HostGator vs Showit: Comprehensive comparison guide for 2024

Final verdict

HostGator and Showit offer unique strengths, making them suitable for different user needs.

• 
  HostGator (Overall Grade: 6.2/10)
  
  excels in hosting quality, website speed optimization, and customer support, making it a reliable choice for users looking for a comprehensive web hosting solution with a user-friendly website builder. Its range of plugins and integrations, along with basic AI capabilities, cater to a broad spectrum of website functionalities. However, it falls short in design flexibility and ecommerce capabilities compared to Showit.
• 
  Showit (Overall Grade: 6.4/10)
  
  , on the other hand, shines with its superior design functionalities and templates, ease of use, and marketing features, particularly appealing to creative professionals such as photographers and designers. Its unique dual canvas interface offers unparalleled customization for mobile and desktop views. While Showit provides robust security features and user management options, it lacks the extensive hosting options and AI capabilities present in HostGator.

Best for ecommerce

Verdict

: For users prioritizing ecommerce functionality, HostGator offers a more comprehensive set of features suitable for online stores, despite its limitations on product numbers in lower plans. Showit, while offering great design flexibility, falls short in ecommerce capabilities but allows for integration with robust platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce for those prioritizing aesthetics.

• 
  HostGator
  
  : With a score of 6.3, HostGator provides essential ecommerce features such as secure online payments, unlimited products on higher plans, and shipping labels. It’s a good choice for users looking for an all-in-one solution with hosting and ecommerce capabilities, despite its transaction fees on certain plans.
• 
  Showit
  
  : Scoring 4.8, Showit is less focused on ecommerce, lacking specific templates and direct ecommerce features. However, it’s an attractive option for creative professionals who need a visually appealing site with the option to integrate ecommerce functionalities through platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce.

Best for informational & business websites

Verdict

: Showit is the superior choice for informational and business websites, especially for users in creative industries, due to its higher customization capabilities and ease of use. HostGator, while strong in hosting and support, doesn’t quite match up in terms of design flexibility and user experience.

• 
  HostGator
  
  : Offers a solid platform with a variety of templates and a user-friendly website builder. It’s a good option for those who need reliable hosting and customer support alongside their website building. However, it may fall short for users looking for extensive design customization.
• 
  Showit
  
  : Stands out for its exceptional design flexibility and ease of use, making it ideal for creative professionals who want to build unique, visually compelling websites. Its dual canvas interface and deep integration with WordPress for blogging add significant value for informational and business websites.

Detailed comparison

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Winner: Showit.

Showit’s design functionalities and templates score is higher than HostGator’s, making it the preferred choice for users who prioritize design flexibility and customization.

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, Showit offers a wide variety of templates and designs, catering to diverse aesthetic preferences and business needs. Users can choose from an extensive collection that ranges from minimalist and sleek to bold and artistic, ensuring there’s something for every brand identity.

Showit Themes

🏆 Winner: Showit

. With a score of 8.6, Showit edges out HostGator (8.0) in terms of ease of use. Showit’s drag-and-drop interface and high degree of customization make it a user-friendly choice, especially for creative professionals. While HostGator also offers a simple and efficient website builder, Showit’s unique features like the dual canvas interface for independent design of mobile and desktop views give it the upper hand.

Learning Resources

🏆 Winner: Showit

. Both platforms offer solid learning resources, but Showit goes a step further with a comprehensive training course, a visual learning hub, and a private Facebook group for community advice and peer support. HostGator, on the other hand, provides guides and 24/7 customer support, but lacks the community support that Showit offers.

When it comes to ecommerce, HostGator and Showit cater to different needs. HostGator’s website builder includes ecommerce features, allowing 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.

HostGator ecommerce features:

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

On the other hand, Showit is primarily a website builder focused on design, offering great flexibility and creative freedom, making it ideal for visually oriented websites rather than extensive e-commerce platforms. It includes basic ecommerce functions but lacks the comprehensive ecommerce features found in platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce. However, Showit allows integration of both the mentioned platforms for enhancing ecommerce capabilities. For businesses prioritizing aesthetics and content presentation over robust online sales functionalities, Showit can be a compelling choice.

Showit ecommerce features:

• Shopify and WooCommerce integration

When it comes to ecommerce themes and 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. Showit, however, does not have any ecommerce specific templates.

In terms of 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. Showit, on the other hand, has very basic ecommerce capabilities, primarily through its integration with WooCommerce and Shopify.

Finally, when it comes to payment processing, HostGator Website Builder 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. Showit supports e-commerce by allowing integration with third-party platforms like Shopify Lite, ThriveCart, WooCommerce, and Podia, rather than offering direct payment processing or POS capabilities. Users can add e-commerce functionalities to their Showit sites using embed codes for “Buy Buttons” or similar features from these platforms. The choice of platform depends on the user’s specific needs, including product type, store size, and budget, as each platform has its own pricing and transaction fee structures. Additionally, the platform supports integration of PayPal pay button, allowing users to pay directly through their PayPal account.

