A2 Hosting vs HostGator: Which Web Hosting Provider is Best?

In our post, we will be comparing A2 Hosting vs HostGator to help you find out which hosting solution is better for your business.

If you’re about to start designing your dream website, then you’re probably looking for the best possible web hosting service. If so, you may have come across these two names: A2 Hosting and HostGator. These brands are two of the most reputable web hosting providers on the market.

But, this poses the question: which is best for you?

So, we’ve diligently compared these two web hosting companies, so you don’t have to spend time and effort getting to the bottom of which service best meets your needs.

So let’s dive in.

Main Differences Between A2 Hosting vs HostGator

The main differences between A2 Hosting vs HostGator are:

• A2 Hosting was founded in 2001 under the name of Iniquinet, whereas HostGator was founded in 2002.
• A2 Hosting provides a money-back guarantee at any time, whereas with HostGator you have to apply for a refund within 45 days of your purchase.
• A2 Hosting costs around $8.99 per month, whereas HostGator costs as little as $4.95 per month.

A2 Hosting vs HostGator: Key Similarities

• Both score an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB)
• They have the same customer service channels: telephone, live web chat, and email tickets.
• Both give customers unlimited data transfer, data storage, and emails.
• You can host multiple domains with both providers.
• Both boast a server uptime guarantee of 99.90%

Who’s A2 Hosting?

A2 Hosting is a US company that specializes in web hosting solutions for WordPress sites (managed WordPress solution). They’re renowned for their incredibly fast service, no matter what kind of website you’re running. Whether you’re managing a high-traffic e-commerce store or a low-key blog, A2 Hosting won’t let you down on speed.

Similarly, A2 Hosting also serves everyone from newbies building their first website to seasoned web developers requiring tailored solutions. You can opt for a dedicated server, typical shared hosting with a cPanel, utilize a VPS, or pretty much any other web hosting combination.

Generally speaking, their users love that the company provides an array of affordable packages, a stable hosting environment, and high-quality customer support.

When A2 Hosting first launched in 2003, it focused on services for web developers. They were one of the first to offer PHP 5 and to support Ruby on Rails on shared servers. However, as A2 Hosting grew, they shifted their attention towards performance.

This followed a customer survey, which indicated that A2 Hosting’s users said website loading times, customer support, and web hosting reliability mattered to them most. So, A2 Hosting took this feedback to heart and made the necessary improvements.

As a result, A2 Hosting became one of the first on the market to offer high-speed solid-state drives. Not to mention their full-stack optimizations, which managed to increase page loading speeds by as many as 300%.

A2 Hosting then upped its performance game further by introducing its Turbo hosting platform, which offers the following perks:

• Fewer users per server
• Pre-configured caching options
• Double the amount of physical memory

Features:

• A flexible and straightforward-to-use control panel
• Limitless bandwidth, sub-domains, FTP accounts, and email accounts
• A 99.9% uptime guarantee
• There are no lengthy contracts and commitments.
• Access to a 45-day money-back guarantee
• A free SSL certification
• An image library
• Website, domain, MYSQL, and script transfers
• You can instantly install 52 free scripts onto your account with just a few clicks
• $100 Google Adwords and $100 Bing Ads credit
• Access to website statistics, including- AWStats, Webalizer, Raw Log Manager, Referrer and Error Logs
• You can add online shopping carts, blogs, customer portals, and forums to your website.
• You can create password protected directories and customized error pages.
• Access to web-based file management, hotlink protection, IP deny administration, and you can redirect URLs
• Access to MySQL databases with phpMyAdmin access
• Support for the following web programming languages: CGI, Fast CGI, PHP 5 and 7, Ruby on Rails, Perl, Python, and SSL
• You can receive emails on your phone via IMAP Support.
• Access to unlimited email aliases, autoresponders, and mail forwards
• You can create 25 different mailing lists.
• Access to award-winning 24/7/365 support via telephone and live webchat, as well as a digital knowledgebase with over 500 video tutorials and more than 680 self-help articles
• Automatic weekly off-site data backups
• Around the clock monitoring of HostGator’s hosting server

Pros

• A free SSL certificate
• Access to high-quality, 24/7, US-based customer support
• A2 Hosting is built for speed, namely through its SSD drives, dedicated turbo servers, and website caching
• Windows-based hosting is rare to come by, so it’s a real advantage that A2 Hosting provides this alongside typical Linux-powered packages
• A2 Hosting boasts advanced security protocol, including dual firewalls, brute force detection, virus scanning, and server hardening.

