- Home
- Web Hosting
- HostGator Review
ConsumersAdvocate.org Rating: 8.9 / 10 (Excellent)
Disclosure: We receive advertising revenue from this partner. Learn more.
Founded in 2002 and based in Texas, HostGator is a leading web hosting service with over 8 million domains hosted. The company offers an array of flexible plans, each with its own set of web hosting tools and features. HostGator also gives a 45 day and 99.9% uptime guarantee.
How Do We Rate HostGator?
Breakdown
4.5/5
Performance
3.5/5
User Experience
4.5/5
Price and Subscription Model
5.0/5
Services Offered
Our Overall Rating: 4.4 / 5 (Excellent)
HostGator is one of the world's largest webhosting companies. They offer an enormous array of services and features for an affordable price. With monthly pay-as-you-go hosting plans, customers can try out HostGator without committing to an annual plan. And with no setup fees or other catches, you can get your site online for next to nothing. Notable features include in-depth SEO tips and videos that will help sites get listed on Google, Yahoo! and Bing; malware scanning; and Google Blacklisting prevention. The company also offers community forums and video tutorials, as well as round-the-clock network monitoring.
HostGator Range of Services
Services Offered - 5 / 5
HostGator caters to all types of web hosting needs. It is fully compatible with Joomla, Magento, Drupal, phpBB, and Wiki hosting. It supports almost all of the common programming languages and databases currently on the market. The company also supports Fast CGI, Curl, GD 2, Module Installation, and Image Magick. HostGator can accommodate a variety of multimedia files and enhanced multimedia features.
Useful For:
- Small Businesses
- Beginners
- Developers
- Blogging
- Graphic Designers/Portfolio
- Photo/Video
Operating System
- Linux
- Windows
| Select Features |
Unlimited Disk Storage
Unmetered Bandwidth
Unlimited Domains
Uptime Percentage Guarantee
Automatic Backups
|
Number of Email Accounts
Unlimited
| Email Features |
Webmail Interface
Integration with Google Apps
Email Forwarding
POP3 Support
iMAP Support
Autoresponder
|
| Archiving |
Weekly
Download to Desktop
|
| Hosting |
Shared
VPS
Dedicated
Wordpress
Website Builder
Cloud Hosting
Reseller
|
| Control Panel | cPanel |
| Languages |
C++
Ruby on Rails
MySQL
JSP
ColdFusion
Perl
PHP
Python
|
HostGator Security Features
Performance - 4.5 / 5
HostGator’s custom firewall settings and mod_security rulesets can help protect your website(s) from DDoS hacker attacks. Its SiteLock suite of features has specific tools to prevent malware and blacklisting. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Commerce has deemed HostGator compliant with their framework and is also Safe Harbor-certified by the European Commission.
| Security Features |
SSL Certification
Malware Scans
Blacklist
Anti-Spam Email Monitoring
SQL
|
| DDoS Protections | Yes |
| Password Protected Directories | Yes |
HostGator Price & Subscription Model
Price and Subscription Model - 4.5 / 5
Like all web hosting companies, HostGator charges for the entire selected term up front, then ups the cost to the "standard rate" at the end of the term unless you cancel. Unlike most other providers, though, HostGator offers the flexibility of choosing terms of less than a year and the most expensive is an auto-renewing monthly plan at $16.95.
| Money Back Guarantee | Yes |
| Free Plan | No |
| Shared Hosting Introductory Price Range | $2.75 - $16.95 |
| Shared Hosting Standard Plan Price Range | $6.95 - $16.95 |
| Plan Term | 1, 3, 6, 12, 24, 36 months |
| Auto-Renewal | Yes |
Subscription Fine Print
Introductory prices apply to the first term. Money-back guarantee applies to hosting and domain privacy. All plans and products automatically renew unless you cancel. The renewal will be for the same term length and at the regular rates reflected in your Billing Portal. The payment method you provide today, or we have on file, will be used for renewals, unless you change it or cancel.
HostGator Customer Experience
User Experience - 3.5 / 5
Like many Endurance International Group (EIG) companies, HostGator has a mixed reputation. Many complaints have to do with billing and customer service. In terms of billing, customers routinely cite being unaware of the auto-renewal policy, however, it is clearly stated on the checkout page and disclaimers throughout the website. With regard to customer service, HostGator has recently taken a more proactive response strategy and is engaging with disgruntled customers, providing them with avenues of resolution, directly on the BBB and Trustpilot.
| Year Founded | 2002 |
| BBB Rating | C+ |
| Number of BBB Positive Reviews | 3 |
| Number of BBB Negative Reviews | 47 |
| Trustpilot Rating | 0.7 out of 10 |
| Date Collected | 2018-04-09 |
Support Hours
24/7/365
Contact Methods
- Phone
- Chat
Company Profile
| Full Name | HostGator Web Hosting |
| Company Website | |
| Headquarters | 5005 Mitchelldale St Ste 100, Houston, TX, 77092 |
- Powerful Web Hosting with WordPress optimized solution available
- 24/7 US-based Customer Support
- 45-Day No Risk Guarantee
- 99.9% Uptime Guarantee
- Unmetered Bandwidth
- Unlimited Email Accounts, FTP Accounts and Sub Domains Offered