Bluehost vs. GoDaddy 2023: Which Web Hosting is Better?

You’re in a pickle, and you can’t decide which web hosting provider to go for: Bluehost or GoDaddy?

These guys have millions of users vouching for them, and you might be the next one.

But which one is better? After all, choosing a web hosting provider is an essential first step. Choose the wrong one, and it could spell doom for your website.

How do these two industry leaders stack up against each other when it comes to:

• Uptime and performance
• Website building
• Migration services
• Products and features
• Security
• Pricing, and
• Customer Support?

At the end of our Bluehost vs. GoDaddy Review for 2023, you’ll surely make up your mind on which web hosting provider to go for.

Let the comparison begin!

Want the short answer?

If you don’t have time, that’s cool. We’ll give you a quick rundown of what we think.

Bluehost wins overall in our head-to-head comparison against GoDaddy.

A good web host provider ticks all the boxes when it comes to consistent uptime average, ease of use, pricing, and a focus on WordPress.

Image via Bluehost

Bluehost lets you build personal blogs, company websites, and even huge eCommerce sites. It doesn’t matter if you’re a newbie, Bluehost will guide you through website building.

They’ve got a reliable cPanel that’s easily navigable and won’t get you into a panic trying to figure things out.

Bluehost’s hosting packages come with unlimited websites, storage, bandwidth, plus free SSL certificates and domain registration.

That’s not to say GoDaddy can’t put up a fight. It does well, especially when it comes to security and domain names, but it can still improve on many fronts.

Both web hosts, however, are not the ultimate best in the industry. You’ll find other hosting sites that offer better speed and performance at lower prices too.

But if you’re choosing between GoDaddy and Bluehost, you never really lose.

Now that we’ve given you a summary let’s dive deeper into our Bluehost vs. GoDaddy Review for 2023!

Overview

Bluehost launched in 2003 and is powering over 1 million websites to date. If you think that’s impressive, GoDaddy has serviced over 20 million customers since 1997.

Their wide range of similar catalogs and services have caused many to compare them as the best hosting providers. But do these numbers tell us everything?

Let’s start the comparison with Bluehost and GoDaddy’s uptime and performance.

Uptime and performance

Of course, you immediately want to know how well both hosting sites perform. Speed, after all, is the ultimate standard next to website design.

First, how important is the speed for your website?

People want everything quick and fast these days. They want to pay their bills at the speed of light and browse for online shopping without any website lags.

Google found that as your page load time goes from 1s to 3s, your bounce rate increases by 32%. 

Image via Google

High bounce rates mean your site visitors only looked at one thing in your website and left after. They bounced off, uninterested.

If your website loads in 1s to 5s, you’ve got a 90% probability of bounce rate. It gets worse as those precious seconds tick on.

A great web host provider will help you achieve the best load time possible and minimize your downtimes. 

It’s a good thing that Bluehost and GoDaddy give their customers the standard 99.99% uptime guarantee.

That percentage is expected of any web host provider that wants to be at the top of their game. Besides, even if these guys tried to make it 100%, perfect uptime is nearly impossible. 

So do Bluehost and GoDaddy live up to their guarantee?

Bluehost has recorded an average uptime of 99.93% (August 2023) in Pingdom for the past month. 

For the same duration, GoDaddy recorded 99.98% (August 2023).

That slight difference in percentage rips a vast divide between these two, especially when you translate it into minutes.

Bluehost’s 99.95% uptime will cost you 4.2 hours of downtime a year, while GoDaddy results in 10.5 hours.

Do you hear that? That’s the sound of your customers clicking away in frustration because your site just won’t load.

Maybe they’ll come back, or maybe they’ll head on over to your competitor instead.

Based on Updown statistics, Bluehost has experienced two downtimes for the past six months. 

Image via Updown

GoDaddy had four downtimes, one of these even clocked in at two hours in one day.

Image via Updown

What you want to avoid at all costs is a web host provider that can’t deliver when it comes to uptimes. Even a minute of downtime could lose you serious dollars and conversions, not to mention Google ranking favors fast-loading websites better.

