For today's article, we have made an ultimate comparison of hosting from these two companies, Bluehost and HostGator, and help you decide which suits your needs.
Creating a website has become super easy. Many third-party services are designed to help you build a website that is accessible and unique without the complicated ideas of coding.
People create websites for many different reasons. For example, you may be a freelancer looking for a place to upload your art or writer profile.
You could be trying to create an online store for your new business. Whatever the reason, when your site gets bigger, you will probably want to find a web host.
A quick Google search will show you that people often use Bluehost vs. HostGator as their hosting service.
The question is, how do you know which one is better?
Don't they do the same?
The simple answer is yes!
Although, the nuances that make them different actually affect your website in broader ways than you can imagine.
Web Hosting - What Is It?
If you want to create a site, you will need space on the server. A server is what allows you to be connected to the Internet all the time. Everything you put on your site is uploaded to a server, which has to stay online for your visitors to reach your site.
Do you remember once using a website and suddenly everything became very slow, or everything seemed to stop working? The website server was probably having problems.
Getting your own server and making sure it works all the time is not an easy thing to do. Smaller businesses and individuals generally cannot afford the financial costs or time to maintain a server. Web hosting allows us (including you) to rent space on a server.
Companies offering web hosting services have many massive large servers available for rent. It allows you to pay for them so that you can have all the benefits of a server running smoothly without having to worry about making it run smoothly. Instead, they will take care of keeping it for you.
Bluehost and HostGator features
By now, you must have realized that web hosting is something that you will need before you create your website. Bluehost vs. HostGator is two of the best servers that people choose.
This is because they both offer a really good product at the top of other server hosting services.
However, to really understand the game between Bluehost vs. HostGator, you will need to know what they share that makes them the best competitors.
1. Speed and uptime
This service is the main product of web hosting companies. Fortunately, both Bluehost and HostGator are fantastic. Both web hosting services have some of the fastest and most advanced technologies designed to protect your servers and offer fast connection speed. Here are some of the comparisons that you can look at when considering Bluehost vs. HostGator.
- The global CDN network leads to fast connection speeds
- Backup generators
- Security for controllers and servers
Bluehost redirects your network via CDN. It is a global network that delivers content at some of the highest speeds. They also use multiple processors for each server designed to make the server run as fast as possible. This is backed by a power supply that cannot be cut off or interrupted. Of course, you'll have individual clients, some of whom may complain about slow page loads, but now you know it's on their side, not yours.
Bluehost has a diesel generator that will work even without power in the event of a power failure. Finally, they keep a backup of all the files elsewhere. This guarantees your uptime, which means that you never have to worry about your website crashing due to server issues.
The units that run its servers are extremely large and intended for large companies. You won't have to worry about making your server slow because your site is too busy. They have data centers, which is where they keep their advanced servers in many different countries.
HostGator also runs its network via CDN. In addition, they use a new type of technology called container technology to keep their servers secure. This technology is designed to provide the best execution environment for your servers by keeping your servers in a specialized container.
All HostGator servers have multiple backup generators that help maintain HostGator uptime throughout the year.
Many people have done tests to compare the speed of Bluehost with that of HostGator. The tests are varied. It seems like it depends on where and when you try. Sometimes Bluehost is faster, and sometimes HostGator is.
They're actually just as fast as the others on average, so it gets specific to where you live and when your site is most active.
When it comes to uptime, both are great. Any day of the year will show that you are both 100% uptime. However, both services guarantee that your uptime is at least 99.8%, so you will have to be really unlucky to choose the day when your uptime is not all day.
2. Beginner-friendly
Bluehost and HostGator try to make things easier for people who have just started using web hosting services. However, understanding server mechanics is pretty specialized; don't worry if you don't understand.
Let us explain what makes Bluehost vs. HostGator interesting when it comes to ease of use.
- Money-back guarantee policies
- Tutorials
- Website construction works
- Website construction features
If you use the Bluehost service and start to regret it, don't worry! Bluehost has a 30-day money-back guarantee.
But if you want to give them a try, Bluehost also provides many tools and tips on building a website. In addition, they have tutorials to help you that are compatible with all website-building programs like WordPress.
HostGator's money-back guarantee policy is 45 days. In addition, they have their own basic website-building infrastructure that you can use to get started.
Its website-building features include over 100 templates and a couple of pre-built page layouts. There aren't really enough features to make it your long-term plan, but it definitely helps if you get lost at first.
3. Customer service
We can't forget about customer service along with its beginner-friendly features when talking about Bluehost vs. HostGator. Both services pride themselves on being the best, and their representatives are of great help in any matter.
Both Bluehost and HostGator have helped us overcome problems that were mainly caused by our ignorance. You will be eternally grateful that they truly believe there are no stupid questions! These are some of the things that make Bluehost vs. HostGator customer service so good.
