GoDaddy is one of the most well-known names in web hosting and the world’s largest domain registrar. We’ve used their hosting services on multiple websites. They offer a wide range of hosting plans from budget-friendly shared hosting to managed WordPress solutions. But does GoDaddy live up to its reputation? In this review, we’ll share our experience and key findings to help you decide if it’s the right choice for your website.
Click to Read More »About GoDaddy
GoDaddy is one of the biggest names in web hosting and domain registration.
GoDaddy was founded in 1997 as Jomax Technologies. They started offering hosting in 1998, and changed their name to GoDaddy in 1999.
In 2000, GoDaddy became ICANN accredited and began registering domains. Today they are the world’s largest domain name registrar, managing over 63 million domain names. They have over 14 million customers and have won numerous awards for their workplace, sales, and customer service.
GoDaddy Hosting Plans
GoDaddy offers a variety of hosting plans to suit different needs, whether you’re launching your first blog or running a high-traffic business website. We tested multiple hosting options to see how they compare in terms of features, pricing, and ease of use.
Here’s a breakdown of their main hosting options:
- Web Hosting (Shared Hosting) – Starts at $5.99/month: A budget-friendly option for beginners. The Economy plan supports 1 website, 25 GB NVMe storage, and includes unmetered bandwidth, a free domain, and a free SSL certificate for the first year. Higher-tier plans allow more websites and storage.
- Managed WordPress Hosting – Starts at $5.99/month: Designed specifically for WordPress, these plans come with automatic updates, daily backups, AI-based site creation tools, and an SSL certificate that doesn’t expire. We liked the 1-click staging feature on higher-tier plans, which makes testing site changes easier.
- VPS Hosting – Starts at $8.99/month: Ideal for users who need more power and flexibility, GoDaddy’s VPS plans provide full root access, 40 GB NVMe SSD storage, 2 GB RAM, and automated daily backups. We found this useful for developers managing multiple sites or running resource-intensive applications.
GoDaddy also offers dedicated hosting, reseller hosting, and enterprise solutions for businesses with more complex needs. Across all plans, we appreciated their use of NVMe storage for faster performance, DDoS protection, and malware scanning.
While GoDaddy’s pricing is competitive, we noticed that some features—like backups and security add-ons—are pre-selected at checkout. Be sure to review your cart before completing your purchase. Now, let’s take a closer look at how GoDaddy performs in real-world tests.
Money Back Guarantee
GoDaddy offers a 30 day money back guarantee for annual plans. You can cancel your account within 30 days of signing up and get a full refund of all hosting fees.
If you purchase a monthly plan, you can cancel within the first 48 hours and get a full refund.
Support and Customer Service
GoDaddy offers 24/7 customer support through phone, live chat, and email. In our experience, their phone support was quick to connect, and the representatives were knowledgeable. However, response times on live chat varied depending on the time of day.
We also liked that GoDaddy provides a comprehensive help center filled with tutorials and step-by-step guides. Their community forums are another resource where users can ask questions, and we found that moderators respond fairly quickly.
While their support covers all the basics, we noticed that some advanced troubleshooting may require paid add-ons or premium support. If you’re comfortable with self-help resources, their knowledge base is quite useful.
Pros and Cons
GoDaddy is one of the most recognizable names in web hosting, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right choice for everyone. After testing their hosting services, here’s what we liked and where we think there’s room for improvement.
Pros
- WordPress-Optimized Hosting: We found that GoDaddy’s managed WordPress hosting runs on servers optimized specifically for WordPress, leading to faster performance and better security out of the box.
- Affordable Pricing: Compared to competitors, GoDaddy offers competitive pricing with a solid feature set, making it a reasonable choice for budget-conscious users.
- 24/7 Support: We appreciated that GoDaddy provides round-the-clock support via phone and live chat, which can be helpful when you run into issues outside of business hours.
- Flexible Billing Options: Unlike some hosts that require long-term commitments, GoDaddy allows monthly billing. However, we noticed that you get a bigger discount when choosing annual plans.
Cons
- Upsells During Checkout: We found that GoDaddy tends to pre-select add-ons during checkout, such as backups and security tools. While these can be useful, make sure to review your cart to avoid unexpected charges.
- Brand Reputation: Over the years, GoDaddy has faced controversy due to past advertising strategies. While this doesn’t impact their hosting performance, some users prefer alternative hosts based on brand perception.
Is GoDaddy Right for You?
After thoroughly testing GoDaddy’s hosting services, we can confidently say that it’s a solid choice for beginners and small businesses looking for an easy way to launch a website.
We liked how user-friendly their setup process is, especially for WordPress sites. Features like automatic updates, managed security, and built-in caching make it a hands-off experience for those who don’t want to deal with technical maintenance.
If your site grows, GoDaddy also offers scalable hosting plans, so you won’t outgrow their platform too quickly.
