How To Cancel Your DreamHost Account + Get a Refund [2024]

DreamHost is a decent hosting provider that offers an easy-to-use platform for WordPress, but it isn’t without its downsides. Perhaps you’re looking to upgrade for better performance, or you’re looking for more WordPress-specific features.

If website loading speed is your concern, Hostinger offers better performance for a lower price with its WordPress-optimized hosting platform. I’d also recommend checking out my list of top alternatives for more options.

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Quick Guide: How to Cancel DreamHost and Get a Full Refund

1. Log in. Enter your account details at the DreamHost website.
2. Initiate account closure. On the Manage Account screen, click Manage next to your hosting plan and click Start Account Closure.
3. Complete the cancellation survey. Answer all questions and continue.
4. Confirm cancellation. Check the final summary of your account cancellation. Tick the box to agree, then click or tap Cancel.

My Experience: Here’s How I Cancelled My DreamHost Account

While DreamHost’s cancellation process wasn’t completely free of confusion, I found it to be quick to complete. Here’s the step-by-step process.

1. Log in to your account. The login button can be found on the DreamHost website, at the top-right of the home page.

2. Enter the Manage Account page. To get there, press Billing & Account on the leftmost menu of the dashboard. This will open a sub-menu – click Manage Account to continue.

You may wish to back up your data at this stage. You can take an account-wide backup on the Manage Account page by clicking the Create a Backup button in the top-right. Once the backup completes, you’ll be able to download it for safekeeping.

3. Cancel any active hosting plans. I had only the Shared Starter plan on my account – but DreamHost does allow you to have multiple types of hosting active on the same account. To close your account fully, you’ll need to cancel every active hosting plan.

To cancel a hosting plan, first click the Manage button next to the plan in question.

This will open a new page. Scroll down to the bottom and you’ll see one of two buttons – either Start Account Closure or Start Cancellation.

If you have multiple instances of shared hosting active with DreamHost, you’ll see the Start Cancellation button. This will cancel the plan in question, but will leave the other hosting plans you have with DreamHost active. Repeat this step with all plans until you have only a single one left.

To cancel other types of hosting, you’ll need to head elsewhere. VPS and dedicated servers can be cancelled on the VPS page and the Dedicated Server Dashboard, respectively. DreamPress plans are deleted on the Managed WordPress page.

As I only had one shared hosting plan on my account, the Start Account Closure button appeared immediately. Once you’ve deleted all other hosting plans, click this button to begin closing your account.

4. Complete the Exit Survey. As part of the account closure process, you’ll be asked to complete a survey. This cannot be skipped, so it’s somewhat of a minor annoyance. That said, it’s only a couple of questions, and can be completed within seconds. Once you’re done, click or tap the Next button to keep going.

5. Review any remaining active services. Next up, DreamHost will show you a list of any additional services you currently have active. These could be email hosting or domain name registration, for example.

Here you can choose whether you’d like to cancel these services along with your account, or keep your account open to continue using them. As an example, you may wish to cancel your shared hosting plan with DreamHost, but continue using it to manage a registered domain name.

Keep in mind that registered domain names with DreamHost will remain active until they expire naturally upon their renewal date, even if you fully close your account. You should transfer them to another registrar if you want to keep them.

As for me, I hadn’t purchased any additional services, nor did I have a registered domain name with DreamHost. As such, I could simply continue with the cancellation process.

6. Pay any outstanding bills, and confirm refund eligibility. On this screen, you’ll need to complete payment for any outstanding bills before you can finish the cancellation process.

If you got a free domain name with your chosen hosting plan, you may need to pay for it. This can only happen if you’re cancelling within the first year of your hosting, and it’s because there are various non-refundable fees that must be paid by the registrar to secure your domain for you.

You’ll also be able to confirm on this page whether you’re due a refund. If you’re cancelling within DreamHost’s generous money-back guarantee, you should see a full refund equal to the amount you’ve paid for web hosting.

However, this wasn’t the case for me. As I’d only spent a couple of dollars, DreamHost stated that it couldn’t process card transactions under $4.95. Therefore, it apparently could not give me a refund – instead, I’d be receiving account credits.

