Is Bluehost Better Than Hostgator?

 

HostGator, we believe, is better for beginners, and the hosts are equally impressive in areas such as customer service and performance. However, Bluehost's WordPress plans perform better than HostGator's, and their overall performance is superior. While Bluehost is our winner, the best option for you is entirely dependent on your personal or business requirements.

Bluehost vs. HostGator are two of the most well-known web hosting companies. Here is a side-by-side comparison of five of the most important features to consider when selecting a web hosting company Viz:

1. Beginners Ease Of Use
2. WordPress
3. Security
4. Customer Support

Beginners' Ease of Use

In this section, we compare the ease of use, beginner friendliness, and ease of getting started with Bluehost vs HostGator in terms of the money-back guarantee, domain name registration, website transfer/migration, installing WordPress, and website building tools.

• Moneyback guarantee

Bluehost offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. It is important to note that this guarantee does not apply to add-on products such as domain names. If you cancel within the first 30 days, you will receive a full refund. If you cancel after 30 days, you will receive a prorated refund for the remaining time on your hosting contract.

• Domain name registration

When you sign up for hosting with Bluehost, you will receive a free domain name. The domain is registered for a year and will be renewed when your web hosting plan is renewed.

• Website transfer or migration

There are two ways to relocate your website. You can do it yourself for free by transferring your files to Bluehost manually. You can also use the Website Transfer service to migrate up to five sites and 20 email accounts from your previous hosting provider. This service is priced at $149.99. Don't forget that before you can migrate an existing site, you'll need to add the FTP option to your hosting package.

• Installing WordPress

Installing WordPress can appear to be a difficult task. Bluehost has worked hard to simplify the installation process by utilizing the MOJO Marketplace for all of its installations. You can now install WordPress directly from your cPanel dashboard.

• Website Builder tool

You have complete control over how your site is built with Bluehost. You have the option of using the Weebly-powered on-site builder. WordPress can be installed. Other options are available in the Mojo Marketplace as well.

• Plugins and Apps

Beginners will also appreciate Bluehost's expanded Mojo Marketplace, which provides users with access to over 140 plugins, various professional WordPress-related services, and ready-to-launch themes with templates. While all of these are beginner-friendly additions, they will cost you extra money.

Visit Bluehost.com

 

• Moneyback guarantee

HostGator offers a 45-day money-back guarantee on hosting plans, but it only applies to hosting plans (not domain names etc). If you are dissatisfied with their services within the first 45 days, you will be given a full refund of the contract amount.

• Domain name registration

For the first year, HostGator provides a free domain name. It is then renewed at the regular price.

• Website transfer or migration

HostGator expresses their commitment to making the transition of your website to HostGator as simple as possible. Within 30 days of sign-up, HostGator will migrate WordPress/cPanel website files, including databases, scripts, and one domain registration transfer for free with each new hosting account, as well as newly upgraded accounts.

• Installing WordPress

With HostGator, installing WordPress is a breeze. For existing WordPress sites, they provide the MOJO Marketplace quick install, but you can also use Softaculous. On their website, they also provide tutorials on "how to" manually install WordPress. A separate "how to" guide is available for installing a WordPress Optimized site.

• Website Builder tool

HostGator offers a free proprietary site builder that allows for the quick creation of a basic website. It has an easy-to-use interface with drag-and-drop WYSIWYG functionality that includes the following features:

• 100 or more mobile optimized templates
• Pre-built site sections
• Six pages included in the free basic plan

There are upgrades to this service available for a fee.

• Plugins and Apps

Like Bluehost, HostGator also offers the Mojo Marketplace integration for paid add-ons. You can also enjoy more than 190 free one-click application installations with Softaculous.

Visit HostGator.com

Speed and Time

The cornerstones of any web host's core features are speed and uptime. Because having a fast-loading website that is always online is one of the most important things to look for in a good web host.

