Are you wondering what is HostGator hosting about? Or what is HostGator website builder about? HostGator is an affordable website host and when you buy hosting with HostGator, you will be using one of the most secure website hosting services.
HostGator customer support is available 24/7/365 via phone, email or live chat. The affordable website host offers powerful shared hosting, at a very low price. Plans come with several free features, such as a SSL certificate, free domain name and free migration from other web hosts. Web hosting must be reliable, fast and secure.
Website hosting is not a case of one-size-fits all, but specific plans will cater for specific needs. Whether you are a beginner blogger that is just starting a blog online, or a professional, buying hosting with Hostgator has several options.
Disclosure : I do have affiliate links on this site. If you click on any and make a purchase, it will not cost you anything more and will help me to bring you more reviews. These are my own opinions based on my experience and research.
Overview Of What Is HostGator Hosting About
HostGator was founded by Brent Oxley in October 2002. In July 2012 he sold the company to Endurance International Group (EIG) and they now host more than 2 million website worldwide.
With robust web hosting tools, HostGator is one of the best website hosting services for start-ups or business websites. Shared hosting is very good for beginners and 30% of their customers are web pros. So advanced users are well catered for with advanced features.
With their 99.9% uptime guarantee, good page loading time, free domain registration, free SSL certificates, free transfer service and easy to use control panels, it is worth your while to buy hosting with HostGator.
HostGator customer support are quick with answers, has a friendly support team, and is available 24/7/365 for expert support.
Web hosting is a service that enables an individual or company, to host a website that is accessed via a web browser. It secures your files (HTML, images, etc.) and runs your site live on the internet.
When you do a website hosting services comparison between HostGator and Bluehost, you will find that they are very similar. They belong to the same mother company, Endurance International Group.
Therefore it is not surprising that there are many similarities between these two hosting platforms when it comes to features and pricing.
HostGator has offices in Austin and Houston, Texas, USA and servers are located in Texas and Utah.
Hosting Options With HostGator
HostGator offers a full range of hosting packages that include shared hosting, application hosting such as WordPress, VPS hosting, cloud hosting and reseller hosting.
Products offered by the affordable website host, are very capable, especially at the budget end of the range. HostGator shared web hosting have several free features. These include a SSL certificate, domain name and marketing money.
Shared hosting with unlimited storage and unmetered bandwidth, makes for unbeatable hosting. Get a free domain added for the first year.
With HostGator you have hundreds of software options that you can install with one click (Quick Install) from WordPress, Joomla, Magento, Drupal, phpBB and many more.
Packages come with site building tools, templates and shopping cart software for eCommerce. Free domains included with select web hosting packages.
They do not charge new customers to migrate existing websites from other hosts.
It is common for web hosting companies these days to have their own website builder service, and HostGator has Gator. So let’s have a look at what is HostGator website builder about.
Do you have environmental concerns about website hosting? Read this review on GreenGeeks that provide an eco friendly web hosting solution.
What Is HostGator Website Builder About?
Website builders are typically drag-and-drop builders, where you can build a website without any coding or technical knowledge. With a DIY website builder, all you have to do is chose your template, modify the layout, upload your content and click publish. Thus, you can have a website up and running within a few hours.
HostGator has several options for building a website, including their own intuitive Gator website builder. You provide them with some basic information about your site, and the AI software will automatically create a site.
The drag-and-drop website builder is easy to use and you can create a website in a short time. It has an optimized layout and industry specific design.
You can also install WordPress, or other CMS platforms like Drupal, Joomla, Mambo or Wiki. WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems for websites. There is a steep learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, you will be able to build any site.
With Gator builder, it is not a WordPress site you are building. You will get your site up very quickly, whereas with WordPress it takes longer.
WordPress has far more features than Gator builder, and you can build a simple blog or a full-featured website. There are almost endless themes and plugins to choose with WordPress, thus enabling you to customize your site and add any features you want.
With WordPress you will have more control over the final result and the long-term direction of your site. Thus, when looking at what is HostGator website builder about, bear the difference in mind.
Gator also comes with an eCommerce plan. This enables you to set up a fully functioning online store, with inventory and more. No need to worry about techie stuff like payment gateways and plugins.
Gator is available as a convenient package that includes website hosting, together with the website builder.
