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HostGator is one of the most well-known hosting companies. They are one of Endurance International's two flagship brands and the world's largest web services company.
What is HostGator?
HostGator is one of the most well-known and well-known web hosting companies on the Internet. Back in 2010, they were the first hosting company I used.
They have a product line of complementary website products, such as domain names, website builders (such as their GATOR Builder), web design, and email services, in addition to hosting.
Is HostGator Legit?
HostGator is one of the most widely used web hosting services. They've created and retained a brand focused on affordable features and value – and they've done so in the face of fierce competition.
HostGator was established in 2002 and has steadily developed to become one of the largest and most well-known hosting companies.
HostGator has positioned itself as an “all-in-one” host with a variety of hosting options, a website builder, and email services, in addition to being the go-to value hosting provider. I've used HostGator for a few of my own ideas (including my first website).
HostGator is a reputable company. They aren't a one-night stand hosting business.
What Is HostGator Used for?
Websites and web apps are hosted on HostGator. They concentrate their marketing efforts on low-cost websites, as well as offering free website software with hosting. They have a wide range of website services, including domain names, hosting, email, and even web design.
There are several HostGator reviews available online, most of which are user-generated and focused on anecdotes and personal experience. That's good, but I take a different approach, considering both the benefits and drawbacks of a host.
However, as I've explained in all of my hosting reviews, choosing a good hosting company is all about finding the best match for your needs and budget. As a HostGator user, here are my pros and cons, as well as a summary of HostGator's goods.
HostGator Web Hosting vs. HostGator WordPress Hosting
- Here's the deal: The entire industry's transition to "WordPress Hosting" services is a strange, perplexing, and befuddling mess. I wrote an entire post about Web Hosting vs. WordPress Hosting, Explained, but here's a quick summary.
- WordPress is a piece of software that can run on any Linux server that supports PHP (also known as "daily web hosting").
- WordPress can (and does) work perfectly well on a shared hosting plan.
- Some server resources are used at an above-average rate, while others are used at a lower rate.
- WordPress has its own set of problems and requirements. It must be revised on a regular basis. It's database-driven rather than static. Mods are used to add features. That's fantastic, but it can lead to temporary security flaws.
- As a result, hosting firms saw an opportunity to set up whole clusters of servers dedicated solely to WordPress pages.
- They could also have dedicated support and some basic WordPress add-on services at a low cost since they were all together.
- As a result, “WordPress Hosting” plans were made, providing yet another opportunity for marketers and pricing experts.
WordPress Hosting plans became a way for certain businesses to raise sales while lowering costs with little added value.
Other businesses see WordPress Hosting plans as a way to distinguish themselves from their rivals and pass on cost savings to their customers. It was a mix with other businesses. In the end, it's been really perplexing for everybody.
The WordPress hosting plans from HostGator are distinct from their Web Hosting plans. Although the plans are restricted to a smaller number of websites, the services are effectively controlled on cloud servers.
However, rather than opting for a company's "WordPress Hosting" package, the main takeaway is to define your own needs and objectives.
Convenience is awesome, but it's vital to know what you're paying for so you can set realistic standards.
Pros / Benefits of HostGator
There is no such thing as a great hosting company. And, as I said in the introduction, there is no such thing as the “best hosting company”; it all depends on your priorities and preferences.
Aside – I made a shared hosting quiz and a WordPress hosting quiz to help readers balance their expectations and needs with hosting companies that come up frequently in my discussions with readers.
That being said, here are the benefits and advantages I discovered with HostGator.
Sticker Pricing & Total Value Pricing
If there is one “killer” function of HostGator, it is their pricing. Sure, every now and then, GoDaddy, Hostinger, iPage, or FatCow will run a short promotion.
In addition, NameCheap can offer very limited accounts for a lower price. However, I have yet to come across a web hosting company that does –
- Renewal pricing that is consistently poor
- Promotional pricing on a regular basis
- Discounts may be “locked-in” for three years.
- Doesn't scrimp on customer service or dependability.
- On critical plan features, there are a lot of "unmetered" features.
The last bullet point is particularly noteworthy. If you're a dabbler like me and have a few projects in mind, it's typically best to look at price per month per website, per room, or per database – in other words, total value pricing.
On this point, HostGator outperforms a number of competitors. It's why I still use HostGator for my microsites and low-traffic clients instead of InMotion Hosting (where this site lives).
