Don’t get us wrong: HostGator is an otherwise, okay hosting company.
As a matter of fact, the company offers stellar services and has been around for quite some time. Accordingly, it thus sure knows what it means to host sites in an awesome manner and importantly, keep hosting clients happy.
However, this is the real world – a world where one’s reality may not necessarily qualify even as basic consideration for another.
In the real world too, there are a lot of persons who would want an alternative to HostGator or persons who are willing to look at competitors who offer close services.
The reasons for such persons are legion – and differ from individual to individual. These reasons may also differ from time to time.
Thus, the reason someone may hate HostGator today and may want an alternative may be quite different from the reason the same person may adduce, a month, six or a year down the line.
Accordingly, the reason an American may dislike the company may be quite different from the reasons a Canadian may adduce.
However, the bottom line remains that, no matter the reason in question, the ultimate end remains ensuring that an alternative to HostGator is got – one that will cover the challenge that made an alternative desirable in the first place in a super awesome manner.
This is our sole business here today.
Before we proceed however, it is trite to take a look at some of the major reasons to hate HostGator (read: some of the reasons our readers give for seeking an alternative or close competitor to HostGator).
Best HostGator Alternatives & Competitors: Why Seek An Alternative Option In The First Place?
There are easily a million and one reasons to look for an alternative to HostGator.
While we are transparent enough to admit that we do not know all the reasons, we are also knowledgeable enough to state that we know the most important ones.
Chronicled below are thus the major reasons you (or anyone else for that matter) may be interested in looking at any of the HostGator competitors.
So, what’s to ‘hate’ about HostGator and in the process, initiate the looking elsewhere process?
1. HostGator Is An EIG Brand
The Endurance International Group (EIG) is a humongous brand, at least as far as web hosting and domain registrations are concerned.
This group owns and controls well known brands like Arvixe, BlueHost, A Small Orange, iPage, JustHost, Unified Layer, FatCow and other brands that are simply too numerous to mention here.
The strategy of this group is simple: they look for an awesome hitherto private brand doing awesomely well (with a founder who wants to sell out) and do something else with his time (and money).
They buy off such a web asset, keep its name and unique identity intact and apply the economics of mass market production on such a company to both streamline and maximize its profit line. In this manner, all the unique brands under the EIG umbrella are positioned to literally vomit cash like an ATM machine.
However, the poor ATM this group turn these hitherto awesome companies to is usually a poorly maintained one: an ATM that takes forever to serve you and in more cases than it is desirable, winds up either ‘swallowing’ your card, giving you really dirty notes or generally annoying you.
The EIG brand is not especially known for awesome product offerings, security or even acceptable customer service. As a matter of fact, security incidences are quite common across the group’s various brands.
This has made the average webmaster prefer other alternatives to the no so loved EIG brands we have today.
The fact that HostGator is a brand controlled by the Endurance Group is thus the very first reason why you (or anyone else for that matter) would appreciate an alternative better.
2. HostGator’s DNS Take Longer (Than Average) To Propagate
Usually, when you want to access a website, say, this very one, Hosting Versus, you’ll need to type in https://hostingversus.com in your browser and the rest is done right behind the curtains. What you usually see is the result: an entire site on your device in less than a second (or about a second or so, depending on both the speed of the site and that of your own internet connection).
However, what happens at the backend is much more complex than this simple reality.
When a request is made to a server to relay the information (website) hosted on it, its Domain Name Server (DNS) first has to convert that request into machine language in order for the computer handling such requests to understand it.
Thus, the request for Hosting Versus would, for instance, be interpreted to mean: 213.178.124.70 – a complex set of 4 string numbers known as the IP (Internet Protocol) address. This format is machine friendly and is what computers generally understand.
Now, when you host a website (with any hosting company – i.e. after buying your domain name), the hosting company needs to assign this IP address to your account (or website) as the case may be before the all important machine-friendly conversion can be done when a request for your site is initiated.
The time between signing up for such a hosting service and being assigned an IP address so that the whole world can see your work is called propagation.
This time varies between hosting companies: for many, like SiteGround and A2 Hosting, this period is practically non-existent. The IP address is assigned automatically and seamlessly so that immediately you transfer or sign up, your site comes up alive.
