HostGator Web Hosting Review (2024)
Our Research
Is HostGator Worth Signing Up For?
Winner of awards like Best Web Hosting award from PCMag, HostGator is no stranger to acclaim. And rightly so. This industry leader has been providing reliable and quality web hosting services from shared to reseller, VPS, and dedicated to businesses for 2 decades. HostGator keeps expanding its offerings too, so keep your eyes peeled for new features constantly. Easy, affordable, powerful. That works for us.
Hostgator at a Glance 9.0 Editor Score
Simple Setup
9.9
Security Features
9.3
Technical Features
9.4
Servers
8.8
Customer Service
9.6
9.0 Editor Score
Hostgator Pros & Cons
PROS
- Packages are full of features and functionality
- Automatic migration done by HostGator staff
- Award-winning, industry-recognized leader
CONS
- Website builder not included in hosting plan
- Not automatically PCI compliant
How do I know I can trust this Hostgator review?
TopRatedTen.com authors, contributors, and editors are serious about research. We combine our own experience with the services we recommend, with reviews that come from verified users–just like you! Together, with reviews from industry experts, we find the Top 10 best products and services to make sure you can choose with confidence and ease.
Overview
Hostgator at a Glance
HostGator at a Glance
| Bandwidth | Unlimited |
|---|---|
| Free marketing offer | Various offers online constantly |
| Uptime | 99.9% |
| Website builder | Yes |
| Money-back guarantee | 45-Day |
| Price per month | Starting at $2.75/month |
Best For
- WordPress businesses
- Startups
- Any business that enjoys flexible, easy, feature-rich hosting
Up to 62% Off HostGator Coupons & Promo Codes
- Free 1 Year Domain Registration on Select Plans
- Hundreds of Drag-and-Drop Website Templates
- E-commerce Ready
- 1-Click WordPress Installation
- E-commerce Ready
- $150 in Google AdWords and $100 in Bing Ad Credits
Hosting Types
HostGator has plenty of hosting options to choose from, so you can have the pick of the litter in terms of shared vs. dedicated, cloud, WordPress, or any other hosting style you need. HostGator gives you 3 plans to work with in each category. Here’s a quick look at each of them:
- Shared web hosting
HostGator’s shared web hosting comes in 3 options, called the Hatchling Plan, the Baby Plan, and the Business Plan (cute theme-based plans, but they kind of dropped the ball on that last one). You’ll get a free SSL certificate with all plans, one-click installation, and unmetered bandwidth. With the Baby Plan, you get unlimited domains, and with the Business Plan, you’ll receive several other features including a free upgrade to Positive SSL, free dedicated IP address, and free SEO tools. At $5.95/month, the Business Plan is a good bargain for most businesses.
- VPS hosting
With 3 more plans to choose from, HostGator’s VPS hosting gives you dedicated control in a completely scalable environment. The starter plan is called Snappy 2000, which gives you 2GB RAM, 2 core CPU, 120GB disk space, and unmetered bandwidth. Bumping up to the next level, the Snappy 4000 gives you 4GB RAM, 165GB disk space, and unmetered bandwidth. If you want to go for the gold, the Snappy 8000 offers an impressive 8GB RAM, 4 cores CPU, 240GB disk space, and unmetered bandwidth. You’ll get total customization, a virtual app that lets you write custom script, web development tools, and hosting for unlimited domains, subdomains, email addresses, databases, FTP accounts, and more. It packs a lot into one package.
- Dedicated server hosting
Taking a dedicated server means you get full autonomy and control over every aspect of your hosting environment. The Value Server plan gives you 2 core/8 thread Intel Xeon-D CPU, 8GB RAM, 1TB hard drive space, and unmetered bandwidth. It works with Linux or Windows OS, too. The Power Server plan boosts you up to 8 core/16 thread, 16GB RAM, and 2TB HDD (or 512GB SSD). Finally, the Enterprise Server plan offers the same thing as the Power Server plan plus 30GB RAM and 1TB SSD.
- Managed WordPress cloud hosting
As with the other services, HostGator’s managed WordPress hosting has 3 options. The Starter Plan gives you 1 site managed, 100k visits per month, 1GB backup space, and a free SSL certificate. The next plan is the Standard Plan, and this doubles your options, meaning that you get to manage 2 sites with 200k visits per month and 2GB of backup storage space. Finally, the Business Plan works with 3 sites and gives you 500k visits per month with 3GB backup.
HostGator’s WordPress hosting is particularly attractive (regardless of the plan) because it guarantees up to 2.5x faster load times thanks to the cloud architecture of its hosting servers (and a few other technical details we won’t go into). Faster load times is a big perk for all businesses on the web.
As you can see, HostGator definitely has a lot of hosting options. On top of that, HostGator will transfer your website with all its data and details completely free. There are some caveats to this offer, like that you need to do it within the first 30 days after signing up, and the number of sites you can migrate may be limited to the plan you choose. But it’s still a great offer.
Uptime and Performance
HostGator gives its users a 99.9% uptime guarantee. And as one of the top names in web hosting today, HostGator has proven that that’s a guarantee they’ll stand by. In terms of performance, HostGator has also more than shown itself to be a powerful hitter that is as resilient as it is reliable. Get up to 2.5 times faster page load times with this service for the optimal customer support available.
Website Builder Features
HostGator has a separate plan for website building. We didn’t like that this was a stand-alone product rather than being incorporated within the hosting plans like with many other web hosting services. But with the rates being as reasonable as they are from HostGator, it’s hard to complain about the extra fee.
