# DreamHost web hosting 16 Hacker News commenters recommended DreamHost web hosting and 11 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 20 years (10 owners). **Verdict:** Recommended for cheap, steady shared hosting that runs many small sites and offers built-in Let's Encrypt. Common caveat: renewals cost more and mailing lists were dropped. ## Why people recommend it - Reliable for years of use (5 comments): "never had any complaints, I have over 15 domains with them. Not the cheapest, but they have been steady." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50149049)) "It's cheap and reliable with predictable costs. It hasn't caused me any problems in a decade." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50234221)) "they have been an exceptionally solid company that I have worked with" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50238409)) - Runs many small sites (3 comments): "I've been able to host my personal blog and professional site, as well as probably 3 dozen other sites over the years" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50234353)) "never had any complaints, I have over 15 domains with them. Not the cheapest, but they have been steady." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50149049)) "I love their shared hosting; I have a $100/year account with dozens of little low traffic apps" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50238572)) - Cheap, predictable pricing (3 comments): "I love their shared hosting; I have a $100/year account with dozens of little low traffic apps" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50238572)) "It's cheap and reliable with predictable costs. It hasn't caused me any problems in a decade." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50234221)) "Great value, no real complaints." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50235019)) - Built-in free Let's Encrypt (2 comments): "they had a configuration option in their control panel to automatically install and maintain a Let's Encrypt certificate on your behalf" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46214424)) "they literally have a button on the panel to get one from Let's Encrypt for free" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46215180)) ## What people warn about - Email lists dropped, email support poor (3 comments): "Chat support works well. Email is nonexistent." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50235174)) "they no longer provide the services (i.e. mailman) to run mailing lists" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50235616)) "They abandoned all support for email lists a couple of months back." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50234809)) - Renewal and dedicated IP costs high (2 comments): "$21.99 to renew a dot com. Way too much." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50151119)) "I could not believe what the hell they were charging for a year of hosting with a dedicated ip" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50237772)) - Vague about security incident scope (3 comments): "I would never expect first tier support to know, let alone ever admit, something like that." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50237506)) "being so unclear about scope and remediation steps is a painful mistake" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50244445)) "They're being awfully vague about this issue so far." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50235079)) - Panel slow and cluttered (2 comments): "I've been a little unhappy with how much clutter and other crap they've added." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47914950)) "their panel/website-management is so slow" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50238199)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Neocities](https://hackerapproved.com/p/neocities.md): 34 recommend - [NearlyFreeSpeech.net](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nearlyfreespeech-net.md): 29 recommend - [Mythic Beasts hosting](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mythic-beasts.md): 8 recommend - [WP Engine](https://hackerapproved.com/p/wp-engine.md): 6 recommend - [pico.sh](https://hackerapproved.com/p/pico-sh.md): 5 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://www.dreamhost.com/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "DreamHost web hosting", https://hackerapproved.com/p/dreamhost/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).