WordPress

WordPress is used to power more than 35% of all websites. That is, if you want to create a website or blog, you should use WordPress. When it comes to WordPress, any web host you are considering should provide hassle-free and secure hosting options. Furthermore, the host should make it simple to install and begin using WordPress.

 

Bluehost provides beginner-friendly WordPress hosting beginning at $2.95/mo, as well as VPS powered and fully managed WordPress plans beginning at $19.99/mo.

• Officially recommended by WordPress

WordPress.org recommends Bluehost, and the company has collaborated with WordPress since 2005.

• Installing WordPress

With the click of a button, you can easily and instantly install WordPress and manage all your installations from an enhanced cPanel control panel, allowing you to begin building your website right away. You can easily get your WordPress website up and running after installing WordPress.

• WordPress security

Basic plans include a free SSL certificate, a WordPress custom-designed control panel, and a CloudFlare CDN that is built directly into your account without the need for coding. Jetpack site analytics, malware detection and removal, and daily scheduled backups are all included with premium managed WordPress hosting. Jetpack Premium and Pro are more advanced plans.

• Range of hosting plans

Bluehost provides hosting plans ranging from small business to enterprise, beginning with shared hosting and WordPress hosting for beginners. Growing businesses can benefit from low-cost VPS and WordPress Pro hosting, whereas enterprises can take advantage of high-end dedicated servers. E-commerce plans are also available.

• WordPress speed

Bluehost's managed WordPress hosting is based on a VPS platform with custom architecture designed to deliver unrivaled performance:

• VPS powered platform
• Advanced NGINX architecture
• Custom PHP-FPM configuration

Visit Bluehost.com

Starting at $5.95 per month, HostGator provides WordPress Cloud Hosting with 2.5x speed, advanced security, and free site migrations.

• Officially recommended by WordPress

HostGator is not recommended by WordPress.org

• Installing WordPress

If you already have a WordPress-powered website, HostGator offers a free migration service that will transfer your existing WordPress website to HostGator. WordPress can be installed quickly and easily with a single click. After you've finished installing WordPress, you'll be able to manage your new website through an enhanced cPanel control panel.

• WordPress security

The WordPress plans from HostGator include a free SSL certificate as well as a global CDN. SiteLock security also provides automatic malware removal. Automatic website backup is provided by CodeGuard. Get daily automated website backups for all web files and databases, plus a 1-click restore.

• Range of hosting plans

HostGator plans also cater to all business sizes, with options for shared, VPS, WordPress, and dedicated servers. They do not, however, have a specific e-commerce strategy.

• WordPress speed

HostGator guarantees that pages will load at lightning speed around the world without the need to configure your caching and CDN. Because of the supercharged cloud architecture, low-density servers, CDN, and multiple caching layers, load times can be up to 2.5X faster. Your website's content is managed more effectively, allowing dynamic content requests to be processed in real time.

Visit HostGator.com

Security

You must take security seriously and use a web host that has the tools and preventative measures in place to keep your website from being spammed, hacked, injected with malware, or completely taken down.

 

• Website Backups

Bluehost offers CodeGuard Basic, which provides automatic backups, on its higher-level shared plans. These can be set to happen on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. You can make your own backups with any of the plans (via cPanel).

• SSL Certificates

Bluehost offers a free shared SSL for accounts that use a shared IP address. There is only one Dedicated IP address and thus one SSL Certificate for Standard and Pro accounts. Because there will be multiple cPanels created within the account for VPS, dedicated, managed, or reseller accounts, you can purchase multiple Dedicated IP and SSL Certificates.

• Malware Scans

Malware scanning is only available as a paid upgrade. The SiteLock addon from Bluehost includes:

• Basic Spam Monitoring: Checks your site on a daily basis to ensure it is spam-free.
• Basic Business Verification: Creates trust in your company's website.
• Customer trust is built with a Site Verification Certificate.
• Google quarantining is avoided with blacklist monitoring.
• Basic Malware Monitoring: Malware scans on a daily basis

Bluehost provides Site Doctor for a yearly fee. Site Doctor can quickly diagnose and resolve any malware-related issues.

