HostGator and Bluehost: Which One Trumps the Other?
Choosing Between HostGator and Bluehost Web Hosting
HostGator and Bluehost
There are numerous web hosts online that offer hosting for anything from hobby blogs, e-commerce sites or personal websites. The two top web hosts clamoring for their spot at the top are HostGator and Bluehost. Both offer very attractive web hosting packages but there are subtle differences that can make one host more attractive than the other.
HostGator and Bluehost
HostGator is based in Houston and recently opened new offices in Austin, Texas. Founded by Brent Oxley in 2002, HostGator has grown to become one of the top web hosting service providers in the internet at present. It was awarded the Top 10 Hosting Company Award in 2008 and by 2010, the company reached the two million mark in hosted domains. Bluehost is also among the largest web hosts in the internet and is one of the companies owned by Endurance International Group. It currently hosts more than 1.9 million domains with HostMonster and FastDomain. Bluehost is known for its staunch anti-adult content stance, which has generated some criticism from members of the public and the media. Despite the controversies, Bluehost is considered by most webmasters as one of the best web hosting service providers online today.
Similarities Between HostGator and Bluehost
There are quite a few similarities between HostGator and Bluehost. Both web-hosting services offer an easy to use cPanel support with such features as the site builder and Fantastico, a software which allows the easy installation of multiple scripts into a site with a few simple clicks. HostGator and Bluehost support Ruby on Rails and PHP5, as well as unlimited email and FTP accounts. HostGator and Bluehost also offer 30-day money back guarantees, which allow customers to get their money within 30 days after signing up if they are not satisfied with the service. HostGator and Bluehost offer 24-hour customer support through live chat and phone, and their representatives all seem to be competent and knowledgeable when answering questions.
Differences Between HostGator and Bluehost
There are a few differences between HostGator and Bluehost. Both web hosts offer similar services and excellent customer support. However, for those who are setting up a website for e-commerce purposes, Bluehost definitely has a leg up over HostGator for two reasons: it has faster servers, which means faster loading times, and it just doubled its allowable CPU usage. Another boost is the High CPU server package, a separate package which allows clients to choose a server with an even more powerful CPU. Additional benefits are the free promotional SEO tools that help users tailor their SEO efforts for more traffic. These work together with the free comprehensive stats package that allows users to track the effectiveness of their SEO efforts. Users can also get support and free analysis from SEO companies that are tied-up with Bluehost.
Bluehost does not offer reseller or offer dedicated hosting services while HostGator does. Another difference is that Bluehost, despite allowing unlimited disk space and bandwidth, can put temporary restrictions on anyone with usage that is adversely affecting the bandwidth of other customers. This reduces the risk of downtimes when there are customers who are hogging bandwidth. New customers who sign up with Bluehost are also given free advertising credits from Google and Yahoo, something that HostGator does not offer. HostGator does offer the Baby Plan, a monthly payment plan that comes with unlimited disk space and unlimited traffic for $9.95 a month. Despite being a monthly option, the Baby Plan is still more expensive compared to the Bluehost packages, which comes with affordable yearly options.
There is very little difference between HostGator and Bluehost. Both are more than sufficient in capacity for website hosting needs for personal and business use. However, Bluehost gives a better value for the money since it provides better server hardware, technical, and SEO support, services that are useful especially for e-commerce websites.
Bluehost was also recommended by WordPress recently. You can’t go wrong choosing between HostGator and Bluehost, but I believe Bluehost holds a slight advantage.
Filed Under: Must Haves
