If you are wondering which is the best hosting service out there for your website, you might be having a tough time deciding which one to go for.
Some say HostGator is the best while some say you should check out GoDaddy because it is very popular. But the truth is most people out there are basing their opinions on hearsay and what you need is a detailed and expert comparison since the wrong choice for web hosting can cause a whole lot of inconvenience.
So, out of a whole range of different web hosting services, it gets down to this:
Table of Contents
Hostgator vs GoDaddy
You might have a lot of questions in mind like:
- Which one has the best plans?
- Which one will suit your kind of work?
- Will HostGator be a one-stop solution to having a great website?
- Or will GoDaddy provide me a better experience?
- What could be the pros and cons of choosing either of the web hosting services?
Well, if you do have these questions in mind, sit back and relax, as we have devoted a lot of time and effort in doing all the digging, collected user experience to enrich our recommendations and will provide you with the best HostGator vs GoDaddy comparison. We believe this will allow you to finally discover which one is the best for you!
HostGator
About
- HostGator is an American provider of shared, reseller, virtual private server, and dedicated web hosting.
- Hostgator will be completing 20 years in the industry since it was founded way back in October 2002
- Well known recently for introducing the cheapest web hosting plans at just $2.08 per month
PROS
- Cheapest plans in the business
- Free SSL certificate & free domain name for the whole year
- Easy WordPress installs
- Unlimited everything
CONS
- Cheap domain names are hard to find
- Not considered the best place to purchase domains directly
- Very high renewal rates for Domains after the first year
GoDaddy
About
- GoDaddy is a popular web hosting company and offers the largest domain registrar to select domains of your choice. It is based in Arizona, USA
- Since its inception, GoDaddy has been in the game for the past 24 years.
- Widely known for its massive advertisement campaigns on YouTube, TV, and in the newspapers.
PROS
- Most popular web hosting service
- Several bonuses available on the signup
- Offers free domain and features Office 365 Email with all plans
CONS
- Doesn’t provide a free SSL certificate
- Poor tech support
- Not very user friendly for beginners
- Backups not available with GoDaddy hosting plans
- Office 365 Email renewal rates after the first year might be expensive.
HostGator vs GoDaddy – Which one has the best features?
Here’s the ultimate comparison table for you to consider every last component of the services being provided by HostGator and GoDaddy.
| Components of comparison | HostGator | GoDaddy |
| Range of features | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Plan pricing | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ |
| Value for money | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Web Hosting | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Types of Hosting | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ |
| Free Domain | ☑️ | ☑️ |
| Domain availability | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Free SSL certificate | ☑️ | ❌ |
| Easy WordPress installs via cPanel | ☑️ | ❌ |
| In-house website builder | ☑️ | ❌ |
| Bandwidth | Unmetered | Unmetered |
| Disk space | Unlimited | Limited (unlimited only available in Ultimate plan) |
| CMS Range | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ |
| Office Email services | ❌ | ☑️ |
| Google ad credits | ☑️ | ❌ |
| User-friendly interface | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ |
| Operating System Used | Linux | Linux & Windows |
| Uptime | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ |
| Page Speed | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Tech support | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ |
| Data security | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ |
Who has got the best plans?
This is one of the most important questions for you. You will be glad to know that both HostGator and GoDaddy provide a detailed comparison of their plans which allows you to decide for yourself what suits your priority.
Pricing Chart (Monthly):
| Components of Comparison | HostGator | GoDaddy |
| Web hosting | $2.99 – $12.99 | $2.75 – $5.95 |
| WordPress hosting | $4.99 – $24.99 | $5.95 – $9.95 |
| Dedicated hosting | $89.99 – $179.99 | $119.99 – $149.99 |
| VPS hosting | $19.99 – $74.99 | $19.95 – $39.95 |
| Cloud hosting | – | $4.95 – $9.95 |
On a closer analysis of the above-given chart, it is quite clear that while both provide early web hosting plans at the same price, GoDaddy is offering cheaper rates for higher plans. For other hosting services, both of the competitors have their beginner plans in a similar price category while the higher plans could cost more if you choose HostGator.
Renewal Rates
GoDaddy wins this battle as HostGator’s renewal rates are quite high compared to its competitor. This is something that young entrepreneurs and small businesses might look into closely when thinking of the long-term cost of using the web hosting services of HostGator over GoDaddy.
Web Hosting
This is one of the prime factors of comparison between the two giants. Our research shows that people on the internet have rated the web hosting services of HostGator higher than that of GoDaddy and here’s why:
- HostGator has been making a name for itself by constantly expanding and improving the delivery of diverse web hosting types.
- It offers an easy selection for Shared hosting (normally recommended for new websites), VPS hosting which is meant for advanced users, Dedicated server hosting (that’s like having your server for your website), Reseller hosting which is perfect for webmasters and those who wish to manage multiple sites under single control.
- Whereas GoDaddy comes with a drawback since GoDaddy Hosting is APACHE based (HTTP Server Project) which is an older version and most hosting services today are switching to better and faster versions.
Domains, the main game!
Both offer free domains for the first year but when it comes to Domain Name & Registration, it is a fact that GoDaddy gives more priority to domains compared to HostGator. In fact, not only does GoDaddy offer you the choice to select from the world’s largest registrar of domain names, their domain prices are far more cheaper in comparison to HostGator.
