Founded in 1997, GoDaddy is one of the biggest domain registrar and web hosting companies out there. They also offer some of the best tools for building professional or personal websites, whether they be simple landing pages or multi-page blogs. They also offer a wide range of other services, such as eCommerce solutions, SSL certificates, professional business emails, and more.
And at first glance, GoDaddy is a great service, having low prices in comparison to the competition and some great features. However, our aim with this article is to highlight the numerous disadvantages of using GoDaddy more so than its advantages (which there are plenty of!).
So, if you need a new website, read this before signing up on GoDaddy!
Cons of using GoDaddy
When it comes to hosting, the value for GoDaddy’s cheapest plan seems to be a steal. However, as you dig deeper, you’ll discover pressing problems with the service.
Indeed, GoDaddy’s low prices are what contribute most to their problems. For instance, their cheapest plan is missing a few key features and comes with a lot of upsells throughout the checkout process.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Let’s discuss the cons of GoDaddy in more detail…
Cons of GoDaddy: A lackluster base plan
Many web hosting services out there will throw in features like an SSL certificate on every plan they have. Such certificates and security measures have become a necessity to run a site in this day and age, hence them becoming commonplace.
However, GoDaddy doesn’t offer SSL certificates in their base plan (Economy). Unless you decide to pay for GoDaddy’s more expensive plans (Deluxe, Ultimate, or Maximum), you’re going to have to pay an additional fee to get yourself an SSL certificate. And if you’re thinking, “well, how much could it possibly cost anyway? It must be cheap.” Well, you’ll have to think again. Take a look at the prices of SSL certificates offered by GoDaddy:
Thankfully, you can always get an SSL certificate for free and install it yourself by following this guide.
Moreover, GoDaddy doesn’t offer site migrations for free. Again, numerous hosts offer the ability to move at least one existing site to their server for free. Many will gladly do it within just a few hours of you asking.
GoDaddy is different, though. Not only do they not offer any free manage migrations, but they’ll also charge you to migrate a site. Plus, it can take anywhere between 7 and 10 business days. So, it’s not just expensive but also slow. To avoid this, you can learn to migrate your website yourself.
Sure, extra costs like getting an SSL certificate and migrating a site might seem like necessary sacrifices, but they can add up over the years and become a serious problem.
Cons of GoDaddy: Numerous upsells
As we’ve briefly mentioned in the previous point, GoDaddy has become somewhat infamous for upselling. Their lacking roster of features equates to a load of upsells during the signup process. The goal? To, of course, increase the final price that you’re going to pay as much as possible.
The first upsell that you’ll run into is one that is quite common in the industry, and it has to do with the monthly cost of the plan. You see, based on your preferred duration of the plan, the amount that you will prepay can greatly vary.
For instance, a one-month subscription to their base plan (Economy) can cost you upwards of £9.99 a month. If you truly want the best value, you’re going to have to sign up for anywhere between 12 (£5.99 /mo for a total of £95.88) and 36 months (£3.99 /mo for a total of £143.64) instead.
Yes, the idea of getting a longer plan sounds tempting since you’ll pay less. However, you’re going to have to invest a larger sum of money upfront. It’s a commitment.
But that’s just the first of it. There are also SSL certificates (as mentioned above), “essential website security”, which stands for basic malware scans and updates, Microsoft 365 Starter Email, and other features that are offered for free by other web hosting providers.
Overall, GoDaddy’s checkout process can feel like a minefield. Make sure to tread carefully with each step so that you don’t end up “accidentally” paying two or three times the initial price.
Cons of GoDaddy: Questionable customer support
Something your average customer is always happy to see is 24/7/365 customer support, and GoDaddy offers exactly that. They offer a live chat as well as a large network of international phone support numbers with the support of many languages.
However, if you were to experience their live chat support first-hand, you’d come to one conclusion: it’s inconsistent. Upon using the live chat feature, you’ll first be connected with a bot. Then, a customer support agent will reach out.
This waiting time window can vary greatly, ranging from just 5 minutes to almost an hour. Fortunately, though, you’ll most often than not get knowledgeable and helpful replies. So, that might compensate for the longer waiting times for many.
What’s more, expect up to 48 hours of wait time to receive a response when submitting a trouble ticket. And each follow-up response may also take an additional 48 hours. So, unless your issue was solved with the first response, it could take a week or so to troubleshoot it.
Does GoDaddy have any pros?
Well, of course it does, which is why it’s a popular hosting provider. Now that we’ve taken a look at the cons of GoDaddy, let us check some of the service’s advantages:
Affordability
GoDaddy offers competitive pricing for its hosting plans, making it a budget-friendly option for many users. This is one of the main reasons GoDaddy is so popular today. Remember the upsells we talked about above, though.
Wide range of hosting options
GoDaddy offers a variety of hosting plans to suit different needs, including shared hosting for small websites, VPS hosting for larger and more resource-intensive sites, and dedicated hosting for high-traffic websites with special requirements.
Easy-to-use control panel
GoDaddy’s control panel is user-friendly and easy to navigate, making it easy for users to manage their hosting account and website. The UI is also quite modern and easy on the eye, making the learning curve even easier.
24/7 customer support
GoDaddy provides round-the-clock customer support via phone, email, and live chat, so users can get help whenever they need it. Of course, as mentioned above, this is more of a “quantity over quality” kind of approach, as you get support whenever you need it, but the quality of that support is inconsistent and questionable.
Security features
GoDaddy offers a range of security features to protect websites, including malware scanning and removal, SSL certificates, and firewall protection. Keep in mind that those features are kinda basic, though, and they’re currently offered by most hosting providers.
99.9% uptime guarantee
GoDaddy guarantees a high level of uptime for its hosting servers, ensuring that websites are always available to visitors. That said, that guarantee is backed up by a meagre compensation policy, where the user only receives a credit equal to 5% of the monthly fee if the uptime dips below 99.9%.
Cons of GoDaddy: Alternatives
As a small business owner, you should always look at your larger pool of options and make an informed decision. And that is why we have put together this list of some of the best GoDaddy alternatives for you.
Bluehost
Bluehost offers fast and affordable hosting services that you can always rely on to make and improve a website. Their hosting plans are highly optimised for WordPress, a favourite website builder amongst the masses.
Even better, they offer a free domain as well as a free SSL certificate with each hosting plan, unlike our friends at GoDaddy. You also get free business email, a single dashboard to manage and work on everything, and more.
SiteGround
If you happen to run a website that is entirely focused on your business or eCommerce venture, we also recommend SiteGround – yet another WordPress officially recommended provider. In fact, SiteGround is what we use at Rockstar Marketing.
Renowned for its brilliant customer support, SiteGround offers fast and knowledgeable support via phone, chat, and email. What’s more, you get one website migration for free, as well as an SSL certificate and more.
And as a web owner, you can choose from their data centres across multiple geographic regions to ensure that you get the best out of their performance.
HostGator
If you’re looking for a GoDaddy level of cheap web hosting alternative, then look no further than HostGator. With their prices, it should come as no surprise that they’re the go-to hosting provider for bloggers and startups alike.
But that’s not what they’re entirely focused on. They also offer great plans for more advanced clients, some with their own dedicated servers. On top of that, you get a 1-click WordPress website setup and superb customer support whenever needed.
Why worry about hosting when we can do it for you?
Dealing with hosting companies, especially ones that aren’t managed, can be a hassle. Worry not, though, as our agency can take care of all of this technical stuff for you, and all you have to do is book a discovery call with us today!
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