SiteGround vs HostGator: Which is Better?

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4.7

out of 5

3.7

out of 5

When comparing the hosting providers, HostGator is the better all-round service, with a score of 4.7 out of 5 an impressive score that puts it second overall in our research of the 13 top providers. It has exceptional help and support, affordable plans, and powerful features, like unmetered bandwidth across all hosting plans.

SiteGround, on the other hand, isn’t as well-rounded as HostGator. It comes in ninth place out of our top 13, with a respectable 3.7 out of 5. Its hosting types are limited, offering shared and WordPress hosting, but its plans come with powerful security features and ecommerce perks, making it a good option for businesses just starting out.

If price is a key factor for you, HostGator is the better fit! HostGator’s overall value for money score is 3.5 out of 5, while SiteGround scores a poor 1.7 out of 5.

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HostGator

SiteGround

Overall rating
4.7
Overall rating
3.7
Starting from

$4.95

Starting from

$2.99

Uptime

99.99%

Uptime

99.99%

Free backups
Free backups
Free domain
Free domain
Storage space

Unmetered

Storage space

10GB – 160GB

RAM

700MB – 128GB

RAM

16GB – 64GB

Visit HostGator Visit SiteGround

HostGator is better for shared hosting plans...

…Its plans are affordable, come loaded with useful features, and HostGator has the best support services on the market.

Try HostGator For Yourself Today!

SiteGround is better for you if you want WordPress hosting...

…The hosting provider has been approved by WordPress itself, and its plans are very ecommerce-friendly.

Try SiteGround Now!

Those are the need-to-knows, but if you want a more in-depth breakdown of how HostGator and SiteGround compare, read on. We’ll cover the key differences below.

So, how do we fairly review and compare these two hosting providers? At Website Builder Expert, our in-house research team carry out thorough research and rigorously test each service. This is how we provide you with accurate and up-to-date information on important hosting criteria.

Both HostGator and SiteGround, among others, have been tested on the following categories to produce our latest ratings:

  • Pricing – price range, number of plans, money back guarantee, billing cycle, and more.
  • Performance – server response time, storage space, bandwidth, cores, threads, RAM, and more.
  • Features – migration, backups, security, domains, control panel, green hosting, and more.
  • Help and support – knowledge base, support options available.
  • Market analysis – competitor reviews, search volume, and more.

There are plenty of hosting types and hosting providers out there, but for this article we’ve obviously focused on what SiteGround and HostGator have to offer. Thanks to our in-depth testing and research process, we can confidently compare the two and present you, the reader, with everything you need to know.

SiteGround vs HostGator: Quick Comparison

SiteGround HostGator
Features, Performance, & Ease of Use
Winner: HostGator
SiteGround's plans have plenty of helpful features, particularly when it comes to WordPress hosting. However, it doesn't offer any VPS or dedicated hosting plans. HostGator is the best hosting provider when it comes to shared hosting, and its plans are equipped with helpful features, such as unmetered bandwidth and a free domain.
WordPress integration
Winner: SiteGround
SiteGround's WordPress hosting plans are recommended and endorsed by WordPress itself! With a simple one-click installation, you can be ready to go in no time. HostGator is a strong option for WordPress hosting and integration is as easy as a simple click, but it lacks the recommendation from WordPress.
Help and Support
Winner: HostGator
SiteGround offers 24/7 phone and live chat support, as well as tech tickets. Nobody does help and support better than HostGator - it scored a perfect 5 out of 5 in our research! It has 24/7 phone and live chat, as well as a Knowledge Base and tech tickets.
Pricing & Value for Money
Winner: HostGator
SiteGround has very cheap introductory offers, especially when it comes to shared hosting, but beware of steep renewal costs! HostGator's plans are very affordable and you get real value for money considering all of the features and tools its plans come with.
Are You Ready? Visit SiteGround Visit HostGator

Features, Performance, & Ease of Use

hostgator logo
The Winner

HostGator provides a user-friendly experience...

HostGator has stronger features than SiteGround, especially for hosting novices, but it’s a close call. Both providers are feature-rich, yet SiteGround limits its customer base by only offering a few types of hosting plans.
Visit HostGator

HostGator and SiteGround both have a lot to offer, scoring 4.1 and 4 out of 5 for their features, respectively. However, the two are directed at slightly different audiences. HostGator provides an all-bases-covered service for those in need of simple, reliable hosting on a moderate scale. Meanwhile, SiteGround is angled more at resource intensive sites in need of superb tech support and custom plans.

HostGator plans come with a free domain, free email, unlimited websites (from the Baby plan), and unmetered bandwidth and disk space. In comparison, SiteGround’s plans offer similar features, but its starting plan comes with a limited 10GB storage, which only increases to 40GB with the highest plan.

