Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Flywheel VS HostGator

Compare Flywheel VS HostGator and see what are their differences

Flywheel logo Flywheel

WordPress hosting and management built for designers and agencies.

HostGator logo HostGator

HostGator is a leading provider of web hosting, VPS hosting and dedicated servers. Discover why over 9,000,000 websites trust us for their hosting needs.
  • Flywheel Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-14
  • HostGator Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-12

Flywheel features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Flywheel offers an intuitive and clean interface, making it easy for users, including beginners, to manage their websites.
  • Staging Environment
    Flywheel provides staging environments that allow users to test changes and updates before making them live, which reduces the risk of errors.
  • Free SSL Certificates
    Flywheel includes free SSL certificates for all sites, which enhances security and trustworthiness without additional cost.
  • Automated Backups
    Daily automated backups ensure that users can easily restore their site in case of an error or data loss, providing peace of mind.
  • Excellent Support
    Flywheel is known for its responsive and helpful customer support, which can be a critical feature when troubleshooting issues.
  • Performance Optimization
    Flywheel is optimized for WordPress performance, offering fast loading times and reliable uptime.
  • Managed Security
    Flywheel includes managed security measures like malware scans, removing a significant burden from the site owner.

Possible disadvantages of Flywheel

  • Higher Cost
    Flywheel's plans are more expensive compared to some other web hosting providers, which might be a barrier for small businesses or personal sites.
  • Limited Server Locations
    Flywheel has a limited number of server locations, which might not be ideal for users looking to target audiences in specific geographical areas.
  • No Email Hosting
    Flywheel does not offer email hosting services, which means users must rely on third-party providers for their email needs.
  • Limited Customization
    Due to its managed nature, Flywheel may offer fewer customization options for advanced users compared to other hosting solutions.
  • Site Migration Limitations
    While Flywheel offers free site migration, it can sometimes face limitations and issues that require additional support or manual intervention.
  • Resource Limits
    Some of Flywheel's plans have resource limits that could constrain the performance of high-traffic websites, necessitating an upgrade to a more expensive plan.

HostGator features and specs

  • Affordable Pricing
    HostGator offers competitive pricing plans which makes it accessible for small businesses and individual users. They frequently provide discounts and promo codes.
  • Scalability
    HostGator offers a range of plans that can easily be scaled up as your website grows. Options include shared hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated servers.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    The platform features a user-friendly control panel (cPanel) which simplifies website management for beginners and experienced users alike.
  • Quality Customer Support
    HostGator provides 24/7 customer support via phone, live chat, and email, ensuring that help is always available when needed.
  • Free Website Migration
    HostGator offers free website migration services, which can be particularly useful for users looking to switch from another hosting provider without hassle.
  • 99.9% Uptime Guarantee
    HostGator guarantees a high uptime, ensuring that your website remains accessible to visitors almost all the time.

Possible disadvantages of HostGator

  • Upselling
    HostGator tends to engage in aggressive upselling tactics for additional features, which can be annoying for users who are not interested in add-ons.
  • Performance Variability
    Some users have reported inconsistent website performance, particularly on shared hosting plans. This can impact site loading speeds.
  • Additional Costs
    Although the initial pricing is competitive, renewal rates can be significantly higher. Also, certain features like automatic backups are not included in all plans and come at an extra cost.
  • Security Features
    While HostGator offers basic security features, some advanced security options and monitoring are only available through paid add-ons.
  • Resource Limitations
    Shared hosting plans may come with resource limitations, which can affect the performance of larger websites or those experiencing high traffic.
  • Customer Service Wait Time
    Despite offering 24/7 support, some users have reported long wait times when contacting HostGator's customer service, particularly during peak hours.

Flywheel videos

Flywheel Hosting - Flywheel Hosting Review

More videos:

  • Review - Exxentric kBox 4 Flywheel Training REVIEW!
  • Review - Honda H'ness CB350 First Look Review | ഇനി ഹോണ്ടയുടെ റെട്രോ യുഗം? | Flywheel Malayalam

HostGator videos

Hostgator Review: Testing Performance, Support & Features [NEW]

More videos:

  • Review - Hostgator Review: Is Hostgator Good?
  • Review - Hostgator Review 2020 - (My Honest Opinion After 10 Years of Use)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Flywheel and HostGator)
Web Hosting
12 12%
88% 88
Cloud Hosting
29 29%
71% 71
Hosting
9 9%
91% 91
Domain Name Registrar
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Flywheel and HostGator

Flywheel Reviews

10+ Best Free 60 Day Trial Web Hosting [No Credit Card Required]
Flywheel started in 2012 and now works in good condition. Flywheel provides managed WordPress hosting. Their charges are a little high but we can afford them because of their services.
Best Web Hosting Affiliate Programs in 2023
While the specific duration of their tracking cookies remains undisclosed, the opportunity to earn substantial commissions through Flywheel’s affiliate program is certainly promising.
Source: digiexe.com
15 Best Web Hosting Free Trial 2023 (No Credit Card Required)
Click on this exclusive link to get a 14 day free trial of Flywheel. Now click on the Get Started button and on the next page you will have to type basic information.
8 GoDaddy Alternatives & Why You Need One
Why Use Flywheel over GoDaddy: Flywheel offers a more affordable alternative to WordPress agencies and freelancers than GoDaddy. It offers workflow tools that freelancers and agencies need to collaboratively create WordPress websites for themselves and for their clients, as well as features like caching, CDN, staging sites, and daily backups to keep your sites fast, secure,...
6 Best Bluehost Alternatives & Competitors
Built on tough network infrastructure, Flywheel is highly optimized for scale, speed, and security. Unlike other services providing at no cost trials, Flywheel offers free demo sites. With the demo service offered by a cheap Bluehost alternative, you can generate various test sites and try out exclusive features that it puts on your way.

