With nearly two decades in the hosting game, HostGator is a major player.
You can find every plan type you want, from reseller to dedicated.
They have a terrific number of servers with a strongly established infrastructure.
HostGator costs a few pounds and pennies more than some hosts - at its level - but you get great reliability and customer support in return.
HostGator is also known for giving lots of handy features even on basic shared plans.
Expect features like:
- ☑️ a free website builder
- ☑️ a free domain
- ☑️ free single site migration
- ☑️ a free SSL certificate
- ☑️ unlimited storage
- ☑️ support for Python, Ruby, & Perl.
A Question of Speed & Reliability ⚙️
Scroll down 🖲️ to the Speed/Uptime sections - for our full take on HG’s performance levels. The long and short of it: They exceed the 1-second standard that our review team deems as important for a top-performing web host
But, the uptime is very admirable, considering the size of this company.
They also have a top app system, with an in-house HostGator Design Service, so you can hire a web developer.
And, despite the higher renewal fees, introductory pricings are good value.
Grab award-winning hosting resources in over 200 countries worldwide... But first, understand the crucial benefits and drawbacks of committing to HG, for your website.
HostGator Review Top Tip ⭐
You can find better-value VPS and dedicated plans with other hosts, but HostGator is an expert in great value shared hosting packages.
HostGator UK Review 🐊
Great Infrastructure & Support, Decent Performance 🚉
In this HostGator UK review, we take the key technicalities in consideration, such as measuring the different crucial host components.
As one example, many things affect overall site speeds:
- Loading Time
- Multi-Visitor Stress Tests
- Server Response Times
Then, our team delivers it all simply, to help you make a decision. You’re welcome. Boil a cuppa as we get into it.
PROS
CONS
HostGator Pros & Cons
The Key Takeaways 🍕
Strong Consistent Infrastructure 
Strong uptimes, though there is a smidgen of room for improvement.
You can expect consistent averages each month. And - as far as guarantees go - if their uptime unexpectedly (not due to maintenance) drops below 99.90%, you will get one month free.
If you need a higher level of server reliability, opt for a dedicated or VPS plan.
Solid Customer Support
HG’s support structure is no less snazzy.
Their massive team of representatives are available through phone, email, & live chat support. You can also quickly search for a solution using the extensive knowledge base.
Their staff of chaps and chapettes seem well-trained and professional, with friendly attitudes. (Read more about this in the Support section of this HostGator review.)
Free cPanel/Site Transfers
Let's say that you have a pre-existing website...
No trouble. Move it over to one of HostGator’s plans. Alongside their 45-day money-back guarantee, once you sign up for a plan, you have 30 days.
Get these things moved over:
- Databases
- Scripts
- All site & cpanel backup files
- Domain name
Databases“Available” Addon Fees
Want to actually get all the fancy perks stated on each plan?
Problem: You may find yourself having to pay additional... For example, site backups, SiteLock monitoring, SEO tools, and Gmail access are stated to be “available.”
What that actually means is you can add it onto the basic Hatchling Plan - for an extra charge!
This is a pity because you are given everything else you need to create a website, such as a free SSL, unlimited storage, and access to a great website builder.
HostGator Uptime 🟢
Not THE Best, But Good Enough for a Top Web Host 🔝
Uptime can be used to measure computer system reliability; from operating systems to servers.
The longer that a computer can operate without crashing or needing a reboot - during which time it will be unavailable for its function - the better the uptime is.
Sometimes, small periods of downtime are unavoidable.
A system may require a critical update, and a reboot may be needed as part of the process. In this case, cloud computing may be an exception to the rule.
Because cloud hosting draws from many server sites, if one goes down, uptime continues through other server sites.
HostGator Speed Testing ⚗️
- Dec 2018 average: 100%
- Jan 2019 average: 100%
- Feb 2019 average: 100%
- Mar 2019 average: 99.99%
- Apr 2019 average: 99.98%
- May 2019 average: 99.95%
- Jun 2019 average: 99.99%
- Jul 2019 average: 100%
- Aug 2019 average: 99.99%
- Sep 2019 average: 100%
- Oct 2019 average: 100%
- Nov 2019 average: 100%
Extremely Good.
HostGator is one of the top UK web hosting providers out there, best known for shared plans. With so many users on their basic packages, you would expect that the servers have a lot of people to deal with.
With that considered, 99.98% uptime average over 12 months is strong.
Also - if not for the slightly unusual month of May average - they would be at the Five-Nines-Availability level: 99.99% uptime. Close.
