Every business needs a website, whether it's a fully functioning e-commerce setup or a simple blog to post daily updates. Either way, you need a web hosting service. The feature-packed HostGator is a top choice, boasting quality cloud, reseller, virtual private server (VPS), and dedicated server packages, but it's the company's shared plans that really stand out from the very crowded web hosting pack. In fact, HostGator's shared packages are so robust that the service wins our Editors' Choice rating in that hosting subcategory.
Luckily you came to read my HostGator review instead of asking them, so you will soon find out how good they are. I reviewed all the different types of hosting they provide, their website builder, pricing, uptime, and speed. After taking a look at HostGator’s pros and cons in each category, there is a star rating for that category.
If you are interested in a specific type of hosting you can skip to that part right away, but I advise that you read the reviews in all sections because you might find some useful information in one of the other categories as well.
What is HostGator?
Founded in 2002, HostGator is a Houston, Texas-based Web hosting company that powers 950,000+ registered domains worldwide. The company provides shared, VPS, reseller, and dedicated web hosting. They have additional offices and data centers in Austin, Texas, India, and Brazil. HostGator was among the first group of large web hosting companies to take part in green hosting, which involves using eco-friendly technologies to offset carbon and reduce environmental waste.
The one thing that you would love about Hostgator is its ease of use. Even if you are a newbie, building your website or setting up a blog with Hostgator will save you a lot of time and hassles.
Not only this, access to the industry’s leading cPanel will further facilitate you activating a CDN (Content Delivery Network), SSL, creating business email addresses, and much more at a single click.
HostGator is a powerful web hosting service with the most hosting choices, catering to anyone from beginner to expert.
To put it simply, HostGator is best for entry-level beginners searching for a low barrier to entry hosting service. If you’re looking for one of the easiest and affordable website hosts to help you get your site up and running, HostGator is a great place to start.
HostGator Highlights:
- Very Affordable pricing, starting at just $2.75/mo
- Shared Web Hosting (Hosting for every website)
- Cloud Hosting (2X Faster — 4X Resources)
- WordPress Hosting (The easy way to WordPress)
- Reseller Hosting (Make $$$ as a Reseller)
- VPS Hosting (More control + extra flex)
- Dedicated Hosting (The ultimate power hosting)
- Windows Hosting (Host Your ASP.NET Website Today)
- Website Builder (Go from zero to website)
- Domain Registration (Snag your fav domain)
What Product Does HostGator Offers?
- Hatchling Plan: $2.75/ month.
- Baby Plan: $3.50/ month.
- Business Plan: $5.25/ month.
HostGator offers Linux-based VPS hosting starting at $19.95 per month. If you need more power, expect high traffic volumes, or have specific compliance requirements that prevent you from using shared servers (but you don't want to pay dedicated server prices), these are good options to consider.
This type is recommended for those needing special server configuration (i.e., using a specific programming language). VPS hosting plans at HostGator go from $19.95/ month.
(All Prices are below with Discount)
- Snappy 2000: $19.95/ month.
- Snappy 4000: $29.95/ month.
- Snappy 8000: $39.95/ month.
Dedicated hosting is a powerful form of web hosting that sees your site existing on a server all by itself. As a result, this expensive hosting is also the most powerful. If you expect lots of traffic, it's what should power your website.
Dedicated hosting is a web hosting environment that provides the highest privacy, control, and resource allocation. Dedicated servers are entirely isolated from one another, allowing users to get full access to configure their server anyway they want, without affecting another user, or being affected by other users’ actions.
You can think of this as having your own house, no roommates or neighbors to bother you. Customers with high-traffic websites are usually the best fit for dedicated hosting. At HostGator, the dedicated prices go from $89.98/ month.
(All Prices are below with Discount)
- Value Server: $89.98/ month.
- Power Server: $119.89/ month.
- Enterprise Server: $139.99/ month.
HostGator lets you install the WordPress content management system (CMS) onto any of its servers, but the web host also offers three tiers of managed WordPress web hosting: Starter, Standard, and Business.
