The Ultimate HostGator Review 2021: Should You Trust the Friendly Reptile?

 

Since HostGator has been around for so long, we've all grown accustomed to the friendly blue crocodile with a wide toothy grin.

Is it, however, really safe to be friends with it?

Let's take a look! In this in-depth analysis, we'll look at HostGator from top to bottom, analyzing its history, deals, pricing, and support – all in order to address the question: should you choose HostGator over other hosting providers?

During our trip, you'll learn how their mascot Snappy used to look in 2D, as well as other (arguably more important) facts about HostGator:

👥WHO OWNS HOSTGATOR and why is that important? 🧭WHICH HOSTING PLAN should you choose, if any?

🐊IS HOSTGATOR BETTER than other large providers? 💵CAN YOU SAVE MONEY on your HostGator order?

If you ever plan to give HostGator a try, we have an exclusive discount code near the end of this review that you can use to reduce your bill for some HostGator items. Before we get started, a quick note: if you came across this review when looking for keywords like host gator or gator host, you've come to the right location.

Now that that's out of the way, let's take a close look at our specimen, from head to tail: grab a magnifying glass and a ruler, and remember to keep your hands out of its jaws, even if it's sedated – just in case!

The Head: What Is HostGator?

HostGator is a web hosting company, as its name implies. This means it offers services that help you create and operate websites. Here's an interesting fact: According to W3Techs, almost 2% of the world's websites (out of W3survey T's of top 10 million websites) use HostGator as their hosting provider. That's a lot of different websites! Indeed, the information above places HostGator in the top ten of the global hosting industry.

Any large business, however, must begin with a single customer, as was the case for ‘Gator in 2002, when a Florida university student named Brent Oxley decided he wanted to be an Internet entrepreneur.

The business expanded rapidly for a decade before being sold to another company in 2012. The Endurance International Group (EIG) was the business in question! Now, why did I do it in such a dramatic manner? Endurance is a regular hero of our reviews because it is an active and special player in the hosting market:

EIG bills itself as an "integrated supplier of everything a small or medium business needs to create a web presence." However, according to their most recent annual report, more than 50 of their 77 (!) brands provide the same service – web hosting.

In other words, Endurance is a firm that specializes in acquiring established web hosting companies and making the most profit from their brands.

Okay, you might say, but does it really have an effect on HostGator customers?

Of course! In fact, in all kinds of good and bad ways:

• Stability and dependability: as one of the most well-known brands in a major multinational corporation's brand portfolio, HostGator faces a very low chance of going out of business or declaring bankruptcy.
• Operational efficiency: HostGator's entire operation has been streamlined and then optimized again, based on the parent company's extensive industry knowledge and a vast portfolio of hosting brands.
• Focus on cash extraction: EIG buys established companies and pays a lot of money for them. This means it must work nonstop to recoup those funds as income. Endurance and its subsidiaries don't appear to be bothered by something that doesn't immediately contribute to higher returns on investment.
• Since none of the brands in Endurance's portfolio is built from the ground up, you're not dealing with a founder's vision, a new concept, or a unique value proposition – you're dealing with one of 50+ very similar brands with slightly different facades but the same back-end.

It is, of course, up to you to determine if the advantages of joining the Endurance Community outweigh the drawbacks.

Their business plan isn't inherently "positive" or "evil" – it's simply that: a strategy. However, it's important to consider the potential consequences: for example, there's little incentive for brands like HostGator to provide outstanding service – only optimized sales strategies and adequate infrastructure.

In the next section of our analysis, we'll take a closer look at these and other aspects of HostGator's offer:

The Body: Products and Plans

Now it's time to get down to business! HostGator offers a dozen different products, but for the purposes of this analysis, we'll concentrate on their flagship offering: shared hosting, which they refer to simply as "internet hosting" in their main navigation menu. (A brief summary of other items will be given at the end of this section, along with an explanation of why they aren't worth discussing in-depth here) Before we go any further, let's define "shared" hosting.

Shared hosting, as the name implies, means that the resources of each specialized machine, or server, are shared by many clients. This means your website will have less processing capacity, but it will also have substantially lower costs compared to other forms of hosting, while still having ample control and efficiency.

