Scouring the Internet trying to figure out the right web host for you? Look no further.
There’s a lot of pressure on finding the right web host since a great website is nothing without reliable uptime, hosting speeds, and customer support. In fact, hosting can be such a headache that I wanted to give up when I was a beginner.
It doesn’t have to be a headache. Instead, consider it an opportunity to better understand your needs and intention for your website.
Whether you’re a blogger or someone running an enterprise-level site, we at TYB can help you find the best host. Then, you can focus on growing your site.
AccuWeb and DreamHost offer all kinds of benefits for website owners — but which is better? Keep reading to discover our take.
How Did We Test DreamHost and AccuWeb Hosting?
At TYB, we’re committed to only using the highest testing standard and trusted software. We prioritize active lab testing & data above our personal point of view and previous experience.
To test these services, we set up two staging sites: one for DreamHost and one for AccuWeb. We then measured the results in the following areas:
- Hosting Types & Features
- Performance & Speed
- Ease of Use
- Pricing & Value
- Website Security
- Help & Support
- WordPress Features
- Extras
DreamHost Vs. AccuWeb Winner:
AccuWeb and DreamHost are two of our favorite web hosting services. I’ve condensed each provider’s strengths so you can quickly understand which is better for your purposes.
Pick DreamHost if you:
- Prefer Linux hosting
- Run a small website or a blog
- Don’t want to purchase a domain name separately
- Need a larger money-back guarantee
- Need WordPress staging
- Are a tech beginner
Check out our DreamHost review for more information.
Pick AccuWeb if you:
- Prefer Windows hosting
- Run a large site with a need for above-average uptime
- Use dedicated hosting
- Prefer having more control over your hosting configurations
- Prefer top-notch servers
If you’d like to learn more about AccuWeb, here’s our AccuWeb review.
Overall, we found AccuWeb to be the overall web hosting provider.
What is DreamHost Web Hosting?
DreamHost is a Los Angeles-based web hosting provider. It also provides domain name registration services, but it’s primarily known for web hosting.
If you’re searching for a reliable Linux-powered web hosting service without any complications or unnecessary extras, DreamHost is a solid option.
The company is also well-regarded for its customer support and unique control panel.
Since 1997, DreamHost has grown exponentially to become a hosting provider for over 400,000 customers worldwide.
DreamHost’s domain registration, web hosting, and user-friendly website builder are on par with some of the best web hosting services of 2023.
Who Uses DreamHost?
DreamHost offers solutions for all kinds of businesses and website sizes. They provide shared, dedicated, VPS, and WordPress hosting under the Ubuntu operating system.
There are also entrepreneurial solutions for cloud hosting and extra storage.
However, DreamHost proudly advertises itself as an option primarily for smaller-scale sites for blogs and small business owners. This is their target audience.
What are the Benefits of DreamHost?
DreamHost offers fantastic value in their price plans, with free domain names and email hosting. They also have one of the most generous money-back guarantees at 97 days.
Where DreamHost Falls Short
DreamHost doesn’t offer phone support or Windows-based servers. This can be a problem for many, but I’d advise against letting the lack of phone support scare you away: DreamHost chat support is backed by experts and some of the best in the industry.
What is AccuWeb Hosting?
AccuWeb is a web hosting service founded by Rahul Vaghasia in 2002. He imagined AccuWeb as a “one-stop shop” to fill the gap in Windows hosting solutions.
AccuWeb offers generous bandwidth, disk space, email hosting, MSSQL databases, and cPanel.
AccuWeb offers solutions including (but not limited to):
- Shared Linux hosting
- Shared Windows hosting
- VPS hosting
- Dedicated server hosting
- WordPress hosting
Who Uses AccuWeb?
Like DreamHost, AccuWeb offers all kinds of hosting solutions. Its services can support small-scale sites on shared hosting plans and enterprise-level sites with dedicated hosting.
AccuWeb also offers reseller hosting solutions.
What are the Benefits of AccuWeb?
AccuWeb is known for stellar uptime, a considerable variety of dedicated hosting plans, and a wide variety of hosting types.
Where AccuWeb Falls Short
AccuWeb doesn’t offer unlimited email hosting, nor can you pay monthly. Most of their web hosting plans require a multi-year commitment.
DreamHost Vs. AccuWeb: The Details
Now that you’ve had an overview of each company, let’s get into where they outdo each other.
Hosting Types
A huge variety of hosting types doesn’t necessarily make or break the quality of a web host. However, it’s helpful to take stock of the different kinds in case you ever need to change plans or your site traffic increases.
What Types of Hosting Does DreamHost Have?
