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Whether you already own a website or are just getting started online, you must choose a reliable web hosting provider that can support your site needs and help you succeed in the long-term.
Any web hosting provider should provide four basic things like ‘scalable plans’ to accommodate growing needs, at least 99% uptime so that your site remains available and accessible all the time, up-to-date security measures to protect your data from cybercriminals, and 24/7 support to resolve your hosting-related issues.
Also, when deciding between different web hosts, pick the one that offers additional tools and features – apart from the ones mentioned above -such as free domain name registration, ample storage, and bandwidth, automatic and on-demand backups, a website building tool, a user-friendly control panel, domain privacy, migration services, to name a few.
In a nutshell, the web host you choose will mostly decide your website’s fate- how it performs, visitor experience, etc.
In this post, we will introduce you to the different forms of web hosting plans and features offered by two popular web hosting providers –HostGator and DreamHost – and then compare them so that you have a better understanding of which host best suits your budget and website needs.
Let’s start!
HostGator vs DreamHost: Features
Hosting products/services
Here is a breakdown of the different form of web hosting offered by HostGator and DreamHost:
HostGator | DreamHost |
Shared hosting | Shared hosting |
VPS hosting | VPS hosting |
Dedicated server hosting | Dedicated server hosting |
Cloud hosting | Cloud hosting |
WordPress hosting | WordPress hosting |
Reseller hosting | – |
Windows hosting | – |
Domain registration
At the time of hosting signup, both HostGator and DreamHost offer one free domain name registration for the first full year. However, this perk is available with few annual hosting plans. These include:
HostGator: At HostGator, free domain name registration is available with annual Shared, WordPress, and Cloud hosting plans
DreamHost: At DreamHost, it is available with annual Shared and DreamPress (managed WordPress hosting) plans. It is mandatory to use the free domain registration within the initial three months.
Migration services
HostGator offers both free and paid migration services to help you transfer your website(s) from your old host to HostGator account. The number of free website transfers that the company will perform for you depends on the hosting account you sign up for. For instance, if you sign up for a shared or Cloud hosting account, HostGator will move one website for you, while with the VPS and dedicated hosting accounts, you can enjoy unlimited free site transfers. Free transfers have to be used within 30 days of signup; after that, you will be charged.
On the other hand, DreamHost offers various migration options. If your site is built on WordPress, you can migrate it to any of DreamHost’s DreamPress plan for free. However, if you wish to migrate your non-WordPress site, you can go for the USD99 migration service.
Security
HostGator and DreamHost will provide you free SSL certificate with your basic hosting package.
DreamHost also offers Multifactor Authentication (MFA) via the Google Authenticator app and Yubikey.
Further, depending upon the hosting account- shared, VPS, dedicated or Cloud – and plan – standard or superior ones- you get advanced security features.
For instance, with HostGator’s dedicated hosting plans, you get advanced DDoS protection, an IP-based firewall, and options to create manual or scheduled backups. If we talk about DreamHost’s dedicated hosting plans, it includes 24/7 DDoS Protection and full root and Shell Access (SSH).
For additional security, you may purchase add-on products and services. These include:
HostGator
Upgraded SSL certificates – USD19.99/yr – USD269.99/yr
CodeGuard-powered site backup – USD32.95/yr – USD239.95/yr
SiteLock – USD1.99/month – USD24.99/month
DreamHost
Website Builder
HostGator
HostGator provides various tools to build a website, including a free HostGator Website Builder and a paid site builder called ‘Gator.’ By automating the website designing process, the Gator builder lets you launch a website with industry-specific design in a few minutes.
The Gator website builder is offered in three plans:
Express Start – USD 3.84/month
Express Site – USD 5.99/month
Express Store – USD 9.22/month
Each Gator builder plan comes with an intelligent site builder, free SSL certificate, one free domain name registration for one-year, CDN, $200 search engine marketing credits, LogoMaker, contact management, free Unsplash image library, automated email scheduling, and other features.
