HostGator vs DreamHost Hosting Comparison

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

HostGator vs DreamHost – 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).

  • 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.
  • DreamHost has been consistently slow, but were still competitive in 2016. This situation worsened considerably in 2017, in particular the last 9 weeks, where their average speed dropped to 7.15s. As a result of these unacceptably slow times, DreamHost was replaced by Lightning Base on 23 Apr 2017.
  • HostGator is currently ranked in 6th place, while DreamHost is in 10th in our Speed Rankings.
HostGator vs DreamHost Speed Table - Apr 2016 to Dec 2018

H2 2018 Results

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

H1 2018 Results

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

H2 2017 Results

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

H1 2017 Results

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

2016 Results

HostGator vs DreamHost Speed Chart - Apr 2016 to Dec 2016
HostGator vs DreamHost 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).

  • 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.
  • DreamHost’s uptime was acceptable during 2016, finishing mid-table. However, 2017 has been really disappointing, with the last 9 weeks resulting in a downtime of 476 minutes.
  • HostGator is currently ranked 5th, while DreamHost is 9th in our Uptime Rankings.
HostGator vs DreamHost Uptime Table - Apr 2016 to Dec 2018

HostGator vs DreamHost – Overall Test Results

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

  • 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.
  • After being competitive in 2016, and even showing signs of improvement, DreamHost has dramatically fallen off the cliff in the last 9 weeks of 2017. With no actionable solutions coming through from their support team, DreamHost needed to be replaced as they were not able to compete with our other hosts in both speed and uptime.
  • HostGator is currently 6th and DreamHost is 9th in our Overall Rankings.
HostGator vs DreamHost Overall Table - Apr 2016 to Dec 2018

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