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BlueHost vs. GoDaddy – Who is the Better Web Host?

GoDaddy and BlueHost are two giants in the hosting industry.

Both companies have been around for a significant amount of time, offering almost every kind of website hosting-related service you can imagine. This ranges from standard shared hosting and domain names registration to specialized services like web security and search engine optimization.

However, despite their early start and massive market share, both BlueHost and GoDaddy are just “okay” in my opinion when compared to other similar cheap hosting providers

BlueHost vs GoDaddy – Comparison Table

Web HostBlueHostGoDaddy
Storage10 GBUnmetered
Data TransferUnmeteredUnmetered
Starting Price$2.95/mo$5.99/mo
Special Promo(Link Activate)(Link activation)
ControlcPanelcPanel
Free Trial30 Days30 Days
Our Rating
Energy SourcesTraditionalTraditional
Server PlansShared Hosting, VPS Hosting, Dedicated Hosting, Managed WP HostingShared Hosting, VPS Hosting, Dedicated Hosting, Managed WP Hosting
Server LocationNorth AmericaNorth America, South America, Asia, Europe
Payment SupportCredit Card, PayPal, Credit Card, PayPal, Wire Transfer,
Use CasesBeginners, Cheap Solution, Small Business, International Sites, Freelancers, Multiple Websites, US-only WebsitesBeginners, Small Business, Freelancers
Domain LimitsUnlimited1
Parked DomainsUnlimitedUnlimited
Hard DiskSSDNVMe
Shared Hosting Plans$2.95 - $13.95/mo$5.99 - 19.99/mo
VPS Hosting Plans$19.99 - $59.99/mo$4.99 - 69.99/mo
Dedicated Hosting Plans$79.99 - $119.99/mo$139.99 - 419.99/mo
PHP 8 ReadyYesYes
Built-In Website BuilderYesYes
Built-In FirewallYesYes
Built-In DDoS ProtectionYesYes
BackupYesDaily backup
2FA User AccessYesNo
SSH and SFTP AccessYesYes
WordPress StagingYesYes
WP-CLIYesNo
Free SSL SupportYesOnly for Ultimate plan
Email HostingYesYes
PurchaseVisit BlueHostVisit GoDaddy
Learn MoreBlueHost ReviewGoDaddy Review

BlueHost – Better Reliability at Much Cheaper Rates

TL;DR – BlueHost is better than GoDaddy in term of:

  • Pricing – BlueHost shared hosting is ~50% cheaper
  • User friendliness – cPanel and easy-to-navigate user dashboard
  • Server reliability – BlueHost uptime is always above 99.9%

BlueHost Shared Hosting is Cheap

BlueHost's Shared Server Hosting offer an easy and economical way to get your website connected to the Internet. A basic one site hosting with 10 GB SSD Storage costs $2.95/month if you signup for 3 years (order here).

Bluehost Shared Hosting plans offer first-timers an excellent soft landing into the world of web hosting. For just $2.75/mo, you get everything necessary for hosting a single website. If you would like to stretch a plan to cover more than a single site, $5.45/mo allows you to host unlimited numbers of them. These rates are lower than typically available for entry-level hosting, as found in our latest web hosting price study.

GoDaddy, in comparison, charges $5.99/mo for something similar – single website hosting, 25 GB storage, and 10 databases. 

BlueHost Server uptime > 99.9%

In terms of service reliability, BlueHost has a proven track record of maintaining a high level of uptime for their servers. Our records show that BlueHost server uptime has rarely gone below 99.9%, which means that their users’ websites are almost always up and running. 

BlueHost uptime record for May to July 2021
BlueHost Uptimg Record for May – July, 2021: 100%, 99.99%, and 100%.

GoDaddy, on the other hand, isn’t known for having the most reliable web company around. As an example of this, there was a security breach with around 28,000 hosting accounts compromised in Q4 2019. Also if you look at our monitoring at HostScore – GoDaddy's uptime went down to as low as 95% in some months – which is well below what many budget hosting providers will be working at.

GoDaddy Security Breach in Q4 2019

An unauthorized individual gained access to GoDaddy users' hosting accounts in 2019 (source).

GoDaddy Uptime Record

GoDaddy offers poor uptime over the past 30 days.
GoDaddy shared hosting offers poor uptime sometimes.

GoDaddy – Wide Domain Names Support 

TL;DR – GoDaddy is better than BlueHost in term of:

  • Domain registration support – GoDaddy support a wider range of Generic TLDs and ccTLDs registrations
  • Popularity – GoDaddy is super popular worldwide

GoDaddy is one of the largest domain registrar in the world and serves a wide user base compared to BlueHost. They are the no-brainer choice for users who are looking for a well-established company to handle their website hosting and domain registration needs.

