The best 5 HostGator alternatives are ideal for those considering purchasing a new hosting plan for a WordPress website or blog
Check below our list of the top HostGator alternatives for hosting your website or online business. Each of these alternatives have their own advantages and we will analyze them thoroughly below.
HostGator Alternatives: Overview
HostGator is one of the biggest and best know hosting companies in the world. They have pretty low prices and a very aggressive marketing campaign. If you have considering starting a website, you certainly have heard about Hostgator.
You might considering to purchase a plan on HosGator but you are looking for suitable alternatives. It can be possible that you are already a HostGator user but you are considering migrating your website to another hosting company. This post listing the best HostGator alternatives is suitable in both situations, analyzing all technical aspects and pricing of HostGator and its alternatives.
What could be HostGator improve on?
As you already know, HostGator is one of the most successful companies on the hosting market. However, there is always room for improvement.
Overall, HostGator is a big company, as you can check on our “Is HostGator Good?” post. But below I will list some aspects that I feel that could be improved on HostGator, and why they are important.
Server Speed
Most shared hosting plans are not the fastest available on the market, and HostGator is not an exception. While their server speeds is similar to other similarly priced companies, I believe there is room for improvement on this matter.
You can read more about hosting speeds in this post about the fastest WordPress hosting companies.
Support Queues
HostGator support is usually good and their staff are highly trained to solve technical issues and also pre-sales questions. However, my experience with HostGator support involves long queues. I usually use the live chat and sometimes I have to wait a considerable amount of time until I get connected to someone from the support staff.
HostGator Alternatives
Considering the facts above you may want to consider HostGator alternaties. Here we have a list of great options with hosting plans that definitely deserve to be analyzed.
GoDaddy
GoDaddy is one of the giants on the domain registration and hosting business. It is also one of the most traditional companies in the business, starting its operations back in 1997.
Currently GoDaddy is responsible for a good part of the domains registration market share, and continues to strive to maintain its competitiveness. Since 2010 GoDaddy acquired a number of internet companies, including the Host Europe Group most recently.
GoDaddy is also a publicly listed company, and anyone can buy its shares. As of 2017, its shares have been constantly gaining value.
GoDaddy vs HostGator Shared Plan Comparison
Below we have a simple table comparing the Baby plan from HostGator with the Deluxe plan from GoDaddy. Both are shared hosting plans and have similar features.
| Baby plan (HostGator) | Deluxe plan (GoDaddy) | |
|---|---|---|
| numer of sites | unlimited | unlimited |
| disk space | unmetered | unmetered |
| bandwidth | unmetered | unmetered |
| pricing | $5.95 per month | $4.99 per month |
Both shared hosting plans have similar features, but HostGator has a slight advantage in terms of pricing.
Advantages of GoDaddy over HostGator
I would point two main advantages of GoDaddy when compared to HostGator: speed and customer support. From my personal experience, GoDaddy servers can be slightly fast than those of HostGator (although this difference is virtually negligible).
When in need of contacting the support staff, in my personal opinion GoDaddy tends to be faster. Finally, GoDaddy offers a broader range of services than HostGator.
Advantages of HostGator over GoDaddy
HostGator is comparable to GoDaddy in almost every aspect of its hosting services. That includes technical aspects and hosting plan flexibility.
Check GoDaddy Offers Check HostGator Offers
SiteGround
SiteGround is one of my favorite hosting companies and its just improving its reputation over the last few years. The company is growing consistently in the last few years and has a high reputation in many review sites.
SiteGround is much smaller than HostGator, with just over 400 employees. However, SiteGround is pretty versatile, with server options in North America, Europe and Asia.
SiteGround vs HostGator Shared Plan Comparison
Let’s compare how the Baby plan from HostGator and the GrowBig plan from SiteGround are in terms of flexibility.
| Baby plan (HostGator) | GrowBig plan (SiteGround) | |
|---|---|---|
| numer of sites | unlimited | multiple |
| disk space | unmetered | 20 GB |
| bandwidth | unmetered | unlimited |
| pricing | $5.95 per month | $5.95 per month |
HostGator offers more than SiteGround in terms of disk space at a lower monthly rate. SiteGround on the other hand is pretty efficient, and has an excellent relation with its customers.
Advantages of SiteGround over HostGator
The main SiteGround advantage compared to HostGator is the possibility of choosing different data center locations, which is especially good for geo-targeting. HostGator usually provides servers in North America, but also has specific target websites for markets like India or Brazil.
The customer support at SiteGround usually replies faster than those at HostGator. This comes as no surprise as most HostGator alternatives have a great customer support.
SiteGround shared hosting servers have also a small advantage in terms of server response time in comparison to HostGator shared servers.
Advantages of HostGator over SiteGround
There are one important advantages of HostGator over SiteGround. The fact that HostGator offers more disk space than SiteGround in this specific comparison between the Baby Plan and the GrowBig Plan.
HostGator also offer shorter billing cycles, and you can get a hosting plan for just one month (and paying monthly as you like). On SiteGround you can purchase a one-month trial and the next option is a full year contract.
HostGator also offers unmetered disk space, while the GrowBig plan on SiteGround has a limit of 20 GB.
Check SiteGround Offers Check HostGator Offers
A2 Hosting
A2 Hosting was founded in 2001 under a different name and since 2003 uses the current brand name. They are a pretty versatile company offering multiple hosting products such as web, VPS, cloud hosting and others.
A2 is a pretty consistent company in most aspects. Their dashboard is excellent and the cpanel is very easily accessible from the hosting dashboard.
Their support is also pretty efficient and queues on the chat are rather fast. and you always get to talk to a human in a short delay.
