The Best HostGator Alternatives of 2025

FastComet is the best HostGator alternative for most users, offering the same familiar cPanel interface at significantly lower renewal rates and comprehensive features such as daily backups, a CDN, and robust security.

As good as FastComet is, though, it's not the only alternative to HostGator. You'll find that Hosting.com and Hostinger also offer compelling options, depending on your priorities. All three provide excellent uptime guarantees (99.9%), free SSL certificates, and modern NVMe storage, but each has its own unique strengths as well.

If you're truly tired of HostGator and are ready for something that better suits your needs, then set aside a few minutes to read our roundup of the best alternatives below.

The best HostGator alternatives

Compare the best HostGator alternatives

Best for	Best for high-traffic websites	Best for long-term savings	Best for powerful features	Best for beginners and ease of use
Star rating	4.7 AllAboutCookies writers and editors score products based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.	4.8 AllAboutCookies writers and editors score products based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.	4.6 AllAboutCookies writers and editors score products based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.	4.9 AllAboutCookies writers and editors score products based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.
Starting price	Starts at $3.75/mo	Starts at $1.79/mo	Starts at $1.99/mo	Starts at $2.99/mo
Money-back guarantee	Yes — 30 days	Yes — 30 days	Yes — 30 days	Yes — 30 days
Uptime guarantee	99%	99.9%	99.9%	99.9%
Monthly visits	40K - 400K	10K - 100K	Unmetered	25K - 200K
Number of websites	10 - 100	1 - unlimited	1 - 100	3 - 100
Storage	10 GB - 100 GB SSD	10 GB - 40 GB NVMe	15 GB - 100 GB NVMe	20 GB SSD - 100 GB NVMe
Free SSL certificate	On all plans	On all plans	On all plans	On all plans
Free domain for a year	On all plans	On all plans, but only on domain transfers (not new domains)	On all plans	On all plans
Learn more	Get HostGator Read HostGator Review	Get FastComet Read FastComet Review	Get Hosting.com Read Hosting.com Review	Get Hostinger Read Hostinger Review

FastComet: Best for long-term savings

What we liked

Low renewal rates: With some exceptions, most hosting companies nowadays offer promotional rates on initial contracts but raise prices upon renewal. Between these four services, FastComet has the lowest renewal rates while still including key features.

Comprehensive features: Given how little FastComet charges for its hosting plans relative to HostGator and competitors, it’s incredible how extensive the feature set is. All plans include an SSL, CDN, email, site builder, staging, parked domains, subdomains, free website transfers, GZIP compression, autominify, daily backups, and more.

Free site migration: FastComet wants your business, so it offers free website migration (up to 3 migrations per plan). This is much more inviting than HostGator’s paid migration approach.

What we didn’t like

Low storage space: The big tradeoff with choosing FastComet is the relatively low storage capacity across plans. The pricing is low, the features are comprehensive, but if you’ve got a heavy website (or multiple sites), then you might find storage to be a limiting factor.

Test results

To conduct our testing, we first registered for a FastComet plan and created a mock website using the PageLayer builder, designed for WordPress users to launch a new site quickly. From there, we ran a speed test using dotcom-tools.com and got a high average performance score. The scores for both the First Contentful Paint (FCP) and Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), which measure how fast the first element and largest element on a page load, were equally impressive.

Uptime remained steady during the test period, indicating strong reliability. To round out the testing, we bombarded our mock site with 250 visitors in a single minute to see how it would respond. It handled the traffic spike without failures and with an average response time of 209 milliseconds.

Star rating summary

FastComet achieved high scores in our three most heavily weighted categories: features, performance, and security. This trifecta of excellence demonstrates FastComet's ability to deliver comprehensive functionality, fast load times, and robust protection — all at highly competitive prices. Support and reputation were also strong.

The poorest rated category was prices and capacity. This stems from the lower storage space limits offered by FastComet compared to other hosts. However, if you have a small site, then you will love FastComet’s pricing and features.

Hosting.com: Best for powerful features

What we liked

Extensive features: All Hosting.com web hosting plans include SSL certificates, a free domain for the first year, email, Redis caching, subdomains, domain aliases, LiteSpeed servers, and more.

