| 🏆Performance Grade | B+ |
| ⏱️Uptime Guarantee | No |
| 🔒Free SSL | Yes |
| 🔧Hosting Types | Shared, Dedicated Server, Shared |
| 💡Basic Plan Features |
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| 💲Starting Price | $4.26 |
Features and Ease of Use
BlueWeb sells a a range of hosting services including shared hosting, which comes with the following core features:
- Backup services
- Free domain registration
- SSL certificates available
- Up to 10GB HDD
- Up to 260GB traffic per month
BlueWeb offers a selection of different types of hostings plans e.g., Linux hosting, Windows hosting, Zero XE (with a website building tool), image hosting, video hosting, .NET hosting, and reseller hosting, as well as service hosting, colocation, and managed plans. So, there are plenty of options to meet your requirements.
The Linux plans come with most of the software and database features you need, from support for PHP (version unspecified), Perl, C++, Python, and MySQL databases, as well as SSH access. Windows plans come with Microsoft SQL databases and .NET support.
There are a few extra value adds, to help you get started with BlueWeb. First, it will offer free website migrations to get you set up easily. Second, an integration with NeoBiz, which gives you access to various free design templates and a website builder is available. And third, BlueCGI gives you access to galleries, membership management, online forms, and other website integrations.
There are also quite a few customization options in the checkout flow to configure the base plans as needed. You can select the type of Linux operating system (Basic, Blue, Power, Power Plus, or Max), increase hard disk space, add monthly traffic, or add databases. This kind of flexibility is quite uncommon for shared hosting plans, so it’s a nice little value add.
There isn’t an uptime guarantee advertised on the website, which is unusual. However, I can you tell it owns its own South Korean based data center, which is Tier IV, meaning you should (in theory) experience less than 26 minutes of downtime per year.
Pricing and Support
The prices are higher than international companies, but in line with, if a little more expensive than other South Korean companies. You’re paying to have a South Korean host and also lots of value added features such as support for advanced coding languages and website building tools.
Plans come with a free domain, but SSL certificates are an added fee. You can select terms ranging from one month to three years, with a hefty discount for a longer terms e.g., if you purchase three years, you get one year for free.
Unlike some South Korean hosts, you can sign up and pay 100% online, and the process is relatively fuss free.
I was happy to see live chat available on the website, but I was disappointed when the operator did not respond despite my attempts to use it multiple times in the afternoon on a weekday. After that, I sent a follow-up email (in English) and unfortunately, I did not receive a reply.
According to the website, there is supposed to be 24/7 customer support by phone, email, and live chat, plus there’s remote support software. There’s a small FAQ section with some tutorials on the website, although I doubt it would be enough to help in the event of an emergency.
