Shared hosting plans are the most common hosting plans for beginners. Some web hosts even focus solely on shared hosting rather than on VPS and Dedicated servers.
While HostGator and GreenGeeks offer other hosting types, there’s no doubt that their Shared hosting plans are the most popular.
HostGator | GreenGeeks | |
Owner | Endurance International Group (EIG) | Kaumil Patel (Co-Founder) |
Basic Plan | Hatchling Plan | Lite |
Price | $2.75/mo | $2.95/mo |
Free Domain? | Yes | Yes |
Average Uptime | 99.89% (August 2023) | 99.99% (August 2023) |
Average Speed | 614 ms (August 2023) | 459 ms (August 2023) |
One-Click WordPress Installation? | Yes | No |
Free SSL? | Yes | Yes |
Number of Sites | 1 | 1 |
Free Email? | Yes | Yes |
Free Backup? | No | Yes |
Moneyback Guarantee | 45-days | 30-days |
Support Channels | 24/7/365 call, chat, tweet, knowledge base, blog | 24/7 technical support, live chat, telephone, email tickets |
Control Panel | cPanel | cPanel |
Space | Unmetered | 50GB |
Free CDN? | No | Yes |
Migration Services | Yes | Yes |
Overall Rating | 3.7/5 stars in TrustPilot (based on 1,617 reviews) | 3.7/5 stars in TrustPilot (based on 447 reviews) |
Get Hosting | ||
Other Plans | WordPress Hosting, VPS Hosting, Reseller Hosting, Dedicated Servers | WordPress Hosting, VPS Hosting, Reseller Hosting |
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But the question is, who offers the best price with the highest reliability, performance, and quality service?
In this Hostgator vs GreenGreeks comparison review, we’re about to find out.
And to make it easier to compare, we’re focusing on a few important factors:
- Uptime and performance
- Website building
- Migration services
- Features
- Security
- Pricing and products
- Customer Support
So let’s get started!
Hostgator vs GreenGeeks - Uptime and Performance
It doesn’t matter how affordable a hosting plan is or how many features it offers if the web host fails to reach a 99.9% uptime. I mean, the most important thing is to keep your website online.
Fortunately for you, both HostGator and GreenGeeks are able to give a reliable 99.9% uptime performance.
As of now, HostGator has an average uptime of 99.89% (August 2023), while GreenGeeks is at 99.99% (August 2023).
And what about performance?
Very high uptime with low performance isn’t going to cut it. Even with an accessible site, your audience won’t like it if it takes a minute for your web pages to load. I know you wouldn’t be patient with it either.
This is where GreenGeeks shines.
GreenGeeks has invested a lot of its resources in ensuring faster speeds. Even with their Lite Shared hosting plan, you get the benefits of LiteSpeed and optimized servers. Plus, they have data centers in different locations and offer free CDN.
Of course, not to take anything away from HostGator. Though they don’t offer features to increase site speed, they are still pretty speedy, with an average loading speed of 614 ms (August 2023)!
WINNER: GreenGeeks. With a slighter higher uptime average and faster speeds, GreenGeeks takes the cake here.
Hostgator vs GreenGeeks - Website Building
For site-building features, both web hosts have their own free, user-friendly, drag-and-drop site builders. And if you want to use WordPress, they also offer easy WordPress installations.
WINNER: Tie. As you can see, you’ll have an easy time creating a website with both providers, even for beginners.
Hostgator vs GreenGeeks - Migration Services
What if you already have a website and you just want to transfer it to a new web host?
Don’t worry. With HostGator’s and GreenGeeks’ site migration services, you can get your site running in no time
Yep, their teams of experts can migrate your full site within a day so the downtime is very minimal.
However, HostGator only offers this migration service within 30 days of signup. So you better send them a request form as soon as possible.
WINNER: Tie. If you need to transfer your site to either server, they have a team of professionals that will do it all for you.
Hostgator vs GreenGeeks - Features
When it comes to hosting plans, features help us know if we’ll have everything we need for a smooth hosting experience.
Now, let’s take a look at the features included in their basic Shared hosting plans:
Domain | Free 1 year | Free 1 year |
Email Address | 1 free (add more for $6/mo) | 50 free |
SSL Certificates | Free | Free |
Control Panel | cPanel | cPanel |
Storage | Unmetered | 50 GB |
Backups | Add on starting at $2/mo* | Free |
What does unmetered storage mean?
According to Hostgator, their plans were made without storage limits.
But there’s a catch - they have a strict Terms and Conditions clause on storage.
While you can consume any number of storage, this should still be under “normal usage”. In other words, if you consume more space than the average consumption of a website, then Hostgator has the right to terminate your contract.
So this isn’t an unlimited storage kind of deal. Instead, you just won’t be billed for the excess storage you use.
One feature that we didn’t mention on the chart above is GreenGeeks’ use of renewable energy. If you’re conscious about the environment, then you’ll be happy to know that GreenGeeks is doing a service by using renewable energy.
WINNER: Tie. Again, we can’t pick a sure winner. With their most basic plans, you already get a lot of FREE features, storage space, and more.
Hostgator vs GreenGeeks - Security
Both providers offer the basic free SSL certificate.
However, GreenGeeks offers additional security features, including hardware and power redundancy, real-time security monitoring, free nightly backup, and enhanced SPAM protection.
HostGator’s other security features are DDoS attack protection and backups.
To avail of HostGator’s backups, though, you’ll have to get their CodeGuard add-on. For a starting price of $2/mo, you get daily backups, an additional 10Gb of storage, and 3 restores per month.
WINNER: GreenGeeks. Though both hosts have great security measures, GreenGeeks offers more FREE features, adding more value to the plan.
Hostgator vs GreenGeeks - Pricing and Products
Which provider is more affordable?
What other products do they offer?
Let’s have a look:
Shared Hosting | $2.75 - $5.25/mo | $2.95 - $10.95/mo |
WordPress Hosting | $5.95- $9.95/mo | $2.95 - $10.95/mo |
VPS Hosting | $23.95 - $54.95 | $39.95 - $109.95/mo |
In general, HostGator has more affordable prices for both their Shared hosting and VPS hosting plans. And knowing that they have a lot of performance features makes the web host an ideal partner.
WINNER: HostGator. If you’re just talking about Shared Hosting, then HostGator comes out as the more affordable option.
Hostgator vs GreenGeeks - Customer Support
Both Hostgator and GreenGeeks have great customer teams. They’re both responsive and knowledgeable.
Apart from 24/7 customer support, these two are also rich in knowledge bases and guides for new website owners.
WINNER: Tie. You get readily available customer support from both providers. So you can be sure that you’re in good hands if you need anything.
Hostgator vs GreenGeeks - The Verdict
Winners board:
Uptime and Performance | GreenGeeks |
Ease of Use | Tie |
Migration Services | Tie |
Features | Tie |
Security | GreenGeeks |
Pricing | HostGator |
Customer Support | Tie |
After reading this comparison review, are you more attracted to the high performance, high security, environmental-friendly GreenGeeks?
Or are you more into Hostgator’s unmetered storage, awesome uptime, and impressive customer support?
Whatever you think suits you more is the one that is better for YOU.
We hope this article has helped you make the best hosting decision!