- Ease of contact
- Instant responses by phone and chat
- Hotlines 24 hours a day, seven days a week
- Friendly staff
- Helpful staff
- Reading guides through FAQs or forums
- Different types of experience to meet your needs
There are three methods of contacting Bluehost. You can call them, use their instant chat message on their website, or submit a support ticket. Their phone and chat service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and instantly. Their staff is dedicated to helping clients around the world.
Maybe you are the type to put off. Shoot! It is now 3 AM, and you need help; don't worry, you can contact them! Plus, they have a great FAQ section that answers many of the basic questions you may have when you start.
While they can answer many different types of questions, Bluehost's customer service is designed to help with three main types.
The first type is account management. You will want to contact this sector if something in your profile is difficult for you or you do not know how to navigate it. For example, if you have trouble paying, you should contact the sales department.
Finally, your Technical Support will help you with anything that goes wrong with your website. Please don't feel bad about trusting them; Bluehost sells its customer service as a product.
HostGator also has an instant phone and chat service. If you have problems with billing and money, the site has a specific space for billing support. Their website has many video tutorials that are extremely helpful for all the other problems you may encounter.
HostGator has one more unique plugin. You can look for advice on their forums. Many technical experts have created an active community using their forums.
These forums give you a lot of flexibility. They may not be instant, but you can ask follow-up questions when you get answers and give specific scenarios of your questions with screenshots. The other great thing is that you can get advice from multiple perspectives.
Sometimes questions have more than one option, and forums work great if you have an open mind.
Bluehost vs. HostGator: The Battle
Round 1: The price
All of us want to find the correct cost for a product. However, we are concerned that when something is too cheap, we may be receiving a bad product.
Well, you should at least know when you are considering choosing between Bluehost and HostGator. Both are going to be worth every dollar you spend.
They are the two best web hosting services out there, and they are very cheap considering all the features they offer.
With that out of the way, now I'm here to help you figure out what the best deal is. You will find out what is cheaper and what will help you think if Bluehost vs. HostGator is better.
Bluehost
Bluehost offers a low price of $ 2.95 per month and can be used immediately for hosting with WordPress.
Bluehost also offers a free domain name. You must remember that domain names are not part of web hosting services and generally require an additional cost. The fact that Bluehost offers a free domain name is actually quite rare and a huge benefit.
Another important thing to keep in mind is Bluehost will charge you to move your existing website to theirs. If you already have a site, you can manually move all the files on your site to Bluehost one by one or pay a fixed price of $ 149.99.
This is a lot of money, but if you already have a large site that has been up and running for a while and needs a change, you will understand that moving your files would take forever, and paying the fee is the most convenient option.
HostGator
The monthly cost of using HostGator will be a bit higher for you. HostGator will charge you $ 6.95 per month. Also, HostGator will not provide a domain name, and you will have to purchase one yourself from another site.
HostGator will at least migrate your site for free as long as you do so within 30 days of your registration. The other thing when considering costs that you should be aware of is that HostGator has a longer money-back guarantee policy.
You will have 45 days to request a full refund instead of the 30 days Bluehost offers.
Winner
Bluehost is the clear winner here. With a lower monthly price and a free domain name, the cost to HostGator is exponentially higher. However, if you already have a large website and want to migrate that site, Bluehost's fixed price for this service is a hefty amount. If that's the case, we would definitely have to say that HostGator is cheaper.
Both sites have offers and different types of plans. The plans can be difficult to understand, but Bluehost will be the cheapest option if you are starting, even if you keep checking; sometimes, both sites have offers that exceed 50% of their monthly costs.
Round 2: WordPress performance
A large percentage of starter sites use WordPress. It is estimated that this figure is 25%. WordPress is a website builder that people use to make their websites look professional.
The reason people like to use site builders is that code is a language that not everyone has learned or has time to learn.
With sites like WordPress, you can create a great-looking website that appears to have been built by a professional programmer.
If you want to consider using WordPress to build your site, the HostGator vs. Bluehost WordPress features will be a big part of your decision of which one you want to use.
Bluehost
WordPress has a close relationship with Bluehost, and both companies have been working together for a long time. In fact, if you visit WordPress and try to search for web hosting ideas, you will see that Bluehost is the web hosting company they recommend.
That's cool, but you may be wondering if that really means anything. Tons of people recommend each other because of connections more than quality.
The thing is, Bluehost has been unofficially designed to be the WordPress web host.
While you can use WordPress in combination with any web hosting you want, there are many privileges that you can get when you use Bluehost for building a blog through WordPress.
When you sign up with Bluehost, they will immediately show you a button to click to download WordPress.
Once done, you can use WordPress and build your website on your Bluehost account. You can keep all your information about your site and web hosting in the same account.
You won't have to switch between two different websites if you need to check both systems.
Since they both work together, they are not so shy about sharing information. This allows for more advanced security programs.
You will be able to protect Bluehost and WordPress at the same time because Bluehost can do daily malware and virus checks without having to ask WordPress first.
Also, you can use Bluehost to back up all your WordPress files, so if something happens to your site, you won't lose the information you've worked so hard on.
