How to Switch from HostGator to ScalaHosting (2026 Migration Guide)
HostGator's renewal pricing follows the same steep step-up pattern as its sibling brand Bluehost, both owned by Newfold Digital. Combined with a documented history of aging shared-hosting hardware, renewal time is when most HostGator customers start actively comparing alternatives. ScalaHosting's free unlimited migration handles the technical transfer; this guide covers the full sequence including DNS timing and email, not just the sales pitch.
Why people move away from HostGator
Renewal pricing. Like most budget shared hosts, HostGator's advertised intro rate applies only to the first term, with a substantially higher rate at renewal. This pattern is publicly documented across independent price-tracking and review sites and is not unique to HostGator, but it is one of the most consistently cited reasons people start shopping for alternatives once their first term is ending.
Shared ownership with other budget brands. HostGator is owned by Newfold Digital (formerly EIG, Endurance International Group), which also owns Bluehost and several other well-known budget hosting brands. This matters because infrastructure practices, support structure, and business decisions tend to be similar across a conglomerate's brands, complaints and independent reviews about hardware age, support quality, and upsell practices tend to track similarly across the brands under this same ownership.
Resource limits under real traffic. Shared hosting inherently caps CPU and resource usage per account to keep a server stable across many customers, this is standard practice industry-wide, not specific to HostGator. Where it becomes a practical problem is when a site's traffic or complexity (an active WooCommerce store, a growth spurt, a traffic spike) exceeds what the shared tier comfortably supports, which is the point where moving to dedicated-resource VPS hosting becomes the relevant next step rather than staying on shared hosting indefinitely.
The migration sequence
The same safe, downtime-free sequence applies regardless of which host you are leaving. ScalaHosting's free migration service handles the technical transfer steps (2 and 3) for you if you use it.
Sign up for a ScalaHosting plan
Build #1 VPS is the right fit for most WordPress sites moving off shared hosting for real, dedicated resources. The StartUp Shared plan is a closer like-for-like match if you want to stay on shared hosting but move away from HostGator specifically for the pricing and support reasons above. ScalaHosting's anytime money-back guarantee gives you a low-risk way to try it.
Submit a migration request
Provide your HostGator cPanel login (or FTP and database credentials, if you would rather not share the full account login) through your new ScalaHosting client area. The migration team builds a working copy of your site on a staging URL, without making any changes to your live HostGator site during this step.
Test the staging copy fully
Check every important page, form, and checkout flow if applicable, confirm media loads correctly, and verify plugin behaviour matches the original. Look specifically for anything that hard-codes the old domain or depends on a HostGator-specific service (their SSL, any HostGator-branded CDN or caching add-on) that will need reconfiguring on the new host.
Point DNS to ScalaHosting
Update your domain's A record or nameservers, either through HostGator's DNS management if the domain stays registered there, or through your registrar of choice. Lowering the DNS TTL to 300 seconds a day or two before cutover shortens propagation time. During propagation, some visitors will still reach the old HostGator site until the change fully takes effect, which is why verifying staging in step 3 has to happen first.
Confirm cutover and wind down HostGator
After 24 to 48 hours, confirm through analytics or server logs that traffic has fully moved to ScalaHosting. Do a final live-site check, then cancel or downgrade the HostGator plan, keeping in mind any refund window on a recent purchase and whether you are keeping the domain registration there separately.
What changes once you are on ScalaHosting
- Independent ownership. ScalaHosting is not part of the Newfold/EIG conglomerate, its infrastructure and support decisions are made independently rather than following a shared parent company's cost and practice patterns across multiple budget brands.
- SPanel instead of cPanel. A cPanel-compatible interface for file management, databases, and email, with SShield security and free email hosting included rather than sold as separate add-ons.
- Dedicated resources on VPS plans. Build #1 and higher tiers give dedicated vCPU cores rather than a shared, capped resource pool, directly addressing the resource-limit issue that pushes growing sites off shared hosting.
- An anytime money-back guarantee rather than a limited-window refund policy, giving you real time to evaluate the new host properly after migrating.
Ready to move?
ScalaHosting's free unlimited WordPress migration typically completes within 24 to 48 hours, with an anytime money-back guarantee if it is not the right fit.
View ScalaHosting PlansFAQ: switching from HostGator to ScalaHosting
-
Why do people leave HostGator for ScalaHosting?
-
Two reasons dominate: renewal pricing, HostGator's intro rate steps up sharply at renewal the same way most budget shared hosts do, and hardware age, HostGator (owned by EIG, Endurance International Group, alongside Bluehost and several other budget brands) has a documented history of running older server hardware on its shared plans than newer, independently-run competitors. Neither of these is a secret criticism specific to this guide, both are widely discussed in independent hosting reviews and forums.
-
Is HostGator owned by the same company as Bluehost?
-
Yes. HostGator and Bluehost are both owned by Newfold Digital (formerly EIG, Endurance International Group), a large hosting conglomerate that owns numerous hosting brands. This matters practically because it means the underlying infrastructure, support quality, and business practices across EIG/Newfold brands tend to follow similar patterns, if you have researched complaints about one of their brands, similar patterns often apply across the others they own.
-
Will ScalaHosting migrate my HostGator site for free?
-
Yes, ScalaHosting's free unlimited WordPress migration covers moving from HostGator the same way it does from any other host. You submit your HostGator login (or FTP and database credentials) through your ScalaHosting account, and their team builds and tests the migrated site on a staging URL before you switch DNS over.
-
How long does the whole migration take?
-
Typically 24 to 48 hours from request to a verified live site, most of that window is DNS propagation rather than the actual file and database transfer, which usually completes within a few hours. Lowering your DNS TTL to 300 seconds a day or two ahead of the planned cutover shortens the propagation window.
-
Do I need to move my domain away from HostGator too?
-
No, moving hosting only requires updating your domain's DNS to point at ScalaHosting, the domain registration itself can stay wherever it currently is. Some people do eventually move domain registration away from HostGator as well, since its domain renewal pricing follows a similar step-up pattern to its hosting, but that is an independent decision you can make separately, before, after, or never.
-
What about my HostGator email accounts?
-
HostGator email is tied to the hosting plan, so cancelling hosting removes the email service with it. Export your existing mailboxes before cancelling (most email clients support this via IMAP), and set them up again on ScalaHosting's SPanel, which includes free email hosting with unlimited mailboxes per domain. The ScalaHosting migration team can move your email over as part of the main migration if you request it.