Do you want to know which is the better hosting service: InMotion Hosting vs. HostGator? Both HostGator and InMotion Hosting are popular hosting providers, but finding the perfect hosting service for your specific needs can be tricky. A provider needs to be a lot more than just ‘popular’ to qualify as the BEST.
That’s why we’ve written an unbiased comparison between HostGator and InMotion Hosting, so you can find the hosting service that suits your budget and needs.
HostGator vs. InMotion Hosting – Overview
HostGator is one of the most popular hosting providers on the market. It was founded in 2002 by Brent Oxley, a Florida Atlantic University student. A few years ago, it was acquired by Endurance International Group, and it now powers over 8 million websites from all around the globe.
While they offer a wide variety of hosting options, they particularly rock the shared hosting service, which is geared toward beginner-level users.
InMotion Hosting is yet another reliable web hosting service. It was founded in 2001 and is an independently owned and operated hosting provider. Their web hosting network is based on Linux and Unix operating systems.
You can avail different web hosting plans based on your needs such as shared, dedicated, and VPS hosting.
Both are PCI compliant web hosting companies.
HostGator vs. InMotion Hosting – Speed and Uptime
Speed and uptime are the most important factors you need to consider when choosing a web hosting service.
Almost every web hosting provider guarantees speedy loading times and high uptime. To test whether HostGator and InMotion Hosting live up to their speed and uptime promises, we signed up with their shared hosting plans and created a test site on each of the hosting accounts. To mirror the production environment on our test websites, we installed WordPress, added dummy content, and uploaded some images.
Then we conducted a few different speed and uptime experiments on the test sites.
- Pingdom test: To monitor the page loading time of our test sites.
- Load Impact test: To check how the servers handle a traffic surge on our websites during the peak load time.
- Bitcatcha test: To record the server response time from 8 different geographical locations.
According to our Pingdom test, our HostGator site took 691ms to load when tested from Dallas. On the other hand, our InMotion Hosting site took 982ms to load.
After the Pingdom test, we conducted Load Impact tests to see how the servers would handle a traffic surge during a peak load time. For this test, we sent some virtual users to our websites and built up to 100 visitors at a time.
According to Load Impact, our HostGator server responded quickly until there were about 80 visitors at a time. Conversely, our InMotion Hosting site only performed well until it reached 25 users. After that, it slowed down significantly. Their server’s performance wasn’t consistent throughout the test.
After the Load Impact test, we conducted a Bitcatcha test on our test websites.
Bitcatcha analyzes server response times around the globe by ignoring the content on the site. It averages the loading speed from 8 different global locations: New York, LA, London, Brazil, India, Singapore, Japan, and Australia. The speed for each location is measured 3 separate times and then the results are averaged.
Both InMotion Hosting and HostGator’s servers were rated C by Bitcatcha. Both servers responded in just a fraction of seconds in the United States, but the response times were relatively high in international locations.
Winner: HostGator
HostGator vs. InMotion Hosting – Ease of Use
Both InMotion Hosting and HostGator come with cPanel access that lets you manage your website files, databases, and emails with ease.
You’ll also get a 1-click installer that enables you to quickly install WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and other popular website scripts on your hosting server.
Winner: It’s a tie
HostGator vs. InMotion Hosting – Features
When it comes to features, InMotion Hosting beats out all their competition. Of course, HostGator gives you all the essential hosting features to build a website with ease. However, InMotion Hosting just goes above and beyond.
Here’re a few InMotion Hosting features you won’t find at HostGator:
- 2X better money back guarantee: While HostGator provides a 30-day guarantee to try out their hosting service risk-free, InMotion Hosting comes with a 90-day money back guarantee.
- Choose a data center: Unlike HostGator, InMotion lets you choose the data center for your site when you sign up for their hosting plan.
- SSD storage: All InMotion Hosting plans come with Solid State Drive (SSD) storage, which is proven to be faster than HDD storage, which HostGator uses.
Winner: InMotion Hosting
HostGator vs. InMotion Hosting – Support and Documentation
HostGator offers 24/7 support via 3 modes: phone, live chat, and email. Their extensive support portal includes 680+ help articles and 500+ video tutorials which help you explore every aspect of web hosting, step-by-step.
InMotion Hosting, on the other hand, provides 24/7/365 US-based technical support via phone, live chat, email/tickets, and even Skype! They also have a robust knowledge base that explains everything you need to know about building a site with InMotion Hosting.
Winner: It’s a tie
HostGator vs. InMotion Hosting – Pricing
Let’s take a look at a head-to-head comparison between the prices of 2 hosting providers: HostGator and InMotion Hosting:
| Shared | WordPress | Reseller | VPS | Dedicated | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HostGator | $2.52 /mo. | $3.05 /mo. (Cloud) | $34.99 / mo. | $89.98 / mo. | $119.00 / mo. |
| InMotion Hosting | $2.29 /mo. | $2.99 /mo. | $13.99 / mo. | $14.99 / mo. | $69.99 / mo. |
HostGator has better pricing options for users who’re just starting out. They charge only $2.78 per month for a shared hosting plan. However, InMotion Hosting provides cheaper plans for WordPress, dedicated, and reseller hosting.
You can use our HostGator coupon code to get a BIG discount.
Winner: InMotion Hosting
Recap: HostGator vs. InMotion Hosting
After our comparison, we believe that HostGator is a better option than InMotion Hosting. From our test, it’s evident that, when it comes to speed and uptime, HostGator beats the pants off all their competition.
They also offer cheaper shared hosting plans. Whenever you need assistance, you can count on their friendly support team.
You’d also like to check out these comparisons between,
- HostGator vs DreamHost
- HostGator vs. GreenGeeks
- HostGator vs WP Engine
- HostGator vs iPage
- HostGator vs Liquid Web
- HostGator vs A2 Hosting
We hope this article helped you find the right hosting option for your needs. For more details, you can check out our complete HostGator review and our in-depth InMotion Hosting review.
