Compare Hosting Providers on January 10, 2022 by Manoling Martinez

Finding the best web host provider for your website can be a hassle since there are several options to choose from.

You probably know this already, but different web hosting solutions and their corresponding packages suit specific websites needs. Small, medium and large websites' needs are completely different.


Hostinger

HostGator

Owner

Hostinger International LLC

Endurance International Group (EIG)

Basic Plan

Single Shared Hosting

Hatchling Plan

Price

$1.39/mo

$2.75/mo

Free Domain?

No

Yes

Average Uptime

99.98% (August 2023)

99.89% (August 2023)

Average Speed

435 ms (August 2023)

614 ms (August 2023)

One-Click WordPress Installation?

Yes

Yes

Free SSL?

Yes

Yes

Number of Sites

1

1

Free Email?

Yes

Yes

Free Backup?

Automated

Automated

Moneyback Guarantee

Yes

Yes

Support Channels

Live chat and Phone

Live chat and Phone

Control Panel

Hostinger Panel

cPanel

Space

30GB SSD

Unmetered

Free CDN?

No

No

Migration Services

Yes for WordPress

Yes

Overall Rating

Get Hosting

Other Plans

Cloud ($9.99), VPS ($3.95)

WordPress Hosting ($5.95), VPS ($19.95)

Cell

*Uptime and Speed data from Pingdom and Hrank


How do you determine which one will be a perfect fit for your business, and which hosts will be able to provide it? 

To help you out, I’ve picked two of the most well-known hosting providers, Hostinger and HostGator, and highlighted the key differences in their product features and options.

Ready? Let’s get right into it.

Hostinger vs HostGator: A Side by Side Comparison

We’ll look into each option based on the following factors:

  • Uptime and performance

  • Website Building

  • Migration services

  • Products and features (including pricing)

  • Security

  • Customer Support

Uptime and performance

Uptime is essential in every business because if a business is always offline, they can’t provide their services to potential customers, thus losing a lot of income. 

The ideal uptime for businesses is 99.99%. When Amazon had an hour of downtime last July 2018, their estimated loss was about $99 million. If your web hosting provider’s downtime is less than 99.9%, maybe it’s time to consider getting another one!

Now, when it comes to performance, we usually test the website loading speed.

Hostinger: Hostinger’s speed average is 435 ms (August 2023). They have numerous data centers spread out all over the world. This means you get fast loading speeds no matter where you are located.

HostGator: Just like Hostinger, they also boast fast loading speeds. As of now, their speed average is 614 ms (August 2023). 

WINNER: Tie. While Hostinger may be slightly faster when it comes to loading time, HostGator ensures greater stability when it comes to uptime. 


Website Building

If you’re new to website building, it is important to check how your chosen web hosts can help you make the process of website building and designing a lot easier. Let’s check what each option has to offer:

Hostinger

Even if you do not have a background in designing and building a website, Hostinger has one of the most powerful website builders. This ensures that website building and designing are less complex. You won’t even need a background in coding or design to complete the process. 

With Hostinger’s Zyro, a drag-and-drop website builder, you can create stunning websites in just minutes. Zyro has unlimited bandwidth, storage, pre-built templates, and AI tools. You can also create and design your logo using Zyro’s AI Logo Generator. 

They also have this AI Content Generator which enables users to simply select the category and describe your brand in a few sentences to get awesome and powerful content in minutes without needing to hire a writer! 

HostGator

Meanwhile, HostGator has its very own website builder called Gator. Price starts at $3.84. 

It’s specifically designed for those who have little or no experience in designing and building a website. It uses a drag-and-drop editor and has a large selection of templates.

If you don’t have a logo yet, you can utilize Gator’s LogoMaker! What’s more, they offer unlimited storage and bandwidth in their website builder. 

Gator also has customer support 24/7 in case you have any questions or issues while building your website. However, their response time can take longer than expected.

Not happy with their hosting services? They offer a 45-day guarantee! 

WINNER: Tie. Both Hostinger and HostGator offer a website builder that will make it easy for you to create and design a website. Plus, both also support 1-click WordPress installation.  


Check out how to get your WordPress site up and ready with Hostinger in just 10 minutes:


Migration Services

The migration services that each option offer will also be a great factor to consider.

Hostinger offers free migration services for WordPress sites only. You can also send them a Migration Request if you already have a hosting account.

Meanwhile, depending on which type of plan you avail of, HostGator offers limited free migration services. Take note that only migration of website content and data is free. However, changing of URL or copying the existing website is not free.

What makes HostGator stand out is that they offer this free service to any CMS, not just WordPress.

For more detailed information on their migration services, click here.

WINNER: Tie. While Hostinger may offer a simpler migration process, HostGator will migrate any site regardless of its CMS (barring a few exceptions) for free.


Products, Features, and Pricing

Now, let’s uncover what each of the two web hosts will be able to provide what you’re looking for when it comes to features. Let’s check their available package options and how much each cost, too. 

I’ve summarized them all to make it easier for you to compare.

Hostinger

With Hostinger, each plan comes with a website builder, 24/7 customer support, a free SSL certificate, guaranteed uptime of 99.99%, and a 30-day money-back guarantee. 

Hostinger offers four types of hosting:

  • Shared Hosting - the most affordable plan in Hostinger. It’s an easy and secure way to host a website.


