Hostgator Review

Hostgator General Features

Platform	Linux	Disk Storage	Unlimited
Control Panel	cPanel	Data Transfer	Unlimited
Hosting Contract	Nil	Add-on Domains	Unlimited
Website Stats	Awstats,Webalizer	SSH
PHP 5/ Perl		Python/ Ruby On Rails
Curl/ Image Magick		Audio & Video Streaming

Hostgator Special FREEBIES

The best freebie of all is Hostgator’s free website transfer! If you are coming from other host, they will do all the transfer work for you: moving your website files, database, domains, scripts, cPanel settings and even your email accounts and emails! You are literally enjoying the peace of mind! The total number of free transfer does vary though depends on the type of hosting you are buying.

* For Baby plan you are entitled with 1 free transfer.

Hostgator Domain Features

Domain Name	$15	Subdomain	Unlimited
Add-on Domains	Unlimited	FTP Account	Unlimited
Free Domain Transfer

Unfortunately Hostgator doesn’t provide free domain name. But in another words, you get the freedom to choose to register your domain name through Hostgator at $15 or get your domain name from other registrant like GoDaddy for $10 each. By choosing the latter, you may need to first register your domain name and use it to subscribe the host. Although there will be extra works the flexibility you get in return definitely worth it!

(So what is the flexibility all about? Now let say you want to leave Hostgator after sometime, you will need to transfer both your domain name and website content. With your domain name registered elsewhere, you can easily complete the transfer by your own by pointing the Domain Name Server (DNS) to your new host, instead of requesting Hostgator to release it. Now you see what’s the difference.)

For your information you can host unlimited independent domains in your Baby plan, provided you pay for them!

Hostgator Email Features

POP3 SMTP Account	Unlimited	Webmail Access
iPhone/ BlackBerry	Compatible	Spam Assassin
Android/ Nokia	Compatible	Autoresponders
Mailing List Software	phplist/ Dada Mail

Hostgator Scripts & Software Features

Fantastico		QuickInstall
Free Software	70+	WordPress/ Pixelpost
Joomla/ Drupal		e107/ MODx
Gallery2/ Coppermine		MediaWiki/ WikkaWiki
phpFreeChat		Form Generator/ osTicket

Hostgator has both Fantastico and QuickInstall as their script library. That allow users to have over 70 free website scripts and software to utilize! There are indeed too many to mention all of them here. Check out the Fantastico and QuickInstall – under column “Software/ Services” – yourself from Hostgator cPanel Demo (open in new window).

Hostgator e-Commerce Features

Various Shopping Cart	Magento/OpenCart	Shared SSL
Live Chat Software	Help Center Live	Dedicated IP	$2.00/ month
Own Toll-free Number	(Only Biz. Plan)

I have to say in Hostgator Baby plan there are some advantages over other host in term of e-commerce features. At $2/ month you will be able to get a dedicated IP to your e-store. You will also have the luxury to install the Live Chat System for free. You may talk right to your visitors through this live chat system.

However if you are building an e-commerce site, I suggest you to check out Hostgator’s Business Plan. It’s a shared host like Baby plan except it comes with a free toll-free number of your own! Yes you will get a 1-866-XX-XXXXX number for your website! Sound cool right?

Hostgator Customer Support

Money Back Guarantee	45 Days	Phone, Email, Live Chat	24x7x365
Uptime Guarantee	99.9%	Help Articles	680+
Automatic Data Backups	Weekly	Video Tutorials	500+
Ticket System		Contact	(866) 96-42867
Community Forum Access		International	001-7135745287

45 days of money back guarantee is definitely a selling point of Hostgator. No question asked, they would refund you in full if you don’t like their service. Also Hostgator is one of the rare hosts who give 99.9% uptime guarantee.

Some time ago when I first started reviewing web host, Hostgator used to offer a special support called “CEO Support”. If by any means you are not satisfied by the regular support, you could drop a mail straight to their CEO Brent Oxley and he will solve your problem directly! I was really stunned for such service back then. Nonetheless, with the ever growing domains hosted with Hostgator (currently hosting more than 5 millions!), such service is no longer available.

Editor’s Comment on Hostgator Hosting

With the fact that this website is hosted on Hostgator, I definitely love them! Why? Because I find them extremely reliable! Nothing is more important than having a reliable hosting. There are more than a few times I’ve talked to their support and every time without fail they are very professional in handling my issue. I like their service very much that I wanted to tip them in person! Can you imagine that?

Anyway, check out the dynamic image at the right. That indicates the server uptime of Hostgator for the past 7 days.

Perhaps the trade off for the premier quality is their price. Hostgator is charging $9.95/ month and honestly it is a bit pricy as compared to others. However, the good news is I have this exclusive coupon code to take 25% off from the hosting purchase! (You will see in Hostgator website that the regular discount is 20% but with this code, you get 5% more!) So if you are signing up with Hostgator, do use the coupon. It’s free money!

Hostgator Coupon

To get the 25% discount from your Baby Plan purchase (The coupon code applies to any type of hosting purchase on Hostgator, be it reseller, dedicated or shared hosting), apply this code when you are ordering Hostgator. Check out the following guide on how to use the code.

How To Use Hostgator Coupon Code

1. Goto Hostgator.com and view web hosting plans.
   
2. Choose your subscription period and click “Order Now”.
   
3. This is the place where you key in the discount coupon. First choose your domain name. Then key in “IHR25Discount” under Enter A Coupon Code.
   
4. That’s it. Your coupon is activated!