Hosting.com vs GoDaddy: Complete 2026 Comparison
Hosting.com and GoDaddy are both shared hosting providers, but they suit different priorities. Across our 7-category breakdown, Hosting.com comes out ahead, winning 4 of them — including Price, Performance and WordPress.
Data last updated June 2026
Overall Winner
Hosting.com
- Wins in 4 of 7 categories
- Top in: Best Price, Best Performance, Best for WordPress
- 3.6/5 overall rating
Hosting.com vs GoDaddy: Overview
On entry pricing, Hosting.com is the cheaper option at $2.99/mo versus $5.99/mo for GoDaddy. Renewal tells the real story: GoDaddy marks prices up about 100% at renewal versus roughly 301% for Hosting.com, making it the better long-term value.
Hosting.com's standout is turbo servers with LiteSpeed caching claiming 20x faster speeds than standard hosting — a natural fit for speed-focused user who wants developer tools and doesn't mind renewal price increases. GoDaddy, by contrast, leans on world's largest domain registrar with all-in-one hosting and domain management, ideal for small business owner wanting brand recognition and phone support over technical features.
Category Winners
Best Price
Hosting.com
$2.99/mo vs $5.99/mo
Best Value
GoDaddy
Lower renewal markup (100% vs 301%)
Best Performance
Hosting.com
99.9% uptime, 3.6/5 rating
Best Support
GoDaddy
Live chat, Phone, 24/7
Best for WordPress
Hosting.com
Optimized, Staging, WooCommerce, LiteSpeed
Best for Developers
Hosting.com
SSH, Git, Staging, Node.js
Best for Beginners
Tie
Similar beginner-friendliness
Feature Comparison
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Essential Info | ||
| Hosting Type | Shared Hosting | Shared Hosting |
| Monthly Price | $2.99/mo | $5.99/mo |
| Renewal Price | $11.99 | $11.99 |
| Renewal Markup | 301% | 100% |
| Overall Rating | 3.6/5 | 3.2/5 |
| Uptime Guarantee | 99.9% | 99.9% |
| Trustpilot Rating | 4.7/5 | 4.0/5 |
| Trustpilot Reviews | 5,066 | 131,283 |
| Free SSL | ||
| Free Domain | ||
| Free Migration | ||
| Pricing Details | ||
| First Year Cost | $35.88 | $71.88 |
| Second Year Cost | $143.88 | $143.88 |
| Money Back Guarantee | 30 days | 30 days |
| Setup Fee | Free | Free |
| Monthly Billing | — | |
| Minimum Contract | 1 months | — |
| Technical Specs | ||
| Storage | 15 GB | 25 GB |
| Storage Type | NVME SSD | NVME SSD |
| Bandwidth | Unmetered GB | Unlimited |
| Max Websites | 1 | 1 |
| Max Databases | Unlimited | 10 |
| PHP Versions | 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 | 8.2, 8.3, 8.4 |
| SSH Access | ||
| Git Deployment | ||
| Staging Environment | ||
| Cron Jobs | ||
| Redis Available | — | |
| Programming Languages | ||
| Node.js Support | ||
| Python Support | ||
| Ruby Support | ||
| WordPress Features | ||
| WordPress Optimized | ||
| WordPress Auto-Install | ||
| WordPress Auto-Updates | ||
| WordPress Staging | ||
| WooCommerce Optimized | ||
| LiteSpeed Cache | ||
| Object Caching | ||
| WP Multisite | — | |
| WP-CLI Access | ||
| Security | ||
| DDoS Protection | ||
| DDoS Protection Level | Reinforced DDoS Protection included | Basic |
| Malware Scanning | ||
| Malware Removal | ||
| Firewall Included | ||
| Backup Frequency | Daily (Turbo plans) / Weekly (basic plans) | Daily |
| Backup Retention | — | 1 days |
| Backup Restore Fee | Free | $150.00 |
| On-Demand Backup | ||
| Two-Factor Auth | ||
| Wildcard SSL | ||
| Dedicated IP | ||
| Support | ||
| Support Channels | Phone, Live Chat, Ticket, Knowledge Base | Phone, Live Chat, Email, Text/SMS, Knowledge Base |
| Live Chat | ||
| Live Chat Hours | 24/7/365 | 24/7 |
| Phone Support | ||
| Phone Support Hours | 24/7/365 | 24/7 |
| Ticket Support | ||
| Priority Support | ||
| Support Languages | English | English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Japanese, Chinese, Korean |
| Knowledge Base Quality | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Avg Support Wait | — | — |
| Email Accounts | ||
| Email Account Limit | 25 | 0 |
| Mailbox Size | — | — |
| Webmail Access | ||
| Spam Filter | ||
| Email Forwarding | ||
| Performance | ||
| CDN Included | ||
| CDN Provider | Cloudflare CDN (free) | Cloudflare |
| Server Locations | Ann Arbor, MI (US-East), Phoenix, AZ (US-West), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Singapore | Phoenix, AZ (US), Ashburn, VA (US), Los Angeles (US), Chicago (US), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Singapore, France, Germany, United Kingdom |
| Server Location Count | 4 | 9 |
| Choose Server Location | ||
| HTTP/2 Support | — | |
| Brotli Compression | — | |
| Uptime SLA Credit | ||
| Platform Support | ||
