4.8 
Best Hostgator Alternatives
Hostgator is one of the most popular hosts in the world, but popular doesn’t always mean best. If you are looking for other Hostgator alternatives that still give you the most value for your money, are feature-rich, and reliable, this piece is just for you.
I reviewed 5 awesome Hostgator alternatives and Hostinger came out on top. However, the other 4 also have their strong points where they outshine Hostgator and may be better suited to your needs. Read on so you can decide for yourself!
Here Are the Top 5 Hostgator Alternatives Hosting Providers
- Bluehost – Best Hostgator alternative overall
- Hostinger – Best affordable Hostgator alternative
- FastComet – Best reliable Hostgator alternative
- A2 Hosting – Best fastest Hostgator alternative
- HostArmada – Best cloud Hostgator alternative
Why Look for Hostgator Alternatives?
Hostgator is no doubt a great host? So why look for alternatives? Well, the hosting providers we’ll be reviewing in the rest of this piece trump Hostgator in a number of areas.
First, Hostgator is not the fastest host on the market. They also don’t have the widest server footprint as they have data centers only in the USA. If you’re looking for a faster alternative, we’ve got you covered.
If you’re also looking for cheaper and easier to use hosting providers, one of the hosts we’ll review does both better than Hostgator. Hence, the importance of giving you as many excellent options as possible so you can make an informed decision.
What to look for in the Hostgator alternatives?
So what criteria should you consider and what features should look out for when considering a Hostgator alternative? Check out some of them here:
| Free Domain: If you’re building a website from scratch, your hosting provider should include a free domain as part of your package and should also have a domain registration portal so you don’t have to consult a third-party registrar. |
| SSL Certification: HTTPS are now an essential ranking factor on most search engines like Google. Your hosting provider should give you a free SSL certificate on all hosting plans (including the lowest tier plans). |
| Security: Your website’s security should be a main priority for your host and should be reflected in their features. E.g: DDoS protection, malware scanning, WAFs, security plugins, as well as compatibility with other third-party security platforms. |
| Speed: A quick host with highly responsive servers is a no-brainer. Quicker response times mean better rankings, less bounce, more conversions, and ultimately more revenue for you. |
| Ease of Use/Quality of the cPanel: Your hosting provider should make registering, managing your account, and managing your website’s backend super easy. Intuitive dashboards, customized or modern cPanels, and a well-organized UI are must-haves. |
| Ease of Transferring From Another Host: Already have a live website hosted on another provider, migrating your website to a new hosting provider should be super easy… better still, free and done for you! |
| Pre-Installed WordPress: WordPress is the most popular CMS in the world and your host should have WordPress-specific plans with WordPress pre-installed and other 1-click installs for other popular apps. |
| Customer Service: When you need answers and help with your hosting, you should get support quickly and solutions every time. A great host should have many support portals – live chat, knowledgebase, phone, email, ticket, video guides, a community, etc. Plus their support agents should be polite and knowledgeable. |
The Best Hostgator Alternative Hosting Services of 2023 (Bought and Tested):
BlueHost stands on the top of our recommended Hostgator alternatives for good reason. Founded two decades ago in 2003, the host now powers 2 million websites and a client profile of small, mid-sized and large enterprises.
BlueHost offers shared, VPS, dedicated, reseller and WordPress hosting plans. And what’s more? The host is one of the top three providers recommended by WordPress – so if your website is WordPress-powered, BlueHost is an excellent choice for you.
They are also reasonably priced, offer excellent support, and you get a free domain and SSL certificates on every plan… plus their free website builder. BlueHost powered my first personal website and even as a newbie then, the platform was incredibly easy to use.
Ratings:
- Overall score – 4.7
- Features – 5.0
- Support – 4.0
- User Friendliness – 5.0
- Pricing – 4.5
- Reliability – 5.0
Why is it better than Hostgator?
BlueHost is a better host than Hostgator because:
- It is better for eCommerce stores
- It is a better WordPress host
- The host has transparent fees
- They provide more security features overall
- BlueHost also provides a custom easy-to-use control panel for beginners
- BlueHost has a wider server footprint than Hostgator
When don’t you need to move to BlueHost?
