HostGator Pros & Cons – Is HostGator Still a Good Choice?
HostGator is among the most recognizable global providers of web hosting and related services in the industry. Valued for their extensive product offering and affordable plans, HostGator is the platform of choice for over 2 million customers. Their award-winning hosting services have won the appreciation of industry experts, businesses and individuals alike.
HostGator’s hosting plans include Linux- and Windows-based shared hosting, dedicated servers with choice of Windows or Linux OS, WordPress optimized hosting, cloud hosting, VPS hosting, and reseller hosting with easy white labeling.
If you’re on the fence about this web hosting company, read our HostGator review, where we help you get an overview of the hosting features, the pros and cons of this popular budget host, so you can decide whether you should be hosting with HostGator in 2018.
HostGator Hosting Review
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HostGator stands out through their feature-packed plans that offer a free site builder tool, free templates, one-click application installer, wide selection of themes and templates, free site transfer, free marketing offers, 99.9% uptime guarantee, 45-day money-back guarantee, latest cPanel control panel, 24/7 support, and automatic courtesy backups.
Each hosting tier includes at least three hosting plans, allowing your site to scale up as your site expands, or scale down should you no longer need as many resources. Managed and semi-managed server options are both available, and some advanced packages even let you choose your OS, or choose between SSD and HDD storage.
As for the configuration and pricing of HostGator’s hosting plans, here’s what you should know:
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Setup your first website or use HostGator’s free service to transfer your existing website to their server. Their service is backed with excellent customer support, 99.9% uptime and 45-Day money back guarantee.
HostGator Hosting Plans
If you’re looking for an affordable hosting option for your small website, we recommend HostGator’s shared hosting packages. If you sign up for 36 months, you can enjoy discounted prices on all shared hosting packages. The most affordable plan is the Hatchling, which costs $3.95/month.
The two other plans in this category (Baby plan and Business plan) are both priced at $5.95/month. Both plans offer unlimited domain hosting and unmetered bandwidth, however, the Business plan also includes a Free Positive SSL, a Free dedicated IP, and Free VOIP phone service. Windows shared hosting options are also available starting at $4.76/month.
If you need faster hosting and more resources, you can opt for one of the three cloud hosting plans offered from as low as $4.95/month. The advantages of these plans include faster load times, scalability, data mirroring, integrated caching, and failover protection. The plan with the most resources in this category packs 6 GB RAM, 6 core CPU, free positive SSL, and free dedicated IP, and costs as low as $9.95/month.
HostGator’s WordPress optimized plans are also built on cloud architecture, which confers these plans an extra boost in terms of speed. Faster speeds are ensured by HostGator’s low density servers, multiple caching layers, and integrated CDN. Plans start at just $5.95/month.
For dedicated control and scalability, we recommend HostGator’s VPS plans, which start at $19.99/month. With full root access, dedicated resources, full suite of developer tools, advanced functionality, and courtesy backups these VPS plans are a reliable choice for professionals or business users.
Starting at $119/month, dedicated servers are the most robust and resource-packed hosting option available at HostGator. You can choose between HDD or SSD storage, or Windows and Linux OS. Depending on your level of experience, you can opt for managed or semi-managed servers.
The plan with the most resources in this category is the Enterprise server, which packs 8 Core / 16 Thread Intel Xeon-D CPU, 30 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD storage, and unmetered bandwidth.
If you want to start your own small hosting business, or you want to offer web hosting as a complementary service on your website, HostGator offers reseller plans starting at $19.95/month with easy white labelling, cPanel, 99.9% uptime guarantee, and a 45-day money-back guarantee.
HostGator Customer Support
HostGator’s award-winning customer support is ready to deal with any issue 24/7 on phone, chat, and email.
Besides these options, beginners or those less familiar with certain aspects of web hosting can browse the HostGator knowledge base, which includes multiple video tutorials, guides, and articles. A HostGator forum is also available, where you can connect with other HostGator users and discuss pre-sales questions or other issues that you may have.
Pros & Cons of HostGator
Pros – Why Choose HostGator?
Here are the main reasons why HostGator is still a great choice in 2018:
- Linux- and Windows-based plans both available with shared and dedicated servers;
- 99.9% uptime guarantee;
- 45-day money-back guarantee;
- Plesk & cPanel control panels;
- Free migration service;
- Courtesy off-site backups;
- Free advertising offers;
- 24/7 support.
HostGator’s hosting plan variety coupled with powerful tools and features make them a strong choice for 2018. Their low introductory rates and user-friendly features appeal to beginners and businesses on a shoestring budget.
Cons – What’s Bad About HostGator?
HostGator is a versatile web host with hosting plans across the entire hosting spectrum, yet there are some small drawbacks to consider:
- Long commitment periods – discounted prices are only available if you commit to HostGator for a few years;
- No Windows-based VPS hosting;
- No free domain registration.
Although most budget hosts offer free domain registration for one year, HostGator decided to forgo free domain registration in favor of offering other important freebies like free website transfer or free weekly backups.
Conclusion on HostGator
HostGator is a good option for web hosting if you’re thinking of starting a website in 2018, or if you’re unhappy with your current host, and you’re considering migrating to another web host. At HostGator, all hosting types are represented through various packages designed for various hosting requirements.
HostGator has generous hosting offerings packed with lots of freebies and powerful site building and developer tools. The fact that HostGator offers some Windows-based hosting plans as well is a great plus.
HostGator is especially well-suited for novices and small businesses that are still learning the ins and outs of web hosting. HostGator’s shared plans are designed to help you get a strong start and easily grow your online venture.