Wix vs HostGator: which one is better for you?
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Learn moreIn this Wix vs HostGator comparison, I’ll put the two heavyweights against each other and see how they measure up in terms of pricing, ease of use, performance, and more.
It sounds a bit odd – comparing Wix vs HostGator.
After all, Wix is a massively popular website builder that helps to create a stunning website in minutes.
At the same time, HostGator offers hosting services that enable you to create a website of your choice by installing any content management system (CMS), including the much-loved WordPress.
While at first, these two might seem too different to compare, in reality, they’re really not. Both Wix and HostGator enable you to create functional websites with as little effort as possible. And considering providers’ popularity, it becomes clear why people might wish to know more about the two.
So without further ado, let’s analyze both providers’ pricing, ease of use, performance, security, and customer support, to see which one will come on top of this Wix vs HostGator battle.
Wix vs HostGator: general info
Both Wix and HostGator are some of the most well-known providers in their respective industries. Wix is a popular, highly design-flexible, yet easily managed website builder favored by many. At the same time, HostGator is a beginner-oriented and much more affordable hosting provider which utilizes a powerful control panel.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of things, you can choose to jump to the final verdict to see the overall winner or join me on this wild journey.
HostGator | Wix | |
⭐ Rating: | ||
💵 Price: | From $2.99/month | From $10.50/month |
📑 Uptime guarantee: | 99.9% | 99.9% |
🔥 Coupons: | Hostgator coupon 76% OFF | Wix coupon 50% OFF |
Storage space (from): | 10 GB SSD | 2GB |
✂️ Free domain (first year): | Yes (first year) | Yes |
🔒 Free SSL certificate: | Yes | Yes |
➡️ Site migration: | 1 free WordPress/cPanel migration and inter-server migration | Free manual migration with the help of third-party apps |
💾 Automated backups: | Yes (paid) | Yes |
📧 Email accounts: | Yes (unlimited accounts) | No |
👨💻 24/7 live support: | Yes | Yes |
💰 Money-back guarantee: | 30-day | 14-day trial period for Premium plans |
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Wix vs HostGator: pricing comparison
When it comes to prices, there’s a clear winner for Wix vs HostGator. HostGator is significantly cheaper, with shared hosting prices starting at $2.99/mo, while Wix’s entry plan costs $10.50/mo. Additionally, Wix also has a free plan. However, due to many limitations, it’s only suitable for testing purposes.
Before we jump into this battle, I must note that, while HostGator has a variety of hosting solutions, this comparison will focus on HostGator’s shared hosting and how it compares to Wix’s 7 plans.
Now to really see how both providers stack up against each other in terms of price, let’s compare their cheapest entry plans.
The duo can host 1 website, and each includes a free custom domain and an SSL certificate. But that’s about all that they have in common.
As for differences:
- Wix Combo ($10.50/mo) includes 3GB storage, 2GB bandwidth, removal of Wix ads, and 30 video minutes.
- HostGator Hatchling ($2.99/mo) includes unmetered storage and bandwidth, free email and a cPanel, as well as the Gator website builder.
Right off the bat, it’s obvious that HostGator’s cheapest plan is much more generous than Wix’s. For just a ⅕ of the price, you get significantly more storage and unlimited bandwidth.
But, these are just the cheapest plans. They have more options to cater to various needs. So let’s see which plans hold the best value for money.
Wix has 7 premium plans: 4 Website and 3 eCommerce ones, with prices going from $10.50/mo up to $79.50/mo.
Depending on your project, I’d recommend:
- Combo ($10.50/mo) – includes 3GB storage and 2GB bandwidth. This plan is best suited for small personal sites or portfolios.
- Business Unlimited ($12.00/mo) – comes with 50GB disk space and eCommerce features, like abandoned cart recovery and unlimited products. This plan is best for building online stores.
To snatch the best deal, pick a plan that best suits your needs, and go for a 36-month billing option. You’ll see significantly lower monthly rates.
In contrast, HostGator has 3 shared hosting plans priced from $2.99/mo up to $5.49/mo.
To get the most bang for your bucks, HostGator recommends its Baby plan. And it’s very reasonable. For less than an extra $1/mo than Hatchling, you are free to host as many sites as you wish. Meanwhile, the Business plan is also good, just too pricy for what it offers.
