The purpose of this article is to compare two popular web hosting providers, HostGator and FastComet. Picking the perfect web host for your website between the two providers can be a tedious job. But I can assure you that by the time you finish reading this review, you will be able to easily decide the better web hosting service.
HostGator & FastComet Overview
HostGator is one of the oldest and the most reliable web hosting services in the market right now. While FastComet is quite known too, it is designed for advanced users with robust technical knowledge. In terms of uptime and speed, HostGator is quite impressive (99.98% uptime), which makes them a formidable opponent. With more important features like unlimited bandwidth and disk space, it’s quite easy to understand why they are popular.
Founded in 2008 and based in California, FastComet is a new company when compared to HostGator. When FastComet started operating, they were not offering shared hosting plans, which happens to be the most popular hosting plan, so this actually affected their popularity.
Four years after it was created, they announced the cloud hosting plan. In terms of popularity, they are still not there yet, but with eight data centers placed in three continents and with the usage of SSD storage model and managing more than 45000 websites in more than 80 countries, it’s clear to see that they mean business.
FastComet vs HostGator Comparison
Performance
One of the important attributes of a good web hosting service is the performance level of the service. There are basic metrics that you can use to determine the performance level of a web host, and they are speed tests, response time, and the uptime. We will use these metrics to determine the better provider between FastComet and HostGator.
Speed Test
One of the popular programs that you can use to test the speed of a web host is Pingdom. There are other manual ways or features that you can use to know the speed of a web host. One of them is the type of storage that the company is using. It has been proven that SSD storage is better and faster than HDD storage. So if a web host is still using an HDD storage,l like HostGator, then you should look for a better one.
To be certain about the speed and uptime of these two services, we had to sign up for their plans, and we then created WordPress sites on both accounts, we added some images and contents to make it more realistic.
With Pingdom on HostGator, we recorded an average speed of 1.33secs. After a month, HostGator was loading fully at 881mms, then the next two months, we recorded an average speed of 1.35secs and 2.32secs, respectively. Later in the next two months, it was about 1.01secs. At the end of the last month, we recorded an average speed of 1.22secs. We were able to decide that the HostGator speed using Pingdom was quite okay according to the industry standard.
During this time, we were also using Pingdom to test FastComet, and we recorded almost the same speed of 1.33secs in the first month, then the next two months, we recorded 1.81secs, then at the end of the last two months, it rose to 1.30secs.
Although the margin is quite close, HostGator had a full average speed of 1.32secs and 1.35secs.
So FastComet is the winner of this category.
Response Time
Response time is basically the time it will take for the first byte to be recorded. In the first month of our testing, HostGator had 180mms and then dropped to 810mms in the second month. It dropped significantly lower in the third month before going back to 520mms and 630mms in the fourth and fifth months, respectively. HostGator has an average speed of 815mms, which is quite okay.
FastComet, on the other hand, in the first month we recorded a response time of 430mms, and then it rose to 620mms in the second month and up to 730mms in the third and fourth months. On average, FastComet had 590mms, which is quite impressive.
So, in terms of response time, it’s clear that FastComet is better, thanks to their eight data centers and SSD storage.
Uptime
Uptime is one major area of consideration when it comes weh hosting services. Within the past two years, the lowest uptime that has been recorded for HostGator is 99.95%, and to make it better, they’ve promised that if their uptime should fall from 99.99% again, you will be credited for that period.
In terms of uptime, over the past two years, FastComet has only gone below 99.95% once. And their overall average uptime has been around 99.98%. And they do not have any promise of crediting you if they fall below the industry standard.
So when it comes to server uptime, HostGator is definitely better.
Ease of Use
If you are building a website for the first time and you are looking for a web hosting service that is easy to use, perfect for beginners, then you should go for HostGator. You will be provided with a built-in website builder called Gator. You will have access to a lot of tutorials and technical help that will make everything easy to set up. Maybe you want to create an online store, and you don’t know how to go about it, you can use Gator to set it up for you.
FastComet is also simple to use; you will be getting the one-click installer for scripts like WordPress and Joomla. And if you are a developer, this is one of the best web hosting providers that you can wish for because you will be provided with tools like WP-CLI, Drush, bash Laravel, and so much more. All these tools will come in handy for developers that are willing to customize their backend. You will also be using the user-friendly cPanel platform for your website management tasks.
Refund Policy
When it comes to refund policy, FastComet offers a 45-day money-back guarantee on their plans. The 45 days is quite impressive because the industry standard is 30 days. This is to show that FastComet is quite confident about its products.
HostGator offers the same 45-day money-back guarantee, but there is a difference between their policy and that of FastComet. The 45 days money-back guarantee does not cover all the hosting plans. For example, if you are on the dedicated hosting plan, you will not be getting the money-back guarantee.
Another discouraging thing about their policy is that you won’t be getting your money back immediately, even if you qualify for it. You will need to wait for 90 days before you can get your money. And to make it worse, you won’t be getting your money. You will be forced to use the money to subscribe to another plan or a new account with them.
Customer Support
You need to ensure that the web hosting service that you want to sign up with has a fantastic customer support system because it can greatly affect the growth of your business or brand.
With HostGator, you will be getting a lot of great support from world-class experts that are always ready to help you solve any issue. You can always contact them at any time through phone, live chat, and email.
In terms of customer support, FastComet claims to have a 24/7 live chat, and you can call them on the phone at any time. They also have a robust online guide that you can use if you come across any issue.
Security
Security is another important factor that you should not joke with when it comes to web hosting. Both HostGator and FastComet offer free SSL certificates on their shared hosting packages. HostGator has extensive features like Sitelock, Codeguard, and Spam assassin to ensure that your content is safe from hackers. FastComet comes with a web application firewall that is responsible for protecting your website applications like WordPress, Drupal, etc. With FastComet, you will also be getting an extra layer of security, which is Bitninja, tasked with the responsibility of protecting your website against DDoS attacks.
In terms of security, the only difference between these two web hosting services is that you will need to pay for the extra security features of HostGator while FastComet will provide them at no extra charge.
Pricing Plans
It’s always important to know that you are getting the right value for your money. HostGator lowest package is the Hatchling package, and you will need to pay $2.75 per month if you will be paying up to three years. With this plan, you will be getting a free domain name, unlimited storage, a free SSL certificate, and so much more. On the other hand, FastComet cheapest package is known as the StartSmart, and you will need to pay $3.95. You will be offered a free website, a free SSL certificate, 15Gb of storage, and a free domain for life, which is quite impressive.
However, when it comes to HostGator, if you do not want to pay for the three years in advance, then you will need to pay $10.95 for the monthly plan, and that’s a bit much compared to FastComet.
The next package on HostGator is the Baby plan that has all the features of the Hatchling plan plus unlimited domains. It goes for $3.95 per month, while the next plan on FastComet is the ScaleRight, which starts at $5.95. You will be getting 25GB of space and unlimited bandwidth. The last plan on HostGator is the Business plan, and you will need to pay $5.95 per month, you will be offered unlimited storage and a free Dedicated IP. The last plan on FastComet is the SpeedUp plan, and you will need to pay $9.95 per month to enjoy all its features.
Comparing the prices of the two services, it is clear that FastComet is the winner of this category.
Conclusion
After reviewing both web hosting services, although HostGator is more popular, but FastComet has a better performance level, a reliable money-back guarantee, a better price, and a lot more. However, we believe HostGator is still the better one for beginners, but if you are a professional, it will definitely be reasonable to go with FastComet.