In this article, we will compare the two giants of the hosting world: Hostinger vs HostGator. There is no doubt in our minds that both of these web hosts are exceptional, and their impeccable performance is the reason why they landed in our top 10 best hosting providers list. Both web hosts offer affordable hosting solutions and are therefore largely coveted by small businesses and startups. Not only are they budget-friendly but also offer robust security and reliable tech support that is available 24/7. One might say that on the surface, the two web hosts seem exactly alike, but is that really the case? Let’s find out, shall we?
Hostinger vs HostGator: Comparison at a Glance
| Hostinger vs HostGator | Hostinger | HostGator |
| Price | Starts from $1.99/mo | Starts from $2.75/mp |
| Uptime | 99.99% | 99.99% |
| Free domain | Yes | Yes |
| Payment types | Google Pay, CoinGate, PayPal, Credit card | Credit card, PayPl |
| Hosting types | Shared, VPS, WordPress, Cloud, Minecraft | Shared, WordPress, VPS, cloud, Reseller, and dedicated server hosting |
| Average speed | 511ms | 325ms |
| Control panel | hPanel | cPanel |
| Server locations | United States, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Singapore, Brazil, India, Lithuania, and France. | United States |
| Security | Free SSL, weekly/daily backups, server monitoring, DDoS protection, and 2-factor-authentication | Free SSL, server monitoring, automated backups, and DDoS protection |
| Support | 24/7 live chat and email | 24/7 live chat and email |
| Unlimited data storage | Yes | Yes |
| Extras | Caching, RoR hosting support, and email account | RoR hosting support and email accounts |
| Money back | 30 days | 30 days |
| For more details | Hostinger Web Hosting Review | HostGator Review |
Both Hostinger and HostGator are affordable web hosts and come with top-notch features, resource-packed plans, and great performance. However, between the two, Hostinger, the cost of which starts from $1.99 is the more inexpensive option. This means that price-wise Hostinger is in the lead. But if Hostinger is regarded as the star of affordable hosting, HostGator is applauded for its “unlimited hosting” offerings. However, this table just gives you a tiny peek into the versatility of these web hosts. Let’s explore further to get to know these better.
Hostinger vs HostGator: Hosting Types Comparison
| Hosting type | Hostinger | HostGator |
| Shared hosting | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| WordPress hosting | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Cloud hosting | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| VPS hosting | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| cPanel hosting | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Minecraft hosting | ✔️ | ❌ |
| CyberPanel hosting | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Dedicated hosting | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Reseller hosting | ❌ | ✔️ |
Both Hostinger and HostGator offer:
- Shared hosting
- WordPress hosting
- Cloud hosting
- VPS hosting
Dedicated hosting, which is considered the most premium hosting of all, as it offers users their own server with a wide range of features and resources isn’t offered by Hostinger but is provided by HostGator. On the other hand, Hostinger offers cPanel hosting, Minecraft hosting, and CyberPanel hosting all of which aren’t offered by its competitor.
Shared Hosting Comparison
| Hostinger vs HostGator | Hostinger | HostGator |
| Storage | 50 GB to 200GB | 10GB to 40GB |
| Monthly visitor limit | 10,000 to 100,000 | 7,000 to 8,000 |
| Free domain | Yes (on some plans) | Yes |
| Free backups | Yes | Yes |
| Bandwidth | 100GB to unlimited | Unmetered |
| Email accounts | 1 to unlimited | Unlimited |
Shared hosting is one of the most popular hosting offered by the two web hosts, which is opted by beginners and small businesses due to its budget-friendliness and easy management. Both web hosts provide affordable shared hosting however with varying perks. Where Hostinger offers a storage space of 30 GB to 200GB, HostGator only offers 10GB to 40 GB. Same with the monthly visitor limit, where Hostinger takes the lead. However, HostGator turned the tables when it came to free domain, bandwidth, and email accounts.
HostGator offers a free domain with all of its shared hosting plans, Whereas Hostinger doesn’t provide a free domain with its cheapest plan. All in all, when it comes to shared hosting it’s a tie between the two.
