HostGator Review

HostGator is a solid player in the hosting game. Although not as well known as some hosts, they have built a reputation for reliability that is hard to beat. If you’ve been let down by other hosts, they may be just what you are looking for.

HostGator is also offering a 20% off deal for new customers by using the coupon code SPRING.

Shared Hosting

HostGator has three shared hosting plans, providing a very nice set of tiered offerings. While the Baby plan may be more in line with a lot of their competitor’s plans, the Hatchling plan is more than adequate for most sites. With all their plans, you get the CPanel control panel with the Fantastico script library that is rightfully so popular, unlimited MySQL databases, a choice of three shopping carts, and instant setup.

Their top shared plan, moodily named Swamp, may at first look expensive for shared Unix hosting. However, you might do better to compare it against Windows hosting, as you get the ChiliSoft ASP interpreter on top of the tradition development tools. Throw in anonymous FTP and private SSL (very nice for a fully professional looking ecommerce site) and the price is not bad at all, especially given HostGator’s reputation for reliability.

Windows Hosting

HostGator has been talking about adding Windows hosting for a good while now (this is June 2008 when I am writing this), but it has yet to appear as an offering on their site. This may not be a bad thing. Honestly, I would rather a host work out all the kinks, quirks, and details of a new service before offering it to the public, and I think that is what is happening here. Given HostGator’s reputation for reliability, I doubt they want to launch into the mire of Windows hosting without knowing they can provide the same solid uptime as with Unix. They have launched Windows dedicated servers, which may well be their stepping stone into the Windows shared space. In any case, I’ll update this when something changes.

Dedicated Hosting

For a while it looked like HostGator was getting out of the dedicated hosting business. Sales were halted on three of their four plans and the fourth had just limited inventory. Times change. Not only has HostGator reinstated sales of all of their dedicated plans, those plans have been updated for the current competitive landscape and are now offered in both Unix (several flavors) or Windows (Windows Server 2003) varieties. While they are not discount servers as some hosts market, the prices are reasonable for the type of hardware used. There are no Celeron servers here, but solid machines for serious hosting needs.

There is one oddity I’d like to comment on. Even though the prices increase as you go up in server level, the plans do not always follow suit. In particular, the Elite plan may seem out of step, given its smaller total storage and fewer IP addresses than the Standard plan. Rather than let this throw you, I suggest you view their plans as being laid out in a 2×2 grid like so:

While this may help explain the nature of the plans, it doesn’t explain the higher cost of the Elite plan over the standard. Both are upgrades from the Basic and a step below the Pro plan, yet one demands a premium that the other does not. In the end, the Elite plan may be best avoided.

Support

HostGator’s support is quite well-rounded. You get the basics, of course: an online knowledgebase and a ticketing system for requests. On top of this, you also have live chat support and an active support forum. And, unlike far too many hosts, there is the acme of support, a 24/7 toll-free sales and support line. Support is the cornerstone of HostGator’s reputation and you won’t find it lacking.

What The Reviewers Say

• “If you’re tired of bouncing from host to host then I would suggest you give HostGator a try.” — WebHostingJungle

What HostGator Says

Hostgator is a privately owned company founded in 2002 that has no debt, is very profitable, and has NO intentions of selling any time soon. We provide service to over 1,000,000 websites on our shared and reseller plans. We are the world’s leading provider of reseller accounts with over 20,000 resellers who have chosen us to provide the network, servers, and support required to launch a hosting business.

Hostgator may eat up the competition, but we have nothing but love for our customers! Our team has over forty support veterans that are here to assist you 24/7/365 by chat, phone, and ticket system. Many companies claim to offer this type of support and customer satisfaction but not many are willing to prove it.

We welcome you to give us a test call. Are you still not sure if Hostgator is the right choice? What if you had a special hookup? Well you do! Our owner Brent Oxley is at your disposal for any problems you may have. While Brent might not be reachable by phone all the time you are welcome to request your ticket be assigned to him for the extra TLC you deserve!

Choosing HostGator means that your sites will be accessible via a fully meshed and redundant Certified Cisco Network featuring 10 backbone providers.

Go to HostGator

www.hostgator.com