Hostgator vs Interserver: guide for 2024

Final verdict

Looking over HostGator vs. InterServer, it’s clear why both hosts are so popular. They have both hosted millions of
websites that run on WordPress for decades, building up a loyal customer base.

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  InterServer (Overall grade: 8.1)
  
  
  stands out with its robust performance, exceptional uptime, and attractive pricing, particularly advantageous for agencies and multimedia websites needing extensive scalability and high-speed optimization. InterServer’s inclusion of features like unlimited storage, free SSL certificates, SSD caching, and a strongly optimized route network ensures minimal downtime and fast load times. Customer support is solid and quick, with added benefits such as proactive measures and comprehensive data redundancy. However, it lacks some advanced features offered by competitors, such as ecommerce tools and a free domain registration. Despite these limitations, InterServer provides a cost-effective and highly reliable hosting solution, ideal for users prioritizing performance and stability.
  
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  HostGator (Overall grade: 8.0)
  
  
  offers a versatile array of hosting options, including exclusive Ecommerce plans, making it an attractive choice for businesses focused on long-term growth in online retail. Key strengths include its wide range of SSL certificates, comprehensive security features, and ease of use, thanks to its user-friendly control panel and 24/7 support. HostGator’s competitive edge lies in its extensive feature set, free domain for the first year, and reliable general hosting, beneficial for small to medium-sized sites. However, it faces criticisms related to server speed inconsistencies, occasional technical support delays, and higher renewal costs, which may impact overall user satisfaction and site performance for demanding applications.
  

Hosting types offered

Both platforms provide a variety of hosting types, each designed to meet the different needs of users.

Although both offer a variety of hosting plans tailored to different needs, in
certain cases, one platform may prove to be more suitable.

Detailed comparison

🏆 Winner InterServer: Reliable service with a strong focus on uptime and performance.

InterServer also guarantees 99.9% uptime but highlights a long-term performance monitoring result of 99.99%, equating to minimal yearly downtime. With average server response times around 662ms, the service includes enhancements like Cloudflare CDN, inter-proxy caching, and route optimization to maximize performance. Security measures such as InterShield Security and Inter-Insurance add another layer of reliability, making it a standout option in terms of uptime and availability.

🏆 Winner
Example hosting two: It’s superior uptime and significantly faster response times make Example hosting two a better choice for users who require high performance and stability from their hosting provider.

Example hosting two shows a slightly superior performance in terms of reliability and speed. Both hosting services have impressive uptimes, with Example hosting two slightly edging out Example hosting one with a 99.99% uptime over a 3-month period compared to Example hosting one’s 99.89%. This difference in uptime is reflected in the number and duration of outages, where Example hosting two experienced 3 outages totaling 12 minutes, while Example hosting one had 5 outages totaling 2h 12 minutes.

HostGator offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee, translating to roughly 8.76 hours of potential downtime yearly. The provider ensures that users have access to 24/7/365 support via telephone or Live Chat. Despite its standard uptime guarantee, some competitors offer higher uptime percentages, reducing their yearly downtime significantly.

Example hosting two’s advantage is more pronounced in terms of server response time. It boasted an average response time of 389ms, which is significantly lower than the shared hosting industry standard and faster than Example hosting one’s average response time of 670ms, which can peak up to 1152ms. This suggests that Example hosting two is not only more reliable in maintaining uptime but also in delivering faster website loading speeds, making it a preferable option for users prioritizing performance.

🏆 Winner
InterServer: A reliable and feature-rich hosting provider with impressive performance and support.

When comparing general performance, both HostGator and InterServer guarantee 99.9% uptime, ensuring your website remains accessible. InterServer excels with ultra-fast web servers, SSD caching servers, and a route-optimized network, contributing to excellent load times. Both providers offer free Cloudflare CDN for faster content delivery, though HostGator also uses a content delivery network to boost page load speeds. HostGator provides various storage options, while InterServer offers unlimited storage and data transfer. Both hosting services use advanced server optimization and security technologies, but InterServer retains only 50% server capacity to allow for growth without performance issues.

Website Speed

HostGator incorporates Cloudflare CDN and higher vCPU allocations in some plans to enhance performance. InterServer, with its ultra-fast web servers and SSD caching, promises improved load times and consistent speeds. Both providers offer free SSL certificates, but InterServer includes additional speed-boosting features like a route-optimized network and industry-leading server reliability.

