Dedicated Server versus a High Level VPS

Consider Purchasing a VPS if:

Your site is currently in a shared environment, and your needs exceed what the account has to offer.
You are an existing lower-level VPS customer wanting a smooth upgrade process that will allow you to maintain your existing IP addresses and environment settings.

While A VPS offers more flexibility than a Shared or Reseller hosting environment, the server's resources are still shared amongst other VPS users. If the site needs its own dedicated environment, it's always possible to upgrade from a VPS to a Dedicated Server once the traffic warrants it.

Consider Purchasing a Dedicated Server if:

You are ordering a new hosting account and require root access to the server.
You would like full use of the entire server.
Your site(s) require more resources than what is available on a VPS.

When to Upgrade to a VPS from a Shared Hosting Account

If your site uses minimal resources but requires root access to install/configure certain software
If you require a larger email limit than 500 per domain per hour.

When to Upgrade to a Dedicated Server

If your account has been suspended multiple times for TOS/CPU (Resource Issues)
If your account is/was already on a Dedicated Server (it's typically not recommended to downgrade from a dedicated server to a VPS)

HostGator is committed to making it easy to transfer your site to your new hosting account. We can transfer website files, databases, scripts, and one free domain registration transfer.

What qualifies me for a free transfer?

HostGator provides free transfers for new accounts within 30 days of sign-up, and to newly upgraded accounts. For upgraded accounts it must be an inter-server upgrade to qualify. Please note that downgraded accounts do not qualify for free transfers.

Depending on which type of account you sign up for, we offer differing numbers of free transfers. Please refer to the chart below to see what we include for new packages.

Full cPanel Transfers is the number of cPanel to cPanel transfers that are included.

Max. Manual Transfers is the maximum number of Manual Transfers that are included with your account.

Total Free Transfers is the total number websites that we will move for you.

Account Type	Total Free Transfers	Full cPanel Transfers	Max. Manual Transfers
?Shared	1	1²	1
?Reseller	30	30²	30
?VPS	Unlimited¹	Unlimited²	10 per VPS level
?Dedicated (Basic)	Unlimited¹	Unlimited²	75
?Dedicated (Standard, Elite, Pro)	Unlimited¹	Unlimited²	100

¹While we can do unlimited cPanel to cPanel transfers for you, depending on your account, you will have a limited number of Manual Transfers.

²Full cPanel transfers include all domains, Addon Domains, Subdomains, and cPanel settings. This will also include your emails and email accounts. Please note that this does require that your old host's cPanel backup generator to be active.

A few examples: An Aluminium Reseller account includes up to 30 free transfers. Out of this 30, you can have 20 cPanel to cPanel transfers and 10 Manual Transfers, or any combination of the two that totals 30 or less websites. Another example: A Pro Dedicated server includes unlimited cPanel to cPanel transfers, this means you can have 150 sites (or even more) moved. Also since there is an unlimited total number of transfers, you can utilize up to 100 Manual Transfers.

For more information please see ourTransfers Support Article, contact our transfers department at transfers@hostgator.com, or call 866.96.GATOR