HostGator Speed 💨
A Tad Sluggish
Anything over 2 seconds and the average shopper quotes on the website.
Internet shoppers expect nothing less than near instantaneous loading speeds. Google recommends 200ms add an industry-standard server speed.
However, top web host Siteground is a standout example of an over-performing host - with 138ms average worldwide.
Over 1-Second Loading Time
You might be wondering if the HostGator review team is being a little harsh with this company.
We’ll admit to having high standards for the small number of web hosts who successfully position themselves as the best-of-the-best.
The fastest web host that we have tested is A2 Hosting, and several others close by.
This company meet’s Google’s recommendations, with well under half-a-second for loading speeds, on average - reliably.
All-in-all, if you can fall short of 3 seconds, you are probably okay. HG manages this!
Testing
- Aug 2018: 1027ms
- Sep 2018: 1014ms
- Oct 2018: 964ms
- Nov 2018: 1042ms
- Dec 2018: 970ms
- Jan 2019: 1119ms
- Feb 2018: 1107ms
- Mar 2019: 1068ms
- Apr 2019: 957ms
- May 2019: 931ms
- Jun 2019: 1331ms
- Jul 2019: 1763ms
- Aug 2018: 1494ms
- Sep 2019: 1328ms
- Oct 2019: 1423ms
- Nov 2019: 1378ms
Not the best speed...
Over 16 months, HostGator only had a monthly loading speed of under one-second 25% of the time - on its basic shared hosting plan.
As for server response times, they are quite a bit better:
HostGator Pricing 💰
Shared, VPS, & Dedicated
Hostgator Shared ✌️
There are three tiers:
Hatchling Plan 🐣
- Single Domain
- One Click WP Installs
- Website Transfer
- Unmetered Bandwidth
- Free HostGator SSL
- Free Domain Included
£2.20/month
Baby Plan 🐥
- Everything you get with the hatchling plan plus bonus features:
- Unlimited Domains
- Free website transfer
- Unmetered banwidth
£2.80/month
Business Plan 🐔
- Everything from Baby/Hatchling
- Free Upgrade to Positive SSL
- Free Dedicated IP
- Free SEO Tools
£4.20/month.
Top Tip
Running a business?
Grabbing diverse SEO tools is a must - if you want to get capabilities from both your CMS and host provider. Consider the Business Plan.
HostGator VPS
The best VPS host will cost you more pennies the best shared plans.
As a budget-conscious alternative, consider a top-notch free VPS. Overall, paid VPS solutions offer more performance for the pound.
Get:
- Higher capability to handle traffic
- Faster loading times
There are another three plans.
Hostgator... Dedicated
Dedicated hosting adds nitro to your site’s exhaust.
But, bump up your budget. If you have high numbers of visitors, the best dedicated hosting solutions offer you a whole server to yourself at a higher premium.
Get:
- Super increased performance
- Higher security
- A dedicated maintenance team, responsible for managing your server
Value Server ✌️
- 4C/8T Intel Xeon-D
- 8 GB RAM
- 1 TB HDD Storage
- Unmetered Bandwidth
- Linux or Windows OS
£72.03/month
Power Server 👊
- Everything from Value
- 8C/16T Intel Xeon-D
- 16 GB RAM
- 2 TB HDD or
512 GB SSD Storage
£95.97/month
Enterprise Server ✊🏼
- Everything from
Value & Power Plans - 8C/16T Intel Xeon-D
- 30 GB RAM
- 1 TB SSD Storage
£112.06/month
HostGator Support ☎️
The Full Monty
No one wants an endless wait in a phone queue.
Or to resolve an email query - with a feeling like trying to track Bigfoot - when getting a particularly difficult technical issue resolved.
Even on the cheap as chips plans, you get to order of the following with HostGator:
- A knowledge base
- Phone support
- Email support
- Live chat support
Live Chat Support With Translations
Let’s start with the fastest and cheapest support option.
As long as you have an internet connection, you can get an immediate response from one of HostGators global support representatives.
Although they only offer direct support in English, they go to great efforts to serve different language speakers.
Representatives will translate your request and their response by using Google Translate. HG apologize in advance for any mistranslations that this might occur - we think it is a very cool sign of a caring company!
Phone & Email
If you don't need an immediate solution, use the email ticketing solution or phone support.
As of 2020, HostGator does have localized support for customers residing in China and Russia. You are able to contact representatives who speak Chinese or Russian.
And, for those who are customers of one of HG’s international brands - such as in India - there are also localized support systems in place.