- Shared hosting
- Managed WordPress hosting
- VPS hosting
- Dedicated hosting
- Cloud hosting
- WooCommerce hosting
What Types of Hosting Does AccuWeb Have?
- Cloud VPS hosting
- Shared hosting (Windows and Linux)
- WordPress hosting
- WooCommerce hosting
- VPS hosting
- Dedicated hosting
- Reseller hosting
Winner: Accuweb!
AccuWeb takes the top spot here because it has more hosting solutions than DreamHost.
Uptime
Uptime is one of the most critical factors in web hosting. If your site is down, you’re not getting any traffic or making conversions.
Does DreamHost Have Uptime Issues?
DreamHost boasts 99.99% uptime, and we didn’t experience any downtime during our tests. However, they don’t offer many guarantees regarding site and server monitoring.
Does AccuWeb Have Uptime Issues?
AccuWeb data centers are staffed with 24/7 onsite support, and their server connectivity is monitored 24/7. They also promise 99.99% uptime, and we didn’t see any issues during our lab testing.
Winner: Accuweb!
With its around-the-clock onsite support services and monitored server connectivity, AccuWeb offers better uptime solutions than DreamHost.
Speed
Speed is another important factor when it comes to web hosting. If your site takes too long to load, users will struggle to find the content they’re looking for and click away before purchasing or signing up for your newsletter.
How Fast Is DreamHost?
DreamHost isn’t the speediest host on the market. Their average loading time is slightly less than two seconds. However, they do rank on the high-average side of speed tests.
DreamHost offers free SSDs to improve site efficiency, which is more than can be said about many other hosts. If you’re hosting a small site, DreamHost should run efficiently.
How Fast Is AccuWeb?
AccuWeb provides top-notch servers in their web hosting, equipped with Dual Xeon E5 series processors.
Furthermore, their price plans offer up to 512 GB of RAM. As you can imagine, this is a surefire way to get fast speeds on enterprise-grade drives.
Winner: Accuweb!
AccuWeb is the definite winner in this category. With their high-grade technology, their hosting services can handle the busiest websites.
Ease of Use
Web hosting services should be easy to use. Otherwise, it can cause many headaches. This section will compare DreamHost and AccuWeb’s user interfaces and setup.
How Easy is DreamHost to Use?
DreamHost’s setup and interface are easy to use, even for total tech beginners. The DreamHost team designed their software for easy site management. This is reflected in their various price plans, with options that align with different technical knowledge levels.
Furthermore, the DreamHost interface is clean and visually appealing with carefully-crafted UX. The service offers many 1-click installations and an efficient control panel. DreamHost made our list of best beginner web hosting for this reason.
How Easy is AccuWeb to Use?
AccuWeb is more complex than DreamHost, but it does offer an intuitive interface and automatic SSL activation. I’d recommend AccuWeb for a user with some technical experience, but the service certainly doesn’t require expert knowledge.
AccuWeb has an extensive knowledge database and reliable chat support for any questions.
Winner: DreamHost!
DreamHost wins for its extensive efforts to create a user-friendly and easy hosting platform.
Pricing
Of course, price is always a factor in web hosting. Let’s compare DreamHost and AccuWeb’s pricing plans.
DreamHost Pricing & Value
Here’s a look at DreamHosts’s shared hosting pricing.
AccuWeb Pricing & Value
Here’s a look at AccuWeb’s shared hosting plans.
Winner: Accuweb!
AccuWeb offers more value in its pricing plans with the choice between many global server locations, fully managed features, better uptime, and free SpamExperts. DreamHost is an excellent, affordable option but doesn’t offer the same value as AccuWeb.
Security
Hopping onto the web without a secure connection is like leaving your home without locking the door. You don’t want to be vulnerable to malicious attacks, so finding a host that takes security seriously is important. Check out our list of the best secure web hosts for more information.
How Secure is DreamHost?
DreamHost offers several essential security features to keep their sites safe and uninterrupted. These include DDoS protection, malware scans, and PCI-DSS-compliant servers.
How Secure is AccuWeb?
Because AccuWeb is a managed hosting service, all its sites get frequent updates that ensure all plugins and security features are current. However, their security features are less extensive than DreamHost.
Winner: DreamHost!
DreamHost has more concrete security features and protections in place than AccuWeb.
Customer Support
Customer support is essential to web hosting.
Your host’s customer support lines will be your #1 resource for troubleshooting problems with your site’s uptime, updates, speed, and general functionality. You want a reliable team that can give you fast, accurate answers whenever needed.
Is DreamHost Customer Support Good?
DreamHost offers chat and email support with real people, not bots. Their response time is stellar, and their support time is widely-known to be patient, comprehensive, and beginner-friendly. The responsiveness of web chat nearly replaces the immediacy that many enjoy with phone support.