For most hosting companies, this process can take anywhere from a few minutes to up to 36 hours.
However, for HostGator, this process is a real pain in the neck and has been known to span up to 7 days – with 3 days being the average!
This long waiting period is especially true if the domain name was not bought from the company and the client had to manually update the Name Servers to point to his/her new account with HostGator.
This long wait time, will, certainly, defeat purposes that are urgent or projects that are time sensitive.
It would also annoy anyone who has better things to do and importantly, knows that other hosting companies have a better, quicker and more efficient way of resolving the issue than making their clients wait forever.
This, is another reason to hate HostGator or, to put in perspective, desire a smarter alternative to HostGator.
3. No (Default) Automatic Site Back Ups
The world of business is a scary one: a business owner may wake up one day and on resumption of business at his or her primary business address, discover that the place was burgled overnight and ALL inventory stolen.
Such stories occur daily in the world. The online world is no exception.
However, there are smart differences though:
- Online (as against offline), there is often no physical inventory to steal and
- Protecting against unauthorized intrusions online is usually cheaper and easier.
As a website owner, you may wake up sadly to discover that your site has been compromised: years of content gone – with the wind!
Your revenue stream with it and most likely, your means of livelihood.
As posited above, this challenge can be handled – and everything returned to normalcy if one is smart enough to take precautions.
To achieve this, industry experts (especially those who run the business of hosting) brought up the very clever idea of backups.
Automated and set to run at fixed cycles, these are copies or snapshots of your website that are periodically taken (as pe your instruction).
The logic behind this is that, should anything go wrong, all you’ll ever need to do is to upload an earlier (uncompromised) version of your site and everything, all other things being equal, should run as it is supposed to.
Seeing the importance of this backup service and the corresponding rise in the compromises the web sees everyday, many hosting companies – like SiteGround – now offer this all important feature, available right at the cPanel level for FREE.
The feature is also available to all customers, across board, irrespective of either plan type or service duration.
Unfortunately, HostGator does not agree. In its own sense and ultimate logic, backing up a site as a security practice is not something that is neither necessary nor is it very important.
Thus, HostGator customers do not get any backups!
If such customers want the ‘luxury’ of backups, they’ll either need to use third party plugins or other backup services, most of which are premium.
If you (or anyone else for that matter) does not agree with HostGator on this and holds the opposite that ALL hosting companies ought to at least back up the sites of their clients daily, it is logical to expect that you’ll be looking for a close competitor’s of HostGator, one that does not only believe that offering clients backup to their sites is not just commonsense security practice but one that is absolutely necessary in this age and time.
4. Funny Pricing
The price of a service is one of the major determinants of closing a sale for many persons.
This is true even if all others things are are not equal: this is so because, with the right price, someone may simply shake his or her head and say something to the effect of: ‘I don’t like this but for the price, I’ll give it a try’.
And boom, a sale is closed!
This reality is no different online, especially in the hosting industry.
Unfortunately, HostGator has some really interesting (read: funny) pricing philosophy that on deeper look, is quite strange, having been geared to serve everyone else except the webmaster.
For instance, the company makes the whole world understand that its hosting services start as low as only $2.75/month (for the Hatching package).
However, this price is only activated when one pays for 3 straight years – upfront!
If one is not inclined to pay for those 3 years, then, what is applicable is a not so good looking $10.95/month!
At $10.95/month, many beginners cannot simply cope with the cost and the service ceases to qualify for the adjective ‘affordable’ or ‘cheap’.
Now, if you (or anyone else for that matter) does not like the fact that you have to be tied to a hosting service for about 3 straight years in order to benefit from a great deal, you’ll certainly be looking for an alternative or close competitor’s of HostGator’s.
Side Note: It is worth mentioning that for a service that you have not tried out, it is not a very smart thing to invest 3 straight years, even with the prospect of a refund.
Further, even for a service that you have used – and hitherto trusted over the years, 3 years is a lot of time and many things can drastically change in those years. No one should pay for hosting, in our professional opinion, for more than a single year, upfront.
5. Any Other (Personal) Unique Reason
The fist four reasons adumbrated above are the major ones to seek an alternative hosting company away from HostGator.
