DreamHost vs HostGator: Which Is Best for You?

HostGator Pros and Cons

DreamHost Pros and Cons

Onboarding Process

HostGator and DreamHost both have a fairly straightforward onboarding process.  Although HostGator doesn’t include a domain name as a free perk on all of its annual packages, it does allow you to pair an existing domain easily, or purchase a new one during the registration process. This means you won’t have to swap between different websites when getting set up.

The same can be said for DreamHost, but unlike its competitor, if you select any annual plan (rather than a monthly one), you’ll get a free domain name thrown in as an added extra. This will only be valid for the first year, but it’s a good option if you’re looking to save a few bucks, and if the long-term plan doesn’t put you off.

Setting up (and Running) Your Website

Setting up and running a website is easy with both of these providers. HostGator features a marketplace where you can install applications such as WordPress, Weebly, and G-Suite with just one click, so you can get up and running within minutes. Its Knowledge Base is also a veritable gold mine of useful hints, tips, and tutorials. If you get stuck, you’ll be able to find a resource to help you out in no time.

Whereas HostGator tries to cater to the needs of all users, DreamHost prefers to zone in on WordPress as its partner of choice. It comes with WordPress already pre-installed, saving you the hassle. You’ll still find yourself going through the same steps to get started as with HostGator, but you’ll have shaved a few seconds off your setup time.

Like most popular hosting providers, HostGator uses a cPanel dashboard. If you’ve hosted a site before, this will be familiar to you, and you’ll be able to slide straight back in without having to learn where everything is. And even if you’re not familiar with this kind of interface, its modern design makes it easy to navigate.

DreamHost is a whole different ball game, and uses a custom-made dashboard. This is still really simple and easy to use, but it might take a while to get used to, especially if you’ve used a cPanel in the past. Once you’ve become comfortable with the layout, though, it should be smooth sailing.

There are a few different types of hosting, but both HostGator and DreamHost provide the same five options.

At first glance, the plans on offer are very similar. Both HostGator and DreamHost’s shared packages come with a free domain on the annual plan, and deliver unmetered bandwidth and a free SSL certificate. However, there are some key differences and a few added extras that set them apart.

For example, HostGator offers unlimited storage and unlimited free email accounts on its most basic shared plan. This is pretty rare, and is usually something you only get with more expensive packages. DreamHost only provides 50GB of storage, and you’ll need to pay to add your email accounts to your plan.

Additionally, HostGator really stands out for the free email marketing service it provides through Constant Contact. Email is one of the cheapest and most reliable marketing methods out there, offering a tried and tested way of building a loyal subscriber base. The fact that HostGator gives you this for free is a real selling point, especially given that purchasing your own software can be costly.

What about more advanced plans?

Take a look below to compare HostGator and DreamHost’s VPS and Dedicated hosting plans.

VPS Hosting Features

Dedicated Hosting Features

It’s also worth mentioning that, although DreamHost and HostGator each have five different types of hosting, within them you’ll find different packages that are progressively more expensive, but also offer more features.

The DreamHost plans are split into the ‘starter’ and ‘unlimited’ packages, except for the WordPress plans, which are separated into DreamPress, DreamPress Plus, and DreamPress Pro.

For each hosting type, HostGator offers the Hatchling, Baby, and Business plans.

• HostGator’s introductory prices start at $2.75 per month, but the renewal prices increase and begin at $6.95 per month.
• DreamHost’s introductory prices start at $2.59 per month, but the renewal prices increase and begin at $5.99 per month.

No matter which hosting provider you choose, you’ll find that introductory prices are common. These are discounts that mean you pay a lower price for your first term. When your package runs out and you need to renew it, you’ll have to pay the regular fee.

All of HostGator and DreamHost’s plans can be bought on a monthly, yearly, or 3-yearly basis. Unsurprisingly, the longer you commit to, the less you need to pay each month. You’ll still be required to pay the full amount upfront, but it’ll be cheaper in the long run.

We think that three years is a long time to commit to a single hosting provider, so we don’t recommend this, despite the savings. We’d advise going for one year to start, and then committing to a longer period when your renewal comes up.

HostGator or DreamHost: Which is Best Value for Money?

On the surface, it’s clear that DreamHost is the cheaper out of the two, but is it the best value? Actually, it’s not. In our research, when it came to value for money, DreamHost only scored a 3 out of 5 compared to HostGator’s 3.9 out of 5.

