Bluehost Black Friday 2026: Prices, Renewals and What We Measured

Bluehost has not announced its 2026 Black Friday sale yet, and its past sales are less dramatic than the banners suggest. In 2023 and 2024 its homepage carried no Black Friday banner on Black Friday weekend, and the prices written into the page were the same as in early October. Today Starter is $3.99/mo on a 36-month prepay, $143.64 upfront, and renews at $9.99/mo when the 36 months end. Bluehost's "Save 60%" label compares those two numbers.

I tested Bluehost's entry plan on the same WordPress site I use for every host. It answered in 287ms from New York with one visitor, but 1400ms with 100 visitors at once, and 42.84% of requests failed over the full load test. This page puts that result next to what each plan costs, what past Black Fridays really offered, and three cheaper plans that did better.

The Three Plans at a Glance

Bluehost Prices, Plan by Plan

Bluehost sells its lowest price on a 36-month term, billed as one payment. Here is what each shared plan costs for those 36 months, what it renews at, and what it includes.

US dollars before tax. Every plan includes a free domain for the first year and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Bluehost's "Save" labels compare the 36-month rate with the 36-month renewal: 60% on Starter, 50% on Business and 32% on eCommerce Essentials. Shorter terms renew at higher monthly rates; our Bluehost renewal pricing guide has the full table.

What Bluehost Offered on Past Black Fridays

Bluehost's banners promise big percentages, so we went back to its own pages as the Wayback Machine saved them in each sale, and to the same pages a few weeks before. Here is what they showed.

Basic and Choice Plus were the plan names before Starter and Business. Bluehost's page loads its prices through a script after it opens; the saved copies keep the prices written into the page, which that script could change on screen. "Not on record" means the saved copy does not show the number, not that there was no discount.

What this means for a buyer: in two of the last four years Bluehost's saved pages showed no Black Friday banner and the same prices as in October. The two years with a banner measured "up to 70%" or "75% off" against Bluehost's regular rates, the same way today's "Save 60%" label does. If the 2026 price at checkout is not lower than today's $3.99/mo for Starter, there is no reason to wait for it.

How Bluehost Held Up in Our Tests

Our Bluehost test site ran on Basic, the plan Bluehost now sells as Starter, with the same WordPress site as every host. We measured response time (TTFB) from 10 locations at the origin server, with no CDN in front, a load ramp from 0 to 250 clients at once, and uptime over 54 days. Here it is beside the cheaper plans from our cheap hosting guide. Full method: How We Test.

Lower is better for response times. "10 locations" is the average TTFB across our 10 test locations; "100 at once" is the response time with 100 visitors at the same moment. Failed requests are counted over the whole ramp to 250 clients, 8,250 requests per host: Bluehost 3,534, Hostinger 66, Verpex 31. The New York column is the same location we use for every host; Bluehost's server is in the US, so New York is also its nearest location.

What this means for a buyer: with one visitor, Bluehost Starter is about as quick from New York as Hostinger Premium. With 100 visitors at once it slowed to 1400ms, and over the whole ramp to 250 clients 3,534 of 8,250 requests failed. A blog with steady traffic will not notice; a shop running a Black Friday sale of its own would. Far from the US it is slow too: the average of our 10 locations was 641ms, so a site with readers in Europe or Asia needs a CDN in front.

What Bluehost Costs Over Four Years, Compared

A 36-month prepay makes the monthly price look low, so the fair comparison is the whole bill. Here is four years on each plan: the first term at the intro price, then the renewal rate for the rest.

Today's prices before tax. The test column is the same load ramp on the same WordPress site for every plan.

Over four years Bluehost Starter costs more than Verpex Bronze, Hostinger Premium and ChemiCloud Starter, and each of those answered 100 visitors at once faster. Unless you want Bluehost for a reason of your own, a Black Friday price would have to fall well below today's to change that.

What Happens When the 36 Months End

The intro price is for your first term only. After 36 months Starter renews at $9.99/mo, $119.88 a year; Business at $13.99/mo, $167.88 a year; eCommerce Essentials at $21.99/mo, $263.88 a year. Bluehost prints the renewal rate under each plan card, but it is easy to forget three years later.

• Put the renewal date in your calendar when you buy, with a reminder about six weeks before.
• Renew for 36 months, not 12. Bluehost's own renewal table charges more per month on shorter terms.
• Compare before it renews. Moving to another host can cost less than the renewal; our guide on whether to renew or move walks through the numbers.

