This is round 1 of our comparison between DreamHost and HostGator. If you don’t know much about these two web hosting companies, I suggest you read my introduction post here: HostGator vs DreamHost
Shared Hosting Features
Ok so both providers are obviously oversellers and mostly HostGator in this case. What does this mean? It means that they are offering more resources than you’ll be able to use. Sure you’ve got plenty of storage space and bandwidth but they’ll put a cap on how much CPU and memory your website uses as well as the number of file you can host (yes the number of files, not the total disk space used). Anyway I don’t really care if a web host is overselling as long as it doesn’t affect my website’s performance and that I don’t get my account shut down.
That said, let’s compare their shared hosting features:
| Storage |
500gb |
350gb |
600gb |
1,000gb |
| Bandwidth |
5000gb |
3000gb |
6000gb |
Unlimited |
| Domains Allowed |
Unlimited |
1 |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
| Email Accounts |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
| PHP |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Perl |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| CGI |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Ruby On Rails |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| ASP |
No |
No |
No |
Chilisoft ASP |
| MySQL Databases |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
| SSH |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Cron Jobs |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Control Panel |
Custom |
cPanel |
cPanel |
cPanel |
| Script Installer |
Custom |
Fantastico Deluxe |
Fantastico Deluxe |
Fantastico Deluxe |
| Web Statistics |
Analog |
AwStats
&
Webalizer |
AwStats
&
Webalizer |
AwStats
&
Webalizer |
| SSL |
Optional |
Shared SSL |
Shared
& Private SSL |
Shared
& Private SSL |
| Shopping Cart |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Monthly |
$10.95
+ $49.95 Setup |
$8.95
+ $5.00 Setup |
$9.95 |
$14.95 |
| 6 Months |
n/a |
n/a |
$59.70 |
$89.70 |
| 12 Months |
$119.40 |
$83.40 |
$119.40 |
$179.40 |
| 24 Months |
$214.80 |
$142.80 |
$214.80 |
$334.80 |
| 36 Months |
$286.20 |
$172.20 |
$286.20 |
$466.20 |
| 60 Months |
$417.00 |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
| 120 Months |
$714.00 |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
Both providers offer basically the same features except for HostGator’s Hatchling Plan which does not allow you to host more than a single website.
I have also found out that HostGator provides you with literally hundreds of professional website templates for free which can come in handy if your more or less experienced in web design.
Operating System
Whereas HostGator are using CentOS Linux servers (which is identical to Red Hat Enterprise Linux), DreamHost are running Debian Linux on their servers. No problem there, they are both very good operating system. CentOS might be a little more popular though.
Control Panel
While HostGator uses the ever popular cPanel, DreamHost provides their own custom control panel. In my opinion cPanel is way better than DreamHost’s. I always try to stick with cPanel since it makes it a lot easier to move your website from one host to another.
DreamHost’s web panel could need a redesign (although it’s just been redesigned!) cause it looks sort of messy and lacks intuitivity.

DreamHost Control Panel |

HostGator Control Panel |
Pricing
HostGator’s Baby Plan is probably the closest plan to DreamHost’s one-size-fits-all plan. And guess what? Their pricing structure is exactly the same except for the monthly billing cycle. Pure coincidence? Anyway I think that it makes no sense on DreamHost’s part to charge a $49.95 setup fee on their monthly billing plan since the account creation is probably all automated.
And if you don’t need to host more than one website, HostGator’s Hatchling Plan is probably the best investment for you.
Conclusion
As far as features goes, I would choose HostGator over DreamHost simply based on the fact that cPanel is way better than DreamHost’s web panel. Less experienced users will also find Fantastico Deluxe really useful and finding support for this script installer is really easy since it’s used by so many web hosts.
As for pricing, I don’t like the fact that DreamHost is charging a $49.95 setup fee which makes this billing cycle pretty useless.
2 responses so far ↓
1. Response by : Brent on Apr 15, 2008 at 1:19 pm
HostGator is definitely better than DreamHost as of lately. Just have a look at http://www.dreamhoststatus.com/ and you’ll see what I mean.
2. Response by : HostGator vs DreamHost: Dedicated Servers Features & Pricing on Apr 30, 2008 at 12:04 am
[...] No Comments It’s now time for round 2 of DreamHost vs HostGator. Last time we’ve compared shared hosting plans but now lets see what both providers offer when it comes to dedicated [...]
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