A2 Hosting vs HostGator Shared Plan Comparison
Let’s compare below the Baby plan from HostGator and the swift plan from A2 hosting. They are both pretty flexible shared hosting plans for bloggers or small business
| Baby plan (HostGator) | swift plan (A2 hosting) | |
|---|---|---|
| numer of sites | unlimited | unlimited |
| disk space | unmetered | unlimited |
| bandwidth | unmetered | unlimited |
| pricing | $5.95 per month | $4.90 per month |
Both plans are quite similar in all aspects, expect price. While A2 advertises some specs as unlimited, in reality they are unmetered.
Advantages of A2 hosting over HostGator
A2 also offers free migration services in most of the cases, while HostGator charges $149.99 for similar services. This is certainly a great advantage at A2, if you are willing to change your current hosting plan.
A2 Hosting also has a very efficient support system, and queues are shorter than at HostGator.
Advantages of HostGator over A2 Hosting
From my experience, HostGator can be slightly faster than A2 hosting, especially for North American services. A2 renewal prices are also quite expensive.
Check A2 Hosting Offers Check HostGator Offers
Host1Plus
Host1Plus is one of the fastest growing hosting companies. It has its headquarters in London and Lithuania, and has gained a lot of customers in recent years for its reliable services and good prices.
The company offers the usual hosting products, and has pretty attractive precises. It also has data centers in Brazil, Europe and North America, which can be good for geo-targeting.
One of the main advantages of Host1Plus is that they accept bitcoinas payment for their hosting plans.
Host1Plus vs HostGator Shared Plan Comparison
Let’s compare below the Baby plan from HostGator with the Business Plan from Host1Plus
| Baby plan (HostGator) | Business plan (Host1Plus) | |
|---|---|---|
| numer of sites | unlimited | 10 |
| disk space | unmetered | unlimited |
| bandwidth | unmetered | unlimited |
| pricing | $5.95 per month | $6.00 per month |
As we can, the plans are pretty similar in terms of technical aspects. However, on HostGator you can run unlimited sites. I do not think this is crucial, as a blogger or small business is unlikely to run more than 10 sites in my opinion.
Advantages of Host1Plus over HostGator
Just like A2 Hosting, Host1Plus offers more server locations than HostGator. This might be important or not, depending on your business model.
Host1Plus accepts bitcoin as a payment option, which is great. On HostGator you have more traditional payment methods only.
Finally Host1Plus offers a free domain with this shared hosting plan, while HostGator does not have a free domain policy.
Advantages of HostGator over Host1Plus
HostGator also has the advantage of hosting unlimited websites in these compared plans, however Host1Plus is pretty flexible in this sense.
Check Host1Plus Offers Check HostGator Offers
InMotion Hosting
One of the best HostGator alternatives available is InMotion hosting. InMotion is a reliable hosting company and is among the fastest ones when analyzing the speed of shared hosting plans.
InMotion Hosting vs HostGator Shared Plan Comparison
Here we have a small table comparing the plus plan from HostGator to the power Business plan (shared) from SiteGround.
| Baby plan (HostGator) | power plan (InMotion Hosting) | |
|---|---|---|
| numer of sites | unlimited | 6 |
| disk space | unmetered | unlimited |
| bandwidth | unmetered | unlimited |
| pricing | $5.95 per month | $4.49 per month |
The Power plan by InMotion hosting is considerably cheaper, but has its limitations. However, for a blogger 6 websites might be more than enough to manage.
Advantages of InMotion over HostGator
InMotion is also one of the best known companies in the world. Perhaps less know then HostGator, but with a very good review score among its users.
In our test of the fastest WordPress hosting, InMotion was slightly faster than HostGator in terms of server response time.
InMotion also has a 90 day money back guarantee, while HostGator offers a 45 day money back policy.
Advantages of HostGator over InMotion
In this plan comparison, HostGator baby plan has the advantage of hosting unlimited websites. In this specific plan (power plan) you are limited to 6 websites.
Check InMotion Hosting Offers Check HostGator Offers
Bluehost
To finish our list of the best HostGator alternatives, we have Bluehost. Bluehost is one of the most popular hosting companies among new bloggers and affiliate marketers. Both HostGator and Bluehost are owned by the Endurance International Group.
You can read our Bluehost review here.
Bluehost vs HostGator Shared Plan Comparison
Let’s compare the Baby plan from HostGator with Bluehost’s plus plan. These are two of the most popular plans for bloggers and WordPress users.
| Baby plan (HostGator) | plus plan (Bluehost) | |
|---|---|---|
| numer of sites | unlimited | unlimited |
| disk space | unmetered | unlimited |
| bandwidth | unmetered | unlimited |
| pricing | $5.95 per month | $5.45 per month |
Advantages of Bluehost over HostGator
To be honest, these two plans are very similar in terms of technical specs. Bluehost has a slight advantage in terms of pricing.
Advantages of HostGator over Dreamhost
HostGator has the advantage of shorter billing cycles than Bluehost. You can even pay monthly a HostGator while in Bluehost that is not possible.
Check Bluehost Offers Check HostGator Offers
Which HostGator Alternative is the Best?
After this analysis of the best HostGator alternatives, we can see the market has a lot of options for web hosting. Overall, I wouldn’t say that any of these companies is significantly better or worse than HostGator.
Before making your decision, you should identify what are the requirements for your business. Do you need one or multiple websites? Will you target audience in one country or globally? Do you need a dedicated server?
Answering these questions will certainly make it way easier for you to choose your hosting plan among the best HostGator alternatives.
Advertising disclosure: This point contains affiliate links, which might generate a commission to our blog when a user clicks on one of the links and makes a purchase in one of the of the websites.
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