Bluehost or Hostgator?

by 142 replies
165
I have had to ask you guys this cos I just cant seem to shift eitherway.

TO go for bluehost or hostgator, it is basically for a portfolio site made in WP. It will have videos images and also interactive content in flash.

I have been searching thrugh the Hostgator features list and I can't see flash listed anywhere?

Anyone know if Hostgator supports flash?
#programming #bluehost #hostgator
  • Ok I have decided to go for Bluehost since they have flash support as well as video streaming support. However I cannot register a .co.uk domain on there.

    Having spoken to them just moments ago , I have been told to register the name and then point it to their servers.

    I have no idea how to do this? could anyone point me to the right guide or person who may be able to aid me with this task?
  • An example would be to buy your domain (not hosting) at Godaddy. Once you do this you can set your A record via Godaddy's DNS Management->Total DNS control, to point to the IP address of where you are hosting the files. There are other settings (such as email server (mx record) and aliases(CName)) to set also.

    You would have to ask your "Site hosting provider" what everything should be set to. So you might get everything ready, be on the Total DNS control page, and then call Bluehost to guide you one line at a time.

    Note that changes in DNS can take up to 48 hours to take effect. It is usually only seems to take about 15 minutes when I make changes though.
  • Flash is executed on a client's computer. You are simply hosting a flash file, as long as they can access the file it shouldn't matter where it is hosted. BlueHost and HostGator would both support this functionality.
  • I think, both web hosting sites are good enough. But I think there are still other web hosting sites that can really help you. But still Bluehost is a great choice. If you change your mind about your chosen hosting site, try this link, freewebsitemaker.co.uk, they have the list of all sites that are top ranking. That I think will help you decide on what site is good than the others.
  • I do use bluehost for hosting my site, till now no problem

    And regarding the domain name Namecheap is also pretty good and you can get .co.uk domain name there.

    Just point the domain name server (DNS) of the bluehost, at the time of booking the domain name or you can also changed it later.

    If you need help for namecheap just ask, i will able to help
  • Something that I never do is register a domain with a hosting package, in case things go wrong.

    I'd suggest using namecheap.com for your domains, and then point the dns to your hosting account. If your unsure about how to do this with namecheap, they have an interactive demo here: NameCheap.com - Demo: Changing DNS for your domain (Interactive Demos) - Knowledgebase
    • [1] reply
    • Thanks everyone, I was thiking of registering with 123-reg but namecheap is coming up alot so I will give that one a go.

      If I get stuck on the technical bits of pointing the address to the server I will let you know.

      As for the flash bit thanks for clearing up that is run on the viewers PC and not on the server.
      Although I did read that hostgator does not support flash somewhere on their on site. I think when I did a search on help topics.

      From my point of view I think BH and HG are pretty much balanced out. Could go either way without any difference probably.
      • [1] reply
  • In my experience hostgator stands out on support and overall uptime and ease of use.
    • [1] reply
    • Yes, I have been suggested hostgator above all, however I was a lil worried about the no flash support which I read somewhere on their help forums.

      I like to create interactive flash applications in my spare time.
      Someone has mentioned that flash runs on users computers so I not quite sure what the the no flash support actually was refering to.
      • [1] reply
  • I would prefer to use hostgator as its a very good panel and very easy to understand all and they have good support too
    • [1] reply
    • Yes, I do like Hostgator, I need to speak to them about what Flash streaming refers to, if its flash video streaming or interactive applications being used by user.

      They have said THIS on their info section.

      Unless someone here know the answer to this?

      Also thanks for suggesting Site5 it looks interesting. i can't find any info on video streaming or Flash use on their site though.
      • [1] reply
  • I have never personally used but I hear good things at once. You can search in google to find businesses, but generally only found in Articles 1 to a million customers who are angry and complain, not many people praising the good service.
  • let me just say briefly I will go for bluehost, they are simply amazing
  • Let me pu tin my 2 cents - I use hostgator and **LOVE** them (and I actually moved over to them from bluehost ... It was a couple of years ago, so I don't even remember why anymore, though, sorry).

