DreamHost vs HostGator | Which One Is Best for You?

Check out our side-by-side comparison table to see which hosting provider best suits you.

The Winner

HostGator is more user-friendly...

It’s a close call in this category, but HostGator just inches out in front to take the win. HostGator makes it easy to get online with its onboarding process and helpful features. Plus, you’ll be able to get up and running in minutes thanks to HostGator’s cPanel dashboard and suite of integrated apps.

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Onboarding Process

Both HostGator and DreamHost have an easy-to-follow onboarding process.

HostGator offers a free domain across most of its annual packages – including its shared and WordPress hosting plans – but it doesn’t come as a free perk on any other hosting type. That being said, it does allow you to pair an existing domain easily, or purchase a new one during the initial registration. This means you won’t have to swap between different websites when getting set up!

The same can be said for DreamHost. Its shared and WordPress (renamed DreamPress) plans also offer a free domain for the first year if you sign up for a yearly or three-year subscription.

Setting Up (and Running) Your Website

With both of these providers, it’s easy to set up and run a website with no prior knowledge or experience in hosting.

HostGator, for example, has a useful marketplace where you can install applications, such as WordPress, Weebly, and G-Suite with just one click so you can get your website ready to go in a flash. HostGator accommodates a broad range of websites, catering to the needs of the general user, as well as those with specific projects in mind.

DreamHost, on the other hand, focuses its attention on WordPress as its partner of choice. This does come with benefits, such as WordPress being pre-installed on DreamHost’s plans, but it might not be the most suitable choice for all websites.

Like most popular hosting providers, HostGator also makes use of a cPanel dashboard. If you’ve hosted a site before, this will feel familiar to you, and you’ll be able to get stuck in with ease. Still, even if it’s totally new for you, the modern and intuitive interface makes it easy to pick up quickly.

DreamHost is a whole different ball game, however – it uses a custom-made dashboard instead of the popular cPanel route. While this is also relatively simple and straightforward to use, it can take many users time to adjust to the alternative.

Need a Beginner-Friendly Hosting Provider?

HostGator’s onboarding process and quick set up makes it a suitable hosting provider for both new and experienced website owners.

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The Winner

DreamHost's plans come with impressive features...

DreamHost received a huge features score of 4.3 out of 5 in our overall hosting research. It offers more plans and hosting types than HostGator, and you get a lot of bang for your buck, especially if you choose DreamHost’s shared, WordPress, or VPS hosting plans. Still, it’s a close call, and both providers cover the basics!

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There are a few different types of hosting, but both HostGator and DreamHost provide the following: shared hosting, WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated hosting. For this comparison article, we’ll focus on these four hosting types, but it’s worth noting that HostGator also offers reseller hosting, while DreamHost has additional cloud hosting plans.

At first glance, HostGator and DreamHost have very similar offerings. Their shared hosting packages come with a free domain on the annual plan, unmetered bandwidth and storage, and a free SSL certificate. However, there are some key differences and a few added extras to set them apart.

In our latest research, HostGator scores 4.1 out of 5 for its overall hosting features. Along with the features already mentioned, HostGator also offers unlimited free email accounts on its most basic shared plan – something that’s normally only available with more expensive packages. And speaking of expensive plans, HostGator is the best hosting provider on the market for VPS hosting features, scoring 4.3 out of 5. So keep it in mind if VPS hosting is what you’re after!

HostGator also offers a free email marketing service – provided through Constant Contact. Email is one of the cheapest and most reliable marketing methods, especially if you’re looking to build a loyal following. The fact that HostGator gives you this premium feature for free (for the 1st free months) is a real selling point.

DreamHost, meanwhile, scores a high 4.3 out of 5 for its overall hosting features. Its plans come all of those staple features we already mentioned, but you will need to pay to add email accounts to your DreamHost plan unless you upgrade to the Shared Unlimited plan.

Concerned for website security? DreamHost’s plans also provide an added layer of protection with free domain privacy to keep your personal information safe. Additionally, DreamHost offers daily automated backups so you site data is safeguarded in case of an emergency or malicious attack. Phew!

The real benefit to choosing DreamHost, though, is that the hosting provider is recommended by WordPress itself – something that HostGator can’t boast about! Not only is WordPress pre-installed on DreamHost’s plans, but you also get free WordPress migrations and updates too.

