6 Best GoDaddy Alternatives for Small Business Web Hosting
Elizabeth Kraus has more than a decade of first-hand experience building and growing a boutique digital marketing agency and double that in small and mid-size business marketing management. She provides expert answers to marketing questions related to branding, content marketing, web development, email, social media, and SEO.
GoDaddy is a popular web hosting provider, but its prices aren’t the lowest, and its servers aren’t ultra-reliable. The best GoDaddy alternatives offer more reliability, affordable pricing, and more feature-rich plans, including free domains, SSL certificates, and email accounts. We evaluated dozens of providers and narrowed it down to our top six.
Here are the best GoDaddy alternatives and competitors for shared hosting based on the following use cases:
- Namecheap: Overall best GoDaddy alternative for small business web hosting
- DreamHost: Perfect for businesses that want to build a WordPress website
- Hostinger: Best GoDaddy competitor for businesses located outside the USA
- IONOS: Most budget-friendly starting plan among GoDaddy alternatives
- HostGator: Great choice for those building content-heavy websites
- InMotion: Top solution for businesses wanting ultra-fast site loading speed
GoDaddy & Best Alternatives at a Glance
GoDaddy Alternatives | Starting Cost per Month* | Free Domain, SSL & Email | Site Builder Plans | Key Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | $5.99** | ✓ | ✓ |
|
 | $1.48 | ✓ | ✓ |
|
 | $2.95 | ✓ | ✓ |
|
 | $1.99 | ✓ | ✕ |
|
 | 50 cents | ✓ | ✓ |
|
 | $2.75 | ✓ | ✓ |
|
 | $2.99 | ✓ | ✓ |
|
*On a 12-month billing cycle for shared hosting
**For three years; renews at $8.99/month on an annual billing cycle
Namecheap: Overall Best GoDaddy Alternative for Web Hosting
Namecheap
Overall Score: 4.90
OUT OF 5
What We Like
- Extremely fast loading speeds
- Affordable prices for shared hosting
- All-inclusive features, even on their cheapest plan
- Automated website backups included on all plans (not guaranteed on the cheapest plan)
- cPanel and WordPress website builder with all plans
- One-click WordPress install
- Great, professional customer support with 24/7 live chat
- Monthly contracts available
- Free fast website migration
- 30-day money-back guarantee
What's Missing
- Only 3 data centers (U.S., U.K., EU)—U.K. and EU data centers cost $1 more per month
- Uptime is a lower than promised (99.93% vs 100%)
- Cheapest plan has only 20GB of storage per website
- No phone support
Namecheap vs GoDaddy
- Namecheap’s prices are a lot more affordable (shared hosting plans start at $1.48/month)
- Namecheap includes a site builder on all hosting plans
- GoDaddy’s uptime guarantee is 99.9% vs Namecheap’s 100%—real uptimes indicate 99.97% for GoDaddy and 99.93% for Namecheap
- Namecheap includes 30 professional emails on its cheapest plan; GoDaddy only provides 2
- Namecheap’s Stellar Plus plan has unlimited storage, whereas none of GoDaddy’s plans have unlimited storage
- GoDaddy doesn’t offer unlimited websites on any web hosting plan
Though Namecheap is known first and foremost as a domain registrar, it actually has a decent website hosting service as well. Its prices are highly competitive—starting at $1.48 per month—which is something to be said considering its feature-rich plans. All plans come with a free domain for one year, free professional emails, free SSL certificates, and unmetered bandwidth.
For just $2.18 per month, you can upgrade your plan to have everything on the Steller plan (Namecheap’s cheapest plan), plus unlimited websites, site storage, and professional emails. Only IONOS can beat these prices from all of GoDaddy’s competitors. These prices for robust features puts Namecheap at the top of our list as the best GoDaddy alternative.
Namecheap’s easy-to-navigate cPanel (Source: Namecheap)
Unfortunately, you do get what you pay for to some extent: Namecheap falls short of their uptime guarantee of 100%, with an average uptime of 99.93%. This is even lower than GoDaddy’s average uptime of 99.97%.