• DDOS protection

DDos protections is built into Bluehost's infrastructure. But according to the site, DDoS attacks are not something they can warn customers about beforehand. They do say that when these attacks occur to understand that their team will do all things possible to restore your service quickly.

Visit Bluehost.com

• Website Backups

You can have HostGator create weekly backups for you. You can also create manual backups in real time. CodeGuard is a paid upgrade that generates daily automated website backups for all of your web files and databases, with a 1-click restore. WordPress plans include this feature.

• SSL Certificates

All plans include a free domain-validated SSL certificate. The SSL certificates listed below are also available for purchase from HostGator.s.

• Company Validated
• Extended Validation
• Wildcard
• Multi-Domain

• Malware Scans

HostGator, like Bluehost, has partnered with SiteLock to provide powerful and dependable malware scans. The HackAlert monitoring service is especially useful because it checks your website daily and notifies you immediately if it has been hacked or injected with malicious code.

• DDOS protection

DDoS attacks are mitigated by HostGator. According to the website, they have implemented a comprehensive custom firewall ruleset that protects servers from various types of attacks. Their datacenter has also enabled network-level flood protection.

Visit HostGator.com

Customer Support

You want to be able to get the assistance you require when you require it (because there will come a time when you need support from your hosting company). It is critical to have a hosting company that provides excellent customer and technical support that is responsive, friendly, and knowledgeable.

 

• Ways to Get in Touch

Bluehost provides several methods for contacting them for a variety of reasons. There is a dedicated toll-free number for customer service. You can also submit support tickets and chat.

• Response Times

• Support Tickets - no time given
• Chat - instant
• Phone - instant

• Areas of Expertise

There is 24/7-365 dedicated support personnel available for the following areas:

• Account Management
• Sales
• Tech Support

Visit Bluehost.com

 

• Ways to Get in Touch

There are several options for obtaining assistance from the Support Panel. You can call support, get billing assistance, start a live chat, or see if anyone in the forums can assist you.

• Response Times

• Chat - instant
• Billing Support - minutes to within one business day
• Forums - varies
• Phone - instant

• Areas of Expertise

HostGator is well-known for its excellent customer service. In the forums, they have an active user community that is friendly and helpful. There are also hundreds of helpful videos and tutorials available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Visit HostGator.com

Conclusion 

Based on the five aspects considered it appears that Bluehost is the winner. However, choosing which host to use depends on your exact needs.

HostGator is more user-friendly and beginner-friendly because it includes more features, such as free website migration and transfers (Bluehost charges $149.99 to migrate your site). Furthermore, HostGator's refund policy is more lenient than Bluehost's. The disadvantage of HostGator is that, with the exception of Cloud and Managed WordPress hosting, most of their plans do not include additional security features.

When it comes to WordPress hosting, Bluehost is one of only three official hosting providers recommended by WordPress.org. Furthermore, Bluehost provides better, more secure storage in the form of solid-state drives (SSD).

When it comes to speed and uptime, HostGator and Bluehost are tied. Bluehost had an average uptime of 99.97 percent over the previous 12 months at the time of this comparison, while HostGator was slightly better at 99.98 percent. Bluehost's page load times, on the other hand, were nearly twice as fast as HostGator's.

When it comes to security, Bluehost outperforms HostGator. They both provide free SSL certificates, malware removal tools, and free website backups, but HostGator's are more limited.

Bluehost outperforms HostGator in terms of security. Both offer free SSL certificates, malware removal tools, and website backups, but HostGator's offer is more limited.

When it comes to customer service and support, Bluehost and HostGator tie in once more. When it comes to this aspect of web hosting, both companies provide similar features such as 24-hour live chat, phone support, e-mail, ticketing, and knowledge bases. We tested the live chat features of Bluehost and HostGator; the responses were quick and helpful, with knowledgeable agents.