GoDaddy is one of the most recognizable names in web hosting, powering millions of sites worldwide with domain registration, hosting, and bundled website tools tailored for beginners and growing businesses.

From its drag-and-drop website builder and business email to domains and scalable Linux/Windows hosting, GoDaddy aims to be a one-stop shop for individuals, creators, and small teams that want to launch quickly and scale as traffic increases.

But does GoDaddy live up to the hype? We tested the plans, dug through the fine print, and compared real features against similarly priced hosts to see how it stacks up.

This review breaks down GoDaddy’s plans, core features, strengths, and gaps—so you can decide whether it fits your site’s goals, budget, and technical comfort level in 2025.

By the end, you’ll have a clear, no-fluff understanding of where GoDaddy excels, where it lags, and which specific plan (if any) is the right move for your project.

The Benefits of Using GoDaddy Web Hosting

Consistently solid uptime with an SLA

Uptime is critical—every minute of downtime risks lost traffic, SEO signals, and revenue. GoDaddy advertises a 99.9% uptime guarantee backed by a service credit if it falls short, which aligns with what we observed across typical sites. GoDaddy’s Hosting Agreement confirms the 99.9% monthly uptime SLA and outlines the credit policy.

You’ll still see the occasional blip (no shared host is immune), but month-to-month performance is steady enough for blogs, small business sites, and marketing landing pages that don’t demand enterprise-grade SLAs.

If keeping your site available is priority #1, GoDaddy’s uptime record and simple SLA are reassuring for most small to midsize projects.

Faster-than-expected speeds for the price

Budget hosting often means sluggish load times. GoDaddy’s newer shared plans include NVMe storage, built-in caching, and optional CDN/WAF via its security stack; Managed WordPress adds Cloudflare CDN and other optimizations. In short, not the absolute fastest host overall, but competitive for the money—especially if you choose tiers with more CPU/RAM.

If you’re running a content site, portfolio, brochure site, or modest WooCommerce catalog, GoDaddy’s speed profile will be “fast enough” out of the box, with room to grow via Web Hosting Plus, VPS, or dedicated servers. :

One-click installs plus developer access

Beginners get 125+ one-click installers (WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and more) and an intuitive control panel. Power users get cPanel, optional managed WordPress dashboards, SSH access, MySQL, and modern PHP—with Python/Node support depending on stack.

This mix of simplicity and control makes GoDaddy workable for first-time site owners and hands-on developers alike.

Pricing that’s competitive—if you understand the terms

GoDaddy didn’t top our list of the best cheap web hosting providers, but promo pricing is aggressive and there are frequent deals. Intro rates on shared plans often land under $10/month with multi-year terms, and WordPress plans routinely see similar promos with a richer feature set. Renewal rates are higher (industry-standard), so budget for the post-promo price.

Other Considerations

GoDaddy fits a lot of use cases, but it isn’t perfect. Keep these caveats in mind before you buy.

Upsells and renewal hikes are real

The entry price you see is usually for a 12–36-month term and excludes many add-ons. Expect to see upsells for security suites, premium backups, and marketing tools during checkout. The good news: several fundamentals are now included on many plans—automatic daily backups on standard web hosting (with a 1-day retention; 30-day history requires the paid Website Backup add-on) and free SSL (AutoSSL) on shared plans—unlimited on Deluxe+ tiers and one-year on some entry tiers.

When your introductory term ends, renewal rates step up—so plan your term length and budget accordingly.

Entry tiers still skip some “nice-to-haves”

SSL is now included on most tiers (AutoSSL on shared; unlimited on higher shared tiers; free on Managed WordPress), and automatic daily backups are standard on new shared packages. However, advanced protections—like a dedicated Web Application Firewall (WAF) and hands-on malware cleanup—live in GoDaddy’s paid Website Security add-ons for shared hosting, while Managed WordPress bundles WAF and automated malware scans/removal.

Site migration is easier than it used to be thanks to a free automated migration tool (especially for WordPress). If you want white-glove, human-assisted migration, expect a fee.

Bottom line: the essentials are better than in years past, but security-conscious sites may still want to budget for the add-on suite or consider a plan that includes it.

Customer support is fast to reach, results can vary

GoDaddy’s 24/7 phone and live chat support is easy to contact and quick to pick up. For basic account or setup questions, that’s a win. For deeper, developer-level troubleshooting, experiences vary—some issues are resolved immediately, while others may get routed to documentation or higher-tier teams. (GoDaddy publicly touts “award-winning” support; your mileage may vary.)

Domain registration value isn’t best-in-class

GoDaddy remains massively popular for domains, but renewal pricing for many TLDs trends higher than low-cost registrars. We generally recommend keeping your domain at a dedicated registrar for long-term value and flexibility, and your hosting wherever it best serves the site.

