DigitalOcean vs HostGator (2022) – Choose the most powerful hosting for your business
HostGator and DigitalOcean are two of the most popular hosting providers globally, and both offer similar features. However, there are a few differences that you should know before deciding on which hosting provider to go with. Here is a breakdown of HostGator vs DigitalOcean so you can make the best decision for your business.
WHR Marketing has an exclusive $100 voucher to try Digital Ocean for 60 days!
Click here to receive it!
What Is Web Hosting, And Why Is It Needed?
Before people can see your website online, you must store your content somewhere—website hosting stores these files on your websites before they are accessible to the public.
Web hosts like DigitalOcean or HostGator store the data for you and save space on their physical servers allowing the public to access your website.
What Are The Features Of DigitalOcean?
DigitalOcean has been a web hosting provider for a long time. Founded in 2011, DigitalOcean is an affordable and scalable hosting provider that has grown steadily since its launch. They offer features such as high-performance cloud hosting, SSD-based storage, simplified management, and one-click scaling.
This enables even those of you who are novices at website creation to build, deploy, and scale your website quickly!
With its user-friendly interface, you can set up your website on DigitalOcean in less than a minute, and there are no limits to the number of websites you can host with them.
Additional features offered by DigitalOcean include:
- Simple, secure registries for images
- Ability to customize background images
- Easy to use beginner-friendly platform
- Ability to add to storage as needed
- Cloud storage
- Easily collaborate projects with cloud technology
- GitLab (SSH)
- MongoDB
- 24/7 chat support via live chat or email, or phone call
- One-click installs for Word-Press
- Easy Drag and Drop Function
- Dedicated Server
- Droplet Groups
- And Much More!
DigitalOcean concentrates on the more technical aspects of your website, like infrastructure and runtime, to pay more attention to coding that you will use to create the website.
What Are The Features Of HostGator?
HostGator is a web hosting company located in Houston, Texas, offering various features for WordPress hosting. Some of the features include:
- Unmetered monthly bandwidth (If you exceed a reasonable amount for a business of your size, you will receive a warning from the company)
- Free domain for the first service year if specific terms are met
- Up to 100GB of storage space per domain
- Guaranteed 99% uptime
- 24/7 phone and chat customer service
- Social Media, Knowledge Center, and Blog
- One-click Installs for Integrated Apps
- Free SSL certificate
HostGator also has many pricing plans. You can choose between Shared, VPS hosting, Dedicated Server, WordPress Hosting, and Reseller Hosting. The prices vary depending on your needs and what plan you choose.
What Terms Do I Need To Meet To Receive A Free Domain For 12 Months With HostGator?
This offer is only available during hosting signup and their initial purchase term. After the initial 12 months, your domain will renew at a regular rate – even if it was purchased through this special promotion! You are required to buy 12-, 24-, or 36-month HostGator Shared, WordPress, or Cloud Hosting Plans, and all other plans are ineligible.
If you cancel your hosting plan within the first year, a non-refundable USD 17.99 domain fee (+ any applicable taxes) for the domain name will apply. Please note that newly registered domains cannot be transferred during the first 60 days of their registration period.
HostGator vs DigitalOcean: Plans And Pricing
HostGator offers four hosting plans to choose from. The Hatchling plan is the most basic option, with prices starting at $6.95/month. The Baby plan, priced at $8.95/month, is perfect for small businesses with an average number of visitors each month.
HostGator's Business and Enterprise plans are more expensive but provide extra features and extensive storage space options.
DigitalOcean also offers four hosting plans, but they differ from HostGator's offerings. The cheapest option is the “Droplet” plan which starts at $5/month (the same price as HostGator's Hatchling plan). However, DigitalOcean only offers one other hosting plan, starting at $20/month.
When comparing HostGator vs Digital Ocean, it appears that DigitalOcean offers affordable prices for less storage space—but this could make it harder for you to grow your business with them if you suddenly need more storage space or bandwidth.
You can start with a basic plan and upgrade as you grow. This is ideal for those starting, as it will save you money now but allow you to scale as needed based on how successful your business becomes.
What Is Shared Hosting?
In shared hosting, one server hosts multiple websites. This service is affordable because the servers’ resources are allocated to many users without too much hassle on configuration.
It's an ideal solution for small businesses that do not have much technical knowledge running their website on a dedicated server. Instead, they would use this type of service rather than pay more money upfront or manage it by someone else.
Shared hosting is also a good option for smaller businesses or personal blogs with low-traffic needs. You can upgrade to a dedicated hosting server when you need to, or you see more of your website getting visitors.
What Is The Difference Between Web Host Websites And Website Builders?
Web hosting services provide physical servers that save all a website’s files. Each website has an online address and IP address. Various files that make up each website also take up physical space somewhere, stored on physical servers. At web hosting companies, specialists monitor the servers these files are stored on to ensure the public can access your website correctly.
There are now website builders that you can use to make your web pages without any prior experience. Website builders are generally intuitive for beginners and even those with no coding skills to understand how the internet works. They allow users to choose from pre-designed templates, so they don't have to build their site from scratch, which wasn't possible in the early days of the internet.
Website builders are great for creating new websites, and they're easy to use and allow you to change anything on your site, from text content to layout. What makes this type of website builder more unique is its drag-and-drop functionality. This lets you move specific parts, which means the process for uploading files or choosing fonts will look familiar compared to other computer programs like word processors and photo editing software tools.
DigitalOcean vs HostGator: Summary
DigitalOcean is a Linux-based Virtual Private Servers (VPS) provider. They focus on ease of use and sophisticated but straightforward features. Their products are easy for beginners and offer more power and control to experts.
With HostGator, small businesses can find Shared, Reseller, and Dedicated web hosting services. They offer flexible, reliable, and affordable hosting solutions to individuals and companies of all sizes. Both companies provide high-quality products and services that will benefit any customer. Although WHR Marketing feels DigitalOcean edge the performance aspects if you’ve got a bigger budget.
How Can I Find More Information About DigitalOcean?
For a small to medium-sized business, starting with web hosting, DigitalOcean is the best option with its transparent, flexible, low-cost pricing and easy-to-use features.
Customer service is easily accessible to you 24/7 and they currently have heavily discounted plans which you can find here.
WHR Marketing has an exclusive $100 voucher to try Digital Ocean for 60 days!
Click here to receive it!