Price: Hostinger wins on the 3-year number
Both hosts advertise a low monthly rate that depends on a long prepaid term. Hostinger's is longer: 48 months at $2.99 covers the whole three-year window with a year to spare, for a total of $143.52 paid up front. Bluehost's 36-month term at $3.99 comes to $143.64, almost the same cash outlay, but it buys 36 months rather than 48.
Renewal rates are close: $10.99 a month at Hostinger and $9.99 at Bluehost. Neither applies inside the first three years on these terms, which is why the 3-year true cost is simply the intro rate multiplied out.
Control panel and ease of use
Hostinger uses its own hPanel, a clean dashboard that groups hosting, domains, email and the WordPress installer in one place. Bluehost has a custom dashboard built around WordPress, with the installer running during sign-up and site management tools front and centre. Beginners tend to find Bluehost's flow more guided; people who manage several things at once often prefer hPanel's layout. Neither uses the classic cPanel on these plans.
Features that differ
Websites and storage: Hostinger Premium allows 3 websites on 20 GB SSD; Bluehost Starter allows 10 websites on 10 GB NVMe. More sites at Bluehost, more space at Hostinger.
Bandwidth: Hostinger lists unmetered bandwidth; Bluehost does not publish figures for shared plans.
Backups: weekly on both plans. Hostinger's Unlimited tier moves to daily.
Domain and SSL: free domain for the first year and free SSL on both.
Data centres: Hostinger offers locations in the US, UK, EU, India, Singapore and Brazil; Bluehost hosts in the US.
Support
Bluehost offers 24/7 live chat and phone support. Hostinger offers 24/7 live chat and email, with no phone line. If you want to talk to someone when something breaks, that is the clearest practical difference between the two.