DreamHost chat support is also available 24/7/365.
Is AccuWeb Customer Support Good?
AccuWeb offers chat and phone support 24/7/365. Their chat isn’t quite as comprehensive as DreamHost, though. Many questions get redirected to their knowledge base, which, while far-reaching, can take time to parse through and understand. Their phone support comes with long wait times.
Winner: DreamHost!
DreamHost offers above-average customer support, while AccuWeb support could be more responsive and thorough.
Site Migrations
If you have an existing site, you’ll need to consider the ease of transferring your domain name and content over to a new server. Let’s compare DreamHost and AccuWeb migrations below.
Will DreamHost Help With Website Migration?
DreamHost does offer site migration services for both WordPress and non-WordPress sites. These services include moving an existing site to DreamHost (which is not free) and moving a current DreamHost site between accounts.
Will AccuWeb Help With Website Migration?
AccuWeb offers free site migrations for existing Windows sites.
Winner: Accuweb!
AccuWeb offers free site migrations, while DreamHost usually requires payment for a migration.
Site Builder
Using a site builder is an invaluable tool when creating a website from scratch, but not all hosting plans offer one.
Does DreamHost Have a Website Builder?
DreamHost offers premium tools and WordPress plugins to help you design a WordPress site easily. This builder is easy to use, with drag-and-drop functionality and a site builder wizard.
Does AccuWeb Have a Website Builder?
AccuWeb offers a site builder called RVSiteBuilder, which works wonderfully for creating simple, small-scale sites.
It’s designed for users with insufficient programming experience to construct a brand-new site. As such, it’s straightforward to use and allows you to create a professional-looking site with minimal hassle.
Winner: It’s a tie!
Both AccuWeb and DreamHost offer easy-to-use site builders with simple features.
How Does AccuWeb Stack Up Against Other Competitors?
DreamHost Alternatives
DreamHost has many major competitors. A2 Hosting and Bluehost often stack up against DreamHost regarding similar features and performance, but how do they rank at TYB?
A2 Hosting
When building a WordPress website, DreamHost and A2 Hosting can get the job done. If you’re looking for more extensive WordPress-driven features than DreamHost offers, then A2 is your best bet; plus, they provide faster loading times compared to most other major providers.
While A2 boasts quicker speeds in this area, their SSD storage amounts don’t quite measure up when held against DreamHost.
Bluehost
DreamHost is on par with Bluehost regarding affordability, reliability, and WordPress-friendly tools. The two hosting services share similar pricing plans; however, Bluehost tends to raise their prices more post the first year than DreamHost.
Despite these similarities in robust features at accessible rates, DreamHost offers unbeatable prices without requiring a longer-term agreement of three years like Bluehost.
AccuWeb Alternatives
Now, let’s quickly look at other major hosting competitors against AccuWeb to understand its quality better.
HostGator
HostGator is more affordable than AccuWeb, but its features are limited. If you’re running a smaller website or just starting out and want to test the waters without making too significant an investment, HostGator might be the way to go.
However, if you’re looking for a more comprehensive hosting package, AccuWeb is better. It offers much greater control over your hosting, better support, and fewer instances of upselling.
Hostinger
Hostinger is an excellent option for those looking to save on hosting. Its prices are lower than AccuWeb’s, but it offers plenty of features worth considering.
Its most impressive feature is the intuitive user interface and wide range of tools for managing your website.
Plus, various hosting plans are available, allowing you to choose the best one for your particular needs. Like AccuWeb, Hostinger offers an extensive knowledge base that provides useful tutorials and answers to frequently asked questions.
Overall, if you’re looking for affordability and plenty of features, Hostinger is a great choice. However, if you need more control, choose AccuWeb.
Now You Decide!
Faced with two of the best hosting providers out there, you now have the arduous task of deciding which one — if either — is suitable for your site. Both DreamHost and AccuWeb offer reliable services with plenty of features at competitive prices.
No matter which provider you choose, it’s essential to choose one that meets your specific needs. The best way to accomplish this is through research, then trial and error. You’re halfway there!
Let us know if you have any questions or insights on how these hosts stack against each other.
Frequently Asked Questions
DreamHost is a great host for beginners and those not looking to spend much on a web host.
DreamHost requires less commitment than Bluehost and has better customer support.
DreamHost is best for small websites and blogs.
If you’re running a site with heavy traffic, choose a hosting provider with more bandwidth and enterprise-level features than DreamHost.
Although DreamHost is a dependable, budget-friendly provider with great features, there may be better options for sites with high traffic or those needing the most enterprise-level services.
