HostGator and BlueHost are two of the most popular web hosting companies, especially for WordPress Hosting. The question is which is better – HostGator or BlueHost? Both HostGator and BlueHost are evenly matched on several parameters, but there is a clear winner.
HostGator Vs BlueHost – Reliability
HostGator’s servers are hosted in a state-of-the-art data center in Dallas, Texas. These data centers are very well equipped, according to the latest technological standards and connected to 10 backbone providers. BlueHost data centers are located in an equally modern facility in Utah. Both BlueHost and HostGator offer an uptime guarantee of 99.9%, so there is little to choose there.
HostGator Vs BlueHost – Plans
HostGator offers 3 different web hosting plans, Hatchling plan ($4.38/month), Baby plan ($4.78/month) and Business plan ($6.78/month). Hatchling does not offer too many features so it’s better to choose Baby plan or the Business plan.
They give you unlimited bandwidth and disk space, unlimited domains, and unlimited email addresses. HostGator allows you to pay for its plans on a month-by-month basis, so you don’t have to make a lump sum payment at the start of the year.
BlueHost offers three plans as well – Starters Plan, which costs $7.49/month, Plus Plan which costs $11.99/month and Business Plan. BlueHost does not allow you to pay on a month-by-month basis. But do check the websites of both BlueHost and HostGator for the latest prices, because they change all the time.
HostGator Vs BlueHost – Performance
As said earlier, both BlueHost and HostGator offer an uptime of 99.9%. So how do they stack up against each other on other parameters such as speed and response time? We compared BlueHost with HostGator using a tool called Pingdom.
We found that HostGator only has 2 outages of not more than 3 minutes over the last 7 days, while BlueHost had as many as 9 outages of a total of 38 minutes over the last 7 days. So HostGator does deliver on its promise of a high uptime, BlueHost, on the other hand, does not.
The response time offered by HostGator for the sites hosted on it is much better than those offered by BlueHost. HostGator gave a response time of 1.2 seconds in our tests; while BlueHost could only manage 4.9 seconds.
It is pretty much the same when it comes to speed. We found that the sites hosted on HostGator load twice as fast as those hosted on BlueHost.
HostGator Vs BlueHost – Control Panel
There’s not much to talk about as far as the control panel used by HostGator and BlueHost is concerned. Both services use cPanel, which is by far the best control panel in the industry. cPanel is exceptionally user-friendly – even complete newbies can use it without a hitch. cPanel allows for quick WordPress installation and software updates.
HostGator Vs BlueHost – Customer Support
Both BlueHost and HostGator have exceptional customer support. There really isn’t much to choose between the two when it comes to the responsiveness of their customer support staff, their understanding of the issues involved and the professional courtesy extended to customers. Both BlueHost and HostGator offer a 24/7 customer support, for 365 days a year. They offer email support, phone support and live chat. With some of the plans offered by HostGator, such as the Business plan, users are given a toll-free number to call the customer support through a dedicated hotline at any time of the day or night.
HostGator Vs BlueHost – Which is Better?
There really isn’t much to choose between HostGator and BlueHost when it comes to the customer support and the control panel. Both BlueHost and HostGator plans are similarly priced and offer a similar set of features – so there isn’t much to choose there either.
But clearly, HostGator beats BlueHost when it comes to performance. HostGator offers a much better response time and exceptional speed. The sites hosted on HostGator are loaded twice as fast as those hosted on BlueHost. HostGator does live up to its uptime guarantee of 99.9%, while BlueHost does not.
Further, HostGator has a very dedicated security team working for it which ensures that your websites are fully protected from malware and hacking. HostGator also offers excellent discounts on its plans. For these reasons, HostGator makes for a better choice than BlueHost.
Click here for more information on the best HostGator plans.
