When it comes to the battle of web hosts, HostGator and HostPapa are two options that feature highly on any top ten list.
HostGator | HostPapa | |
Owner | Endurance International Group | Jamie Opalchuk (Founder) |
Basic Plan | Hatchling Plan | Starter |
Price | $2.75/mo | $3.95/mo |
Free Domain? | Yes | Yes |
Average Uptime | 99.89% (August 2023) | 99.84% (August 2023) |
Average Speed | 614 ms (August 2023) | 537 ms (August 2023) |
One-Click WordPress Installation? | Yes | Yes |
Free SSL? | Yes | Yes |
Number of Sites | 1 | 1 |
Free Email? | Yes | Yes |
Free Backup? | No | No |
Moneyback Guarantee | 45-days | 30-days |
Support Channels | 24/7/365 call, chat, tweet, knowledge base, blog | 24/7 support telephone, ticket, chat |
Control Panel | cPanel | cPanel |
Space | Unmetered | 100GB SSD |
Free CDN? | No | No |
Migration Services | Yes | Yes |
Overall Rating | 3.7/5 stars in TrustPilot (based on 1,617 reviews) | 3.8/stars in TrustPilot (based on 495 reviews) |
Get Hosting | ||
Other Plans | WordPress Hosting, VPS Hosting, Reseller Hosting, Dedicated Servers | WordPress Hosting, VPS Hosting, Reseller Hosting |
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Both hosts are well known for their features, reliability, and security.
In fact, at first glance, a lot of their plans may look alike, making them almost equal.
But today, we’ll point out their differences with our HostGator vs HostPapa head-to-head match-up. We’ll give you a complete comparison review to give you a better idea of which host is best suited to your needs.
Let’s get into it.
HostGator vs HostPapa - A Side by Side Comparison
For this comparison battle, we’ll look at:
Uptime and performance
Ease of use
Migration services
Products and features
Security
Pricing
Customer Support
Uptime and Performance
When it comes to reliability, you won’t be disappointed with both HostGator and HostPapa. This is because of their high uptime averages.
HostGator has an impressive average score of 99.89% (August 2023). HostPapa, on the other hand, takes it one step further with an average score of 99.84% (August 2023).
These high uptime averages mean you can expect virtually no downtime on their servers.
Both HostGator and HostPapa offer fast speeds, too.
They both have multiple server locations in different continents, allowing data to flow to the nearest available center for optimal speed.
However, a notable difference is that HostPapa utilizes SSD storage space, which is faster at loading content when compared to the HDD storage on HostGator’s shared plans.
WINNER: HostPapa. With a slighter better uptime rate and faster speeds, HostPapa takes the cake here.
Ease of Use
Both HostGator and HostPapa are great for beginners!
Both offer 1-click software installs and support 100+ plugins. You get the functionality you need to create YOUR perfect site.
They also use traditional cPanel, which is SUPER easy to use, especially if you’re already familiar with the layout.
This cPanel contains all the options and features you’ll need to manage your site, from email management, site security, and analytics - all available from one simple dashboard.
Additionally, both hosts offer a beginner-friendly website-building tool that’ll allow you to choose from a variety of different themes to give your site a custom look.
Meanwhile, a unique feature from HostPapa is their ‘Do-It-For-Me’ option. Here, HostPapa will design your site for you, which is great if you’re looking for a totally stress-free site design process.
WINNER: Tie. Both hosts promote ease of use with their one-click software, plugins, cPanel, and user-friendly website builders.
Migration Services
If you’re migrating your site to either server, you can avail of their migration services.
HostGator offers this service for FREE for WordPress sites. For other CMS, you’ll have to pay an additional fee to migrate it.
Also, HostGator only offers one site migration if you go with their basic Shared Hosting plan. However, you’ll have the option for more site migrations on higher plans.
On the other hand, HostPapa offers FREE site migration for up to 2 sites on their basic Shared plan. And that’s both WordPress and nonWordPress sites.
WINNER: HostPapa. Though both hosts offer free migration services, HostPapa goes a step further by allowing 2 site migrations with any CMS.
Products and Features
As you might expect, you’ll get a whole array of products and features from the most basic plans.
HostGator offers unmetered bandwidth and storage space. So even if you plan to upload a lot of heavy content, you won’t have to worry about going over any storage limits. Just be careful you don’t go overboard, though, as HostGator only accepts reasonable space usage.
HostPapa has unlimited bandwidth. As for storage space, you’re limited to 100GB, which, of course, is already A LOT.
What’s more, both hosts provide free email accounts. If you’re looking to communicate with your site users, this is a great feature to have.
On top of that, you get a 1-year free domain name, adding value to their basic plans.
Meanwhile, when it comes to available hosting solutions, both of them provide VPS and Reseller Hosting. HostGator also has Dedicated Servers to provide an independent site server for bigger sites.
WINNER: Tie. We can’t really pick a winner here as both hosts excel in products and features. You get many freebies as well as big storage spaces and bandwidths. And that’s only the basic plans.
Security
HostGator and HostPapa take security seriously. They have a multitude of features that will keep you and your site visitors’ information safe. These are some features you can expect:
- SSL certification will ensure your users’ personal information is encrypted to make it virtually inaccessible to any nosy hackers
- DDoS protection puts up a firewall to thwart any attacker trying to take down your site with bots
- 24/7 server monitoring ensures your data is in good hands as it is always being watched
- Power backups guarantee your site remains running if a power outage occurs
HostGator also offers weekly backups that are critical to providing you extra security in the event that you face any data loss. HostPapa does daily backups, making sure your website data is always up to date.
WINNER: Tie. As you can see, both make it their priority to secure your website and your visitors’ information as much as possible.
Pricing
HostGator offers the cheaper Shared Hosting plans, priced at $2.75 to $5.25 a month.
HostPapa isn’t expensive either with their Shared plans priced at $3.95 to $12.95 a month.
Both hosts have a similar starting price when it comes to VPS. But HostPapa provides greater scalability with 5 plans compared to HostGator’s 3.
However, HostGator offers Dedicated Hosting, something that HostPapa lacks. The price ranges from around $90 to $140 a month.
Both hosting providers also offer Reseller Hosting, with HostGator’s packages ranging from $19.95 to $24.95 a month compared to HostPapa’s $29.99 to $119.99.
WINNER: HostGator. If you compare all the plans and packages, HostGator always comes out cheaper. So if you’re looking for the cheapest price, HostGator is your guy.
Customer Support
Both HostGator and HostPapa offer 24/7 customer support available through call and live chat. They’re always there to answer your queries or help with technical issues.
Their knowledgeable support teams are quick to respond, too.
What’s more, with these two, you’ll have access to knowledge hubs that are filled with informational guides and articles. With this, you’ll be able to solve routine problems by yourself.
WINNER: Tie. Whichever host you go with, you can be sure that you’ll get great customer support. So there’s no challenge here.
Conclusion
Winners board:
Uptime and Performance | HostPapa |
Ease of Use | Tie |
Migration Services | HostPapa |
Products and Features | Tie |
Security | Tie |
Pricing | HostGator |
Customer Support | Tie |
All in all, both HostGator and HostPapa provide reliable and secure hosting that offers great features for anyone.
HostGator has the more affordable plan that comes with awesome features such as unmetered storage and bandwidth.
HostPapa, on the other hand, offers faster speeds and higher uptime rates.
So the choice between the two will largely depend on the type of sites you’re planning on making.
Have we missed anything out?
Tell us in the comments below.