Bluehost vs HostGator Hosting Comparison

After 3 years of testing, let’s compare Bluehost vs HostGator and find out how they’ve performed so far…

Bluehost vs HostGator – Testing Method

  • Prior to testing, I have setup identical content on all 8 Live Test Sites
  • Each week over 80,000 speed & uptime tests are run using independent tools, GTmetrix & Pingdom
  • GTmetrix Logo 50Pingdom Logo 50
  • Test results below are from 04 Apr 2016 to 22 Dec 2018

Test #1: Speed

The GTmetrix Speed Test checks how long it takes for a website to fully load using a desktop internet browser. This test is then repeated every hour throughout the week (1,340 times).

  • Bluehost’s average speed was poor across 2016 & 2017, consistently finishing in the bottom 2 hosts. However, in 2018, there has been a massive turnaround, as they have been our 4th fastest host in both H1 & H2 2018.
  • HostGator’s speed has typically been around the mid pack of our hosts across 2016 to 2018. Their best performance was in H1 2017 where they were 3rd fastest, but H1 & H2 2018 has seen a dropoff to 7th fastest.
  • Bluehost is currently in 4th place, with HostGator in 6th in our Speed Rankings.
Bluehost vs HostGator Speed Table - Apr 2016 to Dec 2018

H2 2018 Results

Bluehost vs HostGator Speed Chart - Jul 2018 to Dec 2018
Bluehost vs HostGator Speed Table - Jul 2018 to Dec 2018

H1 2018 Results

Bluehost vs HostGator Speed Chart - Jan 2018 to Jul 2018
Bluehost vs HostGator Speed Table - Jan 2018 to Jul 2018

H2 2017 Results

Bluehost vs HostGator Speed Chart - Aug 2017 to Dec 2017
Bluehost vs HostGator Speed Table - Aug 2017 to Dec 2017

H1 2017 Results

Bluehost vs HostGator Speed Chart - Jan 2017 to Aug 2017
Bluehost vs HostGator Speed Table - Jan 2017 to Aug 2017

2016 Results

Bluehost vs HostGator Speed Chart - Apr 2016 to Dec 2016
Bluehost vs HostGator Speed Table - Apr 2016 to Dec 2016

Test #2: Uptime

The Pingdom Uptime Test confirms that the website is actually accessible to visitors. This test is then repeated every minute throughout the week (80,640 times).

  • Bluehost performed poorly when it came to Uptime across 2016 & 2017. But once again 2018 is a different story, recording just 6 minutes of downtime in H1 2018 and 8 minutes in H2 2018. It is a remarkable result when you consider the past performance, but amazingly Bluehost is the best performing host for uptime in 2018.
  • HostGator’s uptime has been let down by 1 horrendous week (Week 43), where they recorded 425 minutes of downtime. Across 2018, they avoided any one off poor weeks, and a result have been the 5th best performer.
  • Bluehost is currently 4th, while HostGator is in 5th in our Uptime Rankings.
Bluehost vs HostGator Uptime Table - Apr 2016 to Dec 2018

Bluehost vs HostGator – Overall Test Results

The Overall Ranking accumulates the results from the speed & uptime tests to determine the #1 Host.

  • Bluehost was consistently the slowest of our active hosts across 2016 & 2017. Combined with a less than stellar uptime resulted in it being 8th Overall at the end of 2017. But the big news of 2018 is the miraculous turnaround of Bluehost’s speed and especially it’s uptime performance. This has led to a massive jump in the overall rankings.
  • While HostGator’s speed has shown promise at times, it has fallen into the bottom 2 hosts in 2018. When this is combined with the disastrous week of uptime, where they experienced a ridiculous 425 minutes of outages, HostGator has struggled to compete with the best hosts.
  • Bluehost is currently 4th, with HostGator in 6th in our Overall Rankings.
Bluehost vs HostGator Overall Table - Apr 2016 to Dec 2018

How do Bluehost & HostGator compare to our 8 other Hosts?