HostGator Review 2025: How Does It Compare to Other Web Hosts?

HostGator provides decent web hosting services and tools, but it’s far from the best host we’ve ever used.

We liked HostGator’s streamlined dashboard, especially the domain management area, which simplifies advanced tasks like updating DNS records. We also appreciated the additional tools available through HostGator’s WordPress hosting, including the guided setup process that makes site creation accessible to even complete tech newbies.

Unfortunately, HostGator doesn’t offer an actual website builder or any AI tools for WordPress. Most HostGator plans also lack key features like domain privacy and automated backups — things you can get on similarly priced plans from competitors like Hostinger.

HostGator review at a glance

Price	$3.75-$13.95/mo
Money-back guarantee	Yes, 30 days
Uptime guarantee	99%
Monthly visits	40K - 400K
Number of websites	10 - 100
Storage	10 - 100 GB
Free SSL certificate	On all plans
Free domain for a year	On all plans
Backup frequency	N/A
Migration assistance	On all plans
24/7 support	On all plans
Learn more	Get HostGator

Score summary

Here's how our star rating is calculated:

Decision factor	Weight	HostGator Verdict
Our experience	10%	3.5/5
Prices and capacity	18%	3.6/5
Performance	20%	5/5
Features	25%	5/5
Security	20%	5/5
Support and reputation	7%	4.8/5

We last tested HostGator on October 27, 2025.

Our experience

HostGator immediately annoyed us with an upsell for its domain privacy. Once we got past this, however, HostGator’s dashboard was highly intuitive.

We were particularly impressed by the Domains area, which uses a modern design to simplify tasks like configuring DNS settings — something the traditional cPanel can make intimidating to new users. However, you don’t need to use this area. HostGator also provides cPanel access for more advanced users or developers who are accustomed to working with cPanel.

We tested HostGator’s WordPress plan and were pleased to see both a guided setup process for a brand-new site and an intuitive, free-to-use tool for migrating an existing website.

We chose to build an entirely new site. HostGator walked us through every step of the process, from identifying our site’s industry and purpose to selecting a theme. HostGator even presented three options for homepage design based on the theme we’d chosen.

HostGator also let us preinstall plugins for boosting security, tracking analytics, and performing basic marketing tasks like lead generation.

HostGator then directed us to a WordPress Center with links for various tasks, like adding a new page. We appreciated this tool, although it’s not as good as others we’ve worked with, such as the IONOS WordPress dashboard.

HostGator prices and plans

Starting prices for HostGator’s shared hosting range from $3.75-$13.95/mo, with renewal prices ranging from $10.99/mo to $29.69/mo.

Features	Hatchling	Baby	Business	Pro
Price	$3.75/mo	$4.50/mo	$6.25/mo	$13.95/mo
Uptime guarantee	99%	99%	99%	99%
Monthly visits	40K	50K	200K	400K
Number of websites	10	20	50	100
Storage	10 GB	20 GB	50 GB	100 GB
Free domain for a year	On all plans	On all plans	On all plans	On all plans
Free SSL certificate
Domain privacy			Free for first year	Free for first year
Malware detection and removal	Scanning only	Scanning only	Scanning only
Backup frequency
Support	24/7 live chat	24/7 live chat and phone	24/7 live chat and phone	24/7 live chat and phone
Learn more	View plan	View plan	View plan	View plan

HostGator’s starting prices are a little higher than other companies’ — many web hosts, like Hostinger, offer introductory rates starting at $2.99/mo. Renewal costs for HostGator are in line with competitors’ pricing, with companies like Hostinger charging around $11/mo.

However, most of those companies provide more value with automated backups and built-in domain privacy on their lowest-tier plans.

Still, you can get decent value out of HostGator’s Hatchling plan; it’s good for creating small websites like professional portfolios. We recommend the Baby plan if you’re building a larger website — like an ecommerce site or a blog you intend to update weekly — as you’ll be able to take full advantage of the higher storage and bandwidth.

HostGator features

HostGator provides a decent roster of features on all of its shared hosting plans:

• Free domain for the first year
• Site migration tool
• Cloudflare CDN
• Managed WordPress updates
• SSL certification
• Malware scanning
• Firewall protection
• Creative Mail email marketing
• Content and object caching tools
• WordPress staging site

Higher-tier shared hosting plans offer additional security features like malware removal and domain privacy. However, you’ll need to pay extra for backups — something offered freely by many other web hosts — regardless of the plan you choose.

Types of web hosting available

HostGator offers shared hosting — a type of web hosting that splits a server’s resources between numerous websites to reduce costs — which is great for beginners who are happy to learn WordPress on their own. Folks familiar with WordPress and looking to start an affordable website can also take advantage of shared hosting’s lower cost.

We tested HostGator’s WordPress hosting, available from its Baby plan upward, which is shared hosting with a guided WordPress setup process, as well as other tools for first-time WordPress users.

HostGator also offers ecommerce hosting for online stores and VPS or dedicated hosting for sites with more complex needs.

Web building features

HostGator’s shared hosting provides basic website building tools, including one-click installation for WordPress and other content management systems.

