HostGator may be one of the industry's largest and oldest web hosting firms, but they've maintained a decent average uptime of 99.93 percent over the last 12 months.
Their most basic shared hosting plans include unlimited storage, bandwidth, a free domain for the first year, and an SSL certificate. They also have excellent customer support, which connected instantly via live chat and answered each question in a matter of seconds.
Unfortunately, several additional services, such as backups and surveillance, will be charged separately. Furthermore, once the first term ends, the renewal rates skyrocket.
Here's a full breakdown of our hands-on test, which used Pingdom data to shed light on their results.
General Info & Hosting Overview
Pros of Using HostGator Shared
In previous years, HostGator's uptime had been a problem. Based on our 12-month monitoring, this is no longer the case.
Furthermore, their customer service was prompt and courteous. They'll assist you in migrating your site to their service for free. Beginners can appreciate many of the easy, intuitive choices available to them.
Here's a short rundown:
👉 Also, you can read: HostGator Review
1. Stable Uptime of 99.93%
Over the last 12 months, HostGator has averaged 99.93 percent uptime with just over six hours of downtime. That isn't the best but it isn't the worst uptime we've seen.
The good news is that they have an uptime guarantee, which states that if their uptime falls below 99.90%, you will get a one-month credit on your account.
This assurance obviously excludes any scheduled maintenance or impossible-to-predict hacks. You must, however, contact them and request the credit within 30 days by sending a support ticket to their billing department.
We've recently seen a few other hosts offering uptime guarantees, which ensures that all customers profit. Competitors who come out and do this help to lift the industry's bar. Everyone else in the sector is forced to either match their promise and lift the quality level of service, or risk being left behind.
Last 12-month average uptime:
- March 2021: 99.95%
- February 2021: 99.99%
- January 2021: 99.97%
- December 2020: 100%
- November 2020: 99.99%
- October 2020: 99.99%
- September 2020: 99.50%
- August 2020: 99.99%
- July 2020: 99.98%
- June 2020: 99.99%
- May 2020: 99.96%
- April 2020: 99.78%
2. Decent Load Time 734 ms
Over the past year, HostGator's servers have had no trouble keeping our site up and running.
What about their server pace, though?
Over the last 12 months, HostGator's average page loading time was 734 milliseconds.
This isn't the quickest time we've ever seen, but it's good enough to earn a place in our pros list. Furthermore, HostGator has significantly improved the page loading times. It used to take longer than a second for our website to load.
Why is it critical to have a fast page load time?
Slow page loading times have been shown to have a direct effect on the visitors' experience. And it has a knock-on impact on the bottom line as well.
You can speed up your site without switching hosts by doing a few things. However, if your host is chronically late, you'll be fighting a losing battle all the time.
3. Good Support
HostGator, like other well-known hosts such as SiteGround and Dreamhost, offers a knowledge base, phone, email, and live chat support.
We put their live chat option to the test.
Within two minutes of asking a basic question about their joint hosting arrangements, we were linked to a customer service representative. The responses were prompt and informative.
4. 45-Day Money-Back Guarantee
HostGator is so confident in their service that they've increased the industry-standard 30-day return policy to 45 days.
That means you can use them for more than a month and still get your money back if there are any problems.
Both shared, reseller, and VPS hosting packages come with a 45-day money-back guarantee.
The only catch is that this excludes HostGator's dedicated servers, operating costs, and custom software installation fees. We've discovered that these caveats are fairly popular in the hosting industry after combing through several Terms of Service documents.
If your package included a free domain name, for example, the regular charge of $15.00 for the domain would be deducted from the refund sum.
There are a couple of other points I'd like to make. According to HostGator's terms, they have up to 90 days to issue a refund. Checks, money orders, Western Union fees, and bank wire transfers will not be refunded.
Only new plans or accounts are eligible for refunds. So if you've already signed up for one and are canceling a renewal or a second attempt, you won't get anything back.
Last but not least, foreign exchange refunds are collected using the United States dollar. Exchange rates in US dollars.
5. Site Security Features Available
The shared hosting plans offered by HostGator are fairly basic. You get enough for one website but not a lot of extras on top of that.
Fortunately, they do have a few extra security features, such as the ability to track the site with SiteLock. This service will operate on a regular basis, searching for any possible site breaches or hacks and notifying you immediately if one is discovered.
They also have Spam Assassin in their email plans to help you avoid getting spam in the first place.
The only drawback is that SiteLock is a little more expensive. We'll go into more detail about this in the Cons section, but the monthly fee is $1.99, with an annual fee of $23.88.
6. Free Site & cPanel Migrations
If this isn't your first website and you're looking to migrate an existing one, HostGator will help.
You'll have 30 days after signing up to contact them and have them assist you with moving any web archives, databases, scripts, or even a domain name.
This requires a complete cPanel migration. But you're safe if you have multiple web installs (such as subdomains for a single big site).
A single site (or cPanel) migration is provided in all HostGator shared hosting plans. Different plans, such as resellers, would have access to more resources (up to 30).
