HostGator vs DigitalOcean Hosting Comparison 2020 Which is Best

HostGator vs DigitalOcean Hosting Comparison 2020 Which is Best .elementor-19761 .elementor-element.elementor-element-19761{text-align:center}.elementor-19773 .elementor-element.elementor-element-19773{text-align:center}.elementor-19765 .elementor-element.elementor-element-19765{text-align:center}.elementor-19769 .elementor-element.elementor-element-19769{text-align:center}.elementor-19779 .elementor-element.elementor-element-19779{text-align:center}.elementor-19763 .elementor-element.elementor-element-19763{text-align:center}.elementor-19777 .elementor-element.elementor-element-19777{text-align:center}.elementor-19767 .elementor-element.elementor-element-19767{text-align:center}.elementor-19992 .elementor-element.elementor-element-19992{text-align:center}Last Updated on February 27, 2020In this article, I will compare two web hosts that target completely different groups. HostGator is a hosting provider that targets beginners. DigitalOcean web hosting, on the other hand, is a provider that targets experienced developers.The offers they have are tailored for the specific group they target, but it is time to pit them against each other.How reliable is HostGator? What is the best DigitalOcean yearly plan? HostGator vs DigitalOcean which is better overall? To find out answers to those and many other questions, read on and don’t forget to use the switch that toggles between the two hosting providers. Disclosure As an independent review site, we get compensated if you purchase through the referral links or coupon codes on this page â€" at no additional cost to you. Dismiss alert I will compare their pricing, customer support, features, website builders, and all other factors that might be important in choosing the right hosting provider.You might also like: HostGator review Table of Contents So HostGator vs DigitalOcean which is better?DigitalOcean vs HostGator comparisonHostGator or DigitalOcean ease of useCloud hosting plan comparisonCompare DigitalOcean vs HostGator server locationsDigitalOcean vs HostGator website bu ilderDigitalOcean vs HostGator featuresDigitalOcean vs HostGator security Compare DigitalOcean vs HostGator domains, migration site transferDigitalOcean vs HostGator customer supportDigitalOcean vs HostGator speed, uptime, and reliabilityHostGator vs DigitalOcean pricing comparisonOther considerations: DigitalOcean versus HostGator HostGator hosting vs DigitalOcean hosting conclusionHostGator versus DigitalOcean final scoreHostgator versus DigitalOcean FAQs Is DigitalOcean beginner-friendly? Where are DigitalOcean data centers located? HostGator vs DigitalOcean, which is better? Is HostGator Secure? Does HostGator have a website builder? So HostGator vs DigitalOcean which is better? HostGator discounts DigitalOcean discounts See our special HostGator deal Deals available?DigitalOcean vs HostGator comparisonOK, let’s compare HostGator and DigitalOcean:HostGator or DigitalOcean ease of useHostGator 5/5 DigitalOcean 2/5HostGator is a hosting provider suitable for beginners. Ever ything from signup to launch and setup is quick and easy.Management of your account and website isn’t any more complicated than setup and launch. HostGator uses cPanel, a web-based hosting control panel that most providers use. cPanel uses an easy to navigate graphical interface, which makes management beginner-friendly.With HostGator, you will have access to various apps and plug-ins that further help you manage your website. Join the FREE TrainingDo You Want To Learn How To Build 6 Figures Authority Sites?Join This Free Training To...Finally have a proven method to finding profitable nichesGet access to a foolproof keyword research methodLearn how to outsource quality contentLearn how to build white hat links to your site without headaches To make things even easier for WordPress users, HostGator has one-click installation support.One of the most important HostGator’s target groups is beginners. Ease of use of HostGator services is suitable for those beginners, and you will feel comfortable with doing everything by yourself even if you have no previous experience in this area.Unlike HostGator, DigitalOcean doesn’t put much effort into making things easy for beginners. This isn’t surprising because their target groups are experienced webmasters, veteran developers, and similar groups.With DigitalOcean, you start with a blank slate. From there, you have to install and configure the web server and any programming languages you might need. After that, you have to configure and optimize everything on your own.There are pre-configured 1-click installation images for some software, but in most other cases, you are on your own.DigitalOcean uses its own