HostGator Vs GoDaddy - Here's What's Best For You In 2020?

Updated: November 26, 2020

Going with the first company you see isn’t always a wise choice, which is why you should research a variety of web hosting companies to see which one can provide you with better service for what you want and need for your specific website.

This HostGator vs GoDaddy review will assist you in selecting between these two web hosting companies so that you choose the best one for your needs.

According to web technology surveys from W3Techs, the GoDaddy Group hosts 6.6% of all websites, whereas HostGator which is part of the Endurance Group hosts 4.9%.  That’s quite high numbers and means both this host can be trusted with your websites.

GoDaddy is way popular than HostGator in terms of popularity as seen below.

Higher popularity doesn’t always mean better performance, and it will be evident in the following comparison review.

Also Read: Bluehost Vs SiteGround

After using both the HostGator and the GoDaddy for a few months, we compared the two web hosting across eight categories on a 100-point scale.

Bluehost vs HostGator review breakdown

1. • Performance Test – HostGator
   •  Uptime Test – HostGator and GoDaddy
   • Website Speed Test – HostGator
   • Server Quality –  HostGator
   • Price, Plans, And Features. – HostGator and GoDaddy
   • Control Panel – HostGator and GoDaddy
   • For Beginners – HostGator and GoDaddy
   • Customer Support – HostGator and GoDaddy

Based on our test, HostGator is now the one to beat in the web hosting industry. Here’s why.

Also Read: Bluehost Vs HostGator review

Also read Why I feel SiteGround is superior hosting than HostGator, Godaddy, and Bluehost?

Performance(10 Points)

HostGator and GoDaddy both promise a high uptime of 99.99% each month.

HostGator uses Linux x86 CentOS 6 64-bit operating systems, while its servers run on Dual Xeon E5520 2.26 GHz Quad-Core processors.

GoDaddy provides customers the choice of choosing between Linux and Windows OS before signing up. And their servers run on Intel Core i7 processors.

In the past, there have been many outages regarding the uptime of GoDaddy, which has caused many customers to become outraged and drop their service, that has changed since their transition of data centres to AWS(Amazon Web Services). Their performance is gradually increasing in the last couple of years as a result of AWS and some new exciting features.

Both HostGator and GoDaddy comes with PHP 7.2, which is one of the latest PHP version out there. PHP is a server-level programming language used for building dynamic websites. Newer PHP version helps in increasing website security and speed.

1. HostGator Vs GoDaddy – Uptime Report (15 Points)

My team kept track of uptimes for both HostGator and GoDaddy for the last 3 years using real-time uptime tracking powered by Host-tracker

The result was a 99.99% uptime for HostGator and GoDaddy. GoDaddy’s uptime and reliability increased highly in the last one year.

Winner: HostGator and GoDaddy – Our test shows that HostGator and GoDaddy score consistent uptime of 99.99% throughout our testing period.

2. HostGator Vs GoDaddy – Server Quality test(15 Points)

We tested the load time of websites hosted on HostGator and GoDaddy under high stress to evaluate the quality of servers used by both these hostings. This was done by sending 100 concurrent visitors to a web page and then calculating its load time.

Here are some of the steps taken to ensure that all tests were as fair as possible.

• Each site has a WordPress 5 installation running on it, and features the same theme, the same number of images, page size, content and requests.
• All the plugins and catching systems were disabled
• The test was conducted several times and the best results are displayed here.
• The host servers we tested are located in Chicago, IL, and Provo, UT, while the servers we used were located in Dallas, TX, and Ashburn, VA, respectively.

The Green Line indicates the number of visitors and blue line represent the adjacent response time as the traffic increase. The traffic was steadily increased from 1 to 500 visitors and the load time was noted.

Also Read: GoDaddy Vs Bluehost review

Response time of sites hosted on HostGator

Click here to have a look at the source and full test result from Load Impact for HostGator

HostGator’s server performance seems to be solid, healthy and consistent. The only problem is that we don’t want to see a graph with lots of ups and downs, flat lines are great for a hosting company. HostGator returned one the fastest response time of 400ms during this test.