HostGator and SiteGround share an advertised uptime of 99.9%, meaning very little downtime over the year. And, in our site speed testing, HostGator achieved third place overall. Unfortunately for SiteGround, it is the worst provider for server response time, and delivered a below average site speed during our tests.

SiteGround HostGator
Free domain Yes Yes
SSL Free certificate Free certificate
Free backups Daily Daily
Disk space 10GB Unmetered
Uptime 99.9% 99.9%

Another key downside to SiteGround is its lack of hosting types since it doesn’t offer any VPS or dedicated hosting plans. This could severely limit a business that’s looking to grow online – shared hosting is a great starting point, but it’s not a sustainable option for larger websites.

HostGator, on the other hand, offers shared, WordPress, VPS, and dedicated hosting plans. In fact, HostGator is our top choice for shared hosting overall, scoring an impressive 4.7 out of 5 in our research. To compare, SiteGround only scores 3.7 out of 5 for its shared hosting services.

hostgator logo

Looking for a Feature-Rich Hosting Provider?

HostGator’s plans are full of impressive features, including a free domain and unmetered bandwidth. If you’re looking for a shared hosting plan, HostGator is the best option out there!

Further Information

Which has Better WordPress Integration?

siteground logo
The Winner

SiteGround is best for WordPress integration...

SiteGround is explicitly recommended by WordPress; HostGator isn’t. Both offer excellent WordPress hosting, so this shouldn’t be the deciding factor, but SiteGround is better for a dedicated service and offers cheaper plans.
Visit SiteGround

SiteGround is one of the three providers recommended by WordPress itself, the other two being Bluehost and DreamHost. They know what they’re doing. In fact, SiteGround comes third overall in our WordPress hosting research, scoring 4.3 out of 5. Even the cheapest plan comes with excellent WordPress features, including helpful auto-updates.

HostGator performs well too, sitting just behind SiteGround in fourth position with a score of 4.2 out of 5.

Ultimately, both hosting providers have excellent WordPress integration with one-click installation, and affordable starting prices in comparison to competitors, but SiteGround takes the cake.

SiteGround also offer a free site transfer with its plans. It’s obviously in SiteGround’s interest to make switching to its plans easy, but it’s an excellent feature nonetheless.

And just to be clear: you don’t need a WordPress hosting plan to host a WordPress website. If you’re just starting out, a shared plan with either provider will do just fine. It’s when a WordPress site grows that it needs a more specialized service, at which point you can just change plans.

siteground logo

Want WordPress-Approved Hosting?

SiteGround’s WordPress hosting plans are approved and recommended by WordPress itself – an endorsement that’s hard to beat!

Further Information

SiteGround Support vs HostGator Support

hostgator logo
The Winner

HostGator has the best help and support...

HostGator offers excellent customer support – it’s the best in the market! Take a look at its Knowledge Base, blog, or contact the team via 24/7 chat and phone support.
Visit HostGator

HostGator has the best help and support of any hosting provider on the market right now, scoring 5 out of 5 overall for its support services. Wow!

HostGator’s plans come with 24/7 priority phone and live chat support, or you can do your own research through its extensive Knowledge Base and blog. Both of which are easy to navigate.

SiteGround HostGator
Live chat 24/7 24/7
Phone 24/7 24/7
Knowledge center Yes Yes
Tickets Yes Yes

SiteGround has a dedicated Customer Care team who provide 24/7 live chat and phone support, but it scores a poor 2.5 out of 5 in our overall hosting support research. This is, in part, due to SiteGround’s lack of hosting options. If you look at its support score for both shared hosting and WordPress hosting, it scores an above average 3.8 out of 5.

Both providers also offer tech tickets, but when the two are pit against each other, HostGator is the clear overall winner.

hostgator logo

Looking for Reliable Hosting Support?

HostGator is the real champion when it comes to help and support, scoring a perfect 5 out of 5 in our research.

Pricing & Value for Money

hostgator logo
The Winner

HostGator is better value for money...

For affordable hosting there are few better than HostGator. SiteGround might be more attractive to larger websites and clients, but you get to enjoy a lot of features for a reasonable price with HostGator. Plus HostGator’s renewal costs are much lower than some of its competitors.
Visit HostGator

Cheap doesn’t always mean good value, especially where web hosting is concerned. It’s common practice for web hosting services to flaunt spectacularly low prices and then bolt on essential features as add-ons.

Neither HostGator or SiteGround get too cheeky with this, which is a real plus, but it’s worth bearing in mind that the lowest prices you see are based on the assumption you lock in for a set time and use no add-ons.

