DreamHost Alternative: The Benefits of Choosing Kinsta

If you’re looking for a DreamHost alternative, Kinsta’s got you covered. Powered exclusively by the Google Cloud Platform, Kinsta’s hosting solutions are optimized for speed and performance and come with state-of-the-art security. From a custom-built dashboard to developer-friendly tools, Kinsta has everything you need for managed WordPress hosting!

Introduction

Although DreamHost offers WordPress hosting, that’s not its specialty. DreamHost is a general web host commonly known for shared hosting and VPS on dedicated plans.

In addition to significantly fewer data centers, DreamHost lacks the innovative technologies and speed-optimized infrastructure that the Kinsta platform benefits from. Therefore, it makes sense that we often hear from unhappy customers looking for a better DreamHost alternative. 

Many of those people are interested to know what makes Kinsta unique. We’re excited to answer that question here. We’ll explain what makes Kinsta so powerful, and discuss the biggest benefits we have to offer as your managed WordPress host!

Kinsta is Built for Performance and Scalability

When you need a WordPress host that delivers unparalleled performance, Kinsta has you covered. Unlike DreamHost, Kinsta doesn’t fall into traditional hosting categories such as shared, VPS, and/or dedicated. 

Kinsta’s unique, fully-managed platform takes an innovative approach to hosting that is unlike any other solution you’ll find. Our entire infrastructure is powered exclusively by the Google Cloud Platform and we only use the latest and greatest technologies to deliver unparalleled performance, speed, security, and scalability.

We use LXD-managed hosts and LXC software containers for each site hosted on our platform. This means every website has its own isolated container that includes all the resources it needs, such as MySQL, PHP, Linux, and Nginx. All of your resources are completely isolated, so unlike with shared hosting, privacy is never a concern. 

In addition to keeping your sites safeguarded, Kinsta hosts your MySQL databases at localhost instead of an overloaded remote server. The result is quicker loading times and faster queries.

Unexpected peaks, sudden traffic surges — you name it — our servers can handle it. Kinsta’s scalable cloud infrastructure makes it easy to upgrade or downgrade whenever you need. 

Kinsta also uses compute-optimized C2 machines, which enables our clients to see significant boosts in average response times. Depending on the type of site you have, Kinsta can help you see a speed improvement between 20 and 300%, just by moving to our platform!

In terms of speed and performance, many clients discover that Kinsta outperforms all other web hosts:

We host 150+ sites with Kinsta. Previously, we’ve hosted with WP Engine, WebSynthesis (now gone), Dreamhost, Bluehost, etc. At the time, Dreamhost was faster than Bluehost. WebSynthesis was faster than Dreamhost. WP Engine was significantly faster than WebSynthesis. And Kinsta blew WP Engine out of the water. We speed tested every site before and after the WP Engine transfer. Out of 100+ sites (at the time), WP Engine won just one of them (and by less than 2 hundredths of a second). In some cases, Kinsta won by 6 seconds! It was mind-boggling.

Some people are drawn to DreamHost due to its discounted prices. However, while shared plans may be less expensive, they lack the features and tools for high-traffic websites. Even DreamHost’s managed hosting, referred to as DreamPress, is very limited in key areas such as CDN, backups, and support.

Optimized for WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads

At Kinsta, we’re well-versed in the unique challenges that come with managing ecommerce sites. That’s why we optimized our platform so you never have to worry about the speed and performance of your WooCommerce or Easy Digital Downloads store.

We use a variety of methods to ensure lightning-fast performance for your online stores, including: 

• Excluding pages that shouldn’t be cached by default, such as ‘my account’, checkout, and cart pages.
• Implementing server-level page caching with specific rules to allow EDD and WooCommerce functionality. 
• Automatically bypassing the cache for users when “edit_items_in_cart” or “woocommerce_items_in_cart cookie” are detected, to deliver a quick, smooth, and seamless checkout.

With online storefronts, speed is a critical priority. When you use Kinsta as your managed WordPress host, this is never a concern because we run on the fastest network out there.

In fact, Review Signal releases an annual performance testing review on some of the most popular web hosts. For five consecutive years, Kinsta has achieved “top tier” performance!

In the most recent round of benchmark reviews, DreamHost’s DreamPress Pro plan ($80/month) was also tested. So we’ll be comparing that below with the Kinsta business plan ($60/month).

Kinsta is Developer-Friendly

At Kinsta, many of our team members are developers. Therefore everything we create, from our custom dashboard to our products and tools, is built with developers in mind.