Although, they were able to maintain this response time only until 75 concurrent visitors, which is not bad considering this website was hosted on a shared hosting server.

Response time of sites hosted on GoDaddy

Click here to have a look at the source and full test result from Load Impact for GoDaddy

GoDaddy started at an average server response time of 1.2s, but once the traffic passed 46 concurrent visitors, it started slowing down heavily and eventually the website stopped responding.

The server was completely unresponsive and the rejection list was very high. Moreover, the final result has a large number of failed attempts.  GoDaddy fared well for lower traffic and completely fell apart once the traffic hit 46 marks.

Winner: HostGator – HostGator website loaded with an average response time of 400 ms compared to GoDaddy which have an average over 1200ms.

3. HostGator vs Bluehost – Website Speed test(15 Points)

We conducted two test for understanding the speed of both these web hosting.

First test …

This test uses the concept of TTFB or Time to First Byte, it refers to how quickly the host’s server sends the first byte of data when responding to a request sent by a browser. This will determine the speed of hosting servers.

Here is the result.

Second test …

We performed a speed test from New York, Amsterdam, and Melbourne to study their website speed from different continents.

For a better understanding, We have selected couple of websites hosted under HostGator and GoDaddy for testing their speed.

Note:-Both web pages are exactly the same, i.e. they have the same page size, design, request, and images.

3.1 Speed of sites hosted on HostGator

HostGator showed great performance in Europe and the USA, loaded a bit slower in Australia.

3.2 Speed of sites hosted on GoDaddy

Godaddy load time is 2* load time of HostGator from all the tested locations.

Winner: HostGator – It’s very clear from these tests that HostGator servers are very fast and reliable.

Prices, Plans, and Features (5 Points)

HostGator and GoDaddy are very much alike when it comes to their plans and prices. HostGator has three plans: Hatchling, Baby and Business.

GoDaddy features similar plans to HostGator, naming them: Economy, Deluxe and Unlimited. The Economy plan features a single domain and 100GB disk space; the other two plans come with unlimited disk space and domains.

The graph below shows the prices and features of both company’s plans:

Regular Price	$ 3.49 per month	$ 4.99 per month	$ 6.99 per month	$ 5.99 per month	$ 7.99 per month	$ 12.99 per month
Plan Name	Hatchling	Baby	Business	Economy	Deluxe	Ultimate
Visitors Per Month	Unmetered	Unmetered	Unmetered	Unmetered	Unmetered	Unmetered
Domains Allowed	1	Unlimited	Unlimited	1	Unlimited	Unlimited
Web Space	Unmetered	Unmetered	Unmetered	100 GB	Unmetered	Unmetered
Free SSL	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
Sub Domains	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Parked Domains	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Free Included Domains	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Money Back Guarantee	45 Days	45 Days	45 Days	30 Days	30 Days	30 Days
Email Accounts	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Control Panel	cPanel	cPanel	cPanel	cPanel and Plesk	cPanel and Plesk	cPanel and Plesk
Server Location	Provo, Dallas, Houston	Provo, Dallas, Houston	Provo, Dallas, Houston	9 Locations in USA and Europe	9 Locations in USA and Europe	9 Locations in USA and Europe
Free CDN	No	No	No	No	No	No
Google Adword Credit	$100	$100	$100	No	No	No
Free Site Backup	Automatic backup on every week.	Automatic backup on every week.	Automatic backup on every week.	No cloud backup	No cloud backup	No cloud backup
Free Backup Restore	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Free Backup On Demand	Yes	Yes	Yes	No cloud backup	No cloud backup	No cloud backup
Operating System	Linux	Linux	Linux	Linux and Windows	Linux and Windows	Linux and Windows
Free Site Transfer	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
24/7 Support	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
PHP	7.2	7.2	7.2	7.2	7.2	7.2
	Buy Now	Buy Now	Buy Now	Buy Now	Buy Now	Buy Now

Winner: Tie. It’s worth noting that both these hosting companies renew at the same rate; the only difference is their initial prices.