management software in place of cPanel. It is designed for professional developers and beginners won’t enjoy it even if they are capable of handling it. If you want to use cPanel, you will have to get it from a third party. HostGator advantagesEasy setupcPanelOne-click WordPress installation Find out more Cloud hosting plan comparisonHostGator 4/5 DigitalOcean 5/5HostGator has three cloud hosting plans you can choose from:Cloud Hatchling: $9.23/month2 CPU cores2 GB RAMUnclear hidden limit to storageUnclear hidden limit to bandwidthCloud Baby: $11.95/month 4 CPU cores4 GB RAMUnclear hidden limit to storageUnclear hidden limit to bandwidthCloud Business: $17.95/month6 CPU cores6 GB RAMUnclear hidden limit to storageUnclear hidden limit to bandwidthHostGator cloud hosting servers come at somewhat cheaper prices compared to DigitalOcean servers. However, there isn’t much variety to choose from, and there are hidden limits to storage and bandwidth. Their website states that bandwidth and storage are unlimited, but if you carefully read terms of use, you will find out that there are unclear limits to both.If you are a beginner that doesn’t have problems with hidden limits, you might be satisfied with HostGator. In all other cases, I suggest you take a look at what DigitalOcean has to offer. After all, DigitalOcean specializes in cloud hosting.DigitalOcean has a bunch of different cloud hosting solutions and options to configure your server. They are separated into four categories: Standard, General Purpose, CPU-Optimized, and Memory-Optimized.Here, I will list only a few of them so you can compare DigitalOcean pricing to HostGator:$5/month server1 CPU cores1 GB RAM25 GB SSD1 TB bandwidth$15/month server2 CPU cores2 GB RAM60GB SSD3 TB bandwidth$40/month server4 CPU cores8 GB RAM160GB SSD5 TB bandwidth$1,200/month server40 CPU cores160 GB RAM500GB SSD9 TB bandwidthDigitalOcean is a bit more expensive option for cloud hosting, so you might ask yourself why use DigitalOcean?A sheer variety of choices makes that price difference negligible. With DigitalOcean, you can choose between 31 differently configured servers with a price range from $5/month to $2,240/month.DigitalOcean has servers configured for various needs. There are CPU optimized servers, memory-optimized servers, and balanced servers. All servers use SSD disks, and if you choose one of the memory-optimized servers, you can choose the size of your SSD.As expected from a company that specializes in cloud hosting, it is hard to match their offer. They are the clear winner of this category. DigitalOcean advantagesStarts at $5/monthMore options Find out moreCompare DigitalOcean vs HostGator server locationsHostGator 3/5 DigitalOcean 5/5HostGator has only two data centers, and they are both located in the USA. One center is in Houston, Texas, and the other is in Provo, Utah.HostGator can’t even compete with DigitalOcean when it comes to the number of servers and their locations.If you are wondering why use Digital Ocean hosting, their server locations is one of the answers. DigitalOcean has 12 data centers on three different continents. Here is the full list of their data centers:New York, USA â€" 3 data centersSan Francisco, USA â€" 2 data centersAmsterdam, Netherlands â€" 2 data cent ersLondon, UK â€" 1 data centerFrankfurt, Germany â€" 1 data centerToronto, Canada â€" 1 data centerSingapore â€" 1 data centerBangalore, India â€" 1 data centerDigitalOcean is the clear winner here. It has six times more data centers than HostGator, and they are spread all around the world. DigitalOcean advantages12 data centersData centers on 3 continents Find out moreDigitalOcean vs HostGator website builderHostGator 4/5 DigitalOcean 0.5/5HostGator has only two data centers, and they are both located in the USA. One center is in Houston, Texas, and the other is in Provo, Utah.HostGator can’t even compete with DigitalOcean when it comes to the number of servers and their locations.If you are wondering why use Digital Ocean hosting, their server locations is one of the answers. DigitalOcean has 12 data centers on three different continents. Here is the full list of their data centers:New York, USA â€" 3 data centersSan Francisco, USA â€" 2 data centersAmsterdam, Netherlands â€" 2 data centersLondon, UK â€" 1 data centerFrankfurt, Germany â€" 1 data centerToronto, Canada â€" 1 data centerSingapore â€" 1 data centerBangalore, India â€" 1 data centerDigitalOcean is the clear winner here. It has six times more data centers than HostGator, and they are spread all around the world. HostGator advantagesBeginner-friendly100+ templatesDrag-and-drop Find out moreDigitalOcean vs HostGator featuresHostGator 4.5/5 DigitalOcean 4/5When choosing a hosting provider, you probably want to