HostGator is the clear winner in the GoDaddy vs HostGator comparison. HostGator offers more consistent uptime, a more user-friendly experience with a balance of features and affordability, and responsive customer support, making it a preferred choice for both beginners and experienced users.
Free only on VPS and Dedicated hosting plans within 30 days of signup
Starting Price
$6.99/month
$3.75/month
Money Back Guarantee
30-day
30-day
Storage
Up to 100 GB on shared hosting and up to 200 GB on VPS hosting
Up to 40 GB in shared hosting and up to 240 GB in VPS hosting
Bandwidth
Unmetered
Unmetered
Free Domain Name
Yes
Yes
Free SSL Certificate
Yes
Yes
Free One-Click WordPress Installation
Yes
Yes
Uptime Guarantee
99.9%
99.9%
Average Page Load Speed
0.8 s
1.64 s
Customer Support
Live chat, phone, help center, how-to guides, and community
24/7 via phone, live chat support, ticket-based email support, knowledge base
Server location
North America (USA), Europe (Netherlands), and Asia (Singapore)
North and South America, Asia, Europe, and Africa
DDoS Protection
Yes
Yes
Daily Backups
Yes
Yes, on higher plans
HostGator
HostGator’s hosting reputation is undisputed. Their array of shared, private, and powerful website builders is why so many people select them. Their global reach and cutting-edge tools ensure organizations and people get the finest performance and scalability.
GoDaddy is the biggest domain registrar and web hosting company founded in 1997 by Bob Parsons. Over the years, it managed to get more than 84 million domains under its management.
More precisely, it has more than 20 million customers globally, including myself.
GoDaddy offers a range of web hosting services like shared, VPS, and dedicated hosting, and an intuitive website builder for users without technical expertise.
HostGator has been on the market since 2002, and in those twenty years, it has become one of the most used web hosting providers.
Their expert team is accountable for over 10 million globally hosted websites, and this is possible due to the amazing services that the company offers, such as free domain, free SSL, 24/7/365 support, various hosting plans, excellent uptime, etc.
Free only on VPS and Dedicated hosting plans within 30 days of signup
Free website builder
Yes
Yes
Disk space
Up to 100 GB on shared hosting and up to 200 GB on VPS hosting
Up to 40 GB in shared hosting and up to 240 GB in VPS hosting
Free CDN
Yes
Yes
Bandwidth
Unmetered
Unmetered
GoDaddy Features
Digital Marketing Suite
GoDaddy’s marketing suite includes three key marketing tools: GoDaddy InSight, Search Engine Visibility, and Email Marketing.
GoDaddy InSight scores your website’s performance against competitors, tracking metrics like social media engagement and site views. It also helps set business goals.
Search Engine Visibility suggests keywords and optimizes metatags and titles for better search engine ranking.
The Email Marketing tool, included in all hosting plans, enhances promotional outreach. These tools collectively enhance website performance and visibility.
NoteNote: Keep in mind that the Email marketing tool is free only for the first year.
The best part is that they are divided into categories so that you won’t waste a lot of time on this. And also, GoDaddy’s website builder is a drag-and-drop one, significantly improving your job.
GoDaddy Email
Another great feature is the GoDaddy professional email. This feature will help you send and receive emails from your domain. Due to this feature, your website will get a more professional look and gain more page traffic.
E-commerce Solutions for Online Store
GoDaddy offers features like an integrated shopping cart, product catalogs, payment processing options, inventory management, and shipping tools.
GoDaddy
GoDaddy stands as a global web hosting titan. Offering a comprehensive suite from domains to tailored hosting solutions, they’re trusted by millions worldwide. Ensure a seamless online presence with GoDaddy’s unmatched reliability and innovation.
HostGator offers free website migration for new customers within 30 days of signing up. This service includes the transfer of site files, databases, scripts, and domain names, handled by HostGator’s expert team.
It also covers a full cPanel transfer, accommodating multiple site installations like subdomains. This feature simplifies the process of moving to HostGator, particularly for those with existing websites.
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HostGator comes with a professional email hosting service, which takes the collaboration to the next level.
The best part is that you will get an unlimited number of email accounts no matter what HostGator plan you choose. The setup process is easy, even for beginners, and it takes only a few minutes.
HostGator uses Horde and RoundCube email clients. They are pretty basic and hosted on the same server as your website. They are suitable for casual mailing but not large volumes of outbound emails.
HostGator Website Builder with Templates
Gator Builder is one of the simplest website builders, which allows you to create up to 6 pages for free with your hosting account.
