HostGator vs Hostwinds (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, HostGator grades higher than Hostwinds: 2.0 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
HostGator grades higher on value for money. Hostwinds grades higher on features. They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
HostGator
Shared and WordPress hosting with malware scanning and a free domain
Hostwinds
Shared, business, VPS and cloud hosting with managed support
Which one is for you
Pick HostGator if
- Fits if you want staging and managed WordPress updates on a $3.75-a-month plan
- Works for sites that may move up to VPS or dedicated hosting without changing host
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want email at your domain included, as it's a trial that then bills
- Tight if you're on Hatchling and want malware removal or phone support, as both start on Baby
- Pricey if you cancel, since a fee is charged to keep the free domain
- Watch out: only 36-month terms are shown, and Hatchling renews at $10.99 a month after them
- Skip it if you count on a refund for renewals, monthly terms, domains or add-ons; the guarantee excludes them
Pick Hostwinds if
- Fits if you want shared hosting now and room to move to a VPS later
- Makes sense if you want cPanel and a dedicated IP
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a trial, as none is listed
- Tight if you have several sites, since Basic is 1 domain and Advanced is 4
- Pricey if you want monthly billing, because shared plans are shown only annually
- Watch out: the page meta says from $3.29 a month, which the page itself does not show
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAHostGatorFair | 1.8GPAHostwindsWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AHatchling's 36-month term is $3.75 a month, $135 on the first invoice, so even if you only want two years you pay $135, about $5.63 a month, under the $5.99 an A needs. It then renews at $10.99 a month, and no shorter term is on the page. | CShared Basic is $6.99 a month billed yearly, above the $5.28 cheaper-quarter line for web hosts. |
| Free plan and trial | FNo free plan and no trial. The 30-day money-back guarantee leaves out monthly terms, renewals and domain fees, and it isn't a trial anyway. | FNo free plan or trial is listed on the pages read. |
| Features | CManaged WordPress updates, staging, a migration tool, Yoast SEO, malware scanning and a first-year domain. The gaps the listing names: AI malware removal starts on Baby, and email at your domain is a trial that renews at the regular rate. | BShared, business, VPS, cloud servers and dedicated, with free migration, nightly backups, monitoring and a cloud API. |
| Ease of use | CNo app store rating to go on. Staging and managed updates help, but you're still setting up a domain, email and the site yourself. | CNo store rating on record. cPanel and server setup are yours, and VPS plans are unmanaged at the entry level. |
| Platforms and integrations | CA web dashboard only. The named integrations are WordPress, WooCommerce, Yoast SEO and Google Workspace, and no API is on record. | CWeb only, with cPanel, Softaculous and WordPress installs. |
| Best for | budget WordPress hosting with staging included | cPanel shared hosting with VPS and cloud next to it |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: HostGator and Hostwinds. How we grade
Price against what you get
HostGator starts at $3.75 a month and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Hostwinds starts at $4.99 a month and scores 2.3.
Hostwinds scores higher, and starts $1.24 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other web hosts on the chart, 8 score higher than HostGator for less, and 1 scores higher than Hostwinds for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- HostGator also covers malware protection and managed WordPress.
- Hostwinds also covers no-code.
At a glance
| HostGator | Hostwinds | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Starts at | $10.99 per month at renewal (Hatchling), after a first 36 months at $3.75 a month | $4.99 per month (unmanaged Linux VPS); shared from $6.99 per month, annual |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | HostGator.com LLC | Hostwinds |
| Price read from | hostgator.com | hostwinds.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
HostGator
- The plan cards show only 36-month terms, and Hatchling has chat support only; phone support starts on Baby.
- Discounts apply to the first invoice only, and plans renew automatically at the regular rate shown in the control panel.
- The 30-day money-back guarantee excludes renewals, monthly-term services, domain fees and add-ons, and a fee is charged to keep a free domain if you cancel.
- Email at your domain is a Professional Email free trial that renews automatically at the regular rate once the first billing cycle ends.
Hostwinds
- The shared-hosting page shows the annual plan price; the page's own meta description still says plans start from $3.29 a month, which is not shown on the page.
- Shared and business plans are listed only with annual billing on the pages read.
- Shared plans are capped by number of domains: 1 on Basic, 4 on Advanced.
- Cloud servers are billed per hour, starting at $0.006931 an hour for 1 CPU and 1 GB RAM.