The HostGator sign-in button displays a login option for a website builder, but we couldn’t find any information about website builder plans, suggesting that this service may have been discontinued for new users. HostGator doesn’t offer any AI website creation tools for WordPress or any other site builder, either. Competitors like Hostinger, Bluehost, IONOS, and more offer a website builder.

WordPress integration

Every HostGator plan includes full WordPress capabilities with a one-click installation option. The WordPress hosting plans take this integration further, providing a guided setup process and a WordPress Center with links to various site-building tasks.

Web migration

HostGator offers a free site migration tool for WordPress websites. All you need to do is enter the URL, connect HostGator to your site by logging in, and authorize the transfer. HostGator then moves all the content to its servers for you. You can then point your domain at HostGator’s nameservers to complete the hosting switch.

You can also ask HostGator’s staff to migrate one WordPress site for free in your first 30 days of hosting. Additional sites, or sites migrated after 30 days, cost $150 per migration.

HostGator performance

We tested HostGator’s performance in three areas. Our speed tests measured the loading speed of HostGator sites for users in various locations. At the same time, uptime monitoring and response time testing assessed the reliability of HostGator’s servers at different times of day. We also conducted a stress test to determine how HostGator sites handle large groups of simultaneous visitors.

Speed test

We recommend a site speed of 3 seconds or less — the lower the number, the better your site speed (and therefore the user experience) is.

We tested our HostGator site’s speed for users in Montreal, Dallas, and Strasbourg, with the following results:

Product	Performance score	FCP	LCP
HostGator average	100	0.4 s	0.56 s

These results suggest that HostGator serves its websites almost instantaneously to users around the world. Our hands-on testing had similar results, with every page we visited loading almost as soon as we’d clicked on its link.

Uptime and response

Uptime is the amount of time your site spends online and available to the public. HostGator offers a 99% uptime guarantee, meaning server issues can cause your site to go down for up to 1 hour and 40 minutes a week. This is significantly worse than the industry-standard 99.9% uptime guarantee, which allows your site to go down for only 10 minutes per week.

We spent 5 days measuring uptime and response time — the amount of time it takes for your site to start interacting with a user’s browser — with the following results:

Product	Uptime	Average response time	Minimum response time	Maximum response time
HostGator average	100%	103 ms	36 ms	1579 ms

Our site had an impressive 100% uptime, far exceeding the 99% guarantee. We also appreciated the rapid response times, with the longest response time only taking 1.5 seconds. However, the below-average uptime guarantee leaves us concerned that performance may be significantly worse when running a site long-term.

Stress tests

• Stress test results: HostGator passed the stress test.

We ran one stress test with Loader.io. The average 30 ms response time was highly impressive, and even the maximum response time of 168 ms was rapid enough to satisfy every user. Our site didn’t experience any failures either, demonstrating that HostGator servers can smoothly handle websites with numerous simultaneous visitors.

HostGator security features

HostGator protects your site from malware and other threats with a few security measures:

• SSL certification and HTTP/S protocols to encrypt data sent to and from your site
• Firewall software to filter out malware and other suspicious data sent to your site
• DDoS protection to prevent attacks that flood your site with malicious traffic in an attempt to overwhelm the server
• Malware scanning to identify viruses or other malware that gets past the firewall

Higher-tier plans also include automated malware removal. However, none of HostGator’s plans offer things like automated backups, easy site restoration, or 24/7 security monitoring. You also won’t get any WordPress-specific tools like the security plugins offered by IONOS or SiteGround.

HostGator customer support and reputation

Support type	HostGator
Email or live chat	Live chat only
Phone	Only on some plans
Online guides or forums

HostGator provides a decent knowledge base with step-by-step tutorials for numerous web hosting tasks. These tutorials frequently include images, but the lack of videos can be frustrating for users who prefer to learn that way.

The live chat experience is decent, with fast response times and helpful representatives. However, phone support is limited to higher-tier plans — and there’s no email support at all.

HostGator user reviews

• Trustpilot rating: 4.6%

Most Trustpilot reviews for HostGator talk about the amazing customer support helping users with a variety of issues. However, the HostGator subreddit tells a different story, with many people complaining about poor customer service and predatory billing practices.

Top HostGator alternatives

There are several high-quality alternatives to HostGator, including:

Bluehost

One of three hosts officially recommended by WordPress, Bluehost offers a range of shared and WordPress hosting plans for sites of all sizes and shapes.

Learn more in our Bluehost review.

Hostinger

Hostinger provides low-cost web hosting with excellent WordPress features, including automated WordPress updates, on all plans.

Learn more in our Hostinger review.

IONOS

IONOS is a discount web host with prices for both shared and WordPress hosting starting as low as $1.00/mo.

Learn more in our IONOS review.

Bottom line: Is HostGator good?

HostGator is a reliable web host, offering reasonable prices and streamlined tools for various website-building tasks. It delivered strong performance in our speed and stress tests, and we found the interface to be easy to use.

However, you can get a lot more for similar — or lower — prices from companies like Hostinger and IONOS.

FAQs