VPS Hosting Comparison
| Hostinger vs HostGator | Hostinger | HostGator |
| Storage | 20GB to 250GB | 120GB to 240GB |
| Root Access | Yes | Yes |
| Free backups | Yes | Yes |
| Bandwidth | 1TB to 12TB | Unmetered |
| RAM | 1GB to 16GB | 2GB to 8GB |
| Dedicated IP | Yes | Yes |
| Windows or Linux | Both | Linux |
VPS hosting is a blend of shared and dedicated hosting, offering several perks of the latter while omitting the disadvantages of the former. In VPS hosting root access is very important and as you can see in the table above, both web hosts, Hostinger and HostGator offer root access. However, when it comes to VPS hosting, HostGator takes the lead with its unmetered bandwidth, RAM, and storage. But Hostinger’s focus on providing budget-friendly hosting solutions shines brightest with the web host’s VPS packages. Therefore, if you are gravitating towards a more inexpensive web host, then Hostinger is the ideal choice.
WordPress Hosting Comparison
| Hostinger vs HostGator | Hostinger | HostGator |
| Storage | 50 GB to 200 GB | Unmetered |
| Free domain | Yes (on some plans) | Yes |
| Bandwidth | 100 GB to unlimited | Unmetered |
| Automatic WordPress updates | Yes | Yes |
| Automatic WordPress installation | Yes | Yes |
| Number of websites | 100 to 300 | 1 to 3 |
WordPress hosting is Hostinger’s domain. Even though it doesn’t offer a free domain with all of its WordPress hosting plans, the perks and features offered by it are unmatchable. However, on the other hand, HostGator is not a shabby option for WordPress hosting, offering its clients with unmetered bandwidth, a free domain with all of its plans, and unlimited storage.
Cloud Hosting Comparison
| Hostinger vs HostGator | Hostinger | HostGator |
| Websites | 200 to 300 | One to unlimited |
| Bandwidth | Unlimited | Unmetered |
| Storage | 100 GB to 200 GB | 10 GB to unlimited |
| Email addresses | 100 | Unlimited |
| Free domain | Yes | Yes |
| CDN | Yes (not with the cheapest plan) | Only with the most expensive plan |
| Dedicated IP | Only with the most expensive plan | Only with the most expensive plan |
Cloud hosting is an elite hosting, with its tight security and, top-notch features. This kind of hosting is mostly geared towards large organizations that require robust security. Both Hostinger and HostGator offer tight security measures, including firewall, Cloudflare, malware scanner, etc. However, as HostGator offers more perks when it comes to cloud hosting, it takes the lead in this one.
Hostinger vs HostGator: Price Comparison
| Hostinger vs HostGator | Hostinger | HostGator |
| Shared hosting | $1.99 to $3.99/mo | $2.75 to $5.25/mo |
| VPS hosting | $3.49 to $77.99/mo | $23.95 to 59.95/mo |
| WordPress hosting | $1.99 to $11.59/mo | $5.95 to $9.95/mo |
| Cloud hosting | $3.99 to $23.99/mo | $4.95 to $9.95/mo |
When it comes to pricing, Hostinger is the more affordable option starting from just $1.99/mo. In comparison the cheapest HostGator shared hosting plan cost $2.75/mo. Due to its budget-friendliness, Hostinger has become quite famous among the netzines, and as of 2023, the web host is providing hosting services to more than 2 million websites. Therefore, if you are in search of an affordable web host that won’t break your bank and also comes with top-notch features, then Hostinger is the way to go.
Hostinger vs HostGator: Ease of Use Comparison
As both Hostinger and HostGator are targeted towards novices and beginners, they employ easy-to-use and simple user interfaces. Even though they show similarities in terms of ease of use, both web hosts use different management systems. Hostinger offers its users a single native hPanel, while on the other hand with HostGator, you get a native dashboard and cPanel mix.