Cons

• In comparison to other shared web hosting providers, A2 Hosting is slightly more expensive. The turbo servers cost more; you only get access to this with their pricier plan.
• High renewal rates and a tight 15-day deadline. After their initial pricing, automatic renewal kicks in at their “regular” pricing. Sometimes this can be as much as double what you first paid. You have to send them a written cancellation request “15 days before the beginning of the Renewal Term”. If you miss this 15-day deadline, you’re forced to pay for the non-refundable renewal plan.
• A2 Hosting’s cheapest plan offers limited access to standout features such as Turbo Servers, server rewind, and off-site website backups – just to name a few. The same issue applies to the cheapest package on their website builder plan, where you only get a single page.
• You have to find and use discount codes that are dotted around their site. Unfortunately, A2 Hosting doesn’t automatically factor in their discounted rates, so you’ll have to take the time to make this extra step.

Who’s Hostgator?

Hostgator, owned by Endurance International Group (EIG), is one of the longest standing web hosting companies out there. Founded in 2002, Hostgator is famous for its low prices and association with the free-to-use Weebly website builder. Hostgator’s also well-renowned for its vast number of servers and consistent reliability.

To date, HostGator hosts an impressive 8 million + sites around the world. In fact, they’re one of the top ten largest web hosting companies in the world, run by over 850 workers!

Although Hostgator’s best known for being a shared web hosting provider, they also offer a variety of dedicated, Windows hosting, and VPS hosting options (VPS Plan).

HostGator’s flexible, so if you’re hoping to scale your website, they’ll do what they can to facilitate that. Hostgator offers near-on limitless options when it comes to picking the right web hosting package. You’ll also get access to excellent customer support.

Features:

• Unlimited disk space
• An easy-to-use control panel
• Free website templates
• Access to add-ons for privacy, security, and productivity – For instance, when it comes to security, you can download and use SiteLock to keep it safe from cybersecurity threats, safety breaches, and/or hacks. In the unfortunate event that anything like this should occur, SiteLock will inform you the instant they stumble across a concern. You can also opt for the Spam Assassin plugin, which, as its name suggests, prevents spam coming into your inbox. However, most plugins like these cost extra, so don’t forget to factor that into your budget.
• Root access
• SSH
• Support for Ruby, Perl, Python, and other programming languages

Pros

• Fast web hosting with access to free SSDs
• Access to over 400 free apps that you can install in one click
• Access to a free and easy-to-use cPanel that makes server management straightforward
• Hostgator provides a free web domain
• Access to affordable web hosting plan options, if you’re on a strict budget, you’ll probably still find a solution on HostGator to suit you
• Unlimited disk space and bandwidth, so there’s plenty of scopes to scale and grow your website
• Hostgator offers Windows hosting suitable for both personal and enterprise-level websites that support your ASP.NET site.

Cons

• The customer support isn’t as robust as the A2 Hosting’s and some customers complain about long wait on live chat and mediocre responses
• It’s more expensive than it appears, as there are always some extras that you need to buy so your sites can function flawlessly

HostGator’s Most Notable Features

In addition to web hosting, HostGator also gives you all the basics you need to create and launch a website, including around the clock customer support with a real-life person (not a bot) and an easy-to-use website builder. This is an intuitive drag and drop software that makes web design much quicker and easier. There’s also a wide selection of mobile-friendly website themes (over 100) and pre-built sections you can use to help craft a professional-looking website.

Thanks to HostGator’s QuickInstall tool, you have access to plenty of one-click installations. These work wonders for extending HostGator’s overall functionality. As HostGator runs on Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP, there are thousands of apps you can install and use with just a click, including:

• WordPress Hosting
• Joomla Hosting
• Drupal Hosting
• Magento Hosting
• Wiki Hosting
• phpBB Hosting

A2 Hosting’s Most Notable Features

A2 Hosting has even more features and tools than HostGator. Although A2 Hosting one-ups HostGator’s money-back guarantee, there are a few things you should note about this policy. If you request a refund past the first 120 days of your purchase, you can only receive funds via PayPal. Also, like other web hosting services, A2 Hosting won’t refund any ‘additional’ services you’ve taken out. For instance, domain names, setup, migration fees, etc. However, you’ll retain ownership of anything that isn’t refunded.