    Their service has been perfect (you're usually talking to a support rep within 5 minutes if you call - I can't say the same AT ALL for bluehost), their uptime is exceptional and their packages are cheap (especially if you sign up as an affiliate and get back your $50 for signing yourself up.)

    Hope this helps
    • [2] replies
    • I will be going for HostGator, I just got off Live Chat and got things a little cleared up.

      They do infact support flash in the sense of SWF files on webpages for interactive content, they however do not support flash AV streaming (FLV) on shared hosting but do so on VPS and dedicated servers.

      Will be purchasing my package a little later today.
    • I used to have an account at hostmonster.com (they are the same people than bluehost) but some months ago I decided to try something else. I searched practically every forum and post I could find and my conclusions were:

      Hostgator is better than hostmonster, but it costs a little more.
      Hostgator and hostmonster offer almost the same but I found more positive comments over hostgator.

      At the end my options were to keep my hostmonster account (I had no problems with that) or choose between hostgator and a2hosting.

      Finally I decided for a2hosting because I found a post in a forum were someone said that he had a facebook application which became popular and his account was suspended without advice when he was at hostgator. In contrast someone else had an account at a2hosting and they mailed him suggesting to upgrade before suspending his account.

      That was what made my decision, I absolutely wouldn't want my account being suspended without prior advice.

      I hope that helps.
      • [1] reply
  • I have accounts for both webhost, but Bluehost has exceptional customer service.
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    • Yes, I have been doing research on both, it seems they are pretty much balanced out, and provide the same things for most people.

      During all the research I came accross media temple, their prices are higher compared to HG and BH, I don't know if they are in fact better equipped to charge such rates or maybe its their association with world recognised brands that allow the higher rates.

      They seem quite though at first glance.
  • Hostgator is best host
    • [1] reply
    • Hi, umm thanks for your input.
  • I've personally worked with both and they are both good
    Flash is not something that will ever be mentioned as a rule of thumb.
    Flash is just a simple as loading HTML these days. If you can load up an html page from your hosting which is pretty trivial (nobody writes that right ? ;-)) then you can load Flash for sure.
    • [1] reply
    • Itamar thanks for the info, in my head I still had flash as a "can this host handle it?" kind of thing. Come to think of it you are quite right, it should be an easy thing to do these days, if computers can fly a space shuttle then they can sure as hell play a flash file
      • [1] reply
  • I don't think you could go wrong either way.
    • [1] reply
    • Hi Mun,

      You mentioned that Bluehost doesn't host adult sites. That's very correct! And you mentioned that chances of its hosted sites getting blocked is very remote. That's wrong!

      I've been hosting all my sites at Bluehost for four (4) years now and I can say they're good. But when I traveled to China in 2008, I found out to my greatest surprise that my site was blocked. When I contacted Bluehost Support, they advised me to purchase a dedicated IP, which I did. I never blamed Bluehost for the issue, as it was way beyond them.

      So, hosting adult sites is not the only thing that can get sites in that IP range blocked. Whichever side you choose to follow, Bluehost or Hostgator, bear in mind that getting a dedicated IP is a wise thing to do.

      I am an affiliate of both Bluehost and Hostgator. If you can go through my affiliate link, that will be much appreciated.

      • [1] reply
  • One thing I would say about Hostgator is that their support is A1. Many a time they have gone in and fixed my issue straight off no questions asked and no charge.

    I have not had experience with Bluehost
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  • Hi Mun,

    You can get a dedicated IP with Bluehost for 30 dollars for one year even on a shared hosting but Hostgator can give it for just 2 per month.

    In terms of reliability and uptime, I have tried Bluehost but it has been stinking recently with DDoS attacks on their servers which happen to have been documented on my end via chat and since I was using a third party site uptime tracker, I know how long it took them to bring my site up and the revenue I've lost along with it. I've been tracking my site's uptime with them and lately, they could barely even hit 100% so I'm moving away from them once my one yr. hosting term ends and that's going in favor of Hostgator.

