HostGator vs Blocs: Comprehensive comparison guide for 2024

Final verdict

HostGator and Blocs both offer unique strengths, but they cater to different user needs and preferences.

• 
  HostGator (Overall Grade: 6.2/10)
  
  is a versatile website builder and hosting provider, ideal for users seeking an all-in-one solution. It excels in offering a wide range of templates, robust hosting services, and comprehensive security measures. HostGator is particularly suitable for beginners and small businesses looking for an easy-to-use platform with integrated ecommerce capabilities. However, its customer support and pricing structure may be areas of concern for some users.
• 
  Blocs (Overall Grade: 5.8/10)
  
  is a powerful website builder designed specifically for Mac users, offering a user-friendly interface and extensive customization options. It stands out for its design flexibility, AI capabilities, and strong learning resources. Blocs is best suited for designers and developers who prefer a visual design tool with the ability to integrate third-party ecommerce solutions. While it lacks built-in hosting and some advanced features, its one-time payment plan can be cost-effective in the long run.

Best for ecommerce

Verdict

: Blocs edges out HostGator in ecommerce capabilities, offering more flexibility through third-party integrations, while HostGator provides a more straightforward, integrated solution.

• 
  HostGator
  
  : HostGator’s website builder is designed for ease of use, featuring a drag-and-drop interface and a variety of customizable templates. It includes essential ecommerce functionalities like secure online payments, product management, and inventory tracking. However, the lower-tier plans limit the number of products you can sell, which might be a drawback for growing businesses. HostGator is ideal for users seeking a simple, integrated ecommerce solution with robust customer support.
• 
  Blocs
  
  : Blocs is a powerful website builder tailored for Mac users, offering a visual interface and pre-designed blocks for easy website creation. It supports ecommerce through integrations with services like Ecwid, Stripe, and Snipcart, providing flexibility for users who prefer third-party solutions. While Blocs may present a learning curve for beginners, it is well-suited for designers and developers looking for a customizable and professional ecommerce platform.

Best for informational & business websites

Verdict

: When it comes to creating informational and business websites, Blocs slightly edges out HostGator with a score of 7.5 compared to HostGator’s 7.4. Both platforms offer robust features, but Blocs’ user-friendly interface and design flexibility make it a better choice for those looking to create visually appealing and professional websites without coding.

• 
  HostGator
  
  : HostGator is a versatile website builder that offers a drag-and-drop interface, making it easy for users with no technical background to create professional-looking websites. It provides a wide range of customizable templates suitable for various types of websites, including blogs, business sites, and e-commerce stores. Additionally, HostGator offers comprehensive web hosting services, domain registration, and 24/7 customer support, making it a solid choice for users who need an all-in-one solution for building and maintaining their online presence.
• 
  Blocs
  
  : Blocs is a powerful website builder designed specifically for Mac users, offering an intuitive visual interface and pre-designed blocks that make it easy to create beautiful, modern websites without writing code. With a wide range of features, including responsive design and integration with popular web standards and tools, Blocs is ideal for designers, developers, and anyone looking to create professional websites with minimal effort. Its user-friendly platform and extensive learning resources make it particularly suitable for those who prioritize ease of use and design flexibility.

Detailed comparison

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Winner: HostGator.

While both builders offer a good range of design functionalities and templates, HostGator edges out Blocs with its larger variety of templates and designs, and its more extensive customization flexibility.

HostGator website builder provides a substantial variety of design templates, catering to different user needs and preferences. It offers over 200 different mobile-friendly themes. Additionally, there’s a separate collection of 4,500 templates available for free download to users hosting their sites on HostGator servers, which are not interchangeable with the site builder’s own templates. This vast collection ensures that users have a wide range of design options to choose from, whether they seek simplicity for a professional presence or more intricate designs for complex websites.

On the other hand, Blocs website builder offers a vast selection of design templates, boasting over 36 layouts for various website types, including business, e-commerce, personal portfolios, and photography, catering to a wide range of user needs. These templates are designed to be responsive, ensuring optimal display across different devices, from desktops to smartphones. Furthermore, the templates are available for purchase in packages, with pricing dependent on the number of websites intended for creation, and are crafted for easy customization, enabling users without coding expertise to quickly develop professional-looking websites.

Blocs Themes

🏆 Winner: Blocs

. With a score of 8.7, Blocs edges out HostGator, which scored 8.0. Blocs is highly regarded for its user-friendliness and versatility, particularly among Mac users. It offers a robust platform for both novices and professional coders. HostGator, on the other hand, is also user-friendly and perfect for beginners, but Blocs takes the lead with its higher score and versatility.

Learning Resources

🏆 Winner: Blocs

. Both platforms offer solid learning resources, but Blocs goes a step further with its comprehensive suite of learning resources for web design, catering to both beginners and advanced users through its learning portal and Blocs Academy. HostGator also offers a range of learning resources and features, but Blocs’ extensive and continually updated resources give it the edge.

