It’s easy to get confused between HostGator and GoDaddy when looking for a web host provider. After all, these are the two giants in the web hosting industry that many have come to trust. However, knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each web host can make it easier to choose the best fit for your website.
A quick comparison shows that HostGator and GoDaddy are not too different, and in fact share a few similarities.
Both hosting providers offer an uptime guarantee of 99.9%, and 24/7 live chat, phone, and email customer support. They also provide tutorials and knowledgebase articles where you’ll find solutions to problems and answers to questions you may have.
The main difference between these two web hosts, which may influence your final decision, is the type of security offered. GoDaddy performs backup and malware scans daily while HostGator only does this on a weekly basis. An even closer look at the other differences and similarities between HostGator and GoDaddy is discussed below.
Here below is a tl;dr summary version of our of HostGator and GoDaddy head to head comparison.
The following web hosting features have been compared and scored (click on the link to scroll to each feature section): 1. reliability, 2. security, 3. scalability, 4. cancellation, 5. support and 6. extras.
| Company | Main features | Price | Rating | More |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 GoDaddy | Free domain name Unlimited bandwidth 24/7/365 support 45-day money back guarantee More features at godaddy.com | From 12.99 /mo | 71% score | Visit website Read reviews |
 HostGator |
More features at hostgator.com | From $2.75/month | 67% score | Visit website Read reviews |
If you are starting a small business, you may not think you need much from your host. But what happens if you start to get more traffic? You might be ready to move from shared to VPS hosting. First, what is the difference between the two plans?
Shared hosting is a type of web hosting service where the service provider uses one server to house multiple websites, each with their own domain name. Drawbacks of shared hosting are:
For smaller sites, shared hosting offers the most affordable hosting option.
VPS hosting (Virtual Private Server) shares the same physical hardware as other sites but allows the site owner more access and security options than shared hosting.
HostGator has generously packed VPS plans with fair resources.
Security issues and traffic spikes on other sites are unlikely to affect your site if you use a VPS, however it is more costly than shared hosting. Overall, there are a number of reasons why a VPS plan can be beneficial as opposed to a shared plan:
It’s generally a safer option, although pricier.
You can choose a yearly or monthly contract for your website hosting. This gives you flexibility because you may wish to upgrade if your site really takes off.
Upgrades will only incur a fee that amounts to the difference between your existing plan and the new one.
If you want to upgrade your site because you have greater needs than when you started, the only cost you’ll incur is the difference between your current plan and the one to which you upgrade.
There won’t be any downtime whilst this is done. If you’re very “tech-savvy,” you can even do the upgrade on your own.
The list of expectations must sometimes be exceeded, and this is exactly the case with web hosting companies. They exceed our expectations with a handful of bonus goodies.
You get a free domain name for the first term of every site you create. You have access to a website builder for a fee. If you wish to migrate your site from another host, it’s free to do so.
You can use some free advertising in Yahoo/Bing and Google AdWords because you’ll receive $200 in credits.
You get a free website builder to help create your new site. Your domain name will be free for the first term as long as your hosting package is a year or more.
You get $100 of Google Adwords advertising credits.
You can migrate your site from a different host to GoDaddy and you won’t incur any fees for doing so.
Still not sure which host is right for you? It can be difficult to decide, so here are a few more areas you might consider.
The control panel is where you access many of your host’s features, including files, apps, email, and domains.
GoDaddy users will have access to cPanel, a very popular control panel that is easy to navigate. There is also plenty of documentation online if you need help completing a specific task.
If you use Hostgator, on the other hand, the control panel will depend upon the plan. Lower level hosting plans will use cPanel, but Resellers and another specialty plans use Web Host Manager, while VPS and Windows hosting plans use Plesk.
Wondering which host is better if you are using WordPress? Overall, GoDaddy seems to offer more features, but the best WordPress host will depend upon your specific needs.
Here are a few features each host offers specifically targeted to WordPress users.
Visit hostgator.com Visit godaddy.com
