A fast and reliable web host is a must for any online business to succeed and grow. Whether you are just starting out or already have an established business, an appropriate web hosting is a mandatory requirement for the success of your business.
Never compromise with the choice of a web hosting company. If you are on a budget, you can compromise on the website’s design, logo, frequency of content and other things but never, ever compromise on two things. First is the choice of a web hosting company and second is the choice of a quality writer who will write the content for your website or blog.
What is Godaddy and What is Bluehost?
Bluehost is one of the most reputable web hosting companies, it has been around for a long time and is one of the most popular web hosting provider hosting millions of websites. At the time of writing this article, this website is hosted on Bluehost.
If we were to speak of the king of domain name registrars, GoDaddy is the one. GoDaddy has more than 63 million domain names. Godaddy is known as a reputed domain name registrar and not as a web hosting company.
In this article, I have tried to compare Bluehost and Godaddy from the standpoint of hosting a website or blog. I have taken into consideration few aspects – Features, Uptime, Speed, Performance, usability, pricing, ease of use and customer service.
Bluehost Vs Godaddy – Feature Comparison
Bluehost is a little bit more expensive than Godaddy but the value offered is beyond comparison.
Bluehost Plus plan allows you to add unlimited websites with unlimited space. Godaddy does not support this feature in their starter plans, so if you are planning to host multiple websites, we strongly recommend you choose Bluehost over Godaddy. (note – in the pricing page of Godaddy, some plans do mention of hosting unlimited websites but it comes at the cost of reduced performance, speed and bandwidth issues)
If you want to avail more value-added services like Email, Accounting, Free SSL certificate, premium DNS, domain privacy and others, Godaddy should be the choice. Godaddy should be the choice for someone who wants everything under one belt and not necessarily specialize in having a robust web hosting provider.
In short, Godaddy hosting is for newbies and not for seasoned professionals or someone who is in the business for some time. Godaddy’s memory limit is restricted, so instances of website crashes are quite common in case you have sudden spikes of high traffic. On the other hand, Bluehost hosting is for website owners who take their website performance, speed, bandwidth seriously and do not want to compromise on usability and performance
The other features in Godaddy’s shared hosting plan and Bluehost’s shared hosting plans are almost neck to neck. Check out Godaddy’s Pricing and Bluehost’s Pricing to learn more.
Uptime, Speed, And Performance – Bluehost Vs Godaddy
Nobody likes a website which is slow, takes ages to load and frustrates people.
If your site’s loading time is sluggish, it will not only result in bad user experience but you will also lose search engine rankings.
We tested the same website in Godaddy’s shared hosting and Bluehost’s shared hosting and found that Bluehost is a little faster.
In case you are not aware, Time to first byte has nothing to do with your website’s code, theme, widgets and framework it is using. It is the time required for the server to respond to the browser’s request. It is an indication of the server’s responsiveness and other network resources attached to your webserver’s hosting plan. If you see that the time to first byte is significantly high (more than one second is considered high), it is time to switch to another web hosting provider with faster responsiveness.
Usability And Ease of Use – Bluehost Vs Godaddy
Let’s face it, not everyone is a techie and doesn’t have to know all the intricate technicalities of hosting a website, it can be quite frustrating at times. Therefore, an easy to use interface is a must. In this area, both Bluehost and GoDaddy use standard cPanel for the backends of their server. You can operate your hosting account via a dashboard.
Bluehost uses cPanel that has a simple and classical interface. However, the backend is polished and organized into tabs for clarity. The ample of educational options offer users better control.
GoDaddy’s cPanel is sleek and simple. However, if you are operating multiple websites, things can get a little out of hand. Especially if you are someone with compromised technical know-how.
If you are a beginner looking for extreme simplicity for something short term, GoDaddy is your call. You can opt for the platform if you think you’re not going to make any big changes in the future. However, if it’s for a long term project that will require a sleek interface for control and better functionality for upscaling, Bluehost is the way to go.
WordPress Hosting – Bluehost Vs Godaddy
Both Bluehost and GoDaddy offer hosting options specific to WordPress.
However, one of the most important things to note is that Automattic, the organization behind WordPress specifically recommends Bluehost.
GoDaddy does not specialize in “WordPress hosting”. By “WordPress hosting”, I mean having a set of infrastructure and resources specifically made for a typical WordPress website. The company manages the installation, backups, and updates on behalf of you, which might be an added advantage in case you are not aware of the processes yourself.
Godaddy also offers a web page editor with drag-and-drop facility along with pre-built sites (which we do not recommend using since it becomes really hard to make changes to the website at a later point in time)
Customer Support and Service – Bluehost Vs Godaddy
Bluehost has flawless customer support. The biggest advantage is that the team caters to a problem super fast. They also reply to the emails promptly and fix things quite quick.
