JustHost vs. HostGator (2019)

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Ryan Frankel Ryan Frankel Hosting Expert
“We tested HostGator & JustHost — The winner is HostGator!”

Solid entry-level hosts, JustHost and HostGator are good options focused on helping rookie website owners get online for the first time. Both hosting providers offer feature-laden shared plans that balance cost and performance. We appreciate that HostGator includes unlimited emails, MySQL databases, disk space, and bandwidth. While JustHost limits email accounts and disk space, they throw in a free domain registration and website builder. These hosts’ lengthy money-back guarantees should put the minds of first-time hosting customers at ease: HostGator’s 45-day guarantee is longer than average, and JustHost’s refund policy covers the lifetime of the account. Read through our reviews to measure more than just their shared hosting options.

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HostGator review
Overall Rating
4.5/5.0 ★★★★★
Visit HostGator »
JustHost review
Overall Rating
3.7/5.0 ★★★★★
Visit JustHost »
Compare: Overall | Cheap Hosting | Dedicated | VPS | WordPress | Site Builder | Conclusion

Overall Hosting Comparison

HostGator review

Best Overall Rating

★★★★★ 4.5/5.0

HostGator has been around for more than a decade and is well-respected for its large number of servers and consistent reliability. Known mostly as a shared hosting provider, HostGator still supplies decent... read more +

HostGator has been around for more than a decade and is well-respected for its large number of servers and consistent reliability. Known mostly as a shared hosting provider, HostGator still supplies decent dedicated and VPS options if you need your site to scale.

HostGator costs a little more than some of the other budget-minded shared hosts, but that contributes to the brand's reputation for strong infrastructure and helpful support. HostGator offers decent features in its basic shared hosting offerings, such as unlimited disk space, a nice control panel, and free website templates. Plus, you get the flexibility to add numerous add-ons for privacy, security, and productivity as you see fit.

Aimed primarily at the semi-technical user, HostGator's flexibility is its strong suit. Dedicated, VPS, and Windows hosting is available if that fits your needs. For those that need it, root access, SSH, and support for Ruby, Perl, Python, and other languages is available on all plans.

HostGator has nearly limitless options and control available for their server, however, they require a little more knowledge than beginner-focused web hosts. If you need to host multiple sites, their wide array of offerings make them a great choice.

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  • Easy-to-use control panel
  • FREE drag-and-drop site builder
  • Unlimited disk space, emails, and bandwidth on all plans
  • No contract required and 45-day money-back guarantee
  • 62% off your first three years
  • Get started on HostGator now.
Money Back Guarantee
45 days
Disk Space
Unlimited
Domain Name
New or Transfer
JustHost review

Best Overall Rating

★★★★★ 3.7/5.0

JustHost has a lot of free extras that come with their services, making them a good, moderately-priced shared host. Their website is easy to use and clean. Their web administration panel is designed in the... read more +

JustHost has a lot of free extras that come with their services, making them a good, moderately-priced shared host. Their website is easy to use and clean. Their web administration panel is designed in the same vein and it makes using JustHost a pleasure when compared to some of the other hosts that have more complicated administration panels.

Beginners and experienced users alike will appreciate ample storage space and unlimited bandwidth, transfers, and email accounts. The included domain name is also a perk everyone needs and can enjoy.

If you sign up for a plan of 2-3 years' commitment JustHost becomes one of the most affordable shared hosts that exists. For folks that are new to the hosting space, this term length can be daunting and hard to justify. They do offer an "anytime" money-back guarantee, which promises to refund a pro-rated portion of your money if you are not satisfied.

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  • Instant setup
  • Easy-to-use cPanel control panel
  • FREE site builders
  • $200 in Facebook, Google, and Bing advertising credits
  • 24/7 live phone or chat support
  • Get started on JustHost now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

Cheap Hosting Comparison

HostGator review

Cheap Rating

★★★★★ 4.9/5.0

#3 out of 10 in Cheap Hosting reviews

HostGator is a great compromise between performance and price. The company offers unlimited emails, MySQL databases, disk space, and bandwidth, plus one-click installs of popular open-source projects, in... read more +

HostGator is a great compromise between performance and price. The company offers unlimited emails, MySQL databases, disk space, and bandwidth, plus one-click installs of popular open-source projects, in addition to a 99.9% uptime guarantee on its shared hosting plans.

HostGator’s price-to-performance perks also apply to its vast array of other hosting options, such as VPS, dedicated servers, and even reseller hosting. The company's many hosting options make them a great choice for sites on the rise, in need of options for the future.

