Hosting Ratings |
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Price Value |
8.5/10 |
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Performance |
8.5/10 |
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Reliability |
9/10 |
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Control Panel |
8/10 |
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Customer Support |
7.5/10 |
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User Feedback |
8.5/10 |
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89% Overall Score
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Disclosure: As is the case with many other industry/topic specific magazines, websites and trade publications, we do receive compensation from some of the companies whose products we review within and outside of the web hosting industry, including, but not limited to, paid advertising placements, referral fees, contextual advertising links and sponsorship packages. |
Go Daddy web hosting's own website is a flurry of offers and activity, from full-featured hosting plans – each with plenty of available addons – to website builders, business plans, add-on services, additional email accounts, SSL security options and much more. The shared hosting plans at the centre of GoDaddy's service options come in three sizes, depending on your space and power requirements. No matter if you're a Linux or a Windows user, you'll find all the tools you need to build the web hosting plan you want.
GoDaddy raced (pardon the pun) into global consciousness thanks to a series of eye-popping television ads featuring celebrity spokespeople such as race car drivers Danica Patrick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. They've stuck around thanks to their affordable hosting plans, wealth of options and around-the-clock support. GoDaddy is one of, if not the, largest hosting provider in the world today, with more than 30 million domains to its credit. Now a real presence in the European market, GoDaddy seems set to continue its growth, attracting more loyal customers daily.
Price Value
With unlimited bandwidth and a healthy amount of disk space, every GoDaddy plan is more than generous in terms of quality for price. All GoDaddy shared hosting plans, for Windows or Linux users, include free email accounts (at least 500), MySQL Databases (at least 10), email forwards (a minimum of 50 and an unlimited max), plus forums, photo galleries, blogging, and a variety of free pre-installed and add-on software applications.
GoDaddy customers would do well to stay aware of any add-ons that may cost more. They're generally quite affordable, but it is worth noting, for example, that domain names will cost a couple of Euros apiece. SSL Certificates are also available at extra cost. On the plus side, many of GoDaddy's plans to not require a long-term commitment and can be paid month by month.
Perhaps the best shared hosting option, in terms of bang for your buck, is the Deluxe plan with 150 GB disk space, unlimited bandwidth, 500 email accounts and much more, starting at €3.79/month.
Reliability
GoDaddy owns and maintains its own top-level data centers, and keeps them up-to-date with best-of-breed routers, firewalls, servers and infrastructure. GoDaddy boasts fast, European-based servers, which will help keep your site up, accessible and always operating at full-efficiency.
GoDaddy offers the industry standard 99.9% uptime guarantee.
Control Panel
GoDaddy's proprietary control panel does receive mixed reviews, primarily because the basic control panel seems to serve as an advertising forum for GoDaddy's extensive range of services. This can be frustrating for users – however, if you can get past those distractions, you'll find a functional control panel with everything you need to build, manage and maintain your site.
Customer Support
GoDaddy has expertly created a Go Daddy Community which will help users new and old find answers, exchange ideas and develop a better all around website. There is also a searchable hosting help center, forums, a community library and an active blog. GoDaddy displays the expected wait time for telephone support and service – when our reviewers checked, it ranged between 0 and 10 minutes. Not bad at all!
The telephone support is not toll-free, however, so the email support system may be the ideal choice for most web hosting customers.