    I have tried the latter on a reseller hosting site I have for a couple of months but had to stop a bit for fund issues but you can't find the quality of customer service with Hostgator from anywhere else and based on my experience with Bluehost, most of them are rude and even talks with multiple customers while they talk to you so it normally takes them long to resolve even a short and simple question compared to a dedicated chat agent on Hostgator.
  • Heavy-traffic should also mean that your site's Alexa rank is below 100K. It much make sense to be credible.
    • [1] reply
    • It doesn't necessarily mean so. So many people don't use Alexa. It's a tool that is used mainly by webmasters.

  • Well i would strongly recommend hostgator since they gave me the best customer support and i am extremely happy with them.
    • [1] reply
    • Hi, I assume having a dedicated IP means that even if the server gets blocked I will still receive traffic from those countries since their accessing a different address?

      Or would the site still be bocked?

      Are there many advantages of having a dedicated IP?
      • [1] reply
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    • [1] reply
    • It is quite interesting to see that I am finding very balanced amounts of information and replies about BH and HG, where Hostgator seems to be getting slighlty in front simply because of their top customer service.

      Very Interesting Indeed.
      • [1] reply
  • If I could only choose between big Blue and the Gator, I'd choose HostGator. However, I use Site5 exclusively and recommend them. =)
  • I use both to diversify but I prefer HostGator big time. I hear some complain but I have a lot of sites with them and never have any downtime or slow response issues.
    • [1] reply
    • I've been thinking, Video streaming must be a big reason for CPU throttling.

      In which case I assume having the files hosted on the save server as the site would put more pressure on the processing rather than having the video files stored else where?
      • [1] reply
  • I use both Bluehost and Hostgator. I can say Hostgator has no problem to host sites of every kind ( adult for example ) and it is quite fast.
    But Bluehost has strongest servers and their cpanel has more options than Hosgator ( they have SimpleScripts, and if you need to install Magento you will LOVE it).
    Anyway they are quite similar if you don't have particular exigence. If you need a better software equipedd server go for bluehost. In my experience they are a little bit more professional than Hostgator. Hostgator looks more to numbers, Bluehost looks for quality. Even if the difference is not so big.
    • [3] replies
    • Hi by "Strongest Severs", do you mean that they are capable of handling a little more pressure from high volume traffic?

      Because I think that it is this traffic that causes CPU throttling, causing everything to slow down.

      I am not sure about the advantages of having more option on the cpanel for simple websites, but I guess its an advantage for lots of backend changing and customisation.

      Also I havent hear any personal reviews about media temple, anyone here have experience using them?
      • [1] reply
    • Here is a quick way to figure out whether a hosting provider is a better choice. Are they going to provide you their own 24 hour security monitoring, daily backups, uptime, etcetera? Are they SAS 70 Type II certified? Can you scale up as needed (shared, VPS, Dedicated)? Do they throttle CPU load and memory resources?

      The answer to these questions becomes clear very quickly...
    • i think content doesn't related to hosting provider.
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  • For all those considering hostgator, you might want to check seohosting ( SEO Hosting - SEO Web Hosting with cPanel and Multiple Class C IP Addresses ). That is a hostgator company as well, and you can host multiple sites on the same account all on different class C IP addresses.

    I have been using them for some time with great results.
    • [2] replies
    • Nice link! I have bookmarked SEO Hosting for the future.

    • I used hostgator till now.. looked ad SEO hosting and will switch my host from today

      Thank you!
  • hmm , i still use hostgator untill now
  • Hi by "Strongest Severs", do you mean that they are capable of handling a little more pressure from high volume traffic?

    i mean their server can handle haevy server applications without problems (see Magento... )
    • [1] reply
    • Bluehost doesn't actually handle pressures like high volume traffic well. Under such situation, your site will be relegated to CPU throttling. CPU throttling causes high bounce rate, as visitors are forced to move away from the site.

      • [1] reply
  • i use bluehost and they are good.
  • Yes, I'm agreed with the above opninion, Bluehost and hostgator is the same level at their service, don't get confiused of this, just make sure what you needs
    Beside, you are comparing two of the biggest hosting in this world, don't be bothered
    • [1] reply
    • Yes, I know they are two of the biggest in the world, that is why I am comparing, the reason being if all technical/hardware aspects are nearly identical, then it would come down to experience and customer <-> Business interations.

      Their customer service, their ability to understand and solve, their understanding of customer needs that help them develop themselves further.

