Hostgator Overview:
HostGator is one of the most popular and largest web hosting companies in the world. They are providing reliable, easy, and fast web hosting services.
Pros:
1. Great Uptime
If you don’t know what ‘Uptime’ is… it is basically the amount of time your website stays available to your users on the internet.
An uptime of more than 98% is considered good. HostGator is excellent in this regard as their uptime is around 99.98%.
2. Fast Speed
Slow speed or a delay in page loading can be significant thing. It can put off potential customers or users.
If you have a large website with hi-resolution pictures, HostGator is a fantastic choice because of its fast speed.
3. Supports Many Programming Languages
HostGator supports many programming languages like Perl, Ruby on Rails, PHP 5 and 7, etc.
Not many web hosting providers support that many languages unlike HostGator.
4. Good Support System
Similar to HostPapa, HostGator provides plenty of help and support for users. If you have any queries, you can go to their knowledge base page or seek help from their live chat support.
5. Free Migration
HostGator’s expert team provides free transfer of your website from your previous host.
6. User-friendly (Perfect for beginners)
Gator (the website builder by HostGator) is user-friendly with easy customization. It comes with an automatic optimized layout design. So you don’t have to spend lots of hours building up your site.
Cons:
1. Additional Charges for Extra Features
HostGator’s cheapest plan called “Hatchling” costs you $2.75 per month. It comes with a single domain name and other core features like one-click WordPress installs, unmetered bandwidth, etc.
However, you have to pay additional charges for the extra features like Gmail access, SEO tools, site backups, and SiteLock Essentials.
The initial plan seems very reasonable but it eventually becomes a bit pricey when you consider the additional charges for the extra features.
2. Significant Increase in Renewal Price
After three years, the renewal price jumps from $2.75 per month to $6.95 per month… which is more than a 2x increase.
Web Hosting Types
Shared hosting
HostGator’s shared web hosting comes in three plans.
Hatchling: $2.75/month
Baby: $3.50/month
Business: $5.25/month
With all three plans, you’ll get a free SSL certificate, one-click WordPress installs, and unmetered bandwidth.
The difference between Hatchling and Baby plans is that in the latter one you will get unlimited domains whereas in the former you will only get a single domain.
With the Business Plan, you get the added features which include: free upgrade to Positive SSL, free dedicated IP address, and free SEO tools.
WordPress hosting
HostGator’s WordPress hosting comes in three plans: Starter, Standard, and Business.
With all three plans, you will get a free SSL certificate and a free domain.
Starter plan – Priced at $5.95/month
- 1 site
- 100k visits per month
- 1 GB backup space
Standard plan – Priced at $7.95/month
- 2 sites
- 200k visits per month
- 2 GB backup space.
Business plan – Priced at $9.95/month
- 3 sites
- 500k visits per month
- 3 GB backup space
HostGator’s WordPress hosting is a great option (regardless of which plan you buy) because it guarantees faster load times.
Dedicated hosting
There are three pricing plans: Value, Power, and Enterprise. With all three plans, you get unmetered bandwidth, Intel Xeon-D CPU, and supports Linux or Windows OS.
Value Server – Priced at $89.98/month
- 4 core/ 8 thread
- 8 GB RAM
- 1 TB HDD (hard drive space)
Power Server – Priced at $119.89/month
- 8 core/ 16 thread
- 16 GB RAM
- 2 TB HDD / 512 GB SSD
Enterprise Server – Priced at $139.99/month
- 8 core/ 16 thread
- 30 GB RAM
- 1 TB SSD
VPS hosting
You have three options to choose from.
Snappy 2000 – Priced at $19.95/month
- 2 GB RAM
- 2 cores CPU
- 120 GB disc space
Snappy 4000 – Priced at $29.95/month
- 4 GB RAM
- 2 crores CPU
- 165 GB disc space
Snappy 8000 – Priced at $39.95/month
- 8 GB RAM
- 4 crores CPU
- 240 GB disc space
Conclusion
HostGator offers reliable and fast web hosting. It is easy to use and provides great customer service. The uptime is great as well.
The major downside we felt was the extra pricing hikes for buying features like Gmail access, SEO tools, etc.
