Bluehost vs. GoDaddy (2024 Comparison)
Our detailed Bluehost vs. GoDaddy comparison is all you need to choose between the popular hosting and website-building platforms.
Focusing on entrepreneurs and small businesses, we’ll dissect the different features, tools, and pricing of Bluehost and GoDaddy.
GoDaddy and Bluehost can be used for WordPress, the most widely used blog content management system.
While this comparison will highlight the highs and the lows for each, consider your selection criteria.
From desirable features to cost-effective offerings, use critical factors like price, resources, website-building tools, security, and customer support to make your decision.
Bluehost vs. GoDaddy: Quick Comparison
Here’s a quick comparison of Bluehost and GoDaddy hosting features:
Bluehost Overview
Bluehost is a hosting provider best known for its WordPress hosting. However, it also offers other hosting choices (shared, virtual private server, and dedicated).
Founded in 2003, it hosts over two million websites from all over the world.
Besides web hosting, it also boasts an intuitive and user-friendly website builder to help create websites from scratch without any coding knowledge.
For the most part, Bluehost offers affordable hosting prices, especially for small businesses.
Its strengths include its easy-to-use interface, allowing non-tech-savvy people to manage their websites seamlessly.
The platform also offers unmetered bandwidth with all its plans and other perks like integration with free SSL.
GoDaddy Overview
GoDaddy is among some of the oldest web hosting providers, starting in 1997.
The platform is widely popular as a domain registrar but also offers website hosting, with over five million hosted websites.
Like Bluehost, GoDaddy is an affordable web hosting provider with many tiers and competitive pricing.
It also integrates with WordPress for creating blogs. Plus, many other plugins are offered to add functionality to the website.
GoDaddy also has a website builder tool, which, unlike Bluehost, has a free trial. The tool is comprehensive, with modern features and a low learning curve.
It’s considered a reliable, competitive platform for hosting business websites and blogs.
Bluehost vs. GoDaddy: Plans and Features
When creating a website and/or hosting it, look for the features offered in the plans.
Remember that not all features or perks are available with every plan. Many hosting providers, including Bluehost and GoDaddy, reserve advanced features for upper-tier plans.
On the surface, GoDaddy and Bluehost seem very similar. So, delving into the plans and offerings will help you choose one.
Bluehost offers four Web/WordPress hosting plans and three for VPS and dedicated hosting.
On the other hand, GoDaddy offers four plans for Web hosting (shared), four for VPS, and four for dedicated servers. In addition, it offers three managed WordPress hosting plans.
Control Panel
Both Bluehost and GoDaddy are based on the ubiquitous cPanel.
So, as far as the user interface goes for the dashboard, there aren’t any significant differences between the two.
However, Bluehost’s dashboard is slightly more polished and offers easy navigation between different sections.
Domains
Bluehost and GoDaddy also offer domain hosting, and it seamlessly integrates with the website setup.
If you’re creating a website for the first time, you can effortlessly search for a domain and regsiter it on the platform.
More importantly, Bluehost and GoDaddy offer domain hosting for free for the first year on all the plans.
Storage
As is the norm, Bluehost and GoDaddy offer storage according to the chosen plan.
For shared hosting plans, Bluehost plans offer 10GB to 100GB of storage. On the other hand, GoDaddy offers 10GB to 75GB of storage with its shared hosting plans.
WordPress hosting plans offer a similar storage range on both GoDaddy and Bluehost.
It should be noted that both the hosting platforms use SSD storage, which delivers faster performance.
For their managed WordPress hosting plans, GoDaddy servers use NVMe SSD, which is notably faster than regular SSDs.
Bandwidth
Both Bluehost and GoDaddy offer unmetered bandwidth for their hosting plans. In other words, there are no limitations to the amount of data that can be transferred.
This comes in handy when you have sudden traffic spikes. However, the performance can still be limited by the max transfer speed, storage, RAM, etc.
Still, the unmetered bandwidth offering is an advantage for businesses, especially those growing fast.
Backups
Bluehost offers free backups with its plans, which include daily, weekly, or monthly backup options.
However, these are not automatic backups; users must create backups from the cPanel. Backups are maintained for 30 days.
