One of the best-known names in web hosting is HostGator, which was founded in 2002 in Florida. It quickly outgrew its location, and the operation was moved to more centrally located Houston, Texas. HostGator has expanded to include an office in Austin, Texas, as well as offices in India and Brazil. It presently hosts over 8 million domains with nearly 500,000 customers. Read our HostGator Review below.
OverviewHostGator offers three shared hosting plans: Hatchling, Baby, and Business. In addition to shared hosting, they have VPS, dedicated, and reseller packages available. The dedicated server plans offer Linux or Windows solutions while all other plans run on Linux. Each shared hosting plan comes with website building tools, and unlimited bandwidth, email accounts, and databases.
Hatchling only allows one domain, but you get an unlimited number of domains and subdomains with the Baby and Business plans. The easy-to-use cPanel and one-click installation of many popular open-source applications make getting up and running easy for the novice – as well as providing features for the intermediate and expert users.
With five VPS plans (with either wholly or partially managed options) and four dedicated server plans, HostGator has the solution to fit your needs when shared hosting doesn’t fit the bill. The same goes for reseller plans with five different packages.
HostGator plans are scalable, making it easy to upgrade and grow from smaller plans to larger ones.
The Hatchling plan is ideal for a beginner or user who just wants a blog. The Baby plan is perfect for most other users while the Business plan is geared to those who might be in e-commerce. HostGator is also an excellent choice for WordPress websites.
HostGator provides managed WordPress hosting with three competitively priced plans to fit your traffic needs. WordPress versions, patches, and plug-ins are all updated for you, and automated backups and WordPress expert support are part of every WordPress plan.
HostGator has had a solid reputation for many years. HostGator has won numerous awards, from being recognized by Inc. 5000 in 2009 as one of the fastest growing companies in the United States, to multiple best small business, budget hosting, and e-commerce certifications.
In 2012, it was sold to Endurance International Group, one of the largest web hosting and domain companies in the world. EIG also owns iPage, JustHost, BlueHost, FatCow, and over 60 others. In 2013, and again in 2014, large scale unexpected outages occurred to EIG. Since it affected the EIG network, millions of users from many different hosting companies (including HostGator) suffered downtime.
HostGator’s reputation for customer service has suffered since the acquisition with regards to waiting for time on support calls and chats, and the speed of complaint resolution. However, based on customer reviews, it is felt that HostGator’s other features make up for this shortcoming.
HostGator comes with 99.9% uptime and money-back guarantees. The money-back guarantee does not include dedicated server plans. The shared, VPS and reseller plans offer a 45-day refund if you aren’t satisfied for any reason, which is better than most competitors offer. As with most competitors, the refund doesn’t include any domain or third-party fees.
With its highly regarded reputation, its wide range of plans that allow for growth, its ease of use, and its aggressive reseller options, HostGator is perfectly suited for the beginner and small to the mid-sized business owner but offers enough flexibility that those with more experience will still find HostGator can fill their needs.
Key FeaturesCurious to know what the experts think? After reading a barrage of negative user reviews consistent with customers of most hosting companies taken over by the EIG, we were quite taken aback by the experts take on Hostgator. Expert reviews written in 2016 are mainly favourable, some wildly enthusiastic. “Excellent,” wrote one respected critic.
Cons
Pros
In summary: Reviews referring to Forbes putting Hostgator on its list of fast growing companies are misleading. That was in 2008. Since then, since 2012 actually, Hostgator has lost the plot. Bad customer service and a comedy of errors at every turn; it’s just not worth taking the risk.
Until its takeover by EIG in 2012, Hostgator was one of the most popular hosting companies, according to enthusiastic user reviews. Since then, customer reviews have become increasingly unfavorable but a loyal customer base remains. However, it seems that it’s the old customers that have nice things to say post 2012; new customers are volubly incensed.Satisfied Hostgator consumers testify to being completely satisfied – with support, uptime, features,price and ease of use. The most common praise:
Since being taken over by EIG in 2012, Hostgator customers have provided a veritable smorgasbord of bad reviews on the internet, from support issues to billing errors and a whole lot more in between. The majority of dissatisfied Hostgator critics agree this host needs to crawl back into the swamp it came from.
Some of the bad reviews include:
The two most common complaints are bad customer service and billing errors which leads one to suspect that there are not enough support staff or they are not being trained properly. These kinds of issues are typical when costs have been cut and may be linked to the EIG takeover.
Interestingly, it seems that it is mainly resellers who have problems with Hostgator.
Tip: Pay via PayPal who will help you get a refund if you decide to cancel your account.
Reliability & UptimeHostGator guarantees 99.9% uptime, refunding one month of credit if it falls short of that figure. It has two data centers, a 300,000 square foot one in Houston, and a smaller one in Provo, Utah. Both provide redundant systems with UPS battery backup and Diesel generators.
Their data centers are monitored 24/7 for security and to catch infrastructure issues before they escalate. HostGator utilizes multiple network carriers for redundancy and bandwidth capacity.
HostGator’s servers for their dedicated plans are fully redundant with no single point of failure. During the outages mentioned above, HostGator worked diligently to get quickly back online and provided customers updates via Twitter.
Customer reviews are very favorable concerning uptime, and statistics show an almost constant 100% monthly average for uptime since 2005.