See our guide to the best domain registrars for alternatives with consistently lower renewals.

Compare GoDaddy Web Hosting Plans

GoDaddy’s catalog spans shared hosting for entry-level sites, managed WordPress for the most popular CMS, and higher-power options like VPS and dedicated servers. Here’s what to expect from each.

You’ll find everything from entry-level shared hosting to powerful dedicated servers:

Let’s look at each option more closely so you can match a plan to your traffic, workload, and maintenance preferences.

Shared hosting

Shared hosting is built for new and low-to-moderate-traffic sites that don’t need guaranteed resources. It’s the cheapest way to get online fast, with a clean upgrade path to more power later.

What you get with GoDaddy shared today:

(We removed an older speed chart from this section; it no longer reflects current plans.)

Current line-up highlights include NVMe storage, unmetered bandwidth, automatic daily backups (1-day restore point included), and free SSL. Economy commonly includes the first year of SSL, while Deluxe and higher include free, unlimited AutoSSL that auto-renews as long as hosting stays active. cPanel and a free first-year domain are also typical. If you outgrow shared resources, consider Web Hosting Plus (more CPU/RAM without moving to VPS) or jump to VPS.

Intro pricing frequently lands under $10/month on multi-year terms for the entry tier; Deluxe/Ultimate add more sites, storage, and unlimited SSL on higher tiers. We generally recommend Deluxe for the best balance of resources and flexibility.

WordPress hosting

GoDaddy’s Managed Hosting for WordPress plans are tuned for performance and simplicity. They include one-click migration, automatic core updates, daily backups, free SSL, Cloudflare CDN, a built-in WAF, automated malware scans/removal, and AI-assisted onboarding.

You also get a streamlined dashboard, staging/version control, and add-on sites/storage options—making Managed WordPress a better long-term fit than basic shared for most WP sites.

Bandwidth is unmetered, and there aren’t hard visitor caps; practical limits are determined by plan resources and caching. For WooCommerce, prioritize higher tiers for more PHP workers and better performance.

VPS hosting

VPS gives you dedicated CPU/RAM and isolated resources without the cost of a whole server. GoDaddy offers both self-managed (for admins comfortable with server upkeep) and fully managed options (GoDaddy handles OS patches, security updates, and more).

Configurations range from 1–2 vCPU and 2–4 GB RAM up to multi-core plans with significantly more memory and NVMe storage. Snapshot backups, Linux/Windows choices, and cPanel or Plesk are available. Renewal pricing tends to track provisioned resources rather than big promo jumps.

While GoDaddy isn’t our top pick in the best VPS hosts, it remains a practical choice for mid-tier traffic and workloads like staging environments, API services, or email and database hosting.

Dedicated servers

Dedicated hosting gives you full control and maximum performance—ideal for high-traffic apps, custom stacks, or compliance-sensitive deployments. GoDaddy offers self-managed, managed, and fully-managed admin options, all with full root access.

Only choose dedicated if your application truly needs the isolation and horsepower; otherwise, a well-sized VPS is more cost-effective. Tip: if you’re moving from shared to dedicated, test on VPS first to right-size CPU/RAM before committing to a higher monthly bill.

Reseller hosting

Agencies, designers, and developers can white-label GoDaddy’s products and sell hosting to clients via turnkey storefronts. It’s a quick way to add recurring revenue without building your own infrastructure. Plans start at $107.88/year for Basic (~$8.99/mo billed annually) and $179.88/year for Pro (~$14.99/mo billed annually), with up to 20% and 40% standard buy-rate discounts, respectively.

Wholesale/buy rates by product are published (e.g., shared hosting, Web Hosting Plus, Managed WordPress, SSL, Website Security), and you can set your own retail margins.

You can bundle care plans and let GoDaddy’s backend handle storefront payments and much of the support—useful if you’d rather focus on design and marketing.

Conclusion

GoDaddy is a reliable, mainstream host with global scale, straightforward onboarding, and a much-improved baseline feature set in 2025—automatic daily backups on shared (1-day restore point included), free SSL on most tiers (AutoSSL on shared; unlimited on Deluxe+), and simpler migrations via a free auto-migration tool.

Here’s a quick recap of the product lineup:

  • Shared hosting
  • WordPress hosting
  • VPS hosting
  • Reseller hosting
  • Dedicated hosting

Standouts for most users: shared (Deluxe+), Managed WordPress (for WP sites), and dedicated (for true high-traffic or custom workloads). If you’re budget-focused or want more hands-on security included at renewals, compare what each tier bundles (SSL, backups, WAF, malware cleanup) across a few top competitors before you commit.

If you want an affordable, scalable, and beginner-friendly host with easy upgrades as you grow, GoDaddy deserves a spot on your shortlist in 2025.