When compared to other hosts, a single free site migration isn't much. But it's always preferable to nothing.
7. Very User-Friendly for Beginners
HostGator is designed specifically for newbie bloggers and webmasters.
Their website has a wealth of guides, walkthroughs, and other resources to assist you in navigating the perplexing world of DNS and data centers.
They also have extra features for beginners who want to set up a site without having to hire someone to design, create, and run it for them.
Gator by HostGator, their website creator, is one of the best ones we've seen. It includes free hosting and a domain name, so you only need to buy one account to cover all of your needs.
To begin with, the customizable models are all fairly modern, and you can easily customize their appearance by dragging and dropping each function. In addition, you'll get free web analytics and a free SSL certificate to help protect your visitors' personal information (like their physical location).
Gator by HostGator also includes an eCommerce plan, allowing you to set up a fully functional online store with inventory and more without having to worry about payment gateways, plugins, or other complicated technology. It simply works.
Cons of Using HostGator Shared
To be honest, HostGator's consistently high uptime surprised me (in a good way). We really appreciate their uptime guarantee.
Aside from that, there's a lot to like about their operation, thanks to their beginner-friendly style and supportive customer service.
Unfortunately, we ran into a few problems when putting them through their paces. Here are the most serious issues we discovered:
1. Lots of Extra Fees for ‘True’ Backups, Gmail, and Malware
HostGator's shared hosting plans are inexpensive, with promotional rates as low as $2.75 a month (for 36 months).
Their most basic package (“Hatchling”) includes a single domain name, one-click installs of common apps such as WordPress, Joomla, and others, unmetered bandwidth, limitless storage, and a free SSL certificate. Basically, all of the essential features for a fully functional website.
However, in their default plans, that is about all they offer. When it comes time to log out, all of the 'extras,' such as site backups, Gmail access, SiteLock Monitoring, and SEO software, will cost you extra.
It's frustrating because many of these features are carefully worded on the web, such as "available," to lead you to believe they're included. If you look at the other top hosts we've checked, you'll notice that all of them have these in their simple pricing.
Only when you get to the end of the process when it comes time to enter your billing details, will you know that all of these additional features will cost you extra.
Gmail costs $5 a month or $60 a year per account, which is regular pricing. However, SiteLock will set you back $19.99 per year, CodeGuard will set you back $23.95 per year, and they won't even have several past versions of the site on file in case you run into any issues.
So, although the initial plan appears to be inexpensive at first, it eventually becomes very costly.
2. Industry-Standard Pricing ‘Tricks’
In addition to the additional fees, HostGator employs two pricing strategies that are fairly common in the industry.
The first is when you see a low rate advertised, such as $2.75/month, only to find out that you have to prepay for three years to get it. Otherwise, you'll have to pay $10.95 a month for a single month of service.
But that's just the beginning. Furthermore, when your initial plan expires, HostGator's renewal pricing leaps drastically.
Let's say you decide to lock in the low rate for the next three years. Without a doubt, you'll be getting a decent offer.
When it comes time to renew your plan every three years, the trouble begins. Your monthly rate for the same plan jumps to $6.95 a month (or $250.20 total) at that point, more than double what you just paid for the same service.
They're essentially preying on the fact that after a few years, the chances of you having to switch providers are slim to none. But you're going to be cooped up for a bit (like a cable company or gym membership).
This is something we've seen a lot of other hosts do. That isn't to say that we have to like it.
HostGator Pricing, Hosting Plans & Quick Facts
Shared Hosting: HostGator offers three different shared hosting plans:
|
|
Hatchling Plan |
Baby Plan |
Business Plan |
|
Pricing |
$2.75/month |
$3.50/month |
$5.25/month |
|
Websites |
1 |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
|
Bandwidth |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
|
Storage |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
|
Email Accounts |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
|
Other Features |
---------- |
•Unlimited Addon Domains |
• Dedicated IP |
Quick Facts
- Domain: Yes. For the first year.
- Ease of Signup: Easy signup process.
- Payment Methods: Credit Card, PayPal.
- Money-Back: 45-day money-back guarantee.
- Hidden Fees and Clauses: Introductory pricing is only available for long-term plan purchases. Renewal rates will also more than double. Extra services, like backups and malware monitoring, are all extra fees, too.
- Upsells: Lots of upsells.
- Account Activation: It can take up to 24 – 48 hours to activate your account.
- Control Panel and Dashboard Experience: cPanel.
- Installation of Apps and CMSs (WordPress, Joomla, etc.): They make it easy to install popular apps and CMSs in a few steps using QuickInstall.
Do We Recommend HostGator Shared?
We do, in reality. However, there are better alternatives available.
HostGator's shared hosting has a number of advantages. The uptime has been consistent, and the pace has improved. Customer service was excellent. It's also user-friendly thanks to the abundance of beginner-friendly options.
However, the additional price spikes make it too pricey for us to offer it our full endorsement.
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