To secure the best value plan with the lowest monthly rates, opt for the Baby plan with a 36-month subscription.
One more thing to note, both providers are pretty different when it comes to refunding policy. Wix comes with a 14-day money-back guarantee, while HostGator offers a much more generous 30-day money-back guarantee.
All things considered, HostGator is considerably cheaper and more generous in terms of resources.
Hosting management: ease of use
As for ease of use, both providers put simplicity at the forefront. Wix uses a native control panel for website management, while HostGator offers a proprietary dashboard integrated with cPanel.
Setting up a website
Creating a website with Wix and HostGator is not complicated, as the two have automated the installation/setup processes allowing you to get your website up and running in a few clicks.
However, there are some differences. Typically, with a builder like Wix, the foundation of a website is already there and ready for customization. Whereas a hosting provider like HostGator requires CMS installation and further customization.
Let’s take a closer look.
To begin with, Wix offers 2 ways to build a site:
- Choose a template and edit it with a drag-and-drop editor. This approach gives 100% design flexibility.
- Use Wix’s ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) automatic website generator. It is a very beginner-friendly approach that comes with slight design flexibility.
HostGator’s setup process is just as simplistic. Once you login into your account, you’ll find a short link to install WordPress. In just a few clicks, you’ll have your CMS ready for use.
Additionally, HostGator also offers a free Gator website builder that enables you to build up to 6 pages. Simply put, you get the best of both worlds – hosting services as well as website builder functionalities. Just note that if you’re comparing Wix vs HostGator website builder, the latter is more basic.
Ultimately, both providers offer very streamlined processes. You can get your site up and running in minutes with either of the two. However, if you’re in a massive rush, Wix’s ADI offers the easiest way to get online ASAP.
Website management area
When it comes to the website management area, both providers are equally easy to use. Wix’s interface is well organized and packed with account-related features. Meanwhile, HostGator uses a simplistic native user interface with a cPanel integration.
Talking about Wix, it uses its own custom interface for both billing and website management.
With Wix, the whole site and account management can be found on one page. In the left side menu, you can find tools like Marketing & SEO to set up and manage your advertising campaigns. By choosing Settings, you’ll find the main account information. Here you can also connect your domain.
The left side menu contains all the general functionalities, like communication, Marketing & SEO, analytics, and more. If you click on Settings, there’s the main account information. This is also where you can connect your domain.
Meanwhile, the bulk of the website management tasks is right smack in the center. For instance, the Site Actions has your plan and email settings. Plus, there’s also a video guide to help navigate Wix’s many features easier.
It’s also worth noting that each website gets a separate dashboard and can be managed independently. This is great if you’re running multiple unrelated sites.
As for HostGator, it has its own custom control panel as well as cPanel. The native panel is simplistic and very clean. Here you’ll find shortcuts to the main features like domains, email accounts, and many more. However, the native panel is mainly used for billings and serves as a bridge to reach the cPanel.
Now talking about the cPanel – it is the main dashboard for website management tasks. It’s a very well-organized panel that contains elements like domain, email, SSL, file, and database management, as well as the Softaculous 1-click app installer for a quick CMS installation.
So in terms of interfaces, HostGator offers a slightly better-organized panel that is very intuitive and makes site management a breeze.
Overall, Wix and HostGator are designed with ease-of-use in mind. Both providers offer streamlined website creation and management processes. However, HostGator comes forward with a slightly more comprehensive site management system.
Wix vs HostGator performance
While both providers are extremely reliable, this Wix vs HostGator battle has a clear winner. HostGator had a slightly higher uptime rate, and its load speed was much faster than Wix’s.
Uptime and response time
Both Wix and HostGator were examined over a different time. Wix has been monitored for over a month, while HostGator had over two months of examination.
In 1 month, Wix had 5 outages or 7 minutes of downtime in total. This has rounded up to a very impressive 99.99% uptime. Which is much better than the provider’s original 99.9% uptime guarantee.
As for response time, the builder demonstrated a great average response time of 461ms. That’s quite a bit faster than the market’s average response time of 600ms. Plus, Wix response times were fairly consistent, too.
Meanwhile, HostGator was even more reliable – it experienced 3 outages with 5 minutes of downtime in total. This resulted in a near-impeccable >99.99% uptime. Once again, much better than the official 99.9% uptime guarantee.
