Bluehost vs. GoDaddy Comparison

Before you spend a lot of time reading, we’ll cut right to the chase. All in all, Bluehost is a better web hosting provider than GoDaddy. However, they both have their pros and cons.

Bluehost is better for users who have a WordPress site and want to keep their hosting and domain with one company.

GoDaddy is a better fit for those who are less tech-savvy, but want all the tools they need to build a website in one place.

Bluehost Compared to GoDaddy

When it comes to web hosting providers, Bluehost and GoDaddy are two of the most popular. They both offer a variety of services, but they also have some noteworthy differences.

Bluehost is one of the largest web hosting companies in the world, with over 2 million customers. They offer shared hosting, WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated servers. Bluehost is known for its WordPress compatibility and drag-and-drop page builder, which is wonderfully easy on beginners.

One of the other most popular names in web hosting, GoDaddy was founded in 1997 by Bob Parsons. It is one of the largest domain registrars in the world, with over 62 million domains under management. The company offers a variety of services beyond domain name registration, including website building, online marketing, and security tools for businesses of all kinds.

Best for first-timers building a website, GoDaddy did not make our list of the best web hosting providers because of its frequent upsells and high renewal rates.

More Top Web Hosting Providers

Bluehost and GoDaddy are both good web hosting services for some, but there are other providers that might better fit your needs. Since there is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to web hosting, see all of our top picks to find the best web host for your specific needs.

Where Bluehost Shines

Stellar customer support: Any top web hosting service needs to have excellent customer service, but finding one that provides quick and efficient assistance may be difficult.

With Bluehost, you can get support through their comprehensive knowledge base, video tutorials, or by reaching out to one of their expert customer service representatives 24/7 via live chat or phone. In fact, their live chat system typically responds to inquiries within five minutes of being submitted.

Free domain and SSL certificate: When you sign up for any web hosting plan with Bluehost, you’ll get a free domain name for the first year. You can also add an SSL certificate to your account for free. This is a great perk because it’s not always easy to find a web hosting provider that includes these essentials for free alongside a hosting plan.

WordPress compatibility: If you’re looking for a web hosting provider that is WordPress compatible (and WordPress-approved), Bluehost is one of the best options. In fact, Bluehost is one of three hosting providers recommended by WordPress itself. And, since WordPress powers 43% of all websites on the internet, that’s a big point in their favor.

Beginner-friendly page builder: Bluehost’s drag-and-drop site builder makes it easy to create your website, even if you don’t have any technical experience. With this tool, you can add text, images, videos, and other elements to your website with just a few clicks.

High-performance servers: Bluehost’s servers are some of the most powerful in the industry. They use a variety of tools in addition to their quality infrastructure to keep your website running quickly and efficiently, including caching, CDNs, and SSDs.

Free site backups: Bluehost automatically backs up your website at regular intervals and will restore your site to an older version for you for free. This means that if your website crashes, you can rewind it back to a recent working version with just a few clicks.

Money-back guarantee: Bluehost offers a 30-day money-back guarantee that demonstrates their confidence in their hosting quality. If you’re not satisfied with the service during that period, you can cancel your account and get a full refund.

Where Bluehost Falls Short

No free website migration: One downside of Bluehost is that they do not offer free migrations. If you’re moving your site to Bluehost from another host, you’ll have to pay a fee of $149.99 to have Bluehost transfer your site for you.

No guaranteed uptime: Unlike some other web hosting providers, there is no contractual guarantee for your site’s uptime on Bluehost. Your site could go down for short (or long) periods of time without any compensation. While the web hosting service generally performs without issues at 99.99% efficiency, this is something to keep in mind if uptime is of the utmost importance.

Limited disk space: Bluehost only gives you 100 GB of disk space. While smaller websites rarely get to that amount, this can be a problem if you have a large or media-heavy website or want to host multiple sites on the same account.

Where GoDaddy Shines

One-click app installation: GoDaddy makes it easy to install popular applications and integrations to your account, including Google Analytics and Shopify. For those who are building and designing a new website for the first time, this can be a big help and time-saver.