Other than potential disruption to your site’s uptime, Namecheap only has three data centers. If you’re located in Asia (or your audience is mainly in Asia), then Hostinger—with its two Asia-based servers—would be a better pick.
Namecheap Pricing & Features
Stellar | Stellar Plus | Stellar Unlimited | |
|---|---|---|---|
Intro Price per Month* | $1.48 | $2.18 | $4.98 |
Renews At* | $4.48 | $6.48 | $9.48 |
Websites | 3 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Subdomains | 30 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Email Accounts | 30 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Storage | 20GB | Unlimited | 50GB |
Unlimited Bandwidth | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Cloud Storage | Available in EU data center only | Available in EU data center only | Available in EU and U.S. data centers |
Free Domain for 1 Year | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Free SSL Certificate | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
*On a 12-month billing cycle
Namecheap Key Features
Namecheap’s inclusive plans and very low prices make it the best GoDaddy alternative for small business web hosting. Here are some of its standout features:
- Affordable prices and inclusive plans: Namecheap’s plans are all under $5 per month (for introductory prices). The plans come with a website builder, a free domain name, free SSL certificates, free professional emails, unmetered bandwidth, and—on the pricier plans—unlimited storage.
- Free automated backups: Many web hosting companies perform automated backups, but it’s not common for prices this low. Starting at just $1.48 per month, Namecheap includes AutoBackup—an inclusive automatic feature that backs up your websites, files, databases, email accounts, and settings.
Try Namecheap today with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
DreamHost: Best GoDaddy Competitor for WordPress Website Hosting
DreamHost
Overall Score: 4.80
OUT OF 5
What We Like
- Unlimited bandwidth and free automated backups on all plans
- Free domain for a year and free SSL certificate
- WordPress drag-and-drop site builder available on all plans
- Hits the 100% guaranteed average uptime
- Month-to-month pricing available for a higher price
- 97-day money-back guarantee if you pay by credit card
- 24/7 support
- At least 50GB of site storage on the cheapest plan
What's Missing
- Only two data centers—both are located in the USA
- Custom control panel instead of a full cPanel
- Free website migration only applies to WordPress websites—try Hostinger for any website
- No free email on its cheapest plan, unlike Namecheap
DreamHost vs GoDaddy
- DreamHost hits its 100% uptime guarantee, while GoDaddy hovers at 99.97%
- DreamHost’s plans are cheaper than GoDaddy’s
- DreamHost has 50GB of site storage on its cheapest plan, whereas GoDaddy has 100GB
- DreamHost’s control panel is easier to use and more intuitive than GoDaddy’s cPanel
- Plans include a built-in, drag-and-drop page builder for WordPress, which GoDaddy lacks
- DreamHost doesn’t give any free professional emails on its cheapest plan, while GoDaddy includes 2
- DreamHost has unlimited storage on its second tier plan—GoDaddy’s plans don’t come with unlimited storage
- DreamHost’s Shared Unlimited plan can host an unlimited number of websites; GoDaddy’s plans all have limited website hosting capabilities
DreamHost offers comparable web hosting services to GoDaddy—including shared servers, dedicated WordPress hosting, and domain registration, but with cheaper prices. DreamHost starts at $2.95 per month on both Shared plans (Starter renews at $6.99 and Unlimited at 12.99). However, GoDaddy does have more storage (100GB vs 50GB), and throws in free professional emails, which DreamHost lacks in the base tier plan.
Still, 50GB is more than enough storage for a beginner building a website. Aside from decent storage, DreamHost also has unmetered bandwidth, free SSL certificates, and free domains on all of its plans. DreamHost plans also include a drag-and-drop WordPress site builder. This makes DreamHost the best option for businesses that want to get started on WordPress.
DreamHost uses BoldGrid, a drag-and-drop builder for WordPress
DreamHost provides better hosting than GoDaddy as far as server uptimes. It’s ultra-reliable; it doesn’t only have a 100% uptime guarantee, but it actively hits it—unlike other hosts that report more downtime than their guarantees mention.