However, those who wish to go with HostGator need not be disappointed. Your problem can be solved by routing your domain to HostGator after you have purchased it from somewhere else.
What about my SSL certificate?
You must have heard a lot about SSL which stands for secure sockets layer which is a sophisticated piece of creation that simply allows the encryption and decryption of data over the web. It is highly essential because it makes sure that your website is safe and the visitors are not worried that their data could be compromised. Almost all browsers immediately flag a website if it does not carry an SSL certificate.
HostGator offers a Free SSL certificate with all of its hosting accounts but GoDaddy makes you pay for the same thing and only provides it for free when you consider buying an advanced plan.
WordPress Installs & Compatibility
While both sites claim that they provide easy word press installs. There have been several instances where users have complained that WordPress doesn’t work well with GoDaddy and takes up to 24 hours to become operational for your website.
Website Builder
It is very frustrating to build a website especially when you have to spend countless hours deciding the right templates and then keep dragging each and everything. HostGator eliminates all your stress by providing an in-house website builder known as Gator Builder which is the icing on the cake. On the other hand, you need to purchase a separate builder plan if you want to use a website builder in GoDaddy.
Content Management System
CMS is a really handy software tool that is needed to fashion your website in a way that immediately attracts the attention of your customers.
While HostGator has shown a diverse range of compatibility with almost 30 CMS tools, GoDaddy is particularly restricted in working smoothly with Drupal and Joomla. WordPress has been found to work more smoothly with HostGator.
Bandwidth & Disk Space:
| Content of Comparison | HostGator | GoDaddy |
| Bandwidth | unmetered | unmetered |
| Storage | unlimited in all plans offered | limited (unlimited only in advanced plan) |
While both of them provide unmetered bandwidth, only HostGator offers unlimited storage in all of its web hosting plans and GoDaddy only offers it in the highest plan.
Which one comes with a user-friendly interface?
- This topic is especially important in particular because if you are a student or a businessman who is just beginning to understand the basics of web hosting and website creation, it is very important that the service you opt for is very user-friendly and provides you everything at ease.
- HostGator has earned its name in keeping the website very user-friendly and easy to access. Whereas many users have reported that it is quite frustrating for them to understand GoDaddy especially if they are new to website building.
- The issue with GoDaddy lies in navigation; some users have reported that it takes them hours to get familiar with all the details regarding plan purchasing, domain registration, and other technical details that they would like to consider before purchasing a specific plan.
So, HostGator’s web hosting services are more user-friendly out of the two.
Uptime
Both HostGator and GoDaddy offer very standard and robust uptime of 99.9% which is by far the standard point for all the web hosting services. But recent surveys suggest that HostGator has performed way better than GoDaddy in 2021 when it came to consistent higher uptime.
Page Speed
We live in a time where slower page speed can kill business and drive away potential customers. Many people do not wish to take any chances on the page speed even if they need to pay a little bit extra for it.
By using the speed checking tool, we were able to gather information from three different regions in the world.
For GoDaddy-
- North America – 0.90 sec
- Europe – 0.90 sec
- Australia – 1.92 sec
For HostGator-
- North America – 1.20 sec
- Europe – 2.00 sec
- Australia – 2.79 sec
As it seems, GoDaddy has the edge when it comes to Page Speed and if your website is going to deal with the constant traffic of users, we recommend that GoDaddy could be the better option.
Tech & Chat Support
- HostGator offers 24/7 tech support which has reportedly been proven as the customers have very positive feedback on it.
- GoDaddy has performed poorly on the tech support parameters as some dissatisfied customers report that when they were struggling to connect with their domain, no tech support was available at all. The agents at tech support have been reported to struggle with English and have not been equipped with a sufficient understanding of web hosting.
- This has seemingly damaged GoDaddy’s reputation as it is highly inconvenient for beginners when they are left with no support especially when they are new to website building.
Data security
One of the most uncovered aspects of this discussion is: What is the status of both the web hosting services when it comes to dealing with privacy issues and cyber-attacks?
- In 2019, it was reported that a person who specialized in detecting bugs discovered serious vulnerabilities in several web hosting services which included HostGator as well. Later on, the company stated that the vulnerability was detected and eliminated.
- Around the same time in 2019, GoDaddy was hit by a security breach that compromised the accounts of around 28,000 customers. The breach was detected around April 2020 by the security team and was resolved immediately.
As these companies have a large user base, they have shown a strong track record of dealing with such issues as quickly as possible and have overtime assured their customers that the security of their data is always a top priority.
User Feedback
Through several platforms like YouTube, Twitter, Quora, and others, we conducted a general survey to find out how satisfied the users were. And we must inform you that more users displayed satisfaction with the services of HostGator as compared to GoDaddy.
Now, comes the million-dollar question, which one is the best for you?
After all the digging and such a comprehensive comparison, we believe different people may have different requirements. So, our concluding remarks will be a few suggestions to finally guide you a bit more if there is still a seed of doubt on which you should choose:
- If you are new to website building, you might want to go with HostGator as it provides a complete package of web hosting services, website builders, and a free SSL certificate.
- If you are a student or a small business setup, HostGator offers far cheaper plans and a wider range of features.
- In case, page speed is your priority, you can settle for GoDaddy as it has proven to provide faster page speed compared to its competitor.
- If you are mainly concerned with domain names, GoDaddy should be your choice as it comes out to be the one with the largest registrar of domains.
Below I have provided a few more articles for you to read next:
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