However, its response time was slightly slower than Wix’s, as it has averaged at 525ms. That said, the time is still considered to be very speedy, as it manages to slip under the market’s average of 600ms.
For this round of Wix vs HostGator, we have somewhat of a tie. Wix demonstrated a faster response time, while HostGator is more reliable in terms of uptime.
Website speed
Now it’s time to see how fast can Wix and HostGator load up a fully-built website. To level the playing field, both providers are hosted in and tested from the US. This means that there is no distance strain on the results you see.
Server location can have an impact on the website’s performance. HostGator has data centers in the US alone. At the same time, Wix has numerous centers in the US and Europe, yet you don’t get to pick your preferred location.
For this Wix vs HostGator speed test face-off, I’m looking at 2 measures:
- LCP – this is the time it takes to upload the largest chunk of content on the site. Aim for a time under 2.5 seconds to boost search engine ranking.
- Fully loaded time – this signifies the time it takes for a site to get fully loaded. For a better user experience and lower bounce rates, keep this time below 3 seconds.
With these 2 metrics in mind, Wix’s results are quite underwhelming. Its LCP was 2.6s, while the fully loaded time took 8.4s.
But, while the results could be improved, they weren’t actually that horrible. Its LCP was just slightly above the 2.5s benchmark set by Google – forgivable when you get a beautiful and dynamic Wix website.
Plus, while it took 8.4s to fully load, it took just 3.5s to be fully interactive. For regular users, this is perfectly fine.
HostGator, on the other hand, shined with its 1.1s LCP and 1.2s fully loaded time.
As you can probably tell from the huge green A, this is an excellent result. Both measures are very speedy and leave you loads of wiggle space until you hit the undesired 2.5 and 3 seconds.
Briefly, both providers were fast. However, clearly, HostGator takes the lead with incredibly nippy website speed.
As a whole, Wix might have slightly more responsive servers, yet HostGator overshadows it with better uptime and website load speed.
Website security
As for Wix vs HostGator security, things aren’t as clear-cut. Typical of a website builder, Wix’s security measures are already included in the packages and managed by the builder. Meanwhile, HostGator has the basics, but everything else is a paid add-on. However, it allows more leeway for you to access and manage your website security.
Both Wix and HostGator come with free SSL certificates, and that’s about all they have in common.
Wix’s other security features include:
- Distributed denial of service (DDoS) protection to ensure that your website is always running.
- 24/7 website monitoring to guard against malicious attacks.
- PCI compliance to keep eCommerce transactions safe.
- 2-step verification to prevent unauthorized entries.
- Automatic backups via the Site History feature.
Meanwhile, HostGator has:
- .Server-level firewall to protect against malicious traffic.
- Positive SSL upgrade included in the Business plan. It’s also available for the other packages for $3.33/mo.
- SiteLock Essentials for $1.99/mo. This roots out, fixes, and protects your site from malware and signs of hacking.
- Backup costs $2.00/mo, and will offer daily automated website backup and 1-click restore.
Overall, Wix offers better security protection. It has pretty much everything you need already included in its plans. Meanwhile, HostGator offers only the bare minimum. But, there’s an option to pay for more advanced features.
Customer support
When it comes to customer support, both Wix and HostGator offer help via 24/7 live chat. Additionally, Wix also has a ticketing system and accepts requests for a callback. Meanwhile, HostGator offers phone and email support too. More so, each also has a wide-ranging knowledge base.
With Wix, its callback phone line is your best bet to get help from an actual human agent. The agents usually return the calls promptly and are eager to help. Meanwhile, you’ll have a hard time reaching a human agent via its live chat. Instead, you’ll be given the runaround and redirected to the ticketing service or the Help Center.
Speaking of the Help Center, Wix’s knowledge base is absolutely massive. It has hundreds of articles covering everything from Wix editor to POS solutions. And the information is very well written and structured too.
In contrast, it’s much easier to reach HostGator’s representatives – especially via live chat. The wait time is almost non-existent, and the agents are always helpful, efficient, and fast. However, its support team is outsourced, so sometimes miscommunication could happen.
If you want to avoid this altogether, HostGator also has a knowledge base with tons of articles and even videos. They’re detailed, clear, and helpful.