I have never had any issues with Bluehost customer support. Just go to their website, scroll down to the footer and start a live chat with a real agent if you already have a web hosting plan with Bluehost.
Do you want to talk to an agent? Go to Bluehost’s website, scroll down to the footer and initiate a live chat. It works most of the times. It has never failed me.
‘Adequate’ is the word we can describe GoDaddy’s customer support with. Sure, they will get your issue resolved but it can sometimes involve a lot of waiting around on the phone and explaining your query several times. It’s not simple and fast, you have to wait and go through multiple convoluted processes to get hold of the right person or department who can fix the issue you are having
Bluehost has multiple channels to offer help. On the other hand, GoDaddy’s customer support team attempts to prompt the user to a phone call. The fewer rep transfers in Bluehost make it more efficient. It saves time and we all know that in today’s world, time is money!
Pricing Comparison – Bluehost Vs Godaddy Shared Hosting Plans
Bluehost Plus plan offers unlimited databases, domain mapping, and unlimited storage for $10.99 per month. The biggest perk is that you will be able to install unlimited WordPress websites. If you are registering for a longer time, they can offer you a discount of $2.99 per month.
GoDaddy is a stop if you are looking for comparable prices. The GoDaddy Deluxe plan offers the same services as Bluehost Plus plan. The cost is $8.99 per month and the discounts can be $4.99 per month.
However, the biggest catch is the restriction on the number of WordPress websites you can install. The unlimited package of GoDaddy comes at $14.99 per month with a discount of $7.49 per month. Apart from unlimited databases, it offers premium DNS and SSL. However, these two features are not necessities for most websites.
Free Trial and Money Back Guarantee – Bluehost Vs Godaddy
Bluehost offers a Free trial of 30 days. You have to pay for the package but if you plan to discontinue, you will get a Full refund within 30 days. It’s Guaranteed!
The one-month money-back guarantee makes the platform risk free!
GoDaddy offers a free trial for the website builder. You can check out the customizations and how to build a robust website before you purchase a plan. It’s easy to continue your plan after the free trial. They do offer a money-back guarantee but its not as easy to recover your funds as you might think. The policy seems to be a bit vague. If you have opted for the annual plan, you get a money-back guarantee of 45 days. However, it’s only limited to 48 hours if you have selected the monthly plan. It’s not quite feasible to come to c a conclusion within the first two days, and you may not be able to get your money back, in some situations.
Some customers frequently report of not getting refunds for their purchases which comes with a money-back guarantee. There are a lot of deductions and you don’t get the full money back.
Value-Added Services – Bluehost Vs Godaddy
Bluehost makes upgrades extremely simple. The absence of lock-in contracts is very helpful if you want to upgrade to another plan. Moreover, it offers the easiest 1-click WordPress install. If you have a website hosted elsewhere and prefer to do a flawless migration, you can avail Bluehost’s technical team’s help at a cost of $149.99 to migrate it to Bluehost.
Godaddy, on the other hand, entices customers with the $150 advertising credits for Yahoo, Google AdWords or Bing advertising campaigns, which is worth considering if you want to launch a paid marketing campaign for your business right away.
| Feature | Bluehost | Godaddy | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uptime, Speed, and Performance | Faster Speed and Uptime | A little bit slower than Bluehost | Bluehost |
| Usability | Simple and straightforward | Difficult for multiple websites and configurations | Bluehost |
| WordPress Hosting | Bluehost Offers Custom WordPress Plans | Not customized specifically for typical WordPress sites | Bluehost |
| Customer Support and Service | Prompt customer service, easy to access and resolve queries | Difficult to get hold of the right department, multiple calls and convoluted routes | Bluehost |
| Free Trial and 30-day refunds | Bluehost offers free trials and 30 money-back guarantee which works flawlessly | Godaddy has a refund policy but it is very complicated and sometimes people do not get refunds | Bluehost |
| Value Added Services | Upgrades, 1 click installs, flawless site migrations, no lock in contracts | Free advertising credits in Google, Yahoo or Bing | Bluehost or Godaddy depending on your specific requirements |
GoDaddy’s upgrades are affordable and hassle-free. However, it’s not appealing for people with comparatively less technical prowess. It also offers a 1-click WordPress install. However, this feature is easier with Bluehost. Google AdWords credits are available in the form of credits of $100 with Godaddy.
So Which One You Should Choose? Bluehost Or Godaddy?
After comparing all the essential features, we definitely recommend Bluehost over GoDaddy.
It’s perfect for beginners and the enhanced scalability enables business owners to scale up according to their revenues or business requirements. Moreover, Bluehost gives better value for money and excellent customer support – so their post-sales service is much better compared to Godaddy.
Have you tried both Bluehost and Godaddy for hosting your website? What has been your experience with Bluehost and Godaddy’s services? Let us know in the comments below