Do you know about HostGator?
In this article, I will show you in-depth about the Host Gator review.
Hostgator Inc. was founded by Brent Oxley in his college dorm in 2002. The web company grew from a one-man operation to one with hundreds of employees over the years and ranked 21st (2008 year) and 239th (2009 year) in Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Company.
In 2012, Brent sold the company to Endurance International Group (EIG) for, unofficially, $ 225 million.
EIG, which also owns a number of other well-known web hosting brands, including BlueHost, iPage, FatCow, HostMonster, Pow Web, Easy CGI, Arvixe, eHost, A Small Orange, etc. It is now the largest website hosting company.
Hostgator, the company, has gone through a number of big changes: Brent sold his company to Endurance International Group (EIG) in 2012. The new owner launched a new site design Hostgator.com, reinvented itself as a cloud hosting provider and added a new drag and drop site builder, the Gator Website Builder, in 2019.
As a long-time Hostgator customer, I have witnessed the ups and downs of the company.
In March 2017, I purchased a new Hostgator cloud hosting plan and started monitoring their server performance. I currently host some side projects, including Dsgn x Dvlp that I use to run hosting tests, on this Cloud Hosting account.
What’s in this Hostgator review?
In this review, you’ll get the scoop on Hostgator hosting, as well as years of server performance stats. Let’s dive in!
About Hostgator company
- Founded in 2002 by Brent Oxley.
- Services: Shared, VPS, Dedicated, WordPress, and cloud hosting.
- Offices in four locations: Houston and Austin, Texas; Florianopolis and Sao Paulo, Brazil.
- Data Centers: Houston, TX, and Provo, UT, America (USA).
Hostgator Review – Video Summary
At a Glance – Pros and Cons of Hostgator
Host Gator Review: PROS
- Solid hosting uptime performance, uptime> 99.99%
- Fast server, TTFB below 50ms for US users and rated A in Bitcatcha speed test
- Special discount: registration price is ~ 45% cheaper for new users
- Free site migration for new customers.
- Good customer service: comprehensive support documentation, user forum, and 24 × 7 support
- Most popular hosting among bloggers based on our 2014 and 2016 survey
Host Gator Review: CONS
- Unlimited hosting limited by server restrictions
- Expensive renovation costs
- Occasionally long wait time for live chat support
- Server location in the United States only
Verdict and relevant information
Hostgator cloud hosting plans and prices
Introducing Hostgator new Gator Website Builder
Verdict: Is Hostgator Right For You (And Your Websites)?
Hostgator review: what we like
1. Solid server performance (uptime> 99.99%)
Server uptime is the one thing that I emphasize a lot in my hosting reviews. Can you imagine what will happen to your business if your site crashes frequently? The fancy extra features are meaningless unless your site stays online.
2. Hostgator Cloud Hosting Speed
I ran various speed tests on Hostgator Cloud Hosting using Bitcatch and WebpageTest.
The results were magnificent.
In this Host Gator review Here are some speed test results that I got for different test sites. Take note of the server response times for the test nodes located in the United States – the results (below 50 ms) were excellent.
Speed tests on Bitcatcha.
Result of the speed test for Hostgator Cloud (June 2019): The test site got an impressive “A +” in the first test. Most of the other web hosts in this price range don’t score higher than A in Bitcatcha’s speed test.
Result of the speed test for site # 1 (April 2017): A
Result of the speed test for test site # 2 (April 2017): A
Result of the speed test for test site # 3 (April 2017): A
Speed test in WebPageTest
The test site recorded TTFB at 426ms in one of the recent tests.
3. Special Discount: Save 65%
Save up to 45% when you sign up for the Hostgator Cloud hosting plan today.
Note, however, that this price returns to normal when you renew (see below for more information).
Hostgator Cloud Hosting Plans: HatchlingCloud, Baby Cloud, and Business Cloud.
4. Free site migration for new customers.
Hostgator provides a limited number of free transfers from other web hosting companies to new users.
For cloud plans, you are eligible for a full transfer within 30 days of registration.
To request a site migration, log in to your customer portal> Support> Request migration.
5. Good customer service policy.
Free SSL installation
In conjunction with Google Chrome Browser Changes, Shared SSL will be automatically installed on each domain for Hostgator customers.
Enabling SSL will give your domain an “HTTPS: //” prefix, which ensures that your website will be labeled “secure” in most web browsers.
Hostgator availability guarantee
The company guarantees 99.9% server uptime and will refund your money if the uptime is insufficient. Read the Hostgator Terms of Service (clause 15).
If your reseller or shared server has a physical downtime that does not meet the 99.9 uptime guarantee, you may receive one (1) month of credit to your account.
This uptime guarantee does not apply to planned maintenance. The approval of any credit is at the sole discretion of HostGator and may depend on the justification provided […] To request a credit, visit http://support.hostgator.com to create a support ticket to our billing department with justification.
Hostgator support comes in different channels: 24 × 7 live chat, phone, forums, ticketing system, as well as Twitter.
For those who hate waiting and like to solve the problem with their own hands, the company also has a comprehensive customer support knowledge base.
While not everyone is happy with the company’s after-sales service, at least Hostgator cares about its customers.
Hostgator support on Twitter
Hostgator support comes on various channels, including Twitter.
Hostgator publishes server maintenance updates and handles support requests via
45 days money-back guarantee
Most web hosting companies offer a standard 30-day money-back guarantee for their new customers.
HostGator is one of the few that exceeds the trial period up to 45 days, giving you an additional 15 days to test their offers without any risk.
Hostgator’s money-back guarantee terms.
Hostgator User Forum
A forum (allowing its customers to speak freely) is often a positive indication of the company’s willingness to listen to its customers’ comments and opinions, and continually improve.
6. Hostgator Bloggers’ favorite web host?
In 2015, I spoke to a group of ~ 50 bloggers and asked for their feedback on their blog hosting services. There were 43 votes and 21 hosting brands mentioned in the survey.
Host gator was the most frequently mentioned name (7 times) in the survey.
Hosting Survey 2015 – 7 of the 41 votes cast go to Hosting Hostgator More details: Web Hosting Survey 2015.
The same happened in 2016. The size of the survey was 4 times larger with ~ 200 respondents. Of the 200 responses I received, 30 of them are hosting their main site on Hostgator.
The numbers of web hosting brands were mentioned in the survey. 30 out of 188 respondents are hosting their main site on Hostgator.
Hostgator users are generally happy with their host.
Interests overtime on Hostgator.
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After two major server outages in 2013 and 2014, I didn’t expect so many bloggers to stick with Hostgator hosting. Some of the respondents I spoke to complained about the long wait time on live chat, but overall most of them are happy with their host.
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