WordPress hosting was specifically designed for users who need the resources, tools, products, and support to create and manage their WordPress website. No matter if it is choosing a theme, updates to the platform, or ensuring you have the latest and most secure version of WordPress for your site, this plan is excellent for anyone looking for a dynamic WordPress website.
WordPress is easy to set up on HostGator even if you don't go the managed-WordPress route. The customer portal has an option called Quick Links that opens a dedicated interface for installing third-party applications. There's also a handy shortcut called Get Started With WordPress Today leading to the Quick Links interface. I set the path to my blog's installation, entered the username for the WordPress administrator account, and clicked on the install button. As easy as that, my site was up and running. HostGator also automatically installed the WP-Super-Cache WordPress plug-in to help improve blog performance.
In testing, the process of setting up my WordPress site was easy, because the database was already there. There was also a link to the Mojo Marketplace under WordPress services, with premium add-ons and services for my blog. HostGator lacks a blog-import button, but WordPress makes the import process easy enough.
WordPress Hosting Plan at HostGator goes from $5.95/ month:
(All Prices are below with Discount)
- Starter Plan: $5.95/ month.
- Standard Plan: $7.95/month.
- Business Plan: $9.95/ month.
Like the many other web hosts that PCMag has reviewed over the years, HostGator also offers cloud hosting. With cloud hosting, the resources that your site needs to operate are shared across multiple servers. The benefits? You can scale resources in real-time, as your site isn't limited to physical server constraints.
HostGator's cloud hosting service—unlike that of DreamHost, the category's co-editors Choice—is only available via the Linux platform; if you want the Windows operating system, you must look elsewhere. Still, HostGator has attractive cloud hosting plans that are worth your consideration.
Cloud Web Hosting Plan at HostGator goes from $12.95/ month
- Hatchling Cloud: $12.95/ month
- Baby Cloud: $13.95/ month
- Business Cloud: $19.95/ month
Setting Up a HostGator Hosted Site:
It's a good thing HostGator sends a getting-started email with links to all the resources you'll need to create a website because the interface takes a little getting used to. HostGator has a Billing Login link at the top of its site that leads to the customer portal, where all the payment information, details about your plan, and options to purchase add-ons are listed. This page has tabs across the top for account and domain management. The Hosting tab is where you see the actual control panel with site-building tools, applications, website statistics, and more. The introductory email also has a direct link for the control panel, but it looks different from what you'd get through the Hosting tab, making the experience a bit confusing at first.
HostGator has several options for building a website, including HostGator's own website builder. The drag-and-drop functionality let me quickly build an attractive page complete with slideshows, contact forms, social media links, and more in no time. You can also install WordPress or other CMS platforms such as Drupal, b2evolutions, Joomla, Mambo, and Tiki, to name a few. A File Manager tool lets you manually upload files to the server to create the website that way. The tool is better than a basic FTP client because you can edit the files directly or use a built-in HTML editor.
HostGator blesses you with a free domain name if you sign up for at least 12 months of cloud, shared, or WordPress hosting—dedicated and VPS hosting does not qualify. That's not an unusual feature in the web hosting space, but it is a nice touch. There are two caveats, however. The no-cost period lasts for one year, and your desired domain must end in either the .com, .org, or .net extensions. If you already own a domain name ending in one of the aforementioned extensions, HostGator will transfer it to a server free of charge.
Reseller Web Hosting:
If you're looking to get into the web hosting business, but you don't want to deal with infrastructure matters, check out HostGator's reseller hosting packages.
The plans, starting at $19.95 per month, boast unlimited email across the board. The shared, dedicated, and VPS packages are of both the Linux and Windows variety, but HostGator doesn't supply them with unlimited storage and monthly data transfers at each tier, as the reseller Editors' Choice Hostwinds does with its offerings. On the upside, HostGator lets you apply your own branding to the servers you rent, and it also supplies 24/7 tech support.