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Winner: Showit

. Showit, with a score of 8.0, is designed for creating custom, responsive websites with a focus on ease of use, especially for photographers and creative professionals. It allows users to design their website visually with a drag-and-drop interface, eliminating the need for coding knowledge. Users can create highly customized pages by adjusting layouts, fonts, and colors, and can also incorporate multimedia elements like videos and images directly into their designs. Additionally, Showit offers deep integration with WordPress for blogging, enabling users to manage and publish blog posts within the same platform, providing a seamless experience from website design to content management.

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

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Winner: HostGator

. Neither HostGator nor Showit offer a dedicated mobile editor app. However, HostGator allows for some small changes using a mobile browser, while Showit does not support mobile browser editing. This gives HostGator a slight advantage in this category, as it provides users with the flexibility to make minor adjustments to their website on the go.

Overall Result

:

Showit Wins

. Showit scores 8.3 in product testing options, significantly higher than HostGator’s 2.6. Showit offers a 14-day free trial during which all premium features can be tested. HostGator, on the other hand, does not offer a free or trial version, but allows testing of all features within a 30-day refundable period. Both platforms offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, but HostGator’s guarantee does not apply to certain services and fees.

Showit offers a wider range of plans and a higher price score, making it a more flexible and higher-rated option in terms of pricing. However, HostGator’s significant initial discount for annual subscriptions may make it a more attractive option for those looking to save on their first year.

🏆

Winner: HostGator

HostGator offers a variety of hosting types, including shared, managed WordPress, VPS, and dedicated hosting, and has data centers in multiple locations. Showit offers managed WordPress hosting but does not disclose information about its data centers. Both have a 99.9% uptime, but HostGator has a higher uptime guarantee.

🏆 Winner: HostGator

Both HostGator and Showit have strategies for speed optimization, but HostGator has a higher website speed optimization score and provides guidance on understanding and improving Core Web Vitals for websites, which gives it an edge over Showit.

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

Showit, a drag-and-drop website builder designed primarily for creative professionals, uses optimization plugins and caching for speed optimization. The load times and PageSpeed scores vary depending on optimization and website complexity. However, Showit does not disclose any information on their Core Web Vitals improvements.

🏆 Winner: HostGator.

With a score of 7.3, HostGator offers a wider range of plugins and integrations compared to Showit, which scores 5.8. HostGator’s plugins cater to diverse needs such as advertising, website analytics, integrating social media, managing appointments, and conducting email marketing. On the other hand, Showit offers a variety of plugins primarily for users with the Advanced Blog plan, enhancing website functionality across SEO, spam protection, and more. However, the availability and use of these plugins are contingent upon the subscription tier.

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Overall Winner: Showit

. Showit stands out for its extensive email marketing features through integrations with popular email marketing platforms and its unique social media integrations. HostGator, on the other hand, offers Google Ads and Bing Ads integration on its higher-tier plans, providing users with advanced tools to drive targeted traffic to their websites.

🏆 Winner: HostGator

. HostGator takes the lead in this category with its 24/7 customer support through various channels, including email, phone, and live chat. This ensures that users can get the help they need at any time, which is crucial for maintaining website uptime.

Showit, on the other hand, provides customer support via email and chat during business hours and has limited support on weekends. While this may be sufficient for some users, it may not be ideal for those who need immediate assistance outside of these hours. Furthermore, while Showit does offer an enterprise-level custom plan, there is no specific information on enterprise-level support.

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Winner: Showit

. Showit takes the lead in security with a score of 8.3, compared to HostGator’s 7.4. Showit’s commitment to data privacy and security is evident in its adherence to GDPR guidelines, secure and redundant data storage, and daily backups. The platform also provides robust security features for all hosted websites, including free SSL certificates, automated backups, and additional protections for WordPress-integrated sites.

HostGator, while offering a range of security features such as SiteLock for malware scanning and custom firewall rules, places more responsibility on website owners for aspects such as password security and updating applications. This may require more effort and technical knowledge from the user, compared to Showit’s more comprehensive and automated security measures.

🏆 Winner: HostGator

. Although both HostGator and Showit have limited AI capabilities, HostGator has a slight edge due to the basic AI features in its new website builder. HostGator scored 2.6 in AI capabilities, while Showit scored 0, indicating that it does not have any AI capabilities.

🏆 Winner: Showit

. The user management capabilities of HostGator and Showit are quite different.

• 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.
• Showit allows only one user on lower plans, on its Showit + Advanced Blog plan the platform allows an unlimited number of users with different access levels.

Showit User Roles and Access Levels:

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.

Unfortunately, there is no user feedback summary available for Showit to provide a comparison.

FAQ