GoDaddy Hosting Cost 2023: Are GoDaddy Plans Good Value?

Let’s get into it! With so many plans, it can be hard to see what exactly you need from a hosting plan. Here at Website Builder Expert we boil it down like this:

Shared Hosting – Best for those with small websites or blogs who just want hosting that does the job.

Managed WordPress – For WordPress users who are starting out and what a bit more support.

Web Hosting Plus – You get the power of VPS hosting combined with a simple panel for beginners.

VPS – For those who want a bit more power for bigger sites or eccomerce.

Dedicated – The most power available. For really big sites expecting thousands of visitors.

Let’s see how these five very different variations fare up against each other:

Speedy Server Response Time

4.2

out of 5

Ease Of Use

4.1 out of 5 stars

Value For Money

4.1 out of 5 stars

Design Flexibility

4.1 out of 5 stars

Features

3.1 out of 5 stars

Help and Support

4.3 out of 5 stars

Customer Score

4.6 out of 5 stars

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You should now have a fairly decent idea of what type of hosting you need. As we previously mentioned, in our research GoDaddy does well for some plans in price and not so well in others.

For some hosting types, GoDaddy is one of the best-scoring hosts for pricing – it scores 4 out of 5 for photography and 3.8 out of 5 for VPS, making it our second-best scoring hosting provider in those categories!

On the flip side though, GoDaddy is more expensive than other providers in the shared, dedicated, and blog hosting categories. For example, compare Bluehost’s cheapest shared hosting plan beginning at $2.95/month to GoDaddy’s $6.99/month.

However, that doesn’t mean that GoDaddy is completely useless! GoDaddy is well-known for having a ton of extra features to keep its users happy, such as a free Microsoft Office Email suite subscription.

Now that we’ve explained the basics, let’s get into the nitty-gritty and take a deep dive into all the hosting on offer, starting with shared hosting!

Shared Hosting

Shared hosting is best for small, personal sites, or business sites with only a couple of pages. You get what you pay for in the world of web hosting, and GoDaddy’s shared hosting is no exception. It’s not very cheap when compared to other providers, but you do get some more features.

GoDaddy’s shared pricing plans range from $6.99/month to $22.99/month. Each plan builds on the previous set of features, working up to the most powerful ‘Maximum’ plan, which has four times the processing power and memory of the Deluxe and Economy plans (plus an SSL certificate for the full term). It claims to support ‘multiple complex sites with high-res photos and videos’, but we’d still recommend a VPS for such sites.

Find out more:

• See where GoDaddy ranks in our list of the Best Shared Hosting Providers

WordPress Hosting

As you may have guessed, WordPress hosting is hosting that’s specially designed for WordPress sites. WordPress sites will work fine with any type of hosting on this list, but WordPress-specific hosting comes with some added benefits, such as auto-installed updates.  

All of GoDaddy’s WordPress hosting plans include:

• A free domain (when you sign up for a year’s plan or more)
• Free daily backups with one-click restore
• Built-in signup forms for capturing client data

Better still, the more you spend, the more perks you get. The Ecommerce plan gets you access to WooComerce allowing you to run and manage an online store with unlimited products and appointment scheduling.

Find out more:

• Best WordPress hosts – WordPress powers 30% of the internet. Who should you choose to power your WordPress site?

Web Hosting Plus

Web Hosting Plus is GoDaddy’s secret weapon – the power of VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting but without the tricky setup. If you’re outgrowing your shared hosting plan, this is a great next step. You get all the benefits of a dedicated server, without the need for an IT person to manage it for you. Great for beginners.

All GoDaddy’s hosting plus plans come with unmetered traffic, over 50 websites and databases, and a standard SSL certificate included. The more you’re willing to spend, the more storage, RAM (memory), and CPUs (power) you’ll be able to tap into. GoDaddy’s web hosting plus can cover everything from multiple basic sites (Launch plan) to multiple photography or resource-heavy sites (Expand plan). Photography-heavy sites can incite some high costs, but luckily GoDaddy has some of the best pricing around, earning a 4 out of 5 in our research.

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GoDaddy offers a massive range of hosting across five separate categories. It’s almost guaranteed it’ll have a plan for whatever you’re looking for! Check them out today!

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VPS Hosting

Just as hosting plus is a happy medium between shared and VPS hosting, VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting is one step closer to a dedicated server – but with a reduced price tag. With a VPS hosting plan, you have a ‘virtual server’ that acts like a dedicated server, but within a shared space – kind of like having an apartment in a shared block of apartments, rather than a detached house.

In terms of plans, GoDaddy’s VPS plans look very similar to its Web Hosting Plus ones. The only real difference is a jump in storage  – up to 400 GB on the 4vCPU plan. 

A major difference between the two is that GoDaddy offers VPS both managed and unmanaged. ‘Managed’ VPS is more expensive, but the difference being that GoDaddy actually takes care of a lot of the setup for you.

The fully managed VPS will set you back $104.99/month, so we recommend Web Hosting Plus if you’re a beginner.

These VPS plans are best suited to ecommerce sites, or resource-heavy apps. They’re also a good option if you have multiple sites on the go, as the isolated environment means one site won’t impact on the loading times of another.

