 a month, reseller hosting and a public cloud.
Plans
DreamHost
Launch, monthly$11.99
per month, after a first 3 months at $4.99 a month
25 websites, 25 GB NVMe and about 40,000 visits a month. $4.99 a month for the first 3 months, then $11.99. No free domain on monthly billing.
Launch, 1 year$10.99
per month at renewal, after a first year at $2.89 a month
25 websites with daily backups and a free domain for the first year. The first year costs $2.89 a month, paid upfront, then $10.99 a month.
Launch, 2 years$8.99
per month at renewal, after a first term of 2 years
The same Launch plan at $2.49 a month for the first 2 years, paid upfront, then $8.99 a month.
Launch, 4 years$7.99
per month at renewal, after a first term of 4 years
The same Launch plan at $1.99 a month for the first 4 years, paid upfront, then $7.99 a month.
Growth, 4 years$8.99
per month at renewal, after a first term of 4 years
50 websites, 50 GB and about 200,000 visits a month. $3.49 a month for the first 4 years, then $8.99. A 1-year term is $3.99, then $12.99.
Scale, 4 years$19.99
per month at renewal, after a first term of 4 years
100 websites, 100 GB and about 400,000 visits a month. $7.99 a month for the first 4 years, then $19.99. A 1-year term is $9.99, then $25.99.
Krystal
Amethyst£7
per month, billed monthly
1 site, 1 CPU, 2 GB RAM, 10 GB NVMe, unlimited mailboxes and bandwidth, daily backups and free SSL.
Ruby£11
per month, billed monthly
5 sites, 2 CPU, 4 GB RAM and 25 GB NVMe, with a free domain.
Emerald£19
per month, billed monthly
Unlimited sites and NVMe storage, 3 CPU, 6 GB RAM, 12-hourly backups and PCI DSS scan compliance.
Sapphire£37
per month, billed monthly
Unlimited sites, 4 CPU, 8 GB RAM, 4-hourly backups and emergency phone support.
Diamond£67
per month, billed monthly
Unlimited sites, 6 CPU, 12 GB RAM, 4-hourly backups and emergency phone support.
Tanzanite£97
per month, billed monthly
Unlimited sites, 9 CPU, 18 GB RAM, 4-hourly backups and emergency phone support.
Ways to pay less
DreamHost
- Other savings
First 4 years of Launch at $1.99 a month
Launch costs $1.99 a month for the first 4 years, $2.49 for 2 years, $2.89 for 1 year or $4.99 for the first 3 months of monthly billing, before the regular rates apply.
- Other savings
First year of DreamPress 1 at $14.99 a month
The entry managed WordPress plan is $14.99 a month for the first year and then renews at $19.99 a month.
Krystal
- Annual discount
Save 16% on annual, 25% on two-year billing
The hosting page offers Annually and Biennially billing options that it says save 16% and 25% against paying monthly. The page shows the monthly price only.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, DreamHost or Krystal?
As of Nov 12, 2026, DreamHost is cheaper to start with: $1.99 a month, against about $9.38 a month for Krystal. DreamHost starts at $7.99 per month at renewal (Launch), after a first 4 years at $1.99 a month, and Krystal starts at £7 per month, billed monthly (Amethyst).
Which has a free plan, DreamHost or Krystal?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither DreamHost nor Krystal has a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.