HostGator WordPress Hosting: The Right Choice?

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We proudly host our website on Rocket.net.

HostGator is one of the original web hosting services, having started in 2002 (the “Jurassic” period, as HostGator calls it). Today, HostGator claims to host over two million websites, with 30% of their customers being “web pros.” HostGator says they have matured and grown since the Jurassic Age. We’ll see if that is true.

In this review post, we will detail HostGator’s services, how they performed on our performance benchmarks and speed tests, and our overall ranking of their web hosting services. Note that HostGator also offers dedicated and VPS web hosting plans for top-tier websites. However, we won’t be discussing those plans in this HostGator review.

HostGator WordPress Hosting General Features

HostGator’s WordPress plans cater to beginner websites, although HostGator says pros also use their services. Regardless of your level, we like that HostGator does not skimp on standard features. We love that HostGator includes 24/7 support, free SSL certificates, professional site migration, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

However, HostGator does not include a firewall, which is pretty important. Additionally, free malware detection is only included on the Managed WordPress plans, not the shared plans (malware detection is an upgrade on shared plans). If your plan does not include either or both of these features, we recommend you buy an add-on that does include these features. You’ll want to include this cost in the cost of your WordPress plan when comparing plans so you are comparing apples-to-apples.

We also appreciate that HostGator includes free email hosting. If you have a separate email plan through Google as part of Google Workspace, you don’t need to worry about email hosting – Google is your email host. But if you host your own email server, HostGator will host it for free, which is awesome.

HostGator’s standard features are superior to Bluehost’s, which is a big plus for HostGator. Many beginner WordPress hosting plans skimp on features, yet this is detrimental to many beginning websites, especially not including SSL or malware detection. Thus, we appreciate HostGator including these features even on starter plans.

HostGator WordPress Optimization Features

On the other hand, HostGator skimps on optimization features. Although it is not unexpected for starter WordPress plans, we were hopeful that HostGator would include more features than fellow competitors Bluehost and Hostinger. However, that is not the case.

Although HostGator doesn’t include a CDN on its WordPress plans, you can sign up for Cloudflare Basic on your own and then integrate it. It requires some work and configuration, but it will allow you to get a basic CDN service through Cloudflare for free. Note that Cloudflare Basic is not as good as Cloudflare Enterprise included in Rocket.net and Kinsta WordPress plans.

You don’t need a CDN if your website is for local customers within your country or region. For HostGator, if your customers are in North America, you need not worry too much about a CDN. But if you are serving customers outside of North America or on multiple continents, you will want a CDN.

HostGator WordPress Managed Hosting Plans

As mentioned previously, we feel that HostGator’s plans are best for beginner WordPress websites. While HostGator provides a great selection of standard features, HostGator is missing some optimization features that come with higher-level hosts. Furthermore, it is hard to scale on HostGator without jumping to HostGator’s VPS and Dedicated hosting solutions, which are at a far higher level.

HostGator’s WordPress Managed Hosting Plans have the same features and performance. The only difference is the number of websites – one, two, or three – and the number of visitors. If you are starting out, the Starter plan should have everything that you need. If you manage two or three websites, the difference between the Standard and Business plans is simply two vs. three websites and 200,000 vs. 500,000 visitors. The choice depends on your specific needs.

HostGator Performance Tests

As with all of our web hosting reviews, we tested HostGator using our test WordPress website to see how HostGator performs in real life. We ran all of these tests using the Starter Managed Hosting plan, which is the cheapest WordPress hosting plan HostGator offers. As HostGator provides the same performance to all plans, we did not need to purchase a higher plan to test one website.

There are three components to our performance tests: Google Core Web Vitals, GTMetrix Performance, and worldwide speed testing. The results are below; you can see our full test specifications on this page.

Google Core Web Vitals – Lighthouse Scores

HostGator did not perform that well on the Google Core Web Vitals. The scores above are not the actual Lighthouse values but rather the scores Lighthouse assigns to each metric. We chose to display these scores instead of the actual values to make comparing scores across web host providers easier. Below is the chart showing the actual Lighthouse values for those of you who are more technically minded.

GTMetrix Performance

HostGator’s performance on GTMetrix wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great either. The only locations that performed decently were the three North American locations: Chicago, San Francisco, and Vancouver. We expected this because HostGator doesn’t include a CDN, and the host servers are based in the United States. Hence, it is expected for locations outside of North America to suffer in performance.

If your customers are based in North America, HostGator’s North American performance is good, especially for a starter WordPress plan. However, if you are looking for top performance, then you should look at GoDaddy or Rocket.net instead.

Worldwide Load Testing

We found HostGator’s performance on our Worldwide Load Testing to be interesting. Most locations performed better than we expected, considering there is no CDN, and we tested a starter WordPress plan. However, three locations – Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo – performed terribly. We’re not sure why.

Additionally, five locations had failure rates of 1-2%. This isn’t alarming, but it is more interesting. Having said that, HostGator performed relatively well on our load testing, especially in the three North American locations.

Our HostGator Review Recommendation

HostGator is a well-established web hosting service that has been operating for almost 20 years. It’s a preferred option for many beginner website owners, thanks to its reputation for being reliable and easy to use. With over two million websites hosted, HostGator has proven to be a popular choice among website owners.

We appreciate HostGator including many standard features on its starter WordPress plans. Free SSL certificates, professional site migration, malware detection (free on Managed WordPress, but not Shared Hosting), and 24/7 support are just some of the many features that beginner customers can enjoy. HostGator’s email hosting is also a welcome addition, especially for website owners with a separate email plan.

However, HostGator’s optimization features are not as comprehensive as some other WordPress hosts, such as Hostinger. For example, HostGator doesn’t offer a CDN on its WordPress plans, although you can sign up for Cloudflare Basic and integrate it with HostGator to get a basic CDN service for free. Nonetheless, HostGator’s basic features are enough to get most starter websites up and running.

When it comes to performance, HostGator performs well in real-life tests. The Starter Managed Hosting plan, which is the cheapest WordPress hosting plan, offers the same performance as all of the other plans. HostGator’s performance on GTMetrix wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t terrible either. The Google Core Web Vitals test, on the other hand, showed that HostGator needs to improve in some areas.

In conclusion, HostGator is a solid choice for beginner owners looking for a reliable yet basic WordPress hosting service. We recommend comparing HostGator to Hostinger and Bluehost in this price range. On the other hand, if you are looking for top-tier performance, we recommend looking at Rocket.net, GoDaddy, or WPX instead.