Key features
HostGator
- Malware scanning and removal
- Every shared plan scans for malware, and the Baby, Business and Pro plans add AI-powered malware detection and removal, alongside a firewall and DDoS protection.
- WordPress tools
- Shared plans include managed WordPress updates, a staging site for testing changes, a free site migration tool and the Yoast SEO plugin.
- Domain and SSL
- Plans include a domain free for the first year and a Let's Encrypt SSL certificate. Business and Pro add a year of domain privacy.
- Creative Mail email marketing
- Plans come with Creative Mail for sending email campaigns from WordPress, and a free trial of Professional Email at your domain.
- Room to move up
- WordPress, VPS, dedicated and reseller hosting are sold alongside the shared plans, so a growing site can change plans without changing host.
Hostwinds
- Shared and business hosting on cPanel
- Plans come with cPanel, the Softaculous app installer, unlimited subdomains, FTP accounts, databases and email accounts, and free SSL certificates.
- Free migration
- The support team moves an existing site to Hostwinds and sends a preview link so it can be checked before the switch.
- Weebly site builder
- Shared plans include Weebly's drag-and-drop builder for people who do not want to install WordPress or code a site.
- VPS and cloud servers
- Linux and Windows VPS come managed or unmanaged. Cloud servers are billed by the hour and can be paired with load balancers, block storage and object storage.
- Cloud portal and API
- The cloud portal manages IP addresses, load balancers and object storage containers, and Hostwinds describes an API for cloud servers.
- Nightly backups and monitoring
- Shared hosting pages describe nightly backups and 24/7 website monitoring that opens a support ticket if the site has a problem.
Plans
HostGator
Hatchling, 36 months$10.99
per month at renewal, after a first term of 36 months
10 websites, 10 GB SSD and about 40,000 visits a month, with chat support. $3.75 a month for the first 36 months, then $10.99 a month.
Baby, 36 months$16.49
per month at renewal, after a first term of 36 months
20 websites, 20 GB, phone support and AI malware removal. $4.50 a month for the first 36 months, then $16.49 a month.
Business, 36 months$21.99
per month at renewal, after a first term of 36 months
50 websites, 50 GB and a first year of domain privacy. $6.25 a month for the first 36 months, then $21.99 a month.
Pro, 36 months$29.69
per month at renewal, after a first term of 36 months
100 websites, 100 GB and more processing power. $13.95 a month for the first 36 months, then $29.69 a month.
Hostwinds
Unmanaged Linux VPS (entry)$4.99
per month for 1 CPU, 1 GB RAM, billed monthly
30 GB storage and 1 TB bandwidth; you run the server yourself. Larger sizes go up to $38.99 a month for 4 CPUs, 8 GB RAM and 150 GB storage, and beyond.
Shared Basic$6.99
per month for 1 domain, billed annually ($83.88 a year)
Unlimited bandwidth and disk space, free SSL, cPanel, Softaculous installer, a dedicated IP and the Weebly site builder.
Shared Advanced$8.99
per month for 4 domains, billed annually ($107.88 a year)
The Basic features with room for 4 domains.
Shared Ultimate$10.99
per month for unlimited domains, billed annually
The Basic features with no limit on the number of domains.
Business Basic$11.99
per month for 1 domain, billed annually ($143.88 a year)
Hosted on servers with fewer sites per server than shared hosting. Advanced is $13.99 for 4 domains and Ultimate is $16.99 for unlimited domains.
Managed Linux VPS (entry)$10.99
per month for 1 CPU
The page shows $7.14 a month beside it as the current price; Hostwinds staff manage the server. Larger sizes run to $79.99 a month and beyond.
Ways to pay less
HostGator
- Other savings
First 36 months of Hatchling at $3.75 a month
Hatchling is $3.75 a month for the first 36 months, then $10.99. Baby is $4.50, then $16.49; Business $6.25, then $21.99; and Pro $13.95, then $29.69.
Hostwinds
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, HostGator or Hostwinds?
As of Nov 12, 2026, HostGator is cheaper to start with: $3.75 a month, against $4.99 a month for Hostwinds. HostGator starts at $10.99 per month at renewal (Hatchling), after a first 36 months at $3.75 a month, and Hostwinds starts at $4.99 per month (unmanaged Linux VPS); shared from $6.99 per month, annual.
Which has a free plan, HostGator or Hostwinds?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither HostGator nor Hostwinds has a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.