However, these are the options that we can think of – or options that other have given us as reasons for looking for an alternative.
We however understand that this list is not exhaustive.
There are many reasons that we cannot think of at the moment; options and private opinions that have passed us by.
It could be that you (or anyone else for that matter) does not love the way the website is laid, the manner the support crew handles requests/queries or even the very names they bear!
The list – and options – are practically endless.
However, whatever the reason you may have for looking for an alternative hosting company to HostGator, we’ve got you covered.
Welcome on board; welcome to our ranking of the top 3 best HostGator alternatives of 2023.
Top 3 Best HostGator Alternatives Of 2023 Ranked
Having seen why you (and as we love to say, anyone else) would appreciate an alternative to HostGator, let’s take a look at the hosting companies that serve as awesome alternatives to HostGator, this 2023.
Let’s get busy!
1. A2 Hosting
Founded just at the turn of the millennium in 2001, A2 Hosting has blazed the hosting trail and has consistently been ranked as one of the very best hosting companies ever since.
The company has, through superior solid state technology and other interesting innovations made its very own name synonymous with super fast, turbo hosting.
As a matter of fact, the company has held that it is about 20X faster than the competition, a claim that we have investigated and confirmed.
However, with A2 Hosting, its speed is just the beginning of awesomeness: the company support system is both solid and ultra reliable, it has a product range that appeals to all manner of users and clients and importantly, it has an uptime reality coupled with a track record of consistency that it is both rare and difficult to beat in the hosting world today.
Usually, such an awesome offer is crippled in the minds of prospective clients only by the charge that follows its reality.
The case for A2 Hosting is however different: the company is smart enough to make certain that its products and services, though awesome in every regard (and leading in most) are still priced in a manner that makes ultimate sense even to the beginner on a stringent budget.
Why Consider A2 As An Alternative To HostGator?
- The turbo speed which A2 Hosting came to be known, trusted and respected for is generally well off the reality of hosting companies like HostGator. If you’re particularity interested in speed (which you should), then, this is a no brainer.
- A2 Hosing, being privately held, generally takes security more serious when compared to HostGator (which deploys the same, generic security measures across all their hosting platforms, making it easy for others to fall once one has succumbed to an attack).
- A2 Hosting has an elaborate support system that sees to it that customers are answered as quickly as their queries arise. This is not the case with HostGator where you generally are kept waiting for up to an hour (if you’re out of luck).
- Founded in 2001, A2 is older than HostGator who was founded in 2002. Though the difference in years is not much, the experience of A2 being online for a year more than HostGator translates to more experience, overall. This will brilliantly play well in your favor especially at your hour of need.
- Should you be dissatisfied with the offer A2 ensures via its hosting service, the company offers an anytime money back guarantee – something HostGator does not. This reality ensures better peace of mind and certainly, better night sleep.
The principal advantage of A2 over HostGator (though there are many) remains speed. Speed is the one thing that A2 has in a measure that HostGator, it is ultra safe to conclude, cannot simply compete with now or in the nearest future.
If the speed of your hosting servers – and by direct extension, your website matters to you (read: it should), signing up with A2 Hosting is the smartest thing you could at the moment.
2. SiteGround Hosting
In business, there is nothing as serious and as important as customer service.
This is usually the human face of a business and exposes just how caring (or not) a business and its owners are to the very people that are responsible for it being alive in the very first place.
Thus, no matter how awesome a business is, bad customer relations is certainly going to shoot it down.
The business of hosting is no exception.
Around the turn of the century, the older hosting companies that were in existence then were enjoying some sort of exclusivity, had grown complacent and generally did not bother much about how its customer base fared.
It was in such an environment and at such a time that SiteGround Hosting was founded – and launched to the world.
From the onset, the company made its stand super clear: it stood solidly behind the people that are responsible for its very existence and has made certain that over the years, it does not just remain customer centric but it actually tops in customer service, making certain that the client remains King, always!
It was the very first hosting company that answered clients’ chat and phone queries in the very first minute and attended to their tickets in the first 10!
This reality shook the hosting world and was a wake up call, a call that saw others waking up and offering better service to the people that kept them in business.
