i feel like i should add that i don't recommend HostGator not just for technical reasons... but also because their parent company, Endurance International Group, is not trustworthy and they would absolutely screw their customers if it made them $1 more than keeping them.

EIG bought the company i worked for, said they were looking forward to growing our staff when the execs jointly announced it to both companies, then on the morning the purchase was finalized they laid off about 20% of the total workforce including many of my friends. people who worked at the company for 10+ years were crying at their desks as they waited their turn to be called into their boss's office to get individually sacked.

a bunch of the execs at both EIG and my company that arranged the buyout all got indicted for securities fraud for only partially related reasons some months later. they eventually settled the case by paying a measly fine.

it was a shitty time. as i talked with old timers from the other companies EIG bought before us, i came to understand that EIG's entire business model is to do exactly that. they find profitable SAAS companies whose leaders have no more ideas, give them a golden parachute out, gut the workforce, paint blood on the walls, and ride the remaining husk of the company til the wheels fall off, keeping only enough tech staff from the original company to keep the products in maintenance mode.

this is unfortunately a pretty common strategy, i think Yahoo does it even better than EIG does (and there is no ethical consumption under capitalism), but watching that whole thing play out from the inside was a really wild and terrible ride i couldn't get off of for almost a year until i found something else.

all that to say, just know that if you sign up for HostGator, you're signing up for the Flickr of web hosting.