GoDaddy takes the lead in this category as it offers daily backups and one-click restoration of websites and files.
You can set up automatic daily backups or schedule them according to your liking, which is more convenient than doing them manually every now and then.
SSL
Security Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate is essential to website security. It’s also essential for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and user trust.
Bluehost offers free and paid SSL (free for the first year only on the Basic Plan).
GoDaddy also offers free SSL encryption, which is only free for the first year on the basic tier. For WordPress plans, SSL is free for the life of hosting.
CDN
Bluehost offers a free Content Delivery Network (CDN) with all its plans.
A CDN improves site performance and load speed by bringing content nearer to the user.
This feature is particularly beneficial for WordPress websites with rich media, for example, images and videos.
GoDaddy only offers CDN (Cloudflare) with the two upper-tier managed WordPress hosting plans.
Bluehost vs. GoDaddy: Ease of Use
Many users fail to consider the ease of use of the hosting platform they’re choosing.
While many factors are at play regarding usability, the dashboard remains the key element.
As mentioned earlier, Bluehost has a slightly more user-friendly dashboard than GoDaddy.
With GoDaddy’s dashboard, managing multiple websites can be, at times, complicated.
On both cPanel dashboards, you can access the menu intuitively. Bluehost also integrates the WordPress dashboard seamlessly, and you can go in and out of the two dashboards quickly.
But overall, it’s safe to say that users won’t require much time to learn the ins and outs of managing their website, whether they go with Bluehost or GoDaddy.
Bluehost vs. GoDaddy: Uptime and Load Times
GoDaddy gives a 99.9% uptime guarantee on all its hosting plans, meaning that your website is up most of the year.
While Bluehost doesn’t guarantee uptime, it’s quick with issue resolutions and claims that its uptime is 99.98%.
Generally, anything above 99.9% for uptime is considered good. So, whether you go with Bluehost or GoDaddy, your website will be up virtually all the time.
One key performance metric for any website is load time– how long it takes for its pages to load fully.
For a basic website, the load time on Bluehost came out to 2.4 seconds, whereas for GoDaddy, it was slightly higher at 2.5 seconds.
There’s not much difference in terms of load time, but remember that with load times, there are many factors at play.
Since Bluehost uses CDN, it may be able to deliver faster load times than GoDaddy.
Bluehost vs. GoDaddy: Website Builder
Fortunately, you can find a website builder tool on both Bluehost and GoDaddy.
These tools basically allow you to create a website with some prompts and templates and then customize it to your liking.
Let’s talk about the Bluehost website builder first. Weebly, the drag-and-drop website builder, powers it.
As a result, it’s rich in templates that are fine-tuned according to the brand/business category.
For instance, if you want to create a business website for a restaurant, you can provide the builder tool information on your business, and it will use the restaurant template.
The builder interface is relatively easy; users can drag and drop different elements (sections) on the web pages.
Customizing the website’s text, images, videos, and colors is simple.
Bluehost offers a tutorial in the beginning to help users understand the basics of the website builder.
The Bluehost website builder is responsive and optimizes web pages for both desktop and mobile.
GoDaddy’s website builder is also exceptionally good at creating themed business websites.
It also has hundreds of professional themes available for different types of websites.
In terms of functionality of the website builder, GoDaddy’s product offers even more features, such as built-in email and social media marketing elements.
It has also incorporated AI-powered insights to help business owners and bloggers create user-friendly websites.
You can also create e-commerce stores with both Bluehost and GoDaddy website builders.
Bluehost and GoDaddy’s website builder tools are comparable, and it’s difficult to choose a winner.
As Bluehost is powered by Weebly, you may have more theme choices that are well-designed and intuitive.
Bluehost vs. GoDaddy: Pricing
For many, it comes down to the pricing of the hosting plans. So, let’s compare the pricing of Bluehost’s and GoDaddy’s plans.
Bluehost Pricing
Bluehost offers various plans for its shared, WordPress, VPS, and dedicated server hosting. Here’s the key information on Bluehost pricing:
- Basic web hosting plan costs a discounted rate of $2.95 per month.
- WordPress hosting plan starts at a discounted rate of $2.95 per month.
- Online store (WooCommerce) plans start at a discounted rate of $6.75 per month.