E-Commerce Tools on Hand:
As mentioned, HostGator offers Mojo Marketplace, which has email marketing tools such as DaDa Mail (starting at $34.95 per year), software that lets you send email newsletters to a subscriber list. Quick Links also has e-commerce packages, including Magento, phpCOIN, SugarCRM, and ZenCart. I installed Magento, which provides a drag-and-drop interface to create an attractive online store. There are tons of design options, which can get a little overwhelming.
Features Review of HostGator Hosting:
I used a website monitoring tool to track our HostGator-hosted test site's uptime over a 19-day period. Every 15 minutes, the tool pings my website and sends me an email if it is unable to contact the site for at least 1 minute. The testing data reveals that HostGator is remarkably stable; in fact, it didn't go down once in the two-week testing period. You shouldn't have to worry about your HostGator site going down for extended periods of time.
HostGator Customer Support:
I dialed up phone tech support on a weekday afternoon to ask how I could import my WordPress.com blog into my HostGator site. I received detailed instructions via email and was quite satisfied.
With HostGator's online webchat, after typing my question into a form and starting the chat, I was shown my estimated wait time: two minutes. Less than a minute later, a customer service rep appeared and provided easy-to-understand instructions on how to import the blog.
HostGator also has a very deep knowledge base that contains answers to practically every possible question you could have, ranging from basic to very advanced. Overall, HostGator provides excellent customer support.
HostGator does better than most of its competitors here, offering a 45-day guarantee, but Dreamhost, our top pick for advanced users, is even more generous, with an impressive 97-day guarantee.
HostGator Pros:
- Unlimited Domains Hosted
With Hostgator’s Baby and Business web hosting plans you have the ability to host as many domains as you wish in your cPanel account. This means you have the luxury of managing all of your websites from one place and all on the same server! If you have the Hatchling hosting package with Hostgator, you can host only one website.
- Unlimited Monthly Data Transfer
Hostgator offers unlimited bandwidth for all shared hosting packages, including the Hatchling, Baby, and Business plans. This is a special good thing if your website needs large bandwidth! Your websites can use all the bandwidth available for the whole server. But please aware, for the shared web hosting server, your website’s running cannot affect the other websites.
- Free Website Transfer
HostGator provides free transfers for new accounts within 30 days of sign-up, and to newly upgraded accounts. Whether you’re transferring across from an existing host or starting with us from scratch, HostGator is committed to making it easy to transfer your site to your new hosting account. HostGator can transfer website files, databases, scripts, and one free domain registration transfer. You may have no idea how to transfer your website to a new web hosting, but HostGator can do all of these things for you.
- Award-Winning Support
Hostgator has had years of experience on the internet and knows all about customer satisfaction & support. Hostgator’s support means a lot, you will have access to the active HostGator Community Forum, Online Support Portal with over 500+ Video Tutorials and 680+ Help Articles, the 24/7/365 Premium Support via Phone, Live Chat, and Ticket System (Email)!
- 99.9% Uptime Guarantee
Hostgator is a serious business hosting service provider. You may find every web hosting promised to provide a 99.9% uptime guarantee! But please note most of them cannot do what they promise. Hostgator is one of the best web hosting companies with the least downtime.
- Free Script Library
Instantly install over 75 open-source scripts with just a click! Hostgator offers the most extensive set of scripts on the web allowing you to build complicated websites with little or no programming knowledge at all. From blogs to forums to powerful e-commerce solutions, Super Green has something that is right for you.
- 4,500 Free Website Templates
Hostgator is providing more than 4,500 free website templates. If you choose HostGator, you’ll find designing a beautiful website is that easy. If you like to make tailored websites from scratch but do not have any coding experience, another easy option is the Free Weebly SiteBuilder and Website Building Tools. You can find the free site builder and tools from the hosting control panel with Hostgator.
- 45 Days Money Back Guarantee
Hostgator are confident you will be happy, and even offer you a full 45-day money-back guarantee to try them out. Hostgator’s money-back guarantee ensures you the ability to cancel your account at 45 days for a full or pro-rata refund. So what are you waiting for? Sign up today and risk-free…
- Higher renewal prices: Granted, many hosting providers offer you entry-level prices to get your foot in the door. However, when it’s time to renew your yearly plan, those prices tend to go up. For HostGator, this is definitely the case. So, it’s a factor to consider when you’re budgeting and thinking long-term.