For those just getting started and looking for a good, cheap host, HostGator bundles some nice features that hosting newbies can appreciate. The company’s custom website builder comes with more than 4,500 drag-and-drop, mobile-friendly templates to help users launch their website, blog, or ecommerce store, while the familiar cPanel interface helps customers seamlessly manage domains, email, databases, and one-click software installations.

If you are looking for a solid web host, with a ton of flexibility, plenty of power, and great price points, you should consider making HostGator your web host of choice.

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  • $0.01 for 1 month, then plans from $4.47/mo to $10.95/mo if you don't cancel
  • Unmetered disk space & bandwidth
  • Unlimited email addresses & free SSL certificate
  • One-click WordPress install & free blog tools
  • New domain costs $12.95, or use existing domain free
  • Get started on HostGator now.
Money Back Guarantee
45 days
Disk Space
Unlimited
Domain Name
New or Transfer
JustHost review

Cheap Rating

★★★★★ 4.2/5.0

A lot of freebies come along with JustHost, making it a great value. The starter plan is very affordable; however the best deals are saved for those that sign up for multiple years. ... read more +

A lot of freebies come along with JustHost, making it a great value. The starter plan is very affordable; however the best deals are saved for those that sign up for multiple years.

Some of the nice features included on the base account are unlimited bandwidth, 100 email accounts, free domain name registration, and a simple site builder. The more expensive plans get unlimited email addresses and storage.

JustHost also has a simple-to-use website builder. It’s not as robust as some of the other offerings, but it has a lot of templates (400+) and support for eCommerce carts.

Finally, JustHost offers an anytime money-back guarantee with all of their hosting plans, which should put some minds at ease about selecting a long-term contract and getting the best deal.

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  • Unlimited email accounts and FREE site builder
  • FREE domain name registration
  • $200 in Facebook, Google, and Bing advertising credits
  • 24/7 support via phone, email, and chat
  • Website builder, marketing tools, and SEO tips included
  • Get started on JustHost now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

Dedicated Hosting Comparison

HostGator review

Dedicated Rating

★★★★★ 4.8/5.0

#4 out of 7 in Dedicated Hosting reviews

Founded in 2002, HostGator is one of the largest web hosts with a long lineage of dedicated server hosting. With updated hardware, including Intel Xeon Quad-core processors and a boatload of RAM, HostGator... read more +

Founded in 2002, HostGator is one of the largest web hosts with a long lineage of dedicated server hosting. With updated hardware, including Intel Xeon Quad-core processors and a boatload of RAM, HostGator balances performance, quality of service, and competitive pricing.

As one of the few hosts to offer managed support and a Windows-based operating system, HostGator is an excellent fit for those seeking hassle-free ASP.NET support.

HostGator boasts a top-of-the-line, fully redundant network and datacenter, which dedicated hosting users should appreciate. The company also offers several unique IP addresses per dedicated server account.

Finally, HostGator has a fantastic support network and 24/7 customer service available via phone, chat, or email. Combining that support with plenty of power, HostGator is a very respectable choice for a dedicated server host.

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  • Linux or Windows servers available
  • Unlimited MySQL databases
  • Top-of-the-line fully redundant network and datacenter
  • SSH access and support for multiple languages
  • Managed or semi-managed solutions
  • Get started on HostGator now.
Money Back Guarantee
N/A
Disk Space
512 GB SSD - 2 TB HDD
Domain Name
New or Transfer
JustHost review

Dedicated Rating

★★★★★ 3.8/5.0

#7 out of 7 in Dedicated Hosting reviews

JustHost's modern hardware and a lot of dedicated IP addresses are the centerpieces of its dedicated offerings. Each server is fully-managed with enhanced cPanel, making JustHost a good choice for a... read more +

JustHost's modern hardware and a lot of dedicated IP addresses are the centerpieces of its dedicated offerings. Each server is fully-managed with enhanced cPanel, making JustHost a good choice for a first-time user's dedicated server. Experienced users who want to manage or configure all aspects of their servers may look to another host.

Instant provisioning is a greatly-appreciated and rare feature for dedicated servers, which can often take hours to be configured. Other features of note are RAID 1 data protection and root access.

JustHost’s site is also very well designed and their live chat and phone support is responsive and excellent; however, the lack of redundancy and 99.9% uptime brings their rating down a bit.

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  • Root access and cPanel
  • Fully-managed hosting plans with instant provisioning
  • Automatic data protection (Raid 1)
  • Enhanced write-back caching with its own RAM
  • Dedicated support team
  • Get started on JustHost now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
500 GB - 2 TB RAID
Domain Name
N/A

VPS Hosting Comparison

HostGator review

VPS Rating

★★★★★ 4.5/5.0

#7 out of 8 in VPS Hosting reviews

HostGator has built a great reputation in the industry for its shared hosting options. The company's VPS solutions, with optional cPanel support, provide a nice and easy introduction to those that are new... read more +

HostGator has built a great reputation in the industry for its shared hosting options. The company's VPS solutions, with optional cPanel support, provide a nice and easy introduction to those that are new to VPS hosting and know their needs require more than a typical shared server.

Starting at low price points and boasting tons of support, HostGator makes transitioning to a VPS plan reasonable and doable. Each plan comes with two IP addresses and a bunch of storage, and recently expanded CPU and RAM offerings lend a ton of computing power.

HostGator’s strongest point comes from its state-of-the-art datacenter. Featuring a fully redundant network with no single point of failure and multiple bandwidth providers, uptime should almost never be a concern.

Founded in 2002, HostGator is one of the largest online web hosts. The company has more than 12,000 servers under management and award-winning support. If you are looking for a small VPS server or value the strength of a great network, give HostGator a shot.

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  • Full root access
  • Fully or semi-managed options
  • Redundant network with multiple layers of network security
  • FREE website, domain, MySQL, and script transfer
  • RAID-10 storage for data protection
  • Get started on HostGator now.
Money Back Guarantee
45 days
Disk Space
120 GB - 240 GB
Domain Name
New or Transfer
JustHost review

VPS Rating

★★★★★ 4.1/5.0

JustHost is a mid-tier web host that has somewhat pricey VPS options given the amount of processing power that you get. With that said, their interface is extremely simple to navigate and their live chat... read more +

JustHost is a mid-tier web host that has somewhat pricey VPS options given the amount of processing power that you get. With that said, their interface is extremely simple to navigate and their live chat and phone support team is very quick to respond.

First-time users who know they’ll need a VPS will be happy to have a cPanel control panel as well as a free domain. Migrating to a larger server, should you need one, is also painless. Though not huge CPU and RAM numbers, you are given decent amounts of storage and bandwidth. Multiple included IPs is also a nice touch on their larger plans.

JustHost offers great support and a very nice "anytime" money-back guarantee, so there is little risk in checking out their VPS solutions.

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  • Guaranteed server resources from enhanced virtualization
  • Instant provisioning
  • Scalability from cloud technology
  • Feature-rich enhanced cPanel control panel
  • 24/7 technical support
  • Get started on JustHost now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
30 GB - 120 GB
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

WordPress Hosting Comparison

HostGator review

WordPress Rating

★★★★★ 4.8/5.0

#5 out of 10 in WordPress Hosting reviews

HostGator is great for all things shared hosting, and application-specific services — such as the classic one-click-install WordPress hosting — are no exception. The team recently updated its already... read more +

HostGator is great for all things shared hosting, and application-specific services — such as the classic one-click-install WordPress hosting — are no exception. The team recently updated its already clean and intuitive cPanel dashboard, wherein users can find a myriad of free apps and scripts to install, including WordPress. You could quite realistically have a WP-powered site up and running in as little as an afternoon.

As is the case with many of our favorite shared WordPress hosting providers, HostGator offers unlimited emails, databases, disk storage, and bandwidth. The one downfall is the lack of the popular free domain perk, but domain names are easy to obtain for around $10 to $15 bucks with any registrar. You can also select, register, and pay for a domain directly from the HostGator signup page.

If you're serious about your WordPress hosting, we recommend HostGator's new(er) managed WordPress platform, which is optimized for performance with cloud resources, multiple layers of caching tools, and a complimentary CDN. Managed WordPress plan subscribers enjoy up to 2.5x faster page load speeds for their website or blog. If you're running a business website, this is an excellent investment.

Once your site is designed and ready for promotion, HostGator helps you kickstart your online marketing efforts with $100 in paid advertising credits. Attract blog readers, potential clients, or online shoppers browsing Google search results. Yay, traffic!!

We wish you the best of luck in your blog or online business hosting endeavors. WordPress is a known favorite in the space, and HostGator has established itself as a trusted partner well worthy of your consideration.

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  • Easy-to-set-up WordPress hosting on shared servers
  • Install WordPress with one click via cPanel dashboard
  • Unlimited email addresses hosted at your domain
  • 99.9% uptime guarantee means your blog stays online
  • $100 in Google Adwords credit to kickstart marketing
  • Get started on HostGator now.
Money Back Guarantee
45 days
Disk Space
Unlimited
Domain Name
New or Transfer
JustHost review

WordPress Rating

★★★★★ N/A

JustHost does not currently offer this type of hosting. We would not recommend choosing this host for this hosting category.