Transparent hardware specs: Besides features, Hosting.com also offers impressive hardware specs across all plans, and, more importantly, shares the details on its website. Every plan shows you how many virtual CPUs and how much memory you get, whereas HostGator doesn’t disclose any of that information.

Daily backups: HostGator provides backups, but the frequency is intentionally vague, simply stating it’s “frequent.” We prefer Hosting.com’s specific language and firm commitment to daily backups.

What we didn’t like

Pricey renewals: The promo pricing on Hosting.com’s first two tiers is unbelievably low, but when it's time to renew, the entry-level plan ends up costing more than most competitors'.

Test results

We ran the same exact set of tests on Hosting.com that we ran on FastComet, and Hosting.com fared very well. The overall performance score was high, with fast load times for both the FCP and LCP. Over 8 days, the site experienced near-flawless uptime. The stress test result was equally good.

Our mock site handled the 250 visitors in 1 minute with no errors, with an average response time of 164 milliseconds throughout the surge.

Star rating summary

Hosting.com earned high scores in two essential categories: features and security. Performance also scored strongly, indicating solid speed and reliability in our testing. The service's weakest area is “value and capacity.” This is heavily influenced by the steep renewal rate on the entry-level plan, which ends up being more expensive than most competitors.

Hostinger: Best for beginners and ease of use

What we liked

AI site-building tools: Hostinger’s AI builder makes it much easier to launch a site than doing it manually. The nice thing is that if you do prefer to work on your site manually, that’s still an option. The AI tools are a benefit of the service, not a requirement to use.

hPanel: cPanel is powerful, but it can be intimidating for beginners in ways that Hostinger’s hPanel is not. This makes it more user-friendly for first-time website owners, while still offering enough advanced functionality to satisfy seasoned vets.

One year of free email marketing: Hostinger has a fantastic email marketing product called Reach. Its features stand toe-to-toe with established brands in the space (e.g., Brevo or Mailchimp), and new web hosting clients can use it for free for a whole year.

What we didn’t like

Email is free for only one year: Unlike HostGator and the other cPanel-based hosts featured here, Hostinger does not include free email for the life of your contract. After the first year, you need to convert to a paid email plan or find email hosting elsewhere.

Test results

Hostinger crushed our performance tests, just falling short of a perfect overall score. For FCP and LCP, our mock Hostinger site clocked in at 0.8 seconds and 0.86 seconds, respectively. Uptime remained steady over 9 days, and Hostinger didn’t let up during our stress test either. It handled the 250 visitors in 1 minute with no errors and demonstrated an astonishingly low average response time.

Star rating summary

Hostinger dominated our ratings with top scores in four critical categories: features, performance, security, and overall experience. Support and reputation also scored high, as its AI chatbot is exceptionally good at resolving issues.

The only category where Hostinger showed a big dip was “value and capacity.” This was primarily due to the lack of a CDN on the entry-level plan and lower storage and traffic limits than those of some competitors.

When should you consider HostGator alternatives?

HostGator has been a staple in the web hosting industry for over two decades. Its shared hosting includes a 99% uptime guarantee, cPanel, free SSL, a CDN, and the standard 30-day money-back guarantee. Due to the service’s relatively high monthly visitor limits (from 40K to 400K, depending on the plan), it’s a smart choice for high-traffic websites.

However, HostGator's biggest weakness is value. You either pay more for features that competitors offer at lower prices, or you pay more and don't even get certain features. HostGator treats something as basic as website migration as a paid luxury, whereas FastComet, Hosting.com, and Hostinger all provide it free of charge. The bottom line is this: Unless you have a high-traffic website that justifies paying a premium for HostGator, then it's better to choose an alternative.

Bottom line: The best HostGator alternatives

FastComet is the best HostGator alternative for most users, delivering the same familiar cPanel experience at a better value, with comprehensive features and perfect star ratings in our most important testing categories. If you're looking to switch from HostGator, you'll get a smoother transition and better long-term savings with FastComet. The main tradeoff is lower storage capacity, but for most websites, FastComet's space is sufficient.

Hosting.com comes in second for users who prioritize power and hardware transparency. It also comes with cPanel.

Last but not least, Hostinger is a viable choice for those who find cPanel intimidating and would prefer a beginner-friendly interface, which you’ll get with Hostinger’s proprietary hPanel.

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