Website Building

Bluehost and GoDaddy both have website builders perfect for noobs and pros.

You don’t need to be scared of creating your website, both of these web host providers will walk you through the entire thing.

You can choose from hundreds of Bluehost templates and themes all ready for you to customize. It also comes with powerful WordPress plugins to help make your site look better.

WordPress recommends only three web hosting sites, and one of those is Bluehost (the other two are SiteGround and DreamHost). 

If you’re looking to build an eCommerce site, Bluehost’s WordPress WooCommerce has got your back. The best part is that all these plugins are one-click installs and that’s exactly what makes Bluehost so beginner-friendly.

Image via GoDaddy

GoDaddy also has a smooth website builder experience made even easier with its drag-and-drop feature. 

It’s like playing around with your dream website -- no technical know-how required!

GoDaddy’s website builder comes with a comprehensive set of features too such as:

Marketing: SEO optimization for higher search engine ranking, email marketing, Google My Business, social media integration, etc.

Web analytics: Track your search ranking, Facebook insights, action plans, etc.

Blog features: Customize blog layouts, basic image editing, blog commenting, etc.

Migration Services

Say you want to be free from a bad host, and you want to transfer to Bluehost or GoDaddy. Is that possible?

Of course, it is! It just needs a couple of steps and, maybe, extra cash.

Bluehost offers professional site migration and transfer, where you’ll just sit back and relax. Professionals will migrate all your files to make sure you find a new home in Bluehost for $149.99.

Image via Bluehost

Bluehost’s site transfer can migrate up to five websites and 20 emails. You’ll get:

• Complete migration
• Expedited service
• Uninterrupted transition
• Complete review, and
• 24/7 service

But you should know that this service is not available for VPS, reseller, and dedicated hosting. As for domain transfers, you can follow these instructions for that.

What about GoDaddy? They offer free website migration for Managed WordPress and this will only take them anywhere between 30 minutes to 24 hours.

But for complicated migrations, that will cost you $99.99, and it will take their GoDaddy Guides at least 7 to 10 days to complete the service. That’s too slow if you need to your website up and running ASAP.

Products and Features

There’s little to separate Bluehost and GoDaddy when it comes to products and features. Their product catalog is similar when it comes to services and web hosting.

Image via Bluehost

Bluehost’s strength lies in being an overall web host provider. Whatever you’ll need to build a website, you can find it there. They’re the perfect choice for those venturing in creating blogs since Bluehost is WordPress optimized.

One thing we like about Bluehost’s beginner web hosting plans is that they come complete with storage, domain, and security. This is notable since GoDaddy lacks one of those features, as you’ll find out later.

Here’s what you’ll find in Bluehost’s catalog:

• Domains
• Email
• Shared hosting
• WordPress hosting
• VPS hosting
• Dedicated hosting
• Reseller hosting
• Website builder

Image via GoDaddy

GoDaddy is also great for any type of website, but they’re exceptional for eCommerce sites. Aside from WordPress WooCommerce, you can also start your eCommerce web with their Business Hosting. 

It’s backed by powerful servers and one-click installs like Magenta and Drupal for better website design.

Here’s what you’ll find in GoDaddy’s catalog:

• Domains
• Email & Microsoft 365
• Website builder
• Web hosting
• WordPress hosting
• VPS hosting
• Business hosting
• Dedicated server
• SSL Security

What about Bluehost and GoDaddy’s web hosting plans? Are they different?

Here’s a quick comparison based on Bluehost and GoDaddy’s basic shared hosting package

Professional email

Bluehost and GoDaddy can both give you matching professional emails for your website, and they come with Microsoft 365 integration. But while GoDaddy’s basic web hosting comes with free email, Bluehost’s doesn’t.

With Bluehost, it’s either you sign up for the next package or pay a little extra for a professional email.

Domain

GoDaddy has a stellar rep when it comes to domain registration. Their registrar has over 82 million domains in a wide range of extensions.

