Hostgator vs. GoDaddy

The Only Unbiased Review You Will Have To Read

Once again, Mike “The Web Hosting Guy” comes to save your day!

So here is the situation: You want to host your website and you have found that Hostgator and GoDaddy are good options… but which one is the absolute best?

Don’t worry, be happy! I’m going to save you a lot of time, because I’ve already reviewed and compared them. So, just read this page and find everything you need to take the best decision!

Why Hostgator and GoDaddy?

Before I go all in on the review and comparison, I like to explain why I have chosen these companies:

Both are solid options, and I’ve already compared Bluehost against them both, but now it is time to find out what company offers exactly what your business needs!

The Plans:

Like always, let’s check the plans offered by each company:

Hostgator:

GoDaddy:

Why is it so special?

When compared to traditional shared hosting – especially if it runs on Hard Disk Drives – the advantages are several and indeed very attractive:

You are smart enough to understand why cloud hosting is so attractive, and as we are going to see, the prices are not very expensive:

Moreover, HostGator offers other excellent features when you choose cloud hosting instead of traditional web hosting:

I’d recommend you to choose cloud hosting if you want to keep your costs low and at the same time get a better performance than what shared hosting can offer you.

If that’s what you are after, then I can recommend you to choose the HG’s Business plan, because it is affordable and comes with a free dedicated IP and free SSL certificate.

What kind of websites could you run with these plans?

Here you have some ideas:

And the list can go on and on, but the principle here remains the same: as long as you don’t have gigantic needs – like a very big e-commerce store – then you will be fine with these plans, especially the Business one.

Now, it is time to see what GoDaddy has to offer with its Business Hosting plans:

Business Hosting by GoDaddy:

It is basically a Virtual Private Server (VPS) but without the technical part, which is perfect for beginners or users who don’t really want to bother with the geekiest aspects of it.

However, if you want to keep the costs down, then I invite you to read my comparison on their VPS hosting plans, because they are more affordable, but you will have to deal with the technical challenges. If that’s not a problem for you, then you will save money.

Anyway, let’s see what GoDaddy brings to the table:

What are the advantages in comparison to normal web/shared hosting?

Here are the most relevant:

These are the most remarkable advantages, and in my opinion, the extra security, dedicated resources and add-ons for speed, make these plans far more attractive.

Here you have the plans: 

You can easily see that they come with very interesting features that will suit the most demanding websites, but are the prices justified?

I think that yes, because they save you everything technical wise and simply let you enjoy the benefits of a powerful VPS hosting plan.

Therefore, if you are a business owner who has a demanding website, yet don’t want to bother with the technical aspects, then these plans will suit you perfectly.

However, I still believe that the Business cloud hosting plan by HostGator is a true rival to the lowest-tier plan in this category. Therefore, if you want to get a very similar performance, then stick to HG, because you will save a lot of money.

Nonetheless, if your business demands far more resources then explore these plans and go for one of them if you do not really have the technical skills or do not want to bother with it in the slightest.

Now it is time to compare the WordPress hosting plans!

WordPress Hosting Versus:

There is no doubt that WP has become the most popular CMS in the world, and it is due to its ease of use, great scalability and adaptability and tons of plugins and themes you can customize it with.

Even the least technical persons can work with WP without major problems, and these hosting plans are perfect for you in case you feel identified, because they save you from running into the technical aspect and simply give you the good stuff!

Without anything more to add, let’s see what they bring to the table:

GoDaddy is the cheapest option here and I believe that it wins in this department, because the most complete plan, the Ultimate, gives you more value for a lower price:

But how come that 30 GB is better than “unlimited”? Because, as I have said before, unlimited is a tricky word and is not exactly what it means, because when you hit the limits, you will be warned to stop.

It is better to have a clear notion of how much space you can really use, and it is excellent that it is SSD hosting, because it will make your website faster, and as you probably know, speed is everything nowadays, because it can yield you more conversions, and therefore, a better return of investment.

Feel like these plans are not enough for your WordPress needs? Then worry not, because GoDaddy has special plans for pros like you:

These plans are far more expensive, but they bring you more resources and they are designed for real pros who are running lots of websites or a business and need the best hosting for their clients.

I will keep my answer short:

If the above plans are not enough for you, and you still need something especially designed for WordPress, then these pro plans by GoDaddy are everything you need!

In a nutshell, this is everything you will get:

Now it is time to step the leagues and review the VPS hosting plans by both companies:

VPS Hosting Versus:

I’ve already explained the advantages of VPS hosting in previous comparisons, but here you have them in a summary:

All in all, if you want to take everything to the next level, and customize your hosting to the real and specific needs of your business, then this is what you need.

Let’s see how well their plans compare against each other. However, before we go into it, remember that GoDaddy offers Linux and Windows plans, but worry not, because we will compare them:

Unless you know what you are doing, stick to Linux. It will make your life easier, and as you can easily tell, it is much cheaper.

With HostGator, when you order a plan, CentOS 6 (Linux) will come installed by default.

As I said, you don’t really need Windows VPS hosting unless you really need know what you are doing, and if you have found out that Windows offers you features that Linux cannot and that are vital for your project.

Therefore, let’s simply focus on Linux… and what do you think Mike? What VPS plan should I choose?

They are very close in terms of pricing, but I like how HostGator discloses how many CPUs they allocate for each plan, something that GoDaddy does not do and it is not okay, because you as the customer deserve to know it.

