My Honest Review of Hostgator’s Web Hosting Service

I started building websites as a teenager but never paid for web hosting until I started my first professional WordPress blog in 2016.

When I decided to do this, I did my research. I read up on the most recommended web hosting services for WordPress bloggers out there. Finally, I decided to sign up with Hostgator for my web hosting service.

Now that I have been with HostGator a year and a half, I am going to give you my honest review of their web hosting service. I hope it helps you to make your decision on which web hosting service is right for you.

*This post contains affiliate links. That means that if you make a purchase after clicking on a link I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. For more information, click here.

About HostGator

HostGator has been providing web hosting services since 2002. They are a Texas-based green hosting company that has used natural wind energy to power their servers since 2008. This has made the company an eco-friendly company with a low carbon footprint.

Since most bloggers use shared hosting plans, those are the plans I will discuss. If you are unfamiliar with web hosting, shared hosting means your blog will share a server with other websites or blogs.

Shared hosting is adequate for most blogs and will save you tons of money. Unless you have an existing strong following, this is most likely the best type of hosting for you. You can always upgrade if you need a private server in the future.

Web Hosting Plans

The three plans I will cover today are:

• Hatchling Plan
• Baby Plan
• Business Plan

All three of these plans are great for bloggers. I have the Baby Plan but may upgrade to a business plan in the future as I begin to offer digital products and possibly a membership. In the meantime, I am happy with my current plan and it saves me $5/mo. I can upgrade at any time.

The Features

HostGator offers the following features on all of their plans. The only exception is the “Unlimited Domains” on the Hatchling plan. You can view a plan comparison here.

• Monthly Payment Options
• Annual plans as Low as $2.75/mo.
• Low Renewal Rates
• One-click WordPress Installation
• 99.9% Uptime Guarantee
• Unlimited Sub Domains
• Unmetered Bandwidth
• Unlimited Sub Domains
• Unlimited Domains on the “Baby Plan” or higher
• Unmetered Storage
• Unlimited Free Email Addresses
• $100 Google Adwords
• $100 Bing Ad Credit
• No Contract
• 45-Day Money Back Guarantee

The Cost

HostGator offers a ton of benefits without having to pay a ton up front, just to get started. I started out with a monthly payment plan with no contract. These are more expensive in the long run, but least expensive up-front.

This was the cherry on the top that sold me. Most other web hosting services required a commitment and up-front payment to get started. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t have that kind of money available for hosting.

Paying monthly allowed me to get started more quickly than I could with any other hosting services. If you already own your domain, you can start today with the Hatchling Plan and pay as little as $10.95 for your web hosting. Just select “1 Month @ $10.95” in the drop-down beside Billing Cycle and uncheck all of the extras. There are apps for those.

If you don’t have your own domain, you can purchase it when you sign up. Domains vary in price, but an available .com usually costs around $12.

I went with the Baby Plan because it allows for unlimited domains and has a few more features to help WordPress bloggers. It costs only $1 more per month, so I highly recommend this plan. The benefits are well worth the additional $1.

The Business Plan was simply over-the-top for me. It offered site security at no additional costs and a lot of benefits for those planning on building an e-commerce site. If you plan on having an online store and offering physical or digital products directly from your website or having a members-only section, this would be the plan for you.

Additional Savings for My Readers

If you want to try any of the above plans, the affiliate link below will allow you to get your first month of web hosting for a penny. You also have a 45-day money-back guarantee if you aren’t satisfied.

HostGator Web Hosting for only $0.01 for the first month! Use code: 1CENT.

They also have longer term hosting options available. If you decide to go that route, it will cost more up front, but less in the long-run. It’s definitely worth the investment if you have the ability to pay the up-front cost.

To get 20% off of those plans, you can use my affiliate link below and make sure you use the code: SNAPPY at the checkout.

Get 20% off all New HostGator Hosting plans with Coupon: SNAPPY

Add-Ons

Most of the add-ons are not worth the monthly cost, in my opinion. I use plugins for my site security and backup for free and receive unlimited emails on my domain with the Baby plan, so I don’t purchase most of them. Right now, I don’t have an SSL site security ticket because I don’t plan on taking payments on my blog, for now. I have a third-party service that handles this for me.

Domain Privacy

I do, however, purchase domain privacy for personal security reasons. This is the only paid add-on I use. If you don’t get domain privacy, your address and personal contact information is public knowledge. If you have a post office box, you may not need it. It is up to you and your comfort level. It is under $15 per year, so for me, it was worth the money.

Customer Service

If you like customer service that is in the United States, you will be happy to know that all of the representatives that I have spoken to have been native English speakers. I know how difficult and frustrating it can be to speak to someone over the phone that you simply cannot understand. You won’t find that with HostGator.

So far, I have not had any serious issues with my HostGator web hosting. There was only one time in the 18 months that I have had an issue with my website and it was resolved within hours. The website kept going up and down while they were resolving an issue on the server, but as I said, it wasn’t a big deal.

I have contacted customer service by phone and the 24/7 chat. Chat is limited in their capabilities but can submit tickets for any issues you may have.

When I canceled renewal for my original domain, I failed to mention to the live chat representative that I had domain privacy and was charged for it. It was after hours for phone support, but the representative I chatted with about the charge submitted a ticket for me and the amount was credited back to my account the next business day.

Billing

I am billed the $11.95/mo. and have had up to 3 blogs running on my plan at one time without an issue.

Since I returned to blogging full-time, I was concerned about my blog traffic climbing quickly and the capabilities of my blog. HostGator assured me I was nowhere near close to having an issue with my blog traffic and that my pageviews weren’t limited by the Baby Plan.

Bills can be downloaded from your Billing/Support portal easily. This makes them easy to keep track of when it’s time to file taxes. As a someone who is self-employed, it’s important to keep track of every expense that you possibly can.

HostGator also notifies me a few weeks before I am charged for my domain(s) so that I am aware that the charge will be processed soon. Since I am forgetful, unless it’s on my calendar, I love this.

Speed

HostGator boasts unmetered bandwidth, and I’ve never had an issue with my website loading on a normal internet connection. My blog runs smoothly regardless of the media on each page. I have never received a single complaint about my blog’s speed.

They also recently upgraded their servers to ensure that their server speeds are competitive. This means that your blog will run faster simply because the servers are better.

Overall

I highly recommend HostGator to anyone who is considering starting a self-hosted blog or website. It is an eco-friendly, American-owned and operated business based in Texas.

The customer service representatives are always courteous and helpful. I don’t feel like I have ever been “given the run-around” and have never been transferred to another department. The representatives are knowledgeable and have gone above and beyond to help me when I have had a problem.

I use HostGator web hosting for every self-hosted blog I have created and they genuinely make my life easier. I highly recommend them to friends, family, and my audience because I believe in their service.

Web Hosting Made Easy

If you are looking into HostGator or any other web hosting service, I hope this review helps you make your decision. I do not recommend any products or services that I don’t personally use or truly believe in.

With HostGator’s low prices, you can start your brand new blog right now. You don’t have to wait months to save up the money for a longterm contract you’re not sure you will even like. With their 45 day guarantee, you can’t go wrong.

What are you waiting for? Start your blog now!