Website builder plans come in 3 levels:
- Starter Plan
The Starter Plan gives you free hosting, domain name, and SSL certificate. You’ll be able to use the sleek and easy drag-and-drop builder tool to create attractive and professional website designs. It’s nice that even on the Starter Plan HostGator gives users customizable templates and web analytics, 2 features that you often have to upgrade to get with other services.
- Premium Plan
This plan offers everything you get from the Starter Plan and also includes priority customer support. This is a big benefit for businesses that like having someone hold their hands when it comes to technical issues.
- Ecommerce Plan
Finally, the Ecommerce Plan is the most inclusive of all of HostGator’s website builder plans. That’s because it has everything from the other 2 plans plus Ecommerce functionality. It streamlines all the complicated bits of building an Ecommerce website, so you can focus on other things.
Depending on the plan and level you choose, HostGator also has email hosting. One thing we liked about this service is that you can set your email preferences for optimal performance. So, you can tell your outbound email to cap at 500 per hour to avoid IP blacklisting, for example. That’s a good service, and HostGator even gives you tips to help you understand more about it.
Control Panel
HostGator uses the widely-used cPanel control panel. What this means is that you’ll have no trouble navigating or managing any of the features, settings, or actions you can control from your dashboard.
Help and Support
As friendly as its mascot gator, HostGator has the most available and personable support staff out there. You can reach someone 24/7 and on every day of the year. Get a customer support rep via live chat or phone for any technical, sales, or customer questions.
Hostgator Pricing
Pricing & Special Offers
As detailed above, HostGator has plenty of plans and packages to choose from. Which is right for you will depend on your business and its needs. Here is a breakdown of the HostGator pricing structure:
HostGator Pricing
| Hatchling | Baby | Business | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Introductory Offer | $2.75 per month for a 36-month plan | $3.50 per month for a 36-month plan | $5.25 per month for a 36-month plan |
| Starting Price | $9.99 per month for a 36-month plan (or $11.95 for a month-by-month plan) | $14.99 per month for a 36-month plan (or $12.95 for a month-by-month plan) | $19.99 per month for a 36-month plan (or $17.95 for a month-by-month plan) |
| Storage | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Bandwidth | Unmetered | Unmetered | Unmetered |
| Number of Websites | One | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Free Domain Name | Yes—for one year when you sign up for a plan that is one year or longer | Yes—for one year when you sign up for a plan that is one year or longer | Yes—for one year when you sign up for a plan that is one year or longer |
| Free SSL Certificate | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Free Business Email | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| One-Click WordPress Installation | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Site Migration Service | Within 30 days | Within 30 days | Within 30 days |
| Dedicated IP Address | No | No | Yes |
| Support | 24/7 live chat and phone support | 24/7 live chat and phone support | 24/7 live chat and phone support |
Hostgator Alternatives
How Hostgator Compares to Other Web Hosting Sites
HostGator Alternatives
| HostGator | A2 Hosting | GoDaddy | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price (Intro Rates) | $2.75 per month for 36 months (65.64% off for the first year) | $2.99 per month for 12 months | $5.99 per month for the first 36 months |
| Starting Price Upon Renewal | $7.99 per month for 36 months | $11.99 per month | $3.99 per month for 36 months |
| Contract Lengths Available | One month, six months, 12 months and 36 months | One month, 12 months, 24 months and 36 months | One month, 12 months, 24 months, 36 months |
| Money-Back Guarantee Period | 30 days | 30 days | 30 days |
| Basic Plan Storage | Unlimited | 100GB SSD | 10GB SSD |
| Bandwidth | Unmetered | Unmetered | Unmetered |
| Free Domain Name | Yes—for one year when you sign up for a plan that is one year or longer | No | Yes |
| Free SSL Certificate | Yes | Yes | Yes—for one year |
| Free Business Email | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| One-click WordPress Installation | Yes | No | Yes |
| Site Migration Service | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Website Builder | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Uptime Guarantee | 99.90% | 99.90% | 99.90% |
| Customer Support | 24/7 live chat and phone support | Phone, live chat and ticket | Live chat, phone and email |
It’s no secret that this brand offers some of the most affordable pricing plans out there. What’s more, HostGator offers customers a 45-day money-back guarantee, so you can try out the service for up to a month and a half without any risk. That’s a long enough time to get to know a product, see if it works with your business, and sniff out any issues.
HostGator vs. A2 Hosting
Both HostGator and A2 Hosting offer competitive introductory plans. These plans are comparable, at $2.99 per month for A2 Hosting and $2.75 per month for HostGator but the difference is that the A2 Hosting plan only locks you in for one year while HostGator requires a three-year commitment. If you’re unsure about the direction of your new website—perhaps you are experimenting with a new business—then A2 Hosting is likely the better choice.
HostGator vs. GoDaddy
HostGator’s introductory three-year offering is significantly more affordable than GoDaddy. However, their standard plans are priced around the same. Another factor to consider is that GoDaddy only offers a free SSL certificate for the first year. After that, the starting cost is $49.99 for the first year, then $99.99 upon renewal for one website. Since SSL certificates are a necessity for website security, this added cost is an important consideration.
Bottom Line
It’s no exaggeration to say that HostGator is among the top 3 web hosting brands available today. With free website transfers, a 45-day money-back guarantee, and tons of plans to choose from, HostGator boasts an impressive service for any business. Add to that easy to use control panel, affordable pricing structure, and 24/7/365 customer support, and HostGator has earned its place at the top.