- VPS hosting plans start at a discounted rate of $29.99 per month.
- Dedicated servers are available starting at a discounted price of $89.98 per month.
- Payment plans are based on a monthly rate but charged for 12-month or 36-month periods.
- Plans are renewed at the original price after 12 months.
Here’s what you should know about cancelation and refunds:
- Autorenewal can be stopped at any time.
- Refunds are allowed for a three to 30-day period, after which refunds are not issued.
GoDaddy Pricing
GoDaddy also boasts some of the most affordable hosting plans on the market. Here’s what you should know about the starting prices on their plans:
- The Web Hosting Starter plan costs $4.99 per month (one-year term).
- Discounted rates on other web hosting plans start at $9.99 per month (one-year term).
- Managed WordPress hosting plans start at $11.99 per month (one-year term).
- VPS hosting starts at $9.99 per month (for a three-year term).
- Dedicated servers are available at $159.99 per month (one-year term).
- Discounted plans are renewed at the original price at the end of the term.
Here’s information on their cancelation and refund policy:
- Refund requests can be made within 30 days of purchasing a plan (annual plans) and 48 hours for monthly plans.
Bluehost vs. GoDaddy: Customer Support
You wouldn’t want to underestimate the importance of customer support in web hosting.
When you need help, reliable customer support will ensure your issue is resolved promptly.
Bluehost is well-known for its customer service, providing around-the-clock phone and chat service to both prospective and current customers.
For customers, there’s also a ticketing system available on the dashboard to help initiate complaints or address issues.
Bluehost’s customer support team is knowledgeable and can provide technical assistance easily.
There’s also the knowledge base with articles and FAQs on various topics. However, the knowledge base isn’t updated very quickly.
GoDaddy also offers 24/7 customer support through live chat and phone, providing users with assistance whenever needed.
Like Bluehost, GoDaddy has a knowledge base with articles and guides to help users find solutions independently.
The articles and tutorials are quite informational and can help people find help online without needing to speak to a representative.
On the other hand, some users have reported mixed experiences with GoDaddy’s customer support, with occasional delays in response times and variability in the level of expertise among support agents.
Bluehost tends to receive more positive feedback for its responsive and knowledgeable support team, while GoDaddy’s support is generally satisfactory.
When choosing between the two, you may want to consider your own preferences and the type of support experience that aligns with your expectations.
Bluehost Pros and Cons
Here are the advantages and drawbacks of going with a Bluehost hosting plan:
Pros
- Affordable pricing – Bluehost’s plans are quite cheap, especially when compared with some of the other options on the market. That’s particularly beneficial for entrepreneurs just starting out on a shoestring budget. They’re also slightly cheaper than GoDaddy’s plans.
- Ease of use – Whether it’s Bluehost’s dashboard or the website builder, ease of use is a given. It also makes installing and managing WordPress seamless.
- Free domain, SSL, and CDN – All plans at Bluehost come with some crucial free add-ons that you would have to pay for on other platforms. This includes a free domain, a free Lets Encrypt SSL, and a SiteLock CDN.
- Stellar website performance – Thanks to a global network of servers and CDN, Bluehost is able to deliver reliable website performance with quick load times. The unmetered bandwidth is also a welcome advantage.
- Easy migration – If you’re switching hosting providers, Bluehost provides a managed migration service for a one-time fee, which can come in handy to ensure a quick and hassle-free migration.
Cons
- Expensive domain renewal – Although free for the first year, Bluehost renews domains at a relatively higher rate, making it an expensive choice for hosting your website domain.
- No automatic backups – Another drawback of Bluehost is that it doesn’t offer automatic backups for its basic and standard plans. Users have to back up their websites manually.
GoDaddy Pros and Cons
Here are the advantages and drawbacks of going with a GoDaddy hosting plan:
Pros
- Managed WordPress hosting – GoDaddy offers affordable managed WordPress hosting plans, which offer useful features like automatic updates, server-level caching, and daily backups. These plans can be best for website owners with a busy schedule.
- Free domain and SSL – GoDaddy offers free domain and SSL certification on almost all of its plans (no Auto SSL on the basic plan). This saves initial setup costs for entrepreneurs.