However, GoDaddy defeat HG in the number of IPs they bring you, and this is vital, because every extra dedicated IP will cost you a fixed fee, and this will add up your costs.

Anyway, I have a preference for HG because so far now I’ve been satisfied with their Snappy 8000 plan and the customer support for it has been incredible. Nothing to complaint about it here.

Nonetheless, you are the one who has the last word my friend! Take your time to compare the features I’ve laid out on this comparison to pick the best plan for your business.

“But hold on Mike! Why do you prefer HostGator?!”

Well, here you have my reasons in case you are not satisfied with my previous answer, which is evident!

Why do I prefer HostGator for VPS hosting to GoDaddy?

Are you happy now? This is why I prefer it, and I can tell you from now that you won’t be disappointed if you decide to follow the same path as me!

Now it is time to review the dedicated server plans:

Dedicated Server Versus:

Likewise, I’ve already explain in previous review the advantages of a dedi server, but here you have them again:

If you know what you are looking for, then you already know why you need a dedicated server, so let’s go down to the comparison:

If you want an entry-level dedicated server to test the waters as learn as you go, or in case your project is not so big, then the GoDaddy’s Economy plan will suit you perfectly.

However, there’s one thing that I don’t like and is that GoDaddy doesn’t disclose the technology of their CPUs, and that’s not good. On the other hand, with HG you will get powerful Intel Xeon-D CPUs ready to power up your website.

Another advantage of HG over GD is that you get to choose between HDD and SSD, and by now you should know that the latter option is much better, because it will make your website considerably faster.

With HostGator you can choose between a semi-managed or managed, whereas with GoDaddy you can choose between a self-managed, managed or fully managed server.

Now that you have the features of each plan here, it will be easy for you to pick a winner. So, take your time to do so, because both companies are solid, but again, my favorite is HostGator and I will let you know why.

Why do I prefer Hostgator for dedicated server hosting?

I’m unbiased in the sense that I present both companies as they are, but in certain plans, I have my own preferences, and just like VPS, I always prefer Hostgator to GoDaddy when it comes to dedicated servers.

But why? Here you have the reasons:

One of the things that I love the most about web hosting companies is a good, fast and reliable customer support, and this is the case with HostGator.

Now that I’ve finished reviewing all of their plans, it is time to go down to the fundamentals and compare them in the following sections.

Speed and Performance: What Makes Them a Good and Reliable Choice?

Let’s go down to review them side-by-side:

Personally, I like HostGator’s technology, especially that they include SSD in practically all of their plans. That’s a huge upside in their favor, because you will experience in first person the increase in speed and performance your websites will undergo.

They are pretty close in this section, but I have to decide in favor of HG, because I’ve experience on my own how fast their plans are, especially for VPS and dedicated server hosting.

How Secure Are They? – A Side-by-side Analysis

Let’s go down quickly to the facts:

I would say that both companies are pretty secure, because they take it seriously, especially in a time where hacking has become so normal.

However, if you want to remain even safer in nowadays online world, then you need to take your own measures and that includes using strong password and solely installing official scripts, plugins, themes, etc.

This is a draw here, because they both are equipped with what’s needed to protect your websites, but in case you want to be in favor of one company in concrete, then I invite you read the next section:

Customer Support Review: What Company Is The Winner?

Ok, HostGator has its own flaws, but customer support is reliable and unfortunately I cannot say the same about GoDaddy.

I mean, they offer you channels to get support through, but they are not as reliable as one would expect, especially for high-end plans that need and deserve dedicated and specialized assistance.

That is why I favor HostGator in this category, because they have proven over and over again that they know how to solve problems and how to do it fast, and I say it because I’ve experienced it myself.

That’s all I have to say here, because this is equally important for beginners and advanced users alike, because we all need assistance and we need it professional and quick.

What Company Is The Best for Beginners?

Once again, they are pretty close in this department as well, and I will call it a draw. The fact that HG brings you free marketing offers will make it a better option than GD, whereas some will prefer a free domain with every plan on the other hand.

It is up to you, so choose wisely!

However, I have to say that all of them are easy to manage, but if you are not a technical person, then stick to WP, web/shared, business and cloud hosting, because a VPS or dedicated server may be a real challenge for you, and that could generate your problems.

Mike, What Plan Do You Recommend Me?

I’m a total beginner yet I want an excellent performance and reliability!

I’d encourage you to discard the lowest-tier plans and go for any of these, because the higher costs totally justify the superior performance:

I need to set up tons of websites for a massive online marketing operation

I won’t ask many questions, but your best pick here is a VPS hosting plan, and I especially recommend you the Snappy 8000 by HostGator, because it will offer you everything you need to set up tons of websites, receive tons of traffic and maintain an optimal performance all the time.

And yes, I recommend you to stick to Linux, because it is easier to manage and far more secure. Remember that with such operations you may be the target of other marketers, and thereby you will want to be safe, and fortunately, HG has the technology to accomplish so.

Conclusion and Final Words:

Now you know everything about each company!

This has been a long and fun ride, don’t you think so? Now, with so much info, you can tell what plan your business really needs, because I’ve even given you special recommendations for concrete cases.

However, in case you have questions or doubts, feel free to drop a comment or contact me. I will get back to you as soon as possible!

Resources:

https://www.hostgator.com/blog/resources/

https://www.godaddy.com/help/resource-limits-12001