You can choose from the usual .coms and .nets to country code and generic extensions like .coffee and .wedding. These come for free with web hosting plans.

Bluehost offers these too, and the difference in price range isn’t too bad. Bluehost domain names start at $1.99 while GoDaddy starts at $0.99. Renewal rates could go as high as $189.99, so you should double think about which extension you’re going for.

Storage, bandwidth, and websites

As for the basic web host features, Bluehost gives you 50GB of storage, free domain, free SSL certificates, and free CDN, while GoDaddy has 100GB, free email, and free domain.

If you simply bump your plan for a higher shared hosting tier, you get unlimited storage, websites, and bandwidth. Sure, that’s a little extra cash, but considering the benefits, you get great value for your money.

Check out our quick comparison for Bluehost and GoDaddy’s shared hosting plans:

Bluehost Shared Hosting

GoDaddy Web Hosting

It’s pretty obvious what GoDaddy is missing here -- security. With that being said, let’s compare how both web hosting providers fare in that area.

Security

The first thing you should know about making a website is that you shouldn’t skimp out on security.

Never make a website without a layer of protection against online threats.

You might as well light a beacon in the sky for every hacker to follow.

A secure website lets your customers know that they can trust you with their information. Plus, it gives you peace of mind that your info is safe.

Bluehost features Let’s Encrypt SSL for every hosting package, even the basic ones. SSL, or Secure Sockets Layer, is the tech you need to protect your customer’s sensitive info -- passwords, credit cards, etc. 

A good SSL certificate stops hackers in their tracks.

And if you want better protection, Bluehost’s SiteLock Security ups the ante. It actively scans for malware, spammers, and hackers and guards your site against these too. You can get this as a Bluehost add-on for $2.99/mo.

Image via GoDaddy

GoDaddy boasts of its award-winning security offers, but if you’re opting for a basic package, you’ll be missing out on that.

Unlike with every other web host provider, GoDaddy won’t give you basic security, you’ll have to shell out cash a little bit more cash first.

Image via GoDaddy

Just how much cash? GoDaddy’s advanced SSL certificates for one site is $57/year, but it comes packed with features. 

For GoDaddy, it doesn’t just stop at getting that SSL certificate for encryption. They want you to take the next step and get Website Security.

It starts at $4.75/month for one website and includes advanced firewall and malware scanning features.

As for website backups, Bluehost has CodeGuard Basic as an add-on for $2.99/month, the same price as GoDaddy’s Website Backup. Both of these offer one-click restoration for websites.

Pricing

Both web hosting providers offer a complete catalog of web hosting services: shared, WordPress, VPS, and dedicated.

You’ve read how both websites can put up a fight when it comes to speed, performance, and website security.

We know what you’re thinking:

“But how much will they cost me?”

Their offers are where the similarities for web hosting ends. There’s a huge difference in pricing between the two. 

Bluehost is more affordable. Its Basic shared hosting starts at $2.75/mo, while GoDaddy’s Economy web hosting will cost you $4.49/mo.

Here’s a quick look at the price range comparison for both providers:

It’s obvious who you should go with, right?

Not really.

It’s not as black and white as it seems -- these prices are initial rates only. 

The packages are often given discounts to make you think they’re affordable. Once your term ends, you get slapped with reality.

Both Bluehost and GoDaddy shared hosting have a regular renewal rate of $8.99/mo.

Take away the discounts, and you’re left with a similar rate. 

Of course, discounts are important too. They give you value for your money, after all. But you have to look at the actual rates before you decide so you don’t get in trouble down the road.

When it comes to payment terms, each hosting plan has different options. The longer term you get, the cheaper you’ll be paying up front. 