All plans come with the same choice of 149 templates. There are modern ones, classic ones, and clean ones. In other words, you have a pretty great choice.
However, if you are looking for some more advanced features, such as eCommerce support, it would be best to master WordPress.
Useful Tools for Developers
HostGator comes with phpMyAdmin, MySQL Databases, MySQL Database Wizard, and Remote MySQL. These tools help you develop dynamic and interactive websites.
And the Winner Is HosGator
HostGator’s free website migration, unlimited email accounts, easy-to-use website builder, and developer tools offer a more comprehensive and user-friendly hosting experience than GoDaddy.
GoDaddy’s shared web hosting plans are designed to meet varying needs, from small personal blogs to larger, more resource-intensive business websites.
The Economy plan offers one website and 25 GB storage, while Deluxe increases this to ten websites and 50 GB.
Ultimate and Maximum plans further expand resources, supporting up to 50 websites and up to 100 GB of SSD storage.
All plans feature shared CPU and RAM, free domain and Microsoft 365 mailboxes, and free SSL certificates for the first year.
HostGator Shared Hosting Plans
HostGator’s shared web hosting plans begin with the Hatchling Plan at $3.75 per month, which offers one website, 10 GB SSD storage, unmetered bandwidth, basic email, and free domain and SSL for the first year.
The Baby Plan, priced at $4.50 per month, allows you to create two websites and doubles the SSD storage to 20 GB. It includes basic email, a free domain, SSL, malware scanning, and Cloudflare CDN.
The Business Plan at $6.25 per month allows you to host up to three websites with 40 GB SSD storage and all features of the Baby Plan, catering to more extensive business needs.
The Basic plan, at $11.99 per month, supports one website with 10 GB NVMe storage and includes, unmetered bandwidth, free domain and SSL.
The Deluxe plan, at $15.99 per month, offers 20 GB storage, daily backups, faster performance with Cloudflare CDN, and DDoS protection.
The Ultimate plan, priced at $17.99 per month, increases storage to 30 GB and adds on-demand backups and unlimited malware removal, along with the benefits of the Deluxe plan.
HostGator Managed WordPress Hosting Plans
HostGator’s Managed WordPress Hosting include the Baby, Business, and Pro Plans.
The Baby Plan, at $4.50 per month, supports two websites with 20 GB SSD storage, unmetered bandwidth, and basic email, plus a free domain and SSL for the first year.
The Business Plan, priced at $6.25 per month, allows you to build three websites with 40 GB SSD storage, and includes daily backups and domain privacy for the first year, along with a free website transfer.
The Pro Plan, at $13.95 per month mo, caters to five websites with 100 GB SSD storage, and offers maximum performance with 5 vCPUs, alongside other benefits of the Business Plan.
GoDaddy’s 2024 VPS Hosting plans offer a range of options.
The 1 vCPU / 2GB RAM plan at $8.99 per month includes one CPU core, 2 GB RAM, and 40 GB NVMe SSD Storage, available in Linux with cPanel or Plesk, and additional IP upon request.
The higher-tier plans, such as 2 vCPU and 4 vCPU ranging from $17.99 to $44.99 per month, offer up to 4 CPU cores, 16 GB RAM, and 200 GB of storage, catering to more demanding hosting needs.
HostGator VPS Hosting Plans
Hosting plans start with the Snappy 2000 at $34.99 per month, offering 2 GB RAM, a 2 Core CPU, and 120 GB SSD storage, ideal for small to medium websites with unmetered bandwidth and free site migration for new accounts.
The Snappy 4000 and 8000 plans, priced at $51.99 and $93.99 per month respectively, provide enhanced resources.
Snappy 4000 includes 4 GB RAM and 165 GB SSD, while Snappy 8000 offers 8 GB RAM and 240 GB SSD, both with a 2 Core CPU and unmetered bandwidth, suitable for larger, more resource-intensive websites.
And the Winner Is HostGator
HostGator has more affordable plans that at the same time offer some incredible hosting features. By choosing any HostGator hosting plan, you’ll drastically improve your website for a low price.
To avoid losing customers, choose a web hosting provider with at least 99.9% uptime and ensure your website loads in under 3 seconds. Studies have shown that visitors often leave a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load.
GoDaddy Performance & Speed Test
PageSpeed Insights test showed the slowest loading time of 2.2 seconds. The time to interact was 4.3 seconds.
GTmetrix test showed the fastest loading time of 0.8 in Canada, with a performance grade (A).
