In this post, I am going to provide you with an honest and thorough review of HostGator to determine if it is a scam or legit. HostGator is one of the biggest, oldest and most popular web hosting companies in the industry.
Name: HostGator
Website URL: www.hostgator.com
Price: Hatchling Plan $2.75/Month; Baby Plan $3.50/Month; Business Plan $5.25/Month
Owner: Brent Oxley
Overall Rank: 85 out of 100
HostGator Overview
HostGator was founded in 2002 by Brent Oxley and quickly grew to become one of the biggest web hosting companies in the world. Today, it is headquartered in Houston, Texas with an additional presence in Austin, Texas and is a subsidiary of Endurance International Group offering a wide range of web hosting solutions to a massive global customer base.
It is a reliable and customer friendly hosting service. They have one of the best 24/7 customer support services. HostGator has been added as one of the best WordPress hosting companies. They offer shared hosting, Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting, dedicated servers and managed WordPress hosting plans.
HostGator is built by web pros for everyone, from beginners to web pros. Over 2 million websites are currently hosted by HostGator in United States, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Mexico, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Turkey, Africa and Russia. They are committed to getting entrepreneurs online with the best hosting experience possible.
The Good and the Bad
The Good:
- Reliable hosting: HoastGator guarantees an up time of 99.99%. If you experience downtime below that, then you will get back one month credit on your account.
- Generous Moneyback Guarantee: HostGator offers 45 days money back guarantee.
- Flexible Billing Periods: You can choose between monthly and yearly billing periods. Longer billing periods will get you the most discount.
- Free Migration: HostGator offers free migration service with all new accounts. Their expert team will transfer your website from your previous host at no extra cost, during the first 30 days of signing up.
- Support and Customer Service: HostGator offer one of the customer services in the industry. Customers can reach out to the support team 24/7/365 via phone, live chat support, and tweet @HGSupport. Find answers at KnowledgeBase, Learn at HostGator Blog, and HostGator YouTube Video Tutorials.
The Bad:
- Higher Monthly Pricing: Monthly pricing is quite higher than annual plans and the renewal rates for monthly plans are considerably higher than the initial monthly rates.
- Aggressive Upselling: You need to review the additional services preselected for you, during the sign up process. If you are unsure, then uncheck them. You can always add them later, when they are needed.
Who is HostGator For?
HostGator shared hosting is built by web pros for everyone. If you are just starting your website, you should use a shared hosting service for small businesses, personal sites and bloggers. It is tailor-made for bloggers or webmasters.
HostGator Tools & Training
1. YouTube Video Tutorials:
- C panel & Tools
- WebHost Manager (WHM)
- Customer Portal
- Domain & DNS
- Everything WordPress
- Gator Website Builder
- PHP
- Webinars
- Website Security
- Website Optimization
- General Website Hosting
2. Peer Support Forums
3. HostGator KnowledgeBase for answers to most questions
24/7/365 Support
We work when you work
Call us
Chat us
Tweet us
Find answers
Learn stuff
HostGator Pricing
HostGator offers a variety of hosting plans. However, their main offering is shared hosting plans which is where most user’s begin their journey. They have hosting for every website.
Hatchling Plan: $2.75 per month for 36 months with renewal of $6.95 per month
Baby Plan: $3.50 per month for 36 months with renewal of $9.95 per month (Recommended by HostGator)
Business Plan: $5.25 per month for 36 months with renewal of $14.95 per month
Top Features:
Hatchling Plan – One Website; Baby Plan – Unlimited Websites; Business Plan – Unlimited Websites
Free 1 year domain registration with sign-up for at least 12 months (All three plans)
One-click wordpress installs (All three plans)
Free HostGator Website Builder (All three Plans)
Free website & domain transfers (All three plans)
Unlimited bandwidth & disk space (All three plans)
45 day money back guarantee (All three plans, less domain fees)
Free SSL certification (All three plans)
$150 Google ads spending match credit (All three plans)
$100 Microsoft advertising credit (All three Plans)
Free email (All three plans)
Free MySQL transfer & script transfer (All three plans)
Free dedicated IP (Business Plan only)
Free positive SSL upgrade (Business Plan only)
In addition to the above listed prices, HostGator offer other hosting options.