We provide features and accessibility that help improve your workflow efficiency. With Kinsta as your managed WordPress host, you’ll have access to a variety of features and tools that you wouldn’t necessarily get with DreamHost, including:

• Unrestricted access to your site’s critical files. 
• Git, WP-CLI, and SSH access included, regardless of your plan. SSH access is only available on DreamHost dedicated plans.
• A one-click staging environment on all plans. We also enable you to turn on caching for your staging environment. DreamHost staging environments are available, but they require manual setup and don’t copy the uploads folder.
• Six types of backups: free automatic/daily, optional hourly, manual, system generated, and downloadable.DreamHost offers daily backups or the option for you to manually create a backup once per day. Also, DreamHost states that while it automatically backs up web server data and MySQL databases, “this is not guaranteed”.
• All plans at Kinsta can take advantage of quicker database performance through the Redis add-on. DreamHost, on the other hand, limits this option to the higher spectrum of plans.
• The ability to load your site over reverse proxy. DreamHost doesn’t support this setup.
• Kinsta lets you run a different version of PHP for every live and staging site, as well as switching your PHP version with a single click from your dashboard. While DreamHost lets you switch your PHP version, there’s no option for you to do it from your control panel. Instead, you need to contact its customer support team.
• At Kinsta, post and page revisions are enabled by default. 

All plans at Kinsta include uptime monitoring. DreamHost, on the other hand, only offers uptime monitoring features via the Jetpack plugin.

Free Migrations

Kinsta’s team of skilled experts handles the entire migration process for you, so you won’t have to worry about figuring out complex technology or risk losing critical data.

Kinsta offers unlimited free migrations from DreamHost! To get started, the only thing you need is to complete our site migration request form. From there, we’ll be in touch right away to schedule a migration time based on minimizing downtime and disruptions. You can easily track the migration status via your MyKinsta dashboard. 

Migration of the site over to these guys is a complete simple breeze, they do it all once you send them the site details, although if you are not sure they are on hand to assist you anyway via the online message box in the admin area of your dashboard. All in all really happy I transferred over to them for my managed WordPress hosting.

Technically, migrations are also a free feature available for DreamHost users. However, the feature has some caveats. For example, it only applies if you’re moving to a new DreamPress plan, and you have to manage the migration yourself using a custom migration plugin. If you are moving from a different web host or want the DreamHost team to conduct the migration, it costs $99.

In other words, Kinsta saves you both time and money. We don’t expect you to deal with ineffective migration plugins. Instead, our WordPress experts will migrate your site(s) for you free of charge.

Safe and Secure

Kinsta offers state-of-the-art security, so you never have to worry about privacy or protection. Our infrastructure uses the Google Cloud Platform, which allows our users to reap the benefits of a robust security model that safeguards the likes of Gmail and Google Search.

We take both active and passive measures to protect your sites and stop malicious intent. In addition to putting software-based restrictions in place, our secure platform monitors your site every two minutes for uptime.

All sites on Kinsta are automatically protected by Cloudflare’s firewall, which includes free DDoS protection. With our Cloudflare integration, you’ll get the benefits of enhanced security and performance without having to configure your own Cloudflare account. Our security features include:

• Cloudflare firewall with free DDoS protection
• Two-Factor Authentication support
• Isolated LXC containers
• Automated backups with all plans
• Self-healing PHP
• Free security guarantee
• Strict software-based restrictions
• Only support for encrypted SFTP and SSH connections (no FTP)

If we’re alerted of a vulnerability on your site, Kinsta will notify you immediately and keep you updated about the next steps. We act quickly and efficiently, making sure you’re informed throughout the process.

We also include a security guarantee on all of our plans. DreamHost offers only a paid solution malware removal service for $199.

Turbocharging Your Content Delivery with Kinsta CDN

All Kinsta plans include a free Content Delivery Network (CDN) via our Cloudflare integration. This is a premium HTTP/3-enabled CDN, to deliver your content lightning-fast across the globe.

Our content delivery architecture was tailor-made for high throughput and low latency. You can enable Kinsta CDN directly from your MyKinsta dashboard, and your content will be delivered and cached from data centers in over 200 cities around the globe. This spans all major regions, including North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, South America, and Africa.

DreamHost includes the free, basic Cloudflare plan, which you can enable from the control panel. However, to use the advanced features, you’ll need to purchase a Cloudflare Plus or Pro plan. Also, DreamHost’s shared plans don’t support HTTP/2 connections.

Join Others Making the Switch to Kinsta

At Kinsta, we’re passionate about providing our clients with access to the fastest, latest technology. We’re constantly evolving and innovating to exceed our customers’ expectations. 

For proof, simply check out our many feature updates! We release new features, integrations, and tools with frequency and speed unmatched by anyone else in the hosting industry.

We are proud of our platform, and confident you will be too. Therefore, we always offer a 30-day money-back guarantee and no long-term contracts.

If you’re ready to make the move away from DreamHost and switch to a new hosting provider, try out Kinsta risk-free for 30 days!