Bluehost’s shared hosting lineup includes four tiers: Basic, Plus, Choice Plus, and Pro. The Plus and Choice Plus plans represent the middle ground of Bluehost’s shared hosting portfolio, providing unlimited websites, unlimited SSD storage, and unlimited bandwidth at pricing that falls between the entry-level Basic plan and the premium Pro tier. Understanding the specific differences between Plus and Choice Plus is essential for Bluehost customers evaluating which plan provides the best value for their hosting requirements, because the two plans share the majority of their features and differ in a few targeted areas.
This comparison examines the Plus and Choice Plus plans side by side, identifying exactly where they differ, evaluating the practical value of those differences, and helping hosting buyers determine which plan provides the better match for their specific needs. The goal is to provide clear, factual analysis that enables informed decision-making rather than defaulting to the higher-priced option without understanding what the additional cost provides.
Shared Features Between Plus and Choice Plus
Before examining the differences, it is important to understand the extensive feature overlap between the two plans. Both Plus and Choice Plus include: unlimited websites, unlimited SSD storage, unlimited bandwidth, free SSL certificate, free domain for the first year, unmetered bandwidth, unlimited email accounts, unlimited subdomains, and 24/7 customer support. Both plans provide cPanel access, one-click WordPress installation, and the full range of Bluehost’s standard hosting features.
The shared feature set means that both plans provide identical core hosting capabilities. The hosting infrastructure, server performance, cPanel functionality, WordPress integration, email hosting, and support access are the same across both tiers. The differences between Plus and Choice Plus are limited to specific add-on features rather than fundamental hosting capability differences.
Key Differences
The primary differences between Bluehost Plus and Choice Plus center on two features: CodeGuard Basic backup service and domain privacy protection. Choice Plus includes both of these features at no additional cost, while Plus does not include either — they are available as paid add-ons for Plus plan customers.
CodeGuard Basic Backup
CodeGuard Basic is an automated backup service that captures daily website backups with up to 30 days of backup retention. CodeGuard monitors websites for changes and creates automatic backup snapshots when modifications are detected, providing change-triggered backups in addition to scheduled daily backups. The backup restoration interface enables one-click restoration to any previous backup point.
CodeGuard operates independently from Bluehost’s standard backup systems, providing an additional backup layer with dedicated backup management through the CodeGuard dashboard. The service monitors website files and databases for changes, providing change notifications that alert site administrators to unexpected modifications — a useful security indicator that can detect unauthorized file changes from malware infections or unauthorized access.
The practical value of CodeGuard depends on the user’s existing backup practices. WordPress sites that already use plugin-based backup solutions (UpdraftPlus, BackWPup, Duplicator) may find CodeGuard redundant. Sites without existing backup plugins benefit significantly from CodeGuard’s automated daily backups and 30-day retention. For users who do not actively manage their own backup strategy, CodeGuard’s automatic operation provides valuable data protection without requiring configuration or monitoring.
Domain Privacy Protection
Domain privacy protection prevents public access to the domain registrant’s personal information (name, address, phone number, email) through WHOIS lookup services. Without domain privacy, anyone can look up the registrant information for a domain name through public WHOIS databases. Domain privacy replaces the registrant’s personal information with proxy information, shielding the domain owner’s identity from public visibility.
Domain privacy provides practical benefits including reduced spam email and phone calls directed at the WHOIS-listed contact information, protection against domain-related social engineering attacks, and personal privacy for individuals who do not want their name and address publicly associated with their website domain. For business websites, domain privacy can prevent competitors from identifying the domain owner, and for personal websites, privacy protection prevents public exposure of the individual’s home address and phone number.
The domain privacy feature’s value depends on the user’s privacy sensitivity. Business domains where the registrant information is already publicly associated with the business may find domain privacy less critical. Personal websites, niche sites, and domains where the owner prefers anonymity benefit significantly from privacy protection that prevents WHOIS-based identity discovery.
Pricing Analysis
The pricing difference between Plus and Choice Plus varies based on the billing term selected. On promotional pricing, the price difference between the two plans is relatively small — often just a few dollars per month. This small incremental cost includes CodeGuard Basic and domain privacy, which together would cost significantly more if purchased as separate add-ons on the Plus plan.
Evaluating the value requires comparing the incremental cost of upgrading from Plus to Choice Plus against the combined cost of purchasing CodeGuard Basic and domain privacy as separate Plus plan add-ons. In most pricing scenarios, the Choice Plus plan provides better value than the Plus plan with separately purchased add-ons, because the bundled pricing creates a discount compared to à la carte add-on pricing.