Bluehost payment terms:

• Shared hosting: 12, 24, 36 months
• WordPress hosting: 12, 24, 36 months
• VPS hosting: 1, 3, 6, 12, 24, 36 months
• Dedicated hosting: 1, 3, 6, 12, 24, 36 months

GoDaddy payment terms:

• Web hosting: 1, 12, 24, 36 months
• WordPress hosting: 1, 12, 24, 36 months
• VPS hosting: 1, 6, 12, 24, 36 months
• Dedicated hosting: 1, 6, 12, 24 months

Both Bluehost and GoDaddy offer a 30-day money-back guarantee so you can comfortably test the waters before deciding to go for either.

Customer Support

All of a web host provider’s features are nothing if they aren’t backed with superb customer support.

You need a dedicated team of experts at your fingertips to help you solve any problem you might have with your site. 

Bluehost has lifetime 24/7 hosting support via phone, live chat, and email tickets. 

If you’re the independent type, that’s cool too. Each package gives you access to guide books. Plus, their website has an extensive resource base for frequently asked questions. 

Image via Bluehost

You can even take it to the next level with Bluehost’s Blue Sky, a dedicated team for WordPress expert support at your fingertips. These guys will help you from building your website to untangling snags you encounter along the way. 

GoDaddy has its own team of experts, GoDaddy Guides, available 24/7 through phone call and chat. They respond pretty quickly on live chat and offer you answers to basic problems almost immediately.

Image via GoDaddy

Just like Bluehost, they have a help center found on their website for your FAQs.

The main difference between the two is that Bluehost has email ticket support while GoDaddy just has the plain ‘ol phone call.

When you need to solve something complicated, email is still better than waiting in line for someone to pick your call up.

Bluehost vs. GoDaddy Recap

Let’s tally the wins in this grand head-to-head comparison!

Bluehost vs. GoDaddy Recap

Let’s tally the wins in this grand head-to-head comparison!

It’s pretty clear who our overall winner is. Bluehost excels in almost all categories.

Bluehost isn’t named the best web host provider for no reason. They give you value for money, excellent customer support, WordPress integration, and easy website building. Plus, you get a good layer of security for your website.

Their web hosting catalog is a one-stop shop for web hosting servers, domain name registration, and professional email.

Bluehost vs. GoDaddy Review 2023 FAQ

That’s it for our Bluehost vs. GoDaddy Review for 2023!

We know you still have questions. We’ve answered some of those for you below.

What should I look for in a good web host provider?

This depends on what you’re building your site for. A personal blog won’t exactly need the same criteria in a web host as a budding eCommerce site.

Depending on what you need a website for, looking at these basic categories is a great starting point:

• Uptime average and performance
• Ease of use
• Website building
• Migration service
• Products and features
• Security
• Pricing
• Customer support

If you’re a newbie, don’t sweat it too much. Take your time and read up on our other reviews first to know more about web hosting providers. 

After that, we guarantee you’ll be confident in choosing the best one for you.

So which is better, Bluehost or GoDaddy?

Your choice depends on personal preference and what you’re comfortable with.

Bluehost and GoDaddy both offer great features but is this what you’re looking for in building your dream site? 

Based on our review, they only slightly differ in a few categories, and they have different strengths. But even if you ended up choosing one, you’d still get a pretty fair deal.

There’s no one answer, we’re afraid. But like we said, since both are top hosting providers, you’ll win either way.

Which other web host providers can I use aside from Bluehost and GoDaddy?

It’s cool if you don’t prefer either Bluehost or GoDaddy. Their 30-day money-back guarantee is there to help you decide, after all. 

You could try out A2 Hosting for ultra-fast high-speed servers or HostGator, which also gives you the same ease of use as Bluehost and GoDaddy.

Final thoughts on Bluehost vs. GoDaddy Review 2023

These industry web hosting giants are in a league of their own. Bluehost and GoDaddy have both earned their rep after years of service.

While they aren’t the best web host providers on all fronts, they pack a punch with features and benefits plus pricing.

Both offer unlimited websites, storage, and bandwidth, not to mention excellent security, domain name registration, and superb website building experience.

The only thing you have to watch out for is the shocking renewal prices for both hosting providers. Other than that, you can choose any of the two, and you’re good to go.

Let us know which web hosting provider you decided to go for!