However, DreamHost only offers two data servers located in the U.S. If your primary audience is in North America, this won’t pose a problem as users report that DreamHost’s page loading speeds are faster than average. But if your audience is located elsewhere, like Asia or Europe, we suggest checking out Hostinger’s seven servers located around the globe.
DreamHost Pricing & Features
Shared Starter | Shared Unlimited | |
|---|---|---|
Intro Price per Month* | $2.95 | $2.95 |
Renews At* | $6.99 | $12.99 |
Websites | 1 | Unlimited |
Email Accounts | $1.67 per month each | Unlimited |
Site Storage | 50GB | Unlimited |
Unlimited Bandwidth | ✓ | ✓ |
Cloudflare CDN | ✓ | ✓ |
Free Domain for 1 Year | ✓ | ✓ |
Free SSL Certificate | ✓ | ✓ |
*On a 12-month billing cycle
DreamHost Key Features
DreamHost’s solid features and great uptime makes it one of the best GoDaddy alternatives for web hosting. Here are some of its standout features:
- WordPress site builder: All DreamHost plans, including its low-cost starter plans, include a drag-and-drop WordPress site builder and WordPress installation and support. This means beginners can easily get started on WordPress without the learning curve.
- Affordable pricing: DreamHost only has two shared hosting plans. At regular rates, they cost $6.99 and $12.99 per month, respectively. On its cheapest plan, DreamHost comes with a free domain name, free SSL, and 50GB of storage.
- Reliable servers: DreamHost guarantees 100% uptime, and it delivers on its promises. If you’re looking for a host that keeps your website up and running 24/7, then DreamHost is the way to go.
Need more information? Learn more about this web hosting platform by reading our comprehensive DreamHost review.
Hostinger: Best GoDaddy Competitor for International Websites
Hostinger
Overall Score: 3.98
OUT OF 5
What We Like
- Plans from $1.99 per month
- Free SSL certificates on all plans
- Free weekly backups
- Seven global data centers for fast loading speeds everywhere
- Managed WordPress on all plans
- Free website migration
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Proprietary hPanel in lieu of cPanel touted as more user-friendly
What's Missing
- Most affordable pricing requires a 48-month (4-year) contract—for less commitment, try Namecheap
- No plans with unlimited storage; try DreamHost instead
- Cheapest plan has metered bandwidth
- No free domain on the cheapest plan, unlike Namecheap
- No plans with unlimited websites and professional emails
- 99.94% real uptime—less than its uptime guarantee of 99.99%; for more reliable servers, try DreamHost
Hostinger vs GoDaddy
- Hostinger’s prices are more affordable
- GoDaddy uses a cPanel, while Hostinger has a proprietary hPanel
- GoDaddy has more reliable servers, with 99.97% average uptime vs Hostinger’s 99.94%
Hostinger has been around for almost as long as GoDaddy has, but how do the two compare? For starters, Hostinger’s plans are cheap—renewal prices included. If you’re looking solely at which is a cheaper option, Hostinger wins by a wide margin.
Like GoDaddy, Hostinger promises an uptime of 99.99%. In reality, Hostinger falls short of that promise. Its average uptime is 99.94%, which is even less than GoDaddy’s real uptime of 99.97%. However, its loading times are quick, thanks to its seven data centers located all over the world. This makes Hostinger the ideal choice for websites with international audiences.
For the low cost, we’re not surprised that Hostinger comes with pretty basic features. It has free SSL certificates on all plans and free weekly backups, but that’s about it. To get a free domain name, you’ll have to upgrade to at least the second shared hosting tier. No plans come with unlimited storage, websites, or professional emails either—though 100 websites and email accounts are likely more than enough for most small businesses.
Hostinger’s unique interface, called hPanel
Finally, Hostinger has its own proprietary interface called hPanel (vs the cPanel that is common among most GoDaddy alternatives for web hosting). Whether this is a plus or a minus really depends on you; if you’re used to the traditional cPanel, then hPanel might take a slight learning curve. We do have to say that it’s built to be user-friendly, and it’s not that difficult to get a hang of.