GoDaddy Web hosting market share
GoDaddy ranks #4 in global web hosting market. The company alone holds 3.9% of the total web hosting market share (source).
GoDaddy DNS market share
GoDaddy ranks #2 in global DNS market. The company works as the DNS server provider for 11.4% of all the websites. (source).

In terms of domain registration support, GoDaddy offers a wide variety of top level domains (TLDs) – 504 TLDs and ccTLDs to be exact – for customers to choose from. This gives customers the flexibility to choose a domain name that best suits their needs and brand.

Verdict: BlueHost is Not Great but Better than GoDaddy Hosting

My Experience & Thoughts

Overall, I think BlueHost is the better option in the GoDaddy-vs-BlueHost matchup. This is not saying BlueHost is a great web host, but rather it’s because of GoDaddy's shortcomings that make BlueHost look good in comparison. 

Average Customer Support

Customer support with both GoDaddy and BlueHost is just okay – all the necessary support documents and communication channels are there, but it is nothing to write home about.

Customers have reported mixed experiences with both – with some praising the responsiveness and helpfulness of the support team; while others have had negative experiences.

Similar Pricing Strategies

Both companies offer cheap shared hosting plans during signup, but the prices increase significantly during renewal. Users who are not aware of the pricing structure may end up paying more than they expected for their hosting services in the long run.

GoDaddy Renewal Prices

GoDaddy hosting renewal price = $8.99/mo; signup price = $5.99/mo.

BlueHost Renewal Prices

BlueHost Hosting renewal price = $7.99/mo; signup price = $2.95/mo.

Aggressive Upselling Tactics 

And in case you are a customer with any of the two, you’ll understand why both companies face criticism for their aggressive upselling tactics. BlueHost and GoDaddy – both use a variety of tactics to upsell their products and services to their existing clients, including:

  • Offering discounts that are only available if customers purchase additional services; 
  • Using pop-ups, banners or other intrusive forms of advertisements on the website to promote additional services’ and 
  • Sending frequent and sometimes misleading email reminders and notifications to customers about upcoming renewals or service expirations.

Of course – it's worth noting that both web hosts have been in the market for a long time and have a large customer base. So the complaints may be coming from a small percentage of its users. And also, these upselling practices can be seen as a common business practice in many industries today and are not unique to GoDaddy or BlueHost.

If you were considering either one of these two, just make sure that you carefully review any additional services or upgrades and pay attention to their ToS before making a purchase.

More about BlueHost

Bluehost host more than 2 million websites on their platform and is extremely popular. The company is currently based in Burlington, Massachusetts, U.S. and offers a wide range of hosting options. The company BlueHost was sold to Endurance International Group (EIG) in 2010 and EIG is sold to Clearlake Capital for $3 billion in November 2020.

Learn more in our full BlueHost review

BlueHost Shared Hosting Plans

FeaturesBasicPlus
Websites1Unlimited
Email Accounts5Unlimited
Website Space50 GBUnmetered
BandwidthUnmeteredUnmetered
Free DomainYesYes
SubDomains25Unlimited
Free MigrationNoNo
Free SSL CertificateAuto SSLAuto SSL
WordPress IntegrationYesYes
Git SupportNoNo
BackupNoNo
MySQL Databases20Unlimited*
Signup Price$2.95/mo$5.45/mo
Renewal Price$8.99/mo$11.99/mo

More about GoDaddy

GoDaddy Web Hosting Page

Founded back in 1997, GoDaddy is the world’s largest domain registrar, with over 13 million customers. The company provides hosting plans to small businesses, web design professionals, and individuals and has offices in some of the world’s hottest tech corridors, including Silicon Valley, Cambridge, Seattle, Hyderabad, Belfast, and Phoenix. Even if you are unfamiliar with the hosting/domain registration industry, you’ve likely heard of GoDaddy via one of their Super Bowl or NASCAR commercials. 

Learn more in our full GoDaddy review

GoDaddy Shared Hosting Plans

FeaturesStarterEconomyDeluxeUltimate
Websites11UnlimitedUnlimited
Storage (SSD)30 GB100 GBUnmeteredUnmetered
BandwidthUnmeteredUnmeteredUnmeteredUnmetered
Shared CPU1112
RAM512 MB512 MB512 MB1 GB
Free Domain NameNoYesYesYes
Price$3.99/mo$4.33/mo$7.99/mo$12.99/mo
Photo of author

Article by Jerry Low

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