When it comes to ecommerce, both HostGator and Blocs offer features that can help users set up an online store. However, their approaches and offerings differ significantly.

HostGator’s website builder includes ecommerce features that allow users to create an online store where they can sell products and services directly from their website. The ecommerce functionality includes features such as product management, inventory tracking, secure payment gateways, and options for shipping and tax calculations. However, on lower Express Start and Express Site plans there’s a significant limit on the number of products: 3 and 10 respectively, and unlimited number of products on higher Express Store plan.

On the other hand, Blocs supports ecommerce through integration with leading service providers, enabling features such as buy buttons, checkouts, and complete storefronts with services like Ecwid, Stripe, Snipcart, Paddle, and Gumroad. However, as a visual design tool aimed mainly at web designers and developers, it might present a learning curve for complete beginners or those looking for simpler, more intuitive ecommerce solutions.

HostGator ecommerce features:

• Secure Online Payments
• Unlimited Products
• Product Search & Filtering
• Wishlists & Gift Cards
• Multi-Channel Inventory Management
• Shipping Labels

Blocs ecommerce features:

• Stripe integration
• Snipcart shopping cart integration
• Gumroad integration
• Ecwid integration

Ecommerce themes & templates

When it comes to ecommerce themes and templates, HostGator offers a broad selection of free templates, all designed with mobile responsiveness in mind. These templates are equipped with essential ecommerce features such as product catalogs and payment processing options. Blocs, on the other hand, provides a range of ecommerce-specific templates, allowing users to quickly launch optimized online stores or business platforms.

Product page customization

In terms of product page customization, HostGator offers basic features for customizing product pages, enabling users to add products with details such as name, price, description, and images. It supports product variants and categorization to enhance customer navigation. Blocs primarily offers ecommerce features through third-party ecommerce platforms such as Ecwid, so the product page customization possibilities vary depending on which platform is integrated.

Payment processing

For payment processing, HostGator integrates with PayPal as a payment gateway for processing transactions. The platform charges a 3% transaction fee on Express Store and Express Site plans, no transaction fees are charged on higher Express Store plan. Blocs supports ecommerce through integrations with third-party ecommerce providers, suggesting flexibility in the use of various payment gateways without directly listing them. Blocs does not charge transaction fees or commissions, however such fees may be charged by the payment gateways or ecommerce platforms themselves. Additionally, Blocs does not offer POS capabilities.

In conclusion, while both platforms offer ecommerce capabilities, HostGator seems to be more suited for users who want a more straightforward and integrated ecommerce solution, while Blocs might be a better fit for users who prefer flexibility and are comfortable with integrating third-party ecommerce platforms.

🏆

Winner: Blocs

. With a score of 7.5, Blocs offers a user-friendly web design tool that enables the creation of modern, responsive websites without needing to code. It utilizes a block-based interface with drag-and-drop functionality, making web design accessible to designers and creatives without technical backgrounds. The app offers a variety of pre-designed blocks, integration options, and SEO tools to streamline the website creation process.

HostGator’s website builder, scoring 7.3, offers a user-friendly drag-and-drop editor, enabling users to easily create and customize their websites without needing any coding knowledge. It provides a wide range of templates that are fully customizable, allowing for the personalization of layouts, colors, and fonts to match the user’s brand identity. Additionally, the editor supports the integration of various multimedia elements like images, videos, and social media links, enhancing the visual appeal and functionality of the website.

Mobile editor/app

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Winner: Blocs

. When it comes to mobile editing, Blocs clearly outperforms HostGator. Blocs offers a dedicated mobile editor app specifically designed for the iPad. This app provides a touch-first interface and includes all the essential features needed to create various types of websites, offering a flexible and efficient solution for building professional and beautiful websites on an iPad.

On the other hand, HostGator does not have a dedicated mobile editor app. It only allows for minor changes via a mobile browser, which can be limiting for users who prefer to manage their websites on the go. Therefore, if mobile editing is a priority for you, Blocs would be the better choice.

Overall Result

:

Blocs Wins

. Blocs scores 7.0, significantly higher than HostGator’s 2.6. Blocs offers a trial version and allows users to test some of its premium features during the trial and within a 14-day refundable period. HostGator, on the other hand, does not offer a free or trial version, but allows users to test all features within a 30-day refundable period. However, HostGator’s money-back guarantee comes with several exceptions.

Blocs offers a one-time payment plan, which could be more cost-effective in the long run, while HostGator provides monthly plans with discounts for annual subscriptions.

Winner: HostGator

. HostGator offers a variety of hosting services, including shared, managed WordPress, VPS, and dedicated hosting, with unlimited storage and bandwidth. It also provides an automatic backup service and guarantees 99.9% uptime. On the other hand, Blocs does not offer any hosting services, which significantly limits its functionality in this aspect.