How to Buy at the Lowest Price

1. Open Bluehost's pricing page through our link or directly.
2. Pick the plan: Starter for one small site, Business for several sites or if you want malware removal included.
3. Keep the 36-month term. The lowest monthly price needs it, paid in one go.
4. Read the order summary before paying. Bluehost sells add-ons such as SiteLock security and CodeGuard backups; keep only the ones you chose.
5. Check the total and the "renews at" line, then pay.

Who Should Buy It

Bluehost is part of Newfold Digital, which also owns several other hosting brands. If that matters to you, our page on who owns Bluehost explains the history.

What We Did Not Test

• Business and eCommerce Essentials. We benchmarked the entry plan; the others are compared on price and Bluehost's own specs.
• Black Friday prices in 2022 and 2025. Bluehost's page filled them in with a script, so the archived copies show the banner but not the numbers. For 2023 and 2024 we have the prices written into the page, not a checkout.
• Support and refunds. This page measures servers and prices, not how quickly Bluehost answers a ticket or pays back a refund.

What I Would Do

I would not plan around Bluehost's Black Friday. In two of the last four years its saved pages showed no Black Friday banner and the same prices as in October, and today's Starter plan at $3.99/mo answered 100 visitors at once in 1400ms in our test. If you want Bluehost for one quiet site, buy when you are ready and keep the 36-month term. If you are choosing on price and speed, ChemiCloud Starter answered the same burst in 240ms without failing a request.

See every Black Friday hosting deal we track →

About the Author

I'm Mangesh, the guy behind ThatMy.com. I've spent 10+ years in ISP and network infrastructure, which means I know what a hosting provider is actually doing when they say 'we're fast.' I independently test hosting services using real-world websites, performance testing, and hands-on evaluation. I also read the terms and trace who owns each host. Zero sponsored reviews.

Bluehost Basic (now sold as Starter), benchmarked with the same WordPress test site as every host on thatmy.com. Business and eCommerce Essentials compared on price and Bluehost's listed specs only.

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Bluehost Black Friday FAQ

When does Bluehost Black Friday 2026 start?

Bluehost has not announced it yet. In 2025 its homepage carried a "Black Friday, up to 70% off hosting plans" banner from early November, and the Black Friday labels were gone by the first week of December. If it follows the same pattern, the sale starts weeks before Black Friday itself.

Is the Bluehost Black Friday price lower than the normal price?

Not always. In 2023 and 2024, Bluehost's saved pages from Black Friday weekend had no Black Friday banner, and the prices written into them were the same as in early October. In 2025 it ran a Black Friday banner, but the prices on that page are not in the archive, so we cannot say how much lower they were. Compare the checkout price with today's $3.99/mo for Starter before you decide that the sale is worth waiting for.

Do I need a coupon code for Bluehost Black Friday?

No code appeared on Bluehost's Black Friday pages in any year we checked: the price shows on the plan cards and in the cart. Bluehost's own help article says its special offers are for new customers and for the first term only.

What does Bluehost renew at after the Black Friday term?

On the 36-month term, Starter renews at $9.99/mo, Business at $13.99/mo and eCommerce Essentials at $21.99/mo. Bluehost's help article lists higher monthly renewal rates on 12-month and month-to-month terms, so renewing for 36 months again is the cheapest way to stay.

Which Bluehost plan should I buy on Black Friday?

Starter covers one small site, and it is the plan we tested. Business adds more sites and storage, malware removal and a year of domain privacy for $6.99/mo. eCommerce Essentials is for WooCommerce stores. If your site gets bursts of visitors, read our test results first: Starter answered 100 visitors at once in 1400ms.

Is Bluehost fast enough for WordPress?

For a quiet site, it works. Our Starter test site answered in 287ms from New York with one visitor and stayed up 99.9% of the time over 54 days. Under load it struggled: 1400ms with 100 visitors at once, and 42.84% of requests failed over the full test. The cheaper plans compared on this page did much better.

Can I get a refund on a Bluehost Black Friday plan?

Bluehost lists a 30-day money-back guarantee on its shared plans. A free domain and add-ons are usually handled separately from the hosting refund, so read Bluehost's refund terms before you pay if that matters to you.