HostGator Full Review: Is It the Right One for You?
HostGator: Versatile and Consistent
Pros
Cons
Quick Stats
As the name implies, the first thing that comes to mind when we hear of HostGator is probably their hosting services. HostGator is also well-known for being a domain registrar. HostGator offers domain lock, a wide range of top-level domains, and reliable services.
In this review, we'll go over the benefits and drawbacks of HostGator, as well as why it might be the right option for you.
Plans and Pricing
When choosing a domain registrar, price is unquestionably one of the most important factors to consider, especially since renewal prices are typically higher than initial prices.
Starting price
You can register your .com domain today with HostGator domain registrar starting at $12.95 per year. This is the same price for .co, .org, and .net domains.
| Top-Level Domain | Registration Price | Renewal Price |
|---|---|---|
| .com | $12.95/year | $18.99/year |
| .net | $12.95/year | $17.99/year |
| .org | $12.95/year | $17.99/year |
| .co | $12.95/year | $35/year |
Renewal price
The renewal price, like that of other domain registrars, is higher than the initial price. The cost of renewing your HostGator domain registrar account for another year is $17.99 per year for most top-level domains (TLDs). This is a little higher than the starting price. When comparing prices, it’s crucial to take into account both the initial and renewal costs.
Grace period
After all of the hard work that has gone into building a brand’s name, no business wants to risk losing it. Grace periods retain your domain name so that you can renew it at no additional cost as long as it has not had any bidding offers. HostGator domain registrar has a 35-day grace period offered on most TLDs.
After the grace period, the domain name goes into redemption, where you can still retrieve your domain name. The redemption fee at HostGator is $75.
Hidden fees
With HostGator domain registrar, you get exactly what you see. With a new .com domain, you only have to pay the registration fee until your next billing date. To keep your purchase at the lowest price, you can opt out of the extra WHOIS privacy and protection.
Privacy and Protection
When it comes to registering a domain name, one crucial security feature to look for is WHOIS privacy and protection. This feature ensures that the WHOIS database doesn’t display your personal information such as your name, address, or email address.
HostGator offers this service for $12.95 per year. This fee is paid per domain name and per year.
Domain lock
With domain lock, your domain will not be transferred to another registrar without your permission. This is done by default on HostGator domain registrar.
SSL certificate
HostGator offers free SSL certificates with all of its hosting plans. However, you cannot add an SSL certificate separately if you only use HostGator as a domain registrar.
Domain transfer
If you already have a domain registered with another registrar and want to transfer it to HostGator domain registrar, you can do so in a few simple steps and for free.
To begin, contact your previous domain registrar for an authorization code. If your domain was locked with your previous domain registrar, you’d need to unlock it as well. Then, all that’s left is to pay for the transferred domain. HostGator charges $7.95 per domain transfer with the first year of registration added for free!
If you want to move your domain away from HostGator domain registrar, you can do so by unlocking it using your account, which is also a free service.
User Experience
HostGator’s main page is nicely designed with big modern fonts and an aligned color scheme. However, the domain search portal has an outdated design and takes forever to load. Once you look for a domain name using the search bar, it goes directly to your cart with an added WHOIS privacy and protection for a year.
Customer support
Customer support is available through phone, chat, ticketing service, and email. Their chat service is pretty reliable if you’re looking for a quick answer and you do not want to spend time looking for it yourself. However, they might not be able to help with some issues right away, so they might have to redirect you to their ticketing service.
Video tutorials
If you are having issues understanding a certain website function or feature, HostGator has a variety of walk-through videos uploaded on YouTube. That explains website features and functions step-by-step.
Knowledge base
If you don’t want to contact their customer service, you can always use their comprehensive knowledge base to find the answer. All of HostGator’s services are covered in the knowledge base. You will find video tutorials on each subject incorporated into the related article.
Other Services
Sometimes, additional services are the deal-breaker for some domain registrars, especially when their prices are similar to the competition.
Hosting
Since HostGator is a hosting website, you can use their Hatchling hosting plan for only $2.75 a month to get a free domain, SSL certificate, and WordPress cPanel.
Some of the best e-commerce tools are included in HostGator’s plans to help your business grow. Many features are included in shared hosting plans that aid in the creation of an online store. These benefits include a one-year free domain, a free SSL certificate, and unlimited bandwidth. The Business Plan, on the other hand, includes additional benefits such as a free upgrade to a Positive SSL, a free dedicated IP address, a free domain, and a free SEO tools to help you optimize your website for search engines.
Furthermore, HostGator offers a variety of third-party apps, such as Woocommerce, that can assist you in building your online store from the ground up.
SEO
Having an SSL certificate and fast speeds improves your chances of being ranked higher in search engines, but they aren’t sufficient on their own. HostGator assists you in achieving a higher ranking.
The business plan is the only shared hosting plan that includes a step-by-step SEO guide and traffic-boosting tools. You can rely on their ‘Free SEO Review’ if you aren’t on their Business plan. The free SEO audit will define keywords, implement strategies to improve rankings and improve on-page SEO. That’s one less thing for you to be concerned about.
The Final Verdict on HostGator
In addition to being a fantastic web host, HostGator also excels at domain registration. With the convenience of a 35-day grace period, domain lock, and excellent user support with video tutorials and help pages. As a domain registrar, you can always count on HostGator domain registrar.
However, HostGator domain registrar does charge a higher renewal fee than other domain registrars, at $17.99, for a plan that does not include WHOIS privacy and protection or any free add-ons and trials.
Overall, HostGator’s reputation and dependability ensure the security and perseverance of your domain name. When you weigh their benefits and drawbacks, they’re an excellent choice for anyone looking to register their domain name today, especially if you’re still looking for a web host. That way, you can get your domain name for free with your hosting plan.
FAQs
Any type you want! If you’re creating a blog, an e-commerce store, or anything else, HostGator includes a store full of all the applications you can use.
With the support of HostGator’s team, you can easily migrate a number of sites for free only for the first 30 days.
Of course! Whenever you want, you can file an upgrade form on their website, and you’ll have to pay the price difference.
Yes, there's Gator, the website builder. It's easy-to-use for beginners with a drag-and-drop function.
Yes, there's a generous 45-day money-back guarantee.
The starting price of a .com domain on Bluehost starts at $12.95 per year.
Yes, there’s a slight increase in price from around $12.95 per year to $17.99 per year.
Yes. It costs $7.95 as a one-time fee that includes free registration for the first year.
Yes. It is. It’s registered with the ICANN, which validates and gives the license to domain registrars so they can register domains legally.
You can contact HostGator’s customer support through live chat, email, or phone.
No, your domain is locked with HostGator. Which means that your domain name cannot be transferred to any other registrar without your permission.