Of course, since both sites are connected, the speed between WordPress and Bluehost is very fast. Bluehost has built the infrastructure to allow connectivity between them and WordPress.
It would not be easy to find a faster web host if you are using WordPress.
HostGator
The site may not have the same connections to allow for the best features, but the features they offer for WordPress are fantastic.
Since HostGator has a free website migration service, you can easily move WordPress to be hosted on your HostGator.
HostGator has many different programs that will protect your data from being hacked or attacked by a virus. In addition, all their software will check your website daily and alert you if there are any problems.
In addition to security, you can easily back up your files. You will find that there will be a button in your HostGator account that you can press that will back up your information for you.
HostGator also has a strong connection to WordPress, which means that the connectivity is very fast.
As you can see, HostGator basically does the same thing as Bluehost when it comes to WordPress. In fact, most of the worse things to do could be insignificant to the normal eye.
For example, the connection delay can be only milliseconds. So your decision depends on how much these little details matter to you.
Winner
Bluehost takes this trophy easily. All of Bluehost's features relative to WordPress are better. How much better? They may not be the most significant depending on who you are and what you want from a website, but that doesn't stop Bluehost from winning.
The fight between HostGator and Bluehost WordPress has left us with a simple answer.
Round 3: The security
Security is a very important issue for all of us when it comes to the Internet. But, unfortunately, many malicious people are trying to attack your website to get whatever personal information they can get.
The most common forms of attacks come in the form of DDOS. So what is a DDOS attack?
Fortunately, web hosting services know this and prioritize security. Although both sites are very secure, some nuances make the Bluehost vs. HostGator debate interesting.
Bluehost
With free auto-generated backups, this feature is great for anyone having trouble remembering the importance of security. Of course, you should know that backups are an important method of keeping your work safe, but sometimes you don't have the time.
All you have to do is schedule them, and you can decide if you want them to be daily weekly or even monthly.
The other thing Bluehost provides is an SSL. SSL basically encrypts data when information is being transferred so that no one can read it and use it for their own benefit.
Basically, when you click on a website, the data is transferred to the server requesting the clicked page. The server will then send the data back to the computer to visit the new page because you clicked on the link.
If these signals are not encrypted, people can follow these signals and enter your server. In other words, without SSL, your server runs the risk of being hacked every time someone visits your website.
SSLs are connected to the domain name and are represented when a website has an "HTTPS" before the domain name. Bluehost will provide you with a free SSL, so don't hesitate to celebrate!
As we mentioned before, the most common attack is the DDOS attack. Bluehost has built an infrastructure that will protect you from simple attacks. However, you cannot block these attacks due to the nature of DDOS.
These types of attacks occur when someone decides to use your computer on the network and overwhelms you, causing it to become very busy and slow. Since anyone can actually do this with any device, it can happen at any time.
Bluehost will immediately move your network to a new line when this happens so that the attack won't last long.
If you want a malware scan or virus scan on your server or website, Bluehost offers this service if you upgrade your account. Unfortunately, this update is something you will have to pay for.
HostGator
Unlike Bluehost, HostGator does not have an automated system to help you back up your data.
There is a manual button that you can click. This will instantly create a backup file for you, which is very convenient. With that file, you can use it to restore your website to a HostGator server if you ever need it.
We have mentioned this before; HostGator does not provide you with a domain name. In other words, it won't have a free SSL for you to use.
You will have to make sure that the domain you buy has an SSL certificate. HostGator will accept all types of SSL certification, so as long as you make sure your domain has one, you can use HostGator as your web host.
HostGator has put in place firewalls that can help prevent this from happening when it comes to DDOS. They also have network-level flood protection that will help keep DDOS from happening.
HostGator has powerful Malware scans that you can use. They are associated with the Sitelock company. They also provide programs that will tell you if they perceive that your website or any of your data is being hacked.
Winner
Bluehost also wins this category. With automatic backups and SSL, Bluehost becomes more secure if you want to do less work.
HostGator is very secure too, but you need to put a bit of effort into bringing it to the same level that Bluehost does. So keep all of these things in mind when you think about the Bluehost vs. HostGator problem.
Bluehost vs. HostGator: The Final Conclusion
Our attempt to address the Bluehost versus HostGator issue concludes. As you can see, choosing any of them is great.
Choosing between them is almost like choosing between apples and oranges. Much of this is just preference. While Bluehost wins in every category, it really only stands out very slightly each time.
With the money-back guarantee available on both services, you have the freedom to try both and decide which one you like.
When it comes to speed and uptime, it often depends on your individual circumstances. For example, does your site host a lot of images?
Do you live in the United States of America? How much traffic does your site get, and when is your site's peak time? All of this will affect the speed and uptime of your site.
Other than that, we have decided to give Bluehost the upper hand for the following reasons:
- It is easier to obtain the necessary security tools.
- Extremely compatible with WordPress.
- A bit cheaper in the long run.
Realize that any comparison between them may not be the only reason you decide to go with one or the other.
Both web hosting services are great if you are starting or have already built a great website and are looking for a steadier server.
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