After 3 years of testing, let’s compare SiteGround vs DreamHost and find out how they’ve performed so far…
SiteGround 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
- 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).
- SiteGround’s speed was typically in the bottom half of our hosts during 2016. How things have turned around in 2017 & 2018, with a dramatic improvement to 2nd during the 1st half of 2017. SiteGround have then taken it a step further to be our fastest host in H2 2017, H1 2018 and 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.
- SiteGround is currently sitting in 1st place and DreamHost 10th in our Speed Rankings.
H2 2018 Results
H1 2018 Results
H2 2017 Results
H1 2017 Results
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).
- SiteGround have performed brilliantly when it comes to Uptime, showing rare consistency for the 3 years we’ve been testing. Their performance in H1 2018 has been their best so far, with just 12 minutes of downtime, while H2 2018 was also impressive with just 23 minutes of downtime.
- 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.
- SiteGround is currently ranked 2nd and DreamHost 9th in our Uptime Rankings.
View the Weekly Uptime Tests
SiteGround vs DreamHost – Overall Test Results
The Overall Ranking accumulates the results from the speed & uptime tests to determine the #1 Host.
- SiteGround’s performance was solid throughout 2016, but has really stepped up across 2017 & 2018. Their uptime consistency has been very impressive plus they have been our fastest host over the past 18 months. These results have led to SiteGround achieving for the first time the coveted #1 Overall Ranking – Congratulations!!
- 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.
- This results in SiteGround currently sitting in 1st and DreamHost 9th in our Overall Rankings.
Hi, I'm Clint!
