Siteground vs. HostGator – Both are leading web hosting companies with similarly priced hosting plans. One may have slightly more affordable options, but at what cost?
Let’s take a look at the speed, uptime, features, pricing, and more between these two web hosting companies and see which can come out on top.
SiteGround Vs. HostGator
Although HostGator’s pricing tiers are slightly cheaper, the service falls short in some places where Siteground excels. Here’s what you should know when choosing between SiteGround and HostGator.
1. Uptime
Server uptime is a crucial factor that any web hosting company must prioritize.
SiteGround says they have a warranty to maintain 99.9 percent of their time. This warranty applies across the board, regardless of your hosting plan.
We are impressed that SiteGround has an automatic detection system that senses any chance of server lag and automatically makes a backend update before servers go down.
We host HostingRadar.co on SiteGround and have never once experienced any server downtime at any time.
Likewise, HostGator also offers a 99.9% uptime promise.
2. Speed
We have found that in our testing, both SiteGround and HostGator performed nearly the same in high-speed quality.
How close a web hosting company’s servers are to your traffic’s location will determine website speed. So choosing a company with a server as close to your readers/customers is important.
With SiteGround, you can choose your server location from Singapore, London, Chicago, and Amsterdam.
Whereas HostGator only has two data centers, one in Provo, Utah, Cyrus, and one in Houston, Texas
Although both companies provide good speed on their shared server plans, we recommend a dedicated server or cloud plan if speed is your main priority.
3. Security
SiteGround Security
We appreciate that SiteGround runs daily backups of your website, including it, at no extra cost. They also offer Sucuri site scans for malware and viruses.
HostGator Security
Malware scans and website backups are done weekly with HostGator. You have to pay more money to have additional backups made with HostGator.
4. Features
SiteGround and HostGator offer 24/7 Support, free SSL security certificates, and one free migration. They both also offer a very user-friendly CPanel, which is great for beginners.
HostGator offers unlimited bandwidth, which is excellent. Whereas SiteGround has limited CPU usage, which requires upgrading if your website has a lot of traffic.
We find that the features overall that SiteGround provides are better.
5. Cancellation Policy
SiteGround Cancellation Policy
SiteGround offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. This applies to the hosting plan only; domains and add-ons are non-refundable.
HostGator Cancellation Policy
HostGator offers a 45-day money-back guarantee (hosting only) and is only available to individuals with brand-new contracts.
A refund is only given if you originally paid by credit card.
6. SiteGround vs. HostGator Pricing
SiteGround includes three shared hosting plans that may be updated if need be. All these include a monthly limit of 100,000 visits.
SiteGround pricing tiers:
Shared Hosting Startup: $3.95 a month
Shared Hosting GoGeek: $5.95 a month
Shared Hosting GrowBig: $11.95 a month
Cloud Hosting: $54.00 a month
Dedicated Hosting: $217.50 a month
HostGator pricing tiers:
Hatchling Plan $2.75/month
Baby Plan $3.95/month
Business Plan $5.95/month
7. Customer Service
SiteGround
SiteGround is renowned for providing world-class customer service.
I have personally had the best experiences with their customer service over the many years I have reached out to them. The 24/7 customer service representatives are always helpful, friendly, and knowledgeable.
Not only that, but they are notorious for picking up the live chat in under a minute.
Whenever you contact a SiteGround service rep, you will see his/her photograph, so you can see who is helping you.
HostGator
HostGator offers helpful customer service 24/7 as well. However, wait times are much longer than SiteGround; HostGator reps take longer to pick up a call/chat.
8. SiteGround vs HostGator – Which Is The Best Web Hosting Company?
Although both web hosting companies provide excellent service and features, overall, we find that between HostGator and SiteGround, SiteGround is the best choice.
==> Learn more about SiteGround and get a 60% off coupon here
==> Learn more about HostGator and get a coupon here
However, our #1 pick for the best web hosting company is not actually either of these two.
==> Find out who our #1 pick for the best web hosting provider is here!
