Bluehost vs GoDaddy: Which is Better? Complete Breakdown
We put these Webhosts to the test to find out which is the best!
We believe in saving your time. So, here’s what the conclusion of this comparison is going to be: Bluehost is way better than GoDaddy.
And you probably saw it coming if you have read our Bluehost review and Godaddy review. Or, at least, if you noticed Bluehost at the #2 position when you moved your cursor over our “Web Hosting” drop-down list.
Anyway, if you want to read a head-to-head comparison of these two giants of web hosting companies, this article-cum-comparison is for you. We will be comparing both for its features, ease of use, performance, customer support, and overall value for money.
Without further ado, let’s get started!
How do these compare?
Vendor |  |  |
|---|---|---|
Features | 9/10 | 6/10 |
Ease of use | 10/10 | 9/10 |
Performance | 9/10 | 7/10 |
Support | 9/10 | 6/10 |
Value for money | 10/10 | 6/10 |
Cell |
Bluehost vs GoDaddy: Features
Both Bluehost and GoDaddy are among the top players in the hosting industry. Therefore, it’s pretty obvious that both will have all the needed features. However, it doesn’t mean both will have the same set of features on the whole. So, let’s put both on a scale.
Bluehost
Bluehost has four shared plans and numerous other plans in other categories, including reseller, VPS, dedicated, and WordPress. These are the features included in any of its packages:
Free domain name
Free SSL certificate
Easy-to-use control panel
Free site builder
Cloudflare integration
Dozens of add-ons
WordPress-specific functionalities like one-click installs & automatic backups.
WordPress staging site
Decent security features
Plenty storage — 50 GB on the most basic plan!
Unmetered bandwidth
Free professional email accounts
All of these features make Bluehost a worthy choice, especially for WordPress users. Plus, it’s among the only three web hosting providers recommended by WordPress itself — that says a lot about its reliability.
GoDaddy
GoDaddy offers several plans of shared hosting, reseller hosting, business hosting, VPS, and dedicated servers. Even the most basic plans of GoDaddy include the following features:
Plenty storage — the “Economy” shared plan advertises 100 GB disk space!
Free domain name
Free Office 365 email
A website builder
Good security
Unlimited bandwidth
That’s about it. The features keep getting better as you choose the more expensive plans. E.g., A free SSL certificate is only included on the “Ultimate” shared plan.
Verdict
Though both the providers offer all the fundamental features, Bluehost wins it because of the extras it throws in the deal—for instance, free WordPress staging or free SSL certificate.
Winner: Bluehost
Bluehost vs GoDaddy: Ease of use
Again, both are extremely popular, and millions of people — ranging from tech-junkies to laypeople — use their services. Thus, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that both are easy to use, and there’s a significant emphasis on user experience.
Bluehost
Signing up with Bluehost is pretty straightforward, and so is its dashboard.
On the left-hand side of the dashboard are the account options. Here, you can manage your websites, domains, emails, and more. You can also access Bluehost’s marketplace from right there.
Bluehost uses a Bluehost-branded, customized cPanel as a control panel. From here, you can manage all the files, databases, one-click installs, and more. Plus, if you install WordPress for your site, you can create posts, pages, a staging website, and more from the Bluehost dashboard itself. Meaning, for WordPress users, it’s an immersive experience.
Apart from all these, it has tutorials and an extensive knowledge base that answers all the FAQs — making it even more comfortable to use for absolute tech-illiterate.
GoDaddy
GoDaddy, too, is also a beginner-friendly hosting option. Its interface is clean, and users can easily navigate through all the features it has to offer.
On logging in, you will see the domain(s) and hosting package(s) you own. There are multiple labeled options there to guide you through.
When you open the hosting dashboard, you’ll be able to access the file manager, FTP, phpMyAdmin, and analytics. There’s also a cPanel admin option, which takes you to the traditional cPanel used for website management. You can use it to manage domains, emails, files, databases, security, and more.
Verdict
Overall, both hosts have given importance to user experience. We personally prefer BlueHost for its UI, but UX is more or less the same on both.
Winner: Both
Bluehost vs GoDaddy: Performance
Vendor | | |
|---|---|---|
Uptime | 99.99% | 99.97% |
Server response time | 155 ms | 150 ms |
Loading time | 400 ms | 600 ms |
Performance is perhaps the most crucial factor when it comes to choosing a host. It determines the user experience, bounce rate, percentage of returning visitors, rankings, CTR, and much more. Of course, it’s not the only factor, but it sure is an essential one.
And it’s purely objective. We have tested both hosts for its uptime, speed, and response time, so it’s fairly easy to predict a winner for this section.
