Assuming that you are searching for fast yet reasonable web hosting, HostGator and GoDaddy are two of the most notable suppliers of this sort of service.
The two hosts have some fantastic shared hosting plans that are focused on WordPress users and non-users.
In any case, while the title features and prices of the two hosts appear to be comparative, as my tests uncover, there are massive differences in performance with regard to site speed and the capacity to deal with various synchronous visitors.
Thus, on the off chance that you’re considering HostGator or GoDaddy, these experimental outcomes did utilize paid tools, as well as my assessment of their features and hosting innovation, will empower you to pursue an informed choice on which host to join with or whether you ought to look somewhere else.
We should start.
Contents
Both HostGator and GoDaddy have hosting plans for a wide range of websites, yet, for this comparison, we are zeroing in on their reasonable WordPress-friendly entry-level shared hosting services.
Later on in this review, we will likewise investigate their WordPress-just plans to perceive how they vary from the basic shared plans.
This review begins with certain points to consider while picking a plan, prior to taking a look at the prices of the different HostGator and GoDaddy shared hosting services.
From that point onward, we will investigate the vital features of the shared hosting plans and their primary distinctions.
Then, we will share the performance test results, which uncover who is the fastest shared host and whether websites hosted by HostGator or GoDaddy are better at dealing with different visitors simultaneously.
Thus, we should start with a glance at what to consider prior to joining another shared hosting supplier.
Reasonable Plans:
As you are going to see, the HostGator and GoDaddy shared hosting plans are truly reasonable. Notwithstanding, know that the cheapest promoted prices are just available for new contracts, and furthermore that the more drawn out your contract, the lower comparable month-to-month expense you will pay.
When your underlying agreement is fulfilled, you will pay a higher rate to reestablish your plan. Once more, the amount relies upon the length of your renewal contract.
Along these lines, it means quite a bit to look at the maximum prior to picking a plan, as opposed to simply checking the discounted rates out. Doing so ought to help to keep your host from turning out to be too costly once your underlying contract is fulfilled and now is the ideal time to restore.
Be that as it may, as your underlying agreement can be as long as three years in length with the two hosts, you can secure these discounted rates for a considerable length of time.
Unlimited Bandwidth Allowances:
The reasonable shared hosting plans from HostGator and GoDaddy are intended for individual or small business websites, and their use policies mirror this.
In this way, while there is unlimited storage and bandwidth on all of the HostGator and the vast majority of the GoDaddy shared plans, your usage is checked.
In the event that you surpass what is considered to be reasonable use levels for an individual or small business website, you will be contacted by the hosts to examine what is happening. At times, you might need to move to a superior-resourced and more costly plan.
With those two brings up of the way, we should take a gander at the vital details of the HostGator and GoDaddy shared hosting plans. As referenced, these plans are appropriate for WordPress and non-WordPress websites.
HostGator has three different shared hosting plans.
Each of the three HostGator shared hosting plans incorporate unlimited storage and bandwidth:
- Hatchling: From $2.75 (and up to $10.95) a month for one website.
- Baby: From $3.95 (and up to $11.95) a month for unlimited websites.
- Business: From $5.95 (and up to $16.95) a month for unlimited websites and admittance to extra tools.
Hatchling: From $2.75 (and up to $10.95) a month for one website.
Baby: From $3.95 (and up to $11.95) a month for unlimited websites.
Business: From $5.95 (and up to $16.95) a month for unlimited websites and admittance to extra tools.
Not at all like GoDaddy, all of the HostGator shared plans have similar performance details. Along these lines, you need to experience a similar site speed and load dealing with, regardless of which one you pick.
We will cover the plans in more detail later in this review, yet, to give you a quick idea, the HostGator shared plans accompany:
- cPanel web hosting control panel
- a single tick WordPress installs
- free WordPress/cPanel website move
- free SSL certificate on all plans
- free domain (with agreements of a year or longer)
- 45-day money-back guarantee
- day in and day out/365 support.
Up until this point, we have covered the primary features and performance of the HostGator and GoDaddy shared hosting plans. Here are some basics that you would be interested in as well:
- Website caching: HostGator furnishes WordPress users with an in-house Endurance Cache service which has three degrees of storing. Site reserving is managed through your WordPress dashboard by means of an in-house plugin. GoDaddy doesn’t give admittance to a reserving tool and suggests you utilize a third-party plugin.