know what CMS, OS, and programming languages the provider supports. Here is the list of those features for HostGator:CMS Support:WordPressManagedWordPressJoomlaDrupalMagentoFantasticoOS Support:WindowsLinuxLanguage support:PHPPythonDatabase Support:MySQLHostGator has the upper hand when it comes to the number of features it supports. It isn’t a huge difference, but if you want Windows-based OS or CMS support for Fantastico, you won’t find those in DigitalOcean’s offer.Now let’s see what DigitalOcean has to offer feature-wise:CMS Support:WordPressJoomlaDrupalMagentoOS support:LinuxLanguage support:PHPNodeJSDatabase Support:MySQLAs you can see, most of the features these two hosting providers support are similar. Both providers use MySQL databases and support PHP. If you are not deadset at using NodeJS as your programing language, DigitalOcean doesn’t offer anything you won’t find in HostGator’s repertoire.DigitalOcean vs HostGator security HostGator 5/5 DigitalOcean 5/5HostGator takes care of security problems like DDoS and other possible attacks on servers. They also inform you what you can do to protect your data and website on your end, and inform users of weak passwords every week. HostGator also has a 24/7 monitoring team that works on stopping any attack on servers the moment it begins.There is also a statement on their website that HostGator employs additional server security methods and precautions that are confidential. It isn’t clear what meth ods and precautions this implies, but HostGator is a quite secure hosting providerDigitalOcean takes security seriously. On DigitalOcean’s website, you can even find the list of physical security measures they use in their facilities. This includes biometric readers with two-factor authentication, full CCTV coverage of facilities, secure loading zones for delivery of equipment, etc.Physical security of DigitalOcean’s data centers and security of your account are top-notch. However, you have to remember that you are going to create your website from scratch. This means that you will have greater responsibility for the security of the website itself.Compare DigitalOcean vs HostGator domains, migration 4.5/5 DigitalOcean 1/5These are the prices that your domain extension will renew at, NOT the introductory offers (green denotes the cheaper option):.com $12.95/year.net $12.95/year.org $12.95/year.site $0.95/year.online $1.95/year.us $5.95/yearWhen it comes to site transfer, you can do it on your own or get assistance through their free website content transfer service. It is important to note that the second option is available only within 30 days of signup or upgrade.If you are wondering what is DigitalOcean pricing for domains, there is none because DigitalOcean offers no domain registration. If you want a domain, you will have to register it elsewhere.The transfer of your website isn’t suited for beginners. If you want to migrate or transfer your website, you will have to do it manually. There is no automated process, and you shouldn’t expect any assistance with the process. HostGator advantagesOffers domain registrationFree transfer service Find out moreDigitalOcean vs HostGator customer supportHostGator 5/5 DigitalOcean 2/5HostGator has knowledgeable and fast-to-reply 24/7 customer support. You can contact them through various means, which include live chat, phone, email, and forum. In addition to English, you can get support in Russian and Chinese.I f you want to try and solve problems on your own before contacting the support, there is a huge knowledge base and numerous video guides on the HostGator website.DigitalOcean doesn’t have praiseworthy customer support. DigitalOcean’s customer support isn’t live, and they don’t work 24/7. You can contact their customer support only by email or by submitting a ticket.Lack of live support is a rare thing, especially when it comes to hosting providers. This is the biggest drawback of DigitalOcean.DigitalOcean vs HostGator speed, uptime, and reliabilityHostGator 3.5/5 DigitalOcean 5/5As expected from one of the most popular hosting providers, HostGator has satisfying uptime. On the other hand, their response time isn’t up to standard. Response time is the key factor in the load time of a website and shouldn’t be overlooked.Response time: 2.337 ms Uptime: 99.90%DigitalOcean specializes in providing hosting for professional developers, and they are up to the standards of profes sionals. With almost constant uptime and response time under 500 ms, there is nothing you can complain about.Response time: 297 ms Uptime: 99.95%HostGator vs DigitalOcean pricing comparisonHostGator 4/5 DigitalOcean 4/5HostGator prices for cloud hosting range from $9.23/ month to $17.95/month if you opt for a 3 year plan. They offer