Features & Tools Here is a more in-depth look at some of the features HostGator provides.
| Feature | Overview |
|---|---|
| Control Panel | HostGator uses the popular cPanel for easy access to the administration of your website. Security, SEO, FTP, cloud backup and administrative tools are all accessed via an easily read icon-based interface. |
| Disk Space | Disk space is unmetered, which means unlimited disk space, however, as with any “unlimited” plan, there are some restrictions. HostGator will notify you if you exceed what it considers normal usage and reserves the right to suspend your account for repeated excesses. |
| Bandwidth | Bandwidth is not metered on HostGator, so it is unlimited – with the same restrictions that apply to disk space. |
| Database Support | HostGator supports an unlimited number of MySQL databases, and phpMyAdmin is provided in cPanel for database administration. |
| Free Domain | HostGator does not provide a free domain with their plans. They will transfer existing domains to HostGator free of charge. |
| Multiple Domains | The Hatchling plan is limited to one domain, but other plans from HostGator provide an unlimited number of domains and subdomains. You can administer your domains through the cPanel interface. |
| Data Backups | Manual backups can be made by users through cPanel. HostGator also does server backups automatically weekly. There is a small fee for restoring backups, which is waived if you provide the backup file. |
| One-Click App Installer | HostGator uses QuickInstall, which is powered MOJO Marketplace. Drupal, Joomla, WordPress, shopping carts, forums, galleries, and much more are installed with one-click. |
| Email Accounts | HostGator provides unlimited POP3 email accounts with webmail access. They also have unlimited autoresponders, mail forwarding, and email aliases. |
| Hosting Security | There is a free shared SSL with the Baby plan. The Business plan comes with a free private SSL certificate. Off-site server backups are made automatically weekly. |
| Website Builder | There is a free Weebly drag-and-drop SiteBuilder with over 4,500 free templates. goMobi is available as a paid add-on through cPanel. |
| Malware and Spam Protection | HostGator’s managed WordPress hosting plans come with automatic malware removal. SpamAssassin is provided for filtering your email accounts with all shared hosting plans. |
| Shopping Carts | ZenCart, Magneto, PrestaShop and another eCommerce software is available for one-click install on HostGator. With shared hosting, the Baby plan has a free shared SSL certificate, and the Business plan comes with a free private SSL certificate. |
| Programming Languages Support | HostGator supports most programming languages that run on Linux, including CGI, PHP, Ruby on Rails, Perl, Python, and SSI. |
| Green Web Hosting | IT companies are the largest consumers of electricity in the world. HostGator is doing its part to counter that and has invested in wind energy. It purchases enough Renewable Energy Credits to offset the energy they use to heat and cool their operations by over 130%. |
| Site Statistics | Site statistics are available through cPanel with AWStats, Webalizer, and various logs. You can also add third-party tracking such as Google Analytics for more detailed analysis of traffic. |
| Additional Features and Tools | HostGator has other marketing offers for Google AdWords and Yahoo/Bing with the shared hosting plans. A dedicated IP is provided with the Business shared plan, with one available for the Baby plan for a monthly fee. Each Business Plan also comes with a free toll-free number for your use. |
| Affiliate Program | In addition to a robust reseller program, HostGator offers an affiliate program to customers. It is possible to receive up to $125 per month for referrals, providing passive income at no cost to you. |
Plans & Pricing HostGator’s pricing can vary, depending on promotions. At the time of this review, there is a 30% off promotion for the first term on shared hosting. Terms run from monthly to 3 years, and purchasing the highest term at the promo price will save the most money. With the promo pricing, the Hatchling Plan is currently priced at $4.86 per month, Baby is $6.96 per month, and the Business plan is $10.46 per month.
The five VPS plans are offered in monthly to one year plans. Promo pricing of 40% off ranges from $11.97 per month to $99.97 per month. Dedicated server plans are also 40% off, ranging from $105 per month to $225 per month. These prices are competitive with other hosting companies in the budget category.
None of the shared plans come with free domain registration. The Business plan comes with a free dedicated IP while the Baby plan has a dedicated IP for a monthly fee. The VPS plans come with two dedicated IP addresses per plan. Dedicated servers come with two to five dedicated IPs, depending on the plan purchased.
Changing plans is free, and HostGator will assist you in transitioning to a different plan, which makes it easy to start with a lower level plan and upgrade as needed.
Customer Support As mentioned earlier, recent customer reviews have commented on slow support service. The quality of Customer service is still rated highly, but wait times are reported to be longer than expected.
HostGator has international offices, so the location of support personnel is unknown, but customers regularly rate support as friendly, knowledgeable, and very helpful. Few reviews report that issues were left unsolved.
For do-it-yourselfers, HostGator has an online support portal with over 500 video tutorials as well as nearly 700 articles providing help over a wide range of topics. You can also access the blog and forum from the portal.
HostGator provides multiple channels of contact 24/7/365. Live chat, regular mail addresses (for both Houston and Austin, and two offices in Brazil), and email is accessed from the contact page.
A toll-free number for U.S. customers is 866-964-2867. International customers can call 00+1+713-574-5287. HostGator also provides fax numbers for billing (281-476-7800) and to report abuse (281-476-7801).
Ease of Use HostGator uses the most popular control panel in the industry, cPanel. Its straightforward, easy-to-use, icon-based interface gives you control over most aspects of administering your website. One-click installation of 52 free scripts through QuickInstall, and the drag-and-drop SiteBuilder, Weebly, make creating your site quick and easy.
Conclusion Despite some recent grumbling over delays when dealing with customer support, HostGator is a highly regarded choice as a web host. The uptime and money-back guarantees indicate that HostGator is serious about providing reliable service.
Its pricing is slightly higher than many budgets hosting companies, but it is still competitive, and its reliability and stability help offset the additional cost. Its full plate of features compares favorably with hosting companies that fall in the premium category.
HostGator would be a good choice for the beginner or small to mid-size business owner, providing good starting plans with room for growth. Features such as .htaccess and a wide range of programming languages make it a good solution for the more experienced user as well.
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