GoDaddy review: Easy and reliable web hosting for small sites and beginners

GoDaddy is the 800-pound gorilla of domain registration, the name most people know, even if they’ve never built a website. It’s the Amazon of URLs. It has excelled at selling domains (and upselling you on everything under the sun), but the story gets more complicated when it comes to web hosting.

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Sure, it’ll host your site, but the question is, should it?

GoDaddy’s pitch is: buy your domain, host your website, and manage it all in one place. I did just that to see if it’s worth it.

GoDaddy’s hosting plans cover just about everything, from basic shared hosting for small sites to dedicated servers for your more heavy-duty projects. On the surface, it seems like there’s something for everyone.

The shared plans are cheap up-front — starting at $6 per month at the time of writing — but renewal prices jump, and features like unlimited SSL are locked behind higher tiers. WordPress plans follow the same pattern, offering extras like malware scanning and WooCommerce support, but only if you’re willing to pay for it.

VPS and dedicated hosting plans promise more power and flexibility, but they come with steep price tags, especially if you need upgrades or additional features. Even basic security tools, which many competitors include for free, often require an extra fee here. It’s a classic bait-and-switch: The initial costs look good until you realize how much more you’ll need to spend to get the functionality you actually need.

The pricing strategy is clearly designed to hook you with low introductory rates, only to hit you with higher renewals and extra charges down the line. If you’re considering GoDaddy, make sure you know what you’re getting and what it’s going to cost you a year from now.

GoDaddy gets points for being straightforward in other areas, though. Its tools are easy to use, and the range of plans covers everything from personal blogs to full-scale e-commerce sites. The option to pick servers in different regions is a nice touch for speeding things up for global audiences. Plus, freebies like a domain for the first year and backups are useful.

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But here’s the rub: The cheaper plans feel like bait. Basic security features are either temporary or hidden behind paywalls. On top of that, the upselling is relentless, starting from checkout and never really letting up. And when it’s time to renew? Be ready for sticker shock, because those prices climb fast.

GoDaddy makes getting started pretty easy, especially if you’re already using one of its domains. The setup is smooth, and its website builder gets the job done for beginners. WordPress users get some nice perks, too — preinstalled templates and a few AI tools to help you piece things together. Still, you might find it lacking if you like a bit more control or customization.

Performance-wise, GoDaddy is solid. Uptime hovers around 99.98% (a standard promise from most hosting services), and server response times are good enough for smaller websites, but speed can get shaky if you’re running a heavier site or serving a global audience. It’s fine for casual projects, but don’t expect miracles if you aim for high traffic.

We tested this with a fresh WordPress install and threw some dummy text on a page. We then ran it through Pingdom Tools. First, we tested from San Francisco. Here’s what we got:

Not bad at all, considering we’re testing a shared server. This is good enough for a small site that needs decent performance without paying for top-tier plans.

We then ran it from London. Here are the results:

That’s still good enough for smaller websites, especially if you expect global traffic. Remember that these tests should be mostly taken with a grain of salt. We’re using a dummy site on a shared server, so results are expected to be pretty slow. The reality would be different if we had a full-fledged site up and running, and the package tier makes a big difference, too.

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The basics are all here — daily backups, a free domain for the first year, and staging tools on the higher-tier plans. But GoDaddy’s habit of charging extra for stuff like extended SSL certificates or basic security features feels like a throwback to an earlier, greedier era of hosting. Meanwhile, competitors like Bluehost throw those things in for free, making GoDaddy feel a step behind.

Did I mention I really dislike the constant upsells?

Support is hit or miss. Phone support is quick and friendly, but the live chat can be painfully slow, and it’s obvious when agents are just cutting and pasting canned replies. Their knowledge base is actually pretty decent, with clear guides to fix common problems, but having to dodge upsells when you’re trying to troubleshoot gets old fast. For simple fixes, it’s fine.

For anything more? Maybe keep your expectations low.

ZDNET’s buying advice

GoDaddy is a solid choice for small businesses, personal blogs, and anyone who wants to get a website up without too much fuss. It’s especially appealing if you’re already planning to grab a domain and need a host to bundle with it. The platform’s uptime is reliable, performance is good, and the tools are easy enough for beginners to figure out. That said, the constant upsells and extra costs for things like extended SSL certificates and better security can feel like death by a thousand cuts.

If you’re running a high-traffic e-commerce site or need top-notch performance, GoDaddy starts to feel outclassed. Competitors like Bluehost and SiteGround offer faster speeds, better security baked into the plans, and fewer headaches. For anything beyond a basic website, it’s worth shopping around.