- Content Delivery Network (CDN): Both hosts support integration with free and paid outsider CDNs. On the other hand, you can pay for the GoDaddy CDN service or the HostGator SiteLock paid add-on.
- PHP: You can browse a scope of PHP versions somewhere in the range of 7.0 and 7.4 through web communication with the two hosts, however with GoDaddy you can likewise pick version 5.6.
- HTTP/2.0: Neither host has HTTP/2.0 empowered on their shared plans.
- SSL: HostGator lets you rapidly apply a free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate, import your own, or buy a superior certificate as an extra. With GoDaddy, the most common way of applying for a free SSL certificate is a touch more confounded, however, you can likewise buy one straightforwardly from them or import your own certificate from somewhere else.
- SFTP: You can Secure FTP to get to your web space for uploading and altering files with the two hosts.
- Server record manager: HostGator and GoDaddy both give you admittance to your server space through a cPanel program-based document manager.
- Database access: You can get to your WordPress and different databases through a program utilizing phpMyAdmin with the two hosts.
- Email service: The shared plans from HostGator and GoDaddy incorporate an email service with webmail, POP3, and SMTP.
- WordPress website management: You have the choice of empowering automatic WordPress programming, topic, and plugin reports on the shared plans from the two hosts.
- Plugin limitations: Unlike some managed WordPress hosts, there are no arrangements of refused plugins for one or the other host.
- Safety efforts: Both hosts in all actuality do screen their networks for assaults as standard. Notwithstanding, HostGator has SiteLock and GoDaddy has Web Security paid additional items, which incorporate day-to-day malware examination automatic malware evacuation, and other security features.
- Post-hack tidy-up services: HostGator has a paid post-hack examination service, and their discretionary paid SiteLock add-on service incorporates post-hack tidy-up services for sites that have been tainted with malware or experienced other security breaks. The GoDaddy Web Security subscription add-on covers website fixes.
- Datacenter areas: GoDaddy can host your website on their servers in North America, Europe, and Asia, while with HostGator websites on the shared plans are hosted in their data centers in Texas, South Central USA, or Utah, Western USA.
- Staging sites: Neither host gives admittance to a WordPress staging tool on their shared plans.
- WordPress website movement: The HostGator shared plans to incorporate the relocation of one WordPress website and add a cPanel account, while GoDaddy charges $99 per migration.
- Uptime checks and guarantee: Both hosts screen their servers for downtime yet not individual customer websites. GoDaddy guarantees a service uptime of 99.9% (which considers around 8h 45m of downtime each year) and will give a hosting discount on account of downtime, yet there are a few provisos. HostGator additionally guarantees server uptime of 99.9%. Assuming uptime falls beneath 99.9%, you might get one month of credit for that account.
- Support channels: Both hosts offer all-day, every-day/365 support through telephone and live chat on their shared hosting plans.
GoDaddy has hosted a wide range of websites, including a decent shared hosting service.
The GoDaddy shared hosting plans are not quite as low-priced as the ones from HostGator, yet they are as yet an entirely reasonable choice for WordPress and non-WordPress websites:
- Economy: From $5.99 (and up to $8.99) a month for one website with 100 GB of storage and standard performance.
- Deluxe: From $7.99 (and up to $11.99) a month for unlimited websites with unlimited storage and standard performance.
- Extreme: From $12.99 (and up to $16.99) a month for unlimited websites with unlimited storage and 2x handling power.
- Maximum: From $19.99 (and up to $24.99) a month for unlimited websites with unlimited storage and 2x handling power and speed.
Dissimilar to HostGator, not all of the GoDaddy shared plans will give similar degrees of performance. As you can see over, the Unlimited and Maximum plans have additional handling power and speed.
Considering this, GoDaddy suggests WordPress users pick the Ultimate plan or above, on account of the expanded handling power that is accessible.
Be that as it may, you can host a WordPress website on any of the shared plans, and, for this review, we involved the standard-performance Deluxe plan for the site speed and load taking care of tests.
Along these lines, you ought to find out what load times to expect on the off chance that you host a WordPress website on the lower-priced shared plans from GoDaddy.