Shared Hosting – $2.75 per month to $14.36 per month with 8 plans
Virtual Private Server – $19.95 per month to $39.95 per month with 3 plans
Dedicated Server – $89.98 per month to $139.99 per month with 3 plans
Cloud Hosting – $4.95 per month to $9.95 per month with 3 plans
Website Builder – $3.84 per month to $9.22 per month with 3 plans
Resellers – $19.95 per month to $24.95 per month with 3 plans
Does HostGator have an Affiliate Program?
Promote HostGator on your website and earn commissions along the way. Joining their affiliate program is fast and free. There is no minimum referral. You choose which products you want to promote from over 100+ designer ads. When you sign up, you will be given your own affiliate link, custom coupon code and banners.
Payout terms for qualified sales is two months + 10 days after the month the sales occurred, which allows for the HostGator 45 Day money back guarantee.
Commissions for sales per month:
- 1 to 5 sales per month = $65 per signup
- 6 to 10 sales per month= $75 per signup
- 11 to 20 sales per month = $100 per signup
- 21 + sales per month = $125 per signup
My Final Opinion of HostGator
HostGator offers a variety of hosting plans for all budgets and requirements. Whether you are a seasoned internet pro or beginning your first website, you’ll find every tool needed to bring your website to the next level. They are one of the largest and most popular hosting companies in the world.
Hosting over 10 million domains, HostGator is one of the most popular web hosts in the industry. With 1-click WordPress installation, 24/7/365 support, 99.9% up-time guarantee, 45 Day money back guarantee, they are a smart choice for every website owner. They are considered one of the best website hosting choices for businesses.
HostGator at a Glance…
Name: HostGator.com
Owner: Brent Oxley
Price: Hatchling Plan $2.75 per month for 36 months, Baby Plan $3.50 per month for 36 Months, Business Plan $5.25 per month for 36 Months
Overall Ranking: 85 out of 100
Verdict: Scam or Legit
HostGator is definitely a legitimate website hosting company, with over 2 million websites around the world. With their guaranteed 99.9% up-time, 45 Day money back guarantee, 24/7/365 support and their affordable pricing, they are a good choice for building your website and getting it online. HostGator is tailor-made for beginner bloggers or webmasters.
In My Opinion, the Most Advanced and Comprehensive Training in the Industry is Wealthy Affiliate.
If you have any questions or comments about this review, please submit them below and I will respond to them, as soon as possible.
All the Best,
Eddie
Founder of Hartland Marketing Solutions
hartlandmarketingsolutions.com
I have been looking at different web hosting services and providers, so it is good to come across Hostgator here. There rates of $2.75, $3.50 and even $5.50 per month sound very good. As those the rates you get if you upfront for 36 months? Or is it a monthly direct debit that you sign?
How do these prices compare with other big providers like BlueHost?
You say that Hostgator has an affiliate program and it is easy to apply, but do you have a link where one can sign up? Thanks.
Thank you for your comments. HostGator requires a commitment of 36 months to get the lower rates on a monthly basis but after the 36 months your rate will go up. Also, their free domain is good only for one year then the regular rates apply.
HostGator and Bluehost are owned by Endurance International Group and are very similar. WordPress recommends Bluehost as their #1 web hosting provider but they also recommend HostGator as one of the best web hosting providers.
Bluehost user experience appears to be slightly better than HostGator because they have invested heavily in their WordPress platform. HostGator tries to beat Bluehost by having slightly cheaper hosting plans, a 45-day money back guarantee and faster support. If you chose either platform you could not go wrong.
If you go to HostGator.com the affiliate program is in their header and also at the bottom of their page.
Hi Eddie,
Thanks for the comprehensive review of Hostgator. I have several sites hosted at Hostgator and most of my experiences have been good. There were a couple of occasions when what I needed from site support wasn’t met. Generally though each problem I had talked through in the Live Chat feature a had a good outcome.
Also was wondering what the ranking system was that gave you the 85 out of 100 score.
All the best
Thank you for your comments. They have a reputation of having one of the best customer service and support programs in the industry.
As far as the ranking system I used, it was an average of several reviews that I viewed.