Are you looking for an alternative to HostGator? Get ready to discover the advantages of choosing SupportHost.
Customers often come to us who are looking for a better solution than HostGator. If you’re tired of uptime issues and inefficient support, you’ve come to the right place.
At SupportHost you will find backups included and advanced tools in all plans starting with shared hosting. Our WordPress hosting is also available with LiteSpeed and with all plans you will have WP-CLI included. If you are looking for a fully managed solution, our managed VPS cloud plans may be for you.
HostGator offers shared plans to combine with extra addons (for a fee) to have essential functions such as daily backups. This, combined with the price of the plan that increases after the first purchase, also significantly increases the prices of plans that should be cheap. HostGator’s cloud VPS plans are semi-managed, which means you’ll have to handle a lot of server-side operations yourself.
Let’s find out in detail what differences there are between SupportHost and HostGator. Or skip ahead to the summary of the comparison between the two services.
Table of Contents
Resource management
Unlike HostGator, SupportHost is all about transparency. All plans, from shared to dedicated solutions, show associated resources.
Server resources are physically limited: disk space, RAM and available bandwidth are not infinite. For this reason, unlimited hosting offers always have pitfalls.
We don’t believe in fake promotions and we don’t want to make you any. Resource limits are required in a shared environment. By choosing to apply limits and display them clearly, we want to offer as much transparency as possible.
All SupportHost plans have the resources indicated on the page. Furthermore, to help you choose the hosting that’s right for you, you will also find an estimate of the monthly visits that each plan can support.
HostGator uses a completely different approach. Shared plans (Hatchling Plan, Baby Plan, and Business Plan) do not show CPU and RAM resources.
On the plan comparison page we can read unlimited bandwidth and disk space (unmetered).
As happens in all unlimited hosting offers, here too we can find conditions that make us immediately understand that it is not really an unlimited offer. Essentially the notice says you can use disk space and bandwidth as long as you stay within the typical range of a personal site or small business site.
Since these ranges are not expressly indicated, there is no way of knowing what is the criterion used to establish them.
PHP versions
With SupportHost you always have the option to set the PHP version you prefer, regardless of the plan. From cPanel you can change the PHP version independently and in just a few clicks.
Currently you can choose between these versions: 4.4 / 5.1 / 5.2 / 5.3 / 5.4 / 5.5 / 5.6 / 7.0 / 7.1 / 7.2 / 7.3 / 7.4 / 8.0 / 8.1 / 8.2 / 8.3
SupportHost always provides you with the most secure and latest PHP version on all plans.
With HostGator things are different, the PHP versions available depend on the plan you have chosen. For example with the shared plans you can choose between: 7.2, 7.3, 7.4 and 8. The previous versions 7.0 and 7.1 are only available on request.
Staging
SupportHost offers the best for all plans. You can create a site staging environment with just one click: you can do all the tests and tests and then push the changes in the blink of an eye.
HostGator plans do not specify the presence of the staging function.
Backups
SupportHost offers a free automatic backup service included with all plans. The shared, semi-dedicated, reseller and CMS hosting plans provide daily backups and allow you to access backups from the last 30 days.
For dedicated services (dedicated servers and cloud VPS plans) SupportHost offers daily backups and allows you to access backups from the last 7 days.
With shared plans, HostGator offers automatic backups. The problem is that shared plans refer to “frequent backups”, but do not indicate the actual frequency.
It can be guessed, however, that they are not daily backups. In fact, among the plan addons, HostGator offers the “CodeGuard” service with automatic backups on a daily basis. This is an additional service that starts at $2.75.
In VPS plans, HostGator includes weekly backups: included in the price there is therefore only 1 backup per week.
Availability of addons
Unlike SupportHost, HostGator tries to upsell in a not so veiled way.
There are many addons that are offered at an extra cost. The problem is that when you order a plan some of these additional services are pre-selected. This means that you have to be careful, or you could end up buying addons without realizing it.
Not to mention, HostGator’s 30-day money-back guarantee doesn’t cover some addons.
But what additional services are we talking about?
As a practical example, currently ordering HostGator’s shared Hatchling plan automatically adds backup service at an additional $2 per month. Upon renewal of the plan, the cost of backups becomes $4 per month.
SupportHost offers a much more complete hosting offer. Many services such as backups, SSL certificate and SSH connection are included in the price.
If you want to add an additional package, just select it when purchasing the plan or later. In the cart you will see the summary of the chosen plan and you can select additional functions. You decide whether to extend the functions.
More advanced options
SupportHost offers hosting services suitable for even the most experienced users. That’s why we wanted to include advanced features in all plans including SSH connection, WP-CLI to manage WordPress from the command line and Git.
With HostGator you can have SSH access with all plans, but it does not specify the presence of WP-CLI and Git.
If you want to have access to these and other developer tools, SupportHost is the best alternative to HostGator.