- No staging options: Staging is a great option to have if you’re a developer that needs to test changes or fix bugs. Unfortunately, this isn’t something HostGator offers at the moment. You’ll have to install a third-party staging plugin
So, this is all about HostGator Review.
I did my best to present you with each and every aspect related to the HostGator.
After doing all the research, performance tests, and support analysis, I can say that HostGator is built by web pros. For, well, everyone.
If you are looking forward to starting a WordPress blog or a small business website, HostGator shared hosting is likely the smart option for your site.
So, buy a HostGator plan at their introductory price and go online today.
Still, if you are not ready to go with any plan, you can always take advantage of the HostGator penny offer that allows you to try their services for just 1 cent.
Do you still have any questions related to HostGator hosting? Or, want me to add something that could be furthermore worth reading? Do let me know in the comments section below!
HostGator Hosting FAQs:
Q1. Is HostGator a good option for hosting my WordPress site?
A. Yes, HostGator is one of the most commonly used web hosting domains for accommodating WordPress websites. You will find the integration process to be seamless. HostGator WordPress compatibility is very simple, making it easy for you to get your site up and running as quickly as possible.
Q2. Is it possible to migrate my current WordPress website over to HostGator?
A. Yes! HostGator allows you to move your site's information over to a HostGator account at no extra charge. Shared hosting plans give you one complimentary transfer of this data. VPS and dedicated server plans receive unlimited transfer opportunities.
Q3. Does HostGator offer an affiliate program?
A. Yes, HostGator offers an affiliate program. They have a sales commission payment program. The payment you receive equals the number of sign-ups you have on your account. As that number increases, your sales commission payment increases.
Q4. When signing up for HostGator, is a domain name included in that process? Or is buying a domain a separate transaction?
A. HostGator does not provide you with a domain name as part of your new hosting account. You'll need to go elsewhere to purchase your domain if you don't already have one. However, there is no domain registration fee to transfer a domain name to HostGator's servers.
Q5. Will HostGator allow me to purchase a stand-alone domain registration? Do they offer WHOIS Privacy registration?
A. Yes, HostGator allows you to have full management and purchase options for any stand-alone domain that you desire, providing the domain name is available. WHOIS Privacy registration is also available for a nominal fee.
Q6. Is HostGator a good option for my e-commerce site?
A. HostGator is an excellent option for your e-commerce website. They provide SSL certificates for all of the websites on their host servers, making your site's transactions secure. You also have access to a private IP address as well as full customer service support standing by to help whenever you need additional assistance. In addition, you will receive access to their storefront features and applications library that can enhance your online retail presence.
Q7. Does HostGator offer Linux or Windows hosting?
A. HostGator’s primary specialization is in LAMP-based systems, such as Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP. However, they also offer a Windows-based system for their personal and business account customers as well.
Q8. Will I be able to receive any managed services with my HostGator account?
A. HostGator provides full management options for customers who are on shared hosting, reseller hosting, VPS, and dedicated hosting plans.
Q9. What kind of VPS hosting options does HostGator offer?
A. HostGator allows you to have a VPS server account that utilizes a CentOS Linux system. There are several available account options you can select and the one you pick depends on the type of performance speed and features you desire.
Q10. What development languages does HostGator support?
A. HostGator supports a wide variety of development languages, so no matter what language your site is running on, HostGator is probably a safe bet. When you have a VPS or dedicated server hosting account, you are free to use the development language of your choice.
For their Linux hosting system, they support the following languages: MySQL; Database with PHPMyadmin access; CGI; Fast CGI; PHP 5; Ruby on Rails; Perl; Python and SSI
For their Windows hosting system, they support the following languages: ASP, ASP Net 2.0, ASP Net 3.5; ASP Net 4.0; ASP Net 4.5; PHP, Python, and SSI.
