Compare Hosting Providers on December 2, 2022 by Manoling Martinez

GoDaddy and Cloudways are some of the leading names in the web hosting industry. However, both providers offer completely different solutions, which begs the question: 

Which provider is better for YOU?


GoDaddy

Cloudways

Owner

Bob Parson

DO1GB

Basic Plan

Starter

Economy

Price

Starts at $3.99/month

Starts at $12/mo

Free Domain?

Only for higher plans

No

Average Uptime

99.98% (August 2023)

99.9%

Average Speed

299 ms (August 2023)

2.5 seconds

One-Click WordPress Installation?

Yes

Yes

Free SSL?

Only for higher plans

Yes

Number of Sites

1

1

Free Email?

Only for higher plans

No

Free Backup?

Yes

Yes

Moneyback Guarantee

30-days

30-days

Support Channels

Live Chat, Phone, Email, Support Ticket, Community Forum, Blog

24/7/365 support through Live Chat

Control Panel

cPanel

Dedicated control panel

Space

10 GB

1 GB

Free CDN?

No

No

Migration Services

Yes

Yes

Overall Rating

4.5 stars

4 stars

Get Hosting

Other Plans

WordPress Hosting, WordPress eCommerce Hosting, Business Hosting, VPS Hosting, Dedicated Server

N/A

Cell

*Uptime and Speed data from Pingdom and Hrank

*Pricing as of Dec. 2022

To help you answer that, we’ve made a GoDaddy vs Cloudways comparison review. We’ll look at several important factors that will help you determine if it’s the one for YOU. 

So let’s dive right into it! 

GoDaddy vs Cloudways - An Overview

GoDaddy is one of the largest web hosting providers in the industry, with over 20 million loyal customers worldwide and managing over 80 million domains. It first opened in 1997 in Pheonix, Arizona, and has since expanded its reach across the globe.

GoDaddy


The company offers the best packages for beginner website owners, bloggers, and businessmen alike.

Meanwhile, Cloudways is one of the leading brands when it comes to Cloud-based hosting. They pride themselves on their simple yet innovative hosting solutions that help various clients start and maintain a successful website. 

The company was founded in 2009 in Malta, Europe, but they’ve recently expanded their offices to Spain and Dubai. 

A Side by Side Comparison

Now, to compare both providers, we’ll consider these factors:

  • Uptime and performance 
  • Pricing, products, and features
  • Security and customer support

Let’s get into the details. 

Uptime and Performance

As you can see from the chart, Cloudways is super reliable with an average uptime of 99.9%. This means that your website will very rarely go offline. 

As for GoDaddy, their uptime average is 99.98% (August 2023). 

As for performance, or loading speed, GoDaddy doesn’t fall that far behind Cloudways’ performance ratings, which is very quick. 

This is great as fast-running websites always lead to lower bounce rates. 

Cloudways is still faster, though, as all servers launched have dedicated resources. Because of this, users can maximize server and app performance, allowing faster loading time and more consistent connections. 

WINNER: Tie. Both GoDaddy and Cloudways are reliable when it comes to uptime and speed.


Pricing, Products, and Features

As we mentioned earlier, GoDaddy and Cloudways offer very different services. In this section, we’ll be taking a look at each one to see which provider fits your situation best.

Cloudways

As its name suggests, Cloudways offers customers a variety of Cloud Hosting solutions designed for every budget. 

Now, you can choose from 5 Standard Plans, the cheapest costing around $12/month. All plans come with the following features and perks:

  • 24/7/365 Support
  • Free SSL Certificates
  • CDN Add-on
  • Free Migration (first site only)
  • Unlimited Application Installation
  • Dedicated Firewalls
  • 24/7 Real-time Monitoring
  • Automated Backups
  • Staging Environment
  • Advanced Caches
  • Auto Healing
  • Regular Security Patching
  • HTTP/2 Enabled Servers
  • SSH and SFTP Access
  • Team Management

For Premium Plans, Cloudways offers 11 options, the cheapest costing around $33.18/month. They come with the same basic features you find in the Standard Plans. However, it does offer a bit more storage space, bandwidth, and RAM. 

One thing to note about Cloudways is that it doesn’t offer any domain registration services. So, if you’re looking for a domain, you’ll have to register with a different provider. 

What else?

Cloudways users can choose among 5 data centers to hold/store their data. Also, once you choose a plan, you can always scale up or down as needed.

GoDaddy

While GoDaddy doesn’t offer any Cloud Hosting options, it does have other products like Shared Hosting, VPS Hosting, Dedicated Hosting, Domain Hosting, and Reseller Hosting. 

Shared Hosting is the optimal choice for those who are just starting out. It’s cheap and it gives you all the necessary tools and resources you need to start on the right foot.

Here’s a quick look at GoDaddy’s Shared Hosting plans:


Prices

Bandwidth

Storage

Features

Starter

FREE for a year

FREE for a year

Cell
Cell

Economy

50 accounts

Unlimited

Cell
Cell

Deluxe

FREE

cPanel

Cell
Cell

Ultimate

cPanel

Custom-built by Domain.com

Cell
Cell

WINNER: Tie. Again, it’s hard to pick one that is better. GoDaddy and Cloudways don't offer you the most freebies, but you already get more than what you might need.


Security and Customer Support

When it comes to security, both hosts have robust systems in place to ensure their clients’ data and information aren’t put at risk. 

The only difference is that GoDaddy doesn’t offer as much protection for their lower-end plans. If you want more security, you’ll have to buy services like SSL certification and CDN as add-ons to your plan. 

Cloudways, on the other hand, offers these services for FREE, regardless of the selected plan. 

As for customer support, you’ll be happy to know that GoDaddy and Cloudways offer great support. They respond quickly to customer concerns and are knowledgeable of the different issues that are frequently encountered by clients. 

WINNER: Cloudways. Cloudways offer the basic security feature for FREE, while GoDaddy doesn’t. That alone makes it take the cake for this category.


The Verdict

Winners board:

Category

Winner

Uptime and Performance

Tie

Pricing, products, and features

Tie

Security and Customer Support

Cloudways


GoDaddy and Cloudways have contrasting strengths and weaknesses. 

GoDaddy is great for scalability, affordability, and lots of great features. 

Cloudways boast their uptime and performance, security, stability, and consistency. Furthermore, the features it provides in its plans are also great. 

In the end, the best web hosting will depend on what YOU are looking for. 

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