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HostGator Web Hosting Review


ConsumersAdvocate.org Rating: 4.4 / 5 (Excellent)
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Founded in 2002 and based in Texas, HostGator is a leading web hosting service with over 8 million domains hosted. The company offers an array of flexible plans, each with its own set of web hosting tools and features. HostGator also gives a 45 day and 99.9% uptime guarantee.

How is HostGator rated?

Breakdown

4.5/5
Performance
3.5/5
User Experience
4.5/5
Price and Subscription Model
5.0/5
Services Offered

Overall Rating: 4.4 / 5 (Excellent)

HostGator is one of the world's largest webhosting companies. They offer an enormous array of services and features for an affordable price. With monthly pay-as-you-go hosting plans, customers can try out HostGator without committing to an annual plan. And with no setup fees or other catches, you can get your site online for next to nothing. Notable features include in-depth SEO tips and videos that will help sites get listed on Google, Yahoo! and Bing; malware scanning; and Google Blacklisting prevention. The company also offers community forums and video tutorials, as well as round-the-clock network monitoring.

HostGator Range of Services

Services Offered - 5 / 5

HostGator caters to all types of web hosting needs. It is fully compatible with Joomla, Magento, Drupal, phpBB, and Wiki hosting. It supports almost all of the common programming languages and databases currently on the market. The company also supports Fast CGI, Curl, GD 2, Module Installation, and Image Magick. HostGator can accommodate a variety of multimedia files and enhanced multimedia features.

Useful For:

  • Small Businesses
  • Beginners
  • Developers
  • Blogging
  • Graphic Designers/Portfolio
  • Photo/Video

Operating System

  • Linux
  • Windows
Select Features
Unlimited Disk Storage
Unmetered Bandwidth
Unlimited Domains
Uptime Percentage Guarantee
Automatic Backups

Number of Email Accounts

Unlimited
Email Features
Webmail Interface
Integration with Google Apps
Email Forwarding
POP3 Support
iMAP Support
Autoresponder
Archiving
Weekly
Download to Desktop
Hosting
Shared
VPS
Dedicated
Wordpress
Website Builder
Cloud Hosting
Reseller
Control Panel
cPanel
Languages
C++
Ruby on Rails
MySQL
JSP
ColdFusion
Perl
PHP
Python

HostGator Security Features

Performance - 4.5 / 5

HostGator’s custom firewall settings and mod_security rulesets can help protect your website(s) from DDoS hacker attacks. Its SiteLock suite of features has specific tools to prevent malware and blacklisting. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Commerce has deemed HostGator compliant with their framework and is also Safe Harbor-certified by the European Commission.
Security Features
SSL Certification
Malware Scans
Blacklist
Anti-Spam Email Monitoring
SQL
DDoS Protections
Yes
Password Protected Directories
Yes

HostGator Price & Subscription Model

Price and Subscription Model - 4.5 / 5

Like all web hosting companies, HostGator charges for the entire selected term up front, then ups the cost to the "standard rate" at the end of the term unless you cancel. Unlike most other providers, though, HostGator offers the flexibility of choosing terms of less than a year and the most expensive is an auto-renewing monthly plan at $16.95.
Money Back Guarantee
Yes
Free Plan
No
Shared Hosting Introductory Price Range
$2.75 - $16.95
Shared Hosting Standard Plan Price Range
$6.95 - $16.95
Plan Term
1, 3, 6, 12, 24, 36 months
Auto-Renewal
Yes

Subscription Fine Print

Introductory prices apply to the first term. Money-back guarantee applies to hosting and domain privacy. All plans and products automatically renew unless you cancel. The renewal will be for the same term length and at the regular rates reflected in your Billing Portal. The payment method you provide today, or we have on file, will be used for renewals, unless you change it or cancel.

HostGator Customer Experience

User Experience - 3.5 / 5

Like many Endurance International Group (EIG) companies, HostGator has a mixed reputation. Many complaints have to do with billing and customer service. In terms of billing, customers routinely cite being unaware of the auto-renewal policy, however, it is clearly stated on the checkout page and disclaimers throughout the website. With regard to customer service, HostGator has recently taken a more proactive response strategy and is engaging with disgruntled customers, providing them with avenues of resolution, directly on the BBB and Trustpilot.
Year Founded
2002
BBB Rating
C+
Number of BBB Positive Reviews
3
Number of BBB Negative Reviews
47
Trustpilot Rating
0.7 out of 10
Date Collected
2018-04-09

Support Hours

24/7/365

Contact Methods

  • Phone
  • Email
  • Chat

Company Profile

Full Name
HostGator Web Hosting
Company Website
Headquarters
5005 Mitchelldale St Ste 100, Houston, TX, 77092

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  • Powerful Web Hosting with WordPress optimized solution available
  • 24/7 US-based Customer Support
  • 45-Day No Risk Guarantee
  • 99.9% Uptime Guarantee
  • Unmetered Bandwidth
  • Unlimited Email Accounts, FTP Accounts and Sub Domains Offered