      I think there are people who would choose a host company simply because there is a nice person to speak to at the end of other line.

      for example, I wouldn't want to be speaking to a moody/emotionless/zombie-like customer service rep. on the other end of the line.

      maybe that's just me though
      • [1] reply
  • Hostgator is better if comparing to bluehost IMO ..

    Though GoDaddy seems best , also try MochaHost !
    • [1] reply
    • Mexabet, I understand how you feel, I mean, people make a living online from using their services and I assume quite a few pay very good money for other services.

      Referring to these people who pull heavy traffic (for their income) as abusive, it just doesn't seem right to me.

      A request to ammend their text may be in order, but will they listen?
      • [1] reply
  • Hi I did check with Hostgator, they support flash streaming only in VPS and dedicated servers.

    Shared Hosting they support SWF Flash files .
  • Hostgator has been great. No issues, easy to use
  • They are both running neck and neck. It's pros and cons. They're both very good, and both have their drawbacks, so it just boils down to which conveniences, inconveniences you choose to live with.
    • [1] reply
    • Yep, its just a matter of who has what you need, and does it better.
  • I didn't even know Hostgator doesn't accept PayPal. Well I don't use credit cards anyhow online.
    • [2] replies
    • Yep payment options are a pretty big deciding factor on online purchases of products and services, paypal integration has become a very important part of online business, I think maunly because so many people use it and how easy it is to use instead of re-typing ur details over n over again lol
      • [1] reply

    • wow, it's 2010 isn't it?


      do they accept google checkout at least?
  • I have never used either personally but I have heard good things of both. You may do some searches in google to find about the companies, but usually you will only find articles of the 1 in a million customers who are irate and ranting there, not people praising the good service.
  • #1 Reason for me why hostgator is great - The live help chat that is available 24/7. I know that seems like a common day occurence now on major sites, but this alone has saved my butt multiple times and kept me from spending money on odesk or rentacoder.

    Often times someone at hostgator will help resolve or just do the task at hand as long as it isn't too labor intensive.
  • BlueHost and HostGator are two well-known web hosting company. Both were examined by the Fire Click here and are both considered a leader in web hosting. Each company has received five stars in his opinion, and both were much more good than bad points list.
  • I think using both (or even more) hosting services is nice for SEO, since your websites are on different IPs and you can link them.
  • One thing I would say about Hostgator is that their hold up is A1. Many a time they have gone in and fixed my issue in a straight line off no questions asked and no accuse.
  • Flash is accomplished on a customer computer. You are merely hosting a flash file, as long as they can access the file it shouldn't subject where it is hosted.
  • Hostgator is better due to their good , fast and reliable support.
  • Bluehost sucks..! They even dont have ddos protection in their shared as well as dedicated hosting.. Hostgator is much Better
  • Bluehost is cheaper and I find I have had no limitations with them. Great service.
  • H O S T G T O R is the best always.
    • [1] reply
    • Bluehost is a shared hosting company that has been classified as a Word press host. It has been said that "BlueHost is an adequate service, but hold times on the phone can be incredibly long.
      HostGator is a Houston-based web hosting company with an additional presence in Austin, taxes. HostGator had passed the 200,000 mark in registered domains. In 2008, inc magazine ranked Host Gator at #21 in the United States and #1 in the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas area in its list of fastest-growing companies. The same year, Hostgator decided to make their hosting service green hosting by working with Integrated Ecosystem Market Services.

      so the hostgator is best
  • Hostgator! I had bluehost once, never again. They suspended my account 3 months before it ended, cause of too much usage of bandwidth, or processor, cant remeber now. Anyway, when you're buying, they promise you everything unlimited...
  • IMHO buy the domain name at Godaddy and then host with Hostgator. Flash has nothing to do with it, by the way.
  • I'd pick neither of them. I'd go with IPower, that's who I've used for years and never had a problem. Support is top notch and everything works perfectly.
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  • i prefer host gator because it is easy and reliable.
  • Hostgator all the way. I've worked with so many (SOOO MANY) hosts and couldn't believe how well HostGator has handled issues. And I have given them my share. They've always gone above and beyond when they could have easily blown me off. May not be the cheapest option, but I tip my hat off to them.
  • I use bluehost. They seem to have everything I need and anything I would need in the future when I plan to expand my website.
  • Has anyone used Justhost.com?
    • [1] reply

