Google Domains vs. HostGator

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Google Domains
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
N/A
$12
per year
HostGator
Score 6.8 out of 10
N/A
HostGator, from Newfold Digital (formerly Endurance), is a web hosting service with WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated hosting capabilities.
$2.75
per month
Pricing
Google DomainsHostGator
Editions & Modules
.com
$12.00
per year
.net
$12.00
per year
.org
$12.00
per year
Hatchling
$2.75
per month
Baby
$3.50
per month
Business
$5.25
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Google DomainsHostGator
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Google DomainsHostGator
Considered Both Products
Google Domains
Chose Google Domains
Google Domains is focused on domain registration only, instead of providing hosting solutions. So it can be a good option if your client has a server but needs a domain for a new website. Also, as it's only one service, it's much easier to use than other solutions and has …
Chose Google Domains
Getting a domain via Google just makes more sense than any other provider. They aren't gonna bombard you with ads and try to upsell you products or services. Also, if you use G Suite it makes even more sense to choose Google Domains over any other provider because of the …
Chose Google Domains
Google Domains is not on par with either of these competitors at the moment. I think they will be in a few years but have some growing to do. The support and interface are easy and simple which lands them as a contender for small businesses but for larger corporations, I'd say …
HostGator

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
Google DomainsHostGator
Small Businesses
Shopify
Shopify
Score 8.8 out of 10
Flywheel
Flywheel
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Shopify
Shopify
Score 8.8 out of 10
WP Engine
WP Engine
Score 9.2 out of 10
Enterprises

No answers on this topic

Pantheon
Pantheon
Score 8.4 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Google DomainsHostGator
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(22 ratings)
6.8
(19 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(1 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(3 ratings)
7.8
(5 ratings)
User Testimonials
Google DomainsHostGator
Likelihood to Recommend
Google
[Google Domains is] very simplistic and easy to use, so it's very straightforward to register a new domain but it doesn't have some features that other services provide. Also, the integration with other Google Services and domain search tool is amazing.
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Newfold Digital (Endurance + Web.com)
HostGator for email, domain and website hosting--delightful, 100% satisfied! Have always had ample capacity for company email needs, features work well. I have used it off and on for several organizations since 2011. HostGator website building is fairly straightforward, although I wouldn't recommend it for first-time web designing. The pluses on the HostGator website builder: great-looking themes, adequate webpage capacity, really cool scrolling capabilities, which trends well now. Easier than building a WordPress website from scratch, which can also be done for free in HostGator. I'd say it's limited compared to feature-rich WP, but it designs as nicely as Wix.
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Pros
Google
  • Process of buying a domain with Google Domains is easy
  • Payment was simple - can use Google Wallet and other forms of payment.
  • After purchase, you can quickly build a website with one of their partners.
  • Email forwarding add-on for free.
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Newfold Digital (Endurance + Web.com)
  • The pricing is a big feature for this hosting company
  • Every three years when the hosting contract is coming to an end, they offer a reduced fee to upgrade your server plan, which is more cost effective than renewing at the regular rate for whatever plan you're currently using.
  • The customer service workers are professional and friendly.
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Cons
Google
  • Google Domains is pretty good at pre-solving email faux pas such as reply all mishaps. Perhaps a built-in email monitoring tool such as knowing when a customer opens up an email would be good. You can get these features with integrations, but what if it was an internal Google product? Might be nice
  • Email masking was a bit difficult to figure out, but nothing you can't discover with a few Google sessions.
  • I wish I could see more insight into time zones that my customers are in, or scheduling calls on Gcal with timezone awareness. I know this is super hard to code around though.
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Newfold Digital (Endurance + Web.com)
  • Support could be better, it takes a long time to connect with somebody
  • You need to pay extra for a backup you can rely on
  • SiteLock is sold separately, but did not help when we were hacked
  • Site seems to slow down from time to time
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Likelihood to Renew
Google
Unless the product goes away, I'll continue using it.
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Newfold Digital (Endurance + Web.com)
Because we have in house technical support to compensate the lack of quality HostGator tech support, and because the price continues to be affordable the business is likely to continue using HostGator. They provide what the business needs and we have in house support to maintain it.
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Usability
Google
When on desktop or mobile, the minimalist design and functionality of Google Domains is welcome. Because we use Google Workplace, the integration is simple. Management is fast and easy, and it offers on-the-go ease. Google is very consistent in its user interfaces and usability, so there’s no wasted time in a new learning curve. And the price is right
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Newfold Digital (Endurance + Web.com)
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Google
I've never actually had to use support because everything has been very straightforward and I have not had a glitch. I have used Google's support for other items so I can only imagine that it's probably the same support which is decent. They do take a while to get back to you.
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Newfold Digital (Endurance + Web.com)
While you will get support from HostGator, it seems to be a different level from 8-10 years ago. It may take 15-20 minutes to get someone on chat, and unless you follow up, I've found followup email support to take a couple of days. If you stick with it, though, you will get support, and I've never had a problem they couldn't help with.
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Alternatives Considered
Google
GoDaddy is great, but what I really like about Google Domains when compared to GoDaddy is the ease of centralization. Our email, calendar, accounts, domain, etc was all handled in one place and that made things really easy. You could also access domains easily and quickly by being logged into your email, instead of worrying about yet another log in.
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Newfold Digital (Endurance + Web.com)
I prefer HostGator over GoDaddy. HostGator does have better and more reliable customer support, and the user interface and user experience are overall much more friendly and easier to use. GoDaddy does have downtime associated with their hosting in my experience, but I have not experienced that with HostGator.
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Return on Investment
Google
  • Being able to host my URL with Google Domains is one less thing I have to worry about in my writing career.
  • I'm sure having my URL, which is my name, with Google Domains also helps people find me via Google's search engine.
  • Its ease of integration with other Google products, especially Google Apps for Business, is a huge plus for marketing and day-to-day work.
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Newfold Digital (Endurance + Web.com)
  • Usage of resale options easily quadrupled the money I was spending on HostGator
  • Trust in the host has to be earned, and HostGator has not retained that for me -- it will be a while before I feel confident in their uptime again
  • Overall, HG has been a positive impact on my business as a web developer
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