| Drupal Support | ||
| Joomla Support | ||
| Magento Support | ||
| Laravel Support | ||
| Django Support | ||
| Next.js Support | ||
| Rails Support | ||
| Static Site Support | ||
| Control Panel | ||
| cPanel Included | ||
| Control Panel | cPanel | cPanel |
| Softaculous | ||
| Website Builder | ||
| Builder Name | Site.pro Website Builder | GoDaddy Website Builder |
| Migration | ||
| Migration Websites Limit | 1 | 1 |
| Migration Turnaround | 3 days | — |
| Paid Migration Cost | $25.00 | — |
| Migration Quality | 4.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| Compliance | ||
| GDPR Compliant | ||
| PCI Compliant | ||
| HIPAA Compliant | ||
| Data Center Certs | SSAE16 | — |
| Ratings | ||
| Value for Money | 3.0/10 | 2.5/10 |
| Performance Rating | 4.5/10 | 3.5/10 |
| Support Quality | 3.5/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Security Rating | 3.5/10 | 3.0/10 |
| Features Rating | 4.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| Ease of Use | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Transparency Rating | 3.0/10 | 2.0/10 |
| Suitability Scores | ||
| For Bloggers | 4.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| For E-commerce | 4.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| For Agencies | 3.0/10 | 2.0/10 |
| For Developers | 4.0/10 | 2.0/10 |
| For Beginners | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Enterprise | 2.0/10 | 2.0/10 |
| Policies | ||
| Bandwidth Overage | Unmetered within fair use; excessive use may require upgrade | May require upgrade to VPS/Dedicated if usage affects server stability |
| Storage Overage | Must upgrade plan; inode limits apply | Subject to inode limits; excess usage may require upgrade |
| Adult Content Allowed | ||
| Gambling Sites Allowed | ||
| Crypto Sites Allowed | — | |
| Reseller Hosting | ||
| White Label | ||
| API Access | ||
| Company Info | ||
| Year Founded | 2001 | 1997 |
| Headquarters | United States | United States |
| Parent Company | World Host Group / hosting.com (acquired January 2025; rebranded to hosting.com May 2025; investors include Oakley Capital, Barings, Bain Capital) | — |
| Green Hosting | — | |
| Instant Activation | — | |
| Managed WordPress | ||
| Managed WP Available | ||
| Pricing Model | — | — |
| Monthly Visit Limit | — | — |
| Visit Overage Cost | — | — |
| PHP Workers | — | — |
| Plugin Restrictions | — | — |
| Dev Environment | — | — |
| Dev Env Name | — | — |
| Regional Info | ||
| Best Countries | United States, Netherlands, Singapore, Germany, United Kingdom | United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, India |
| Local Currencies | USD, EUR, GBP, INR | USD, GBP, EUR, AUD, INR, CAD |
| Support Languages | English | English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Japanese, Chinese, Korean |
| Data Sovereignty | GDPR | GDPR, CCPA |
| External Ratings | ||
| G2 Rating | 4.3/5 | 4.0/5 |
| BBB Rating | A+ | A+ |
| Advanced Technical | ||
| Inode Limit | — | 250,000 |
| Max DB Size | — | 1 GB |
| Max Upload Size | — | 128 MB |
| Database Type | MySQL/MariaDB | — |
| Elasticsearch | — | |
| Image Optimization | — | — |
| PHP Switching | ||
| Subdomains | 25 | — |
| FTP Accounts | 25 | — |
| Additional Pricing | ||
| Free Domain Duration | — | 12 months |
| Money Back Exclusions | 30-day full refund; Prorated refund for unused services available up to 90 days; Domain fees non-refundable; Setup fees non-refundable | Domains (5-day window only, non-refundable after); Monthly plans (48-hour window only); Free domain cost deducted from refund; Premium domains non-refundable; Domain backorders non-refundable if applied to auction; Web design services have cancellation fees (30-70%); No refunds after account closure; Products in subscription cannot be individually refunded |
| Payment Methods | Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal, Skrill, Bank Transfer, Check | Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay |
| Auto Renewal Default | ||
| Domain Privacy Included | — | |
| Domain Privacy Cost | $14.99/yr | — |
| SSL Provider | Let's Encrypt (auto-renewed) | AutoSSL (Let's Encrypt compatible) |
| Dedicated IP Cost | $5.99/mo | — |
| Additional Support | ||
| Phone Support Countries | United States | United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, India, Multiple international |
| Priority Support Cost | — | — |
| Community Forum | ||
| Support Outsourced | — | |
| Object Cache Type | OPcache/Memcached | — |
| Business & Affiliate | ||
| Affiliate Program | ||
| Commission Type | Tiered per sale | Percentage + Bonuses |