Find out more:

• Want to know who’s the best of the best for VPS? Check out our Best VPS Provider of 2023 list

Dedicated Server Hosting

A dedicated server – this means you’ve made it! Welcome to your fully detached internet abode, your online slice of real estate heaven.

Who needs a dedicated server? Any website with a lot of content that’s expecting a lot of traffic. Website Builder Expert is hosted on a dedicated server, for example.

With prices starting at $159.99/month, GoDaddy’s dedicated hosting plans are – as you’d expect – a considerable jump in price from its VPS hosting plans. The storage and RAM increase steadily across the four plans, with the DS-256 plan offering the most of each for $469.99/month.

Find out more:

• Compare the top nine providers with our Best dedicated server hosting article

So we’ve covered GoDaddy’s plans, and what you get for your money. But the big question is: how do GoDaddy’s prices stack up against its biggest competitors?

Promotional Price Comparison

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GoDaddy	Bluehost	HostGator	InMotion
Overall rating 4.0	Overall rating 4.8	Overall rating 4.7	Overall rating 4.5
Starting from $6.99	Starting from $2.95	Starting from $4.95	Starting from $3.49
Starting from $8.99	Starting from $24.95	Starting from $7.95	Starting from $4.49
Starting from - VPS $5.99	Starting from - VPS $24.99	Starting from - VPS $23.95	Starting from - VPS $14.99
Starting from - Dedicated $149.99	Starting from - Dedicated $99.97	Starting from - Dedicated $109.97	Starting from - Dedicated $89.99
Money-back guarantee 48 hours to 30 days	Money-back guarantee 30 days	Money-back guarantee 45 days	Money-back guarantee 90 days
Visit GoDaddy	Visit Bluehost	Visit HostGator	Visit InMotion
See our GoDaddy review	See our Bluehost review	See our HostGator review	See our InMotion review

As you can see, GoDaddy sits somewhere in the middle when it comes to the promotional prices of its plans. Its shared and dedicated plans are on the more expensive side and it finds itself pipped to the post by Bluehost. But its VPS is head and shoulders above the rest. 

Find out more:

• Best cheap web hosting – a roundup of the cheapest hosting plans on the market right now

When it comes to keeping your site online, the cost of hosting is really only half the story.

That’s where GoDaddy really comes into its own. Its hosting plans might not really excel in any one area, but the ability to tack extra virus protection, backups, and other security onto your plan can make it a really appealing option. It’s much easier – not to mention better value – to keep these things all under one virtual roof:

1. Windows

Price: Anywhere from an extra $5 – $60

An important aspect to consider with GoDaddy is that not all of its plans are compatible with Windows, and you may need to pay extra fees.  It’s reported that 1.4 billion people use a Windows device, so denying many users hosting or giving them extra fees because of it can be annoying.

Some plans like the VPS 1vCPU are only available on Linux, so ake sure you check thoroughly before comitting.

2. Website Security Packages

Price: $5.59/month – $23.99/month

With prices starting at just $5.59/month, GoDaddy’s security packages are a no-brainer. With the cheapest ‘Essential’ plan, you get a 12-hour response time to any issues, unlimited malware removal, and Google blacklist monitoring and removal. The pricier the plan, the more extras you’ll have included.

The best response time with a GoDaddy web security package is six hours. Bump yourself to the top of the list with ‘Express Malware Removal’, which guarantees you’ll speak to a security expert within 30 minutes of an issue being identified. At $299.99/year, it’s a pricey add-on – but for bigger businesses, it’s worth every cent.  

3. Website Backup Packages

Price: $2.99/month – $12.99/month

Smart people back up their websites – but the smartest people get someone else to do it for them.

Both the ‘Essential’ and ‘Ultimate’ backup plans include automatic daily backups, easy one-click restore, and expert 24/7 customer support, among other benefits. The only difference between the two plans is the amount of storage available; 5GB with the Essential plan, and 100GB with the Ultimate plan.

So now that we’ve walked you through the cost of GoDaddy’s various hosting plans, and seen how it stacks up against competitors, what’s the final verdict?

GoDaddy isn’t necessarily the provider you come to for the cheapest price. While its pricing is fairly competitive, especially when you look past the initial promotional prices, it’s rarely the cheapest provider available.

How Much Does GoDaddy Cost: Recap

1. Shared hosting – from $6.99/month – $22.99/month
2. WordPress hosting – from $8.99/month – $20.99/month
3. Web Hosting Plus – from $21.99/month – $69.99/month
4. VPS hosting – from $5.99/month – $83.99/month
5. Dedicated hosting – from $149.99/month – $439.99

Within the five hosting categories that GoDaddy offers, plan prices clearly have a lot of range. The features and services included in each plan are also different and span a wide variety of needs.

So, who should consider hosting through GoDaddy?

GoDaddy’s selling point over other providers is the range of extra features and packages you can get alongside your hosting plan to keep your website healthy and protected. It’s easy, and it’s convenient – and ultimately, that’s worth paying a few extra dollars here and there.

Has GoDaddy Caught Your Attention?

GoDaddy has an impressive range of extras for a hosting provider, meaning you don’t need to worry about not having certain features. Try it today and see for yourself!

Yes! I Want To Try GoDaddy!