Free domain: When you sign up for GoDaddy’s annual web hosting plan, you’ll get a free domain name. This is a great perk since domains can often be expensive, especially if you’re looking for a premium .com address.

Unlimited disk space and bandwidth: GoDaddy’s web hosting plans let you host a site with a lot of content or as many websites as you want on your account without having to worry about hitting any limits.

Easy on beginners: GoDaddy practically does the work for you when it comes to setting up your web hosting account. After you sign up, GoDaddy will automatically set up your website and its email address. You can also use the company’s beginner-friendly cPanel to manage all aspects of your account.

Multiple data centers: With data centers in Europe, Asia, and the U.S., your website will load quickly no matter where your visitors are located. GoDaddy also uses caching and a content delivery network (CDN) to improve load times.

Where GoDaddy Falls Short

Stolen domain names: Unfortunately, GoDaddy has been known to steal domain names from its prospective customers. If you search a domain name on GoDaddy, there’s a chance that the company will scoop it up before you have a chance to buy it. This has led to a lot of frustration in customers who were trying to purchase a domain name only to find out that it had already been taken (by GoDaddy itself).

Limited features: One of the major benefits to GoDaddy is that it is easy to use. However, because of its user friendliness, GoDaddy doesn’t offer some of the more advanced features that other web hosting providers do, like unlimited email accounts or a private IP address.

Lots of upsells: Once you sign up for a GoDaddy account, the company will try to sell you on a variety of additional products and services. These upsells can sometimes be helpful. But, in general, we find them to be extremely annoying, especially since they are often presented in a very aggressive way.

High renewal rates: The prices for GoDaddy’s web hosting plans are low when you first sign up. But once it’s time to renew your account, those rates go up significantly.

The Final Verdict on Bluehost vs. GoDaddy

Bluehost is the clear winner when it comes to web hosting, especially if you are running WordPress as your content management system. The company offers a variety of features, great customer support, and rock-solid uptime. Although it’s more expensive than GoDaddy, Bluehost is still a better value for your money.

Bluehost‘s pricing is as follows:

Shared Hosting: $2.95-$13.95 per month
WordPress Hosting: $4.95-$15.95 per month
WooCommerce Hosting: $12.95-$24.95 per month
VPS Hosting: $18.99-$59.99 per month
Dedicated Hosting: $79.99-$119.99 per month
Reseller Hosting: Outsourced for $17.99-$45.99 per month

In addition to these web hosting packages, Bluehost also offers services for search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, site migration, and WordPress-specialized support.

GoDaddy is a very beginner-friendly hosting option. Its pricing is as follows:

Shared Hosting: $6.99-$17.99 per month
WordPress Hosting: $11.99-$17.99 per month
WooCommerce Hosting: $19.99-$129.99 per month
VPS Hosting: $9.99-$169.99 per month
Dedicated Hosting: $159.99-$469.99 per month
Website Builder: $9.99 per month

GoDaddy also offers a fleet of add-on products that you can purchase. Options include their digital marketing suite of tools, Microsoft 365 at a discounted rate, and even a virtual phone number through SmartLine.

Also, for experienced web developers and agencies who manage multiple websites, GoDaddy Pro gives you access to free tools, expert support, and special discounts.

As you can see, both Bluehost and GoDaddy offer a wide range of products and services. And while neither choice will break the bank, Bluehost is the better value for your money.

Because of its low prices, wide range of features, WordPress compatibility, and excellent customer support and knowledge base, Bluehost will help your money go further, even though GoDaddy has some great features as well.

GoDaddy is a good web hosting provider if you are looking for something simple and easy to use. But because the company lacks some of the features that more advanced users will be looking for out-of-the-box, the web hosting service falls short. Additionally, the company’s aggressive upselling and questionable ethics are a deal-breaker for us, which is why they do not have a place on our list of top web hosting services.

If neither of these fits the mold you’re looking for in a web hosting provider, be sure to check out the other web hosting providers on our list: