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Hatchling vs Baby vs Business – HostGator Plans Compared

HostGator is wildly popular for their shared hosting plans. When comparing HostGator’s Hatchling vs Baby vs Business plan, it’s not always straightforward what exactly is the same and different between the three.

Our website is hosted on HostGator’s server. We find HostGator’s infrastructure to be fast, reliable and responsive. While there are more optimizations we can make to zuziko.com to improve speed, out-of-the box, pages load quickly. 

We started with shared hosting years ago with a HostGator coupon code that lured us in with their highly competitive pricing. Today, we have moved beyond Shared hosting (which the Hatchling, Baby and Business plan are) but find them to be a great starting point. 

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Understanding Shared Hosting

Looking to boost your website speed? Try HostGator or our current host, Rocket.net!

Each of these hosting plans – Hatchling, Baby and Business – are from HostGator’s Shared Hosting offering. Shared hosting means that multiple websites are sharing the same web server.

Each of the websites has its own domain name and the owner of each usually isn’t aware of the other sites on the server. Sharing disk space, CPU processing power, RAM and bandwidth allows hosting companies like HostGator to offer extremely low pricing to their customers.

HostGator Shared Hosting Plan Features

There’s a lot in common when comparing the Hatchling, Baby and Business plans. In fact, there are far more similarities than differences. As far as the high-level features go, each plan includes the same competitive baseline features:

  • FREE Domain Name / Domain Registration
  • FREE SSL Certificate
  • Unmetered Bandwidth 
  • Unlimited Storage

There’s also one click-installs available for all three plans including:

These aren’t the only features, and aren’t the only features shared by the Hatchling, Baby and Business hosting plans. There’s so much in common, we’ve provided a full feature comparison grid below.

Differences between HostGator’s Hatchling vs Baby vs Business Plans

We’ve already mentioned it, but these plans share more in common than what is different. The main differences between the Hatchling, Baby and Business plans comes down to how many websites you can host, add-on domains, dedicated IP address, positive SLL and access to HostGator’s SEO tools. 

Hatchling PlanBaby PlanBusiness Plan
Websites1UnlimitedUnlimited
Positive SSLPaid UpgradePaid Upgrade1 Included
Free Dedicated IPNoNoYes
Free SEO ToolsNoNoYes
Price$2.43/mo$2.95/mo$4.48/mo
Comparison of key differences between HostGator’s shared hosting plans

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We asked HostGator, and they said although the Business plan comes with unlimited websites, the Positive SSL Upgrade is limited to one domain and subdomain for one year. Additional years, or securing additional domains is $45 per year.

Another important note is that the pricing above does change, and also reflects a 36-month commitment. Renewal of any of the plans is not at introductory price, so read the fine print at HostGator before signing up.

What we love: if after 3 years a site we build hasn’t matured to the point that it needs more advanced hosting, we’re doing something wrong! So, we’re ready to upgrade or move on by that point anyway!

HostGator Hatchling, Baby and Business Plans Features
All three HostGator Shared Hosting Plans include these features

Related: See why the HostGator is our choice for Best Inexpensive WordPress hosting for a single WordPress site!

HostGator Hatchling vs. Baby

There are only two significant differences between HostGator’s Hatchling and Baby hosting plans. First, the Hatchling Plan is for a single site whereas the Baby Plan allows hosting of an unlimited number of sites. Second, the Hatchling Plan does allow parking domains whereas the Baby Plan does. Beyond these two differences, the plans are identical.

In most cases the Baby Plan is the best choice. For just a few cents more a month, you’ll be able to host multiple websites which is a big difference in value.

HostGator Hatchling vs. Business

HostGator’s Hatchling and Business Plan are at the opposite end of the shared hosting spectrum and have many key differences.

First, the Hatchling Plan is for hosting one website whereas the Business Plan allows hosting any number of sites.

Second, as the Hatchling Plan is only for a single domain, it doesn’t afford for parking domains – the Business Plan has unlimited domain parking.

Finally, the Business Plan has Positive SSL Upgrade, a dedicated IP address and SEO tools all included in the monthly cost. These features are not available with the Hatchling Plan.

In most cases the Business Plan is the best choice. The only reason to select the Hatchling Plan in this comparison is if you’ll only be hosting a single website and don’t need the advanced features in HostGator’s Business Hosting Plan.

HostGator Baby vs. Business

The Baby and Business Plan are quite similar. The key differences are that the Business Plan has Positive SLL Upgrade, a dedicated IP address and access to HostGator’s SEO tools. Beyond that, the plans are identical.

In most cases the Baby Plan is the best choice. The Baby Plan and Business Plan are both an excellent value, but most won’t need the dedicated IP address, SEO tools or Positive SSL upgrade.

