SiteGround vs GoDaddy
SiteGround and GoDaddy compared on measured uptime, response time, pricing and features from our own tests. SiteGround scores higher overall.
By Jennifer T. · Updated
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Verdict
SiteGroundWins overall
Managed-feel shared hosting on Google Cloud with daily backups and staging; the renewals are the price
The largest registrar's cPanel hosting: three plans on a three-year term with a free domain and daily backups
SiteGround wins 6 of the six sub-scores and comes out ahead overall (8.0 vs 7.2).
How do the scores compare?
SiteGround leads on 6 sub-scores, GoDaddy on 0. Higher is better.
| SiteGround | GoDaddy | |
|---|---|---|
| Performance | 8.0 (better) | 7.5 |
| Uptime | 8.5 (better) | 8.0 |
| Support | 8.5 (better) | 7.0 |
| Features | 8.5 (better) | 6.5 |
| Value | 6.5 (better) | 6.0 |
| Ease of use | 8.0 (better) | 7.5 |
Which one is faster and more reliable?
| SiteGround | GoDaddy | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 8.0 (better) | 7.2 |
| Uptime (published)HostingStep 243 d vs HostingStep 365 d; methods differ | 99.97% | 99.99% (better) |
| Response time (published)HostingStep vs HostingStep; methods differ | 745 ms | 344 ms (better) |
Which one costs less?
On renewal, GoDaddy is cheaper ($11.99/mo vs $17.99/mo). Intro prices need the listed term.
| SiteGround | GoDaddy | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | StartUp | Economy |
| Intro price | $2.99/mo (better) | $5.99/mo |
| Renewal price | $17.99/mo | $11.99/mo (better) |
| Required term | 12 months (better) | 36 months |
| Websites | 1 | 1 |
| Storage | 10 GB | 25 GB |
| Money back | 30 days | 30 days |
What does each include?
| SiteGround | GoDaddy | |
|---|---|---|
| Free domain | First year only; regular renewal fee after that | First year on every plan, marked with an asterisk whose disclaimer the page keeps collapsed |
| Free SSL | Yes | One year on Economy; unlimited certificates for all sites on Deluxe and Ultimate, auto-renewed through AutoSSL |
| Daily backups | Kept for 30 days; on-demand backups on GrowBig and GoGeek | Not stated |
| CDN | SiteGround CDN on Google Cloud, 170+ edge locations | Not stated |
| Email hosting | Unlimited accounts with webmail and spam protection | Not stated |
| Staging | GrowBig and GoGeek; GoGeek adds Git | No |
| Free migration | Automatic WordPress migrator on every plan; expert transfer by staff | No |
| Caching | Multilevel caching with the Speed Optimizer plugin | No |
| WP-CLI and SSH | Yes | Not stated |
| Fair-use limits | CPU seconds per hour 1,000 / 2,000 / 4,000; inodes 200k / 400k / 600k; 768 MB RAM per process; databases up to 1 GB | Not stated |
| Uptime guarantee | 99.9% per month; 5% of that month's fee as a service-extension credit | 99.9% per month in the hosting agreement, with a credit of 5% of the monthly fee on request, usable for future purchases |
| Choice of data center | 11 locations on Google Cloud, chosen at signup | Not stated |
| Phone support | No | 24/7 chat, phone and email through GoDaddy Guides |
| Windows hosting | No | No |
| Backups | Not stated | Automatic daily backups, with recovery of the whole account from the previous day |
| Free CDN | Not stated | The page lists CDN and firewall among the included essentials without naming the provider |
| Node.js and languages | Not stated | Node.js on every plan; the dashboard exposes CPU, memory, entry processes and I/O controls |
| Resource limits | Not stated | 250,000 inodes and 100 GB per account in the hosting agreement; no CPU or RAM figures on the plan page |
| Data center choice | Not stated | No |
| Security | Not stated | DDoS protection and network monitoring on every plan; a site security suite is included on the cards |
| Not stated | Free email is listed on every plan without a mailbox count |
Company facts
| SiteGround | GoDaddy | |
|---|---|---|
| Control panel | Site Tools (SiteGround's own panel) | cPanel behind GoDaddy's dashboard |
| Data centers | 11 (better) | 1 |
| Support channels | chat, ticket, knowledge-base | chat, phone, email, knowledge-base |
| Founded | 2004 | 1997 |