Bluehost
Bluehost’s average server response time measured approx. 155 ms in our test. As for loading speed, it took under 400 ms to load a blank WordPress page — thanks to its high-performing drive and WordPress-optimized servers. The uptime stood at 99.99% — that’s almost ideal!
GoDaddy
GoDaddy’s average server response time was approx. 150 ms when tested using Bitcatcha. However, the overall speed of loading a blank WordPress page was close to 600 ms. As for uptime, it was 99.97% — not quite ideal, but still fantastic.
Verdict
Even though GoDaddy’s server response time is a tiny-bit, slightly better, it lags behind Bluehost when it comes to overall loading speed and Uptime. So…
Winner: Bluehost
Bluehost vs GoDaddy: Customer Support
Vendor | | |
|---|---|---|
Support options | 24/7 live chat, emails, and phone support | Live chat, phone support |
Knowledge base | Yes | Yes |
Quality of response | 9/10 | 6/10 |
Another crucial element to consider while opting for web hosting is its customer support. We test it in our own way to find answers to these three question:
How many options of communication are there — 24/7 live chat, phone support, email, tickets, skype, or others?
How much time does it take to get in contact & resolve the query?
Is the customer support team well-versed with everything, i.e., is it knowledgeable enough?
Three simple answers will determine the winner of this section.
Bluehost
Bluehost has a fantastic knowledge base with tutorials, how-to guides, and more to solve the common queries. Apart from that, it also offers 24/7 live chat, emails, and phone support. You can also reach out to them via social media.
In our experience, the support team got in touch promptly, had all the knowledge to solve the queries, and were professional & friendly in their communication. Overall, a fantastic experience.
GoDaddy
You can get in touch with the GoDaddy customer team via live chat and phone support. They also have a decent knowledge base and video tutorials for beginners.
In our testing, the support team seemed to be sluggish altogether. Given the fact that the number of support team employees are significantly less to serve their millions of customer (remember it’s it #1 host by market share?), the response time is unbearable sometimes. Moreover, the solutions to queries are unsatisfactory at times — it seems like they have many not-so-well-versed support agents in the team. Overall, not a pleasant experience.
Verdict
Even if GoDaddy was winning all the other rounds, this one alone has the potential to pull it down. The customer support of Bluehost is excellent. And of Godaddy? Well, let’s just say- horrible, for the lack of a better word.
Winner: Bluehost
Bluehost vs GoDaddy: Pricing
|
|---|
Introductory pricing (of base plan) $3.95/mo |
Renewal pricing: $7.99/mo |
Money-back guarantee 30 days |
VS
|
|---|
Introductory pricing (of base plan) $5.99/mo |
Renewal pricing: $8.99/mo |
Money-back guarantee 30 days |
Till now, obviously, Bluehost has proved itself dominant. However, this section — essentially, value for money/price — can turn the tables for GoDaddy because most of us have a budget in mind while filtering through hosting options. So, let’s see.
Bluehost
Bluehost’s basic plan costs $3.95/month (introductory). With the plan comes all the things we discussed- the features, great customer support, fantastic performance, and user-friendliness. Individually, it’s well worth the money option.
GoDaddy
GoDaddy’s base plan, Economy, is priced $5.99/month. The package includes decent features, satisfactory performance, easy to use/navigate control panel & dashboard, and horrible customer support. All in all, “value for money” isn’t a term we will use while describing GoDaddy.
Verdict
Not only does GoDaddy cost twice compared to Bluehost, but it’s also worse at almost all the factors. Let’s put everything aside and focus on the pricing. Even then…
Winner: Bluehost
Bluehost vs GoDaddy: Conclusion
The Winner Is - BlueHost
If you read this comparison thoroughly or even glanced at the winner of each section, you know that Bluehost is the obvious winner.
Bluehost offers more and better features than GoDaddy.
It’s easy to use and navigate through. But, so is GoDaddy. It’s a draw in this aspect.
Performance-wise, Bluehost beats GoDaddy by a significant margin. Its uptime and loading speed are way better.
The customer support of Bluehost is responsive, knowledgeable, and friendly. Sadly, we can’t say the same about GoDaddy’s support.
And, And...despite Bluehost being clearly better than GoDaddy, it costs almost half in comparison.
To wrap up, it doesn’t take an expert to understand which one we would recommend. Still, to end on a high: We recommend Bluehost, period!
Total Score: 10/10
BlueHost Pros
Starts at
$3.95
per month
• Uptime 99.99%
• Free SSL certificate
• WordPress official recommendations