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HostGator

HostGator

Overview

What is HostGator?

HostGator, from Newfold Digital (formerly Endurance), is a web hosting service with WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated hosting capabilities.

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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

HostGator is a popular choice for users looking to host their websites and ensure automated backups. The service offers a variety of …
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Jamie likes HostGator

7 out of 10
November 20, 2019
Incentivized
My client required a new website, domain, and Webhosting. The company wanted to keep the website operations within one company platform as …
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Read all reviews
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Pricing

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Hatchling

$2.75

Cloud
per month

Baby

$3.50

Cloud
per month

Business

$5.25

Cloud
per month

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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Product Demos

Installing & Deleting Wordpress Using Cpanel in Hostgator - Live Demo

YouTube

HostGator Review 2021 ❇️ Speed Test, Live Demo & My Honest Recommendation

YouTube

HostGator Review 2022 - Is It Good for WordPress? Pros & Cons, Speed Test and Details of HostGator

YouTube

MightyHost Review ✅ Full Demo

YouTube

How To Install WordPress Using cPanel In HostGator !!! How To Learn !!! Live Demo !!! 2017

YouTube
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Product Details

HostGator Technical Details

Deployment TypesSoftware as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

HostGator, from Newfold Digital (formerly Endurance), is a web hosting service with WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated hosting capabilities.

Reviewers rate Support Rating highest, with a score of 7.8.

The most common users of HostGator are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(46)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

HostGator is a popular choice for users looking to host their websites and ensure automated backups. The service offers a variety of features that enhance website security, such as SSL certificates and the SiteLock add-on. With the user-friendly cPanel interface, managing websites and email addresses becomes a breeze. Users can also leverage PHPMyAdmin for direct database manipulation and custom application development.

HostGator is widely used for hosting various platforms, including WordPress, Drupal, and static site installations. It is also a convenient option for hosting mailboxes and setting up multiple forwarders. Customers appreciate HostGator's solid and reliable service, finding it stable, efficient, and responsive. Apart from its affordability, HostGator provides a one-on-one environment with its smaller platform size. It proves to be a cost-effective alternative to VPS hosting while still offering good value for the money with decent uptime.

Businesses rely on HostGator to host their own websites as well as those of their clients. The intuitive cPanel access is packed with value-added features that cater to different needs. Customers enjoy the competitive product offerings and pricing provided by HostGator. The service ensures almost 100% uptime and simplifies the process of updating WordPress sites. Whether it's meeting the needs of low-traffic websites or serving entry-level web clients who require affordable hosting options, HostGator solves the hosting problem for clients by offering quality hosting and servers with PHP support and cPanel access.

Overall, HostGator meets diverse requirements with its range of services, helping users easily manage their websites while providing reliable hosting at an affordable price point.

Backup Feature: Some users have expressed appreciation for the inclusion of a backup feature at no additional cost. They find it to be a valuable addition, as it contributes to the overall reliability and stability of the hosting service.

cPanel Interface: Several reviewers have highlighted their satisfaction with the familiar and easy-to-use cPanel interface. They appreciate its user-friendly design, which enhances the overall user experience and makes managing their websites seamless and intuitive.

Flexibility and Control: Many users value the flexibility and control offered by the hosting service. They mention being able to perform various tasks independently, such as enabling SSH access and installing SSL certificates, for a nominal fee. This level of customization allows them to tailor their hosting environment according to their specific needs and preferences.

Long wait times for customer support: Many users have expressed frustration with the long wait times they have experienced when trying to connect with HostGator's customer support team. This issue has been mentioned by a significant number of reviewers.

Website slowdowns: Some users have reported occasional slowdowns on their websites while using HostGator's services. These slow speeds can negatively impact user experience and make it difficult to efficiently manage their online presence.

Slow response time from support team: The response time from HostGator's support team has been criticized by several users. They have mentioned experiencing delays in getting assistance, often having to endure long hold times before receiving any help.

Based on user reviews, here are the three most common recommendations for HostGator:

  1. HostGator is recommended for beginners and clients lacking technical expertise. Users find it to be a good option for domain registration and web hosting, particularly suitable for individuals new to web design or administration.

  2. Users suggest reading the fine print and contacting HostGator's sales and support team to discuss goals and product suitability. This ensures site safety and helps address any concerns before making a purchase.

  3. HostGator is praised for its easy management of cPanel and integration with apps like WordPress. It offers a user-friendly interface that simplifies website management for beginners.

Despite these positive aspects, there are certain cautions mentioned by users:

Users express dissatisfaction with HostGator's refund policy and warn against entering personal information on their site.

Some users mention that the quality of support may be lacking, questioning if the cost savings are worth it.

It is advised to confirm the fit and basics of HostGator's services before purchasing, including double-checking their refund policy and the version of PHP offered with their shared hosting.