Shared Hosting Plans & Prices
The main offering with what is HostGator hosting about, is shared hosting, so we will concentrate on that.
Each hosting plan has a few plans and pricing options. Some include additional features like credit towards Google ads and logo makers. So, choose your web hosting plan to suit the requirements of your business.
With shared hosting, there are 3 plans to choose from, Hatchling, Baby and Business Plan. They all come with these features:
- One-click WordPress install allows easy integration of your apps.
- Free transfer of your WordPress or cPanel website.
- Free SSL certificate shows that security is important to you.
- Unmetered bandwidth so you can have as much traffic as you can generate.
- Free domain included so register a domain and get on-line.
This is what you get in shared hosting.
- Hatchling Plan: 1 website
- Baby Plan: unlimited websites
- Business Plan: unlimited websites, as well as:
- free upgrade to positive SSL.
- free dedicated IP.
- Cloudflare CDN with up to 2.5 times faster page load times.
- free SEO tools.
So if you want a dedicated IP address, then you need to look at the Business plan.
With the Business plan you also get a free positive SSL upgrade. A free upgrade to positive SSL secures a domain, plus a sub-domain, and is backed by a $10K warranty. It also provides a Trustlogo site seal that you can display on your website.
Cloudflare CDN speed is available with the business plan to improve the load time of your pages.
Application Hosting With HostGator
What is HostGator hosting about also offers application hosting. It includes WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Magento, Wiki and phpBB hosting.
WordPress plans all come with free SSL certificates, Code Guard, web design, PPC services, SEO management and a free domain name.
- The Starter plan gives you a single site with average 100,000 visitors per month.
- The standard plan allows you 2 websites and 200,000 monthly visitors.
- Business plan includes more resources and can handle 3 sites and 500,000 visitors per month.
Below are the features of the WordPress hosting plan:
Pros of HostGator: What I like About Them
Solid Uptime:
HostGator has had an average uptime of 99.95% over the past 12 month. They guarantee that uptime will be 99.90%. If it drops below that, they offer a month of credit on your account.
To receive the credit, you will have to submit a support ticket to their billing department. And planned maintenance or hacks are excluded from the guarantee.
Other website hosts are also offering an uptime guarantee, which is good new for customers.
Fast Load Time:
HostGatored averaged page loading time of 707 ms (milliseconds) over the past 12 months. Fast page loading is very important for SEO and good visitor experience. Slow speed impacts the user experience with more visitors likely to click away if the pages loads too slowly.
HostGator Customer Support:
Similar to other web hosts like GreenGeeks and BlueHost, they offer live chat, email and telephone support, as well as an extended knowledge base. This is a great feature if you prefer to do self-research, before contacting live chat. Live chat support is available 24/7/365 for customers.
30-Day Money Back Guarantee:
When you buy hosting with HostGator, the guarantee applies to all shared, reseller and VPS hosting packages. If any issues arrive within the first 30 days, and you are not satisfied, you can get your money back. This is similar to the industry standard of 30 days. But, there is a caveat with this, and more about it in the cons below.
Site Security Features:
Shared hosting plans do not offer much more than basics. They have a custom firewall to protect you from attacks by hackers (eg. DDoS) They do provide free SSL certificates and SSH access.
Extra security features can be added at an additional cost. You can add SiteLock to monitor your site for any potential site breaches or hacks. If they find anything, they will immediately let you know.
Spam Assassin is offered on their email plans, helping to prevent spam hitting your inbox before it happens. SiteLock will cost you $1.99 / month, billed $23.88 annually.
To track daily backups, you need to buy the Code Guard add-on service. Codeguard provides automated site backups and one-click restore. More about backups in the cons below.
HostGator doesn’t provide a Content Delivery Network (CND) in their budget plans, but you can connect an external solution like Cloudflare.
GreenGeeks offer free CDN, if you want that as a definite feature.
Free Site and cPanel Migration:
If you already have a website, you can transfer it free within the first 30 days of signing up with HostGator. If you advise them within the first 30 days, HostGator will help move any databases, site files, scripts, and even a domain name, over for you.
It includes a full cPanel transfer. So you are covered if you have multiple site installs, like sub domains, for one large site. All shared hosting plans have a single site migration included. Different plans offer more, like 30 site with the Reseller plan.
Very Beginner Friendly:
HostGator is tailor made for beginner bloggers or webmasters. If you want to design, build and manage everything yourself, without having to hire a web designer, then HostGator is perfect for you.