| Commission Amount | $55 (1-10 sales), $75 (11-15), $100 (16-20), $125 (21+ sales); $5 second-tier; 90-day cookie | 10-15% revenue share; $100 bonus for new hosting customer; $25 for annual renewals; 45-day cookie |
| Additional Policies | ||
| File Hosting Allowed | ||
| Proxy/VPN Allowed | ||
| Bandwidth Overage Cost | $0.00 | — |
| Account Suspension Policy | Violation of ToS; non-payment; resource abuse | Email warning for resource issues; immediate suspension possible for malware/TOS violations; reinstatement within 72 hours after fixing issues |
| Malware Removal Cost | $0.00 | $192.00 |
| Downloadable Backups | ||
| Additional Platforms | ||
| PrestaShop | ||
| Ghost | ||
| Shopify Migration | ||
| Wix Migration | ||
| Squarespace Migration | ||
| Webflow Export | ||
| Editorial Info | ||
| Best For | Speed-focused websites needing Turbo servers; Developers wanting SSH, Git, WP-CLI access; Users wanting multiple data center location options; WordPress sites needing LiteSpeed caching; Budget shared hosting with promo pricing; Reseller hosting with white-label options | Beginners wanting brand recognition; Users needing 24/7 phone support; Simple small business websites; Domain management (primary business); Users who prefer all-in-one billing |
| Avoid If | Budget-sensitive at renewal time; Need free domain included; Want guaranteed 99.9%+ uptime; Prefer all-inclusive pricing; Need PCI/HIPAA compliance; Want more than 4 data center locations | Need Node.js/Python/Ruby support; Budget-conscious (renewal rates high); Adult or gambling content; High file count sites (250k inode limit); Need included email; Privacy-focused (security track record); Developer workflows (no Git deployment) |
| Known Issues | Significant renewal price increase (up to 6x promo price); Reports of declining support quality; No free domain included; $25 fee to change data center location; Uptime occasionally below guarantee (99.95% actual vs 99.9% promised); Some migration issues reported; Turbo servers only on higher-priced plans; Company acquired and rebranded to hosting.com in 2025 | High renewal prices (25-40% markup); $150 backup restore fee; Email not included (extra $6.99/mo); FTC order Jan 2025 for security failures; 2023 multi-year security breach confirmed; Aggressive upselling throughout checkout; BBB customer review score only 1.08/5 despite A+ rating; Low inode limit (250k) fills quickly with WordPress sites |
| Unique Selling Point | Turbo servers with LiteSpeed caching claiming 20x faster speeds than standard hosting | World's largest domain registrar with all-in-one hosting and domain management |
| Ideal Customer | Speed-focused user who wants developer tools and doesn't mind renewal price increases | Small business owner wanting brand recognition and phone support over technical features |
| Best Alternative To | SiteGround | Namecheap |
| Primary Competitors | SiteGround, Hostinger, InMotion Hosting | Namecheap, Bluehost, HostGator |
We strive for accuracy, but pricing and features change frequently. Some data may be outdated. Report an error and we'll update it promptly.
Our Verdict
Choose Hosting.com if you...
- Want to save money ($2.99/mo vs $5.99/mo)
- Want higher-rated hosting (3.6/5)
- Want LiteSpeed caching for WordPress
- Want to run Node.js applications
Choose GoDaddy if you...
- Prefer more predictable renewal pricing
- Require 24/7 live chat support
- Want more server locations (9 available)
Hosting.com vs GoDaddy: Frequently Asked Questions
Is Hosting.com cheaper than GoDaddy?
Yes — Hosting.com is cheaper, starting at $2.99/mo compared with $5.99/mo for GoDaddy. Factor in renewals too: Hosting.com marks up about 301% after the first term.
Which is better for WordPress, Hosting.com or GoDaddy?
Hosting.com is the stronger WordPress host thanks to WordPress-optimized servers, LiteSpeed caching, staging and WooCommerce tuning. If WordPress or WooCommerce is your main workload, it's the safer pick.
Does Hosting.com or GoDaddy have better uptime?
Hosting.com edges out GoDaddy on performance with a 99.9% uptime guarantee and a 3.6/5 overall rating. For uptime-sensitive sites, it's the more dependable choice.
Which has better customer support, Hosting.com or GoDaddy?
GoDaddy has the edge on support offering 24/7 live chat, phone support and ticket support.
Should I choose Hosting.com or GoDaddy?
For most users, Hosting.com is the better overall choice, winning 4 of our 7 categories (notably Price, Performance and WordPress). That said, the right host depends on your specific needs — check the category breakdown above for the factors that matter to you.