Overall, users recommend HostGator for standard web services such as website hosting, domain registration, and email accounts. However, they suggest considering specialized hosting providers for more database-intensive needs.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-19 of 19)
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Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • They are a very cheap option to host websites.
  • They had a simple interface.
  • There were plenty of how-to articles and videos online.
  • Customer service was pretty good.
  • The interface was a bit dated and could have been refreshed.
  • There was occasional downtime that seemed like it lasted longer than it should have.
  • Renewal prices are higher.
Doug Skinner | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • The Control Panel for web hosting is very user friendly.
  • Tech support is always responsive.
  • Tech support is responsive and helpful, but not without a special pin code. Since we need tech support infrequently when I do, I can never find that pin. It would be nice to have a quick client verification system.
  • Publishing updated pages are quick but could be faster by eliminating a couple of extraneous click.
November 20, 2019

Jamie likes HostGator

Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • cPanel is a wonderful one-stop-shop. Multiple web building support tools.
  • If my client hadn't chosen the HostGator website builder, we would have gone with WordPress Installer, included in the package. Additional HostGator website builders included.
  • Emails provided with the domain. Better than having to rely on 2nd party email servers.
  • Decent add ons, such as SEO Gears.
  • Too many supported website builders competing with one another (Gator, Weebly, goMobi, Joomla, HostGator website builder). One or two plus WordPress Installer would be sufficient and cut down on the confusion of choices. Why have Gator AND HostGator website builders?
  • Unnecessary to offer Constant Contact as a carrot. It's an expensive add-on.
  • Navigating around the cPanel is great if you know what you need to do, but not so intuitive for first-timers.
Score 1 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
  • 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.
  • The technical support is very deficient. If you are going to be relying on your host for all things technical, HostGator isn't a great choice for you. They're professional and friendly, but when you actually run into an issue, it will be a challenge to resolve.
  • During the latest server upgrade HostGator was to handle the migration of all sites on our Windows based server over to the new Linux based server. While doing so, the technicians left open a gap for hackers to infiltrate the old server which was then partially encrypted with ransomeware. A half a dozen sites hadn't yet been fully migrated at that point. HostGator said nothing about not finishing the migration - we figured it out when specific sites weren't working properly. They then said it wasn't possible to migrate them. Fortunately, one of the business owners had the technical capability to migrate 4 of the 6, and then rebuilt the two that were lost.
  • Unless you have a solid technical background, you're going to be disappointed with HostGator. They often can't determine the cause of technical issues, or claim it's impossible to fix the issues. However, the business partner always ends up solving the issues.
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • HostGator is a very reputable company. So you know that your website is in good hands.
  • They have one of the most affordable cPanel cloud hosting services that you can find.
  • The speed of HostGator's hosting is pretty fast. And little to no downtime.
  • The hosting dashboard is always slow for me. And it's hard to navigate around.
  • Not providing free SSL certificates and not allowing installation of free SSL certificates are big minuses for me
  • The pricing is not straightforward.
Dan Gospe | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 3 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • A simple backup is included at no cost
  • Haven't experienced any downtime for 2 years
  • Uses cPanel, which is familiar and easy to work with
  • 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
Steven Davis | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Setup and management is easy.
  • Customer and Technical Support is fantastic.
  • Prices are reasonable.
  • I use a shared server and I've had some confusion with setting up a unique IP. It didn't perform as expected.
  • My website has been hacked a few times and HostGator had no alarms in place to notify me.
  • I've had some email issues where my emails were blocked from some servers. But I don't do SPAM. And HG was unable to help me figure out the reason.
Jack Kingsman | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • cPanel is clear and functional; administrative areas are clear
  • Power to do what you need to yourself with nominal fee -- <$10 to enable SSH, or to have them install an SSL cert of your own
  • Good analytics to track CPU usage and general resource allocation
  • Convenient billing interface makes managing multiple hosting packages simple and easy
  • Support team response time is fairly slow; be prepared for long holds.
  • Only recently is the company coming out of a reliability slump -- in months past, sites would go offline, sometimes for as long as hours, with no explanation or ETA for fix.
  • The upselling is massive -- be prepared for borderline spam from HostGator partners.
Jennifer R Glass | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
ResellerIncentivized
  • Support - while it's not always the greatest and more on-time of other companies, HostGator does help with the support of my clients' sites when needed.
  • Pricing - For our needs, the HostGator reseller pricing was acceptable to us without us needing to put too much in up-front.
  • I'd like to see faster response times to trouble tickets as there are some issues that are very time sensitive and cannot wait several days for resolution.
  • It would be good for HostGator to allow resellers the ability to join Windows and Linux servers under a single reseller option instead of requiring double reseller packages if a reseller requires both servers.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • They have a great knowledge base of FAQ information.
  • HostGator has excellent support teams - I've needed both account and technical support and never been let down.
  • Their library of quick installs for different platforms or CMSs has options other companies don't offer.
  • As far as things that could be done differently, they updated their site and now it's two different areas to log in to.
  • The email to renew a domain name has the domain name in an attachment rather than the body of the email.
  • The service ticket area could be updated more often to straighten out closed issues - they'll complete the task or close the issue but not update the ticket status.
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • HostGator provides good hosting for website clients looking to save money while building a digital presence.
  • Customer service has been helpful.
  • Additional WP optimization options would make them a better competitor.
  • User interface lacks compared to platforms like GoDaddy and WPEngine.
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Affordable hosting plans
  • Reliable web hosting
  • Excellent up-time
  • Quick and efficient support
  • Confusing navigation throughout their large menu of options on their site and control panel
  • Spam filtering on their basic level email package. You have to upgrade to a higher-tier email plan for an inbox that's not flooded by spam.
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