If you need a decent host on a tight budget, check out HostGator's new promotion.
Good Service + Uptime
99.9% uptime is guaranteed by HostGator (which is 8 downtime hours per year). I haven't had any so far. However, HostGator has had its share of problems in the past (notably in August 2013). In comparison, GoDaddy promises the same thing, and I had recorded 8 hours in a month with them (not to mention the recent DNS hack). When one of my posts went viral, HostGator easily handled over 10,000 new sessions on my server in under an hour.
Speaking of DNS, it was the subject of one of my two conversations with HostGator help.
HostGator promises service 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, and they deliver. At 2 a.m., I was moving a development site from HostGator to my client's host – and was experiencing a technical issue (which turned out to be a misstep I had made).
I went to talk and, sure enough, my questions were answered right away. Fantastic.
Now, as I stress in all of my web hosting reviews, it's hard to judge customer service based on any reviews...because all reviews are anecdotal. You never know if you've got one of their rockstars or one of their rookies having a bad day.
That said, I award HostGator a strong score for overall customer service, based on the number of support channels and the size of their knowledge base, both of which I use as "proxies" for customer support investment.
Transfer Service, Onboarding & QuickInstall
The beginning is one of the most difficult aspects of creating a website.
HostGator has a plethora of channels to get you off to a good start. I've used their website conversion service and QuickInstall scripts on many occasions. All has gone well.
They also give a generous money-back guarantee (45 days). On their highest tier, they also include valuable freebies including a free SSL certificate, free domain, and a dedicated IP.
Unmetered Everything
Except for the Hatchling Package, which provides unlimited anything but limits your domain names at one, HostGator's plans offer unmetered everything.
This is a significant event. You can have as many WordPress installations as you like for unmetered databases.
- Unmetered domain options (on HostGator Baby and Business plans) allow you to have an unlimited number of websites on a single plan (my websites cost cents, not dollars to host because I have so many on 1 plan).
- You can scale without worrying about the number of visitors if you have unmetered bandwidth (although every shared host is going to crash if you get on the front page of CNN, and millions all come at once).
- If you want unmetered email accounts, let us know.
There are also limitless subdomains and FTP accounts, allowing you to grant safe access to an unlimited number of users.
Now, here's the deal. Since they are still operating with finite resources on finite servers, HostGator uses the term "unmetered." Since you're sharing cloud space with other websites, there's no such thing as absolutely infinite storage/disk space or bandwidth. However, the point is that they should not impose arbitrary resource limits on your shared server until it is fully used.
As a result, their servers are likely to host more websites than those of other hosting firms. And this may have an impact on their overall results. However, for a use case like mine, where I have a number of small projects that need cost-cutting, this configuration is adequate.
In reality, it's fantastic because it eliminates the need for me to prepare or consider how to distribute my databases and domains through my account. It's something I just do.
cPanel & Software Options
cPanel is the program that manages the backend of your server. It's where you log in to install a website, for example.
Using cPanel has a lot of advantages: it's open-source (no one owns it), it's the industry standard, and it has a lot of documentation. You can get support from anywhere on the Internet, not just HostGator.
It's a big change from proprietary backends like GoDaddy (and 1&1, and other hosts like FatCow).
They're a little simpler to use, but you're completely reliant on them for assistance – and what you can and can't do is severely restricted. For eg, you couldn't edit file permissions via FTP with GoDaddy until recently. If you're building a website, it's very inconvenient and time-consuming.
cPanel is a big plus, particularly because the WordPress user manual often assumes you're using it.
If you're curious, here's a screenshot of the HostGator cPanel. It has a lot of choices, but it prioritizes the most commonly used ones (e.g. note the giant WordPress icon at the top).
However, HostGator adds a lot of extra scripts and program options to cPanel as a bonus. Anything from WordPress to Wikis to RSS Readers is simple to set up.
Open Stance*
Because of cPanel, HostGator takes an open approach to you running your website by default.
They won't let you set up a large-scale spam operation, but GoDaddy, for example, is known for filtering all email from your website (ie, contact forms). In reality, I typically have to install a separate WordPress plugin for clients who use GoDaddy or 1&1 to redirect the contact form via Gmail so that they are okay with sending it out.
So far, HostGator hasn't given me any problems like that.
