SiteGround vs HostGator: Which is Better?

The Winner

HostGator provides a user-friendly experience...

HostGator has stronger features than SiteGround, especially for hosting novices, but it’s a close call. Both providers are feature-rich, yet SiteGround limits its customer base by only offering a few types of hosting plans.

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HostGator and SiteGround both have a lot to offer, scoring 4.1 and 4 out of 5 for their features, respectively. However, the two are directed at slightly different audiences. HostGator provides an all-bases-covered service for those in need of simple, reliable hosting on a moderate scale. Meanwhile, SiteGround is angled more at resource intensive sites in need of superb tech support and custom plans.

HostGator plans come with a free domain, free email, unlimited websites (from the Baby plan), and unmetered bandwidth and disk space. In comparison, SiteGround’s plans offer similar features, but its starting plan comes with a limited 10GB storage, which only increases to 40GB with the highest plan.

HostGator and SiteGround share an advertised uptime of 99.9%, meaning very little downtime over the year. And, in our site speed testing, HostGator achieved third place overall. Unfortunately for SiteGround, it is the worst provider for server response time, and delivered a below average site speed during our tests.

Another key downside to SiteGround is its lack of hosting types since it doesn’t offer any VPS or dedicated hosting plans. This could severely limit a business that’s looking to grow online – shared hosting is a great starting point, but it’s not a sustainable option for larger websites.

HostGator, on the other hand, offers shared, WordPress, VPS, and dedicated hosting plans. In fact, HostGator is our top choice for shared hosting overall, scoring an impressive 4.7 out of 5 in our research. To compare, SiteGround only scores 3.7 out of 5 for its shared hosting services.

Looking for a Feature-Rich Hosting Provider?

HostGator’s plans are full of impressive features, including a free domain and unmetered bandwidth. If you’re looking for a shared hosting plan, HostGator is the best option out there!

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Further Information

• What is Web Hosting?: Our complete beginner’s guide to the ins and outs of web hosting.
• Best Web Hosting Providers: Research-driven rankings of the best all-round hosting providers.

The Winner

SiteGround is best for WordPress integration...

SiteGround is explicitly recommended by WordPress; HostGator isn’t. Both offer excellent WordPress hosting, so this shouldn’t be the deciding factor, but SiteGround is better for a dedicated service and offers cheaper plans.

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SiteGround is one of the three providers recommended by WordPress itself, the other two being Bluehost and DreamHost. They know what they’re doing. In fact, SiteGround comes third overall in our WordPress hosting research, scoring 4.3 out of 5. Even the cheapest plan comes with excellent WordPress features, including helpful auto-updates.

HostGator performs well too, sitting just behind SiteGround in fourth position with a score of 4.2 out of 5.

Ultimately, both hosting providers have excellent WordPress integration with one-click installation, and affordable starting prices in comparison to competitors, but SiteGround takes the cake.

SiteGround also offer a free site transfer with its plans. It’s obviously in SiteGround’s interest to make switching to its plans easy, but it’s an excellent feature nonetheless.

And just to be clear: you don’t need a WordPress hosting plan to host a WordPress website. If you’re just starting out, a shared plan with either provider will do just fine. It’s when a WordPress site grows that it needs a more specialized service, at which point you can just change plans.

Want WordPress-Approved Hosting?

SiteGround’s WordPress hosting plans are approved and recommended by WordPress itself – an endorsement that’s hard to beat!

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Further Information

• WordPress Review: Everything you need to know about the CMS powering 1/3rd of the internet.
• Best WordPress Hosting Provider: A closer look at the strengths of Bluehost for WordPress.

The Winner

HostGator has the best help and support...

HostGator offers excellent customer support – it’s the best in the market! Take a look at its Knowledge Base, blog, or contact the team via 24/7 chat and phone support.

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HostGator has the best help and support of any hosting provider on the market right now, scoring 5 out of 5 overall for its support services. Wow!

HostGator’s plans come with 24/7 priority phone and live chat support, or you can do your own research through its extensive Knowledge Base and blog. Both of which are easy to navigate.

SiteGround has a dedicated Customer Care team who provide 24/7 live chat and phone support, but it scores a poor 2.5 out of 5 in our overall hosting support research. This is, in part, due to SiteGround’s lack of hosting options. If you look at its support score for both shared hosting and WordPress hosting, it scores an above average 3.8 out of 5.

Both providers also offer tech tickets, but when the two are pit against each other, HostGator is the clear overall winner.

Looking for Reliable Hosting Support?

HostGator is the real champion when it comes to help and support, scoring a perfect 5 out of 5 in our research.

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The Winner

HostGator is better value for money...

For affordable hosting there are few better than HostGator. SiteGround might be more attractive to larger websites and clients, but you get to enjoy a lot of features for a reasonable price with HostGator. Plus HostGator’s renewal costs are much lower than some of its competitors.

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Cheap doesn’t always mean good value, especially where web hosting is concerned. It’s common practice for web hosting services to flaunt spectacularly low prices and then bolt on essential features as add-ons.

Neither HostGator or SiteGround get too cheeky with this, which is a real plus, but it’s worth bearing in mind that the lowest prices you see are based on the assumption you lock in for a set time and use no add-ons.

For a fair comparison between the two providers, we’ll be looking at their one year subscription fees.

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I Want To Try SiteGround!

The fact is, the 12-month fees can be deceiving, and while SiteGround looks to be the cheaper option in the short-term, you’ll get greater value for money by choosing HostGator. One important thing to look out for is the renewal fees. For example, HostGator’s cheapest shared plan starts at $3.95 per month for a year, but will then renew at $9.99/month. SiteGround’s plans start at $2.99 per month (billed annually), but renew at a costly $14.99… quite the leap!

And there’s a big difference in scores when it comes to our research on price – HostGator scores an overall 3.5 out of 5, while SiteGround scores a measly 1.7 out of 5.

Now, don’t take the the scores the wrong way because both options are very affordable, especially when it comes to entry-level plans, but SiteGround’s focus leans more towards lucrative plans higher up the ladder. It doesn’t scale as gradually as HostGator does, and you get less bang for your buck overall.

Want an Affordable Hosting Plan?

HostGator’s plans come jam-packed with features, all for an affordable price. Its shared hosting plans start from as little as $3.95/month (billed annually)!

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For all-round hosting that’s affordable, reliable, and helpful, HostGator wins out. Not only does it come second overall out of all the hosting providers we’ve tested, but its team has done a terrific job of making a technical service easy to use, even for those with no tech know-how.

Additionally, HostGator’s help and support is unbeatable with its impressive score of 5 out of 5. Crucially, HostGator’s plans are greater value for money than SiteGround as well.

Ultimately, SiteGround is targeted more pointedly at large sites and customers in need of custom solutions. For that, it’s actually one of the best around. SiteGround is simply let down by its lack of hosting types which could limit your growth online, and its poor performance scores across our testing.

SiteGround could absolutely be the right fit for your needs, but we’d recommend opting for HostGator if you’re after a more reliable and cost-effective hosting provider.

Want to Try HostGator?

Not only does HostGator have the best help and support of any hosting provider on the market, but it’s also the second best provider we tested overall. Why not give it a try?

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Want to Try SiteGround?

SiteGround’s plans have some impressively cheap introductory offers, but be wary of the renewal prices before you sign up! Take a look for yourself.

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