HostGator and GoDaddy are two famous budget web hosting providers in the industry. We know that some customers may find it is difficult for them to choose the most suitable one between the two companies to build up their websites, especially for beginners.
In below, we will review HostGator and GoDaddy from their hosting features, pricing, performance and customer support to reveal some details to figure out which web host can be totally trusted.
About HostGator and GoDaddy
HostGator (www.hostgator.com) is a veteran of web hosting providers. Since its inception in 2002, HostGator has been providing different high quality web hosting solutions in the market, such as web hosting, cloud hosting, WordPress hosting, Reseller hosting, VPS, dedicated servers and domains. Linux and Windows operating systems are both available as well.
GoDaddy (www.godaddy.com) is not only a web hosting provider, but also a domain registrar as the biggest one in the world. As for web hosting, GoDaddy now can provide shared hosting, VPS servers, WordPress hosting, and dedicated servers. Likewise, GoDaddy also makes Linux and Windows both available.
HostGator vs GoDaddy on Pricing
To widely promote their service, two companies are giving some special discounts to their customers now.
Regularly, HostGator gives customers 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years and 3 years billing terms. If customers want to sign up for yearly and longer terms, they can take advantage of our exclusive Hostgator coupon code “hostucan”; then, the price of HostGator Linux shared hosting starts at $4.52/mo rather than $6.95/mo, and Windows shared starts at $3.87/mo instead of 5.95/mo, a 35% discount available.
Well, if customers want to test HostGator service and sign up for less than 1 year plans, then they make full use of its own discount up to 60% off, which makes HostGator Linux shared hosting start at $2.75/mo only. Otherwise, they need pay up to $10.95/mo when signing up for 1 month, 3 months or 6 months.
As for GoDaddy, the company has special promotion for our customers, which is $1/mo to buy its Linux Economy web hosting plan, instead of regular $7.99/mo. So customers can get 87% off discount by using GoDaddy Coupon. Besides, GoDaddy Windows shared hosting starts at $2.49/mo rather than $7.99/mo, saving 68% off.
Considering Godaddy is also offering free domain in its package, it does make GoDaddy more competitive on pricing.
For money back policy, HostGator gives customers 45 day money back guarantee, while GoDaddy offers flexible money back guarantee: for annual plans, it has 30 days money back guarantee; for other less a year terms, the company gives 48 hours money back guarantee.
HostGator vs GoDaddy on Features
Both companies are able to offer customer different levels of web hosting solutions. In order to make it clear about their differences and similarities in hosting features, we will mainly focus on their shared hosting plans.
HostGator is currently offering 3 Linux shared hosting named as Hatchling, Baby and Business plans, as well as 2 Windows shared hosting called Personal and Enterprise plans. At GoDaddy, there are 3 Linux web hosting packages which are Economy, Deluxe, Ultimate and Business Hosting, and 3 Windows web hosting plans which are Economy, Deluxe and Ultimate. Therefore, customers have redundant choices to pick up one most suitable for their websites.
In entry-level plan, HostGator offers unmetered disk space and bandwidth, unlimited email boxes and 1 domain for both Linux and Windows users; at GoDaddy, its Linux and Windows shared hosting come with 1 website, 1 free domain, 100GB disk space, unmetered bandwidth, and 1 free mail box. So, HostGator web hosting is larger than GoDaddy.
For databases and programming features, HostGator offers PHP 5, Python, Fast CGI, SSI, Cron, and more in both Linux and Windows plans. Besides, its Linux hosting also has unlimited MySQL DBs, Ruby on Rails, SSH access, and so on, and Windows 2008, IIS 7, ASP.NET 2.0, 3.5, 4.0 and 4.5, Classic ASP, as well as unlimited MySQL & MSSQL DBs, AJAX in Windows hosting plans.
At GoDaddy, its Linux web hosting has 10x1GB MySQL DBs, DNS management, phpMyAdmin, SSH access, FTP & FTPS, PHP 7.1, 7.0, 5.4-5.6, Python, custom PHP.ini, Perl, Microsoft Office 365 Business email, and so on; in Windows hosting, GoDaddy offers 1 MSSQL, 10 MySQL 2012, or 2014, Windows Server 2012 R2, 50 FTP, ASP.NET AJAX, PHP 5, CGI, MVC 3, Siliverlight 4 or 5, Perl, Python, and more. We can see they both have rich development features.
For ease-of-use, HostGator and GoDaddy are similar. Both offer their customers 1-click free application, free setup, 1-click installer for popular apps like WordPress and Drupal. Easy-to-use tools are included: cPanel is available at HostGator and GoDaddy Linux shared hosting, while Plesk is offered in their Windows hosting plans. Even better, free transfers for databases, files, domain, and apps are offered at HostGator.
In a word, HostGator and GoDaddy are both easy to use and feature-rich.
HostGator vs GoDaddy on Performance
HostGator have a better reputation that GoDaddy on Performance.
HostGator utilizes state of the art data centers that are supplied with redundant power, HVAC, backups, fire detection and suppression systems and monitoring system to guarantee the most reliable environment for customers to host their websites.
As for GoDaddy, the company claims that it puts its data centers in US, Europe and Asian, covering more than 70 000 square feet. According to our test, the speed of GoDaddy is okay, but still behind that of HostGator.
HostGator vs GoDaddy on Customer Support
It is well-known that a reputable we host can always offer professional customer support to its customers.
At HostGator, customer can contact the experts via phone, live chat and ticket to help them handle their problems. It is proved that HostGator experts are all skillful so that they can give assistance as soon as possible. However, GoDaddy only offers phone and ticket for customers to contact its technical staffs anytime they need; for live chat, GoDaddy now offers it within limited time.
Other more, customers can find other help in knowledge base of help center that HostGator and GoDaddy both have on site.
Conclusion: HostGator or GoDaddy?
HostGator and GoDaddy are both very large web hosts in the industry. Considering HostGator has more experience in offering web hosting solutions for businesses, and the more powerful servers and friendly customer support it offers, HostGator is recommended for businesses, even though its pricing is a littler higher than GoDaddy. If individuals really want to try GoDaddy service, they can take advantage of GoDaddy $1/mo hosting plan.
To know more about HostGator, please visit www.hostgator.com or check out Hostgator Review.
When i visited GoDaddy and HostGator official websites, I found that GoDaddy’s pricing has adjusted and now it is much cheaper than ever before. And, seeing its technologies at its website and the data center information searched on the internet, I think it is still worth a try for bloggers like me. Also, I checked the package information HostGator from its official website and other review sites, the company seems good as well.