Scalability

Both HostGator and InterServer support website growth with scalable options. HostGator’s plans allow for increased resources as needed, while InterServer offers elastic scalability, ensuring an easy upgrade to VPS or dedicated servers without downtime. The cost to scale varies; HostGator requires upgrades based on usage, whereas InterServer’s flexible platform adapts as your needs grow.

🏆 Winner HostGator: Offers a complete suite of security features, including a wide range of SSL certificates and comprehensive GDPR compliance.

Technical security measures:

HostGator provides a robust set of technical security measures, such as multiple SSL options, including EV SSL with a $1.75M warranty for high-level security. They also support PHP up to version 8.2. InterServer, on the other hand, includes free SSL certificates through Plesk and supports PHP up to version 8.3, offering flexibility in PHP choices. InterServer also features InterShield Security, providing in-house developed firewall and malware defenses. Both services offer automatic virus scanning and malware removal, but HostGator’s range of SSL plans and their comprehensive warranties give it a slight edge.

Operational security measures:

HostGator offers continuous monitoring, daily malware scans through SiteLock Security, and Cloudflare CDN for DDoS protection and faster page loads. InterServer provides advanced email security with automatic end-to-end encryption and robust support against brute-force attacks on emails. InterServer also boasts Spam and Virus Protection with AI-driven spam filtering. Despite InterServer’s impressive email security features, HostGator’s inclusion of Cloudflare CDN for enhanced site performance and DDoS protection enhances overall security.

Compliance and certifications:

HostGator has been GDPR compliant since 2018, ensuring the handling of EU residents’ personal data according to regulations. HostGator also supports server PCI compliance, though software PCI compliance is not included. InterServer emphasizes privacy and security, which suggests GDPR adherence, but lacks specific mention of GDPR and PCI compliance details. There is no information provided on HIPAA compliance for either provider.

🏆 Winner
HostGator: A popular choice with versatile hosting plans and extensive features.

Both HostGator and InterServer offer a wide range of hosting features catering to various user needs, but there are some notable differences. HostGator provides a comprehensive suite that includes a user-friendly and powerful website builder, which is suitable for both beginners and advanced users. It offers free domain registration for the first year, various WordPress-specific plans, and robust security features such as free SSL and DDoS protection. Additionally, HostGator has a variety of hosting plans like shared, VPS, dedicated, and reseller hosting, making it a versatile choice for different types of users. HostGator’s easy-to-use cPanel and strong customer support are crucial benefits, as are the promotions and discounts available to new customers.

In contrast, InterServer offers excellent uptime guarantees and features such as SSD caching, unlimited storage space, and weekly backups. While InterServer doesn’t specifically mention a website builder, it provides robust performance features like Cloud Linux OS and RAID-10 storage, which contribute to fast and reliable hosting. A notable drawback is the lack of explicit mention of Secure Shell (SSH) access. InterServer’s strength lies in its speed optimization and data redundancy measures, appealing to users who prioritize performance and reliability. However, the absence of some additional features like a free domain registration may be a deal-breaker for some users.

Email services:

HostGator offers unlimited email accounts across their hosting plans, including VPS and dedicated hosting, ideal for extensive email hosting requirements, although transactional emails aren’t specifically highlighted. They provide full control and customization options for users, which is advantageous for setting up large-scale email campaigns. InterServer also offers unlimited email hosting with robust storage features but lacks detailed information on transactional emails and third-party email service integrations. This makes HostGator more versatile for email-centric needs.

Winner InterServer: Affordable pricing combined with diverse hosting options and excellent features.

Evaluating the pricing of plans among various hosting providers can be complex due to their differing pricing and renewal strategies. Additionally, certain plans require annual commitments, which adds to the difficulty of making comparisons. The prices listed are based on monthly commitments; plans requiring annual commitments are indicated. Additionally, although some providers offer identical plans for WordPress and shared hosting, we have created separate tables for each to enhance clarity.

When comparing HostGator and InterServer, InterServer offers significantly lower prices across its various hosting plans while providing ample storage, transfer capabilities, and additional features such as free site migration and SSL certificates. HostGator’s higher prices come with more specific features like malware scanning, daily backups for the first year, and domain privacy. However, InterServer’s diverse and lower-cost plans make it an attractive option for different user needs.

Enterprise plans

For enterprise clients, HostGator presents more tailored options with its dedicated and reseller hosting plans, such as the Value Server at $91.98 per month offering 8GB RAM and 1TB HDD storage, coupled with a robust set of security and performance features. In comparison, InterServer’s enterprise solutions come at a variety of price points, with their highest-tier reseller hosting plan, RS Five, costing $69.95 per month and including 280GB storage and 2000GB bandwidth, making it a versatile and cost-effective choice for businesses needing extensive resources.