    • Don't bother yourself going with them. They delete sites/accounts without prior notice especially if you got pissed with their service. Go with Hostgator instead.
  • Host gator wants me to verified my account thru phone and I told them wats the purpose of giving a month free when I have to pay the same amount to my telephone company since I' m gonna have to make an international call and they even want me to fax over my id..wtf. So I contact Blue Host and they say you just need to verified it thru live chat. So I think I'll go with Blue Host.
  • bluehost i am using it

    it rocks theyt have no problems
  • I like HG and Bluehost... I can't really choose between the two.

    One thing I will definitely say however is avoid Dreamhost - especially the VPS that they are offering. It is a massive con....
  • i cannot recommend Bluehost
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  • If you want shared hosting - then Bluehost, but if you want to actually host a site that gets decent traffic, then look at a VPS with HostNine - their support kicks ass!
    • [2] replies
    • Both are good, but i would choose Bluehost.
    • Good job bumping a post from 4 years ago. :rolleyes:

      Whatever this thread used to say is void. Hostgator and Bluehost are just EIG brands now.
      Those hosts ceased to exist years ago.
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
      • [1] reply
  • Bluehost all the way. Hostgator has really gone down the tubes and I've heard others say the same.
  • I prefer bluehost for great server
  • Hostgator sucks now. I moved from Hostgator to BlueHost around a year ago. In my opinion,BlueHost is way better than Hostgator.
    • [1] reply
    • Both HostGator and BlueHost are owned by the same company, EIG. Also, their servers are all being moved to the same data center and space is being oversold like crazy which is making most sites hosted by any of EIGs hosting companies load very slowly. I suggest staying away from all of EIG's hosting companies. You can see a list of them here:

      Endurance International Group - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
      • [1] reply
  • Tried them both, HostGator was safer and better. The support is pretty OK and the entire service was smoother.
  • I am using hostgator and so far i am happy with the services that hosting provide
  • i am suggesting you bluehost only because their server faster than hostgator also good cpanel .. but nowadays their servers crowded but that not a problem use blue host
    • [1] reply
    • Yes, Bluehost servers are vastly overloaded too. All EIG brands are. You're likley on a new server that hasn't been filled up yet.

      Hostgator and Bluehost are the same host (EIG).
  • As per my information, Host-gator is better than blue-host. It supports all.
  • I'd pick hostgator , currently using them . . but one annoying thing about them is the verification part if you pay with cc but otherwise we are good to go with them . .
  • I'd go with hostgator , but one annoying thing about hostgator is the verification part if you pay with cc but otherwise i'm good with hostgator for about 6 months now. .
  • I am with Hostgator last 4 years and they are really excellent for hosting. As you said its a portfolio wp site so you should go with hostgator and i think, they support flash also.
    • [1] reply
    • How are they excellent with 4+ datacenter downtiomes (ALL SERVERS!) for a day each? You must not monitor your sites is all I can say. I prefer as close to 100% uptime as possible -- not minutes, hours, or even days of downtime.

      It's why I use good hosts like Stablehost and EuroVPS.
  • Currently I am using Hostriverr but I want to switch to Bluehost it comes up with so many advantages.. Flash support is really awesome feature of it.
  • If you ask me OP to be honest as my personal experience, hostgator stands out to be the best on support and ease of use.
  • well i vote for hostgater.. i am using it since years and didnt face any problem with it.
  • Avoid bluehost, their tech support response time has tanked. OK, good luck, Edward Smith.
  • hostgator for low traffic sites, if the traffic is high and the servers are running busy continuously you will get your hosting banned for basic packages.
  • Both are owned by EIG now, which is super infamous for bad support or almost no support. If you use either one, you take your own risk.
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  • 165

    Bluehost or Hostgator?

    I have had to ask you guys this cos I just cant seem to shift eitherway. TO go for bluehost or hostgator, it is basically for a portfolio site made in WP. It will have videos images and also interactive content in flash.