Bluehost or HostGator: Which one is the right choice for your WordPress site?

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Bluehost or HostGator: Which one is the right choice for your WordPress site?

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Hundreds of web hosting providers compete to offer the best hosting services for WordPress. It makes picking the right one for your site challenging unless you are sticking to the most famous names of the hosting world. Bluehost and HostGator are the two top favorites among website owners and blog managers around the globe. In fact, two of the biggest names belong to the same mother company. Most of their services are comparable, but there are a few distinctions that set their services apart. Learning more about the points of difference between their terms and quality of service will help you make the right choice.

Website safety, security, and backup

In case you have been snooping around even a little, you must have already seen the names BlueHost and HostGator recur throughout the web. No matter where you are looking for hosting service provider recommendation and review, you will find either of the names shining on top like the North Star. BlueHost leverages state of the art CPU Segregation Technology that provides complete control over your CPU and protects the site from attacks. The HostGator data centers use ten backbone providers to prevent data and connectivity failure. 

Security is always a concern while picking a hosting service. SSL certification is necessary for the SEO and ranking of any website today. For HostGator sites, SSL certification is optional, but BlueHost plans include free SSL certifications. HostGator provides complete protection against DDoS attacks, but BlueHost does not carry out the standard malware tests. Both use SiteLock security for boosting user safety.

Assuming the results of BlueHost vs HostGator for WordPress can be tricky since their beginner packages seem quite similar. Towards the entry-level, HostGator plans are especially WordPress oriented. BlueHost plans do not possess any specific modifications or customizations for dedicated WordPress users. While WordPress website admins appreciate BlueHost more than the other in this aspect, they also realize that the scope of the entry-level service from this hosting provider is quite narrow due to its high levels of specialization. Additionally, WP-HostGator users enjoy automated backups of their websites, 1 GB of storage space for their backup files and anytime access to their backup data. On the other hand, the high-end hosting plans from BlueHost feature highly customizable features with third-party solutions for management of backups. It includes the SiteBackup Pro tool that enables automatic backups for your WordPress website.

Comparing their speed, uptime and response time

While both the hosting providers claim 99.9% uptime, it is up to the experts to find out if their claims are true. If you have a little time and some know-how about hosting availability and performance tools, you can use Pingdom to verify the validity of their claims. The results might vary depending on your location, but according to the extensive observations from experts, HostGator seems to be more reliable than BlueHost. The latter experienced 11 times more outages, and the total downtime was about 50 minutes more than that of HostGator.

Next, it is time for you to check the response time of each hosting provider. That will give you an idea of how fast your hosting service is, and it will also help you compare the two of the top favorites of the webmasters. You can use one or more tools to check the response time, but be sure to use one tool to test both simultaneously. For example – using Bitcatcha or Pingdom can help you see that the response time of HostGator is significantly faster than that of BlueHost. HostGator is about 50% faster than BlueHost, and that is a significant deciding factor for any website hosting service.

Did you know? Bluehost uses its proprietary caching tech for boosting the speed of your website. Although HostGator seems to be faster and more efficient, it urges the users to install the third-party codes to the site – WP Super Cache WordPress plug-in for the same purpose. This plug-in is safe, but if you already have a few plug-ins in place for maintaining your website performance, you may want to keep the number of plug-in installations to a bare minimum. Additionally, HostGator allows the users to use any CDN service of their choice, whereas, BlueHost only supports the use of Cloudflare CDN service.

Which hosting service interface is easier to use?

Now, we must consider the features of their User Interface. Both the providers have comparably pleasant UIs. The design of the interface will determine the levels of user experience (UX). It is essential for any provider to have user-friendly dashboards and administrative panel options. It should not take the user months to figure out the different options and settings. Bluehost and HostGator live up to the expectations of an intuitive UI equally. The menu is easy to access from all devices, and the payment options are friendly too. However, you should note that only HostGator provides a customized cPanel that sets it apart from the competition.

Can pricing help you pick the right hosting provider for your WordPress site?

Pricing is usually the deciding factor between two comparable services. While BlueHost and HostGator have several packages, the pricing and service particulars are very similar to one another. The ultimate tiebreaker is the occasional discount and promotional pricing each of them offers to the first-time customer. Both offer entry-level shared hosting plans that allow the user to host unlimited websites with endless storage capacity. HostGator has an upper threshold on the website traffic, by capping it at 100,000 visits per month. Although it seems like BlueHost plans are lucrative, you should remember that their pricing keeps changing throughout the year. It is best to check the prices of their plans from time to time to make the best of these offers.

Which one is our choice?

Deciding the best hosting service provider for your site ultimately boils down to a few factors.

If you need to manage and host only one WordPress website, HostGator is the better option. It is straightforward, and the starter packages provide enough support for a commercial WordPress site.

On the other hand, if you need tons of new features, customizability and multiple websites hosting options, try BlueHost. Its high-end hosting plans are ideal for multiple commercial website management.