HostGator vs Framer: Comprehensive comparison guide for 2024

Final verdict

HostGator and Framer both offer unique strengths, catering to different user needs and preferences.

• 
  HostGator (Overall Grade: 6.2/10)
  
  is a solid choice for beginners and small businesses looking for an easy-to-use website builder with comprehensive hosting services. It provides a variety of customizable templates and essential ecommerce features, making it suitable for users who need a straightforward solution for creating and managing their online presence. However, its limitations in advanced design functionalities and ecommerce scalability may not meet the needs of more complex projects.
• 
  Framer (Overall Grade: 7.1/10)
  
  excels in providing advanced design and prototyping tools, making it ideal for designers and developers seeking extensive customization and creative control. Its AI-driven design capabilities and real-time collaboration features set it apart, although it has a steeper learning curve and lacks native ecommerce functionalities. Framer is best suited for users who prioritize high-fidelity design and are comfortable with a more complex platform.

	Overall grade: 6.2	Overall grade: 7.1
Design functionalities & templates	7.9	8.5
Ease of use	8.0	7.1
Ecommerce	6.3	5.9
Website Editors	7.3	7.6
Product testing options	2.6	6.2
Price	6.2	7.7
Hosting quality	8.0	7.1
Website speed optimization	6.2	7.4
Plugins and integrations	7.3	7.6
Marketing features	6.9	7.2
Customer support	7.3	5.6
Security	7.4	8.2
AI capabilities	2.6	7.6
User Management	3.2	7.4

Best for ecommerce

6.3

5.9

Verdict

: HostGator offers a more comprehensive ecommerce solution compared to Framer, making it better suited for users looking to build and manage an online store with ease.

• 
  HostGator
  
  : HostGator’s website builder is equipped with essential ecommerce features such as secure online payments, unlimited products, and multi-channel inventory management. It is ideal for users who need a straightforward, all-in-one solution for their online store. However, the lower-tier plans have significant product limits, which might be a drawback for some users. HostGator’s ecommerce score: 6.3.
• 
  Framer
  
  : Framer, while strong in design and customization, lacks native ecommerce functionalities. It relies on integrations like Ecwid to add ecommerce capabilities, which might require additional effort and expertise. This makes Framer less suitable for users who need a ready-to-go ecommerce platform. Framer’s ecommerce score: 5.9.

Best for informational & business websites

7.4

7.5

• 
  HostGator
  
  : HostGator is a solid choice for beginners and small businesses looking to create professional-looking informational websites with ease. Its drag-and-drop interface and variety of customizable templates make it accessible for users with no technical background. HostGator also offers reliable hosting services and 24/7 customer support, ensuring users can build and maintain their online presence efficiently. With a score of 7.4, HostGator is a dependable option for those prioritizing ease of use and support.
• 
  Framer
  
  : Framer excels in providing extensive customization and creative design possibilities, making it ideal for users seeking a more advanced platform. Its AI-driven design tools and comprehensive component library cater to both novices and experienced designers. While Framer has a steeper learning curve and lacks native e-commerce features, its robust design and prototyping capabilities make it a versatile choice for creating polished, user-centric informational websites. Scoring 7.5, Framer is the preferred option for those looking for high-fidelity design and interactive features.

Detailed comparison

7.9

8.5

Winner: Framer.

Framer offers a more comprehensive design functionality and template selection, making it the preferred choice for users seeking extensive customization and creative design possibilities.

HostGator 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.

On the other hand, Framer offers a diverse array of over 1,000 customizable website templates and designs, catering to various industries and project requirements. It stands out for its robust design and prototyping features, including responsive design capabilities, real-time collaboration, and extensive import options from other design tools.

Framer Themes

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8.0

7.1

🏆 Winner: HostGator

. Scoring 8.0, HostGator is known for its user-friendly interface and straightforward website creation process, making it ideal for beginners and small businesses. Framer, with a score of 7.1, offers a more advanced platform with a focus on interactive design and motion, which may present a learning curve for complete beginners.

Learning Resources

🏆 Winner: Framer

. Both platforms offer solid learning resources, but Framer goes a step further with its Framer Academy and Framer University, providing detailed courses and lessons for users at various skill levels.

