Are you planning to build your very own website? Have you just bought a domain name for your new online venture? Are you considering buying HostGator’s Hatchling plan but want to know more about it?
Then you are at just the right place! Here is a detailed review of the HostGator Hatchling plan to help you decide whether it will serve your purpose or not.
Is Hatchling the right plan for me?
HostGator is a reliable hosting provider with more than 18 years of experience in the industry. Its Hatchling plan is the entry-level shared hosting plan offering all the basic features for your website. The HostGator Hatchling plan is right for you if:
You are a beginner
HostGator Hatchling is perfectly suitable for you if you are a beginner and just starting your online journey. It will provide you with enough resources to enter the online world.
You have a limited budget
The Hatchling plan is the most affordable shared hosting plan offered by HostGator. So if you have a limited budget, it is the right choice for you.
You have a small business
For a small business owner, the Hatchling plan will provide sufficient resources for creating an online presence. You can easily develop a professional website for your business to expand your presence and grow your brand with this HostGator plan.
You are a service provider
If you are a service provider and want to expand your reach with your new website, the HostGator Hatchling plan will be the right choice for you. It can efficiently handle your small website containing all the details of the services you offer.
You are an artist
The HostGator Hatchling plan is suitable for you if you are an artist and want to display your art online. With the resources offered by the plan, you can create a beautiful portfolio website to share your work and build your name as an artist.
How much traffic can a Hatchling plan handle?
HostGator has not set any maximum traffic limit for its Hatchling plan. It offers unmetered bandwidth and disk space with this entry-level shared hosting plan.
So you don’t need to worry about the traffic that can be handled by the Hatchling plan if you are running a small website. The host, however, gives you an estimate based on the average CPU usage of a normal website in a day.
The HostGator Hatchling plan is estimated to handle about 7,000 to 8,000 average visitors in a day if you utilize the server resources efficiently with a well-coded website.
What are the HostGator Hatchling plan’s features?
HostGator Hatchling plan offers all the basic features that you will need to start your website:
Single website
The Hatching plan allows you to host a single website from your HostGator account. So if you plan to create only one website, this plan will serve your purpose.
Unmetered bandwidth and disk space
You will receive unmetered bandwidth and disk space with the Hatchling plan. So you can use any amount of bandwidth and storage for your website.
The host however expects you to use these resources in the normal operation of your small website. As mentioned above, if you tend to use 25% or more of the server resources for over 90 seconds, you might receive an email from the host to reduce your resource usage.
But if you are running a personal or small business website, you will rarely exceed this 25% limit, so enjoy the unlimited bandwidth and storage space without any worries.
One-click installs
As a beginner, you might find website installations a difficult task. The HostGator Hatchling plan makes it easy for you to perform installations on your website.
You can install WordPress and other applications to your HostGator website with a single click. The host provides instant one-click access to over 75 open-source scripts.
Freebies included
HostGator offers some freebies with its Hatchling plan. You will receive:
Free SSL certificate
It will ensure secure communication through your website. It will also add a padlock icon in the address bar of your website and flag it as secure in the eyes of Google and other search engines.
Free domain
You will get a free domain with a 12-month or higher subscription to the Hatchling plan. It helps you save domain costs for the first year. Here are the terms stated by the host for this free domain offer:
Free website and domain transfers
The Hatchling plan allows a free transfer of your WordPress website and domain. All your website files, scripts, and databases are transferred to HostGator free of cost under this plan.
Free HostGator website builder
The host offers a free website builder with its Hatchling plan. It is an easy-to-use drag-and-drop builder with over 4,500 website templates, customizable pre-built sections, image libraries, plenty of eCommerce tools, and email marketing tools.
Free email
The Hatchling plan comes with unlimited free emails for your website. The host offers advanced email tools including autoresponders, mail forwards, unlimited email aliases, and 25 mailing lists.
Additionally, the HostGator Hatchling plan also offers:
- $150 worth of Google Adwords marketing credit
- $100 worth of Microsoft Advertising credit (Bing)
- Unlimited subdomains
- Unlimited FTP accounts
- 24/7/365 server monitoring
- Automatic website backups
- 99% uptime guarantee
- 45-day money-back guarantee
- 24/7/365 customer support via phone, chat, and other platforms
Though the Hatchling plan offers many useful features, it comes with a few limitations too:
Hosting of a single website
The HostGator Hatchling plan allows you to host only one website while many website owners tend to build a portfolio of websites. So if you are planning to create multiple websites either from the beginning or in the future, the Hatchling plan won’t serve your needs.
Limit on CPU resource usage
Back in the day, the Hatchling plan offered a disk space of 3.5 GB and a bandwidth of 50 GB only. But now HostGator offers unmetered bandwidth and disk space.
However, the company places a limit on the use of CPU resources for every shared hosting account. You are not allowed to hit 25% CPU usage for 90 seconds at any time.
Backups are not guaranteed
HostGator offers a weekly automatic backup of your website that runs on a random day.
