Can I use HostGator shared hosting as a video archive or backup file store?
The short answer
No, not as a general archive or offsite backup repository. HostGator limits shared space to website-related use and prohibits using hosting as a backup solution. An unmetered label does not override those use restrictions.
In more detail
HostGator's shared-hosting terms distinguish website files and active website content from general storage. They prohibit using shared space as offsite file storage, and the Acceptable Use Policy separately prohibits using a hosting account as a backup repository. This is a permitted-use question, not merely a disk-capacity calculation.
Our recommendation is to separate files that make the live site work from material you are keeping only for retention or distribution. A business homepage and its normal images are different from a warehouse of camera footage, computer backups or downloadable archives. For a video-heavy site, describe the actual delivery pattern to the provider rather than assuming every media use is either allowed or forbidden.
If the main job is long-term storage or large-file distribution, compare a service explicitly intended for that job and check its retention, access and delivery charges. Keep the website on Hatchling or Baby only when its intended use fits the applicable terms and plan limits. Buying more hosting capacity does not by itself change the service's acceptable-use rules.