Guaranteed uptime
HostGator shared and reseller plans ensure 99.9% uptime. For VPS plans and dedicated servers there are no guarantees on uptime, but we refer to a guarantee on the network infrastructure.
Despite what has been said, just read the reviews and opinions online to find complaints regarding “uptime problems with HostGator” and among the most used words in the reports we also find “server down with HostGator”.
With SupportHost you have guaranteed uptime with all plans. Shared hosting plans have 99.9% uptime. With VPS plans you get 99.9% site uptime and 99.99% cloud infrastructure uptime. Just visit the individual services page to check the uptime.
Shared Hosting Features: SupportHost vs HostGator
Let’s see what differences there are in choosing plans between SupportHost and HostGator.
SupportHost shared plans
All SupportHost plans clearly show the associated resources.
Let’s take shared hosting as an example.
You can choose the plan according to your needs: the plans vary according to the available space and resources, RAM, CPU, IO and PHP processes. You can use the estimated monthly visits as a reference to get an idea of the plan’s capacity.
If you start with a new project, you can start with the smallest plan and then upgrade if and when your site starts to grow. If you are looking for a more performing solution, you can choose a LiteSpeed hosting plan to have a performance improvement compared to Apache.
Unlike HostGator, SupportHost offers hosting plans with a defined space threshold. We believe it is preferable to clarify the resources associated with the account, rather than deceive with promises of unlimited space that are not true.
HostGator shared plans
With HostGator the choice of shared plans is much more limited. Not showing resources clearly and offering unmeasured space and bandwidth, the differences between the plans seem to concern only the additional functions.
With HostGator’s Hatchling plan you can only associate one site, the Baby and Business plans are multi-domain. The Business plan additionally includes a dedicated IP, SEO tools and a Positive SSL certificate.
Care must be taken with the definition of unmetered space. Although it may make us think that the available space is unlimited, in reality it is not.
Just dig deeper into HostGator’s Knowledge Base to understand that there is a limit on the number of inodes. Inodes are the files (meaning files, emails, folders, etc) that you can have in your account.
For shared and reseller hosting plans, HostGator enforces an inode limit of 100,000, beyond which files are not included in backups. The maximum threshold is 200,000 inodes, exceeding this limit the account is suspended.
Cloud VPS hosting features: Comparison of SupportHost and HostGator
SupportHost offers cloud VPS plans for all needs, proposing a managed (managed) and unManaged service.
HostGator, on the other hand, offers a “semi-managed” service, which is somewhere between managed and unmanaged.
Keep in mind that while we’ve compared the plans, they’re two different services. So let’s see what services are included and what differences there are between SupportHost and HostGator for VPS plans.
HostGator VPS Plans
HostGator offers semi-managed VPS plans with this service only some basic operations are included such as the installation of some packages, which can be delegated to support.
These VPS plans do not include control panels, which means cPanel and WHM licenses must be purchased separately.
SupportHost VPS Plans
There is a big difference between HostGator’s VPS plans and SupportHost’s cloud managed VPS plans where we offer a fully managed service and domain included for the first year.
Having a fully managed plan means not having to worry about server management and in practice taking care of it is as simple as managing a shared plan.
SupportHost’s managed VPS plans include all server side operations. These include: security updates, firewall configuration, installation of additional software and implementation of specific configurations.
Our cloud VPS have CyberPanel as a default control panel. If you prefer to use Plesk or cPanel, you can purchase a license at a discounted price.
If, on the other hand, you prefer to have full server management and root access, you can choose an unmanaged cloud VPS plan.
SupportHost vs HostGator: Cloud VPS Plans Comparison
Here is a feature comparison of SupportHost and HostGator’s cloud VPS plans. Keep in mind that the level of service differs: SupportHost’s plans are fully managed, while HostGator’s are semi-managed.
Cloud 1 Managed vs Snappy 4000 (semi-managed)
| Features | Cloud 1 Managed | Snappy 4000 |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | 68.99 € | 114.51 € |
| RAM | 4 GB | 4 GB |
| CPUs | 3 vCPU | 2 vCPU |
| Disk space | 80 GB | 165 GB |
| Traffic | 20 TB | Unmetered |
| Backups | Giornalieri | Weekly |
| Control panel | cPanel | |
| Fully managed | ||
| Free domain | Not specified |
Cloud 2 Managed vs Snappy 8000 (semi-managed)
| Features | Cloud 2 Managed | Snappy 8000 |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | 79.99 € | 143.15 € |
| RAM | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| CPUs | 4 vCPU | 4 vCPU |
| Disk space | 160 GB | 240 GB |
| Traffic | 20 TB | Unmetered |
| Backups | giornalieri | Weekly |
| Control panel | cPanel | |
| Fully managed | ||
| Free domain | Not specified |
The prices in the table are the regular ones, i.e., on renewal. With SupportHost the price does not change, the prices indicated on the plan pages are the current ones and you will not have any unpleasant surprises when you renew. If you order a plan for a longer period, you’ll save some money!