Pingdom test of San Francisco, USA showed the performance grade (A), the page size of 556.5 KB, the loading time of around 0.8 seconds.
GoDaddy claims to offer a 99.9% uptime guarantee for its web hosting services. This standard in the hosting industry signifies their commitment to reliably and available services.
HostGator Performance & Speed Test
Pingdom Test of San Francisco, USA showed the fastest loading time of 1.64 seconds, and 124 requests.
The slowest loading time was 9.1seconds, according to PageSpeed Insights.
GTmetrix test that shows the performance grade (C) and the loading time of 1.7 seconds.
HostGator claims to provide an uptime of 99.99%.
And the Winner Is GoDaddy
GoDaddy’s speed and performance are simply incredible, and we’re not even sure if some web hosts can surpass them.
GoDaddy is known for disappointing customer support, so I decided to test that out on my own and provide you with first-hand information.
Their support includes live chat, phone support, video tutorials, a help center, and a LinkedIn Community Group. The live chat, operational Monday to Friday, has limitations, contributing to some negative feedback.
However, their 24/7/365 phone support offers a reliable alternative for immediate assistance, balancing their support options.
Another great support option for visual learners is the tutorial video support. These tutorials are actually courses containing hundreds of lessons that can help every user.
Lastly, the GoDaddy Community was one of the most important customer support options. This community allowed you to ask another GoDaddy user for their personal experience, which means you’ll have a direct conversation with users.
Unfortunately, GoDaddy closed its community forum in February 2024, which is very disappointing.
HostGator Customer Support
Overall, I was very pleased with HostGator’s level of professionalism, knowledgeable agents, and friendliness.
HostGator provides 24/7/365 live chat support, phone support, email support, ticketing service, forum support, video tutorials, and a knowledge base.
Live Chat
Clicking the chat icon in the bottom right corner of the portal connects you with support.
What I liked the most about the live chat was the part that HostGator asked me to choose a topic and describe my problem before I got connected with an expert agent.
The chat suggests some articles that may solve your issue. However, if you don’t find a solution, click on ‘Start Chat.’
Their team is friendly, professional, and understandable. Well done, HostGator!
WarningWarning: HostGator does not offer refunds for dedicated servers, administrative fees, installation fees for custom software, other setup fees, domain name purchases, or specific add-on servers.
You can also use their knowledgebase, phone, and email. Their extensive knowledge base includes video tutorials, which is excellent if you’re a visual learner.
And the Winner Is HostGator
HostGator is offers 24/7 availability through both live chat and phone support, providing immediate assistance any time of the day. While GoDaddy provides limited support availability and response times.
GoDaddy’s features are user-friendly and easy to use, making them suitable for beginners.
First, it comes with an intuitive and straightforward cPanel that simplifies website and server management.
Another important thing is that you can create an account with this web host in less than 10 minutes. What’s even better is that GoDaddy explains every step of the process, so not only will you have your account in no time, but you won’t face any difficulties.
GoDaddy allows you to install WordPress or buy a WordPress Hosting plan. This possibility makes the web host easy to use because WordPress is one of the best website builders in the industry.
You can transfer your existing website by using GoDaddy’s dedicated tools and support. Backups can be created easily, ensuring data safety.
HostGator Ease of Use
HostGator provides a very straightforward cPanel. When you log in, you can view your customer panel, and from there, you will have easy access to all features and tools. Everything is very well categorized and easy to find.
HostGator also makes creating an account latency-free. You’ll get your new HostGator account in a few simple and well-described steps. The whole process should take less than 15 minutes, which is fantastic.
Furthermore, the WordPress installation is pretty smooth, as it can be done with only one click. You will also get a free website builder that offers a variety of templates and drag-and-drop functionality.
Lastly, the free website migration comes with a simple process. You just need to enter the domain you want to transfer, and that’s it!
And the Winner Is HostGator
HostGator wins because of its user-friendly website builder and intuitive hosting dashboard, that simplifies website creation and management for beginners, compared to GoDaddy’s more complex interface.
GoDaddy’s hosting plans don’t provide many advanced security features. They come with the following basic security features:
Protection against viruses
Fraud
Spam protection
Email privacy
SSL certificates
DDoS protection
Firewall and malware protection
Keep in mind that the SSL certificates are free with the two most expensive shared web hosting plans, and they are free only for one year.
NoteNote: You can also purchase SSL protection, which contains firewall and malware protection. Three types of SSL certificates are available, starting at $63.99/month.
