HostGator evaluation: A solid choice for web hosting

Price When Reviewed

$2.75 / mo to $5.25 / mo

Best Prices Today: HostGator

With over twenty years of expertise beneath its belt, HostGator has develop into a family title within the web hosting business, particularly within the Shared Hosting space. HostGator’s uptime is unmatched, and the service affords first rate options at an inexpensive worth throughout its varied plans. However, the corporate isn’t as clear about its charges as Bluehost or InMovement Hosting.

HostGator: Pricing

HostGator affords varied hosting plans with totally different options and pricing choices to swimsuit varied wants and budgets. Like its opponents, it affords a big low cost for your first-time fee. 

One of the most important annoyances about how HostGator handles this in comparison with Bluehost or InMovement Hosting is that it hides the renewal charge. Where the competitors is express about their pricing on their respective plan pages, HostGator doesn’t present the renewal charge till you’re at checkout—and it’s in very tiny print.

Regardless of this main flaw, HostGator’s pricing continues to be aggressive. It doesn’t provide reductions for its one-month and six-month choices for the Shared Hosting plans, however you will get a pleasant low cost starting from 60 % to 73 % for the one-year and three-year choices.

Here’s a breakdown of HostGator’s pricing and subscription tiers for the Shared Hosting bundle.

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HostGator additionally affords a Dedicated Server bundle for these operating small- to medium-sized enterprise. The costs are rather more costly than the Shared Hosting plans, however the efficiency makes it value it. There are additionally extra versatile subscription plans for Dedicated Server subscribers. These costs are simply a place to begin, however they’ll change a bit relying on which working system and laborious drive kind you choose.

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HostGator’s Shared Hosting costs are fairly normal, whereas their Dedicated Server packages could also be seen as a bit pricier than the competitors—although it does provide extra subscription plans to fulfill varied wants.

HostGator: Setup

HostGator’s setup course of is about as simple because it will get. HostGator affords a user-friendly management panel that makes it simple to handle your web site and hosting account.

In the management panel, or cPanel, you’ll discover a vary of instruments and options that you should utilize to handle your web site. These embody instruments for creating e-mail accounts, putting in apps like WordPress, and managing your web site’s recordsdata and databases.

One of the good issues about HostGator is that it affords a free web site builder that you should utilize to create your website with none coding expertise. This builder is a drag-and-drop software that makes it simple to create professional-looking web sites with little to no expertise.

Customer assist is at all times fast to help you, whether or not you name or use the dwell chat service. If you like to determine issues out your self, HostGator has some useful content material on getting began, in addition to an entire data base that covers every other points you might be going through. It additionally affords a good library of video tutorials, although that hasn’t been energetic for over a 12 months.

HostGator: Features

HostGator affords a aggressive characteristic set throughout even its most elementary plans. Regardless of your expertise degree and wishes, HostGator probably has what you want for an inexpensive worth. Depending on which plan you subscribe to, you may anticipate issues like unmetered bandwidth, free SSL certificates, area transfers, and extra.

As with its pricing pages, although, HostGator makes it obscure what you actually get. For instance, discover how within the “Top features” tab on the plan comparability web page, it exhibits the Hatchling Plan as providing “Chat Only” assist.

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But should you change to the “Support” tab on the identical web page, which provides extra particulars concerning the assist the plans provide, it states that you simply get 24/7 dwell chat and telephone assist throughout every plan, together with the Hatchling Plan.

Marshall Gunnell / Foundry

These conflicts make issues a bit complicated for potential clients, and will dissuade them from utilizing the service all collectively. But, should you’re not deterred by the inconsistencies on the official website, right here’s what HostGator claims comes with every plan.

Each plan additionally comes with a free area for the primary 12 months, however provided that you subscribe to 12 months or extra. The Baby plan comes with a $500 Google Ad spend match credit score and $100 Microsoft Advertising credit score, which is a incredible deal should you’re seeking to get the phrase out about your new website.