For a fair comparison between the two providers, we’ll be looking at their one year subscription fees.

SiteGround (12-month plan) HostGator (12-month plan)
Shared Hosting $2.99/month $3.95/month
WordPress Hosting $2.99/month $7.95/month
VPS Hosting - $23.95/month
Dedicated Hosting - $109.97/month
siteground logo

Celebrate SiteGround's Birthday with up to 86% off!

Get up to 86% off with prices starting from $1.99 per month until March 31!

The fact is, the 12-month fees can be deceiving, and while SiteGround looks to be the cheaper option in the short-term, you’ll get greater value for money by choosing HostGator. One important thing to look out for is the renewal fees. For example, HostGator’s cheapest shared plan starts at $3.95 per month for a year, but will then renew at $9.99/month. SiteGround’s plans start at $2.99 per month (billed annually), but renew at a costly $14.99… quite the leap!

And there’s a big difference in scores when it comes to our research on price – HostGator scores an overall 3.5 out of 5, while SiteGround scores a measly 1.7 out of 5.

Now, don’t take the the scores the wrong way because both options are very affordable, especially when it comes to entry-level plans, but SiteGround’s focus leans more towards lucrative plans higher up the ladder. It doesn’t scale as gradually as HostGator does, and you get less bang for your buck overall.

hostgator logo

Want an Affordable Hosting Plan?

HostGator’s plans come jam-packed with features, all for an affordable price. Its shared hosting plans start from as little as $3.95/month (billed annually)!

SiteGround vs HostGator: Summary

For all-round hosting that’s affordable, reliable, and helpful, HostGator wins out. Not only does it come second overall out of all the hosting providers we’ve tested, but its team has done a terrific job of making a technical service easy to use, even for those with no tech know-how.

Additionally, HostGator’s help and support is unbeatable with its impressive score of 5 out of 5. Crucially, HostGator’s plans are greater value for money than SiteGround as well.

Ultimately, SiteGround is targeted more pointedly at large sites and customers in need of custom solutions. For that, it’s actually one of the best around. SiteGround is simply let down by its lack of hosting types which could limit your growth online, and its poor performance scores across our testing.

SiteGround could absolutely be the right fit for your needs, but we’d recommend opting for HostGator if you’re after a more reliable and cost-effective hosting provider.

hostgator logo

Want to Try HostGator?

Not only does HostGator have the best help and support of any hosting provider on the market, but it’s also the second best provider we tested overall. Why not give it a try?
siteground logo

Want to Try SiteGround?

SiteGround’s plans have some impressively cheap introductory offers, but be wary of the renewal prices before you sign up! Take a look for yourself.

FAQs

We carefully tested the site speed and server response time for both, and HostGator is the faster service. In fact, it had the third highest site speed of the 11 providers tested!
HostGator is our second best hosting provider from our research, so it’s a tough one to beat! If you’re looking for the ultimate all-round host, we’d recommend Bluehost — it’s our overall winner and the best option for most hosting types.

Website Builder Expert aims to provide you with honest data. That’s why we conduct our own research and obtain direct, personal insight. Analyses and graphics in this article are based on authentic sources cross-validated by our in-house experts.

We take great care to ensure the information we publish is reliable and accurate. However, WBE takes no responsibility for any inaccuracy in information supplied to us by users, research participants, or other entities.

Please note the insight contained within this article is for general information purposes only. We’re glad to answer any questions you may have about this article and its supporting research. For further information, please contact Website Builder Expert directly via email at info@websitebuilderexpert.com.

Written by:
emma ryan author bio
Emma’s been a Senior Writer at Website Builder Expert since 2022, having first-hand experience with website builders, such as Wix and Shopify, through hands-on testing and research analysis. Her work and expertise have been featured in Digiday, TechRound, Industry Today, and Digital Information World. Specializing in writing about website builders, ecommerce platforms, and hosting providers, Emma stays in the loop of industry updates by attending conferences such as eCommerce Expo and managing Website Builder Expert’s news articles.
Researched by:
natasha_willett
I love to understand human behavior and the cognitive biases that drive us to do what we do. For over nine years I have worked as a mixed method researcher – research using a mix of numerical data and personal experiences – across a range of sectors, from insurance and policy development to finally arriving at Website Builder Expert five years ago. Fascinated by consumer decision-making, I meticulously built our leading ranking methodology to explore where providers like Wix sit within a competitive industry and what value they truly bring to our audience.
As a member of the Market Research Society, I’m an advocate for high ethical, commercial, and methodological best practices. All of this combines to give you the most ethical recommendations based on real data.

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