The site has tons of tutorials and walk-throughs to help you navigate. Tutorial will help you to launch and maintain your new website.
The website builder tool, Gator, comes with hosting and a domain name. It comes with customizable templates, and by dropping and dragging, you can customize each feature. We have already looked at what is HostGator website builder about, and seen how easy and newbie friendly it is.
Unmetered Bandwidth and Disk Space:
All shared hosting plans come with unlimited bandwidth and disk space. With the WordPress plans though you are limited to 100K visitors on the starter plan, 200K with the standard plan and 500K with the business plan.
Cons of HostGator: Where They Can Do Better
Although there is a lot to like when it comes to what is HostGator about, there are also some negative issues.
Lots of Extra Fees and Upsells:
Features like email, backup and malware are all extra. Basic core features for a complete website are included in the cheapest plan (Hatchling), but everything else is extra.
SiteLock monitoring, Gmail, SEO tools and backup are all “available”, but at an additional cost. So while the initial plans with the affordable website host seems very inexpensive, the extras quickly add up to make it pricey.
Pricing Tricks:
The initial low starting fees that are advertised, all refer to a 3-year term that you prepay. But, if you want to be billed on a monthly basis, it will cost you not $2.75 / month, but $10.95 / month.
- 12 Months prepaid is $3.95 / month
- 24 months prepaid is $3.45 / month
This is very much an industry standard practice as well, but you need to be aware of it.
Backup Features:
The default backup features are almost non-existent. They only keep 1 daily, 1 weekly and 1 monthly backup of your website. In the event that you ask them to restore from the backup, you will be charged $25 each time. They sneakily offer an extra backup add-on at an extra $25 per year.
Backup is only for one month, so those who need unlimited backups or clone staging, might find their services don’t cover their needs. So, if you want more regular backups, you will have to buy a CodeGuard based solution.
Renewal Rates:
Renewal rates more than double after the initial term. If you did opt for the initial 3-year plan at $2.95 / month, it jumps to $6.95 / month when it is time to renew your plan.
Once again, this is an industry standard practice, which nobody likes, but do be aware of it.
Money Back Guarantee:
The 30-day money back guarantee doesn’t apply to HostGator’s dedicated servers, administrative fees or installation fees for customer software. So if your plan included a free domain name, the cost of the domain name will be deducted from the refund amount. This is normally around $15.
Refunds are only available for new accounts. It is not applicable to renewals. Refunds are also not issued on checks, Western Union payments, bank wire transfers or money orders. So do be aware of it. Any foreign currency refunds are based on US dollar exchange rates.
Limited VPS and Dedicated Server Configuration Options:
When it comes to the plans at the higher end, like VPS and dedicated hosting, the server configuration options are very limited.
Managed WordPress Hosting:
Managed WordPress hosting covers only basic features.
Install WordPress link will take you to a page where HostGator offers to set up WordPress from $99 (with $49 WordPress theme credit). This is an upsell and you do not need to choose it. You can easily install WordPress yourself and there are many free WordPress themes you can choose.
If you want the best WordPress hosting, then look at Wealthy Affiliate and GreenGeeks. For that you might find this post on 3 Best website services providers helpful.
Customer Reviews
Many customers rave about the uptime and the fact that it is some of the most secure website hosting. They also compliment the HostGator customer support for great technical support.
Negative reviews seems to be centered around billing and the advanced plans that do not offer enough value for money.
Verdict On What Is HostGator Hosting About
The strongest point of the affordable website host, is their shared hosting. Shared hosting offer a lot of benefits and loads of features at a fair price. The top quality HostGator customer support is mentioned in many reviews.
The high end VPS and dedicated plans though are limited in configurability.
If HostGator is not right for you, then these are the best alternatives for HostGator.
If you want more than just web hosting, but also want affiliate marketing training and support, then Wealthy Affiliate is my top recommendation.
Please share any experience with what is Hostgator website builder about or HostGator customer support, in the comments below.
If you want to buy hosting with Hostgator, then click on the button.
This is a very in-depth like into HostGator Web Hosting. It would be tempting, if I were not with WA. I like the breakdown provided on the products a services. The sound as if they provide better service than the BlueHost platform. The fact that they offer a guarantee is a plus as well.