🏆 Winner HostGator: A versatile hosting provider offering user-friendly setup and extensive help resources.

HostGator provides a control panel designed for ease of use, allowing both technical and non-technical users to efficiently manage their websites from a single dashboard. It offers one-click installs for over 75 open-source scripts, simplifying the process of integrating various applications. HostGator’s WordPress hosting also comes with WordPress pre-installed, streamlining the setup process for new users.

InterServer, on the other hand, offers control panels like cPanel and DirectAdmin, which also provide an accessible interface for managing websites. With 461 scripts available for one-click installations, InterServer supports a wide range of popular CMSs, making it user-friendly for a broad audience, including technical and non-technical users.

Both HostGator and InterServer offer free migration services, making it convenient to move websites to these platforms. HostGator manages the entire migration process for you, ensuring a hassle-free transition. InterServer also provides free migration, but requires customers to have a full cPanel backup ready for download, which will overwrite any existing data in the new account.

The platforms provide extensive knowledge bases filled with guides, how-to articles, and instructional content. HostGator offers a wide range of resources alongside 24/7 chat and phone support. InterServer also boasts a detailed help center with an intuitive search function and around-the-clock support via live chat, phone, and ticketing, ensuring comprehensive user support.

🏆 Winner
HostGator: Comprehensive user roles and permissions management.

Both HostGator and InterServer offer user management features, but HostGator provides a more detailed and specific set of user roles. HostGator has three distinct roles: Primary Contact, Administrative Contact, and Technical Contact, each with tailored permissions for various levels of control. This delineation facilitates clear and controlled access levels, suiting different administrative needs. InterServer, on the other hand, leverages control panels like cPanel, Plesk, and DirectAdmin for user management. While these control panels are versatile, they do not offer the same in-depth role definitions presented by HostGator.

HostGator’s user interface for managing users is streamlined within their Customer Portal, offering a centralized and user-friendly experience. The addition and management of users can be efficiently handled with straightforward steps. In contrast, InterServer relies on the functionality of control panels such as cPanel and Plesk. While these tools are comprehensive, they may require additional knowledge and experience to navigate effectively. The integration of multiple control panels can lead to a more fragmented user management experience compared to HostGator’s unified interface.

When it comes to access control measures and scalability, HostGator shines with its well-defined roles and permissions, making it easier to manage user access as the number of users grows. The specific roles and clear permissions support maintaining security and efficiency. InterServer’s approach, while flexible due to the use of control panels, may lack the same level of granularity in role definitions. This could lead to challenges in maintaining tight access control, especially as the number of users increases.

HostGator user roles table:

🏆 Winner
InterServer: Reliable customer support with a fast response time and extensive assistance features.

Both HostGator and InterServer offer 24/7 customer support with multiple contact methods, including phone and live chat support. HostGator provides additional resources like a knowledge base, blog, video tutorials, and webinars to assist users. Conversely, InterServer excels in immediate resolve times and offers support via a ticket system, dedicated managed support, proactive and daily backups, and free technical support through live chat.

InterServer further supports users with a variety of control panels, easy registration, and unlimited email accounts with robust spam filtering and SSL encryption. HostGator, on the other hand, offers promotional rates and a free domain registration for the first year, along with a 30-day money-back guarantee. While both providers guarantee 99.9% uptime, InterServer’s proactive measures and free migration services give it a slight edge in the overall customer support experience.

User feedback

HostGator offers affordable, user-friendly web hosting services, which are appealing to both beginners and budget-conscious users. Key strengths include competitive pricing, reliable uptime, free SSL certificates, and efficient customer support. However, customers have reported issues such as slow server performance, aggressive upselling, rising renewal prices, and limited advanced features. While the overall experience can be positive, especially for small-scale or low-traffic sites, technical support responsiveness and server speed occasionally fall short, impacting the user experience.

User feedback on the hosting provider paints a mixed picture. Many users commend the provider for its affordable, straightforward pricing and extensive features like unlimited storage and bandwidth, free SSL certificates, and a user-friendly control panel. The customer support, while generally prompt and effective, has garnered both praise and criticism, especially due to the lack of a dedicated phone support line and sometimes long live chat wait times. However, performance issues such as inconsistent server speed, downtime, and occasional loss of data have been frequent points of frustration for users.

FAQ