HostGator Feature Comparison Table: Hatchling vs Baby vs Business

Hatchling PlanBaby PlanBusiness Plan
Number of Sites1No LimitNo Limit
Domain RegistrationFREEFREEFREE
SubdomainsUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited
cPanelYesYesYes
SSL CertificateFREEFREEFREE
Positive SSLNoNoYes, 1
Bandwidth AllowanceUnmeteredUnmeteredUnmetered
StorageUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited
FTP AccountsUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited
Parked DomainsNoUnlimitedUnlimited
Website BuilderIncludedIncludedIncluded
Money Back Guarantee45 Day45 Day45 Day
Domain TransfersFREEFREEFREE
Website TransfersFREEFREEFREE
FREE EmailYesYesYes
IMAP SupportYesYesYes
Webmail AccessIncludedIncludedIncluded
Dedicated IPNoNoIncluded
Positive SSLAdd-onAdd-onIncluded
MySQL/phpMyAdminYesYesYes
WordPressOne-Click InstallOne-Click InstallOne-Click Install
DrupalOne-Click InstallOne-Click InstallOne-Click Install
phpBBOne-Click InstallOne-Click InstallOne-Click Install
MagentoOne-Click InstallOne-Click InstallOne-Click Install
JoomlaOne-Click InstallOne-Click InstallOne-Click Install
SSH AccessYesYesYes
Support24/7/36524/7/36524/7/365
HostGator Shared Hosting Plan features compared

Full Feature List on HostGator

Programming Language Support with Shared Hosting

  • CGI/FastCGI
  • Perl
  • PHP 5
  • PHP 7
  • Python
  • Ruby on Rails

HostGator Shared Hosting Programming Module Support

  • CPAN
  • CURL
  • GD Library
  • ImageMagick

How to pick the right plan

Once you’ve decided on shared hosting from HostGator, selecting the right plan comes down to two simple questions.

First, will you be hosting a single website, or will you be hosting multiple websites? If you are only hosting a single website, the Hatchling is likely the right fit. If you are hosting 2 or more websites you are really deciding between the Baby and the Business plans.

Second, do you need a dedicated IP address? If you do, out of the box, the only plan that can provide that is HostGator’s Business Plan.

Finally, beyond those two questions, the next thing to consider is how long do you plan on using the hosting plan? The longer you can commit to up-front, the more you’ll save.

What about Positive SSL and SEO Tools?

You’ll only really need positive SSL if your’e in an industry which you feel you must have it. Positive SSL can be added on to any plan, so if that’s the case, do check that option. When we have a hosting need for Positive SSL, the other project requirements almost always have us choosing a managed or VPS server anyway.

Most people serious about SEO wouldn’t use the SEO tools that HostGator provides although it is nice that they included them.

HostGator Pricing for Shared Hosting

Pricing for HostGator’s Hatchling, Baby and Business shared hosting plans are below. Beyond their extremely low pricing for 36-month commitments, there are several shorter hosting plan terms, albeit with a higher monthly price tag.

Hatchling PlanBaby PlanBusiness Plan
36 Months$2.43/mo$2.95/mo$4.48/mo
24 Months$2.78/mo$3.28/mo$4.78/mo
12 Months$3.13/mo$3.58/mo$5.08/mo
6 Months$10.95/mo$11.95/mo$16.95/mo
3 Months$10.95/mo$11.95/mo$16.95/mo
1 Month$10.95/mo$11.95/mo$16.95/mo
Pricing for HostGator’s Hatchling, Baby and Business hosting plans

Do note that the prices are introductory prices. They do carry for the entire length of the hosting plan’s term. At the end of the term the renewal price is the same as, or slightly less than the single-monthly price. 

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is HostGator Shared Hosting?

Shared Hosting is one of HostGator’s hosting options. They have three plans, each priced competitively among shared hosting competitors. HostGator also offers Cloud Hosting, Dedicated Hosting, VPS hosting and WordPress Hosting.

Does HostGator offer free domains with hosting?

Yes. Most of HostGator’s plans offer a free domain included with a hosting plan subscription.

Can I host WordPress on HostGator?

Yes. All of HostGator’s web hosting plans include support for hosting WordPress, including one-click installation. If considering cloud hosting as an option, give HostGator’s WordPress Cloud Hosting a look, too.

Can Magneto be hosted on HostGator shared hosting?

HostGator’s shared hosting plans include a one-click install of Magneto e-commerce.

Is shared hosting bad?

No. It depends upon hosting needs. For personal sites and small companies, shared hosting is often perfectly fine. Inherently, shared hosting isn’t bad. But, it is generally used for lower-end hosting needs as it lacks the performance and dedicated resources of more expensive hosting plans.

Does HostGator offer specialized hosting?

Yes. In addition to the hosting services offered by most providers, HostGator also allows adult hosting on its platform as long as the content is legal in the United States. To clarify, adult hosting includes all adult topics which include content that is graphic in nature as well as alcohol, tobacco, gambling, and firearm related.

Is HostGator better than GoDaddy?

From our standpoint HostGator is better than GoDaddy for hosting. We prefer their backend management and the performance HostGator offers for the price is exceptional.

Website builder

Whether you choose the Hatchling, Baby or Business plan you will be able to use HostGator’s Website Builder. Most hosting companies have reasonably ’s website builders for beginners. HostGator’s site builder is a drag-and-drop tool that allows anyone to create a professional looking website.

We build our sites on WordPress, so we can’t vouch for every little feature. But, from tinkering around with it, HostGator’s site builder is on par with the competition.

Email hosting on the Hatchling, Baby and Business hosting plans

All three plan have unlimited number of POP3 accounts. You’ll also get mailing lists, spam filtering with spam assassin and email forwarding included. And, when sending outbound emails, HostGator does allow the user of their servers.

David Green

My name is David and I am the founder and author of Zuziko. I love WordPress and have built sites, themes and plugins. I am passionate about web development and have created Zuziko as a way to share my knowledge and experience with the world. My WordPress user profile.

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