Before we investigate the critical features of these plans in more detail, here’s a speedy outline of what you get with the GoDaddy shared hosting plans:
- cPanel web hosting control panel
- a single tick WordPress installs
- free SSL certificate on certain plans
- free domain (with agreements of a year or longer)
- 30-day money-back guarantee (on yearly plans and longer)
- all day, every day/365 support.
Presently we have covered the critical subtleties of the HostGator and GoDaddy shared hosting plans, we should investigate what these two hosts offer in more detail.
- DOMAIN NAME REGISTRATION
In the event that you do not have a domain name for your new website, then, at that point, the uplifting news is the two hosts furnish you with a free one-year domain registration on the off chance that you pursue a year or more.
Nonetheless, you will need to pay the renewal expenses. Thus, contingent upon the domain extension (.com, .net, and so forth) it might figure out less expensive over the long haul to register your domain somewhere else, and afterward guide it toward your HostGator or GoDaddy account.
It is a draw, on the grounds that the two hosts remember free domain registrations for agreements of a year or longer.
- SSL CERTIFICATES
In the event that you might want to help to keep your visitors’ data secure and stay away from their programs showing a shaky admonition message, it is fundamental that your website has an SSL certificate.
An SSL certificate will help to keep your website and visitor data secure.
All of the HostGator shared plans incorporate a free SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt that is automatically applied to your website during sign-up.
In any case, in the event that you pick the high-level HostGator Business plan, you will gain admittance to a Positive SSL certificate at no additional expense, something they would in any case charge you $39.99 per year for. You can likewise buy other SSL certificates from HostGator or somewhere else if fundamental.
With GoDaddy, just the main two Ultimate and Maximum shared hosting plans incorporate an SSL certificate. Be that as it may, while the high-level Maximum plan incorporates lifetime access to SSL certificates,
The lower-priced Ultimate plan just incorporates this free for one year. From that point onward, you can either pay GoDaddy to recharge it or make your own certificate.
One more choice for GoDaddy customers on any of their shared plans is to buy the SSL Certificate add-on, which begins at around $60 every year or install a certificate from somewhere else.
As you can install your own certificate, applying a free one to your site is conceivable. Notwithstanding, the cycle is not really direct, and you will need to reapply it like clockwork, adding one more errand to your daily agenda.
The automatically applied free SSL certificate that is incorporated with all of the shared HostGator plans makes them the champ here.
- WEBSITE BACKUPS
Since keeping everything backed up is a fundamental piece of dealing with a website, it’s great to see the two hosts empower you to do this on their shared plans.
With both HostGator and GoDaddy, you can back up your cPanel account, which incorporates your WordPress or another sort of website, alongside any files you have uploaded and settings you have designed.
As well as backing up your whole cPanel account, you are likewise ready to create incomplete backups that can incorporate some or all of your record indexes, MySQL databases, and email accounts.
You can back up your account with both GoDaddy (imagined) and HostGator through cPanel.
In this way, while you can back up your website and other content with HostGator and GoDaddy, there’s no WordPress-centered backup tool around the shared plans. In any case, you can add this feature to your account as a paid extra with the two hosts.
HostGator customers can add automatic WordPress backups to their accounts through a CodeGuard subscription.
With HostGator, you can add a CodeGuard subscription to your account, giving you admittance to a WordPress website backup tool with day-to-day automatic backups. GoDaddy customers can add a comparative tool to their accounts, through the website backup add-on.
Both the GoDaddy (envisioned) and HostGator-paid WordPress backup solutions function admirably.
On the off chance that you will use WordPress, another choice is to install a backup plugin, like UpdraftPlus. Doing so will empower automatic day-to-day backups for your WordPress website at no additional expense.
- CUSTOMER SUPPORT
On the off chance that you really want help, you can contact HostGator and GoDaddy nonstop, seven days per week, the entire year.
You can reach out through their telephone and live chat support stations, with global phone numbers for customers outside the US.
There’s no email support accessible on the shared plans from one or the other host, yet GoDaddy really does allow you to contact support by means of WhatsApp something that might be more advantageous for individuals in a hurry.
GoDaddy edges ahead somewhat here because of the WhatsApp support channel, albeit the hang-tight times for a live chat connection were sometimes very lengthy with GoDaddy, particularly contrasted and HostGator.