Since the vast majority of websites on the Internet still use shared hosting, this tradeoff appears to be worthwhile for most online ventures. Clients of HostGator can choose between three shared hosting plans (four in certain countries):

The ability to set up more than one domain is the main difference between the cheapest plan and the medium-priced plan, so if you just want to build one website, go for the cheapest choice. If you plan to extend your online empire later, you can always upgrade.

The more expensive plan(s) don't have much value in comparison to the middle plan, that is, you end up paying 50-90 percent more for a few extra features that aren't really worth it unless you don't think about your budget and just want the best stuff whenever you make purchases.

This means that, in most situations, the middle plan is the best option for those who require several websites. While the difference between the top plane and the bottom plan can seem insignificant on a monthly basis, it can add up to a significant amount of money over time.

👉 Also, you can read: HostGator review

Here are some of the features we liked about HostGator's web hosting plans, as well as some of the features we didn't:

• HostGator's shared hosting is one of the most affordable on the site, thanks to frequent discounts and special deals, particularly if you pay for two or three years in advance.
• Only a few web hosts offer the ability to use a coupon during the checkout process. In the case of HostGator, you can find a code in the last section of our review; the discount isn't huge, but if you do decide to go with ‘Gator, it's good to know there's a way to save some money.
• Free SSL certificate is included by default; getting a stable link (and using HTTP:// instead of HTTP:// in your web address) is considered an absolute necessity nowadays; SSL affects your site's rankings by Google search algorithm, among other stuff.
• If you choose any of the annual billing periods, you'll get a free domain for a year. This is merely a pleasant touch that allows you to save a little money on your order. However, bear in mind that anything you purchase at a discount will automatically renew at the regular price. In relation to that:
• Renewal prices are higher than the initial prices, so your hosting bill could increase by as much as 60% in the following year. In contrast to some other less scrupulous hosting services, HostGator has the decency to clearly communicate these standard rates on its checkout page.
• Pre-selected extras during the checkout process (in some regions) is an annoyance that causes you to pay attention to avoid mistakenly paying for anything you don't need, such as a "hacker security" add-on (WordPress has great free security plugins).
  

What exactly is it? We promised to clarify why we didn't include other HostGator items! This involves many specialized forms of hosting as well as a site builder, all of which are best understood in light of HostGator's Endurance Group affiliation. Aside from shared hosting, HostGator also provides cloud, managed WordPress, VPS, dedicated, and even Windows-based hosting. However, they all have one thing in common:

– none of them are HostGator's primary subject or skills. The vast majority of its customers use shared hosting, which HostGator has offered since its inception, even before it was acquired by Endurance. Here's an easy rule to remember: If you're not sure what kind of hosting you need, shared hosting is a good option, and HostGator is a good option. Much of the time, the opposite is also true:

If you are certain that you want anything other than shared hosting, you should avoid HostGator. Try Digital Ocean or a similar specialist provider if you need the cloud. The "Gator Website Builder" is nothing more than a rebranded version of another Endurance tool (the creatively named Site Builder). To make it look even more distinct, they use a clever scheme of variable rates and discounts, but if you do the math, both tools will cost you the same in the end.

This means that when you subscribe to the Gator Website Builder, you're effectively purchasing from a different company. Which, while not “bad” in and of itself, at the very least warrants a separate analysis (spoiler: there are much better site-building tools than Site Builder, e.g. Weebly).

• Products: If you want to build one or more websites and don't have any unique requirements (such as a dedicated server or cloud infrastructure), HostGator is a good option.
• Plans: depending on how many websites you need, pick between the cheapest and second-cheapest shared hosting plans.
• Pricing: opt for longer billing periods to get cheaper rates, but keep in mind that the next bill will be slightly higher.

Next, let's take a look at some of HostGator's less apparent but still crucial features that you might encounter in the long run –

The Tail: Reliability and Support

Websites are typically long-term endeavors. This means that when you choose a hosting provider, you are making a long-term commitment. Thus, it is critical to consider factors other than immediate discounts, such as service stability and customer care, that may have a long-term effect. The most useful way to assess a hosting provider's dependability (and compare it to others) is to look at two factors:

• uptime, or the percentage of time that an average server is up and running and thus accessible to the general public;
• The time it takes for your visitors to receive the first response for incoming connections is known as response time.

According to independent data from Hank, HostGator's servers have had an uptime of about 99.96 percent over the past six months, which is well within the company's 99.9 percent uptime guarantee limit:

If we look at the daily results, we can see that certain days have less than 99 percent uptime, i.e. more than 15 minutes of downtime every day – this is common as long as the overall figures are satisfactory.

