Bluehost vs HostGator – Which Web Hosting is Better?

Have you ever clicked a website and had to wait a while for the page to load?

You probably exited the site because you didn’t have the patience to wait any longer. 

To prevent your site visitors from leaving, you need fast and reliable web hosting. 

Now, when searching around for the best web hosting services, you may have already introduced yourself to two of the most well-known hosting providers around: Bluehost and HostGator.

Both web hosts are appreciated by tech newbies and professionals alike for their reliability and functionality.

To make things simple, I’ve pitted Bluehost vs HostGator in a side-by-side comparison to give you everything you need to know before selecting the one that’s the best fit for you.

Let’s get into it.

Bluehost vs HostGator - A Side by Side Comparison

I’ve evaluated each option based on the factors below:

• Uptime and performance

• Ease of use

• Migration services

• Products and features

• Security

• Pricing

• Customer Support

Let’s take an in-depth look down below.

Uptime and Performance

When it comes to performance and reliability, both hosting providers excel with near-perfect uptime to keep your website up and running.

Bluehost guarantees to keep your site up and running 99.93% (August 2023) of the time, while HostGator has superb uptime with 99.89% (August 2023). This means that you’ll seldom encounter any issues with your site going offline due to server issues with these two.

So regardless of which option you pick, you’ll not suffer from visitor complaints and won’t be ranked lower by the Google algorithm due to excessive downtime. In turn, this gives your site better chances of ranking high on Google.

Ease of Use

When it comes to designing your website, both picks are great for beginners with easy-to-use website building tools.

Bluehost is recommended by WordPress and uses the WP website builder to give you an easy experience.

And if you’re looking to get started with E-commerce, Bluehost makes setting it up simple with WooCommerce that integrates well into their WordPress optimized hosting.

HostGator isn't the best when it comes to WordPress. So if you prefer WordPress’s easy-to-use interface and design, you may want to consider Bluehost here.

Regardless, HostGator has a collection of plugins that are just as easy to get started, with WordPress as a downloadable CMS among others.

What’s more, both options come with an easy-to-understand cPanel, containing all your site management tools from analytics, email management, and software support all in a simple dashboard.

Want to see how to make a website with BlueHost? This video is really helpful:

Migration Services

When it comes to migration, Bluehost is a great option if you’re looking to migrate numerous sites at a cheap price.

Additionally, if your site is on WordPress, Bluehost will take care of the migration for free!

HostGator’s basic shared hosting, on the other hand, will migrate 1 site for free providing you request within 30 days of purchase.

If you’re looking to migrate multiple sites, you’ll have to pay extra with the price varying on the complexity of the migration process.

So if you have a lot of content to transfer, be prepared to pay a bit extra.

However, if you opt for HostGator’s higher-priced plans, you’ll get more free migration services and even unlimited site migration with their premium VPS and dedicated packages.

Products and Features

With Bluehost, you get a wealth of resources optimized to give you the best experience on WordPress.

From single-click software installs and plug-in support to automatic software and WP updates to keep your site running smoothly, you won’t have to deal with poor programming here, ensuring little to no bugs.

HostGator, on the other hand, has similar features and functionality with over 75 open-source software options to choose from, guaranteeing flexibility.

In both basic plans, you’ll get unlimited bandwidth, but you are restricted to just 50GB of SSD storage space with Bluehost.

HostGator offers unlimited HDD storage space, which can hold more files but will lead to slower load times compared to Bluehost.

You’ll also get a free domain name, SSL certification, email support with both options. Bluehost even provides a free CDN in their basic package.

When it comes to the return policy, both hosting providers offer no-questions-asked money-back guarantees.

Bluehost allows a month to file for a return. HostGator gives you an extra 15 days to decide whether their service is what you want.

Regardless, with both options, you get plenty of time to decide if it’s the hosting for you.

Security 

Both these hosting providers cater to individuals and large corporations alike, so you can rest assured they’ve got security in the bag.

Apart from the SSL certification, both hosting providers offer additional security features to keep your site safe from hackers.

Both providers protect you from DDOS attacks that aim to take down your site. 

They do this through the implementation of firewalls to block attacks. Additional daily malware checks prevent viruses and spam.

Both Bluehost and HostGator scan your site and replace outdated code and programs to prevent any loopholes that hackers may try to exploit.

Also, both providers offer Codeguard for automatic daily backups to keep your content safe in the event of data loss. However, it is an extra add-on that you’ll have to purchase separately.

Server protection is ensured through round-the-clock surveillance and security, in addition to backup generators to provide power in the event of a power outage.

So both picks excel at keeping your site safe and up and running at all times.

Pricing

When it comes to shared hosting, Bluehost has a wider variety of packages to choose from ranging from $2.99 - $13.95 per month.

HostGator has 3 packages to choose from that range from $2.75 to $5.25 on their higher-end shared hosting plan.

However, both options give you multiple hosting types, as well as VPS and dedicated server options to support more heavy-duty needs which can range from under $20 to highs of $100+.

Nevertheless, both providers are economically priced taking into consideration the features they offer.

Customer Support

Bluehost and HostGator both give users 24/7 customer support available with email, phone, and live chat options.

With Bluehost, you’ll encounter lower waiting times, but both options’ service speed depends on the complexity of the problem, so the time it takes to solve your issue may vary.

However, both options have dedicated knowledge hubs that contain answers to FAQs and guides that can make it easier to solve problems on your own without having to contact their customer reps.

Wrap Up

So as detailed above, both Bluehost and HostGator are great web hosting providers that provide reliability and security, as well as many great features. 

So which one should you pick?

Well, that depends on what you’re looking for.

If you’re looking to base your site on software other than WordPress, and want unlimited disk space to support large content for a cheap price, then HostGator may be what you’re looking for.

But if you prefer the ease of WordPress and want quick load times, then Bluehost is an option you can’t go wrong with.

Either way, both these options are great and will provide more than enough to the average user.

Have we missed anything out? 

Comment them down below.