Hostinger Pricing & Features
Single | Premium | Business | |
|---|---|---|---|
Intro Price per Month* | $1.99 | $2.99 | $4.99 |
Renews At* | $3.99 | $6.99 | $8.99 |
Websites | 1 | 100 | 100 |
Email Accounts | 1 | 100 | 100 |
Storage | 50GB | 100GB | 200GB |
Bandwidth | 100GB | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Free Domain for 1 Year | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
Free SSL Certificate | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Free Backups | Weekly | Weekly | Daily |
Cloudflare CDN | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
*On a 48-month billing cycle
Hostinger Key Features
Hostinger is a decent web host, especially for its prices. Here are a few of the features that set Hostinger apart from other GoDaddy competitors:
- Affordable plans: Hostinger is extremely affordable, not only with introductory prices, but with renewal prices as well. For the highest tier of Hostinger’s shared hosting plans, expect to pay less than $10 per month.
- Fast loading speeds: Hostinger consistently hits fast page loading speeds at an average of 312 ms. Upgrade to at least the second tier of shared hosting for Cloudflare CDN, and take advantage of its seven different data centers located all over the world for ultra-fast loading times no matter where your audience is.
- Managed WordPress: All of Hostinger’s plans come with one-click WordPress installation, a WordPress site builder, managed automatic updates, and core plugins so that you can set up a WordPress site easily and quickly.
See if Hostinger is right for your business with its 30-day money-back guarantee.
IONOS: Most Affordable GoDaddy Alternative for Web Hosting
IONOS
Overall Score: 3.93
OUT OF 5
What We Like
- Low-cost plans with first-year costs as low as 50 cents per month
- Free domain for a year on all plans
- Free SSL certificate and email address
- Daily backups and recovery on all plans
- Site Scan malware protection available on the highest-tiered hosting plans
- 10 data centers throughout the U.S. and Europe
- Free automated daily backups and recovery on all plans
- 24/7 support
What's Missing
- Very limited storage on the cheapest plan (10GB)
- Relatively slow server speeds
- Cloudflare CDN is only available on the most expensive plan
- Only one professional email account per plan—Namecheap offers unlimited professional emails for certain plans
- Prices jump up significantly after 12 months
IONOS vs GoDaddy
- Server performance is similar between the two hosts
- IONOS has cheaper introductory and renewal prices for a good range of web hosting services than GoDaddy
- IONOS provides a free SSL certificate; GoDaddy’s cheapest plan only has a free certificate for the first year
- IONOS only offers one professional email account per hosting plan, GoDaddy includes at least two
- GoDaddy doesn’t have any plan with unlimited websites, unlike IONOS
IONOS’s offerings are comparable to the basic features other providers on this list offer. They do, however, shine in their pricing as IONOS’ plans edge out GoDaddy’s offerings significantly on pricing alone. For example, its mid-tier plan has an introductory price of just 50 cents per month, which goes up to $10 per month after the first 12 months. This makes IONOS the cheapest GoDaddy alternative for web hosting, especially in the first year.
IONOS uptime and speed aren’t the best—like GoDaddy, it promises a 99.99% uptime (which it falls just shy of at 99.97%). Its servers aren’t as quick as other GoDaddy competitors either, clocking in at 731 ms. But it’s still a solid option, especially considering the introductory pricing and the fact that there’s a native site builder included if you want to get your website up and running quickly (read about IONOS’ drag-and-drop site builder here).
Plus, IONOS includes automated daily backups on all plans and a free domain name for one year. Keep in mind, though, that the lowest plan has the worst storage capacity of all other GoDaddy alternatives as it’s capped at just 10GB. If you need more storage space for a similar price tag, check out Namecheap.
IONOS’ drag-and-drop builder that’s available in plans for as low as $1 a month
IONOS includes just one professional email account with each hosting plan, which sounds paltry compared to the 30 accounts included free with Namecheap’s base tier (or unlimited accounts on higher tier plans). However, IONOS also offers additional email accounts for $1 per month that include a domain, reducing the cost of getting business email accounts compared to other providers that only include one or don’t include any.