HostGator uses a different policy by applying a discount on the first purchase. Which means that the price goes up when you renew.
For the plans you see in the table:
- Snappy 4000 costs $59.95 for the first month and then the price increases to $119.95 per month on renewal;
- Snappy 8000 costs $119.99 for the first month and then the price increases to $149.95 per month on renewal.
Free migration
HostGator has several migration options that vary by plan. It is therefore necessary to refer to the individual plans and in some cases, when it is not included, you will have to carry out the migration yourself.
If you choose to switch hosting, SupportHost allows you to have the migration for free. Our team will take care of the site transfer and will update you step by step.
We also have an advantageous offer that allows you to get two months of free hosting if you switch to SupportHost by ordering a plan for a year or longer. If you think it’s time to leave HostGator, take the time to join SupportHost.
24/7 support
HostGator provides 24/7 support on all plans, the systems mentioned are chat and phone support.
SupportHost offers outstanding support on all plans. Our team of experts is available 24/7. To provide fast support we use a ticket system and 90% of inquiries are resolved in just 2 hours, in many cases even sooner.
We don’t focus only on the speed of the response, but on offering resolutive solutions.
Unlike HostGator, SupportHost offers guaranteed response times. Support is one of our strengths and we are the only provider to offer guaranteed support within 8 hours.
With SupportHost you can count on Italian and English support.
Affiliate Program
| Monthly sales | Commission |
|---|---|
| 1-5 monthly sales | $65 /Sale |
| 6-10 monthly sales | $75 /Sale |
| 11-20 Monthly sales | $100 /Sale |
| 21+ Monthly Sales | $125 /Sale |
The HostGator Affiliate Program offers a commission based on the sale. The commission changes based on the number of sales concluded in a month. These are the current ones:
SupportHost affiliation is a percentage based on the plan sold. You can choose whether to earn a recurring commission that applies to all renewals, or a one-time commission valid only for the first purchase.
Here we see in detail the SupportHost commissions according to the plan.
| Hosting Plan | 15% recurring | 40% one-off |
|---|---|---|
| Semi-dedicated 1 year | €22.5 on first purchase and each renewal | €60 on first purchase |
| Semi-dedicated 1 biennial | €40.5 on first purchase and each renewal | €108 on first purchase |
| Semi-dedicated 1 three-year period | €57 on first purchase and each renewal | €153 on first purchase |
| Semi-dedicated 2 yearly | €43.5 on first purchase and each renewal | €116 on first purchase |
| Semi-dedicated 2 biennial | €78.3 on first purchase and each renewal | €208.8 on first purchase |
| Semi-dedicated 2 three-year period | €111 on first purchase and each renewal | €295.8 on first purchase |
| Semi-dedicated 3 annual | €73.5 on first purchase and each renewal | €196 on first purchase |
| Semi-dedicated 3 biennial | €132.3 on first purchase and each renewal | €352.8 on first purchase |
| Semi-dedicated 3 three-year period | €187.4 on first purchase and each renewal | €499.8 on first purchase |
By choosing the recurring commission you can continue earning for the entire period in which the customer renews the subscription. If you want to make money with affiliate marketing, SupportHost is a great alternative to HostGator.
Differences between SupportHost and HostGator
Here you can see a summary of the main features of the services of SupportHost and HostGator in comparison.
| SupportHost | HostGator |
|---|---|
| Fixed price even on renewal, the prices are clear and are what you see. | Prices are discounted for the first year and increase upon renewal. |
| All resources are shown in clear text according to the plan. | Shared plans do not have the specified resources. |
| You can set up the PHP version you prefer. | Some PHP versions are by request only. |
| We offer staging with all plans. | Unspecified staging presence. |
| With shared plans you have daily backups. | Backups limited to weekly basis. |
| You can add additional packages of your choice. | Additional packages are automatically selected for upselling. |
| Advanced features: SSH connection, Git, WP-CLI and more. | SSH access, other tools not specified or not present. |
| Guaranteed uptime even on VPS plans and dedicated servers. | Guaranteed uptime only on shared and reseller plans. |
| 24/7 support in English and Italian, with guaranteed response times. | 24/7 support in English only. |
Switch to SupportHost
With this comparison, many features have emerged that make SupportHost one of the best alternatives to HostGator. Pricing transparency, advanced features included, uptime and guaranteed support are just a few examples.
We’re proud of the service we provide, and if you think it’s time to leave HostGator, we want you to be really happy with your new provider too.
For this reason, in addition to the money-back guarantee, we exclusively offer the possibility to try SupportHost for 14 days. This way you can test the service, for free, even before making a decision!
Leave a Reply