So, that covers shared and WordPress hosting for these two providers, but what about more advanced plans? Let’s take a closer look:

VPS Hosting Features

Dedicated Hosting Features

If you’re new to hosting, we’d recommend opting for either a shared or WordPress hosting plan since they’ll give you the basics to get started. Then, as your website grows, you can upgrade to a VPS or dedicated hosting plan.

Interested in DreamHost's Features?

DreamHost offers a wide range of hosting types and plans. We particularly love its WordPress hosting plans which come jam-packed with useful WordPress features!

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More Information

• HostGator Review: Want to know more about HostGator? Check out our in-depth review of the hosting provider.
• DreamHost Review: We’ll dig deeper into what DreamHost has to offer in our full review.

The Winner

DreamHost is better value for money...

DreamHost’s plans come with great cheap introductory deals – its shared hosting plans start at just $3.95 per month (billed annually) and it came top of the shared hosting leaderboard for price with a score of 4.4 out of 5.

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We’ve already discussed what types of web hosting are offered by DreamHost and HostGator, but we’ll dig a little deeper in this section to highlight the various plans and price points.

So which hosting provider is the best value for money? From our latest research, DreamHost beats HostGator for price, scoring 4.2 out of 5 in contrast to HostGator’s score of 3.5 out of 5.

For a fair comparison, we’ll be focusing on the 12-month pricing for both providers. Plans are usually cheaper the longer you commit, and both DreamHost and HostGator offer monthly, yearly, and 3-year plans, along with some additional extras depending on the hosting type.

Let’s take a look at the 12-month introductory prices for both providers below:

No matter what hosting provider you choose, you’ll find that introductory deals are pretty standard. These discounts mean you pay a lower price for your first term. After that, you’ll need to renew and pay the regular price which can be an expensive jump sometimes. For example, HostGator’s Snappy 2000 VPS plan starts at $23.95 per month for the first year, but will then renew at an eye-watering rate of $79.95 per month for the time thereafter. Yikes!

As you can see, HostGator’s prices might appear cheaper initially – especially when it comes to shared and WordPress hosting – but its steep renewal prices are a real letdown. And, according to our recent research, DreamHost’s shared hosting plans are the best value for money, scoring 4.4 out of 5.

Plus, DreamHost has an incredible 97-day money-back guarantee, so you can give it a real test-run before you get locked in to a plan.

Both DreamHost and HostGator have pretty feature-rich plans, so it’s important to pay attention to price when comparing these two.

Looking for Affordable Hosting?

DreamHost’s hosting plans are great value for money, especially if you’re looking at shared hosting!

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More Information

• DreamHost Pricing Review: A dreamy bargain or a waste of money? We’ll find out in our thorough pricing review, where we’ll put all of DreamHost’s plans under the microscope.
• HostGator Pricing Review: If you’re wondering whether HostGator is worth your hard-earned dollar, this is the place to find out. We’ll examine everything this provider has to offer so you can see if it’s the platform for you.

The Winner

DreamHost has excellent uptime and site speed...

It’s essential that hosting providers offer reliable uptime and site speed to ensure your site runs smoothly. While DreamHost and HostGator are strong in this department, DreamHost wins out – it has the second-best site speed performance out of all the hosting providers we tested.

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Dependable uptime is a big selling point for most businesses, especially if you run an ecommerce store where downtime means loss of sales.

It’s impossible for any hosting provider to achieve an uptime of 100% – despite DreamHost advertising as such! There will always be unexpected and unavoidable situations that could interrupt your site’s performance, such as power outages.

Still, for its uptime and site speed performance, DreamHost scores an impressive 4.5 out of 5, which puts it just behind our top provider for performance, IONOS. HostGator, in comparison, follows shortly behind the two with an uptime performance score of 4 out of 5. Though DreamHost takes the lead, it’s important to note that both hosting providers are pretty strong when it comes to performance.

Need Reliable Uptime?

Both HostGator and DreamHost are reliable when it comes to site speed and uptime, but DreamHost just takes the lead thanks to its better performance in our testing.

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The Winner

HostGator's switching process is straightforward...

