Parallel active accounts on DigitalOcean and HostGator stay maintained. In the latest pass, median TTFB came in near 275 ms on DigitalOcean and 445 ms on HostGator, while observed uptime windows landed around 99.97% versus 99.92%. Support ping checks showed median first meaningful replies near 25 minutes for DigitalOcean and 6 minutes for HostGator, though queue times swing with seasonality. The spec table reflects current plan pages as of the publish date; when vendors change tiers, numbers are re-run before adjusting the verdict boxes.
| Feature | DigitalOcean | HostGator |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 9.0 | 8.4 |
| Speed score | 9.0 | 8.0 |
| Reliability score | 9.0 | 8.5 |
| Support score | 8.2 | 8.3 |
| Starting price | $4.00/mo | $3.75/mo |
| Median TTFB (our probes) | 275 ms | 445 ms |
| Uptime (listed) | 99.99% | 99.9% |
| Storage (entry) | 25 GB SSD (basic droplet) | Unmetered (fair use) |
| Websites (entry) | Unlimited (self-managed) | 1 (Hatchling) |
| Free domain (1st year) | No | Yes |
| Free SSL | No | Yes |