Our experience with HostGator
Not recommended. It's a budget hosting provider not ideal for business owners. Nothing but problems for our customers with built-in caching and hidden plugins.
Our rating
1.0 / 5
Reviewed by the PremiumPress team.
Affiliate link — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our take for PremiumPress sites
In practice, HostGator is best suited to budget-conscious sites with lower traffic. It is less suited to a growing PremiumPress business that expects meaningful traffic from day one.
It belongs to the same corporate family as Bluehost and carries similar built-in caching and account-management layers.
PremiumPress support has fielded more complaints from HostGator customers than from most other hosts on this list. Most are about caching conflicts when editing with Elementor, and about issues taking longer to resolve as sites grow.
If you are launching a serious directory, auction or membership site, compare HostGator directly with the higher-rated options on this list, particularly Host Upon or GreenGeeks, before you commit.
Pros
None reported by our team.
Cons
- Budget provider, not ideal for business owners
- Built-in caching causes problems
- Hidden plugins
About this review
- Reviewed by
- PremiumPress team
- Our rating
- 1.0 / 5
- Our verdict
- Not Recommended
- Money-back guarantee
- 30 days
- Support: phone & live chat
- 24/7/365
- Free SSL, CDN & unmetered bandwidth
- Every plan
- Control panel
- cPanel
Plans and pricing
| Plan | Best for |
|---|---|
| Shared (Hatchling → Pro) | 10–100 websites, 10–100GB SSD, 40k–400k monthly visits |
| WordPress | WordPress-specific hosting with staging environments |
| VPS / Dedicated | Sites that outgrow shared resources |
| Reseller | Agencies hosting client sites |
Our review, in detail
Who is HostGator?
HostGator has been operating since 2002 and now hosts over 2 million websites. Roughly 30% of its customers are web professionals, meaning developers and agencies building for clients.
Like Bluehost, it is part of the Newfold Digital family of hosting brands, formerly EIG. The two operate as separate brands but share a fair amount of infrastructure and account-management tooling.
Plans and add-ons
Shared hosting comes in four plans: Hatchling, Baby, Business and Pro. Across them you get:
- 10 to 100 websites
- 10GB to 100GB of SSD storage
- 40,000 to 400,000 visits a month
Beyond shared hosting there is WordPress hosting with staging, VPS, dedicated servers, e-commerce hosting and reseller plans for agencies.
Every plan includes a free Let's Encrypt SSL certificate, unmetered bandwidth, Cloudflare CDN access and one-click WordPress installs. You manage the account through cPanel.
Backups need a closer look. HostGator sells CodeGuard, an automated backup product, as an add-on. The standard backup schedule on the lower shared plans is not always frequent enough to protect data that changes quickly, such as listings or bids.
If you run a database-heavy PremiumPress theme like an auction or directory site, or your site handles real transactions, we suggest budgeting for the add-on.
Guarantees and support
HostGator offers a 30-day money-back guarantee with no questions asked, and a free domain for the first year on qualifying plans.
Support runs 24/7/365 by phone and live chat, and there is a self-service knowledge base.
The higher shared plans add a dedicated IP address and SEO tools. They are aimed at customers who want more of their own infrastructure without moving up to a VPS.
A website builder and a one-click app installer come with every shared plan. They are handy for putting up a basic holding page while your PremiumPress theme is being set up.
Unmetered bandwidth is included on every shared plan, not only the dearer ones, which makes the plans simpler to compare.
Ready to get started with HostGator?
Read another hosting review
Host Upon4.0 / 5Read review
GreenGeeks4.0 / 5Read review
DreamHost4.0 / 5Read review
This review is our own opinion, based on our experience and feedback from our customers. Your experience may differ.