Bonus Features
HostGator Domain
The full selection of domain options are available here.
- Simply use HostGator as your domain registrar
- Use them as a web host while connecting them to a pre-existing domain
- Or, you can buy both a custom domain name from HostGator as well as hosting
Note: If you go completely through HostGator for everything, it is fully automated.
Just another step in the purchasing process, that you can add to your cart.
But, you may need to deal with support, in order to connect a pre-existing domain with a HostGator plan. This depends on the domain type and payment method.
HostGator SSL
We’ve been known to go extra hard in the past on service providers who do not offer a free SSL.
HostGator does, so we give them their due props. An SSL certificate adds “S” to the “HTTP” part of your URL.
From that moment, all in-flowing and out-flowing data is encrypted.
Websites that do not have an SSL prompt the visitor’s browser with a warning, also affecting the website’s Google ranking.
SSLs are important for:
- guarding against cyberattacks
- increasing SEO
- working with compliance legislation such as HIPPA
- building security & trust with your audience
HostGator Live Chat
HostGator Live Chat is so quick and efficient we had to give it another nod in the Bonus Section.
HG go out of their way to translate for non-english speakers. The teams are flexible in terms of creatively handling any technical issues you have.
Reps seem to be friendly and professional, something that money can't always successfully buy. Overall, the support infrastructure is very pleasant and a great bulwark to have in place for a business and/or brand.
HostGator FAQ
Last Stop
In this section, the HostGator review team takes in all the most popular questions that come up time and time again when people are trying to make a decision about going with them.
Maybe you’re wondering about the best dedicated hosting plan available.
Or, perhaps you want a host who can provide the highest degree of security for your files... Whatever the case, see below for a concise answer.
Is HostGator Secure?
Remember the word “infrastructure” that your HostGator review team keeps using?
Well, that’s because HG has all these measures in place to secure their servers. This helps to prevent your account from being targeted successfully by cyberattackers.
Compromised accounts - opened by security breaches - risks personal data.
Technicians are on hand to protect you against any vulnerabilities in your server with the latest and greatest in anti-malware. Sitelock Security also takes care of automated malware removal.
But you must also play your part...
Use strong passwords. Be careful of what software you install - and where you get it from - as it will be running on your website. Even HG has limits in how much it can protect you.
Is HostGator WordPress Hosting Worth It?
Simply, yes: HG’s WordPress plan is fast, with sub one-second server response times.
It’s worth seeing if you can use a data center located in Europe. Website speeds are one of the most important metrics to test here, as these could affect:
- customer conversions
- SEO rankings, due to Google favoring optimized CMS's, as well as fast websites
- how well all the different functionalities of your chosen theme work
customer conversionsWordPress plans are designed to work as optimally as possible, to get the best out of the CMS. HostGator also offers a few cool features for WordPress hosting:
- auto backup with single-click site restores
- free SSL's, as it does with all of its plans
- access to the WP MOJO Theme Marketplace
- a free WordPress migration on any plan.
Is WordPress Free With HostGator?
The two are not mutually exclusive as they can be used for different functions.
Note that HostGator has no free plans, unlike WordPress - though, there are plenty of awesome free web hosts out there.
When you use WordPress with a web host - like GoDaddy or HostGator - they're providing different functions. WordPress is acting as the CMS or content management system.
This means that it arranges your information in an intuitive way for the user experience of your website’s visitors. Meanwhile, the web host transmits that data across the internet, allowing that CMS to be live.
If you purchase a free WordPress plan, you'll be given a WordPress URL
yoursitename.wordpress.com
However, if you want a professional URL and website - with the immense features that WP is capable of - we suggest that you upgrade to one of its paid plans.
This unlocks a massively diverse range of themes that you can customize for SEO, site functionality, branding, and so on... You can also grab a great WordPress host plan on HostGator.
Conclusion
Big But Not Impersonal
HostGator goes to the extent of having staff members use Google Translate when dealing with non-english speaker, just in order to deliver great customer support
This is the mark of a top-notch web host provider.
HG’s average loading speeds on shared plans aren’t exactly to be salivated over - they are possibly inundated with users, yet still hold things up.
But, they offer specialist plans for those astronauts who need more rocket fuel 
.
Quite simply, there is a plan for every level of business out of there. And you can trust the company to deliver consistent server figures, running at least at 99.98% uptime.
Final Tips
Just look out for some of the added charges that you will eventually have to pay if you want to bring a basic plan to its full functionality.
Though, they do give - like more site migrations on one of their competitive reseller hosting plans.
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