Site Builder Hosting Comparison

HostGator review

Website Builder Rating

★★★★★ 4.9/5.0

#4 out of 10 in Website Builder Hosting reviews

Setting itself apart from the scores of competitors that rely on white-labeled website builder solutions, HostGator spent the time to painstakingly craft its own platform. Gator provides a frustration-free... read more +

Setting itself apart from the scores of competitors that rely on white-labeled website builder solutions, HostGator spent the time to painstakingly craft its own platform. Gator provides a frustration-free experience that pairs the simplicity of drag-and-drop design with the company’s powerful and respected web hosting services.

Signing up is a breeze, and HostGator gives customers an option to add a suite of social media marketing tools. Users are quickly ushered into a gallery of more than 200 modern, mobile-responsive, and visually impressive templates that can be sorted by categories like beauty and fashion, music and entertainment, real estate, business consultant, portfolios, and others. Gator covers blogs and ecommerce stores, even coming with a free domain name and SSL certificate.

Once you choose your basic look, Gator ushers you through a 15-second tour to show you the basic features of the editor — and it’s all you need. Clicking on any element opens a menu that gives you options to change styles, whether it’s a section’s complete design or something simple like font or color.

We especially appreciate how Gator’s drag-and-drop interface gives users pixel-perfect control while still suggesting guides and grids for appropriate spacing. Throughout the customization and design phase, users can seamlessly switch between desktop and mobile views to understand how your site will appear to all visitors.

Adding a blog or ecommerce store takes just a click. We wish Gator would suggest a select few designs that matched the current site’s template instead of the dozen or so options that reflect a wide range of categories, but we were impressed that the in-depth previews covered both the blog page and individual posts, for instance.

All in all, HostGator can be incredibly proud of its proprietary site builder — and customers can sit back and enjoy the confidence in having such a well-rounded tool at their design disposal.

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  • Drag-and-drop design with the Gator™ website builder
  • Hundreds of mobile-friendly, industry-specific templates
  • FREE hosting, domain name, and SSL certificate
  • Easily add a blog, ecommerce, and social media marketing
  • Analytics portal helps you gauge your site’s performance
  • Get started on HostGator now.
Money Back Guarantee
45 days
Disk Space
Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)
JustHost review

Website Builder Rating

★★★★★ 3.9/5.0

#10 out of 10 in Website Builder Hosting reviews

With JustHost, their website building options are included in their shared hosting. While not as robust as a Weebly-based drag-and-drop system, they include 400 templates, which should satisfy even the... read more +

With JustHost, their website building options are included in their shared hosting. While not as robust as a Weebly-based drag-and-drop system, they include 400 templates, which should satisfy even the pickiest of users.

In addition to the site builder, you get all of the perks of their shared hosting plans, such as a free domain, unlimited email accounts, unlimited file transfers, eCommerce shopping carts, and cPanel, which is very nice. For business users, the included 200 dollars in advertising credits will help get your new site welcomed exposure.

Aimed at the first-time user, JustHost is very intuitive to use. Bundling a free domain and their instant provisioning, they get you up and running and building your site in just minutes, without having to wait for the server to be configured for you.

Finally, JustHost offers fantastic 24/7 customer support that is very well known in the industry. They will help you keep your site running if there are issues, but they are not proficient with their website builders.

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  • Includes cPanel
  • 400+ templates, including eCommerce carts
  • FREE domain name
  • $200 in Facebook, Google, and Bing advertising credits
  • 24/7 phone support
  • Get started on JustHost now.
Money Back Guarantee
Anytime
Disk Space
Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

HostGator vs. JustHost - Our Conclusion

Ryan Frankel Ryan Frankel Hosting Expert
“We tested HostGator & JustHost — The winner is HostGator!”

To wrap things up, both JustHost and HostGator excel at the basics. As you move through the ranks of VPS, and dedicated hosting, however, you can see the gap between the two start to widen. We value the resources that HostGator provides customers to help them grow: state-of-the-art infrastructure, fully or semi-managed options, and around-the-clock support through email, phone, and chat.

HostGator review
Overall Rating
4.5/5.0 ★★★★★
Visit HostGator »
JustHost review
Overall Rating
3.7/5.0 ★★★★★
Visit JustHost »

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JustHost vs. Bluehost - 2019

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