6.3

5.9

When it comes to ecommerce, HostGator offers a more comprehensive solution compared to Framer. 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.

Ecommerce themes and templates	7.0	7.0
Product page customization	6.5	5.5
Payment processing and commissions	6.0	6.5
POS capabilities	5.0	3.0
Payment gateways	5.5	6.0
Product numbers	4.5	6.0
Additional ecommerce features	6.5	5.5

HostGator ecommerce features:

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

Framer ecommerce features:

• Ecwid integration

Ecommerce themes & templates

HostGator’s website builder caters to eCommerce needs by offering 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. The platform is user-friendly, enabling users to effortlessly create professional-looking online stores tailored to their specific requirements, all without the need for any coding knowledge.

Framer offers 97 website templates specifically designed for eCommerce, providing a wide range of options for various business needs. These templates are highly customizable, allowing for easy adjustments to colors, fonts, layouts, and integration with essential eCommerce tools. Both free and paid options are available, catering to businesses of all sizes looking to enhance their online presence and sales capabilities.

Product page customization

HostGator Website Builder 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. Advanced settings include inventory management, discount options, and the ability to set products as shippable or downloadable.

Framer primarily focuses on expanding design possibilities for eCommerce. However, it lacks inherent eCommerce functionalities and instead heavily depends on integrating with platforms such as Shopify and Ecwid. Additionally, while Framer allows for some customization of product pages, these modifications are generally limited to design and layout alterations.

Payment processing

When it comes to payment processing, HostGator Website Builder integrates with PayPal as a payment gateway for processing transactions. This is particularly highlighted in their offerings, suggesting that PayPal is a primary option for e-commerce activities within the platform. The platform charges a 3% transaction fee on Express Store and Express Site plans, no transaction fees are charged on higher Express Store plan.

Framer supports Stripe for payment processing, enabling a wide range of payment options including one-time payments, subscriptions, and more, without requiring coding. While specific transaction fees were not mentioned, such fees typically depend on Stripe’s pricing. Framer’s focus is on online transactions and e-commerce integrations, and there’s no explicit mention of native POS functionality. For the most current details on fees and features, it’s recommended to consult directly with Framer or Stripe.

7.3

7.6

🏆

Winner: Framer

. Framer, with a score of 7.6, is designed for high-fidelity prototyping and complex animations, catering to both designers and developers. It offers a robust set of tools for creating interactive and responsive designs, including a wide array of pre-built components, real-time collaboration features, and the ability to integrate with other design tools and workflows. Users can leverage Framer’s editor to craft detailed animations, fine-tune interactions, and test their designs across various screen sizes and devices. Additionally, its code export feature allows for seamless transition from design to development, making it a versatile choice for teams aiming to create polished, user-centric websites.

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. Users can also access advanced features such as eCommerce tools for online stores, SEO settings to improve search engine visibility, and mobile-responsive design to ensure the website looks great on all devices.

Mobile editor/app

4.0

4.5

🏆

Winner: Framer

. Both HostGator and Framer do not have a dedicated mobile editor app, but they allow for some modifications using a mobile browser. However, this comes with certain restrictions and is notably inconvenient. Despite these limitations, Framer scores slightly higher than HostGator in the mobile editor category.

This could be due to Framer’s more advanced features and capabilities, which may offer more flexibility and control when editing on mobile devices, despite the lack of a dedicated mobile app.

In summary, Framer receives a higher rating due to its advanced features and capabilities, offering more flexibility and control when editing on mobile devices, while HostGator, despite allowing some modifications using a mobile browser, is notably inconvenient and comes with certain restrictions.

2.6

6.2

Overall Result

:

Framer Wins

. Framer scores 6.2, significantly higher than HostGator’s 2.6. Framer offers a free version and allows users to test some of its features, while HostGator does not provide a free or trial version. However, HostGator allows users to test all features within a 30-day refundable period.

Free Plan	No	Yes
Trial Duration	No	No
Testing Premium Features	Possible within 30-day refundable period	Possible with free version
Money Back Guarantee	30-day (with exceptions)	14-day (only in some regions)

6.2

7.7

Framer has a higher price score than HostGator, indicating that it offers better value for money.

