HostGator Free Trial: Length, What’s Included & How To Extend

HostGator claims to be 2022’s best website hosting company.

If you’re a small business or freelancer that needs a quality website, then HostGator can be a great option for your site.

However, you can’t use HostGator unless you pay for a subscription.

Luckily, HostGator offers a free trial so that potential users can try out their services for free.

We have all the information you need about HostGator and its free trial options.

Is HostGator Free or Paid?

HostGator is a paid web hosting service starting as little as $3.95 per month.

The Hatchling Plan lets you run one website with free transfer from WordPress to HostGator, WordPress installs, a free SSL certificate, and unmetered bandwidth.

All HostGator plans give you a free domain name with shared hosting for one year.

Does HostGator Have a Free Trial?

HostGator once had a risk-free trial offe

. The company ended the free trial offer in 2021 and replaced it with a new deal.

You can host your website for as low as $3 per month and cancel it within 45 days to opt into their money-back guarantee.

It’s not a typical free trial, but it does allow you to try their services and get your money back if you don’t like them.

How Long is the HostGator Free Trial?

When the HostGator free trial was valid, it lasted 30-45 days.

If you want to try the $3.95 per month offer (if you sign up for 12 months of web hosting service), it will last for 28-31 days, depending on the specific day of the month you signed up for the service.

Does HostGator Require a Credit Card to Activate a Free Trial?

Yes, to start access to the new $3.95 per month offer, you will need to pay with a credit card or debit card.

If you cancel your one-year web hosting service within 45 days, you will opt into the 45-day money-back guarantee and be eligible for a full refund if you cancel your account.

How Much is HostGator After Free Trial?

To opt into the 45-day money-back guarantee, you must purchase the 12-month package for $47 plus tax.

Cancel within 45 days to get a full refund.

If you cancel the package past 45 days from your original purchase date, you cannot receive the complete reimbursement.

What Comes With the HostGator Free Trial?

The HostGator free trial comes with many many perks such as free website transfers and one-click WordPress installations.

Plus, you get unmetered bandwidth, a free SSL certificate, and access to a free domain name.

Features You Can Test With a Free Trial

You can test HostGator’s premium web hosting services for 45 days after purchasing a plan.

1. One-Click WordPress Installs

There are many manual steps included in building a WordPress website.

HostGator takes the extra steps out of this process by offering one-click WordPress installs, which will make your blog easy to read and navigate.

2. Free WordPress or cPanel Website Transfer

Rather than rebuilding your WordPress site from scratch, you can transfer your old site to the HostGator platform quickly and easily with just a few clicks for setting up.

If you have many blog posts and other pages to transfer, it is cumbersome getting them all to the new platform.

3. Unmetered Bandwidth

Unmetered bandwidth is when the web hosting service does not monitor the website data consumption. The bandwidth is the data transfer’s speed.

Fast data transfer means how fast your pages load.

For example, if you have 100 Mbps of unmetered bandwidth, this is your speed when browsers are transferred from page to page.

4. Free SSL Certificate

An SSL certificate is also a public key certificate that keeps a high level of security for online communications.

This part of the website hosting service encrypts data before sending it off for the browser to view in a secure format.

It keeps the browser and the web server in a shared encrypted connection for steady communications.

5. Free Domain Name

For the first 12 months of subscribing to HostGator, you will have a free domain name.

Depending on the domain name ending such as “.com” or “.biz”, you will have to pay about $15 to $20 per year for a domain name on top of other types of web hosting service fees after the first year.

HostGator Free Trial Limitations

You must cancel within 45 days to get a full refund of $47 plus tax for the one-year web hosting service.

However, you will have to pay an $18 domain name fee for canceling the service prematurely before the one-year mark is up.

Is HostGator Customer Support Included With Free Trials?

Subscribing to the $3.95 per month deal with the 45-day money-back guarantee comes with free 24/7 customer service, live chat, and access to the KnowledgeBase portal for self-serve technical support.

How to Claim a HostGator Free Trial

Claim a HostGator free trial by signing up for the 12-month or 36-month web hosting package with the 45-day money-back guarantee.

While you can choose the six-month package to get the money-back guarantee, you will be paying four to six times more than the per-month price for the 12 or 36-month packages.

How Do I Get The Most From My HostGator Free Trial?

To get the most out of your HostGator free trial, you’ll want to create as much content as possible.

It’s important to take advantage of all of the free options available during the free trial so that you can downgrade or cancel your plan, but still have plenty of usable content for your site.

You should build and update your website daily.

Add a new blog post at least once a day.

Link your website to your social media handles so it gets noticed.

Connect your blog posts to Pinterest and other social media accounts so your followers can read your content for increased engagement.

How Can I Make My HostGator Free Trial Longer?

There are no options to make the free trial longer.

Once you have surpassed the 45-day mark, you opt out of the money-back guarantee into the HostGator web hosting service.

Does HostGator Automatically Charge Users After the Free Trial Ends?

Since HostGator doesn’t offer a typical free trial, you pay for the entire term you choose at once.