🏆 Winner: HostGator

Both HostGator and Blocs have strategies in place for website speed optimization, but HostGator takes the lead with its emphasis on browser caching and CDN, as well as providing guidance on improving Core Web Vitals.

HostGator, a well-known web hosting company, also offers a powerful website builder tool. It places a strong emphasis on website performance and page speed, with strategies for speed optimization including browser caching and CDN. HostGator also provides guidance on understanding and improving Core Web Vitals (CWV) for websites, with a focus on LCP, FID, and CLS improvements. However, both load times and PageSpeed scores can vary widely, depending on the optimization, website complexity, and the chosen hosting plan.

On the other hand, Blocs, a website builder designed specifically for Mac users, focuses on WebP Generation for speed optimization. However, Blocs does not disclose any information about its Core Web Vitals improvements. Similar to HostGator, Blocs’ load times and PageSpeed scores vary depending on optimization and website complexity.

🏆 Winner: HostGator.

With a score of 7.3, HostGator offers a wider range of plugins and integrations, catering to diverse needs such as advertising, website analytics, social media integration, appointment management, and email marketing. Blocs, scoring 6.8, also provides a variety of custom-made add-ons and extensions, but falls slightly short in comparison to HostGator’s offerings.

It’s worth noting that both platforms offer a mix of free and paid plugins, providing flexibility to users based on their specific needs and budget.

Blocs Applications

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Overall Winner: Tie

. Both HostGator and Blocs offer a similar set of marketing features, including SEO tools, email marketing, blogging, and social media integration. However, HostGator has an edge with its Google Ads and Bing Ads integration, while Blocs lacks in the Ads and Promotions feature.

🏆 Winner: HostGator

. In the HostGator vs Blocs comparison, HostGator takes the lead with a customer support score of 7.3. HostGator offers 24/7 support through various channels, including email, phone, and live chat, ensuring users can get assistance whenever they need it. This round-the-clock availability is crucial for maintaining website uptime and addressing any issues promptly.

On the other hand, Blocs scores 5.1 in customer support and primarily relies on self-service options such as articles and community forums. While these resources can be helpful, they may not provide the immediate, personalized support that some users require, especially when dealing with complex issues. This can leave users feeling unsupported compared to the more comprehensive support system offered by HostGator.

🏆

Winner: HostGator

. HostGator takes a comprehensive approach to security, with measures such as SiteLock for malware scanning, custom firewall rules, and mod security rule sets to protect against various threats. They also conduct regular password audits to encourage strong user password practices. In addition, HostGator’s commitment to GDPR compliance ensures that users’ data is managed securely and with care.

Although Blocs, on the other hand, does not disclose any specific information about their security measures. As Blocs is primarily an offline website builder and does not offer hosting, the security measures would largely depend on the hosting provider chosen by the user. Therefore, it’s difficult to compare the two in terms of security. However, given the information available, HostGator appears to have a more robust security strategy.

🏆 Winner: Blocs

. Despite not having an AI builder, Blocs scores higher with a score of 5.4 due to its innovative AI Assistant that enhances the user experience by allowing for the generation and editing of content directly within a Blocs project. This assistant also supports dictation and voice commands, allowing for a more intuitive and hands-free interaction with the design tool.

HostGator, with a score of 2.6, has announced the launch of a new website builder with AI technologies, but its capabilities are basic and it does not offer any other AI features.

🏆 Winner: HostGator

. Both HostGator and Blocs have limited user management capabilities.

• HostGator mentions the possibility to have multiple users for its hosting solutions, however, there’s no mention whether the mentioned users have the permission to edit the websites built with their website builder.
• Blocs, on the other hand, allows only one user to build and edit a website.

Given the limited information, HostGator is the winner due to the potential for multiple users in its hosting solutions. However, it’s important to note that the user management capabilities of both builders are quite limited compared to other website builders.

Additional Features

User Feedback

HostGator’s website builder receives mixed reviews from users, highlighting both its strengths and areas for improvement. Users appreciate the platform for its ease of use, making it accessible even for novices to build professional-looking websites, and for its range of web services that facilitate website creation and management, including domain registration and SSL certificates. However, concerns are raised regarding its customer support, which is often described as slow or unresponsive, potentially impacting users requiring timely assistance. Additionally, some users find the pricing structure to be high, particularly for small-scale developers or those needing only basic services.

Blocs website builder is praised for its intuitive drag-and-drop interface, making it accessible to users with varying levels of web development expertise. Its extensive library of templates and customization options, including the ability to add custom CSS and JavaScript, facilitates the rapid creation of diverse and visually appealing websites. However, users report encountering bugs and express a desire for more sophisticated customization features, indicating room for improvement. Overall, Blocs is valued for significantly streamlining the web design process, supported by a strong community and educational resources, despite its learning curve and occasional technical glitches.

FAQ