hosting.com (formerly A2 Hosting) vs HostGator
A detailed comparison to help you choose between hosting.com (formerly A2 Hosting) and HostGator.
Quick Verdict
3.5/5
hosting.com (formerly A2 Hosting)
0 reviews
3.2/5
HostGator
0 reviews
hosting.com (formerly A2 Hosting) is rated higher (3.5 vs 3.2). hosting.com, formerly A2 Hosting, offers managed and unmanaged VPS plans and fully managed servers with NVMe storage and LiteSpeed, plus free migration and 24/7 in-house support. HostGator is one of the largest US web hosts, operating since 2002. Shared, VPS, and dedicated hosting with 99.9% uptime guarantee and 24/7 support via chat and phone. Part of Newfold Digital.
hosting.com (formerly A2 Hosting) Managed VPS and servers with NVMe storage and LiteSpeed | HostGator Web hosting from $2.75/month — established since 2002 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 3.5 (0 reviews)✓ | 3.2 (0 reviews) |
| Pricing model | paid | paid |
| Starting price | From $3.99/mo | From $3.75/mo✓ |
| Best for | WordPress, PHP, and cPanel workloads — content sites, stores, and agency client hosting — that want LiteSpeed performance, in-house 24/7 support, and managed VPS options, with the discipline to buy long terms and budget renewals. | US small businesses and beginners who want a well-known host with 24/7 phone support, cPanel, and a free first-year domain |
| Specifications (entry plan) | ||
| CPU cores | — | — |
| RAM | — | — |
| Storage | — | 10 GB |
| Bandwidth | — | — |
| SLA uptime | — | 99.9% |
| Data-center count | — | — |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ||
| DDoS protection | ✓ | |
| Automated backups | ||
| Snapshots | ||
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ||
| Free tier | ||
| Data-center locations | ||
| Regions | Ann Arbor MI, Phoenix AZ, Amsterdam, Singapore (classic four), expanded to 20+ global locations post-rebrand | Provo UT, Atlanta GA, Houston TX (US only) |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | nvme storageus datacentereu datacenterapac datacenter | us datacenterwindows available |
| Visit hosting.com (formerly A2 Hosting) → | Visit HostGator → | |
hosting.com (formerly A2 Hosting)
Pros
- + Strong base hardware everywhere: AMD EPYC CPUs, NVMe SSDs, LiteSpeed with caching, HTTP/3 and Cloudflare Enterprise CDN on WordPress plans
- + Clear managed-versus-unmanaged VPS split with published resource tables and an explicit SLA scope (99.9% power/network)
- + In-house 24/7/365 support (the Guru Crew) plus free migrations and free SSL on all plans
- + Post-rebrand footprint of 20+ global locations across the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific
- + Root access, OS choice (Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Debian 12, AlmaLinux 9), and scalable resources on self-managed VPS
Cons
- - Renewals run 2–4x introductory rates across shared and VPS lines
- - Self-managed add-ons are expensive — cPanel from $16.19/mo can exceed the server price on entry plans
- - Bandwidth allowances inconsistently published; some entry unmanaged VPS plans use SATA SSD rather than NVMe
- - Mid-integration after the World Host Group acquisition: branding and support transition reports from users
- - No hourly billing, no free tier, and no GPU or S3-compatible storage products
HostGator
Pros
- + 24/7 support by phone and chat — rare at this price tier
- + Public status page with rolling uptime stats and full incident history
- + Official help center publishes regular renewal rates, not just promo prices
- + Established since 2002 with two decades of shared-hosting operations
- + Free first-year domain and free SSL on 12-month-plus plans
Cons
- - Renewal cliff: Hatchling renews at $10.99/mo after a $3.75/mo first term (+193%)
- - No included backups — CodeGuard is a paid add-on; dedicated plans get no weekly backups
- - US-only data centers with no customer choice of location
- - Shared plans capped at 25% of server resources despite unmetered bandwidth advertising
- - Newfold Digital ownership: add-on-heavy checkout and support quality that varies at scale
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