HostGator is one of the oldest web hosting companies that I know of. Unfortunately, it kept changing for the worse with prices going up and support quality degrading.
They attract new customers with low introductory prices, but they later make up for it with a much higher renewal price.
It’s not just HostGator that does that. Most other popular hosts like Bluehost, Hostinger, GoDaddy, and many others do the same thing.
I’m only going to recommend alternative hosts I’ve used myself and which don’t play pricing tricks. So, here are my recommendations:
1. Shock Hosting
- Monthly plan: $2.99 (renews for $2.99/month)
- Yearly plan: $30.50 (renews for $30.50/year)
I learned about this provider a while ago on a webmaster forum. All the reviews were positive, so I bit and gave it a try myself. I wasn’t disappointed.
Their cheapest cPanel hosting plan costs $2.99 per month AND renews at this price as well, even if you choose to pay monthly instead of yearly. It comes with free email, SSL, malware scanning, free dedicated IP address, etc.
What’s the catch? I haven’t found any yet. I mainly use it for low-traffic sites, and it’s one of the fastest hosts I’ve used. I don’t know how it’ll perform for something more demanding, like a large e-commerce store, but that’s not something you want to use low-end shared hosting for anyway.
2. Ethernet Servers
- Monthly plan: $3 (renews for $3/month)
- Yearly plan: $30.60 (renews for $30.60/year)
Ethernet Servers is another underrated alternative I’ve come across. It’s a small company based in the UK and run by a small local team.
The service is solid for small websites with low computing needs. If you need more power, they have affordable VPS servers, but those are self-managed so don’t go this route unless you know what you’re doing.
3. Spaceship
- Monthly plan: $3.88 (renews for $3.88/month)
- Yearly plan: $19.88 (renews for $19.88/year)
Spaceship is a new provider that’s owned by NameCheap. Both Spaceship and NameCheap are good alternatives to HostGator, but I prefer Spaceship because they have lower renewal prices and a better UI.
I have a WordPress site using Spaceship’s shared cPanel hosting, and for about a year now, everything has been going smoothly.
The only gripe I have is that email is only free for the first year, then they charge you about $10 per year for each mailbox. If you’ll be using many email accounts, go with one of the above providers since they give you unlimited email accounts.
Price Comparison
This is a comparison of the prices for web hosting and .com domain registration and renewal at all of the providers mentioned above.
| Service/Provider | HostGator | Shock Hosting | Ethernet Servers | Spaceship |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Web hosting (first month) | $12.95 | $2.99 | $3 | $3.88 |
| Web hosting (renewal/mo) | $17.59 | $2.99 | $3 | $3.88 |
| Web hosting (first year) | $59.40 | $30.50 | $30.60 | $19.88 |
| Web hosting (renewal/yr) | $158.28 | $30.50 | $30.60 | $19.88 |
| .com domain (registration) | $12.99 | $9.99 | $13.75 | $9.08 |
| .com domain (renewal) | $23.99 | $9.99 | $13.75 | $10.18 |
Bottom Line
Shock Hosting, Ethernet Servers, and Spaceship are the best HostGator alternatives I’ve personally used that offer cheaper cPanel hosting. Their renewal prices are much lower than HostGator’s and they rarely increase those prices.
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