Introduction

The customer comes first when measuring the merits of A2 Hosting and HostGator. A2 Hosting has made a name for itself with custom solutions that aim to bolster speed and security. HostGator, on the other hand, offers a massive collection of servers and garners high praise for its reliability.

Based in Michigan, A2 Hosting has been around since 2001. Launched initially as Iniquinet, the web hosting start-up grew rapidly, eventually changing its name to A2 Hosting as a tribute to its roots in Ann Arbor. Today, the company provides a range of hosting and domain services.

From a Florida Atlantic University dorm room to hosting eight million domains – that is the HostGator story in a nutshell. The company is currently headquartered in Houston and offers shared hosting, VPS, dedicated, and reseller hosting. Endurance International Group also purchased HostGator in 2012 for nearly $300 million.

Whether you are creating a personal site or a company one, you should be confident in your web hosts’ services and products. That’s why we evaluated A2 Hosting and HostGator on their pricing, support, performance/speed, and ease of use. Based on our composite summary, you will be able to see for yourself which company is the better match for you.

Pricing – HostGator Wins

A2 Hosting gives users three choices when it comes to web hosting plans: Lite, Swift, and Turbo. The Lite plan is the cheapest of the bunch and goes for $3.92 per month. Customers who use this package get a single website, five databases, and unlimited storage, as well as free SSL, SSD, and site migration.

The Swift and Turbo options are designed to upgrade the number of sites and to ensure greater speed, respectively. Each offers unlimited websites and databases as Swift goes for $4.90 per month and Turbo goes for $9.31. The main advantage of Turbo is its “Turbo” features, which provides speeds that are twenty times faster than normal.

HostGator also offers three plans: Hatchling, Baby, and Business. Each plan comes with free migration, unlimited FTP users, unmetered bandwidth, and a 99.99 percent uptime guarantee. The Hatchling plan starts at $2.75 per month, while the other two are priced at $3.65 and $5.95 per month.

The Hatching Plan provides users with a single domain, one-click installs, and unlimited email. The Baby Plan and Business Plan expand on those offerings. The latter includes features such as private SSL, dedicated IP, and free VoIP, and each model also comes with HostGator’s 30-day money-back guarantee.

Support – A2 Hosting Wins

Even the best websites occasionally have issues. When that happens, you should be able to get fast and reliable technical support from the web hosting provider. A2 Hosting provides customers the resources they need to solve problems, including hundreds of online articles, as well as a live chat, phone support, and ticket-based help.

Customers back up A2 Hosting’s claims, too. You can expect knowledge and friendly representatives when they call for assistance.

HostGator puts customers in touch with representatives through phone, email, knowledge base, and live chat support. You can be connected in a couple of seconds, too. The staff is typically knowledgeable and resourceful.

The online reviews for HostGator are not as glowing as they were for A2 Hosting though.

Speed – HostGator Wins

If we were comparing web hosting provider’s speeds to animals, A2 Hosting would undoubtedly be the cheetah. They offer a sizzling page loading speed of around 330ms, which is near unbeatable in the industry as we know it. That means your website visitors can spend more time on your site, and less time waiting for pages to appear.

A2 Hosting’s uptime does not match the same industry-topping performance as its speed. The company provides an average uptime of 99.92%, which is trending down from recent months. While this mark isn’t the end of the world, it certainly raises an eyebrow. It’s important to note though, that A2 Hosting has the advantage of having servers around the world, which is great for people looking for Canada web hosting services, website hosts for New Zealand, or more remote countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

HostGator has inverse strengths. If it were an animal, its page speed might be comparable to a rhino. Their rate of around 1000ms is pedestrian and even applies to landing pages. Again, this speed is not a deal-breaker, but it is worth noting in the comparison to its competitors.

HostGator, however, offers a steady 99.98% overall uptime. In 2018, they provided customers with six months of 100 percent uptime, too. That means you can expect a negligible two minutes of downtime per week.

Ease of Use – It’s a Tie

Intuitive design and simple to find resources are a testament to outstanding design. Making your site creation tools easy to use is not only about appealing to beginners, though. Fortunately, both A2 Hosting and HostGator have these aspects covered, with everything from cPanel control panels to popular content management systems.

A2 Hosting empowers the user with access to WordPress, OpenCart, Magento, and Drupal. They also have their own website builder that does not require HTML knowledge, which simplifies the website construction process immensely. A2 Hosting also has HackScan to protect users with around-the-clock malware detection service.

Users of HostGator have access to cool security features too, such as Spam Assassin. They also have a website builder called Gator by HostGator. It is quite easy to add your personal touch to the existing templates, even if you have never designed a website.

Conclusion – HostGator Wins

In the movie 300, an Arcadian gives King Leonides the option to retreat, surrender, or die. He responds, “Well, that’s an easy choice for us, Arcadian. Spartans never retreat.” This quote is to say that choosing between A2 Hosting and HostGator is the exact opposite.

If you put our feet to the fire, though, we would give a slight edge to HostGator. Their uptime, free migration, reliable support, and easy to use features back it an excellent choice for beginner bloggers and web maestros alike. A2 Hosting has its own merits, but in the end, the restrictions on some of their cheaper plans and the inconsistent uptime were against them.