Bluehost vs HostGator (2026): Sister Brands, Very Different Plans

Bluehost vs HostGator: The Quick Answer

Bluehost and HostGator are sister brands. Both are owned by Newfold Digital, though they are sold and supported separately, with their own plans, prices and support teams. So the question is not which company is behind them, but which product line fits your site better.

For WordPress sites, Bluehost is our pick. Its entry plan renews lower ($9.99 versus a reported $10.99 a month), its WordPress plans include staging, SSH and malware scanning, and its 50-site Business plan renews $8 a month less than HostGator's 50-site Business plan. HostGator is the better fit if you want a 20-site middle tier, or a cPanel-style experience that many tutorials assume.

If your site already earns money and you want hosting run for you, consider Kinsta, our #1 overall host, instead of either budget option.

Same Parent Company, Different Products

Because both brands belong to Newfold Digital, people often assume they are the same service under two names. They are not identical. Each brand has its own plan lineup, site limits, backup policy and support structure. Bluehost was founded in 2003 and has been listed on WordPress.org's recommended hosting page since 2005, and its plans are built around WordPress. HostGator is a long-running budget host whose shared plans focus on generous site limits and a familiar cPanel-style dashboard.

That shared ownership is useful to know, but your decision should come down to plan details: renewal rates, sites, backups, tools and support.

Bluehost vs HostGator at a Glance

Bluehost: as listed on its WordPress hosting page, October 2026. HostGator: site limits, storage and support from HostGator's site (October 2026); prices as reported by a third-party tracker checked August 8, 2026.

Plans and Pricing

HostGator's own page did not display numeric prices at the time of writing, so the HostGator figures below come from a third-party price tracker. Confirm them on HostGator's checkout page before you buy. Bluehost's prices are as listed on its own WordPress hosting page.

Bluehost WordPress Plans

HostGator Shared Plans

Regular rates on three-year terms, as reported by a third-party tracker. Pro pricing was not reported.

HostGator's reported intro prices are lower than Bluehost's on matching tiers, so it can look cheaper at checkout. The picture changes once the first term ends. On the 10-site entry tier, Bluehost renews $1 a month lower. On the 50-site tier, the gap is much larger: Bluehost Business renews at $13.99 a month, while HostGator Business is reported at $21.99.

Over a year at regular rates, that works out to $119.88 for Bluehost Starter versus $131.88 for HostGator Hatchling, and $167.88 for Bluehost Business versus $263.88 for HostGator Business. If you expect to stay past the first term, those renewal numbers matter more than the intro price. See our Bluehost pricing guide for full term costs.

HostGator does give you more room on its middle tier. Baby hosts 20 sites with 20 GB, a step that Bluehost's lineup does not have; Bluehost jumps from 10 sites on Starter to 50 on Business.

Features and Tools

WordPress Tools

Bluehost's WordPress plans include managed core, theme and plugin updates, a staging site, SSH and WP-CLI access, static content caching and object caching, even on Starter. Its AI site builder generates three site previews to choose from, and Yoast SEO comes pre-installed. That toolkit is the main reason Bluehost is our pick for WordPress.

HostGator offers one-click WordPress installs through a familiar cPanel-style management experience, which many tutorials cover. Beginners generally find it easy to get started. Staging is not listed on its shared plans.

Domains and SSL

Both hosts include a free domain for the first year. On Bluehost, it applies to 12- or 36-month terms and must be claimed within 90 days. On HostGator, if you cancel in the first year of a free domain, a non-refundable $17.99 domain fee applies. Both include free SSL. HostGator's Business and Pro plans add domain privacy; Bluehost adds free first-year domain privacy from Business.

Performance

Bluehost's WordPress plans run on NVMe SSD storage with server-level caching and a global CDN, and Bluehost promises 99.99% uptime on shared hosting, with a 5% monthly credit available if it falls short. HostGator's shared plans use SSD storage from 10 GB on Hatchling to 100 GB on Pro and are designed for small and medium sites; its VPS and dedicated plans offer more capacity as traffic grows.

Both are shared hosts, so resources are pooled with other customers. That is fine for a new blog or brochure site. For busy sites, see our shared vs VPS hosting guide.

Backups and Security

This is one of the clearest differences. Bluehost's WordPress plans list automated weekly backups, malware scanning, malware detection and removal, a web application firewall and DDoS protection, with AI-powered malware detection from Business.

HostGator describes its shared-plan backups as courtesy backups, which means they are not guaranteed restore points. If you choose HostGator, set up your own backup plugin and store copies offsite. On either host, an offsite backup is good practice for a site that changes often.

Ease of Use

Both hosts aim at beginners. Bluehost's setup is WordPress-first: you can launch with its AI builder, Yoast SEO is already installed, and core, theme and plugin updates are handled for you. HostGator leans on a cPanel-style dashboard with one-click installs, which suits people who have used cPanel before or who follow general hosting tutorials. If you are new to WordPress specifically, Bluehost's guided path is shorter. Our how to start a blog guide covers the first steps on a budget host.

Room to Grow

Both brands offer an upgrade path beyond shared hosting. Bluehost sells self-managed and managed VPS as well as dedicated servers, and HostGator sells VPS and dedicated hosting. If your next step is a managed server with a free control panel, also compare ScalaHosting's managed cloud VPS, or see our best VPS hosting picks.

Customer Support

Bluehost offers 24/7 live chat on every WordPress plan and 24/7 phone support from Business up, plus paid expert services if you want help building or fixing a site. HostGator's Hatchling plan includes chat support only; Baby and Business add phone support, and Pro lists 24/7 chat and phone.

So if phone access matters and you want the cheapest plan that includes it, HostGator Baby gets you there at a lower tier. If you are buying Business on either host, both include phone support.

Refunds

Both offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. Bluehost's covers hosting but not domains, deducting a non-refundable domain fee if you received a free domain, and monthly-term plans are not refundable. HostGator's excludes renewals, domain fees and setup fees.

Which Should You Choose?

View Bluehost Plans

For more detail, read our full Bluehost review and HostGator review, or compare more budget options in cheap web hosting and HostGator alternatives.

The Premium Upgrade: Kinsta

Both Newfold brands are budget shared hosts. When a site starts earning real money, managed WordPress hosting removes much of the maintenance and risk. Kinsta, our #1 overall host, runs each site in an isolated container on Google Cloud across 30 data centers, with a Cloudflare-powered CDN that Kinsta says spans 300+ locations.

Kinsta includes automatic daily backups kept at least 14 days, free malware removal, a 99.9% uptime SLA and 24/7 support from WordPress engineers in eight languages. Its migration team moves sites for free, so leaving Bluehost or HostGator does not mean doing it yourself. Plans start at $35 a month, or $30 a month billed annually, with the first month free on the entry Single plan for new customers.

Our #1 Hosting Pick

See Kinsta vs Bluehost for the budget-to-managed comparison, or our best WordPress hosting rankings.

Bluehost vs HostGator FAQs