Lightning Base vs DreamHost Comparison

After 3 years of testing, let’s compare Lightning Base vs DreamHost and find out how they’ve performed so far…

Lightning Base vs DreamHost – Testing Method

  • Prior to testing, I have setup identical content on all 8 Live Test Sites
  • Each week over 80,000 speed & uptime tests are run using independent tools, GTmetrix & Pingdom
  • GTmetrix Logo 50Pingdom Logo 50

  • Test results below are from 04 Apr 2016 to 22 Dec 2018

Test #1: Speed

The GTmetrix Speed Test checks how long it takes for a website to fully load using a desktop internet browser. This test is then repeated every hour throughout the week (1,340 times).

  • Lightning Base’s Speed has been outstanding since it was added in Apr 2017, consistently finding itself in our Top 2 Hosts. It started with a bang by finishing fastest across the first half of 2017, and has continued that good form with 2nd fastest load times across H2 2017 & H1 2018, and 3rd fastest in H2 2018.
  • DreamHost has been consistently slow, but were still competitive in 2016. This situation worsened considerably in 2017, in particular the last 9 weeks, where their average speed dropped to 7.15s. As a result of these unacceptably slow times, DreamHost was replaced by Lightning Base on 23 Apr 2017.
  • Lightning Base is currently 2nd, while DreamHost is 10th in our Speed Rankings.
Lightning Base vs DreamHost Speed Test Results - Apr 2016 to Dec 2018

H2 2018 Results

Lightning Base vs DreamHost Speed Test Chart - Jul 2018 to Dec 2018
Lightning Base vs DreamHost Speed Test Results - Jul 2018 to Dec 2018

H1 2018 Results

Lightning Base vs DreamHost Speed Test Chart - Jan 2018 to Jul 2018
Lightning Base vs DreamHost Speed Test Results - Jan 2018 to Jul 2018

H2 2017 Results

Lightning Base vs DreamHost Speed Test Chart - Aug 2017 to Dec 2017
Lightning Base vs DreamHost Speed Test Results - Aug 2017 to Dec 2017

H1 2017 Results

Lightning Base vs DreamHost Speed Test Chart - Jan 2017 to Aug 2017
Lightning Base vs DreamHost Speed Test Results - Jan 2017 to Aug 2017

2016 Results

Lightning Base vs DreamHost Speed Test Chart - Apr 2016 to Dec 2016
Lightning Base vs DreamHost Speed Test Results - Apr 2016 to Dec 2016

Test #2: Uptime

The Pingdom Uptime Test confirms that the website is actually accessible to visitors. This test is then repeated every minute throughout the week (80,640 times).

  • Lightning Base have also performed brilliantly when it comes to Uptime, with only 65 minutes of downtime since Apr 17. To put this into perspective, nearly all of our other hosts have experienced more than 65 minutes of downtime in 1 week!!
  • DreamHost’s uptime was acceptable during 2016, finishing mid-table. However, 2017 has been really disappointing, with the last 9 weeks resulting in a downtime of 476 minutes.
  • Lightning Base is currently 1st and DreamHost is 9th in our Uptime Rankings.
Lightning Base vs DreamHost Uptime Test Results - Apr 2016 to Dec 2018

Lightning Base vs DreamHost – Overall Test Results

The Overall Ranking accumulates the results from the speed & uptime tests to determine the #1 Host.

  • Lightning Base’s performance has been excellent across the board, and are currently ranked #1 in uptime & #2 in speed tests. They have consistently been in our Top 2 hosts, and have only just missed out on the coveted #1 overall ranking.
  • After being competitive in 2016, and even showing signs of improvement, DreamHost has dramatically fallen off the cliff in the last 9 weeks of 2017. With no actionable solutions coming through from their support team, DreamHost needed to be replaced as they were not able to compete with our other hosts in both speed and uptime.
  • Lightning Base is currently 2nd and DreamHost is 9th in our Overall Rankings.
Lightning Base vs DreamHost Overall Test Results - Apr 2016 to Dec 2018

How do Lightning Base & DreamHost compare to our 8 other Hosts?