DreamHost
Remixer is a click-to-edit website builder by DreamHost. Hosted on the company’s cloud network, Remixer is template-based and requires no coding to create a fully-functional site quickly – all you need to do is – point, click, drag, and drop website elements.
Remixer is offered in two stand-alone plans- Remixer Standard and Remixer All Access. The All-Access plan is included free with shared hosting plans. If you want to use Remixer with VPS, DreamPress, and Dedicated plans, you will have to purchase either the Standard plan or the All Acess plan.
Control Panel
HostGator’s Linux-based hosting plans come with the popular cPanel control panel, while Windows-based hosting plans come with a Plesk control panel.
HostGator cPanel / Image Credit: HostGator
DreamHost uses a custom control panel to manage hosting accounts. The DreamHost panel runs on separate servers and features a main menu aligned vertically on the left, a search box at the top center, and a support drop-down menu at the top right corner.
DreamHost control panel / Image Credit: DreamHost
Money-back guarantee
With a 45-day money-back guarantee on the shared, Virtual Private Server, and reseller hosting plans, HostGator allows you to try their services risk-free. If things don’t work out, you can terminate your account within the first 45-days of initial signup, and you will receive a prompt refund of your basic hosting fees. There is no such guarantee for dedicated server hosting services.
DreamHost offers you a 97-day money-back guarantee with shared web hosting plans -only if the service is purchased via credit or debit card. For VPS and DreamPress hosting services, the company offers a 30-day guarantee.
Customer Support
HostGator and DreamHost offer various options to contact support. These include:
HostGator
DreamHost
email
live chat
community forums
knowledge base
Unlike HostGator, DreamHost does not offer technical support via phone, but it gives customers an option to request a callback from technical support. The callback feature is included free with a few of its superior plans, and if you don’t use these plans, you will have to pay USD9.95 to use the one-time callback feature and USD14.95/month for three callbacks every month. Notably, callbacks are available between 6 PM – 10 PM PST.
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HostGator vs DreamHost: Uptime
For those unaware, uptime is simply the amount of time your website is up and available to your audiences/visitors.
HostGator provides a 99.9% uptime guarantee to its shared or reseller hosting accounts, the accounts hosted on VPS and Dedicated Servers are covered by HostGator’s Network Guarantee; the credit will be prorated for only the amount of time the server remains down.
DreamHost backs your website up with a 100% uptime guarantee, provided that there are no coding or configuration-related errors on the customer-end. Additionally, previously announced scheduled maintenance would not be counted as downtime.
Claims apart here is the average uptime offered by HostGator and DreamHost for six months (September 2020-February 2021):
Month | HostGator | DreamHost |
September 2020 | 99.50% | 99.78% |
October 2020 | 99.99% | 100% |
November 2020 | 99.99% | 100% |
December 2020 | 100% | 99.99% |
January 2021 | 99.97% | 100% |
February 2021 | 99.98% | 99.94% |
Average | 99.90% | 99.95% |
Reviewing the average uptime of a test site hosted on HostGator and DreamHost servers (monitoring provided by Pingdom) (Via) – we can say that DreamHost – with 99.95% avg. uptime- has an edge over HostGator when it comes to providing a better uptime.
Winner: DreamHost
HostGator vs DreamHost: Site speed/response time
When it comes to website speed, a single second matters; your site’s speed will decide the amount of time visitors will stay on your website and how it will rank in major search engines, including Google. An ideal web host provides enough resources – storage, bandwidth, etc. – and additional tools to improve your site’s speed.
HostGator provides unlimited storage and unmetered bandwidth even with its cheapest shared hosting plan. Additionally, you can purchase SiteLock plans that include the TrueSpeed content delivery network (CDN) that utilizes servers around the world for faster delivery of content to your visitors. According to the company, with TrueSpeed, sites load 50 percent faster while using 40-70 percent less bandwidth than usual.