Only a single backup is kept at a time with each backup overwriting the previous one.
Also, your website backup will only be created if your account uses under 100,000 inodes and 20 GB of space.
The host, however, offers a premium backup add-on powered by CodeGuard for creating daily automatic website backups. You will be charged an additional $2 per month for this service.
Limit on processes
HostGator sets a limit on the number of processes that can run at the same time in the Hatchling plan. This limit allows only 25 simultaneous processes to complete different tasks on your website.
When you are about to exceed this limit, the server system of the host automatically kills the processes running for a longer time.
Inode limit
The shared Hatchling plan comes with an inode limit of 100,000 for your website. It is a soft limit set by the host and doesn’t stop you from uploading more files to your account. However, the host will stop maintaining weekly backups of your account once this limit is reached.
If you keep on adding files to your HostGator account and it exceeds 200,000 inodes, you will be violating the usage policy of the host. In such a case, your hosting account might be flagged and suspended by HostGator.
Mail limitations
The HostGator Hatchling plans also set several email limitations. You can send a maximum of 500 emails in an hour from your website. If you exceed this limit, your email might bounce back with an error of non-delivery. So you can send a maximum of 12,000 emails a day (500 emails an hour X 24 hours).
Additionally, each connecting IP is limited to a maximum of 30 POP checks per hour, and going above that limit will display an error of incorrect login details. Also, the host allows sending emails from a mailing list of over 900 email addresses only during off-peak times.
How much does the Hatchling plan cost?
HostGator Hatchling plan is the cheapest shared hosting plan offered by the company. You can purchase it for as low as $2.75 per month.
Here is a detailed overview of the Hatchling plan’s initial pricing structure:
| Hosting term | Initial/Introductory prices | Total amount due |
| 36 months | $2.75 per month | $98.83 |
| 24 months | $3.45 per month | $82.81 |
| 12 months | $3.95 per month | $47.40 |
| 6 months | $10.95 per month | $65.70 |
| 3 months | $10.95 per month | $32.85 |
| 1 month | $10.95 per month | $10.95 |
Here’s how the pricing and billing cycle is displayed on the HostGator Checkout page:
The above-listed prices are promotional introductory prices offered by the host. The shared Hatchling plan renews at normal rates automatically for the same term length that you select initially unless you cancel your hosting plan before the renewal date.
Here is a detailed overview of the Hatchling plan’s renewal pricing structure:
| Hosting term | Renewal prices | Total amount due |
| 36 months | $6.95 per month | $250.20 |
| 24 months | $7.95 per month | $190.80 |
| 12 months | $8.95 per month | $107.40 |
| 6 months | $10.95 per month | $65.70 |
| 3 months | $10.95 per month | $32.85 |
| 1 month | $10.95 per month | $10.95 |
Can I cancel their services?
Yes, HostGator offers a 45-day money-back guarantee with all its shared hosting plans including the Hatchling one if you pay for a long-term plan. So if you are unsatisfied with your HostGator hosting, you can cancel their services any time during the first 45 calendar days.
This money-back guarantee applies only to the hosting services and domain privacy charges paid by you. It does not extend to the domain registration fees, account set up charges, or any other charges paid towards add-on services at the time of registration.
Alternatively, you can also consider testing HostGator hosting services by paying just for a single month during registration if you are not ready to pay for a long term for the Hatchling plan. If satisfied, go for a long-term renewal of your plan for getting a discount.
Conclusion on HostGator Hatchling plan review
The HostGator Hatchling plan is a good starter plan if you are just entering the hosting world. It offers sufficient resources to handle a personal or small business website.
However, if you plan to expand your online reach or the website portfolio in the future, it is worth spending a little more on the HostGator shared Baby plan. It offers a lot of unlimited features bringing in peace of mind for the future and is well worth the investment.
FAQ
Is it worth upgrading from HostGator Hatchling to Baby?
Yes, it is completely worth upgrading from the HostGator Hatchling to Baby plan since the latter offers many unlimited resources including the number of websites that you can host from a single hosting account.
And the price difference between the two plans is very small with the HostGator Baby plan available at just $3.50 per month as against the $2.75 per month introductory cost of the Hatchling plan.
Can I switch from the Hatchling to Baby plan at any time?
Yes, you can easily shift from the Hatchling to Baby plan at any time from your HostGator customer portal. Shifting your HostGator plan is free but you will be charged a prorated amount, depending on the term passed, for the price difference between the two plans.
Is HostGator monthly?
Yes, HostGator offers both monthly and long-term hosting plans. You can purchase the HostGator Hatchling plan for a term of 1, 3, 6, 12, 24, or 36 months depending on your hosting needs.
Web Hosting Expert, Content Writer, SEO Consultant, and Web Developer with over 10 Years of Experience.
He has a passion for technology and has spent over a decade reviewing and testing web hosting companies to provide his readers with honest and accurate reviews of the companies he had experiences with.
Tommy loves helping people and has helped hundreds of people start their own successful blogs.