At renewal pricing, the cost difference between Plus and Choice Plus may change from the promotional rates. Users should evaluate both promotional and renewal pricing to understand the long-term cost implications of each plan choice. The total cost of ownership over the planned hosting period provides a more accurate comparison than promotional pricing alone.
Which Plan Suits Which User
Plus Plan — Best For:
- Users who already maintain their own backup solutions through WordPress backup plugins or external backup services.
- Business domains where the registrant information is already publicly known and domain privacy provides minimal additional benefit.
- Budget-conscious users who want the unlimited hosting features without the add-on bundling cost.
- Users who prefer to select and manage their own backup and privacy solutions independently.
Choice Plus Plan — Best For:
- Users who do not have existing backup solutions and want automated daily backups without configuration.
- Personal website owners who want domain privacy protection to prevent public WHOIS exposure.
- Users who prefer comprehensive protection bundled into the hosting plan rather than managing separate services.
- Value-focused buyers who want both CodeGuard and domain privacy at a bundled price lower than separate add-on purchases.
Performance Comparison
Both Plus and Choice Plus share identical hosting infrastructure — the same server hardware, SSD storage, PHP configurations, caching systems, and network connectivity. There are no performance differences between the two plans. A website hosted on the Plus plan will perform identically to the same website hosted on Choice Plus, because the underlying hosting environment is the same.
This performance equivalence is important to understand because it means the plan choice is purely about add-on features (backups and privacy) rather than hosting quality or performance. Users who choose Plus over Choice Plus to save money are not sacrificing hosting performance — they are only forgoing CodeGuard and domain privacy.
Security Comparison
Both plans share identical security infrastructure: free SSL certificates, server-level firewalls, DDoS protection, spam filtering, and standard Bluehost security monitoring. The security implementation operates at the server level and does not differ between Plus and Choice Plus. The only security-adjacent difference is CodeGuard’s file change monitoring on Choice Plus, which can provide early detection of unauthorized file modifications from malware infections — a useful security indicator that supplements but does not replace dedicated security solutions.
Domain privacy on Choice Plus provides a secondary security benefit by preventing domain WHOIS information from being used in social engineering attacks or targeted phishing. Attackers who identify a domain owner’s personal information through WHOIS can use that information to craft convincing phishing emails or social engineering attempts. Domain privacy removes this attack vector by shielding registrant information from public access.
Long-Term Cost Analysis
Evaluating the long-term cost difference requires looking beyond promotional pricing to renewal rates. At promotional pricing, the monthly cost difference between Plus and Choice Plus is small. At renewal pricing, the difference may be larger in absolute terms but remains modest relative to the total hosting cost. The key calculation is comparing the long-term incremental cost of Choice Plus against the cost of separately purchasing CodeGuard and domain privacy as Plus add-ons.
For a typical three-year hosting commitment, the total incremental cost of Choice Plus over Plus should be compared against three years of separate CodeGuard and domain privacy add-on fees. In most pricing scenarios, the bundled Choice Plus pricing provides a lower total cost than Plus with separately purchased add-ons. This cost advantage makes Choice Plus the more economical option for users who would otherwise purchase both add-ons separately.
Alternative Backup Solutions
WordPress users who choose the Plus plan can implement backup solutions through WordPress plugins rather than CodeGuard. Popular backup plugins include UpdraftPlus (free and premium versions), BackWPup, Duplicator, and WPvivid. These plugins provide automated backup scheduling, cloud storage integration (Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3), and one-click restoration capabilities. For WordPress-specific backup needs, plugin-based solutions can be equally effective or superior to CodeGuard, particularly when they include cloud storage for off-server backup retention.
The advantage of CodeGuard over plugin-based backups is operational simplicity — CodeGuard operates automatically without WordPress plugin installation, configuration, or management. Users who prefer hands-off backup management benefit from CodeGuard’s automated approach. Users who are comfortable managing WordPress plugins may prefer the control and cloud storage options that plugin-based backup solutions provide.
WordPress Hosting on Both Plans
WordPress functionality is identical on both plans. One-click WordPress installation, automatic updates, WordPress security features, and WooCommerce support are available on both Plus and Choice Plus. Bluehost’s WordPress-specific features — including the WordPress dashboard integration, staging functionality, and WordPress-optimized caching — operate the same way regardless of which plan is selected.
WooCommerce store owners should consider the CodeGuard backup benefit on Choice Plus more carefully than general website owners. E-commerce sites handle customer data, order records, and product catalog information that is critical to business operations. Automated daily backups through CodeGuard provide additional data protection for e-commerce data that is more difficult to reconstruct if lost compared to static website content.
Email and Domain Features
Email hosting is identical on both plans with unlimited email accounts, the same email storage allocations, and the same email management tools through cPanel. Spam filtering, autoresponders, forwarding, and mailing list functionality are available on both plans without differences.