HostGator Privacy and Security
HostGator comes with a few features that provide excellent security. Their servers are monitored 24/7/365, looking out for any potential site breaches or hacks, and they immediately inform you when they find them.
Here are their security features:
Free SSL certificates
SSH Access
IP Blocker
DDoS protection
SSL/TLS
Manage API Tokens
Hotlink protection
SSL/TLS Status
SiteLock
WarningWarning: SiteLock is a bit more expensive. It costs $5.99/month.
And the Winner Is HostGator
HostGator comes with some of the most advanced security features that offer the highest website protection. You can be sure that your business page won’t face any malware attacks.
GoDaddy’s headquarters are located in Tempe, Arizona, but they also have more than 320,000 square feet of a data center in Phoenix. This web host has three data centers worldwide.
More precisely, it has data centers in North America (USA), Europe(Netherlands), and Asia (Singapore). Besides the few data centers, GoDaddy also includes a content delivery network (CDN), which boosts the hosted websites’ speeds.
HostGator Server Location
Over the years, HostGator has expanded worldwide and has a presence in several countries. One benefit of having multiple divisions is that our customers can choose where their support staff and servers are located or what language they prefer to do business in.
The company has servers in North and South America, Asia, Europe, and Africa. More precisely, they have operators in the USA, India, Brazil, Turkey, Singapore, China, Russia, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Africa, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
And the Winner Is HostGator
Although HostGator has worse performance than GoDaddy, it has servers in more countries worldwide.
HostGator is the second-best web hosting company in the world because it has a lot of incredible extras. It would be best to go for HostGator if:
You want high-quality security that is possible due to the amazing security features that are included in the hosting plans.
You want extraordinary customer support that includes all kinds of support options
You want more affordable yet superb hosting plans that are suitable for all kinds of online business
When to Consider GoDaddy?
GoDaddy is the world’s biggest and most significant domain registrar and is known by many. But it would be best to use it when:
You want cheap domains – GoDaddy’s hosting plans are more expensive than HostGator ones but have relatively low domain prices.
You want 24/7 phone support – although their live chat isn’t available on the weekends, their phone number is, so you can get an answer just by contacting them.
If you are a beginner and you want to test some features out – GoDaddy is the better option for short-term websites and for small businesses that are in their beginnings
GoDaddy vs. HostGator Alternatives
Provider
Overview
Expert & User Reviews
Hostinger offers affordable shared hosting, VPS hosting, and cloud hosting, along with domain registration services.
HostArmada focuses on speed, security, and reliability and offers features like SSD storage, free website migration, daily backups, and a user-friendly control panel.
ChemiCloud’s hosting services include SSD storage for faster website performance, a free domain name for the first year, a 45-day money-back guarantee, and easy WordPress installation.
HostGator comes second in the web host rankings for a reason. Its services cover everything your website needs, from user support to value for money. Its loading speeds are a bit worse than GoDaddy’s, but that’s why the customer support options and the incredible security features make up for it. Overall, HostGator is better than GoDaddy, and I highly recommend it.
Meanwhile, GoDaddy’s appeal is convenience. Whereas HostGator is purely a web hosting company, GoDaddy is best for domain registration and website building software. At the end of the day, the final decision is yours. Which one will you choose? GoDaddy or HostGator?
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is GoDaddy so expensive?
GoDaddy’s pricing is higher due to its brand reputation, extensive marketing, and a wide range of services, including advanced security options and marketing tools, catering to a global audience. This positions GoDaddy as a premium option in the web hosting market.
Which web host is better for domain registration?
GoDaddy comes with the best domain registration services. As one of the world’s leading domain registrars, it provides many tools. However, it is a little expensive. HostGator offers much cheaper domain registrations, but some of its extra features can be limited.
What is HostGator best for?
HostGator is best known for its affordable hosting plans, making it an excellent choice for bloggers, small to medium-sized businesses, and individuals looking for reliable hosting services without a significant investment. It offers a balance of performance, ease of use, and customer support.
Is GoDaddy good for small businesses?
GoDaddy offers a comprehensive suite of tools that are beneficial for small businesses, such as domain registration, website building, and online marketing services, making it a convenient one-stop-shop for getting a business online.
HostAdvice.com provides professional web hosting reviews fully independent of any other entity. Our reviews are unbiased, honest, and apply the same evaluation standards to all those reviewed.While monetary compensation is received from a few of the companies listed on this site, compensation of services and products have no influence on the direction or conclusions of our reviews. Nor does the compensation influence our rankings for certain host companies.This compensation covers account purchasing costs, testing costs and royalties paid to reviewers.
