HostGator offers a range of products and services in a lot of plan options, including shared web hosting, VPS, dedicated and cloud hosting, domain names, etc.
HostGator is one of the biggest web hosting companies in the world, currently hosting more than 2 million websites.
Along with Bluehost and iPage, HostGator is part of the Endurance International Group (EIG) company since 2012.
It is mostly known for the shared hosting services but it also offers WordPress hosting, VPS, dedicated servers, cloud hosting, and more.
Being around for almost 2 decades, Hostgator supplies decent products and services, and overall it is a reliable hosting service and customer support is definitely one of the best.
Services and products: Similar to other hosting providers, HostGator offers a range of products and services in a lot of plan options, including shared web hosting, VPS, dedicated and cloud hosting, domain names, etc.
HostGator Review
Shared web hosting: HostGator really stands out in a crowd for its shared hosting services. Shared hosting is a cheap and simple way to host your website, by sharing your server with other websites.
Shared Hosting Hostgator
This type of hosting is adaptable for a small website, and it’s the one you should consider if you’re a beginner.
The prices start at $2.75/mo ($6.95/mo on renewal) for the Hatchling plan that provides a single domain, unmetered bandwidth, and a free SSL certificate.
The Baby plan offers unlimited domains for the price of $3.50/mo (first term) and the business plan costs $5.95 per month and it provides a free dedicated IP.
The prices drop for long term deals and increase for the renewal.
VPS: The Virtual Private Server is perfect for medium sites and the prices start at $80 per month, providing 2 GB of RAM, unmetered bandwidth, 2 IP-s, and 80 GB of storage.
The other plans, Snappy 4000 and Snappy 8000 offer more RAM and storage, and the prices for these two other plans are respectively $120/mo and $150/mo.
VPS Hosting Hostgator
Dedicated hosting: This category of hosting provides a solid server performance since you won’t be sharing your server’s resources with other websites. The prices for the dedicated hosting vary from $187 per month to around $320 per month with the Enterprise server that provides 1 TB of SSD storage and 30 GB RAM.
Dedicated hosting
Comparing the Best Web Hosting Services!
Comparing different web hosting services. You can check out our comparison here.
1.Hostinger – Best web hosting for most
2.SiteGround – Best for keeping uptime above 99.99%
3.HostGator – Best for scaling your small business easily
4.DreamHost – Best for pay-as-you-go web hosting
5.Bluehost – Best drag-and-drop page builder for beginners
6.Inmotion – Best price for hosting two websites on one plan
7.Nexcess – Best for experienced WordPress users
8.A2 Hosting – Most dependable web hosting for European and Asian audiences
Note: Comparison of hosting providers is in progress…
WordPress hosting: The WordPress deals provide all a free domain and a free SSL certificate. The prices start at $5.95/mo (first term) for a single site with around 100k visits/mo.
The other plans are suitable for larger websites, and free migration of 2 (Standard plan) or 3 sites (Business plan).
Domain names: Even though HostGator it is not most known for their domain prices, you can purchase a domain (.com) for the price of $12.95/yr which later renews at $17.99/yr.
Domain Hostgator
Detailed reviews.
Prices: HostGator prices are affordable for anyone looking for a good economic deal. Just be aware of the renewal prices and some extra hidden fees like the $25 one for the backup plan restore.
Otherwise, the plans are flexible and vary from a 1-month plan to a 36 month one.
Guarantee: HostGator provides the refund of the hosting fees during the first 45 calendar days, only for the basic hosting services, so that means the domain fee is not refundable.
Space limit: There is no limit regarding the storage aspect, and that’s an advantage compared to other hosting providers, but of course, you cannot store everything.
Ease of use and backup: The control panel is easy-to-use and familiar for beginners and experts, and it is easy to download other apps and add add-ons.
The backup must be done manually by the customers themselves, HostGator backups your site only once a week, only if it is a small website.
Support: HostGator offers 24/7 online (webchat) and phone tech support, and overall the customer service quality is one of the best out there.
You will get detailed information and instructions for any question or problem in a short period of time.
Emails: You get unlimited email accounts and storage regardless of the plan you choose.
Speed and performance: Based on tests, the uptime guarantee is 99.96%, and in the case of downtimes, HostGator gives you a month of hosting credit back.
On the other hand, performance tests do not show such good results. There is a place for improvement regarding the speed factor.
Bandwidth: It is not unmetered even with the cheapest plans.
Server location: Their servers are located in Provo, Utah, and Houston, Texas, so it will not be such a nice experience for non-US customers and their site performance will be worse compared to the other sites.
Security options: HostGator is protected from DDoS attacks and you get a free SSL certificate even with the cheapest plans. You can add external apps(SiteLock) to add security and to monitor your files but it will cost you about $20/yr.
Databases: There are a lot of databases supported by HostGator including the most used ones, MY SQL and MS SQL and there is no size limitation. It is not difficult to create, connect, and manage your database with HostGator.
Software and applications: You can easily install your favorite CMS and other apps for extra features with only one click and you can also upload files to the server.
Site migration: The shared hosting plan comes with a single free site migration(including cPanel websites), while the other plans provide up to 30 site migrations.
Conclusions:
Some of HostGator’s plans are very beneficial and offer good value for the price, but there is a place for improvements for the other plans.
The slow speed is one of the most important problems and disadvantages, along with the extra and hidden fees extra services that are provided for free from other hosting providers.
The customer support experience is really good, the uptime is one of the best and they also have a website builder that really helps the beginners with responsive templates and other functionalities.
It is unlimited in some features if you’re more interested in quantity and it’s in the top pick, especially for shared web hosting.
Over the years HostGator has done impressive improvements with the infrastructure and even though there are aspects that could’ve been better, it is a good choice for overall value.