HostGator offers a number of free website transfers with its plans, whereas DreamHost only offers this free service to WordPress sites. Additionally, HostGator makes it super simple to transfer your domain name – also for free!

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Switching Websites

Circumstances and priorities change, so having the option to swap hosting providers is a necessity. And the easier it is to do, the better. So how do DreamHost and HostGator measure up in this capacity?

HostGator offers a limited number of free transfers depending on your plan – however, these are only valid within the first 30 days of registration. If you’re outside of this window, or you’ve already used your free transfer, you’ll need to contact HostGator for a quote if you want them to do it for you. Alternatively, you can do it manually yourself, but it’ll be a time-consuming process.

DreamHost also offers free website transfers, but only for WordPress sites. If you use any other CMS, you’re going to have to do it all manually. This is easy enough, but it can feel quite complicated if this is your first transfer.

Migrating Domains

HostGator offers one free domain migration with your hosting account and uses Launchpad to make the transfer. This is only applicable for .com, .net, or .org domains. Before migrating your domain, you’ll need to go through a few steps, such as unlocking your domain with your old registrar.

However, migrating your domain with DreamHost is even easier, but it’s not a free service. Transfer prices start from $9.95 unless you still have a free registration transfer available with your plan. Once you’ve selected the correct one and contacted your current registrar, everything can be done from the DreamHost panel. You’ll receive an email when the transfer has been completed.

Looking to Migrate Your Website?

HostGator is great for migrating your website or domain – it offers a number of free transfers as well as a free domain migration service!

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More Information

• How to Transfer Website Hosting: If this is your first time transferring a website, we’ve written a handy step-by-step guide to help you get it right.
• How to Transfer Your Domain Name: If you’re not sure where to start, check out our guide on transferring your domain name for a helping hand.

The Winner

HostGator has the best help and support...

Out of all the hosting providers we tested, HostGator is the best for help and support. In fact, it’s the top choice for support across every hosting type, from shared hosting to dedicated hosting! HostGator offers 24/7 phone and live chat services, as well as email support.

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Before we get into detail, take a look at the help and support offered by both hosting providers:

As you can see from the table, HostGator sweeps the board – it scores top marks in our research for help and support with a perfect 5 out of 5. HostGator puts its customers first, offering 24/7 live chat and phone services so it can always be on hand at a time that’s convenient for the customer. Plus, its Knowledge Base has tutorials and how-to guides on virtually everything, and there’s a search function so you can find the answers to your specific questions quickly.

On the other hand, DreamHost scores a very low 2.2 out of 5 for its support services. Though it has a detailed knowledge center and 24/7 live chat, DreamHost doesn’t offer telephone support at all – a weak point for the hosting provider, especially for customers who prefer to talk with a real person. You can request a callback, but you won’t get an answer immediately, leaving you stuck on a problem! And the worst thing? It’ll cost $9.95 per call unless you’re on a specific DreamHost plan with callback credits.

Looking for Reliable Hosting Support?

HostGator is the best of the best when it comes to help and support. Contact its customer care team via 24/7 live chat, 24/7 phone support, or through email tickets.

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DreamHost and HostGator are both popular hosting providers, but their strengths lie in different areas. While we can say HostGator performs better across our research categories and caters to a wider audience, DreamHost could be a more suitable fit for your website, especially if you’re a WordPress user.

It’s a close race between the two hosting providers, but HostGator wins out with an overall score of 4.7 out of 5. Not only is it user-friendly and a high-quality provider, but HostGator is also the best hosting provider for help and support. Although its plans are less cost-effective than DreamHost, you still get a lot of bang for your buck and they serve up excellent features, even on the cheapest plans.

DreamHost, however, receives an overall score of 4.4 out of 5 in our latest hosting research. It channels its energy towards WordPress sites – and is even recommended by WordPress itself – and DreamHost’s plans are great value for money. We’d recommend it for anyone on a budget or if you’re looking for shared hosting at an affordable price.

Here’s a quick reminder of how each provider performed in six key areas of our comparison:

Want to Try HostGator?

HostGator is an incredible hosting provider – it offers top-quality help and support, feature-rich plans, and reliable uptime.

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Want to Try DreamHost?

DreamHost is great budget-friendly hosting provider, especially for shared hosting. And you can’t go wrong with its generous 97-day money-back guarantee!

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