The world's largest domain registrar also sells hosting. It's slow, overpriced at renewal, and the dashboard is cluttered with upsells. GoDaddy is great for buying domains. For hosting, look elsewhere.
BestWebHostingUSA Editorial Team
12-month hands-on testing
GoDaddy is the McDonald's of web hosting everyone knows the name, it's everywhere, and there are better options on the same street. The hosting itself is functional but unremarkable: slow load times, a control panel buried under upsell prompts, and renewal prices that jump 133-200%.
The one thing GoDaddy does well is domains. Buy your domain there, host it somewhere else. That's genuinely the best advice we can give.
| Plan | Intro (36mo) | Renewal | Increase | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Economy | $5.99 | $11.99 | 100% | 25GB |
| Deluxe | $7.99 | $14.99 | 88% | Unlimited |
| Ultimate | $12.99 | $19.99 | 54% | Unlimited |
| Maximum | $19.99 | $24.99 | 25% | Unlimited |
GoDaddy's intro price is already higher than most competitors. Then add: no free SSL on Economy ($7.99/mo extra or use Cloudflare), no free backups ($2.99/mo), no free domain privacy ($9.99/yr), and email is separate ($5.99/mo for Microsoft 365). A "cheap" $5.99/mo plan can easily become $20+/mo with essentials.
Load Time
1.8s
Slowest we tested
Uptime
99.90%
12-month avg
TTFB
420ms
Server response
Under Load
2.8s
100 concurrent
GoDaddy posted the slowest numbers in our testing. 1.8s load time is noticeable to visitors, and 420ms TTFB means the server itself is sluggish before any content even starts loading. Under load testing with 100 concurrent users, response times ballooned to 2.8s. For context: Hostinger does 0.85s, SiteGround does 0.65s, and even Bluehost (which we also don't love) manages 1.35s.
Still one of the best domain registrars. Wide TLD selection, decent management tools, and competitive pricing on domains specifically.
Domains, hosting, email, website builder, SSL, marketing tools all under one account. Convenient if you don't want to manage multiple providers.
One of the few hosts that still offers phone support. Wait times vary but it exists.
1.8s load time, 420ms TTFB. Dead last in every speed test we ran. Not acceptable in 2026.
SSL, backups, domain privacy, email, SEO tools all paid extras. The dashboard feels like a shopping cart.
Every other host includes free Let's Encrypt SSL. GoDaddy charges $7.99/mo for SSL on their cheapest plan. Use Cloudflare as a workaround.
Website backup is $2.99/mo extra. SiteGround, InterServer, and Hostinger include daily backups free.
GoDaddy hosts millions of sites. The shared servers show it performance degrades noticeably during peak hours.
"Economy" vs "Deluxe" vs "Ultimate" vs "Maximum" marketing names that obscure what you actually get.
GoDaddy gets a 3.0/5. The domain registration business is solid, but the hosting product is below average in every measurable way speed, value, features included, and transparency. Use GoDaddy for domains. For hosting, go with InterServer (cheapest), Hostinger (best beginner experience), or SiteGround (best overall quality).
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