Despite being more expensive, the features that HostGator offers make the extra spend worth it. It also has the best uptime guarantee out of every provider on the market, and its customer support makes it a thoroughly reliable option.

Uptime

It’s impossible to achieve 100% uptime, but HostGator comes close. Offering an uptime guarantee of 99.99%, it’s the best on the market, and it certainly blows DreamHost out of the water.

To put this into context, HostGator’s guarantee means you’ll experience less than an hour of downtime per year. This is a big selling point for most businesses, but especially if you run an ecommerce store where downtime means a loss of sales.

In comparison, DreamHost only offers an average uptime of 99.95%. This might not seem much less, but in terms of real-life downtime, the difference counts. It translates to 4.5 hours a year where your website is unavailable to your visitors.

Security

Both DreamHost and HostGator come with SSL certificates included in their plans, as well as protecting against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. This is when the server is flooded with a high volume of fake traffic so that your regular users can’t access the website.

In addition to this, DreamHost provides free domain privacy, so your personal information is protected, as well as offering daily backups so your site data is safeguarded in case of an emergency.

Although HostGator also offers backups, these are only carried out weekly, so if an error occurs in between, you’ll be at risk of losing your most recent changes. We recommend you carry out manual backups every day to be on the safe side.

Added Extras

Both DreamHost and HostGator offer advanced protection options in the form of DreamShield and SiteLock Essentials. However, you’ll have to pay for the privilege of these, adding them to your overall plan when you register.

Whichever provider you choose, we recommend investing in these, especially if you run an ecommerce store. The extra cost is worth the reassurance when dealing with card payments, and both are excellent for keeping your site safe and secure. DreamShield prices start at $3 per month, while SiteLock starts at $1.49 per month.

In the same way that you shouldn’t always stick with the same gas or electric company, 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 30 days of signup. 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 will take a fair amount of time to complete.

DreamHost also offers free transfers, but only for WordPress sites. If you use another CMS, you’re going to have to do it all manually. This’s easy enough, but it can feel quite complicated if this is your first transfer. We’ve written a handy step-by-step guide on how to transfer website hosting to help you get it right.

Migrating Domains

HostGator offers one free domain migration with your hosting account, and uses Launchpad to make the transfer. This is only eligible 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. If you’re not sure where to start, check out our guide on how to transfer your domain name for a helping hand.

Migrating your domain with DreamHost is even easier, but it’s not free. 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 should receive an email when the transfer has been completed.

HostGator scored top marks in our research process, earning a perfect 5 out of 5 for its customer support. It provides access to a 24/7 live chat and phone service. Plus, its Knowledge Base has tutorials and how-tos on virtually everything, with a search function so you can find the answers to your specific questions in no time.

Although this is pretty impressive on the surface, when we put HostGator’s live chat to the test, we were a little disappointed. Their answers weren’t always as quick as we would have liked, and at times, it didn’t feel like their operators had a full grasp on HostGator’s products. However, its Knowledge Base saves the day – you can use this to fill out any gaps you might have from the live chat.

DreamHost also offers a seven-day live chat function, but it’s only available between 5:30am and 9:30pm Pacific time. This might be slightly limiting if you experience issues outside of this window, but, like HostGator, DreamHost also has a Knowledge Base where you can use the search function to find answers to your problems.

Unfortunately, DreamHost doesn’t offer a telephone service. You can request a call-back, but you won’t get an answer immediately. It also operates a ticketing service, where you can submit your problem via a ticket, but similarly, you’ll have to wait a while for a response.

DreamHost and HostGator are both popular hosting providers, but their strengths lie in different areas. HostGator caters to a much wider audience than DreamHost, which narrows its focus down more specifically to WordPress users.

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

Who Should Use HostGator?

You should use HostGator if you’re looking for a reliable and high-quality service, no matter what plan you’re on. You can’t ask for more than HostGator’s 99.99% uptime guarantee and thorough customer service. Although its plans might be more expensive than DreamHost’s, they’re great value and serve up excellent features, even on the cheapest ones.

Who should use DreamHost?

DreamHost is perfect if you’re a WordPress user, or you’re on a budget and want good shared hosting at an affordable price. It’s a beginner-friendly option, especially if you aren’t attached to a cPanel dashboard, so won’t mind learning how to use DreamHost’s custom-built control portal.