Hostinger Ease of Use
One top-notch aspect of Hostinger is that it makes the setup process very easy and fast, providing you with an automatic account setup wizard, once you create an account. This wizard will provide you with domain registration, and SSL certificate activation assistance, and will also facilitate you in seamlessly setting up your hosting environment. Moreover, once you opt for Hostinger you will also be provided with a clean, user-friendly, and organized control panel, called hPanel. With the hPanel you will be able to access and manage different tools such as email accounts, domain names, databases, CMS installer, SSL configuration, and more.
HostGator Ease of Use
With HostGator, you will get a native user interface and a cPanel. The native interface handles all the basic tasks such as connection to support, accessing servers and HostGator’s marketplace, and billing. Whereas on the other the cPanel allows you to access more advanced tools like security features, database management, email accounts, and files on your server. The cPanel harbors all the main tools and website management settings. Moreover, on the cPanel you will also find the Softaculous Installer app to help you install CMS like WordPress.
Hostinger vs HostGator: Ease of Use Conclusion
All in all, both web hosts are great when it comes to simplicity and ease of use. However, with its automatic setup wizard and custom control panel, Hostinger takes the win in this one.
Hostinger vs HostGator: Performance
Performance-wise, both web hosts are more or less similar. However, let’s study them in depth to pinpoint any underlying differences.
Hostinger vs HostGator: Uptime and Response Time
When it comes to uptime, both Hostinger and HostGator offer an attractive uptime of 99.99%. Now looking at the response time, Hostinger offers an average repose time of 511ms. Whereas on the other hand, HostGator has an average response time of 525ms, making it just a tab bit slower than Hostinger. In short, when it comes to performance it’s a tie between the two web hosting giants.
Hostinger vs HostGator: Website Speed
Hostinger is an ideal choice for offshore hosting as it offers data centers in 8 locations namely the United States, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Singapore, Brazil, India, Lithuania, and France, while the data centers of HostGator are located only in the United States. That being said let’s take a look at the aspects on the basis of which we will judge the website speed of the two web hosts:
Largest Contentful Paint of LCP – LCP is the time it takes for the largest graphic element to load completely. Google states that an LCP should not be more than 2.5s as that is the maximum recommended loading time.
Fully Loaded Time – This term implies the time it takes for all the website elements to load completely. Studies show that for the best user experience, fully Loaded time should be less than 3 seconds.
When it comes to Hostinger, its hosted websites show an LCP of about 849ms and a Fully Loaded Time of 936ms. Both figures lie well below the industry averages, proving the speediness and efficiency of Hostinger. Moving on to HostGator, its websites show an LCP of about 1.1s and a Fully Loaded Time of 1.2s. even though both values are below the industry averages, the web hosts failed to reach the unparalleled speeds of Hostinger.
Hostinger vs HostGator: Website Security
Hostinger and HostGator both offer basic security features to help keep your website protected and secure. Both hosting providers offer:
- DDoS protection
- SSL certificate
- Server-level security enhancements
- Automatic backups
Unlike HostGator, Hostinger also offers 2-factor authentication. Other than that, Hostinger offers weekly backups with basic and premium hosting plans and daily backups with the business hosting plan. However, unfortunately, HostGator is not as transparent. The company does state that it offers daily, weekly, and monthly backups, however, the schedule is unclear.
Hostinger vs HostGator: Customer Support
Both web hosts offer 24/7 live chat support and harbor extensive knowledge bases. You can also easily get in contact with them via email. Both Hostinger and HostGator agents are quite efficient and friendly. Moreover, their knowledge bases are also informative, easy to navigate, and well organized.
Hostinger vs HostGator: Coupon Codes
Hostinger Coupon Codes
Even though both website hosting providers are quite inexpensive, it doesn’t hurt to get more discounts, does it? To get a discount on Hostinger’s plans please visit Hostinger coupon codes.
HostGator Coupon Codes
For HostGator, please refer to our article, HostGator coupon codes. All of the coupon codes mentioned in the article are tried and tested, so you don’t have to worry about them being a scam.