Is Bluehost Still Good for Affiliate Marketing in 2025?

Bluehost used to be the default — now it’s the punchline.

But the affiliate crowd might be missing something.

Before you write it off, here’s what actually happened when I gave Bluehost a fresh test in late 2024 — with real stacks, real traffic, and zero bias.

✍️ Hook & Perception Shift

I used to recommend Bluehost without blinking.

Back in 2017, it was the no-brainer answer to “What’s a good host for my first affiliate site?” It was affordable, accessible, and — back then — almost cool to use.

But somewhere along the way, the narrative shifted.

“You’re still using Bluehost?”
“Bro, go get real hosting.”

The whispers turned into collective snobbery. And like many in the affiliate world, I slowly absorbed it — unconsciously moving Bluehost to the bottom of my mental list.

But here’s what no one tells you: Bluehost didn’t die. It just got quieter.

In late 2024, I had a small niche site to deploy — low stakes, experimental, under 100 pages. I was curious: what if I deliberately ignored the trend and gave Bluehost a real, updated test?

No managed dashboard. No LiteSpeed hype. No “cloud-native” marketing fluff.
Just the basics: shared hosting, WordPress, caching, and one affiliate plugin stack.

And guess what?

It ran. It held.
It performed better than half the hosts I paid double for.

I’m not here to convince you Bluehost is the best.
But I am here to challenge the assumption that it’s bad.

Because for certain types of affiliate projects — especially in early-stage or lean setups — Bluehost might be one of the most underrated choices in 2025.

“deep Bluehost review”

⚙️ What Actually Holds Up (and What Doesn’t)

✅ 1. The Core Stack Still Works (Surprisingly Well)

• WordPress (standard install)
• GeneratePress theme
• AAWP + Pretty Links Pro
• WP Rocket
• Rank Math SEO

No CDN. No Cloudflare. No fancy tweaks.

On Bluehost’s Choice Plus shared plan, the site loaded in under 1.5s for most U.S. visitors, with stable uptime and a clean TTFB under 600ms.

That’s not elite — but it’s solid. Especially for $2.95/month.

And that’s where most people underestimate Bluehost:
It’s not trying to be “modern” — but it still nails the fundamentals.

• Free CDN (available via integration)
• Free SSL
• Basic caching
• Email, staging, and domain – all inside one dashboard

For most early-stage affiliate sites, this is more than enough to launch, test, optimize — and grow.

👉 Want to see how I optimize Bluehost settings for speed?
Check out this guide here

🚧 2. The Pain Points Are Real – But Manageable

Let’s not romanticize this. Bluehost has quirks.

What I didn’t love:

• Dashboard still feels like 2019 — cluttered, sometimes laggy
• Upsell prompts everywhere
• Support can be hit-or-miss
• Server response dips during peak (shared infra)

But here’s the deal:

This isn’t Kinsta. You’re not paying $35/month.

Bluehost behaves like a budget host, but not like a broken one.
And for affiliate sites that run lean — 10–20 posts, optimized theme, no bloat — that’s good enough.

🧩 3. Affiliate Stack Compatibility

Bluehost works fine with:

• ThirstyAffiliates, Pretty Links, Ad Inserter
• AAWP, Lasso, or even pure HTML
• Rank Math or Yoast
• Fluent Forms, WPForms…

It’s not restrictive.
It’s just not sexy.

But sexy doesn’t rank.
Speed and structure do.