Similarly, DreamHost offers fast SSD storage and unmetered bandwidth for all web hosting plans. Also, the basic Cloudflare plan is entirely free with all plans via the DreamHost panel. Using Cloudflare CDN, you can boost your site’s responsiveness, improve search engine ranking, and protect it from malicious traffic and cyber attacks.
Coming to the actual figures, the table below shows the response time of a test site hosted on HostGator and DreamHost (via):
Month | HostGator | DreamHost |
September 2020 | 836 ms | 1,217 ms |
October 2020 | 738 ms | 1,179 ms |
November 2020 | 659 ms | 1,308 ms |
December 2020 | 701 ms | 1,391 ms |
January 2021 | 696 ms | 1,382 ms |
February 2021 | 602 ms | 1,345 ms |
Average | 705 ms | 1,303 ms |
Considering the above site test data, HostGator is far better than DreamHost in terms of site response time.
Winner: HostGator
HostGator vs DreamHost: WordPress hosting
WordPress, one of the top CMSs in the hosting world, makes it easier for anyone to create and run a fully-functional website. It is one of the best options for those building a website for the first time and lack coding skills.
HostGator WordPress hosting
HostGator provides managed WordPress hosting with a 99.9% uptime guarantee and 45-day money-back guarantee. Managed hosting is a service wherein the provider takes care of all necessary tasks like server maintenance, performance tweaks, security, backups, updates, and more to focus on other things.
HostGator’s managed WordPress hosting is offered at three levels:
Starter Plan – USD 5.95/mo
Standard Plan – USD 7.95/mo
Business Plan – USD 9.95/mo
Each plan comes with perks like pre-installed WordPress, an easy-to-use control panel, free domain for initial 12 months, unmetered bandwidth, top-notch security, and 24/7 support, to name a few. Let’s compare all three plans to know what each plan has to offer:
Features | Starter | Standard | Business |
No. of websites | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Visits/mo | 100k | 200k | 500k |
No. of free site migration | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Backups | 1GB | 2GB | 3GB |
Free | Free | Free | |
Google Ads spend match credit | USD150 | USD150 | USD150 |
Security | Free SSL certificate, CodeGuard and SiteLock Fix; Backups and automatic malware removal | Free SSL certificate, CodeGuard and SiteLock Fix; Backups and automatic malware removal | Free SSL certificate, CodeGuard and SiteLock Fix; Backups and automatic malware removal |
24/7/365 Support | Live chat; Phone; Knowledge base | Live chat; Phone; Knowledge base | Live chat; Phone; Knowledge base |
Google Ads spend match credit | USD150 | USD150 | USD150 |
Security Free SSL certificate, CodeGuard, and SiteLock Fix; Backups and automatic malware removal Free SSL certificate, CodeGuard, and SiteLock Fix; Backups and automatic malware removal Free SSL certificate, CodeGuard, and SiteLock Fix; Backups and automatic malware removal
24/7/365 Live Support chat; Phone; Knowledge base Live chat; Phone; Knowledge base Live chat; Phone; Knowledge base
DreamHost WordPress Hosting
DreamHost offers three types of WordPress hosting:
Basic WordPress hosting – for beginners (USD2.59/mo)
Managed WordPress Hosting, aka DreamPress – for fast and optimized WordPress Hosting (USD12/mo)
VPS WordPress hosting – for multiple high-performance sites (USD27.50/mo)
All of DreamHost’s WordPress hosting plans come with a 1-click installer, WP website builder, unmetered bandwidth, auto WordPress updates, a free domain for 12 months, free privacy protection, and SSL certificate and automated backups.
DreamPress Managed WordPress Hosting
The DreamPress Managed WordPress Hosting leverages a high-performance cloud environment. The resources are isolated, which means you don’t have to share your resources – RAM, CPU, and storage – with other users. DreamPress provides advanced features like a 1-click staging tool to test/preview changes, automated and on-demand backups, and built-in caching to improve the site’s performance.
DreamPress hosting plans are available in three tiers:
The…