Single

$1.39/mo

Premium

$1.99/mo

Business

$3.99/mo

Domain Registration

x

Daily Backups

x

x

Bandwidth

100 GB

Unlimited

Unlimited

Websites

1

100

100


  • WordPress Hosting - Fast, easy to use, and developer-friendly. Uses LiteSpeed to deliver first-class website performance. Just like Shared Plans, it uses one server on multiple website sharing.


Single

$1.99/mo

Starter

$2.99/mo

Business

$5.99/mo

Pro

$11.59/mo

Domain Registration

x

Daily Backups

x

x

Bandwidth

100 GB

Unlimited

Unlimited

Unlimited

Websites

1

100

100

300


  • Cloud Hosting - your website will be hosted on multiple servers or in the cloud. Each plan includes an IP address, unlimited bandwidth, and a free domain.


Startup

$9.99/mo

Professional

$18.99/mo

Enterprise

$69.99/mo

Domain Registration

Daily Backups

RAM

3 GB

6 GB

12 GB

Websites

300

300

300


  • VPS Hosting - creates a virtual private server that comes with auto-installers and a custom control panel.


VPS 1

$3.95/mo

VPS 2

$8.95/mo

VPS 3

$12.95/mo

VPS 4

$15.95/mo

Dedicated IP

vCPU

1 Core

2 Core

3 Core

4 Core

Bandwidth

1 TB

2 TB

3 TB

4 TB

Memory (RAM)

1 GB

2 GB

3 GB

4 GB


HostGator

On the other hand, HostGator offers several website hosting options that come with a free SSL certificate and a free domain for one year.

  • Shared Hosting - this is the most popular and affordable hosting solution for small sites. Multiple users use a single server, which means a single server can have thousands of websites! 


Hatchling Plan

$2.75/mo

Baby Plan

$3.50/mo

Business Plan

$5.25/mo

Domain Registration

SSL Certificate

SEO Tools

x

x

Websites

1

Unlimited

Unlimited


  • WordPress Hosting - quick and easy way to have your WordPress site running


Starter Plan

$5.95/mo

Standard Plan

$7.95/mo

Business Plan

$9.95/mo

Domain Registration

SSL Certificate

Bandwidth

Unmetered 

Unmetered 

Unmetered 

Websites

1

2

3


  • VPS Hosting - resources will be split into different hosting accounts or websites. However, you will still have your server. This means you won’t get affected by the behavior of other customers.


Snappy 2000

$19.95/mo

Snappy 4000

$29.95/mo

Snappy 8000

$39.95/mo

Dedicated IP

2 IPs

2 IPs

2 IPs

vCPU

2 cores

2 cores

4 cores

Bandwidth

RAM

2 GB

4 GB

8 GB


  • Dedicated Hosting - your website will have a dedicated server and resources. This is ideal for large websites receiving over 500,000 visitors per month.


Value Server

$89.98/mo

Power Server

$119.89/mo

Enterprise Server

$139.99/mo

Storage

1 TB HDD

2 TB HDD or 512 GB SSD

1 TB SSD

CPU

2 core

8 cores

8 cores

Bandwidth

RAM

8 GB

16 GB

30 GB


WINNER: Tie. With a wide range of features such as unlimited bandwidth and storage space, free domain, and more in their Hatchling plan, HostGator offers greater value when it comes to starting packages.

However, if you’re looking for greater hosting types such as Cloud Hosting, then Hostinger is a preferred choice, with a greater variety of packages to suit the needs of large sites.

Security

Another crucial factor to consider is your site’s security as it is always important to assure your users or clients that their personal information will be safe. This is especially true if you will be asking for their bank details.

Thankfully, both hosts have a myriad of security features that will ensure that the data on your website will always be protected.

Hostinger has a couple of security features such as an SSL Certificate is included in every shared and business hosting plan and Cloudflare that is available in all their plans. Cloudflare speeds up the loading speed of your website and protects it from DDoS attacks and intrusions.

Meanwhile, HostGator has top-notch security features. All of their plans come with free SSL certificates. They also have SiteLock Fix that keeps you protected from viruses by performing daily scans to remove malware. 

Hostinger vs HostGator HostGator


What’s more, they have CodeGuard, which automatically backups your data and web files daily. You’ll also have access to the backup anytime with 1-click and restore.

WINNER: HostGator. With all plans, HostGator offers excellent basic features such as free SSL and DDoS protection. Not only that, but they also provide premium security with SiteLock and CodeGuard.


Customer Support

When it comes to Customer Support, you won’t get disappointed with both web hosts, too.

Hostinger offers 24/7/365  live chat support in different languages such as English and Spanish for all users. Just like most hosts, they also have a Ticket System where you will type the information about the issue you need help with.

HostGator’s support team is also available 24/7 via live chat, phone, and email support. In addition, you’ll also find support portals inside your HostGator dashboard where you’ll find frequently asked questions, knowledgeable articles, and videos to help you troubleshoot without relying on customer support reps.

WINNER: Tie. Both hosts offer a comparable level of support, with a range of support methods and similar response times. So it’s pretty even here.


Verdict

Uptime and Performance

Tie

Website building

Tie

Migration Services

Tie

Products, features, and pricing

Tie

Security

HostGator

Customer support

Tie


When you’re looking for the best provider, you must take note of the important features that you need. 

Do you need a certain amount of storage? Are you after the VPS or dedicated hosting? 

No matter what you need, there will always be a provider that will be a perfect match for your business. 

Overall, Hostinger and HostGator are good hosting providers. 

Each one has a variety of hosting plans that will fit any budget and requirements. 

So what are you waiting for? Take your pick!

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