Many of you are having this basic doubt in your mind, “which is the best hosting among Hostgator and Godaddy?” Today, let me try to present a clear answer to this question. In this GoDaddy Vs HostGator comparison, I will explain the main features of both hosting companies side by side and give conclusion about the better one.
Both Hostgator and Godaddy are reputed well known companies. While Hostgator is dedicated to web hosting business, Godaddy is having domain registration as their primary area. Recently Godaddy is trying to penetrate deeper in to the web hosting business, using their top class technologies and acquisitions of other hosting companies like Host Europe.
Let us begin our GoDaddy Vs HostGator comparison through all important features,one by one.
Server Technology and Quality- GoDaddy Vs HostGator
HostGator.com currently have main servers in Provo, Utah and Houston, Texas with some residing in other locations. Customers cannot choose which data center houses your server. You can optionally activate CloudFlare, which would route your content through an additional 23 data centers worldwide.
Godaddy data centers are located in North America, Europe and Asia. You have the option to select preferred data center from these locations while you set up your hosting account. After initial account creation, GoDaddy provides one free data center migration for every account, but additional migrations are paid services.
Both of these hosting companies claim an up time of 99.99%. I have experienced that actually they are very close to the claimed up time.
Winner –> It is a Tie. Both are equal performers.
GoDaddy Vs HostGator Speed Test
Google loves fast loading websites. Website loading speed is an important factor for Search Engine Optimization. If you are running an E-commerce site, there is no doubt that you should go for the fastest web hosting provider which is affordable within your budget.
In this Godaddy vs Hostgator speed test, I used two newly created WordPress websites with exactly the same configuration. I did a fresh WordPress installation on both and de activated all plugins. Then News Pro, a Genesis framework theme was installed on both. I chose Genesis framework because they have the fastest loading WordPress themes.
First of all I tested the sites with Google Page speed insights. See the results below. The site hosted at Hostgator gives a score of 93 on Desktop and 79 on mobile. The site hosted at Godaddy gives a score of 90 on Desktop and 77 on mobile.
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Next is the test with Pingdom. Both the sites are tested from same geographical location. The site hosted at Hostgator loads pretty fast than the Godaddy hosted site.
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Overall Speed test Winner-> Hostgator
GoDaddy Vs HostGator – Other Benchmark performance tests
Below is the comparison of the two sites using GTmetrix.
Clearly the site hosted at Hostgator loads twice as fast as the site hosted at Godaddy!
GTmetrix test Winner-> Hostgator
Hosting Plans and Pricing – GoDaddy Vs HostGator
Hostgator shared hosting has 3 plans, Hatchling, Baby and Business. Hatchling plan can host only one website. Baby Plan can host unlimited websites and it gives unlimited bandwidth also.
Note that the above prices can be reduced further using the Hostgator coupon codes with 75% OFF, 60% OFF etc. Next have a look at the Godaddy Hosting Plans and Price below. Godaddy hosting plans are named as Starter,Economy, Deluxe and Ultimate.
See Godaddy Hosting Coupons for getting great discounts.
Now assume two situations as below:
- You want hosting for just 1 website: Godaddy Hosting Economy plan is available for $1 per month with a free domain. To get the promo code and avail this offer, see Godaddy Hosting Coupons. Note that this offer is for 12 moths plan only. If you need hosting for 3 years, the price is $165.19 at Godaddy. At the same time, Hostgator Hatchling plan is available for $82.54 for 3 years if you use the Hostgator 75% off coupon.
- You need Hosting for Unlimited no. of Websites: Hostgator is the clear winner here. You can get Hostgator Baby plan for just $89.55 for 3 years if you use the 75% off coupon given in the above link. Godaddy is costly and it requires $209 for 3 years for the Deluxe Hosting Plan.
Overall Affordability: Hostgator is the Winner!
Ease of use- GoDaddy Vs HostGator
Hostgator uses the standard CPanel for the hosting control dashboard. The user interface is super simple.Everything is present in the single CPanel page. You don’t have to navigate to any another page to find the name server settings or any other info.
While Godaddy is also using the CPanel, it is a highly customized version. If you are familiar with the Standard CPanel, this will look somewhat different to you. You have to navigate deeper into other pages to find some details like the name servers.
Winner: Hostgator with Industry standard CPanel
Money Back Guarantee Policy
HostGator offers a 45 day money- back guarantee. If you are not completely satisfied with their hosting services and you terminate your account within 45 days of signing up for the Services, you will be given a full refund of the amount paid for hosting. This money-back guarantee only applies to fees paid for hosting services and does not apply to administrative fees, install fees for custom software or other setup fees, or to any fees for any other additional services.
Godaddy Hosting Money back guarantee policy is as follows:
Annual Plans – Within 30 days of the date of the transaction
Monthly Plans* – Within 48 hours of the date of the transaction.
Note that you will have to delete the free domain name in case if you cancel the hosting plan.
Winner: Hostgator (with longer time to cancel hosting and get refund)
Customer Support- GoDaddy Vs HostGator
Customer support is one of the most important aspect in selecting the best web hosting. Both Hostgator and Godaddy provide 24/7 top class customer support over the telephone. Hostgator offers technical support through chat also.
Unlike Hostgator.com, Godaddy has local toll free numbers for many countries like India.
Winner: Slight advantage for Godaddy as it has local telephone support numbers in many countries.
Conclusion: Godaddy or Hostgator-Which is the best?
In the above compared features, Hostgator outperforms Godaddy with clear majority. In fact I have been using Hostgator for hosting my sites for the last 3 years and never encountered any outage or sluggishness. Whenever I needed, the customer support team was there to solve the issues quickly.
So, I believe this GoDaddy Vs HostGator comparison will be useful for anyone who are in search of the best web hosting. You can comment below your own experience if any.