Overall, HostGator gives first rate options, particularly with its Business plan. Hopefully the web site shall be up to date to make issues a bit simpler to know what’s supplied, and at what worth.

HostGator: Backup and safety

HostGator affords a couple of choices that guarantee the security of your web site and its information. One of the first backup choices they supply is CodeGuard, a cloud-based backup resolution that takes day by day automated backups of your web site’s information. CodeGuard additionally affords options like web site monitoring, malware detection, and simple restore choices. 

This characteristic is crucial for companies, however it’s not free. You’ll must fork out between $2.75 to $8.33 per thirty days, relying on which CodeGaurd plan you go together with. If it is a bit out of your finances, HostGator additionally gives weekly backup choices for its clients, however this isn’t really helpful for companies. These backups are saved on a separate server, which gives added safety to your web site’s information, however it solely retains one backup. Once a brand new backup is made, the outdated one is deleted.

HostGator additionally affords SiteLock, a robust safety software that helps shield your web site from malware and different cyber threats. SiteLock performs day by day scans of your web site and alerts you in case of any safety points. It additionally gives a firewall and different safety features to forestall assaults in your web site. Like the backup choices, SiteLock isn’t free, and you’ll anticipate to pay between $5.99 to $24.99 per thirty days, relying on the plan you go together with.

HostGator: Reliability

HostGator ensures a 99.9 % uptime for its hosting companies, which implies that your web site shall be up and operating virtually on a regular basis. This degree of uptime is crucial for companies or people who depend on their web site for producing leads, gross sales, or income. Downtime = cash misplaced.

HostGator has a number of information facilities positioned across the U.S., which helps be certain that your web site’s information is saved securely and that your web site is well accessible to guests from totally different areas.

We ran a web site hosted by HostGator for roughly 15 months and skilled no main outages and little or no downtime. As you’d anticipate operating a web site on a shared server, there have been moments the place the location would run gradual once we had giant spikes of site visitors, however this subject could be mounted by utilizing a devoted server. Overall, HostGator offered a dependable web hosting service with excessive uptime.

HostGator: Customer assist

HostGator affords buyer assist via varied channels, together with telephone, e-mail, and dwell chat. Its buyer assist workforce is offered 24/7, which suggests that you could get assist with any points or questions you will have at any time. If you want speedy assist, the dwell chat service is the way in which to go.

Confusingly, as talked about above, it was unclear if telephone assist was obtainable for Hatchling Plan subscribers, as there’s conflicting content material on the location. We reached out to Support for affirmation, they usually confirmed that telephone assist is offered for all plans.

Marshall Gunnell / Foundry

HostGator additionally affords a ticketing system the place you may submit a assist request, and the assist workforce will get again to you inside 24 to 48 hours. This ticketing system is useful for non-urgent points or should you choose to speak by way of e-mail.

Finally, HostGator gives a fruitful data base with detailed articles and tutorials on varied subjects associated to web hosting. This data base is accessible via the web site and may help you troubleshoot widespread points or study extra about web hosting.

Overall, HostGator affords complete buyer assist via varied channels, is fast to answer, and is at all times useful in offering assist, no matter what you might be combating.

Should you utilize HostGator web hosting?

HostGator is a superb choice for hosting your web site, providing a spread of hosting plans with totally different pricing choices to swimsuit varied wants and budgets. 

The pricing is aggressive, with reductions obtainable for one-year and three-year choices. However, one main flaw is that HostGator hides the renewal charge till checkout, in contrast to its opponents who show it transparently on their pricing pages. 

HostGator’s setup course of is user-friendly, with a free web site builder, cPanel, and a spread of instruments and options to handle your web site. It affords 24/7 dwell chat and telephone assist, with useful content material on getting began and an entire data base that covers any points you might face. 

HostGator additionally affords a aggressive characteristic set, however its presentation of options could be complicated for potential clients. Despite this, HostGator stays a solid choice for these wanting for dependable web hosting.