IONOS Pricing & Features
Essential | Business | Expert | |
|---|---|---|---|
Intro Price per Month* | $4 | 50 cents | $8 |
Renews At* | $6 | $10 | $16 |
Websites | 1 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Email Accounts | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Storage | 10GB | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Unlimited Bandwidth | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Cloudflare CDN | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
Free Domain for 1 Year | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Free SSL Certificate | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
*On an annual billing cycle
IONOS Key Features
IONOS is one of the best alternatives to GoDaddy for web hosting, especially when it comes to cost. These are the key features to take note of:
- Cheap introductory pricing: IONOS’ mid-tier plan starts at 50 cents per month for 12 months. In contrast, GoDaddy’s cheapest plan starts at $5.99 per month. No other GoDaddy competitor has prices as low as IONOS the first year.
- Free automated daily backups: IONOS provides free automatic backups for all of its plans, even on its cheapest offering. This is similar to what our top GoDaddy alternative, Namecheap, provides in its highest tier, but for a fraction of the price.
- Ten servers located worldwide: IONOS has 10 data centers across Europe and North America, providing faster loading speeds to visitors from the two locations. In comparison, most GoDaddy competitors have two or three data centers.
IONOS has a 30-day risk-free guarantee, so you can test and see if it’s for you.
HostGator: Best GoDaddy Alternative for Hosting With Unlimited Storage
HostGator
Overall Score: 3.91
OUT OF 5
What We Like
- Affordable prices
- 99.99% real uptime
- Tons of contract options
- One-click WordPress installation
- Unlimited storage and email addresses on all plans
- Automated daily backups
- 24/7 customer service
- 45-day money-back guarantee
- All plans include Gator, HostGator’s website builder
- Built-in SEO tools to help you rank your website (available on the highest-tier plan)
What's Missing
- Not upfront about exact renewal prices
- Cloudflare CDN only in the highest tier
HostGator vs GoDaddy
- Server performance is better on HostGator vs GoDaddy
- HostGator offers unlimited storage and emails on all plans, while GoDaddy doesn’t offer these on any plan
- Hostinger has cheaper intro pricing; renewal prices are pretty similar between the two
- Both use cPanel
- Hostinger offers unlimited websites on two of its plans—GoDaddy doesn’t
HostGator is another popular web host with some pretty nifty features. For one, it’s the only hosting service on our list with unlimited storage and emails on its cheapest plan. This, plus its low prices, makes it the best GoDaddy alternative for businesses that need a ton of site storage (like those with content-heavy websites).
Aside from unlimited storage and email accounts, on the cheapest plan, you also get automated daily backups, unmetered bandwidth, a free domain name for one year, and free SSL. Not bad for under $10 (on renewal). Note that you only get one website on this tier; for unlimited sites, upgrade to the second tier.
HostGator’s cPanel (Source: HostGator)
Of course, more than features, the most important thing in a web host is reliability. We’re glad to report that HostGator hits it out of the park here as well. HostGator has 99.99% real uptime, and fast servers. For even faster page loading speeds no matter where your audience is, purchase the highest-tier plan with Cloudflare CDN.
One area where HostGator lags behind GoDaddy is its website builder, Gator, included in all shared hosting plans. Whereas GoDaddy’s website builder comes with a free version and is one of the best all-in-one site builders around, Gator lacks even a free trial. It also has a subpar blogging tool with no scheduling features and no email marketing features. In contrast, GoDaddy’s plans all have decent blogging and marketing capabilities.