HostGator Reviews

12 Best Cheap Dedicated Servers Ranked
HostGator has become infamous with its poor customer support and server outages. In fact, there are so many negative reviews around the Web that I’m surprised the company still gets new signups.
Top 5 Affordable WordPress Hosting Providers to Watch in 2025
Selecting the right WordPress hosting provider is crucial for your website’s performance, security, and scalability. In 2025, five affordable and reputable providers to watch are: Rad Web Hosting, InMotion Hosting, Bluehost, HostGator, and A2 Hosting. This assessment examines each provider’s features, performance, pricing, and customer support to help you make an informed...
8 Best Shared WordPress Hosting Providers in 2025 (Compared)
Last on our list of best shared WordPress hosting providers is HostGator. They offer three shared hosting plans, each with unmetered bandwidth, at least 10 GB of storage, one-click WordPress installs, and a free domain with a one-year hosting plan. What makes HostGator unique is the scalability of its hosting plans. For example, if you start with the Hatching Plan and decide...
Best European Web Hosting Companies – A Quick View
Hostgator offers Shared, WordPress, Dedicated, VPS as well as Reseller hosting. If you’re a beginner in the digital field, We recommend you to try Hostgator and use the following link to gain the best discount!
Best Linux VPS [Top 10 Linux VPS Provider 2024]
HostGator is user-friendly, making it one of the excellent choices for both beginners and experts. Of course, all these features come at a high cost. Aside from price issues, HostGator doesn’t guarantee you any money paybacks. You should also note that setting up SSH and remote access to your server might be difficult for you as a beginner VPS user.
Source: cloudzy.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Flywheel should be more popular than HostGator. It has been mentiond 9 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Flywheel mentions (9)

  • WordPress Drama: From the Sidelines
    Anecdote: I'm helping a family member set up a personal brand website. He has a brand/marketing person for the content/design, but wanted me to manage the tech side of email, domains, providers, etc. I've used Wordpress a handful of times in my life, but it's an easy recommendation to make. We've spent maybe 30 mins a week for the past few weeks chipping away at it. We chose https://getflywheel.com/ as the managed... - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Top 20 Web Hosting Services in 2024 - Choose the Best for Your Website 🚀
    Flywheel 🪐 Managed WordPress hosting built for designers and agencies, starting at $15/month. Discover more: Flywheel. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Extremely slow loading times because of "Waiting for server response" during the server requests.
    I need to check with you all if I'm crazy or not, because I'm using getflywheel.com as hosting/server provider and the staging website of my site (very simple woocommerce) I'm experiencing extremely slow server response times see here (the green portion of the bar is "Waiting for server response"). I've reached to their customer support and they are saying they allocated the same amount of server resources for my... Source: about 2 years ago
  • Am I making a mistake by hosting 20 websites on a single server?
    I'm in the process of moving all my Wordpress sites over to getflywheel.com. The pricing is comparable to running my own server (which I also do) but I don't have to worry about uptime, backups, etc. I also like that every site I publish gets attached to their content network (think Akamai or similar) so that site outages are eliminated. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Can I use Divi without paying for a Wordpress Business Plan?
    If you want to keep your life simple, you can use a Wordpress boutique host like Flywheel as they make it all easy to operate for someone without a ton of experience, and they have awesome support. Their plans start at $15/month, and their basic plan is plenty for most people. I love their service. I currently host 80+ sites with them. https://getflywheel.com/. Source: about 2 years ago
View more

HostGator mentions (6)

  • SiteGround vs. HostGator - Review / Comparison
    When comparing HostGator vs. SiteGround, I am very interested in what use cases they are best suited for. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Data Migration and User Deletion...
    We were basically hosting the e-mail on the server (we host through hostgator.com) and then using the outlook desktop app connected through IMAP. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Fresh install does not create index.html page
    FYI I am using hostgator.com as host and installing WP 6.0 using Softaculous. I have tried various themes and am having the same problem with any/all of the themes I have tried. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Customer Support for Non-account/customer
    My solution, that I started to use probably 20 years ago, is having my own emails & domain on a webhost server. Expect to pay $30 for a webhost, domain name & registration each year. Assuming your name is John Doe, you could have [jdoe@newDomainname.US](mailto:jdoe@newDomainname.US) or some such, plus 16 other emails [XXXXXX@newDomainname.US](mailto:XXXXXX@newDomainname.US). Spam filtering is free. You will... Source: almost 4 years ago
  • Why are most web hosting sites horribly designed?
    Not all hosting websites are horribly designed at least for me , I find : hostgator.com siteground.com xtreamcoderz.com and some other really simple and beautiful. Source: almost 4 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Flywheel and HostGator, you can also consider the following products

WP Engine - Hassle-Free WordPress Hosting

Bluehost - One of the largest and most trusted web hosting services powering millions of websites. Join Bluehost now and get a FREE domain name!

Kinsta - The best managed WordPress hosting, powered by Google Cloud and LXD orchestrated Linux containers. Let us handle caching, security, updates, and more.

GoDaddy - GoDaddy makes registering Domain Names fast, simple, and affordable. Find out why so many business owners chose GoDaddy to be their Domain Name Registrar.

Hostinger - Everything You Need to Create a Website

Pantheon - The professional website platform for Drupal & WordPress sites.