Overall, HostGator comes out on top when it comes to customer support. The provider has more support channels, and it’s far easier to get in touch with a human agent with HostGator than with Wix.
Wix vs HostGator: final recommendations
It’s a tight race when it comes to Wix vs HostGator. Both are easy to use and great no-fuss solutions. But, where Wix focuses more on beginner-friendliness, HostGator offers just as simplistic management with much more behind-the-scenes control.
Feature | Wix | HostGator | Verdict |
Pricing | HostGator is a much cheaper option, with plans starting from just $2.99/mo. In comparison, while Wix has a free plan – which is very limited and only suitable for trial – its paid plans start from $10.50/mo. | ||
Ease of use | Both providers are very easy to use and beginner-oriented. Wix is a very intuitive website builder, while HostGator simplifies things by offering simplistic dashboards, Gator’s website builder, and more. | ||
Performance | The two deliver great performances with uptimes above 99.99%. However, HostGator takes the win with near-perfect uptime and faster website speed. | ||
Security | Wix’s security is more well-rounded, but it’s managed by Wix’s agents entirely. In contrast, HostGator offers only the basics, but you have the option to purchase more. | ||
Support | Wix has limited support channels, and it’s a struggle to reach human agents via live chat. Contrastingly, HostGator has multiple 24/7 support options. |
On the whole, it’s clear why Wix and HostGator are so remarkably in-demand. But, when it comes right down to it, HostGator takes first place in the battle of Wix vs HostGator. It’s considerably more affordable, performs better, and offers more advanced features as well as control.
However, Wix is a great option if you want to build a 100% custom website quickly and with barely any prior knowledge.
Alternatives to Wix and HostGator
If Wix and HostGator aren’t quite right for your needs, there are very good hosting providers and functional website builders to choose from. Some great alternatives include Bluehost, Hostinger, and Hostinger Website Builder.
Bluehost
Bluehost is a giant in the industry that provides an incredible price-to-performance ratio. It offers various hosting solutions at affordable prices, with shared hosting prices starting from $1.99/month. The host is all about beginner-friendliness and offers a combination of a custom user dashboard and cPanel.
Hostinger
Hostinger made a name for itself by offering cheap prices, with shared hosting plans starting from just $2.12/month. But, more than its budget-friendly pricing, the provider’s performance is solid, with plenty of optimizations available. Additionally, it’s designed with beginners in mind – offering an easy and intuitive interface as well as top-notch support.
Hostinger Website Builder
Hostinger Website Builder is a beginner-friendly website builder that offers 130+ professional-looking templates and a drag-and-drop editor. The builder is also known for its generous offering of features and tools – including advanced marketing, SEO, and AI tools. Its prices start from a very affordable $2.12/month.
More Wix comparisons you might want to read
- Wix vs Bluehost
- Wix vs. WordPress
- Wix vs Squarespace
- Wix vs GoDaddy website builder
- Wix vs Shopify
- Weebly vs Wix
More HostGator comparisons for you to check out
- HostGator vs GoDaddy
- Namecheap vs HostGator
- SiteGround vs HostGator
- DreamHost vs HostGator
- Hostinger vs HostGator
- Bluehost vs HostGator
- HostGator vs InMotion Hosting
- 1&1 IONOS vs HostGator
Wix vs HostGator FAQs
Is Wix better than HostGator?
Generally, HostGator is cheaper, offers more cohesive control, and performs better.
Which one is cheaper: Wix or HostGator?
HostGator is cheaper, with its shared hosting plan starting from just $2.99/mo. Meanwhile, Wix’s paid plans start from $10.50/mo. There’s a free Wix plan too, but it’s very limited in terms of what you can do with it.
Can I use Wix with HostGator?
No, you cannot use Wix with HostGator as Wix is a closed-source CMS. But, HostGator does offer its own website builder.
Do Wix and HostGator offer money-back guarantees?
Yes, Wix and HostGator offer money-back guarantees. Wix has a 14-day money-back guarantee, while HostGator offers a 30-day term.
Is HostGator faster?
Yes, HostGator is faster than Wix in terms of load time. The hosting provider loads a website in just 1.2 s compared to 8.4 s.
Can I use WordPress with Wix?
No, you cannot use WordPress with Wix, as they’re two different platforms. WordPress requires a hosting provider.
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