HostGator's average response time is about 1100 milliseconds (1.1 seconds), which isn't especially good for a global hosting provider.

Your website's speed will still be largely determined by the WordPress plugins you use and the size of the photos you use, but it's worth noting that the server will still take some time.

If you value server response time above all else, Hostinger, for example, offers faster server speeds in most regions (it does, however, have some flaws, so read the review carefully before making a decision!)

When it comes to customer service, HostGator has everything a hosting user might want, including live chat and phone support 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as well as a vast library of useful articles.

The chat is by far the most efficient way of contacting the Gator staff, and we have had no concerns since using it many times:

• The support team is helpful, and responses are usually short and to the point. The majority of our questions were answered within minutes of starting a conversation.
• The responses we received were usually informative enough to be useful but brief enough to read.
• Even in the middle of the night, our chats received replies within 1-2 minutes, proving that the 24/7 tag is not an empty promise.

To summarize, HostGator customers should expect their websites to be up and running for >99.9% of the time, with a fair (though not exceptional) link speed.

In comparison to some of the smaller Endurance brands like PureHost or Netfirms, the support team is substantially more knowledgeable and helpful; there are no complaints in this field.

Now that we've looked at the beast from head to tail, it's obvious that there are benefits and drawbacks to using HostGator.

But which side of the debate is more compelling?

Pros and Cons of HostGator

To find out, let's summarize our results – this will help us reach a strong conclusion in the review's final section:

• HostGator is a shared web hosting specialist with a wealth of expertise gained from a large client base and a decades-long track record.
• There are few, if any, hosting companies that can match HostGator's pricing; you'll almost always find significant discounts and special deals, particularly if you choose longer billing cycles.
• With your hosting order, you will get a free domain name; bear in mind, however, that the domain will renew at its regular price after one year.
• The average server uptime is comfortably higher than HostGator's service guarantee of 99.9% uptime. This is a popular shared hosting stage, with less than an hour of total planned downtime each month.
• HostGator has been a member of Endurance Group, a major multinational holding company, since 2012, making it a much more reliable hosting service than most of its rivals.
• If you have an existing account or are considering becoming a customer, you can use HostGator's live chat to get help 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The customer service representatives are professional and pleasant.
• In reality, you won't need to use the chat very much thanks to a huge archive of educational and support posts.
• The Endurance Group, which owns HostGator, is focused on collecting cash flows from acquired hosting providers, which may mean that HostGator is less motivated to innovate and go the extra mile for its customers.
• The server response time, which affects the speed at which your website loads, is adequate but not exceptional for a hosting company of this size.
• When purchasing HostGator services, remember that the special rates offered on their website are only good for the first billing period.

Exclusive HostGator Coupon (Checked in April 2021)

Before we get to the end, there's a fast way to save money on a HostGator purchase if you want a short billing period (12 months or shorter).

Locate section 5. on the checkout page and enter the following code instead of the pre-filled one, then press "Validate" and see if your final price is reduced.

Alternatively, you can use the following connection to add the code to the 12-month shared hosting plan automatically:

The coupon code applies to both the hosting kit and the add-ons, offering a discount of 10% to 25% off as compared to the default code.

VERY IMPORTANT! To be clear, this coupon is only good for billing periods of 1, 3, 6, and 12 months! For two- or three-year plans, HostGator's own coupon, which is implemented by default, is preferable.

Final Verdict: Should You Use HostGator in 2021?

Can we recommend HostGator after taking a closer look at its history, goods, plans, help, and technical characteristics?

For most online projects (likely including yours), shared web hosting from ‘Gator is an excellent choice, providing excellent value for money as well as the reliability and support of one of the industry's largest players.

In particular:

• Choose the best shared hosting package for a single website; it includes everything you'll need.
• If you need more than one website, choose the second-cheapest plan and look at longer billing periods (2 or 3 years) to save money.

If you're a skilled web developer, on the other hand, and you know you'll need a more advanced form of hosting (like a cloud or dedicated), look into specialized providers like Digital Ocean.

Do you have any additional questions about HostGator? Or maybe you'd be able to share your first-hand knowledge? Let us know what you think in the comments section below, and let's help each other make better decisions!

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