better value for your money but lack the variety DigitalOcean offers. You can’t go under $9.23/month if you need the most basic cloud server.Another problem with HostGator is the lack of transparency with their prices. If you open their website, you will find a bit different prices from the ones I listed in the article. The prices listed there are the prices on discount, and there is no additional information on how long the discount lasts and whether that is the same price that your plan will renew at. To get real prices, you should visit this pageThere is no DigitalOcean yearly plan that will provide you with a discount, but their regular prices star t at $5/month. You will hardly find any hosting provider that offers cloud hosting at a lower price. However, when we compare what you get in the plans with a similar cost to HostGator plans, you will notice that you get better value for your money with HostGator.Because there is a lot of variety between DigitalOcean offers, you get to pay for exactly what you need. This makes DigitalOcean pricing quite fair. If HostGator was transparent with their prices and offered greater variety, they would have easily won in this category.Other considerations: DigitalOcean versus HostGator Some details don’t fit any of the categories above, but I find them important to mention. The first one concerns the amount of control you get. DigitalOcean gives you root access, which lets you configure servers as you like. While this isn’t important for most of the users, some developers with intricate desires might find this useful.Another thing to consider is the content you want to host. With HostGa tor, you can host websites. With DigitalOcean, you can host almost everything, from game servers to applications. This option makes DigitalOcean an excellent host for those who need multipurpose hosting. The possibility to host other content besides websites is the answer to the question “Why use Digital Ocean hosting?”If you are concerned by the environmental impact of your website, you will be happy to know that both providers take care to stay green. HostGator offsets its carbon footprint by 130%. DigitalOcean’s environmental impact is different for each data center they have. However, only the two New York data centers aren’t carbon neutral. The centers in Europe use only renewable energy. In their other centers they offset their carbon footprint by 100%.HostGator hosting vs DigitalOcean hosting conclusionThe winner is HostGator!HostGator is the option with a better value for your money. They are a beginner-friendly hosting provider with professional 24/7 support, excell ent security, and an option to register a domain with them. The only problems that I find with HostGator are the lack of transparency with prices and limited locations of their data centers.HostGator versus DigitalOcean final score Host Final web host ranking Discounts?HostGatorOverall Score: 42.5/ 50 Get our special HostGator discountsDigitalOceanOverall Score: 33/ 50 Check for DigitalOcean disountsHostgator versus DigitalOcean FAQs Is DigitalOcean beginner-friendly? DigitalOcean targets experienced developers. They lack most of the features that make a hosting provider beginner-friendly. With DigitalOcean, you have to configure your server and website from scratch without live customer support and a website builder. There is hardly any beginner that could use DigitalOcean hosting without help. Where are DigitalOcean data centers located? DigitalOcean has twelve data centers on three continents. They are located in eight different cities. They have three servers in New York , two servers in San Francisco, and two in Amsterdam. They also have one server in Frankfurt, London, Singapore, Toronto, and Bangalore. HostGator vs DigitalOcean, which is better? It all depends on what you need. If you are an experienced developer with specific cloud hosting needs, you will probably find that DigitalOcean web hosting is a more suitable option. They offer a variety of cloud hosting, and host basically everything, not just websites. For all other options, HostGator is better. Is HostGator Secure? HostGator is one of the most popular hosting providers for a reason. Their security is excellent. In addition to protection from DDoS attacks, brute force attacks and various malware, they help their users improve security on the user end as much as possible. Does HostGator have a website builder? HostGator has developed a website builder named Gator Web Builder. It is an easy to use drag-and-drop website builder. With Gator Web Builder, any beginner can create their website. The builder has hundreds of templates to choose from and requires no technical or coding knowledge to use. HostGator vs Hostinger Squarespace vs HostGator