Now, that we have covered what’s really remembered for the shared plans from these two hosts, now is the right time to take a gander at the outcomes from our tests to see if HostGator or GoDaddy has the best performance.
GoDaddy versus HostGator Performance Tests
To lay out which host is the faster one, we used the paid Pingdom service to gauge the load times of our test WordPress websites for more than a seven-day duration, while likewise observing their uptime.
Then, we used K6 (previously Load Impact) to reproduce numerous virtual users getting to the test sites simultaneously to perceive how they dealt with visitors.
- LOAD TIME TESTING
For the Pingdom load time testing, two sets of tests were performed to see if GoDaddy or HostGator had the quickest shared hosting plans.
The main reason for tests checked the speed of WordPress websites utilizing a lightweight subject, while the second set assessed WordPress websites utilizing a heavyweight topic.
This ought to provide you with a smart thought of what load times you could accomplish, contingent upon whether you create a straightforward website or a further developed one.
During the test, Pingdom recorded the speed of the sites like clockwork north of seven days to lay out the normal load times.
For the lightweight topic tests, the well-known and free Twenty subject was installed on the sites. This lightweight WordPress subject functions admirably for individual web journals and basic business websites the sorts of sites these two hosts suggest their shared plans for making it a decent choice for the principal set of tests.
When two websites that were essentially as indistinguishable as conceivable were set up with Twenty initiated, Pingdom checked a fundamental page, containing a picture and some message, from each site.
HOSTGATOR AND GODADDY WORDPRESS-ONLY HOSTING PERFORMANCE
Another choice is to pick the WordPress-just plans from HostGator and GoDaddy, yet these plans can be more costly, contingent upon which choice you pick.
As well as having some WordPress-accommodating features, for example, automatic backups and programming refreshes, these plans ought to make your website load a lot quicker than it would on the nonexclusive shared plans we are zeroing in on in this review.
For the site using the heavyweight Avada subject hosted on the passage level HostGator WordPress plan, the load time was very somewhat quicker, coming in at 2.63 seconds versus the 2.66 seconds for the shared plan.
The outcomes were greatly improved for a similar site setup hosted on the GoDaddy WordPress plan. While the site hosted on the GoDaddy shared plan had a typical load time of 3.5 seconds, on the GoDaddy WordPress plan it was a truly satisfactory 1.2 seconds a similar typical load time for the site utilizing the lightweight subject hosted on the shared plan.
Even though the HostGator shared plan we tried was faster than the identical from GoDaddy, when it came to their WordPress-just plans, it was the opposite way around, with the GoDaddy site having a 1.42 second quicker normal load time.
In this way, on the off chance that you truly do plan to utilize a heavyweight subject, you might need to consider paying a piece extra for the somewhat more costly GoDaddy WordPress hosting plans.
Note that the features and recompenses truly do contrast between the shared and WordPress-just plans, so make certain to peruse the small print to find out precisely the exact things incorporated.
For the best results, however, it merits considering moving up to managed WordPress hosting.
So, which Web Hosting is better: GoDaddy or HostGator?
The entry-level HostGator and GoDaddy shared plans certainly offer great benefits for the money. This is particularly evident assuming you secure the limited time rates that are accessible for new customers for the maximum conceivable time of three years.
Besides, whether you use WordPress for your website, making a web-based presence with either host is exceptionally clear.
Nonetheless, while there’s not a lot to isolate the hosts with regards to features and user experience, tests uncovered that the somewhat less expensive HostGator shared hosting plans give preferable degrees of performance over the service from GoDaddy.
While HostGator beat GoDaddy in the performance tests, the two hosts battled when a heavyweight subject and one of its advanced demos were utilized.
Which one is better HostGator or GoDaddy?
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as the best hosting provider for you will depend on your specific needs and preferences.
However, we can compare HostGator and GoDaddy in terms of some key features to help you make a decision.
Both HostGator and GoDaddy offer a variety of hosting plans at different price points.
Top 3 Best GoDaddy Vs. HostGator Hosting Alternatives:
- A2 Hosting
- BlueHost
- GreenGeeks
In light of GoDaddy versus HostGator, the two hosts will be reasonable in the event that you plan to create an individual website or small business site, keep the plan of your site basic, and try not to utilize a feature-pressed subject and one of its demos. Notwithstanding, HostGator would convey better performance.