Clean Energy Powered
This isn't an "oh my goodness, I have to have it" feature, but it is useful to know.
And it makes for a little sneering if a major story about how much resources it takes to operate a data center breaks (not to pick on GoDaddy anymore, but their data center is located in... Scottsdale, Arizona).
It's comforting to know that the energy used to power my small websites comes from huge Texas/Utah wind farms, rather than a large coal plant.
However, if you are serious about sustainability and renewable energy, you can check out GreenGeeks' setup.
👉 Also, you can read : HostGator Review – 2021 Why Is HostGator The Best
HostGator Cons / Complaints
HostGator, like every other hosting company, isn't fine. Here are my grievances with HostGator, as well as some general drawbacks that could make them unsuitable for some website owners.
Solidly Fine Website Speed
For my tiny sites on my HostGator server, HostGator has always been perfectly good. They've still had enough bandwidth and money to deal with traffic spikes.
However, as opposed to other mutual hosts, I've never been able to get the absolute best TTFB times for them.
The abbreviation TTFB stands for Time To First Byte. It describes how quickly a server will begin responding to a request.
Consider your browser to be a man in need of a stack of books (a website) from a friend (the web host).
The time it takes your neighbor to get to the door after you first knock is referred to as TTFB.
In my tests, I discovered that HostGator can be sluggish at times, but is still solidly good, and then excellent at delivering the rest of the data.
So, in the analogy, HostGator takes a while to get to the entrance, but once he gets there to find out what you want, he gathers the books and hands them over to you in a flash.
Again, some of this is not HostGator's fault – I could do stuff to make my website faster – but some of it is.
That's a common issue with shared hosts, but it's something HostGator can address.
Upsells & Customized Software
This is a relatively new complaint. In reality, I used to consider HostGator's lack of upsells and basic software to be a "pro."
However, this has recently changed. This isn't entirely negative. Some upsells are actually beneficial. And while some people may enjoy them, it's something to be mindful of and think about.
To begin, HostGator has a number of partnerships with companies such as SiteLock (site security), CodeGuard (site backup), and MOJO Themes (premium WordPress themes and plugins), all of which provide semi-useful but semi-redundant services (ie, HostGator provides backup & restore services).
Throughout the signup process, HostGator promotes them.
But the most significant difference is that HostGator's WordPress QuickInstall does not perform a "clean" WordPress installation; instead, it comes pre-installed with many plugins such as MOJO Themes, W3 Total Cache, and others.
It's not a big deal; you can simply deactivate them and install your own plugins. Nonetheless, it's inconvenient. I'm not a fan of companies "customizing" my apps, even though they're helpful.
Not The Dirt, Dirt Cheapest
As I stated in the Pros section, HostGator was the cheapest shared web hosting service in terms of value and long-term cost.
However, if you want to save a few dollars per year, you can get a hosting package from Web Hosting Hub (Web Hosting Hub review) or HostGator's sister company, iPage, which is also a good option (and super-cheap too).
If you don't mind any restrictions and minimal support, NameCheap Shared Hosting offers incredibly low prices (review).
There are others, but for a starter location, I'd always recommend HostGator. At HostGator, you'll be able to lock in savings as well.
Pricey In-House Domains
When it comes to domain names, HostGator sells them and also sells them directly through cPanel.
However, they are very costly –.com renewals cost $17.99 a year.
It's a little grating. But that's to be expected... HostGator is a web hosting company, not a domain registration service.
And, since HostGator uses cPanel, directing your DNS to HostGator is a breeze (you simply type in your HostGator nameservers over where your domain is registered, and voila, you're done).
In any case, I use NameCheap for domains and Google for email.
HostGator Hosting Plans & Packages
HostGator offers a diverse range of hosting options. Here's a quick rundown of each.
Web Hosting
Online (or shared) hosting is the backbone of the website hosting industry. Person accounts on a Linux server make up these systems. On a LAMP Stack, they can run WordPress or any other program. Most websites can be managed on a shared plan, which is both cost-effective and dependable. This guide will teach you everything you need to know about shared hosting. HostGator offers three different shared hosting packages.
WordPress Hosting
Despite the fact that WordPress can operate on shared hosting, due to customer demand and the hardware requirements of WordPress, several hosting companies provide WordPress plans. Many hosting companies have "WordPress hosting" that is identical to their shared hosting plans.