This philosophy of curious attention to the clients coupled with an aggressive product offering that is laced with a proactive security approach has made the company, starting out only in 2004, one of the very best hosting companies today.
Why Consider SiteGround Hosting As An Alternative To HostGator?
- SiteGround is privately held and is not just one of the subsidiaries of EIG. The company thus makes policies that are suited for its own unique reality and direct benefit of its clients. They do not force mass market solutions designed for cater for tens of brands (hitherto different) across board.
- Uptime at SiteGround is second to none, thanks to handcrafted solutions built in-house like Linux Containers, pro-active server monitoring, unique anti-bot AI and secure account isolation,
- Sites hosted on SiteGround’s servers are generally agile; a combination of Solid State Drives, a unique plugin called SuperCacher (built from scratch and exclusively for customers of the platform alone), an elaborate CDN structure and importantly, an insistence on the latest PHP version generally work to see this agility come to fruition.
- Hosting with SiteGround also means decreased latency. Thanks to an array of 6 impressive data centers shared amongst 3 different continents: Asia, North America and Europe, a site with this hosting company is guaranteed to load in a timely manner for its visitors (or clients) – wherever they may be.
- Finally, it is worth wrapping up that the support SiteGround customers receive is generally better (and more consistent) than any other hosting company’s in the entire hosting world.
The principal advantage of SiteGround over HostGator (and as a matter of fact, the rest of the hosting world) remains an impeccable record (and reality) of customer service coupled with an aggressive approach to both product lines and security.
This combination, today, is crucial to success online. Want to see this firsthand? Hop over to SiteGround and see things for yourself.
3. Liquid Web Hosting
The business of web hosting is a serious and technical one.
Unfortunately, many beginners who venture into the business of ensuring that they see their passions or businesses online face a huge challenge: they are met with a stiff wall that actually reads ‘challenges’ and ‘technicalities’.
This is usually sad – and for many, kills the dream to come online completely.
However, a hosting company took a careful look at the scenario and decided to ensure that, irrespective of one’s hitherto hosting skills, one could come online – and still manage to be both great and awesome at the same time.
How did they figure out this?
This company figured out this reality out by offering a product line that saw all the technical bits handled by the company’s staff directly or in rare cases, automated all such.
What this means is that, with such an elaborate system in place, EVERYONE could now brilliantly run an online business – even without prior knowledge of the technical bits.
For persons who are super busy, such a system ensures that their time is freed up for them to focus either on what they love doing or in a truly worst case scenario, what really matters.
That company was – and remains, Liquid Web.
Why Consider Liquid Web Hosting As An Alternative To HostGator?
- First and foremost, it is important to note that, Liquid Web is not EIG owned. What this means is simple: no hack, no mass market solutions and importantly, no decisions that are taken with only the reality of profit and the pockets of shareholders in mind.
- Liquid Web is a fully managed solution. Hosting with the company thus means that, the burden of trial and error is lifted up from one’s reality, if one’s a newbie. If one is already a professional, his/her time is freed up to do other productive things.
- Support is top notch – and a big priority for Liquid Web; with an amazing open statement to pick up the phone or answer your chat in the first 59 seconds, you sure know you’re in the right hands.
- Finally, Liquid Web offers something that the whole of the hosting world dreads: it offers you an impressive 100% uptime guarantee. Can it ever get better than this?
The principal attraction of Liquid Web and the reality of choosing it over HostGator as an attraction lies in the fact that the company shells out hosting plans and solutions that basically, run themselves.
According thus, if you’re inexperienced in the business of hosting or would rather not be bothered with technicalities when you’re super busy with either running the site or enjoying the things that make you tick, Liquid Web is simply the way to go.
It’s that simple and straightforward.
Wrap Up
This article has covered the very best HostGator alternatives that 2023 offers. If you were not satisfied with the options the EIG brand offered, these 3 options would fly, no doubt.
To put things in perspective and summarize:
- If you’re interested in speed above everything else, A2 Hosting is the way to go.
- If you’re looking at support and security above all else, SiteGround Hosting is a smart bet.
- Finally, if you’re considering managed hosting and would appreciate that all the technical stuff be handled for you, nothing beats Liquid Web Hosting!
Do host smartly – and be certain to enjoy the digital world in the process!