HostGator review

 HostGator is a low-cost hosting service. It also makes site-building for non-techies a sleek and simple process that allows you to publish pages in half the time.

Should I buy HostGator Web Hosting?

Our Verdict

HostGator offers a website builder that grows on you over time, as well as more versatile choices for the more ambitious site designer.

Price when reviewed

$3.75 per month for the first three years, and $6.95 per month after that

HostGator Web Hosting full review

a group of Americans When you first look at HostGator's brightly colored home page and beginner-friendly text, it appears that its integrated Website Builder might be just what you're looking for. To a degree, this is largely right.

When you scroll down the list, it appears that there are three simple choices to choose from, but the more you look into it, the more complicated it becomes. It's one thing to navigate the seemingly infinite pricing choices, but once you get past that and into the realm of website development, it's a similar terrifying experience.

Price & plans

However, HostGator's greatest asset is its cost-effectiveness. The Hatchling Plan, which includes limitless storage, unmetered bandwidth, an SSL certificate, a domain name, a 99.9% uptime guarantee, instant backups, and 24/7 support, costs $2.75 / £2.16 per month.

At this price, almost all of its competitors limit you on storage and typically charge more, so it's a great way to try out web hosting without being locked into a contract.

If you need to host more than one account, the Baby Plan lets you have an unlimited number of domains by removing the "one domain" limitation. This works out to $3.95 / £3.11 a month.

Those without a website ready to move to their new web hosting space can sign up for the $3.84 / £3 per month Starter Gator Website Builder package. You will only need to switch to the Premium package, which costs $5.99 / £4.71 a month if you need priority service.

WordPress hosting is a little more costly, with the Starter Plan costing $5.95 / £4.67 per month for up to 100,000 monthly visitors. Even if you expect more, the Business Plan, which includes 500K visits, costs just $9.95 / £7.82 a month.

Check out our roundup of the best web hosting services for more options.

👉 Also, you can read: 2021 HOSTGATOR REVIEW MY HONEST VERDICT

Features

HostGator has the ability to cater to the more ambitious new site builder, as there are a plethora of choices available within the account. If you want to keep things easy, however, you should probably start with the Website Builder if you don't already have one.

The theme is well-known, and there is a good variety of models to choose from that will meet most needs. However, these aren't broad, and branding will appear on the first half-dozen newly generated pages. Nonetheless, the way it operates is perfectly adequate, thanks to a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface that allows you to plod through your page formation without fear of encountering too many roadblocks.

Control panel

HostGator, on the other hand, uses cPanel, which is a popular feature among hosting companies. It's essentially a control panel that gives account holders access to a variety of resources, ranging from simple to advanced, all within the limits of their administrative room.

So, if you quickly outgrow the standard website building option, you can quickly move on to WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal. These are all far more versatile solutions that can be easily launched from inside the cPanel interface.

At the same time, you could find navigating the interface to be a bit of a challenge. Part of the problem is that there's so much to see and do, and it can be overwhelming if you're the kind of person who is terrified of acronyms like FTP.

Support

There is a lot in your HostGator account that can drain you, but don't worry, because the quality of help is excellent. We liked how the online support area operates, and while it can be a little confusing for the uninitiated, it still serves as a good starting point for learning about the core features.

A small mountain of video guides, for example, will walk you through several different facets of your HostGator account, and you can even delve into online forums for more information on any topics that have stumped you.

Furthermore, HostGator makes it simple to contact customer service, with links for contacting help as well as the option to start a live chat.

Website builder

With so many website-building choices available, many of which are well-designed, HostGator feels a little underwhelming. It'll do much of what you want, but getting to the finish line will take a little longer than with its competitors.

However, the more we used the Gator Website Builder, the more comfortable we were with it. In reality, HostGator has obviously spent a lot of time making its new incarnation the best one yet, and with a little perseverance, you can build a funky-looking site that belies the fact that you designed it with drag-and-drop creativity.

Another feature we like is the opportunity to add more advanced features as you go, such as an e-commerce shop, but this does include upgrading to the more costly 'eCommerce' package, which costs $9.22 / £7.25 a month (and is currently on sale for 50% off). And, as for putting it all online, the Publish button takes care of that for you, so you just have to think about whether or not you like the design you've selected. Of course, the beauty of this is that if you change your mind, you can easily go back in and tweak it until you're satisfied.

Verdict

Although you usually get what you pay for when it comes to web hosting, HostGator's plans defy that rule. Unless you need more than one website, even the cheapest plan has practically no limitations. Assuming you don't, it's a great option for those on a tight budget.