Hostgator vs. GoDaddy – Forbes Consultant

Everyone has a website these days, from serious entrepreneurs to part-time fashion bloggers to everyone in between. Long gone are the days when the Yellow Pages were searched for details. Nowadays, prospects instantly search online for local businesses, check opening times, or learn more about a business. This means that a website is a must for business owners.

Fortunately, building a website has never been easier. The process is so simple that you can get a new website up and running with just a few clicks. The first step in starting a website is to find a suitable web hosting service to store the website’s files on their servers. Web hosting services offer different plans with different amounts of monthly data transfers, storage, and other features.

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Two of the mammoth shared hosting services are HostGator and GoDaddy. They each host a high percentage of the internet sites, which means they can host your own. HostGator and GoDaddy have similar plans, pricing, and features, and they both have excellent uptime too. Let’s take a look at the details.

How HostGator and GoDaddy stack up

Pricing

HostGator and GoDaddy have similar plans and pricing. HostGator has three plans: hatchling, baby, and business. GoDaddy offers four plans: Economy, Deluxe, Ultimate, and Maximum. While the plans are similar, HostGator is cheaper, selling its basic plan for $ 2.75 per month as opposed to GoDaddy’s $ 5.99 per month.

Storage & Security

HostGator’s basic plan allows for a website with unlimited SSD storage and bandwidth, a free email account, and a free Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate. GoDaddy’s basic plan allows you to host a website with 100GB of SSD storage, unmeasured bandwidth, a free domain, and a free Microsoft 365 email account for your first year.

Keep in mind that the features can change drastically based on the pricing plans. GoDaddy doesn’t offer an SSL Certificate for its Economy or Deluxe plans. If you want this security feature without paying a third-party SSL provider, you have to go for the Ultimate plan at twice the monthly price.

E-mail

Having a professional email address that uses your company’s domain is an important part of your online presence. Not all web hosts offer email support, but even HostGator’s entry-level hosting package includes email.

Website builder

GoDaddy is extremely easy to use, making it a great choice for beginners. You can choose from more than 175 website templates and use the intuitive editor to insert your images, text and your logo. The free site builder can be upscaled to a virtual private server (VPS). VPS hosting offers higher bandwidth, which means faster loading times and unlimited traffic. It also gives the administrator more control over security, which means it is less vulnerable to hackers compared to shared hosting.

If you want your website up and running in no time, HostGator is for you. Most website builders ask their customers to sift through hundreds of templates and then drag and drop all the important information. Instead, HostGator uses artificial intelligence to build a website based on some basic consumer questions. Once the website has been created, there is an opportunity to tweak what you don’t like before launching the website.

Customer service

The biggest downside to GoDaddy is in the customer service department. Instead of offering a ticket service, it relies on toll-free call-in product support or live chat support. Live support is known to be inconsistent, with waiting times of up to an hour.

HostGator, on the other hand, has 24/7/365 email, live chat, and ticketing systems that provide customer service support specialists. The company has a reputation for providing prompt customer service.

Both services come with a money back guarantee so you can try their services before you commit. HostGator gives you more time with a 45-day trial than GoDaddy’s 30-day trial.

Bottom line

HostGator is generally considered to be the better value of the two companies because of its cheaper plans, unprecedented uptime, and fantastic customer service. However, GoDaddy may be a better choice for small businesses looking to scare people because of its virtual private server that allows unlimited traffic.

At the end of the day, you won’t go wrong with either service. Despite some drawbacks, both companies remain two of the top picks for millions of businesses and individuals around the world.