Lets Check Latest HostGator Plans             Lets Check Latest GoDaddy Plans

HostGator vs. GoDaddy: Control Panel( 10 Points)

HostGator uses cPanel as its control panel. And for those who aren’t familiar with cPanel, it is the most commonly used control panel due to its simplicity and easy-to-use features. GoDaddy provides users with the option of choosing their own control panel. Customers can opt between cPanel and Plesk.

Behind cPanel, Plesk is the second most popular control panel and can run on both Linux and Windows OS, which can be a greater benefit depending on what your site runs on.

Try HostGator cPanel Demo

Winner:-Tie

HostGator Vs GoDaddy – Which is the best host for beginners? (10 Points)

Are you starting a website for the first time?

Building a website has never been easier. You can build a website with just a few clicks nowadays. The process is so simple and straightforward that anyone can do it.

Is it easy to build websites using HostGator and GoDaddy?

Yes, it’s very easy to set up a website with HostGator and GoDaddy. Once you make the purchase for hosting, it just takes 2-3 clicks to start your website thanks to CMS such as WordPress and Joomla. WordPress is a content management system which makes it very easy to build a website even when you don’t know anything about building a website. WordPress powers 30% of the entire web, therefore there are tons of tutorials and videos on how to start a website with WordPress.

Both HostGator and Bluehost comes with WordPress and can be set up using just 1 click from their main account panel.

HostGator also comes with free domain registration.

Winner: Tie. They both have similar features and setup process. There isn’t a lot of difference.

Customer Support (10 Points)

HostGator provides 24/7/365 e-mail, live chat, and ticketing systems to contact their customer service support team of specialists.

Any time we had a concern and contacted them, they were very quick to respond and always took our problems very seriously.

Their ticketing system is very fast and responds within an hour of contacting them. Moreover, their live chat boasts a wait time of just 1-2 minute.

GoDaddy provides toll-free call-in product support. Their one major downfall when it comes to customer service is their lack of ticketing system.

The ticketing system is common with other top web hosting companies, and it’s something that GoDaddy should utilize themselves, especially since their call in support have a long waiting time.

Moreover, their Live chat feature is not working most of the time and is limited to only a few countries and for selected hours.

Winner: HostGator – GoDaddy’s live chat absence and Email support is a major setback for them.

My conclusions – HostGator Vs Godaddy Review

I’ve found no major differences in regards to their plans, prices or features. However, there are noticeable differences in customer support, performance, and reliability.

HostGator has high uptime and excellent speed. GoDaddy’s biggest drawback is not offering customers a live chat feature or E-mail support.

So, based on this HostGator vs GoDaddy review, it can be concluded that HostGator is superior to GoDaddy when it comes to their unmatched capability in the field of client support, performance, and reliability. HostGator has 9 wins compared to 5 wins from GoDaddy.

Below is a quick review as to why HostGator is my preferred choice:

• Quality hosting at an affordable price.
• 45-Day money-back guarantee with no hidden clause.
• 24/7 fast and an informative live chat and ticketing system.
• Our testing shows that HostGator ensures constant uptime of 99.99% guaranteed throughout the entire year of our testing.
• Faster than all of previously tested web hosting companies tested at Inline Hosting.
• Benefits from providing users with the most commonly used control panel in the industry, which is cPanel.
• Offers high-security protection features for your database.

GoDaddy vs HostGator twitter reviews and reactions

We have gathered some interesting reviews and reaction from real twitter users of these web hosting companies.

HostGator’s twitter user reviews and reaction..

GoDaddy’s twitter user reviews and reactions…

HostGator coupon codes

For Hostgator: Use coupon code  HGHOSTING30  to get up to  60%  discount on any of their hosting packages. ( coupon will expire soon.)

Use coupon code HGHOSTING99 to get HostGator hosting plan for as low as $0.01 or $9.94 discount on any of packages.

Get GoDaddy hosting for as low as $12/year with one-year free domain registration

Disclosure: This site is run by a group of like-minded webmasters, whose mission it is to provide the public with honest web hosting reviews to ensure they meet our expert criteria. We do receive compensation for all the products that we review, which in turn helps us finance our work and provide users with honest reviews. All the products mentioned on our site are tested and evaluated before any reviews are written.