Jimmy ParkerGoDaddy
GoDaddy is a reliable and well respected web hosting provider. They offer a range of features that make it ideal for businesses, including an easy-to-use hosting panel, a variety of plans and packages, and 24/7 customer support. They also provides a secure and reliable hosting platform, with built-in site backups, malware protection, and free SSL certificates.
3.5
Pros
- Easy-to-use hosting panel
- Variety of plans and packages
- 24/7 customer support
- Free SSL
Cons
- Expensive pricing
- Customer service is mixed
Table of Contents
About GoDaddy
GoDaddy was founded by Bob Parsons in 1997 – it was still called Jomax Technology then and it was based in Baltimore, Maryland. They adopted the name GoDaddy in 1999 – and it has since boomed from then on.
We can’t deny that GoDaddy has a catchy name (even their logo is eye-catching) – you’ll find it hard not to notice said company when you stumble upon it. They also have lots of advertisements in newspapers and TV shows, so they’re really hard to miss. They even sponsor sports events every now and then. In fact, they’re one of the sponsors of Super Bowl in 2005.
Needless to say, GoDaddy is proudly American-made – and their headquarters are currently found in Scottsdale, Arizona. While the company is more popularly known as a domain registrar, however, they actually offer web hosting services as well.
GoDaddy is indeed a large enterprise. As of 2019, they’re servicing over 18 million customers – and the numbers just keep getting bigger and bigger. As a web host, they’re offering shared, WordPress, reseller, VPS, and dedicated servers. Right now, we’re going to focus first on their most popular hosting option – their shared web hosting plans.
Pricing
1. Economy
This is GoDaddy’s starter/ basic plan and it comes with an introductory price of $5.99 per month. You’re allowed to have just 1 website with this plan but it comes with 25GB of storage space. You’ll also get unlimited bandwidth with it and a free domain (good for 1 year, when you subscribe to their annual plan).
2. Deluxe
GoDaddy’s second cheapest plan is a step up from their starter plan. It costs $7.99 per month. The package includes 10 websites, 50 GB storage space, and unlimited bandwidth.
Note that GoDaddy’s Deluxe plan has all the features of the Economy plan. However, it can host more sites (unlimited) and has more storage space (also unlimited).
3. Ultimate
If you want a more powerful package than GoDaddy’s Economy and Deluxe plans, you can go for their Ultimate plan. Its introductory price offer is only $12.99 per month. It also comes with 25 websites, 75 GB storage space, and unlimited bandwidth.
You’ll see that the Ultimate plan also carries the features embodied in GoDaddy’s Deluxe package. However, it has 2 times more processing power and larger memory. You’ll also get a free SSL with this package (valid for 1 year). This plan is suitable for creating complex sites with high traffic (e.g. online stores).
4. Maximum
For $19.99 per month, you can host an unlimited number of websites with the Maximum plan. It comes with 100 GB storage space and up to 50 websites.
This is GoDaddy’s most expensive plan and it comes with all the features of their Ultimate plan plus so much more. For one, it has greater power and memory than the Ultimate plan and includes a free SSL certificate for the full term of your package.
GoDaddy’s Maximum plan is built for complex sites and it can handle 2 times the traffic of their Ultimate plan. High-resolution images, photos, and videos can also be easily handled with this package.
Do consider these things when considering GoDaddy:
- GoDaddy’s cheapest plan (Economy) is quite limited in features. It only comes with 1 website (which won’t really be a big deal to you if you’re just starting out). Their allowed storage space is also huge for a starter plan (100GB is A LOT!).
- While GoDaddy’s Deluxe, Ultimate, and Maximum plans all include unlimited websites, storage, and bandwidth, higher-priced plans are really more powerful (and include more freebies). Therefore, you get what you pay for with these plans. If you want more features, then be willing to shell out more money.
Support
According to GoDaddy, they have 24/7 support via phone and live chat. They also have a knowledge base on their official site (but this is already expected from them as it’s a standard support feature on web hosts).
Sad to say, but according to a lot of their customers, GoDaddy’s phone and live chat support aren’t that great. In fact, some customers experience the worst of times with their customer service. We found reports of nobody answering when you call their phone support. There are also instances of being put on hold for a very long time. There are even complaints of having their chat box automatically log off during inactivity – which means opening a conversation again and starting all over again.
Well, the only good thing we heard about GoDaddy’s support team is that they’re friendly and knowledgeable – once you get hold of them, that is.
Pros
1. Good uptime
GoDaddy actually has an above-average performance when it comes to uptimes. They’re committed to providing their customers with 99.9% uptime and they can really deliver on this. Their uptime performance runs in the range of 99.8% to 100% per month – so that’s quite good.
2. Good speed
GoDaddy is definitely NOT a slow host – their loading times are really fast, definitely for those looking for US web hosting, or website hosting services for Canada (they also have a server in Singapore, so people searching for web hosting for Australia should be fine as well). Their speed performance is good for your SEO efforts and overall conversions.
3. Free website builder
You can use GoDaddy’s drag-and-drop page builder for free. This will allow you to quickly put up a site even if you’re just a beginner.
4. 1-Click installs
GoDaddy has 1-click installs for major CMS platforms like WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla.
5. Quick and easy signup process
It’s easy to sign up with GoDaddy. You can expect activation of your account in less than an hour.
Cons
1. Lots of upsells
GoDaddy comes with lots of upsells – and we mean A LOT.
So, be very careful when you check out your purchases with GoDaddy – because it’s like a minefield. You can check and uncheck the boxes on their many options to make sure that you’re only paying for the things that you need (and want to pay for).
2. Poor customer support
Like we said in the support section of this post, GoDaddy has a bad reputation when it comes to their customer service. A lot of people say that even their 24/7 live chat is unreliable.
Conclusion
Are we recommending GoDaddy? Unfortunately, not. Just look at the pros and cons – their major pros are their uptime record and speed, but that’s about it.
GoDaddy has a long list of cons in this report. Their customer support is very frustrating and their upselling technique is terrible (everything is for sale, even basic stuff). When you think about it, even their cheapest plan can turn out expensive because of all the extra fees you have to pay to have a fully functioning site. And what’s with their crazy, out-of-this-world money-back guarantee?
You’re bound to experience a lot of problems and frustrations when you choose GoDaddy as your web host. We suggest looking at our SiteGround review and you’ll see that you’ll get more value for your money with it.
SiteGround has great uptime, great speed, great customer support, and an even greater money-back guarantee (among other things). Also, lots of freebies!
Do consider SiteGround over GoDaddy – and we assure you that your online life will be so much better and fruitful.