Q11. Can I use HostGator to host single images or galleries on my site?
A. HostGator makes it easy for you to use your hosting account to feature images and image galleries on your website. You have access to several varieties of image gallery applications through the HostGator QuickInstall Software program that is in your account control panel section. All of HostGator’s shared plan accounts have unlimited image storage space as well.
Q12. How does HostGator back up my website?
A. HostGator provides an automatic backup program for shared, reseller, and VPS hosting accounts that are under 20GB and have 100,000 inodes present. The backup takes place once a week. They do not provide an automatic backup program for dedicated server accounts. However, you do have the available option to create your own backup plan for this type of hosting account.
Q13. How many emails addresses to I get with a HostGator account? Is there a disk space requirement for these email addresses?
A. If you have a shared hosting plan, you receive an unlimited number of email address accounts. You also have unlimited disk space available for hosting these accounts. If you have a VPS or a dedicated server hosting plan, you receive unlimited email address accounts as well. However, the disk space limit is equivalent to the specific disk space restriction for your exact hosting plan.
Q14. Why did I receive a notification from HostGator that my website is abusing the server resources? What course of action do I need to take to resolve this issue?
A. The notification that you received addresses a situation where your particular website is using more than its share of HostGator shared server resources. This can be frustrating because you are not notified when you start to approach the limit, only after you have already overdrawn. Your best course of action is to revisit the HostGator limit requirements for key areas of your website, including the account limits, CPU resource usage, and email address hosting limits. All of this information is easily accessible in the HostGator support portal.
Your next course of action will be to work on the problem and find a way to reduce the number of server resources that your website needs to function properly. HostGator customer service will gladly assist you in identifying the problem and work with you to resolve the issue and remove your account from suspension.
Q15. Why is my newly registered domain name not yet working? Are there additional steps I need to take first before it will work with my website?
A. If you purchase your domain name along with your HostGator server hosting account, it may take a few extra minutes to link the two items together. You will need to wait for DNS propagation to take place before the name appears in your hosting account. The DNS propagation process can take anywhere from 24 to 48 hours to begin working properly.
If your domain name and HostGator server hosting account are separate purchases, you will need to ensure that the domain name properly associates with the hosting account package. Review your domain name settings in the WHOIS directory to view how your domain name configuration is set up. You want to make sure the name servers point to your new HostGator server hosting account. Their customer service team can assist you in resolving this issue if necessary.
Q16. I want to configure the DNS settings for my reseller account. What is a private name server?
A. A private name server is a version of the standard DNS server that most websites require to function properly. The private name server for your reseller account will point towards a particular domain hosting name that does not associate with the HostGator server accounts. You may only use a private name server on a HostGator VPS, reseller, or dedicated server account. It is not available for the HostGator hatchling, baby, or business server accounts.
Q17. Which HostGator plan is best for my particular website?
A. HostGator offers four main types of server hosting accounts. These options include shared hosting, reseller hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated server hosting. Each one comes with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. You simply need to decide what features are the most important to your website hosting experience and select the hosting option that best matches those needs.
Here is a brief synopsis of your hosting account options.
- Shared: You can have more than one operational website at a time. You serve as the website administrator for each website with HostGator available for help as needed.
- Reseller: You serve as the hosting company by allowing others to host their website off of your hosting account. You are responsible for their actions and treatment of the account.
- VPS: You have access to more software installation with this hosting account. It is an upgrade from a shared or reseller hosting account.
- Dedicated: You have free range over how your website functions, the information it contains, and who has access to the account. It is popular for larger companies that need website hosting.
HostGator customer service representatives can help you determine which hosting account best matches what you need for your specific website.
Q18. What kind of uptime guarantee does HostGator have?
A. HostGator has a 99.9% uptime guarantee, which translates to an allowance of 8.76 hours of downtime per year.
SUMMARY:
1 Comments
Neither of the two hosts have the best uptime. You should choose a plan that meets your needs. When comparing both companies like bluehost versus hostgator, make sure to look for features that are important to you.
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