The six-month package is 180 days long, so if you do not refund within 45 days, the next charge will happen at the start of the next six-month term.

The same goes for if you opted into the 12-month or 36-month package.

Can You Cancel HostGator After Free Trial?

Yes, you can cancel HostGator accounts at any time after the free trial ends.

You will get your full refund back as long as you cancel within 45 days of the original purchase date.

Make sure you check your account and email so you don’t cancel too early or too late!

How to Cancel a HostGator Free Trial

Canceling the HostGator free trial does not take long, but follow these steps to get you there:  

1. Log in to your HostGator web hosting account.
2. Go to the “Hosting” section.
3. Look at the hosting packages list on the next page.
4. Click on “Manage” for the web hosting service you would like to cancel.
5. Click on the “Billing” section.
6. Hit the “Cancel Package” button.
7. Select the reason why you want to cancel your web hosting package.
8. Submit the form and note the date when your web hosting service will become unavailable.

How to Remove Card Details From HostGator

Naturally, you do not want to keep spending money if you are canceling within 45 days.

Here is how to remove card details from HostGator:

1. Log in to your HostGator web hosting account.
2. Go to the “Billing” section.
3. Click on “Credit Cards” to generate the list of payment methods you have on file.
4. Select the payment method you want to delete.
5. Hit the “Delete Selected” button to finalize your choice.

Is HostGator Worth Paying For?

HostGator is worth paying for when you select one of the 36-month packages, especially if you want to grow your own business and website over time.

With the right plan, you can pay under $40 for the first year, even after taxes.

This is a small investment to pay for so many benefits of owning your website.

Web hosting is essential for all businesses, yet with so many competitors in the market, there are ways to keep costs low for every company.

Even into your second and third year, you are paying under $100 for web hosting and domain name fees.

Our HostGator review can walk you through all the pros and cons of the site to help you understand exactly what it offers and whether it’s right for you.

What To Expect From a HostGator Subscription

A HostGator subscription brings you a free domain name for the first year and costs less than $20 per year after that.

Plus, you get CMS and blogging software compatible with your website for easy blog posting and a Softaculous auto script installer.

When you sign up for a HostGator subscription, you will get Google Ad credits and Microsoft Ad credits.

You will also receive free access to Google Ads, CodeGuard, Google Workspace, SiteLock, and free SSL certificates.

CodeGuard is important for backups that happen every day to keep your information secured.

This means your information is intact even if cyber attacks happen to your website.

 What is a Free Alternative to HostGator?

A free alternative to HostGator is WordPress.

You can start with a free website that offers you web hosting free of charge.

However, if you do not want to pay for the domain name, your website will have to read “website.wordpress.com” until you pay for a domain name.

Having free WordPress can help you to start learning how to build a blog before you upgrade to other perks such as earning ad revenue, removing WordPress-specific ads, and being able to upload ads.

Free websites do not allow Google Ads integration.

Other Ways to Save on HostGator Pricing

Besides trying a package, there are other ways to get a discount on HostGator pricing.

1. HostGator Promo Codes

You can find valid promo codes throughout the Internet on different coupon websites to apply to your next HostGator web hosting package.

Most people test the promo codes and report on the website if they work or not.

2. HostGator Discounts

The longer you subscribe to a web hosting package, the lower that you have to pay per month.

For example, the Hatchling plan for one month or six months is $11.95 per month and $2.75 per month for 12 months. A 36-month plan is $3 per month.

3. HostGator Black Friday & Cyber Monday Specials

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the best times to subscribe for web hosting services.

In 2021, the Black Friday sale was 70% off.

Every year there is a new promotion.  

Is There a HostGator Student Plan?

Unfortunately, HostGator does not have a student plan.

College students looking to build a website must pay the same prices as other subscribing patrons.

However, refer to the above ways to save for penny-pinching on web hosting and domain name fees.

Other Free Trials to Check Out

If HostGator isn’t exactly your thing, there are plenty of other hosting sites that offer free trials for users.

1. Bluehost Free Trial

A Bluehost free trial lasts for 30 days.

Like HostGator, you do pay for a full subscription to the service, but if you aren’t satisfied with the features and amenities the site offers, you can receive a full refund if you cancel within 30 days.

2. Cloudways Free Trial

Unlike other website hosting sites, there is an option for a Cloudways free trial.

This lasts for three days, giving you a limited amount of time to try out all of the options.

Cloudways also offers a pay-by-the-hour option, so you can keep trying things for a low price if you run out of time.

3. Hostinger Free Trial

Like Bluehost, a Hostinger free trial allows you to receive a full refund within 30 days if you don’t like what you purchased.

They also have a demo version of the site available for free so you can see some of the different features available without having to purchase anything.

Frequently Asked Questions

Now that you know more about the HostGator free trial, let’s answer some frequently asked questions about HostGator.

Wrapping Up

HostGator has built prominence as a popular web hosting service for the last decade, propelling them as one of the top brands in the market.

If you want a quality web hosting service, a free domain name for the first year, and an integral path to growing your business for a small investment, consider the HostGator free trial to get started on your web hosting journey today!

Click here to check out HostGator!