GoDaddy vs. HostGator

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
GoDaddy
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
GoDaddy Web Hosting provides users with storage, email addresses, and unlimited bandwith.
$6.99
per month with an annual term
HostGator
Score 7.4 out of 10
N/A
HostGator, from Newfold Digital (formerly Endurance), is a web hosting service with WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated hosting capabilities.
$2.75
per month
Pricing
GoDaddyHostGator
Editions & Modules
Basic
as low as $6.99
per month with an annual term
Basic
as low as $10.49
per month with an annual term
Premium
as low as $13.49
per month with an annual term
Commerce
as low as $14.99
per month with an annual term
Hatchling
$2.75
per month
Baby
$3.50
per month
Business
$5.25
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
GoDaddyHostGator
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional DetailsDiscounts available for annual subscription.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
GoDaddyHostGator
Best Alternatives
GoDaddyHostGator
Small Businesses
Ecwid by Lightspeed
Ecwid by Lightspeed
Score 10.0 out of 10
Flywheel
Flywheel
Score 9.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
10Web
10Web
Score 5.2 out of 10
WP Engine
WP Engine
Score 8.9 out of 10
Enterprises
Adobe Experience Manager
Adobe Experience Manager
Score 8.4 out of 10
AccuWebHosting.Com
AccuWebHosting.Com
Score 9.8 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
GoDaddyHostGator
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(0 ratings)
6.9
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(0 ratings)
7.8
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
GoDaddyHostGator
Likelihood to Recommend
I have purchased domains through a few different sites over the years and the ones I purchased from other companies, I always had issues with. The ones I have purchased through GoDaddy were no problem at all. They have easy help pages that helps you set up step-by-step no matter where you will use your domain. I now only purchase them from GoDaddy. They also have coupon codes where you can sometimes get them for 99 cents, especially if you are a new user.
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HostGator is cheap and will host your website and the users of your email. However, we did run into some issues over the years. They sold us SiteLock, which is supposed to be an extra layer of security. We had it for a while, when our site was hacked. When I called HostGator they said that the SiteLock plan we had wasn't the right one to protect you, so they tried to upsell me on more SiteLock. This was very frustrating, as our site was down due to hacking and we were seen as a sales opportunity instead of clients who needed help. It turned out during this time that the basic backup that was included with HostGator was not going to work to get us back up. The problem is that it backs up once per week, and overwrites whatever was there before. So, it had backed up after the hack. After that we decided to get their premium backup plan. HostGator is good if you only need the most basic of services, unless you are willing to pay for the add-ons, and you might not even be aware of the add-ons until there's a problem.
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Pros
  • Customer service is definitely number one here. The fact that they are open for calls 24/7 and have a great support team is a really nice thing to have when you aren't fully versed in all things domains/cpanel/email etc. They also usually answer quickly.
  • Ease of use throughout the website. It's made for the non web savvy individual, clear and instructive for proper usage.
  • I think they know their target market well and it's nice to see that their website shows just that.
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  • HostGator is a very reputable company. So you know that your website is in good hands.
  • They have one of the most affordable cPanel cloud hosting services that you can find.
  • The speed of HostGator's hosting is pretty fast. And little to no downtime.
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Cons
  • Support agents are woefully undertrained, even in knowledge of their own products.
  • Support agents will always try to upsell you, even when you're dealing with an urgent, high-impact issue.
  • There's no guarantee of uptime, and there will often be gaps in service as part of normal procedures.
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  • Tech support is responsive and helpful, but not without a special pin code. Since we need tech support infrequently when I do, I can never find that pin. It would be nice to have a quick client verification system.
  • Publishing updated pages are quick but could be faster by eliminating a couple of extraneous click.
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Likelihood to Renew
GoDaddy is the number one player in town. They have the most competitive and best pricing on everything from domain name registration to hosting packages that are very affordable. But of course due to inflation and everything going up in price today GoDaddy has raised their rates but nothing ever comes back down.
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Because we have in house technical support to compensate the lack of quality HostGator tech support, and because the price continues to be affordable the business is likely to continue using HostGator. They provide what the business needs and we have in house support to maintain it.
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Usability
Some integration could be much cleaner and smoother. Seems it used to be easier. Plus, they took away the catch all email feature.
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No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
They are also available. They never have any outages or anything that I've yet to experience.
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No answers on this topic
Performance
Like I said before they are the BEST! nothing slows them down.
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No answers on this topic
Support Rating
I think a lot of companies can learn from GoDaddy's support team. I have found:
  • Chat or phone support is almost always available.
  • Their agents are friendly and helpful.
  • Their agents seem to care and be knowledgeable about a wide range of issues.
  • I rarely have to escalate my problem to get the support that I need.
  • If they can't help me, then they can tell me why something is happening and direct me to resources that can fix my problem.
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While you will get support from HostGator, it seems to be a different level from 8-10 years ago. It may take 15-20 minutes to get someone on chat, and unless you follow up, I've found followup email support to take a couple of days. If you stick with it, though, you will get support, and I've never had a problem they couldn't help with.
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Alternatives Considered
GoDaddy is able to be integrated from these various platforms. I haven't used much of other services such as Host Gator, but GoDaddy's relative ease of use makes it a relatively simple platform for your small business needs. It does not quite plug and play, but it's not too far off, either.
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This is for web design purposes. In versatility, not as good as WordPress, but pretty close to Squarespace and Wix. In ease of use, much easier than WordPress, about the same as Squarespace and Wix. In the choice of design templates, as good as all three. The current client chose HostGator after we poured through hosting, email, and web design comparisons. She wanted all these services through the least number of vendors, and the price was right.
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Scalability
Their customer service is easily reachable. Someone is always available to help you at any given time 24 hours a day. They are simply the best in the whole wide world. They have the best engineers and support team. Whatever I need they are there to help and assist along the way every time.
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No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
  • Definitely a positive ROI because we are able to have a website to get information out there in addition to our social media pages. It brings everything together in one place. Companies with websites are way more credible than those without.
  • We are planning on hosting our online store through GoDaddy, as well, which will also increase our ROI.
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  • Usage of resale options easily quadrupled the money I was spending on HostGator
  • Trust in the host has to be earned, and HostGator has not retained that for me -- it will be a while before I feel confident in their uptime again
  • Overall, HG has been a positive impact on my business as a web developer
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ScreenShots