What is the best web hosting service?
In web hosting, two big names are above the rest – Bluehost and HostGator. Both web hosting providers guarantee first-class service in a market saturated with low-quality hosting options.
But what is the best web hosting service?
If you read my previous articles, you will know that I am the champion of Bluehost. But even with my personal bias aside, when I look at the harsh cold facts, Bluehost is still victorious over HostGator.
While HostGator isn’t far behind, Bluehost’s attractive packages have made it to the excellent point of affordability and ease of the use – something that both beginners and veterans will appreciate.
Bluehost or HostGator. Which is better?
Bluehost can be a godsend for WordPress beginners and experts who want an affordable hosting plan. It has an organized dashboard with excellent customer support and many great features.
No wonder it’s one of the three sites recommended by WordPress itself. If that sounds like your wish list, sign up for the free trial with Bluehost.
HostGator is an insanely the powerful web hosting provider that gives you excellent uptime and an in-depth (and fast!) Its feature-rich hosting plans include the free website migration and an integrated site builder, making it the good choice for all levels of users.
Review of the best web hosting services
If you are looking for a reliable hosting solution for your website, you don’t have to limit your options to Bluehost or HostGator.
There is a lot of fish in the sea.
Head over to the best web hosting service guide to find the perfect match for yourself based on your specific needs. We have something for everyone, from shared hosting options for startups to eCommerce hosting to scalability. HostGator and Bluehost both made a list!
Bluehost wins
WordPress Certified:
A WordPress company’s official endorsement means a lot to those looking for a WordPress hosting provider. Specifically, why I just had to include how one of the largest (and perhaps most famous) is hosting platforms, WordPress gives Bluehost the number one spot on its list of the best WordPress web hosting providers.
Ultra-fast:
With an endorsement like this, one would expect the loading speed to be fast, and Bluehost certainly doesn’t disappoint. If your business is successful, you need fast website loading speeds and server response time. Bluehost consistently provides excellent speed, which has much to do with popularity.
Incredible server uptime:
Uptime refers to the part of the time your site is online. This is very important because otherwise, how will users be able to access your site if it is offline? The industry standard for the hosting companies is around 99%, but Bluehost beats that, with an average of 99.9%. While this is the bare minimum for low-level shared hosting plans, if you choose the dedicated hosting for VPS hosting plans, you can expect to get close to 100%.
Robust Customer Support:
You won’t need Bluehost customer support daily, but know that it is solid and efficient when you do. You can get solutions to your problems via live chat, dedicated phone support for different hosting types, and social media support. In addition, Bluehost Support can resolve support issues before speaking to a qualified professional – all you have to do is consult their comprehensive support library with hundreds of step-by-step instructions and FAQs to fix common problems.
Bluehost losses
High Renewal Prices:
Bluehost’s introductory prices make it one of the most affordable hosting providers. However, ensure you are prepared for price hikes when renewing your subscription. While this is not a Bluehost-specific issue, as with every hosting company.
No Uptime Guarantee:
Downtime harms any website because it indicates a potential loss of sales and conversions. This is also why an uptime guarantee is essential. Bluehost offers excellent uptime, but since there is no guarantee, you can’t expect compensation if you experience downtime below the specified percentage. Considering that most of the hosting providers’ competitors offer a warranty for their users, one can only wish Bluehost to follow suit.
No Free Site Migration or ASP.net/Windows Hosting:
Many hosting services offer free migrations if you want to move the existing site to their servers, but unfortunately, Bluehost doesn’t. If you don’t want to migrate your site to Bluehost, you will have to pay a fee of $149.99 to migrate up to five websites and 20 email accounts. Additionally, Bluehost is a Linux-only hosting company, which means there is no support for websites that need a Windows server to run. Since most of the market uses Linux, this does not spoil the deals. But if you need Windows servers, you may want to look elsewhere.
HostGator wins
Reliable and robust uptime guarantee:
HostGator constantly posts 99.98-100% uptime, and this consistency is not without reason. The hosting service offers a warranty of uptime, according to which if it drops below 99.90%, users will receive a one-month credit on their account. However, remember that this is the norm, as anything less is generally not tolerated.
(Almost) Everything Unlimited: HostGator offers unlimited everything — well, sort of. You can expect total disk space to store as much data as you need, and uncalculated bandwidth will enable you to transfer unlimited data between the host server, site visitors, and the Internet.
Best cPanel Hosting:
No web hosting provider offers a better cPanel version than HostGator. This is not an empty claim. You’ll find tools and options for managing your site and domain from one place, with many tools in the cPanel control panel. These include file manager, FTP with user management, backup wizard, disk usage, domain manager, domain redirection, DNS, database access through PHPMyAdmin, file compression, file upload, and file download.
HostGator losses
Limited Features:
While the unlimited bit sounds nice, one can’t help but notice that most of the features that HostGator offers are pretty standard. Also, shared-hosting users cannot expect extras and will have to handle their websites’ administrative work manually. You are responsible for daily backups and updating any kernels, plugins, themes, and security measures.
Slow Customer Support:
HostGator offers 24/7 hosting via live chat, phone, and email. And their support team is willing to help you fix most of the problems you encounter, but they are not necessarily the best in the field. Many customers have complained about the slow support responses, which can be incredibly annoying when you get stuck doing something meaningful and need immediate help.
No Free Daily Backups:
If there’s one thing every blog should have, it’s a daily backup. Unfortunately, you will not find any guarantee of daily backups with HostGator, as they only offer one backup per week. In addition, you will not be able to restore the site unless you pay for it. I recommend installing a plugin that does a daily backup for you. For example, you can opt for HostGator’s premium backup and restore tool called CodeGuard, which costs $24 per year for one time. Or you can select the WordPress tool to create a copy of the entire site and send it to Amazon, Google Drive, or Dropbox.