HostGator Pricing & Features
Hatchling | Baby | Business | |
|---|---|---|---|
Intro Price per Month* | $2.75 | $3.50 | $5.25 |
Renews At* | $8.95 | $11.95 | $16.95 |
Contract | 1, 3, 6, 12, 24 or 36 months | 1, 3, 6, 12, 24 or 36 months | 1, 3, 6, 12, 24 or 36 months |
Websites | 1 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Email Accounts | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Storage | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Bandwidth | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Cloudflare CDN | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
Free SSL Certificate | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Free Domain for 1 Year** | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Built-in SEO Tools | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
*On a 12-month billing cycle
**Only available on the 12-, 24-, and 36-month plans
HostGator Key Features
HostGator’s features are top-notch, though renewal prices can get expensive. Here are some other key features to focus on from HostGator:
- Extremely reliable servers: HostGator averages a 99.99% uptime—fulfilling their uptime guarantee, and becoming more reliable than GoDaddy’s 99.97% average in the process.
- Unlimited features: On its cheapest plan, HostGator comes with unlimited storage, bandwidth, and professional emails. Unheard of, considering plans start at $2.75 a month.
- Built-in SEO tools: HostGator throws in a bunch of built-in SEO tools on its highest-tier shared hosting plan. This feature analyzes your website, and gives you monthly reports on how to optimize it further. It also analyzes competitors, so you know how to get ahead of the competition.
InMotion: Best Alternative to GoDaddy for Fast Loading Sites
InMotion
Overall Score: 3.76
OUT OF 5
What We Like
- Real uptime of 99.98%
- No-downtime website migration
- Unlimited storage, bandwidth, and emails on all plans
- Free SSL and domain name on all plans
- One-click WordPress installation
- Site builder included on all plans (BoldGrid, like DreamHost)
- All plans come with UltraStack for improved site performance
- 90-day money-back guarantee
What's Missing
- Expensive prices—for a cheap hosting solution, go with IONOS
- Servers are U.S.-based; for international audiences, try Hostinger with servers located all over the world
- Backups aren’t free, unlike IONOS (they require a paid add-on)
- Ecommerce only comes with the second-tier plan
InMotion vs GoDaddy
- InMotion’s prices are more expensive
- Build unlimited websites on InMotion’s cheapest plan, whereas GoDaddy allows just one
- Unlimited email addresses, even on the cheapest plan (GoDaddy includes 2-5 free email addresses)
- GoDaddy doesn’t have unlimited storage on any plan; all InMotion plans come with unlimited storage
- InMotion has faster page loading speeds and more reliable servers
- Both hosts use cPanel
InMotion is a popular and ultra-reliable web host, with servers based in the USA. It’s one of the most reliable North American web hosting providers, with an average uptime of 99.98% (and a guaranteed uptime of 99.99%). This just slightly edges out GoDaddy, which has a real uptime of 99.97%. InMotion is also known for its page loading speeds, and every shared hosting plan comes with UltraStack—a website performance optimizer that boosts page speeds.
This proprietary UltraStack optimizer is what sets InMotion apart from other web hosting providers, and what differentiates each of InMotion’s plans. On its cheapest hosting plan, you get up to 6x website speeds. On its most expensive plan, you get up to 20x.
InMotion’s easily navigated cPanel (Source: InMotion)
With regular pricing starting at $8.95 per month, InMotion is the most expensive GoDaddy alternative for web hosting on our list. Whether or not the rates are worth the speed optimization is up to you.
Otherwise, InMotion’s plans all come with unlimited storage, bandwidth, websites, and email accounts, plus a free domain name and a free SSL certificate. However, if you’re not that impressed by the UltraStack optimizer, HostGator might be a better choice for hosting your small business website.
InMotion Pricing & Features
Launch | Power | Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|
Intro Price per Month* | $7.46 | $7.46 | $14.71 |
Renews At* | $13.99 | $17.99 | $24.99 |
Contract | 1, 6, 12, or 24 months | 1, 6, 12, or 24 months | 1, 6, 12, or 24 months |
Websites | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Email Accounts | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Storage | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Unlimited Bandwidth | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
UltraStack Speed & Performance | 6x | 12x | 20x |
Free Domain | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Free SSL Certificate | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Hacker & Malware Protection | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Built-in Marketing Tools | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
*On a 12-month billing cycle
InMotion Key Features
InMotion is one of the most popular web hosting providers and one of the best alternatives to GoDaddy, for good reason. Here are just some of its best features:
- Solid “cheap” plan: The cheapest plan, regularly priced at $13.99 per month, has unmetered bandwidth, unlimited storage, unlimited free professional email accounts, and the ability to host an unlimited number of websites. This is on top of reliable servers and fast page loading speeds.