Domain management features are the same on both plans — the only domain-related difference is the inclusion of domain privacy on Choice Plus. Both plans support unlimited subdomains, unlimited addon domains, and domain parking. DNS management, domain forwarding, and domain transfer capabilities are identical.
Support and Management
Customer support is identical on both plans — the same 24/7 support team, same support channels (phone, live chat, email), and same support scope. There is no priority support or enhanced support access on Choice Plus compared to Plus. The cPanel management interface is identical, and all hosting management capabilities are available on both plans.
Comparison with Other Bluehost Plans
Understanding the Plus vs Choice Plus comparison in the context of Bluehost’s full plan lineup provides additional perspective. The Basic plan below Plus restricts hosting to a single website with limited storage — a significant limitation for users who need multiple websites. The Pro plan above Choice Plus adds a dedicated IP address, enhanced performance features, and upgraded server resources — a significant upgrade for high-traffic sites.
The Plus and Choice Plus tier represents the sweet spot for most Bluehost shared hosting users — unlimited websites and resources at mid-range pricing without the premium cost of the Pro tier. Within this sweet spot, the Plus vs Choice Plus choice is a refinement based on backup and privacy preferences rather than a fundamental hosting capability decision.
Migration and Upgrade Considerations
Users who start on the Plus plan can upgrade to Choice Plus at any time if they decide that CodeGuard and domain privacy provide value worth the incremental cost. The upgrade is managed through the Bluehost account management interface without requiring website migration or reconfiguration. Conversely, users who start on Choice Plus and decide they do not need CodeGuard and domain privacy can downgrade to Plus at their next billing cycle.
The ability to upgrade and downgrade between Plus and Choice Plus without migration complexity means that the initial plan choice is not a permanent commitment. Users can start with Plus, evaluate their backup and privacy needs over time, and upgrade to Choice Plus if those needs justify the cost — or start with Choice Plus and downgrade if the add-on features prove unnecessary.
Hosting Industry Plan Tier Context
Bluehost’s Plus vs Choice Plus tier structure reflects a common hosting industry practice of creating plan differentiation through add-on bundling rather than fundamental hosting capability differences. Many hosting providers create mid-tier plans that differ primarily in included add-on services — backup solutions, security suites, domain privacy, and marketing tool access — while providing identical underlying hosting infrastructure. Understanding this pricing strategy helps hosting buyers evaluate whether the bundled add-ons provide genuine value for their specific needs or represent features they would not otherwise purchase independently.
Within Bluehost’s own plan lineup, the Plus and Choice Plus plans represent the volume pricing tier where most customers find the best balance of features and cost. The Basic plan below restricts hosting to a single website, which limits its usefulness for users who manage multiple web properties. The Pro plan above adds performance enhancements that most small to medium websites do not require. The Plus/Choice Plus tier provides unlimited hosting capabilities at mid-range pricing, making the Plus vs Choice Plus decision the most common plan selection challenge for Bluehost customers evaluating their hosting options.
Recommendation Framework
A practical decision framework for choosing between Plus and Choice Plus can be simplified to two questions: Do you have existing backup solutions for your website? Do you value domain privacy for your domain registration? If both answers are “no,” Choice Plus provides cost-effective bundled protection. If both answers are “yes,” Plus provides the same hosting at lower cost. If one answer is “yes” and one is “no,” evaluate whether the single relevant add-on’s value justifies the incremental cost of the Choice Plus bundle.
Summary
The Bluehost Plus vs Choice Plus comparison comes down to a simple evaluation: does the combined value of CodeGuard Basic backups and domain privacy protection justify the incremental cost over the Plus plan? For most users, the answer depends on existing backup practices and privacy preferences. Users without backup solutions who value domain privacy will find Choice Plus provides good value through bundled pricing. Users with existing backup plugins who do not need domain privacy will find Plus provides the same hosting capabilities at lower cost.
Both plans provide identical hosting infrastructure, performance, WordPress support, email capabilities, and customer support. The differences are limited to two specific add-on features, and the hosting experience is fundamentally the same regardless of which plan is selected. This factual comparison enables Bluehost customers to make an informed choice based on their specific backup and privacy requirements rather than marketing positioning or default upselling.
Features, pricing, and availability discussed in this comparison reflect information available at the time of writing. Please verify current plan details and pricing directly on the official Bluehost website. Okut Hosting is an independent review platform with no affiliate relationships with any hosting company mentioned in this article.
For related reviews, see our Bluehost vs HostGator comparison, our Hostinger budget hosting review, and our guide to shared hosting limitations.
