Founded in 2002, HostGator did not take long to establish a significant presence in the industry, and now, less than a decade later, they already host in excess of 5 million domains. That’s a tremendous amount of success in such a short period, so they’re obviously doing something right. And with the introduction of their all-new “hatchling plan,” which costs as little as $3.96 per month, I knew it was time for me to move beyond mere curiosity. In order to give them a thorough assessment, I test-drove their hatchling plan for an entire month, which cost me $7.16, the month-by-month rate.

Value for Money

HostGator’s basic plan costs you as much as $7.16 per month or as little as $3.96 per month, which requires a 36-month commitment ($142.56). You can also commit to 2 years at $4.76/month ($114.24) or 1 year at $5.56/month ($66.72). HostGator also offers a 45-day contract-free grace period. Technically, I could have paid just $3.96 for the trial period, but I generally avoid the hassle when a webhost offers a month-by-month pay schedule—saving $3.20 simply isn’t worth the extra processing.

The hatchling plan, whether you pay $3.96 or $7.16 or somewhere in between, includes unlimited disk space, unlimited bandwidth, a shared SSL certificate, site builder, instant back up, a 99.9% uptime guarantee and support for up to one domain. The hatchling plan doesn’t include a free domain, but you can buy that directly through HostGator during the signup process. At no point does HostGator require a contract, and they allow you to upgrade from the hatchling plan to the “baby plan” or “business plan” seamlessly and at any point. All you have to do is pay the difference.

Performance & Reliability

If you choose to opt out at any point during the first 45 days, HostGator refunds 100% of your money. After 45 days, they prorate it, and refund the difference. In addition, if you pay $7.16 for the first month and then decide to upgrade to a longer term, HostGator accounts for the difference, which is a nice touch. HostGator also guarantees 99.9% uptime, and they’ll refund a prorated amount anytime they fall below that mark. They have on occasion had to pay out. It doesn’t happen often, and the last time was in early 2009, but it’s comforting to know they stand by the guarantee. Overall, however, they do very well, and have maintained a 99.906% uptime since late 2005.

Support

Of all the webhosts I’ve reviewed, few interact with their clients as well as HostGator does. A big reason for this is that HostGator embraces social networking. They’re active on their Facebook page as well as their Twitter account, where they post status updates and even respond to client questions that have broad appeal. For more personal support, they provide 24/7 access via live chat, email and telephone. They also have a support ticket system available through their support portal. The portal also gives you access to community forums, video tutorials, a wide range of articles and a sophisticated search mechanism that lets you query the knowledgebase.

In order to test the support firsthand, I spoke to a help agent using the live chat system to ask them a series of questions. After requesting the chat, I didn’t have to wait long to start speaking to the agent. I played up the role of the newbie, and threw a series of softball questions out there, which the agent handled deftly. Then I started to ask complex questions, such as one that dealt with installing a module for one of the supported technologies. The agent answered the question quickly by pointing me to a well-detailed tutorial on the very subject. That works well for me, but this is the reason some call chat support too impersonal.

• Phone
• Fax
• Email
• Snail Mail
• Live Chat
• Support Ticket System
• Knowledgebase, Forums, Facebook and Twitter

As you can see you'll have a lot of different options if you need to get in contact with the support team

Ease of Use

With HostGator you’ll get to work in the well know cPanel. If you’ve used this control before you’ll recognize everything and if you haven’t… You’ll still find everything. Overall I think that HostGator is user friendly and you should have no problem managing your site.

We Like

• Their approach to social networking, which often answered questions before I had them.
• Their approach to community, which put me in productive contact with other HostGator clients.
• That the sales team seemed genuinely interested in earning a loyal long-term client.

Important to Know

• Phone support is very limited, and they’ll often try to redirect you to another form of support.

Overall, I had a tremendous experience with HostGator, and found them to be just as well suited to large Web enterprises as they are small WordPress blogs. The account creation process was simple. The control panel is powerful and intuitive. And the resources are amazing, especially if you’re a DIYer. I should note that if there is a prevailing complaint about HostGator it’s that they continue to charge credit cards even after the account closes. I experienced no such problems. Of course, I’ve also made it habit of contacting my CC company whenever I close accounts with regular payments. I think that all webmasters should employ that strategy.