- Monthly billing option – Unlike Bluehost, you can opt for monthly billing, which is much more flexible and saves you money should you cancel.
- Periodic backups – All GoDaddy plans come with periodic auto backups—ranging from daily to weekly based on the hosting plan. That makes it easy to recover the website should something go wrong. You can easily restore it to an earlier version. These backups don’t come at any extra cost.
- Reliable performance – GoDaddy is a global hosting company with a presence all over the world. So, you get good service no matter where you’re based.
- Free trial for website builder – Another great thing about GoDaddy is that it offers a free trial for its website builder. On Bluehost, you can only use it after paying for a hosting plan.
Cons
- Slightly pricier upper-tier plans – If you compare some of the upper-tier plans of GoDaddy with Bluehost, they’re more expensive, which can add up in cost in the long run.
- No live chat option for prospective customers – There’s no live chat option for prospective customers on their website.
Which Is Better for WordPress, GoDaddy vs. Bluehost?
As many users want to host a WordPress website, it’s best to compare WordPress integration for Bluehost and GoDaddy head-to-head.
Both hosting platforms allow WordPress integration (one-click installation) and offer a separate category of WordPress hosting plans.
Bluehost is widely favored as a WordPress hosting platform, perhaps because WordPress.org endorses it.
It integrates with WordPress pretty well, allowing users to switch to the WordPress dashboard seamlessly.
Moreover, it also offers specific plans for WooCommerce, a WordPress-based e-commerce platform. Users can create blogs and online stores using a similar tech stack.
On the other hand, GoDaddy is also a reliable choice for WordPress, especially with its WordPress-specific managed hosting plans.
These plans are cost-effective and are bundled with CDN, something you won’t find on the shared hosting plans.
There aren’t any shortcomings in hosting your WordPress website with GoDaddy.
However, Bluehost has a bit of an edge over GoDaddy and other similar hosting platforms when it comes to WordPress.
It’s just integrated much better, with plans designed to support the needs of WordPress websites.
Verdict
Bluehost and GoDaddy are extremely comparable hosting platforms, offering benefits like good value for money, free domain, and reliable performance.
The choice should ultimately depend on your individual priorities. For instance, if you’re after the cheapest price, Bluehost is the clear answer.
On the other hand, if you want cheaper domain hosting, GoDaddy is the right choice.
For WordPress websites, Bluehost is a clear winner.
For all other websites, both Bluehost and GoDaddy are viable options.
FAQs
Is GoDaddy better than Bluehost?
Choosing between GoDaddy and Bluehost depends on individual needs. Both are reputable hosting providers with similar features.
GoDaddy may be preferable for those seeking an all-in-one solution with additional web services.
On the other hand, Bluehost stands out for its strong focus on WordPress hosting, offering optimized performance and user-friendly features.
Consider factors such as specific hosting requirements, budget, and the type of website you plan to build when deciding between GoDaddy and Bluehost.
Is Bluehost good for domains?
Bluehost is a reliable domain registrar and hosting provider.
When you sign up for a hosting plan with Bluehost, you get a free domain for the first year, a convenient and cost-effective way to secure your business’ online identity.
Moreover, Bluehost provides domain management tools, making it easy to register, transfer, and manage domains directly from their platform.
Which hosting platform is best for SEO?
Bluehost and GoDaddy both offer hosting solutions that can support effective SEO strategies, but Bluehost is more SEO-friendly.
Its WordPress optimization and performance-focused services can positively impact SEO rankings.
Remember that successful SEO depends on various factors beyond hosting, such as content quality, keywords, and backlinks, so it’s essential to implement a comprehensive SEO strategy regardless of the hosting provider chosen.
I’m founder of BizStack at Cagri Sarigoz LLC and a passionate advocate for entrepreneurs.
With over 14 years in tech, marketing, and AI, including my role as Head of SEO at CitizenShipper and co-founder of TaleBot at Intale AI, I’m dedicated to sharing genuine, useful product insights and tips.
At BizStack, I aim to cut through the digital noise to provide clear, actionable advice.
And more than all else, I’m a father to a (always) little girl and a husband.
Contact me at [email protected] for assistance.
Co Authors :
Ana is a content writer at BizStack and ensures our content meets and goes beyond our readers’ expectations.