Similar to HostGator, A2 Hosting also offers a massive array of web hosting options, for instance, with their VPS plans, you can either opt for an unmanaged server, managed server, discount SSD server, core server, etc.

If you want to extend A2 Hosting’s core functionality, you can download and use tons of plugins, including:

• WordPress Hosting
• Drupal
• Joomla
• Magento
• OpenCart

Not only that but with A2 Hosting, you’ll also get access to the following perks:

• Faster servers (up to 20 times quicker than average!) – If you opt for their Turbo Server package.
• Free account migration from other web hosting platforms onto A2’s servers.  Just contact their customer support team, ping over your cPanel details, and the team at A2 Hosting handles the rest. However, if you’ve opted for shared web hosting on their Lite, Swift, and/or Turbo packages, you can only migrate one website over to A2 Hosting for free. If you’re a reseller, dedicated, or managed VPS hosting customer, you’ll enjoy 25 free website migrations (as long as you have cPanel access to these existing sites). If you don’t, A2 Hosting might charge a small fee for the extra time and work needed to migrate your site over.
• A 99.9% uptime guarantee
• Free SSD – this will boost the speed of your website by up to 300%
• Access to PHP 7 software
• A free SSL certificate
• Access to global servers – so you can utilize a data center closer your target audience
• Automatic access to a free SSH
• A variety of premium SSL certificates to choose from. These include Single-Site (cost-effective protection for your website complete with easy SSL certificate setup), Wildcard (this protects an unlimited number of subdomains with just one SSL certificate), Premium SSL (more sophisticated security with Organization Authentication features), and Advanced SSL (here you get organization authentication and extended validation features).
• A2 Hosting’s servers are protected by “HackScan.” This a service that monitors their servers around the clock for malware and other cyber attacks. 

FAQs About A2 Hosting vs HostGator

To round off this review, we scoured the internet to find your most frequently asked questions about A2 Hosting and HostGator, and provided the answers:

A2 Hosting vs HostGator Alternatives

There are other web hosting services worth noting in the interests of balance. Here’s our favorite five:

SiteGround

SiteGround is a popular choice and with good reason. You get:

• Free builder
• Free SSL
• Free 24/7 customer service
• Free website migration
• Free SSD web hosting
• High levels of uptime
• Data centers in 3 continents

Bluehost

A quick Google will tell you that these guys get great reviews and are also owned by HostGator owners, EIG. 

Here are a few reasons why Bluehost is a viable alternative:

• Recommended by and officially partnered with WordPress (WordPress Hosting Plan)
• Good customer service
• Wide choice of plans
• 30-day money-back guarantee
• Free SSD hosting and SSL certificates

Starter Pick

Why I Chose Bluehost?

It’s a very affordable hosting solution, Bluehost allows you to build a site with WordPress which gives you complete control and flexibility over your website.

View Bluehost Promos & Discounts

We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

InMotion Hosting

A popular choice for those who are new to web hosting and web creation is InMotion Hosting, who will create your site for you for as little as $15/mo. 

Here are some of their other advantages:

• You can contact them via Skype for help, as well as usual methods.
• Free SSL certificate and SSD hosting
• Website “creator” and hosting plans
• A separate plan for WordPress

GreenGeeks

An exciting addition is Green Geeks, whose web hosting infrastructure is environmentally friendly. 

Increasingly popular because of their green creds, their other advantages include:

• Affordable prices
• Free SSD
• 30-day money-back guarantee

TMD Hosting

With a decade’s experience under their belt, TMD is a worthy A2 Hosting or HostGator contender. Here’s why:

• They have 7 data centers around the world
• Free drag and drop site builder
• Free domain name registration for the first year
• 24/7 customer support 
• Free security certificates

A2 Hosting vs HostGator: Which Will You Choose?

As you can see, both A2 Hosting and HostGator are high-quality web hosting providers. However, when it comes down to it, A2 Hosting is the superior option because it boasts consistently faster loading times, less downtime, and offers customer support that’s second to none.

But, you can’t go wrong with either provider as they’re both pretty reliable.

Have you used either of these web hosting services before? If so, do you agree with our verdict? Whatever your opinions are, let us know in the comments box below. We would love to hear your thoughts!

Recommended Reads:

• A2 Hosting vs SiteGround: Which is Better?
• 9 Best HostGator Alternatives: HostGator Competitors
• DreamHost vs HostGator: Which is Better?
• Top Alternatives to Bluehost Web Host
• ​​​​How to Find the Best Hosting for Your Website