- Fast speeds and reliable servers: InMotion guarantees a 99.99% average server uptime (99.98% in reality), plus ultra-fast page loading speeds that can be boosted by upgrading your plan. This is far superior to many of its competitors.
- Great money-back guarantee: InMotion gives a 90-day money-back guarantee—more generous than most GoDaddy alternatives for web hosting, as the industry standard is 30 days. DreamHost offers a similar guarantee (97 days), but only for credit card payments. This means that you can fully test InMotion without commitment.
How We Evaluated Top GoDaddy Competitors
All the web hosting providers that made our list of the best GoDaddy alternatives have something unique to offer small businesses. We looked at each provider and the features they offer for the price. We also considered any extra services they provide that set them apart from the competition, how good their support is, and how customers reviewed them.
The best GoDaddy competitors have a good mix of features, affordable plans, reliable servers, fast loading speeds, excellent customer support, and are easy to set up and use. Based on our criteria, Namecheap is the best alternative to GoDaddy for small businesses. It has extremely affordable plans, the option to get unlimited storage and websites, great customer service, and a beginner-friendly cPanel, making it easy for anyone to host a website.
Here’s how we broke down our evaluation of the top GoDaddy competitors and web hosting alternatives:
35%
Pricing
25%
General Features
15%
Niche Features
10%
Support
15%
Expert Opinion
35% of Overall Score
Cost and affordability are persuasive factors when it comes to committing to a web hosting service. Especially for small businesses on a limited budget, we understand that pricing is a major consideration. These top GoDaddy hosting alternatives were analyzed according to not only their introductory prices, but also their renewal fees, discounts (if any), trial periods, and money-back guarantees.
25% of Overall Score
Features like storage, bandwidth, uptimes, and speed are important to note when choosing the best web hosting provider for your business. Your chosen hosting provider may be cheap, but their features need to be useful—regardless of what you pay.
15% of Overall Score
Your business might require certain features that aren’t offered by all of the hosting providers mentioned above. Aside from general and basic features we believe should be present, it’s helpful to know which provider offers the specific services your business needs or wants.
10% of Overall Score
Aside from ease of use, having good support is crucial to customer satisfaction. We looked at each of these GoDaddy hosting competitors to see which have 24/7 support, and on which channels support can be accessed.
15% of Overall Score
Arguably the most important criteria, we used our own firsthand experience to determine which of these service providers are worth the price. We based our recommendations on overall value (the features that you get for the amount that you pay), how popular the hosts are with customers, and how easy we find these providers are to use.
*Percentages of overall score
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What does my website need besides web hosting?
Aside from a content management system (CMS) like WordPress, or a hosting-and-site builder like Squarespace or Wix, you also need to purchase a domain name and SSL certificate (often included with web hosting and site builder plans). In addition, you’ll need a business email address and may need third-party apps for additional functionality. Read our whole list of website basics and download a free checklist for building a website for your small business.
What is a CMS?
A CMS, or a content management system, is software used for building, editing, and managing sites without coding knowledge. The most popular example of a CMS is WordPress, but Wix and Squarespace are popular content management systems as well. Learn more about web content management systems and how they work with the other tools present in a website.
Is GoDaddy the only place to buy a domain?
GoDaddy made waves with its domain registrar ads in early days, but there are many domain registrars around. When choosing, look for domain registrars with added features like security, web hosting, and extra support. Make sure to choose a registrar that fits your needs. We recommend Google Domains, but there are other great domain registrars out there.
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- Need a website builder and not a web host? Learn how to build a website on GoDaddy now.
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- Now that you have a web hosting provider picked out, build your small business website.