That said, if you prefer a hosting provider with fewer upsells and more advanced developer-friendly features, you might want to explore other options.
But for users who prioritize ease of use, affordability, and 24/7 support, GoDaddy remains a reliable and beginner-friendly choice.
Ready to get started? Click here to choose your GoDaddy plan today.
GoDaddy Coupon
WPBeginner users get managed WordPress hosting at the incredible price of $1.00 per month with our GoDaddy coupon code.
All you have to do is click on this link to purchase. The discount will be auto-applied.
Joe Ussia
Worst company ever. GoDaddy USED to be amazing.
Steer clear of this company. I am at WPBeginner.com because I am looking for a NEW WordPress hosting company.
5 stars is what I would have rated GoDaddy 2 years ago. These days, I’d give them a 1 star at best.
Bharath kumaran
Hello . i picked a domain name from the godaddy and hosting service also. this is the best one for the hosting and while choosing domain names. There are many features available in this product.
E J Howard
I’ve registered a number of domains with GoDaddy, have been a customer for about 10 years. Their customer service has been great constantly. Their staff seem very knowledgable and patient with me. Some things I don’t understand. They never sound offended if I don’t buy a product or service on the spot. It’s like they know you will be back.
Recently I bought a hosting package even though this went against the advice of others. I trust that they will help me through my challenges and if not I’ll take my business elsewhere. I’m a happy camper with GoDaddy.
Larry Brewer
The help they gave me when I was first starting to build my wordpress blog was fantastic, I was pleasantly surprised to reach someone late at night who not only was easy to understand, but knew how to fix the problems. Thank You Godaddy.
The Tonkers
Every now and again my site or email goes through a little glitch..sometimes it’s my fault, sometimes the internet gremlins have been at play. Either way, every time I have had an issue, I have been able to speak to someone quickly (no long phone waits, and a local number!) and they have always fixed the issue on the spot. I have been a Go Daddy customer for 5 years and you cannot compare them to my last hosting company who could never fix anything, had no local numbers, and no service at all. Thank you, Go Daddy!
Mason Bolton
We had been with another hosting company for ten years and recently migrated everything to GoDaddy. It was such a seamless, simple and easy process that I wish I had done it years ago.
The support experience with the previous hosting provider was usually frustrating. GoDaddy has been the complete opposite: always friendly, very helpful, and especially, extremely knowledgeable.
Every interaction I’ve had — from initial sales process, to installation and setup, to a few tech support calls along the way — has been a smooth, efficient and delightful experience. I’ve recommended you to a few friends and will continue to do so.
Thank you, GoDaddy!
Cheryl Flynn
I’ve been a Godaddy Customer for years, and have always had a positive experience with their Tech Support and Sales team. I have been building websites using WordPress for three years and have my customers buy their domains and hosting with Godaddy for their sites before I start work, or I purchase for them.
I just started using the Managed WordPress Hosting and I really like it. I will be using it from now on. It’s great!
Suzan Colon
I have had 3 Go Daddy websites and love it more each time. Quick easy with great support. I have also been with a few other hosting companies and been disappointed.
Chelle Ellis
I’ve been using various products at Godaddy for years, since the beginning of D.I.Y. websites and emails for small business. Their tech support is just beyond amazing. They are always there, and their staff is knowledgeable and competent. I would recommend doing business with Godaddy any day of the week if you’re looking for excellent hosting, web design, and resources for your online business. They are in a league of their own.
Veterinary Hospital Websites
You know, in terms of quality, there really is no better hosting service than godaddy. With hosting, great customer service is everything, but godaddy goes that extra mile by understanding the customer too. My new Cpanel installation is blazing fast – and godaddy was very sensitive to my needs, advising me all along the way and never too busy to take an extra moment to advise me on how to make my site better – no money involved – just good customer service.
norseepilepsy
I’ve been a web designer/developer since the dot com era so I’ve seen them all! GoDaddy has been my goto source for domain registration and hosting of any kind since 2007. I have always been super impressed, I will never leave! Stay awesome!
Lynn Daue
I’ve been a godaddy customer now for 2 years, using both their domain registration and their Hosting, I have yet to find a better company that provides that they do, at an affordable price, all whilst giving you the best customer support around.
Matt Harding
We have multiple website hosting packages and domain names and have always been very happy with the service.
M.W. Cobb
GoDaddy’s managed wordpress, domain, and hosting solutions are easy to setup. Professionally managed, and customer support is very responsive and knowledgable.
Poor Richards Enterprises
I have been happy with the affordable hosting from GoDaddy which has brought me several really great customers since 2007. As more customers search online, it’s so important to have a website and this is more accessible to me than the thousands charged by other companies.
Jill Pearson
I’ve been with GoDaddy for years. It’s easy to use, and if you don’t know… tech support does. That is THE standout feature in hosting: tech support. Having the best makes a giant difference.