I had not been aware of this stipulation in the details of the money-back guarantee. I decided to check in with support to see if this really was the case.

After waiting for some time for the live chat agent to confirm the answer, he stated that I would in fact be due a refund. It would be manually issued upon account closure. Upon cancelling, I can confirm that I did receive a full refund after some time.

7. Confirm cancellation. On this final page, DreamHost will summarize all the choices you’ve made thus far. It will show you a list of the services you’ll no longer have access to, and whether your account will be fully closing or staying open for a certain service.

If it all looks good, check the box and click Confirm. With that, you’re done! If you were due a refund, you should receive it within five to seven business days if you paid by card. Other payment methods may take up to 30 days.

It’s worth noting that you can reopen your account at any time by using the same credentials. Simply log in again and add another hosting plan.

This means that DreamHost keeps your basic account information on file. Thankfully, your payment details are fully deleted with account closure. Still, I would’ve liked to have the option to purge my account data entirely – you never know when a data breach may occur.

3 Best DreamHost Alternatives for WordPress Hosting

If you’re looking to try a different host, these alternative providers performed well during my tests. They excelled in areas where DreamHost fell flat.

Hostinger

If you were disappointed with DreamHost’s overall performance, Hostinger may be the choice for you. Our speed tests found that Hostinger served website pages faster and more reliably than DreamHost, despite costing less overall. In fact, Hostinger is one of the best-performing budget platforms for WordPress out there.

Nexcess

If you found DreamHost to be a bit lacking in WordPress features, Nexcess could be the right host for you. Nexcess offers better WordPress-specific features – such as a plugin manager that tracks performance impact, a cloud-based infrastructure that scales in response to traffic surges, and more.

You’ll also benefit from AI-driven plugin updates, which are tested for you before application to the live site. This, along with a high level of optimization across the platform, helps Nexcess stand out as one of the best choices for managed WordPress hosting.

That said, these features don’t come cheap – Nexcess will cost you significantly more than DreamHost.

InterServer

If you need flexible hosting at budget prices, InterServer narrowly wins out over DreamHost. InterServer offers only one shared hosting plan, but it includes unlimited storage, bandwidth, email accounts, data transfer, and the allowance to launch as many websites as you want – all for a lower price than DreamHost.

InterServer also tends to offer excellent performance and uptime, along with easy installation of WordPress. InterServer’s main downside is that support is both slow to respond and difficult to get a straight answer from.

Quick and Easy Cancellation, Despite an Unclear Refund Process

Besides a little bit of confusion surrounding my refund, DreamHost does a lot of things right. It was quick and easy to cancel, and my refund ultimately arrived promptly. I was never badgered to stay at any point, even when I had to contact support.

I would have preferred to possess a method for purging my account data. I am hopeful that this feature could be integrated in the future. Nonetheless, I felt content with my experience when canceling a DreamHost account.

FAQ

How do I cancel my DreamHost account?

Thankfully, cancelling a DreamHost account is straightforward. You’ll first need to delete any active hosting plans, then begin the account closure process on the Manage Account page. Follow my detailed tutorial for more information.

If you’re looking for a new host, take a look at our list of the best web hosting services for several of the best available options.

Can I get a refund with DreamHost?

As long as you’re still eligible for the money-back guarantee, you should have no issues seeking a refund. All you need to do is cancel your plan with DreamHost and your refund will be issued within a few days.

How do I contact DreamHost?

To contact DreamHost support, click or tap Support on the leftmost menu of your control panel, followed by Contact Support. A window will appear for you to enter your query. A bot will attempt to link you to relevant information, and if none of these suggestions are sufficient, select No, show me more. Then, if further suggestions don’t help, you’ll be able to click a button that will connect you with an agent.

How do I cancel my DreamPress plan?

First, navigate to the Managed WordPress page on the leftmost menu of the control panel. Click Manage next to your DreamPress plan. Now, hit Edit/Remove Plan. Scroll down to the bottom and select Delete DreamPress.

If you’re looking to start over with a new web host, you may want to have a look at our step-by-step guide to choosing a hosting provider and launching a new website.