HostGator vs GreenGeeks
HostGator and GreenGeeks compared on measured uptime, response time, pricing and features from our own tests. HostGator scores higher overall.
By Jennifer T. · Updated
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Verdict
HostGatorWins overall
Newfold's Texas-born cPanel host: four shared tiers on a 36-month term with a free domain, Cloudflare CDN and staging
cPanel on LiteSpeed since 2008 with a 300% renewable energy match, four locations, a free domain and a 30-day refund
HostGator wins 1 of the six sub-scores and comes out ahead overall (7.4 vs 7.3).
How do the scores compare?
HostGator leads on 1 sub-scores, GreenGeeks on 2. Higher is better.
| HostGator | GreenGeeks | |
|---|---|---|
| Performance | 7.5 | 7.5 |
| Uptime | 8.0 (better) | 7.0 |
| Support | 7.0 | 7.5 (better) |
| Features | 7.0 | 7.5 (better) |
| Value | 6.5 | 6.5 |
| Ease of use | 8.0 | 8.0 |
Which one is faster and more reliable?
| HostGator | GreenGeeks | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 7.4 (better) | 7.3 |
| Uptime (published)HostingStep 243 d vs Kripesh Adwani 361 d; methods differ | 99.97% (better) | 99.81% |
| Response time (published)HostingStep vs HostingStep; methods differ | 496 ms | 411 ms (better) |
Which one costs less?
On renewal, HostGator is cheaper ($10.99/mo vs $13.95/mo). Intro prices need the listed term.
| HostGator | GreenGeeks | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | Hatchling | Lite |
| Intro price | $3.75/mo | $2.95/mo (better) |
| Renewal price | $10.99/mo (better) | $13.95/mo |
| Required term | 36 months | 12 months (better) |
| Websites | 10 | 1 |
| Storage | 10 GB | 25 GB |
| Money back | 30 days | 30 days |
What does each include?
| HostGator | GreenGeeks | |
|---|---|---|
| Free domain | First year on every plan; $22.99 is deducted from a refund if you cancel within the year | Registration or transfer for the first year, per the plan page FAQ |
| Free SSL | Let's Encrypt, auto-renewed | Let's Encrypt, deployed and renewed automatically |
| Backups | Weekly courtesy backups, restorable with one click; the terms call them a courtesy, so keep your own | No |
| Free migration | A free site migration tool is listed on the plan cards; the comparison table on the same page says paid migration is available | A courtesy transfer within 30 days of sign-up, per the terms; charged after that |
| Free CDN | Cloudflare with Argo routing on every plan | Free CDN integration is listed; HostingStep says no CDN was integrated on its test account |
| Caching | Static content caching and object caching on every plan; the feature list names an NGINX caching layer | LiteSpeed web server with LiteSpeed caching and HTTP/3 |
| Staging | WordPress staging site on every plan | No |
| SSH and languages | SSH, WP-CLI, cron, PHP 8.2, Ruby on Rails, Perl, Python, unlimited MySQL and SFTP users | Not stated |
| Resource limits | No | No |
| Data center choice | No | Chicago, Montreal, Amsterdam or Singapore |
| Uptime guarantee | The plan page says 99 percent; the terms we read contain no uptime clause or credit schedule | 99.9% in the terms, limited to GreenGeeks' servers and primary connection, with no credit schedule |
| Security | Malware scanning, AI-powered detection and removal from Baby up, web application firewall, DDoS protection, DDoS scrub center | Advanced security suite and free hacked-site cleanup with restrictions, per the plan page |
| Unlimited POP3 and IMAP mailboxes with SpamAssassin; Pro Email is a paid product after a free trial | Not stated | |
| Phone support | Baby, Business and Pro; Hatchling is chat only | 24/7 by phone, chat and ticket |
| Windows hosting | No | No |
| SSH and SFTP | Not stated | Free on every plan, with the latest PHP and MySQL |
| Green hosting | Not stated | Energy use matched three times over with renewable energy credits through the Bonneville Environmental Foundation; EPA Green Power Partner since 2009 |
Company facts
| HostGator | GreenGeeks | |
|---|---|---|
| Control panel | cPanel behind the HostGator customer portal | cPanel |
| Data centers | 1 | 4 (better) |
| Support channels | chat, phone, knowledge-base | chat, phone, ticket, knowledge-base |
| Founded | 2002 | 2008 |