HostGator Review 2022 :
I started using HostGator in 2008. I wasn’t too happy with the hosting provider I was using at the time. But at the time it was one of the few providers offering a multi-domain plan.
So I wandered around. Everyone tried HostGator because they were the first to offer unlimited domains and bandwidth.
I’m excited to try it based on some online reviews like the one you’re reading. And I still host 7 websites on the same account I opened 10+ years ago.
Their servers are well organized and fast. Your support is always helpful. And your rewards are great.
In this review, I will be using my own experience using HostGator as a long-term customer. This includes the information we collected for parallel performance testing.
HostGator makes it easy for anyone of any skill level to manage their website on their platform. Especially WordPress sites
Their plan includes a free domain name in their annual plan. Free unlimited bandwidth, free SSL and great one-click installation software.
According to our benchmarks, the performance is excellent:
Uptime: 99.97%
Response time: 1233ms
WordPress processing time: 316 ms
Although HostGator is one of the most successful hosting providers on our list. But there are a few things to note about their prices.
Check out our in-depth review of Host Gator.
Three main considerations
speed and reliability
In a perfect world Your website is 100% online 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, but we are not in a perfect world.
In every data center, power outages, hard drives fail. And need to patch and restart the server.
As we all know, we will never work 100% of the time. The next best thing is the “gold standard” in the hosting world: 99.99%
Every month we test HostGator’s speed and reliability (uptime) using a simple WordPress site as a test signal.
So far, HostGator has exceeded our basic expectations in terms of uptime and speed. They also played better than most games. Below is a breakdown of performance by month:
- July 2019 average uptime: 99.97% average load speed: 1,048 ms
- Aug 2019 average uptime: 99.98% average load speed: 1,069 ms
- Sep 2019 average uptime: 100% average load speed: 1,096 ms
- Oct 2019 average uptime: 99.98% average load speed: 1,065 ms
- Nov 2019 average uptime: 99.99% average load speed: 1,014 ms
- Dec 2019 average uptime: 99.99% average load speed: 1,107 ms
- Jan 2020 average uptime: 100.00% average load speed: 1,250 ms
- Feb 2020 average uptime: 100.00% average load speed: 1,352 ms
- Mar 2020 average uptime: 100.00% average load speed: 1,178 ms
- Apr 2020 average uptime: 100.00% average load speed: 1,081 ms
- May 2020 average uptime: 99.88% average load speed: 1,250 ms
- June 2020 average uptime: 99.99% average load speed: 1,299 ms
- Aug 2020 average uptime: 99.79% average load speed: 1,363 ms
- Sep 2020 average uptime: 99.99% average load speed: 1,310 ms
- Oct 2020 average uptime: 100.00% average load speed: 1,344 ms
- Nov 2020 average uptime: 100.00% average load speed: 1,212 ms
- Dec 2020 average uptime: 100.00% average load speed: 1,179 ms
- Jan 2021 average uptime: 99.98% average load speed: 1,193 ms
- Feb 2021 average uptime: 99.99% average load speed: 1,288 ms
- Mar 2021 average uptime: 100% average load speed: 1,529 ms
- Apr 2021 average uptime: 99.97% average load speed: 1,526 ms
- May 2021 average uptime: 99.99% average load speed: 1,202 ms
- June 2021 average uptime: 100% average load speed: 1,078 ms
Quick Overview
July 2019 Thru June 2022
- Average Page Speed 1,233 ms
- Average Uptime 99.97% 60 minutes over 9 outages
- Average Render Time 354 ms
- Average Security Threats 8 attempts
- Support 24/7 Chat – Phone – Email
- Apps WordPress, Joomla, Drupal and Magento
- Features Unmetered bandwidth and storage, email accounts, free domain 1st year
- Plans Shared, Cloud, WordPress, VPS and Dedicated Servers
- Transfer Single Free Site Transfer
- Pricing Starting at $2.75/mo (renews at $6.95/mo)
Support quality
HostGator offers several ways to contact support. You can connect with them via live chat. Free or open a support ticket
They also have a good knowledge base of support articles.
One of my favorite ways to measure the quality of support is to start a conversation quickly and ask some simple questions.
Here are some questions every data center operator should know from the start:
“Which version of RHEL or CentOS is my site running?”
This will ask your server’s operating system. Most shared hosting plans are based on Linux, be it Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) or CentOS.
I really like this question because it can help you quickly understand your business.
This not only shows excellent support skills. But it also lets you know how they stay up to date.
Here is a screenshot of my support chat:
Affordability
HostGator has a very affordable plan.
For starters, Hatchling’s basic single-site plan costs just $2.75 per month. Upgrade to a higher plan with more features and unlimited websites. It’s only $5.95 per month.
That’s a lot considering uptime/speed. Features included in the plan Free and easy-to-use management tools and your history
Remember, these are monthly prices if you buy 3 years in advance. If you buy 12 months in advance, the price will be slightly higher. Unfortunately, you don’t have the opportunity to pay monthly. i feel unfortunate
Note that these prices are introductory prices for promotions and come with a 30-day money-back guarantee on all purchases.
Here’s a copy of my receipt for the Bluehost Basic 12-month plan:
Available Plans, prices and details
Hostgator mocks his pet crocodile as his conspiracy name. He’s very smart and a breath of fresh air in a relatively sterile and clinical industry.
Hatchling Plan
Hostgator’s Incubation plans start at $2.75 per month, which is what anyone launching their first website will want. This plan has all the features needed to run a single website.
One thing I like about Hostgator is that even their basic plan has unlimited bandwidth. Unlimited storage, free SSL certificate and free domain name.
In the past, it was all special to them. Surprisingly, some Hostgator competitors still charge for it.
Baby Plan
Hostgator’s baby plans start at $3.95 per month. This plan has all the features of the Hatchling plan but allows you to run unlimited websites and send emails.
I have a Hostgator Baby Plan account running 6 websites. They get moderate traffic and work well.
Business plan
Hostgator’s business plan starts at $5.95 per month, which includes everything in the Hatchling and Baby plans, plus a few extras. This business plan also includes a dedicated IP address and a step-by-step SEO plan to help you increase your search engine visibility.
Plan Feature Comparison
Plan Features
- Domain included: Yes, free for the first year, then $16.00 to $22.00 per year depending on how many years in advance you renew.
- The installation process is simple: very easy! All you have to do is fill out the one-page form. This is the easiest hosting company we’ve reviewed.
- Admin panel experience – The dashboard is intuitive and you can easily switch between technical and billing. Site administration using cPanel.
- Third-Party Application Support – Includes a custom QuickInstall tool with OneClick pre-installed for over 70 popular scripts such as WordPress, Weebly, Joomla, Drupal, OpenCart, and more.
- Server Information: Linux CentOS 6, PHP 5 and 7, MySQL 5.6, PostgreSQL 10
- Payment Methods: Visa, MasterCard, Discover, Amex and PayPal.
- Hidden fees and terms: Domain and hosting renewal fees will increase after the introductory offer. but lower than other popular plans
- Upsell: Add some sales on the signup form. But it disappears with a click or two.
Other Plans
If you have other needs for your website, Hostgator offers other hosting plans such as optimized WordPress, cloud, VPS and dedicated servers.
Do we recommend HostGator?
Yes, we have been recommending Hostgator to our clients for years. As a paid web hosting customer since 2002, Hostgator has been the best experience I’ve had in terms of performance and value.
Hostgator consistently tops our benchmarks. And I love that they are the only hosting provider on our list that offers an uptime guarantee.