BlueHost vs GoDaddy: What We Think
Commentary by WHSR Staff, Timothy Shim
Between these two hosts (or between GoDaddy and almost any other host in fact), GoDaddy is one of the grandfathers in web hosting. Founded way back in 1997 this company does almost everything web hosting related and has grown to the stage it now even does sponsorships for some sports and good causes such as the Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
The bulk of GoDaddy income is from selling domain names, with web hosting only making up around 36.5% of what they earn. Yet at their size, that is still an amount not to be sniffed at. Perhaps it has something to do with them giving away free domain names with their web hosting plans.
In any case, both companies offer very competitive pricing rates for web hosting; BlueHost with its $3.95 per month 24-month plan and GoDaddy which charges a bit more but often has flash sales where you can buy in at steep discounts.
GoDaddy: Frequent Downtime
Very unfortunately, GoDaddy has opted for its own in-house script installer, which makes the one-click installer powered by Mojo Marketplace offered on BlueHost preferable. It should also be noted that despite giving away domain names, GoDaddy has skimped on even providing Let’s Encrypt SSL with its plans.
BlueHost servers perform relatively well in our reviews, showing TTFB of less than 500ms couple with impressive uptimes of more than 99.85%. GoDaddy on the other hand was a nightmare of uptime and server errors.
Over a 3-month period, our test account on GoDaddy showed multiple “Error Establishing Database Connection” messages randomly. It also doesn’t play nice with caching plugins for WordPress which caused our test site to basically break down.
Historically, GoDaddy used to edge ahead by offering extremely affordable hosting plans. Yet given the wonkiness of their service, I find it hard to justify the price increases it has seen over the years. If you look hard enough, there are better options in terms of price-performance.
BlueHost when evaluated on its own merits, still does well as a hosting provider. Although I feel that it has not managed to keep up with the advances in technology that some stronger hosts are using, when pit against GoDaddy it still comes out tops.
BlueHost: The Better Option
Personally, I feel that if you aren’t too fussy with performance and are only seeking some form of simple online presence, then the all-in-one deal of hosting and domain name offered by GoDaddy can be considered.
For anything else I would strongly recommend you look at a better option, even if it is BlueHost.
To learn more and order