HostGator Review: HostGator is among the most popular hosting companies on the planet. While they provide many hosting solutions such as Shared Hosting, VPS, Dedicated Server and Managed WordPress Hosting, they’re notably one of the best hosting providers when it comes to shared hosting.
There are a lot of other things one needs to research when choosing a good web host. With this Hostgator review, we’ve tested everything, so your research can come to an end.
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HostGator Review: The Basics
Here’s what HostingRadar.co takes into consideration when we tested HostGator’s service. See the pros and cons explained below in our comprehensive HostGator review.
HostGator Review - HostingRadar.co Rating
- Speed
- Uptime
- Affordability
- Features
- Support
Pros of HostGator
- 99.98% Uptime Record
- 24/7 Support
- 45 Day Money-Back Guarantee
- Free SSL Security Certificate
- Unmetered Disk Space
- Unmetered Bandwidth
- Free migration along with improved security attributes
- User-friendly CPanel for beginners
Uptime – Very Good – 99.98%
HostGator has a reputation for very good uptime. This is important because a website needs to be up and running consistently.
A site’s only useful if it is up-and-running, consistent and stable. Fortunately, HostGator managed to reach 99.98% uptime (.04 percent greater than industry average) within the previous eight months.
Even just 10 minutes of downtime can lead to a significant loss, that’s why it’s important to select the hosting company which is reputable and has good uptime.
January average uptime: 99.98percent
February average uptime: 100 percent
March average uptime: 99.95percent
April average uptime: 99.96percent
May average uptime: 100 percent
June average uptime: 99.99percent
July average uptime: 99.99percent
August average uptime: 100 percent
Customer Support
HostGator provides some of the best customer support in the business. This includes 24/7 phone and live chat service in addition to ticket based email service.
In your hosting dashboard, you’ll discover their support portal site. This portal can help you find fast answers in the knowledge base of 680+ articles along with 500+ video tutorials.
Each HostGator account is completely ensured by the CEO, Adam Farrar. Should you ever have an issue with the normal support, then it is possible to request your ticket to be delegated to Adam, who will answer it personally.
45-Day Money-Back Guarantee
The majority of the web hosts we have reviewed provide a normal 30-day money-back guarantee.
HostGator provides an additional two weeks.
It is important to be aware there are a few restrictions and constraints to use to HostGator’s money back guarantee, however, apart from the simple fact you have to cancel your account within 45 days of purchase.
Here is what you need to know about getting a refund from HostGator:
Your refund is not legitimate for dedicated servers, administrative charges, set up fees for custom applications, or even domain name purchases. It only applies to shared hosting, reseller, or VPS hosting.
Should you pay your hosting package with a check, money order, or via a bank wire transfer, you are not eligible for the refund either.
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Improved Security And Free Migration
HostGator will gladly help you with migrating your current website over to their services at no cost.
The premium plans include automated daily database backups, automated malware removal along with a free SSL certificate for processing site transactions.
Ease Of Use
Signing up and using HostGator is among the easiest experiences we have had with a web host.
Beginners will find an easy to understand and use CPanel with well-laid out information.
As soon as you register for an account, you will have access to their marketplace of plugins, themes, services and extra features.
Different Types Of Servers
Shared Hosting Plans
The starter web hosting plans are constructed as ‘shared hosting’. This usually means you have been set on a server along with many other users.
Because of the volume of consumers which may be placed on a single server, prices are significantly reduced.
Unfortunately, so is functionality. At some points, functionality and service might be fantastic and in others, it might be much less than.
But this is common.
Cloud Hosting
HostGator also provides cloud hosting as an option. This spreads your site across several low-density servers, enhancing both bandwidth and speed.
It is like being on several different shared servers using much fewer users. Resources are not fought for as much, and also one site is much less prone to crash.
HostGator provides cloud hosting plans specifically tailored to WordPress, also.
HostGator Reseller Plans
With a HostGator reseller account, you receive a completely brandable platform which you can resell to and manager for others.
This comes with free site transfers to your first 30 websites, 400+ brandable video tutorials, and cPanel.
You will have access to all the tools that you want to begin a reseller web hosting company, including SSL certificates, domain registrations and much more.
VPS
A virtual private server requires a fixed quantity of tools from a physical server and hosts your own site with that. Rather than dynamic sources such as on a shared host, you receive a set amount on your own.
With HostGator VPS you get complete root access to your server, with lots of disc space and bandwidth across all plans. If you would like the speed and reliability of a dedicated server with no cost, a VPS is for you.
Dedicated Server
HostGator also offers premium dedicated server hosting.
Related: 7 Different Types Of Web Hosting Solutions Explained
Security
HostGator provides the safety measures you will need, including free SSL security certificates included in all shared plans.
HostGator Review Pricing
Shared hosting plans are fantastic for new sites and novices. They permit you to easily install your site, and get started right away. You can upgrade later if you need to.
For the shared hosting options, HostGator offers three different types of hosting plans:
Hatchling Plan $2.75/month
The Hatchling Plan features an easy to use 1-click WordPress installer, but allows you to host only one website.
- Disk space: unmetered
- Bandwidth: unmetered
- Domains/websites allowed: 1
- Free SSL: yes
- Free dedicated IP: no
- Free positive SSL upgrade: no
Baby Plan $3.95/month
The Baby Plan includes all the features in the Hatchling plan, but lets you host unlimited websites.
- Disk space: unmetered
- Bandwidth: unmetered
- Domains/websites allowed: unlimited
- Free SSL: yes
- Free dedicated IP: no
- Free positive SSL upgrade: no
Business Plan $5.95/month
The Business Plan is suitable for small business websites.
- Disk space: unmetered
- Bandwidth: unmetered
- Domains/websites allowed: unlimited
- Free SSL: yes
- Free dedicated IP: yes
- Free positive SSL upgrade: yes
All plans include unlimited bandwidth and storage. The most important distinction is the variety of sites you’ll be able to host, as you are limited to just one on the baby plan.
The baby plan is just $1 cheaper than Bluehost, yet you don’t get as many features. Read our Bluehost review.
Still, with HostGator the features that you do get average out to be about $70 cheaper per year in the long run.
Overall, we find that prices at HostGator are quite competitive.
Similar To HostGator
Cons Of HostGator
- Slower support than average
- Slower than average load speeds
- Hidden charge when it comes to backups/copies
Customer Support Isn’t As Fast As Other Hosts
Where SiteGround chat is famous for answering customer’s chat window within a minute, HostGator’s chat support took several minutes each time we tested.
Speed Isn’t As Good As Other Hosts
Over the previous eight weeks, HostGator‘s average was 977ms, somewhat slower than the typical 890ms of other hosts.
2018:
January moderate rate: 1,002ms
February moderate rate: 1,019ms
March moderate rate: 992ms
April moderate rate: 897ms
May moderate rate: 994ms
June moderate rate: 965ms
July average rate: 932ms
August moderate rate: 1,016ms
Extra Fee For Backups
HostGator advertises that they automatically back up your website, but actually, this is only true for under 20 GB and 100,000 inodes.
But more concerning is that this backup service is not actually guareenteed. They recommend that clients seek third-party backup solutions.
To guarantee actual backups are done you will need to pay an additional $15.95 per year for the service.
Do We Recommend HostGator?
HostGator may be a good option for a beginner, as they provide a cheap hosting solution with unmetered service that would suit a small website.
Because of the speed issues and the limits on how many websites you can host, we find that HostGator isn’t our top choice for a serious blogger or business owner.
HostGator offers great service and features regardless and may be the right option for someone concerned with cost primarily.
HostGator Coupon
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