A guarantee of 45 days is reassuring for any customer. Wealthy Affiliate provides some of the best WordPress website hosting, so that is a good to hear you are using them. All the best, Liné
It looks like everything is going up in price, and with the cost of web hosting rising, I have been looking for another hosting service. And it appears Gator does have very affordable web hosting plans. I like the reviews around uptime speeds and customer service because both of those of important to my online business. I really don’t like wasting time with customer support when I need to resolve a problem quickly; and the support is just an answering service located somewhere in the Philippines. The uptime speed is critical for publishing my content. Thanks for the heads-up on Gator, it was very helpful
When you buy hosting with HostGator, you do get great HostGator customer support. And yes it is very good for shared hosting, with reliable uptime and fast load times. Liné
Hi Liné. I’m a newbie to online marketing and thought I’d have a close look at your Hostgater review. I have to admit it left me all a tad confused. There are so many options and plans with Hostgater that I wouldn’t be sure which one to chose. It all sounds fantastic until you start adding up the cost of all the various components you will require to set up an a viable website. I simply would like to have a WordPress site built in my favourite niche. I checked out the links you provided for other hosting sites such as Bluehost, and although they’re all excellent platforms, I found Wealthy Affiliate to be the easiest of the lot to follow. The training there is simpler to follow, as are the hosting plans. The costs are also upfront and although the initial monthly plans seem high they tend to cover all requirements.
Thank you for your excellent review on HostGator, it was honest and very detailed. Thank you also for providing us with alternatives. Jim
Hi Jim, what is HostGator hosting about might not be for everybody, so it is good to have other reliable website hosting providers. Wealthy Affiliate is awesome for and offers one of the best WordPress website hosting services, together with training for affiliate marketing. So it is a total package deal with them. Liné
I was actually surprised that they host only about 2 million websites. I mean, I somehow thought that HostGator is this massively successful hosting service that has just bonkers numbers of websites it hosts. But 2 million don’t seem that much. I mean, it’s a lot. But it’s nowhere near what I thought they host.
Overall, I think the review was a very thorough one. Good job. Plus, I actually learned a bunch of stuff I didn’t know about them. I mean, I had no idea they have 20 years of experience. I had no idea that they offered so many software options. That’s really cool. I also like that they don’t charge for moving websites to other and from other hosts. To me, that’s really important. Also, I like that builder of theirs. It seems very decent.
And, indeed, fast load time is a must. To that end, Hostgator seems really awesome.
Hi there, the 2 million is actually only shared hosting, in total they host about 8 million websites. I hope that clarifies and good to know that your learnt from the review.
This was very knowledgeable and informative. Thank you!
I am pleased to hear that you found it informative to read what is HostGator hosting about.
Hello there,
I am amazed that HostGator Hosting is one of the most secure website hosting services out there! Excellent features that are valuable to run a website and fast speed.
“The AI software will automatically create a site.” I am gobsmacked reading this and I am so glad that I came across this information – I am actually about to start a website for my manager ad am intrigued t start here! Many, many thanks for the sound knowledge:)
When you discover what is HostGator website builder about, it is awesome that the software will build the site after you have provided them with details of what you want. It is not a WordPress site, so you just need to be aware of that. But you will have a site in a few hours. Hope it helps, Liné
Great info here on HostGator! They really offer a lot of great features and their prices are great as well.
I currently have my hosting through another company, but will definitely be looking at them a little closer now.
Thank you for breaking down the specifics in easy to bite pieces.
HostGator is an affordable website host and when you buy hosting with HostGator, you will have some of the most secure website hosting, together with great HostGator customer support.
I really like your website it is very informative and there are videos to watch and the information is very relevant to your theme how to you get the Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn icons on your website I like to do this myself thank you for your post it is perfect You are very advanced in creating a post or page I am still learning.
Hi there, I use a plugin for the social sharing icons, called “Shareaholic – Grow and Engage Your Audience”. It is very easy and free. I hope it helps, Liné
I already have a host for my website but honestly it looks like host gator might be a better deal than what I am getting. I definitely pay more than $10 a month for my site. How hard would it be to transfer an already made website with widgets etc to host gator? Do you think it would be worth the hassle?
When you buy hosting with HostGator, they will transfer your website for free if you tell them within the first 30 days of signing up. So I think it would be worth your while if you want to save money. All the best, Liné