Managed WordPress Hosting plans from HostGator provide customized features, plans, and tools for operating a large or rapidly growing WordPress-powered website. Essentially, you're paying for results rather than functions. Their plans are competitive with other WordPress Hosting plans when compared apples to apples. Their plans can be found here.
VPS Hosting
Without having to lease an entire domain, VPS hosting is a perfect way to get a particular allocation of server resources. Despite the fact that your website is hosted on the same server as other websites, you have complete control over a collection of services. This guide will teach you everything you need to know about VPS hosting. HostGator offers a number of low-cost VPS plans that include both managed and unmanaged hosting accounts.
Reseller Hosting
Reseller hosting from HostGator is essentially a pooled, VPS, or dedicated server plan with third-party billing and maintenance. Reseller hosting essentially allows anybody to start their own hosting business without actually starting one. In this guide, you can learn more about reseller hosting. It's a fantastic way for agencies to generate recurring income while still adding value to their customers. Reseller hosting is available from HostGator.
Cloud Hosting
Cloud hosting differs from shared, VPS, and dedicated hosting in that it does not use dedicated server resources to run the website or application. You just pay for the services and results. It's perplexing, but I went over it in detail in this cloud hosting guide.
HostGator provides a cloud hosting service that charges a flat monthly fee for a certain amount of resources. Even though HostGator Cloud is more costly and restricted than shared hosting, it does provide some performance benefits (i.e., both response time and scalability). Here's a connection to HostGator's Cloud hosting plan.
Windows Hosting
A LAMP stack is commonly used in traditional hosting. The letter "L" stands for Linux, an open-source operating system. The Windows operating system is an alternative to Linux. It isn't as well-known, but it is a requirement for many websites, especially those that use ASP.
HostGator is one of the few big, low-cost hosting providers that strongly promote and support Windows Hosting with affordable plans. Here's where you can find them.
Website Builder
There are a plethora of website builders available, ranging from drag-and-drop to template-driven design tools. Finally, they assist people in getting online by providing websites that do not necessitate awareness (or the tedium) of HTML/CSS or Javascript. There are also “hosted” website builders that only provide the designer with their own hosting (i.e., Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, Jimdo, Strikingly, WordPress.com). Here's how website builders work.
Self-hosted website builders do not have a lock-in as hosted website builders do. The GATOR website builder from HostGator is a self-hosted website builder. GATOR is a game that I reviewed here. It comes with a hosting plan and has a lot of the same features and functionality as a hosted website creator. GATOR is a website builder that can be found here.
Is HostGator Worth It?
You'll do fine with HostGator if you're looking for a dependable, affordable, open hosting company for your WordPress account. I've got a lot of sites hosted there, and they've been great. Here's where you can get a HostGator plan.
If you'd like to work with an independent company (one that isn't owned by Endurance International) that provides excellent service at a reasonable price, I suggest InMotion Hosting.
If you're having trouble deciding between all the different hosting choices, I've put together a hosting quiz and a WordPress setup guide.
HostGator Review FAQs
Is HostGator reliable?
Yes, HostGator is a trustworthy business. During their transition to Endurance International's infrastructure in 2013, they experienced a well-known outage. But they've been stable since then, with no more outages than can be anticipated in the web hosting industry (even Amazon and Google have outages – the secret is customer communication).
Is HostGator good for WordPress?
Yes, depending on your priorities and exact needs, HostGator is generally fine for WordPress. HostGator provides QuickInstall software and plenty of support for a standard WordPress installation. Their auto-install, on the other hand, installs some uninstallable yet irritating plugins. In comparison to specialists like WP Engine or direct rivals like InMotion, their controlled WordPress hosting plans aren't quite as affordable.
Is HostGator easy to use?
Yes, HostGator is relatively simple to use. They aren't as beginner-friendly as their sister brand, Bluehost, but they do have a redesigned account management panel and a decent onboarding series, as well as a brand new website builder for those who don't want to learn the ins and outs of self-hosting.
Which is better GoDaddy or HostGator?
If you want better long-term pricing, better efficiency, and more DIY support choices, HostGator is a better choice than GoDaddy. If you want to keep it easy with only one web hosting company, if you want deeper discounts, and if you prefer phone help, GoDaddy is better than HostGator. Learn more about the differences between HostGator and GoDaddy.
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