WordPress Hosting · Comparison
DreamHost vs. WordPress.com
DreamHost and WordPress.com 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.
WordPress.com
Automattic's hosted WordPress service, from a free tier up to managed, plugin-enabled business plans.
Company facts
Headquarters
Brea, CA DreamHost (New Dream Network, LLC) is headquartered in Brea, California.
San Francisco, CA Automattic (WordPress.com's parent); a fully distributed company.
Employees
300 Roughly 300 employees (LinkedIn band 201-500).
1.5k Automattic (parent company) headcount, ~1,450 across 80+ countries.
Pricing
Starting Monthly Price (USD)
$19.99 DreamPress 1 entry plan; renewal rate. Intro $14.99/mo first year.
$9 Personal plan, the cheapest paid tier; bandwidth is unmetered on all plans.
Entry Plan WordPress Sites
1 sites DreamPress 1 includes 1 WordPress site.
1 sites Personal plan hosts a single WordPress site.
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.
6 GB Personal plan includes 6 GB of storage.
Free Trial Length (Days)
0 days No free trial; DreamPress offers a 30-day money-back guarantee instead.
0 days No free trial; WordPress.com offers a money-back guarantee instead.
Money-Back Guarantee (Days)
30 days 30-day money-back guarantee on DreamPress.
14 days 14-day refund window on annual plans (7 days on monthly).
Performance & infrastructure
Underlying Cloud
own datacenters Runs on DreamHost's own US datacenters (Ashburn, VA and Hillsboro, OR).
own datacenters Automattic-operated infrastructure, 28+ data centers across 6 continents.
Datacenter Locations
3 US East (Ashburn), US West (Hillsboro), EU (Amsterdam)
4 4 site-placement regions: US West, US Central, US East, EU West.
Free CDN
Free Bunny CDN included on DreamPress.
Global edge cache / CDN included on all plans at no extra cost.
Web Server
NGINX NGINX with FastCGI caching.
NGINX NGINX-based stack.
Built-in Object Cache
Redis persistent object cache included.
Persistent object cache (Memcached) enabled by default on all plans.
Latest PHP Version
8.5 Newest panel PHP: 8.5 (8.2–8.5 selectable)
8.4 PHP 8.4 selectable (8.2, 8.3, 8.4 supported).
Free SSL Certificate
Free Let's Encrypt SSL, auto-provisioned and renewed.
Free SSL certificate auto-provisioned on all plans.
WordPress management
Automatic WordPress Updates
Host applies WordPress core updates automatically (cannot opt out).
WordPress core and security updates are managed by the platform automatically.
Staging Environments
1-Click Staging with push-to-live, on every DreamPress plan.
Staging sites require the Business plan; not available on the entry (Personal) plan.
Automatic Daily Backups
Automatic daily backups with one-click restore.
Automated real-time backups/restore (VaultPress) require the Business plan; not on the entry (Personal) plan.
Backup Retention (Days)
14 days DreamPress 1 retains 14 days of daily backups (30 days on DreamPress 5 and above).
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Free Site Migration
Free professional migrations (one per included site) plus a free WordPress migration plugin.
Free 'Do it for me' expert migration plus free content import; full plugin/theme site migration needs the Business plan.
SSH & WP-CLI Access
SSH/shell access with WP-CLI on DreamPress.
SSH and WP-CLI require the Business plan; not on the entry (Personal) plan.
WordPress Multisite Support
WordPress Multisite (Network) is not supported on DreamPress.
WordPress Multisite networks are not supported; each site needs its own plan.
Support & security
Uptime SLA (%)
100% 100% uptime guarantee (service-credit remedy)
99.999% 99.999% uptime SLA.
24/7 Support
24/7/365 support from in-house, US-based WordPress experts.
24/7 priority support requires the Business plan; Personal gets email + weekday/extended live chat, not full 24/7.
Malware Removal / Hack Fix
No free hack-fix/malware-removal guarantee; DreamShield (scan/alert) and DreamCare (repair) are paid add-ons.
Daily malware scanning with automatic fixes, built into every site.
WAF / DDoS Protection
Built-in Web Application Firewall + DDoS protection, included at no extra cost.
Web Application Firewall and DDoS protection built into every site at no extra cost.
Platform & integrations
Control Panel
custom DreamHost's own custom panel (not cPanel/Plesk).
custom Custom WordPress.com dashboard (Calypso); no cPanel.
White-Label / Agency Features
Agency Partner Program is referral/commission/discounts + priority support — no white-label, sub-account, or client-billing tooling.
Automattic for Agencies: unified multi-site dashboard, consolidated billing, client referrals, bulk discounts.
Email Hosting Included
Unlimited mailboxes at your domain included with DreamPress.
No mailbox hosting on the entry plan; Professional Email / Google Workspace is a paid add-on (free for 1 year only on Business/Commerce).
The verdict
DreamHost Best for developer control on the entry plan
DreamPress 1 ships SSH/WP-CLI, staging, automatic daily backups (14-day retention), 24/7 US-based support, and bundled email hosting on the cheapest tier. On WordPress.com all four gate to the Business plan. It also gives 15 GB storage vs 6 GB. Tradeoffs: $19.99/mo vs $9, and visits capped at 40k.
Full profile WordPress.com Best for low cost, built-in security, and agencies
At $9/mo the Personal plan undercuts DreamPress 1 ($19.99) and includes daily malware scanning with automatic fixes that DreamHost charges extra for. Automattic for Agencies adds a multi-site dashboard, consolidated billing, and bulk discounts that DreamHost lacks. Note: staging, backups, SSH, and 24/7 support need the Business plan.
Full profileSources · 28 verified references
en.wikipedia.org automattic.com linkedin.com dreamhost.com wordpress.com help.dreamhost.com + 1 more
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