BlueHost is a great host but here’s why you may want to stick with Hostgator or find another alternative:
- No automatic backups on lower-tier shared hosting
- Hostgator is still cheaper
- Hostgator offers more support portals
BlueHost’s Features and The ‘why’ Behind The Scores
Features: All BlueHost hosting plans (including shared) include a free SSL, a free domain for a year, 1-click installs, plus SSD storage. You also get access to a free website builder plus unmetered bandwidth on all shared hosting plans.
Support: BlueHost’s professionals are available 24/7 via phone, live chat, socials, and a vast knowledgebase in their resource center. I tested their live chat and their agents are superb!
User Friendliness: BlueHost has a super-clean user interface and is incredibly easy to use – a slightly customized cPanel and exceptional account management dashboard deserve praise.
Pricing: BlueHost offers shared, VPS, dedicated, reseller and WordPress hosting. Their most basic plans (shared and WordPress) start at $ 2.95/month, VPS at $ 19.99/month, dedicated at $ 79.99, and reseller at $ 16.99/month (for 3 years). SSD storage on shared plans start from 10 GB-unmetered and up to 2TB and 15 TB bandwidth on the host’s dedicated plans.
Reliability: SSD/Raid Level 1 storage, unmetered bandwidth, and access to a free CDN ensure your website’s performance. BlueHost also promises a 99.99% uptime guarantee among other great security features.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- WordPress-heavy features (auto installs and updates)
- Superb support from web hosting experts
- Incredibly easy to use (intuitive UI, optimized cPanel)
Cons
- No auto backups for basic shared plan
Not just against Hostgator, Hostinger is one of the most affordable providers on the market and they’re incredibly easy to use, thanks to their hPanel. A younger company, founded in 2011, Hostinger has grown rapidly and now powers over 1.3 million websites.
Hostinger particularly tailors its packages for small to mid-sized businesses with shared, VPS, cloud, WordPress and its hosting for agencies.
On every Hostinger plan, you get a free SSL, CloudFlare protected servers, free migrations, other proprietary technologies as well as a free domain and auto backups on most plans.
Ratings:
- Overall score – 4.7
- Features – 5.0
- Support – 4.0
- User Friendliness – 5.0
- Pricing – 5.0
- Reliability – 4.5
Why is it better than Hostgator?
Hostinger is better than Hostgator in terms of:
- Hostinger is more affordable
- Hostinger is easier to use – thanks to a custom hPanel
- Hostinger offers specialized agency plans for freelancers and agencies
- Hostinger has superior performance – speed and response time
When Don’t You Need to Move to Hostinger?
Hostinger is great but here’s when you may want to stick with Hostgator or find another alternative:
- You need dedicated servers (not offered by Hostinger)
- Hostgator has more support portals than Hostinger
- No automatic backups for lowest tier shared plans
Hostinger’s Features and The ‘why’ Behind The Scores
Features: Hostinger offers freebies like SSLs and domain, unmetered bandwidth, access to its website builder, plus WordPress acceleration features. You also get DNS management, their in-house WAF, and self-healing infrastructure.
Support: Hostinger has a thriving support hub that’s available 24/7 via live chat, email, knowledgebase, tutorials, and the Hostinger Academy (YouTube videos). Only issue is that the live chat is only available to paid customers.
User Friendliness: Hostinger shines here with an aesthetically pleasing, intuitive UI plus a customized cPanel – the hPanel – especially designed with hosting newbies in mind.
Pricing: Hostinger also trumps the pricing category. With its basic shared hosting plan starting at $1.99/month, it is unbeatable. And you still enjoy the goodies like SSD storage, SSL, minus the domain though. Hostinger also has incredibly varied VPS plans from crazy cheap to high-end money.