	Offerings	Offerings
Free	No offering at this amount.	Free (Free/month): Allows 3 websites built on a framer.website subdomain with Framer branding in the footer. Limited to 1,000 traffic visitors and 1,000 CMS items.
$10-$14	Express Start ($12.95/month): Includes hosting, basic analytics dashboard, 3 email campaigns per month, up to 3 products. Value for price: 6.0	Mini ($10/month): Removes Framer branding, allows using a custom domain, includes collaboration with an additional cost for extra editors, custom code embedding, e-commerce support, and limited CMS items. Offers a monthly visitor limit of 2,000 and 1GB bandwidth. Value for price: 6.5
$14-$23	Express Site ($14.98/month): Offers hosting, advanced analytics dashboard, 5 email campaigns per month, up to 10 products. Value for price: 7.0	Basic ($20/month): Offers all Mini features plus increased limits for CMS items (1,000) and traffic (10,000 visitors per month), along with 10GB bandwidth. Value for price: 7.5
$20+	Express Store ($26.98/month): Comprehensive plan including hosting, advanced analytics dashboard, 10 email campaigns per month, unlimited products. Value for price: 8.5	Pro ($30/month): Enhances Basic plan features with a significant increase in CMS items (10,000), traffic (100,000 visitors per month), and bandwidth (100GB), among other advanced features. Value for price: 8.5

8.0

7.1

Winner: HostGator

. HostGator offers a variety of hosting types with unlimited storage and bandwidth, and a 99.9% uptime guarantee for all plans. Framer, while offering cloud hosting with varying storage, only guarantees a 99.9% uptime for the enterprise plan. HostGator’s broader range of hosting options and universal uptime guarantee give it the edge in this category.

Do they offer hosting?	Yes, offers four main types of hosting: shared, managed WordPress, VPS, and dedicated hosting, with unlimited storage and bandwidth. The platform has automatic backup service which runs once a week on a random day.	Yes, included in all their plans, with 100MB to 100GB SSD storage depending on the plan, and from 3 to 90 day version history.
Data Centers:	4 data centers: US(Texas, Utah), India(Mumbai), China(Hong Kong)	4 data centers globally: 2 in US, 1 in Ireland, 1 in Singapore
Type of hosting:	Shared, Managed WordPress, VPS, Dedicated	Cloud Hosting
Uptime:	99.9%	99.9%
Uptime Guarantee:	Yes, 99.9%	Only for enterprise plan, 99.99%

6.2

7.4

🏆 Winner: Framer

Both HostGator and Framer prioritize website performance and page speed, but Framer has a slightly higher website speed optimization score.

Focus	Browser Caching, CDN	Code Minification, Pre-Rendering, Caching, Image optimization
Performance Tools	Google Lighthouse, PageSpeed Insights	Google PageSpeed Insights Integration
Key Strategies	Browser Caching, CDN	Code Minification, Pre-Rendering, Caching, Image optimization
Load Times	Varies widely, depending on the optimization, website complexity and the chosen hosting plan	Varies depending on optimization and website complexity
Page Speed Scores Range	Varies widely, depending on the optimization, website complexity and the chosen hosting plan	Varies depending on optimization and website complexity
Core Web Vitals Improvement	Emphasis on LCP, FID, CLS improvements	Emphasis on LCP, FID, CLS improvements

Framer, with its focus on code minification, pre-rendering, caching, and image optimization, has a slight edge over HostGator in terms of website speed optimization. Both platforms emphasize improving Core Web Vitals (CWV) for websites, particularly focusing on Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) improvements. However, the load times and PageSpeed scores for both platforms vary widely depending on the optimization and website complexity. HostGator’s load times and PageSpeed scores also depend on the chosen hosting plan.

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7.3

7.6

🏆 Winner: Framer.

Framer scores 7.6, slightly edging out HostGator’s 7.3. Framer’s plugins extend its capabilities beyond its base features, enabling integration with third-party tools and services, introducing more complex animations and interactions, and enhancing design systems with specialized components. They improve workflow efficiency with functionalities aimed at optimizing design processes and collaboration.

