DreamHost vs. Liquid Web

Last verified 34 days ago · 29 sources · Updated automatically

DreamHost and Liquid Web compared across Company facts, Pricing, Performance & infrastructure, WordPress management, Support & security and Platform & integrations — every fact sourced and re-verified from each vendor's public material.

DreamHost

Independent host whose DreamPress tier is managed WordPress hosting; WordPress.org-recommended.

HQ Brea, CA

Visit DreamHost Full profile

Liquid Web

Managed WordPress and ecommerce hosting (formerly Nexcess), on Liquid Web's own datacenters with Cloudflare Enterprise and a 100% uptime SLA.

HQ Lansing, MI

Visit Liquid Web Full profile

Attribute

DreamHost

Liquid Web

Company facts

Headquarters

Brea, CA DreamHost (New Dream Network, LLC) is headquartered in Brea, California.

Lansing, MI Lansing, Michigan (Liquid Web HQ; Nexcess consolidated under the Liquid Web brand)

Employees

300 Roughly 300 employees (LinkedIn band 201-500).

750 Approx. company headcount (LinkedIn 500–1,000 range, midpoint)

Pricing

Starting Monthly Price (USD)

$19.99 DreamPress 1 entry plan; renewal rate. Intro $14.99/mo first year.

$6 Spark – Launch plan, the entry managed WordPress tier (1 site, 15 GB), billed monthly

Entry Plan WordPress Sites

1 sites DreamPress 1 includes 1 WordPress site.

1 sites 1 WordPress site on the entry Spark – Launch plan

Entry Plan Monthly Visits

40k DreamPress 1 includes 40k monthly visits.

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Entry Plan Storage (GB)

15 GB DreamPress 1 includes 15 GB NVMe SSD storage.

15 GB 15 GB storage on the entry Spark – Launch plan

Free Trial Length (Days)

0 days No free trial; DreamPress offers a 30-day money-back guarantee instead.

0 days No free trial offered on managed WordPress plans

Money-Back Guarantee (Days)

30 days 30-day money-back guarantee on DreamPress.

0 days No money-back guarantee; the current Terms of Service state fees are non-refundable

Performance & infrastructure

Underlying Cloud

own datacenters Runs on DreamHost's own US datacenters (Ashburn, VA and Hillsboro, OR).

own datacenters Runs on Liquid Web-owned, staffed Tier-4 datacenters

Datacenter Locations

3 US East (Ashburn), US West (Hillsboro), EU (Amsterdam)

9 9 Liquid Web datacenter locations across the US, UK, EU, and Australia

Free CDN

Free Bunny CDN included on DreamPress.

Cloudflare Enterprise CDN included on every managed WordPress plan

Web Server

NGINX NGINX with FastCGI caching.

Apache Apache application server (with a Cloudflare Enterprise / NGINX edge-cache layer in front)

Built-in Object Cache

Redis persistent object cache included.

Redis object caching (Object Cache Pro) enabled by default on all new sites

Latest PHP Version

8.5 Newest panel PHP: 8.5 (8.2–8.5 selectable)

8.3 PHP 8.3 selectable via the Client Portal (newer releases may also be available)

Free SSL Certificate

Free Let's Encrypt SSL, auto-provisioned and renewed.

Free SSL certificate included on all plans

WordPress management

Automatic WordPress Updates

Host applies WordPress core updates automatically (cannot opt out).

Host-managed automatic WordPress core (and security) updates

Staging Environments

1-Click Staging with push-to-live, on every DreamPress plan.

Free staging site included on every plan

Automatic Daily Backups

Automatic daily backups with one-click restore.

Automatic daily backups on every plan

Backup Retention (Days)

14 days DreamPress 1 retains 14 days of daily backups (30 days on DreamPress 5 and above).

7 days 7-day backup retention on the entry Spark – Launch plan (30 days on Thrive/Elevate)

Free Site Migration

Free professional migrations (one per included site) plus a free WordPress migration plugin.

Free self-serve migration on the entry plan (assisted migration on higher tiers)

SSH & WP-CLI Access

SSH/shell access with WP-CLI on DreamPress.

SSH (Secure Shell) access with WP-CLI on managed WordPress plans

WordPress Multisite Support

WordPress Multisite (Network) is not supported on DreamPress.

WordPress Multisite supported (subdomain or subdirectory networks)

Support & security

Uptime SLA (%)

100% 100% uptime guarantee (service-credit remedy)

100% 100% uptime SLA (network and power), with service credits

24/7 Support

24/7/365 support from in-house, US-based WordPress experts.

24/7/365 support on all plans

Malware Removal / Hack Fix

No free hack-fix/malware-removal guarantee; DreamShield (scan/alert) and DreamCare (repair) are paid add-ons.

Malware remediation is a paid one-time service ($200/incident), not an included guarantee

WAF / DDoS Protection

Built-in Web Application Firewall + DDoS protection, included at no extra cost.

Web application firewall + DDoS protection (Cloudflare Enterprise) included on every plan

Platform & integrations

Control Panel

custom DreamHost's own custom panel (not cPanel/Plesk).

custom Custom Sites & Stores portal (sites-portal.liquidweb.com), not cPanel/Plesk

White-Label / Agency Features

Agency Partner Program is referral/commission/discounts + priority support — no white-label, sub-account, or client-billing tooling.

Reseller / white-label hosting and client management for partners

Email Hosting Included

Unlimited mailboxes at your domain included with DreamPress.

Email hosting not included; mailboxes require a paid add-on or third-party provider

The verdict

DreamHost

Best for a low-risk single site with email included

DreamHost backs its entry plan with a 30-day money-back guarantee where Liquid Web's terms make fees non-refundable, and bundles unlimited mailboxes Liquid Web omits. It also keeps 14 days of backups to Liquid Web's 7, runs newer PHP (8.5 vs 8.3), and does free professional migrations. Trade-off: $19.99/mo vs $6, no Multisite.

Full profile

Liquid Web

Best for agencies, Multisite, and cheap entry

Liquid Web starts at $6/mo versus DreamHost's $19.99, supports WordPress Multisite (DreamHost does not), and adds reseller/white-label client tooling DreamHost lacks. Its Cloudflare Enterprise CDN spans 9 datacenters to DreamHost's 3. Trade-offs: no money-back guarantee, 7-day backups, self-serve-only migration, no included email.

Full profile

Sources · 29 verified references

en.wikipedia.org liquidweb.com linkedin.com dreamhost.com help.dreamhost.com

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