Reliability: Powered by SSD, self-healing servers, a 99.95% uptime guarantee, HTTP/3, daily and weekly backups, etc., the host is very reliable.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- The most affordable plans and packages
- Beginner-friendly user interface and dashboards
- In-house web application firewall (AWF)
- Self-healing infrastructure plus WordPress acceleration
Cons
- Does not offer dedicated hosting
Fastcomet is another Hostgator alternative that has made a name for itself as a reliable provider. Thanks to 11 data centers around the world, their services are reliably fast and allow you to target a global audience conveniently.
Fastcomet is one of the younger hosting companies founded just a decade ago in 2013 – and also one of the few independent, privately-owned hosting companies left. The provider also serves 750,000 customers in all.
Fastcomet provides shared/cloud hosting, fully managed cloud VPS, and dedicated CPU servers, as well as different WordPress plans. On every plan, you get a free SSL, daily backups, CloudFlare CDN caching and a WAF.
Ratings:
- Overall score – 4.8
- Features – 4.8
- Support – 5.0
- User Friendliness – 4.5
- Pricing – 4.8
- Reliability – 5.0
Why is it better than Hostgator?
- Fastcomet has a wider server footprint than Hostgator
- Privately-owned – still hold on to their values
- They offer daily backups on all plans
- They offer a free WAF – paid with Hostgator
- Their plans are more affordable than Hostgator’s
When Don’t You Need to Move to Fastcomet?
Fastcomet is great but Hostgator still holds its own in:
- If you need reseller plans, Hostgator still wins
Fastcomet’s Features and The ‘why’ Behind The Scores
Features: Fastcomet boasts high-performance SSD, CloudFlare CDN caching, a free SSL, WAF. You also get free DNS management, a Site Builder, plus free website migrations to the host.
Support: 24/7/365 support via live chat, phone, email, knowledgebase, tutorial, and a comprehensive ticketing system.
User Friendliness: Fastcomet provides an incredibly easy-to-use interface and a modern cPanel with different themes – e.g: the Paper Lantern – that makes the cPanel even more intuitive and less cluttered.
Pricing: Fastcomet’s shared hosting plans start at $2.49/month and you get a 45-day money back guarantee plus all the goodies like SSD storage and free website transfers. Storage ranges from 15-35 GB for shared, 5-320 GB for cloud VPS, and 80-640 GB for dedicated plans.
Reliability: SSD-only servers, a 99.9% uptime guarantee, free CDN, a wide server footprint, incredible customer support, their WAF and daily backups make Fastcomet very reliable.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Exceptionally reliable (wide server footprint)
- Pretty affordable plans
- Daily backups on every plan
- Top-tier support
Cons
- Not the most versatile hosting plans
A2 Hosting is another excellent Hostgator alternative that’s known for one thing – speed. With their patented Turbo servers, they promise up to 20X conventional speeds.
Founded just two decades ago in 2001, A2 Hosting now serves 110,000 customers and like Fastcomet is also still independent.
A2 Hosting provides shared, VPS, dedicated, reseller, WordPress as well as their turbo plans. On every A2 Hosting plan, you enjoy SSD storage, a free SSL, their Guru crew support, free migrations, and can select where you want your website to be hosted from.
Ratings:
- Overall score – 4.5
- Features – 4.5
- Support – 4.0
- User Friendliness – 4.5
- Pricing – 4.5
- Reliability – 5.0
Why is it better than Hostgator?
- A2 Hosting has faster response times and server speeds
- A2 Hosting has a wider server footprint
- Offers free CloudFlare on all plans
- Dedicated IPs offered on all plans
When don’t you need to move to A2 Hosting?
And here’s when you may want to stick with Hostgator or find another alternative:
- Hostgator still has cheaper plans than A2 Hosting
- Hostgator has more support portals than A2 Hosting
A2 Hosting Features and The ‘why’ Behind The Scores
Features: A2 Hosting offers SSD storage, unlimited transfers, a free SSL and free domain transfers on all its plans. They also offer four server locations, comprehensive security features, and dedicated IP addresses, plus their speed-optimized turbo plans.
Support: 24/7/365 support via phone, live chat, support tickets, a vast knowledgebase and a mailing address. A2 Hosting actually has impressive live chat response time.