HostGator, on the other hand, offers a wide range of plugins, known as apps, accessible via their app market. These apps cater to diverse needs such as advertising, website analytics, integrating social media, managing appointments, and conducting email marketing. Pricing for these apps ranges from free options to monthly subscriptions and one-time purchases. Additionally, it is possible to integrate some third parity plugins within your website for more functionality.

6.9

7.2

🏆

Overall Winner: Framer

. Framer edges out HostGator with a slightly higher score, offering a robust suite of marketing features including SEO tools, email marketing through third-party integration, blogging, social media integration, and analytics and reporting. However, it lacks built-in advertisement and promotions features. HostGator also offers a comprehensive set of marketing tools, but falls short in the score.

SEO Tools
Email Marketing	✓ (on higher plans)	✓ (through third-party integration)
Blogging
Social Media Integration
Analytics and Reporting	✓ (Google Analytics integration on higher plans)	✓ (only on higher plans)
Ads and Promotions	✓ (Google Ads and Bing Ads integration)	✗

7.3

5.6

🏆 Winner: HostGator

. In the HostGator vs Framer comparison, HostGator takes the lead with its comprehensive 24/7 customer support. HostGator provides multiple support 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 urgent issues promptly.

Framer, on the other hand, primarily offers self-help options through its community forum and knowledge base. While users can email Framer’s support team for help, the lack of detailed information about their support hours and availability can be a drawback, especially for those needing immediate assistance. Framer’s support is more suited for users who prefer finding solutions independently or can wait for email responses.

7.4

8.2

🏆

Winner: Framer

. Framer takes a comprehensive approach to security, utilizing Amazon Web Services (AWS) for hosting and data encryption, classifying data into categories, and managing secrets and encryption keys through AWS Parameter Store and Key Management Service (KMS). They also emphasize product security through secure development practices, external security testing, and a bug bounty program.

HostGator, on the other hand, integrates security features such as SiteLock for malware scanning and has extensive custom firewall rules. However, website owners are responsible for aspects such as password security, updating applications, and ensuring their site is malware-free. Despite these measures, HostGator’s security score is lower than Framer’s, indicating that Framer may offer a more secure platform overall.

2.6

7.6

AI Builder	Basic AI capabilities	Advanced AI builder for content creation and optimization
AI Ecommerce features
AI content generation		AI Translation, Text Rewrite, Headline Generator
Additional AI features		AI Style, AI Photo Generating and Editing tools

🏆 Winner: Framer

. Framer, with a score of 7.6, offers a variety of AI features that enhance the website creation process. Its AI capabilities include AI Translation for localized content, Text Rewrite functionality for enhanced website copy, Headline Generator for compelling content, and AI Style and AI Photo Generating and Editing tools for design customization and image creation.

HostGator, with a score of 2.6, has basic AI capabilities with its new website builder. However, it lacks advanced AI features for content generation and design customization.

3.2

7.4

🏆 Winner: Framer

. User management in HostGator and Framer involves different approaches to website editing access.

• 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.
• Framer supports team collaboration with different plans allowing a varying number of editors; the Team Basic plan allows up to 5 editors, while the Team Pro plan supports up to 10 editors. These plans come with additional features like live collaboration, comments, file storage, and extended version history.

Framer User Roles and Access Levels:

Additional Features

SSL Certificate
Custom Domain
Free Custom Domain Included
International Domains
Mobile Responsive
Page Speed
Website Builder Mobile App
Convert a Website To An App
Website Analytics
Multilingual Sites
Multiple Users

User Feedback

HostGator

244 reviews

3.6 out of 5 stars

Framer

86 reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars

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.

Framer receives high marks for its user-friendly, no-code approach to web and prototype design, offering extensive tutorials, templates, and drag-and-drop functionalities that expedite the design process. Users appreciate its integration with tools like Figma, AI-generated responsive designs, and real-time collaboration features. Critiques focus on a steep learning curve for newcomers and limitations in customer support and features without premium access. Despite these drawbacks, Framer is lauded as a powerful design tool that enhances creativity and efficiency in web development.

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