# DreamHost > Independent shared and WordPress host with monthly or multi-year terms DreamHost is an employee-owned host selling shared web hosting, DreamPress managed WordPress hosting and VPS plans, all run from its own control panel. Shared plans include daily backups, unmetered bandwidth, free SSL, a first-year domain and the Liftoff AI WordPress builder, and can be paid monthly or for one to four years. - **Category:** Web Hosting - **Made by:** DreamHost, LLC (since 1997) - **Website:** https://www.dreamhost.com - **Runs on:** Web - **Facts last checked:** Oct 17, 2026 ## Pricing DreamHost is a paid product, starting at $7.99 per month at renewal (Launch), after a first 4 years at $1.99 a month. - **Pricing model:** Paid - **Free plan:** None. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | 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. | Read from https://www.dreamhost.com/hosting/web-hosting/ on Oct 17, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with DreamHost before buying. ## Ways to pay less - **First 4 years of Launch at $1.99 a month** (Other savings): 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. Source: https://www.dreamhost.com/hosting/web-hosting/ - **First year of DreamPress 1 at $14.99 a month** (Other savings): The entry managed WordPress plan is $14.99 a month for the first year and then renews at $19.99 a month. Source: https://www.dreamhost.com/hosting/ ## Key features - **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. ## Good for - Site owners who want to pay monthly instead of committing for years - People running several small sites from one shared plan - Beginners who want a starter site built for them ## Worth knowing - 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. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.2 out of 4**, graded Oct 17, 2026. DreamHost is the easy pick if you don't want to lock in for years, since you can pay monthly, and on a 2-year term it's among the cheapest hosts here. Launch covers 25 websites with daily backups. Just know professional email is free for 3 months only, and then it's billed separately. - **Value for money: A.** Launch 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. - **Free plan and trial: F.** Nothing free: no free plan and no trial. The cheapest way to try it is monthly billing at $4.99 for the first 3 months. - **Features: C.** 25 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. - **Ease of use: C.** No 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. - **Platforms and integrations: B.** A 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. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from DreamHost's own pages on 17 October 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among web hosts - DreamHost's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 15 of the 21 other web hosts we grade, and level with 6. - It stands best on value for money (A, above 16 of 21) and worst on free plan and trial (F, above 0). - Its paid plans start at $1.99 a month, against a middle price of $10.99 for the category: 1 of the 16 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/web-hosting ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** To replace DreamHost you would be making servers kept running, patched and backed up for you. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 2.2 is higher than 15 of the 21 other web hosts we grade. It costs $23.88 a year. - You could not: Servers kept running, patched and backed up for you. - You could not: It plugs into other products, WordPress among them, and has an API. - You could not: AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with WordPress **Tags:** AI features, Public API, Managed WordPress ## Alternatives - [Bluehost](https://toolgpa.com/tools/bluehost): WordPress-focused shared hosting sold on multi-year terms. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/bluehost-vs-dreamhost) - [Hostinger](https://toolgpa.com/tools/hostinger): Shared, WordPress and cloud hosting run from its own hPanel dashboard. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/dreamhost-vs-hostinger) - [SiteGround](https://toolgpa.com/tools/siteground): Shared and WordPress hosting on Google Cloud with its own Site Tools. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/dreamhost-vs-siteground) - [hosting.com](https://toolgpa.com/tools/a2-hosting): Shared hosting from the former A2 Hosting, with an API and MCP server. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/a2-hosting-vs-dreamhost) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 17, 2026: - https://www.dreamhost.com/hosting/web-hosting/ - https://www.dreamhost.com/hosting/ - https://www.dreamhost.com/company/ - https://help.dreamhost.com/hc/en-us/articles/4407354972692-Connecting-to-the-DreamHost-API Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/dreamhost Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).