User Friendliness: Easy registration, 1-click application installs, intuitive user account management dashboard with 1-click cPanel login, modern cPanel.
Pricing: A2 Hosting shared hosting plans start out at $2.99/month backed with a 30-day money back guarantee. You get all the SSD goodies and free transfers. Resources start from 100 GB storage and up to 2 TB for dedicated.
Reliability: 99.9% uptime commitment, round-the-clock network monitoring, redundant backup power, and balanced accounts per server make A2 Hosting incredibly reliable.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Incredibly fast servers and response time
- Exceptionally versatile hosting plans
- Top-tier customer support
- Security-heavy features and addons
Cons
- Not the widest server footprint
- A2 Hosting plans can be quite pricey for non-long-term commitment
Incredible server speeds, generous security features out-of-the-box, amazing support – A2 Hosting is good at one thing… hosting. Sign up on A2 Hosting today!
Hostarmada is the last Hostgator alternative on our list but certainly not the least. A dedicated cloud provider, the host provides cloud-hybrid plans as shared, VPS, dedicated, reseller and WordPress packages.
Hostarmada is the youngest company on our list – founded in 2019 – just three years ago! It is also an independently-owned and funded company giving them creative freedom.
On every plan, Hostarmada provides a free SSL, free migration, free backups, cPanel, free domain, and other great security features like malware scanning and a WAF/IP firewall.
Ratings:
- Overall score – 4.7
- Features – 5.0
- Support – 4.5
- User Friendliness – 5.0
- Pricing – 4.5
- Reliability – 4.5
Why is it better than Hostgator?
Hostarmada is an awesome host and outshines Hostgator in:
- Fewer clients per server
- Cloud-only services for incredible scalability
- Hostarmada has a wider server footprint
- Privately-owned (Hostgator is one of the many daughter brands of EIG)
When don’t you need to move to Hostarmada?
- Hostgator’s basic plans are still cheaper
- Hostgator has more varied plans
Hostarmada Features and The ‘why’ Behind The Scores
Features: A2 Hosting offers SSD storage, unlimited transfers, a free SSL and free domain transfers on all its plans. They also offer four server locations, comprehensive security features, and dedicated IP addresses, plus their speed-optimized turbo plans.
Out-of-the-box, Hostarmada gives you a free SSL, SSD storage, free backups, migration, and server caches for its basic plans. On the higher-end plans you get a free WAF and malware protection plus KVM virtualization.
Support: 24/7 support via phone, live chat, support tickets, and email. They don’t have a specific knowledgebase but do have tutorials and blog pages.
User Friendliness: 1-click Softaculous + cPanel installs, super-clean user dashboard, modern cPanel, done-for-you managed hosting services, free app installs and updates, drag-n-drop website builder – all make Hostarmada exceptionally easy to use.
Pricing: Hostarmada’s shared hosting plans start out at $2.99/month backed with a 45-day money back guarantee. You get all the SSD goodies and free transfers. Resources start from 15 GB storage and up to 640 GB for dedicated.
Reliability: 99.9% uptime commitment, SSD-only serves, multi-location hosting, CloudFlare support, live server monitoring, daily backups, malware protection and 24/7/365 available support make the host super reliable.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Niche cloud services provide awesome scalability
- Easy 1-click installs
- Free domain/SSL
- Exceptionally intuitive design
- Independently and privately owned
Cons
- Renewal prices are a little high
Best Hostgator Alternatives: Final recommendations
No diss to Hostgator – they are still one of the best hosting providers in the world. However, if you are looking to be spoiled for choice, the five hosting providers we reviewed outshine Hostgator in one or more aspects and are good alternatives to consider.
Overall, BlueHost is my best Hostgator alternative but both hosts are owned by EIG. Up next is Hostinger, your choice if you’re on a budget. Fastcomet is the Hostgator alternative that’s super reliable. A2 Hosting, one of the fastest hosts on the marker. And finally, Hostarmada, a young cloud-hosting-only company with a lot of potential and amazing support!
