GoDaddy vs InMotion – “The Real Truth”

GoDaddy vs InMotion

90.8 %

Overall Score

GoDaddy vs InMotion

99.8 %

Overall Score

GoDaddy is one of the largest and most well-known web hosting providers, offering a wide range of services including shared, VPS, dedicated hosting, and domain registration. It is recognized for its user-friendly interface, extensive support, and global reach. However, its pricing can be higher compared to some competitors, and some users report that the customer service experience can be inconsistent.

InMotion Hosting is known for its reliable performance and strong customer support, offering shared, VPS, and dedicated hosting plans, along with managed WordPress hosting. They provide a range of features such as free website migration, SSD storage, and robust security. While its pricing is competitive, InMotion’s renewal rates may be higher, and it lacks some of the brand recognition that GoDaddy enjoys.

GoDaddy excels in brand recognition, ease of use, and a wide range of services, making it ideal for beginners and those seeking a one-stop shop. InMotion Hosting is preferred for its reliable performance, strong customer support, and value for money, focusing on technical reliability and specialized hosting features.

GoDaddy

Performance: |5.0| ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

GoDaddy provides reliable performance with a 99.9% uptime guarantee and consistently fast server response times. It’s particularly suited for small to medium sites, offering GZIP compression and caching options to improve loading speeds. However, its shared hosting plans may experience slower performance during high traffic, making it better for users with moderate resource needs.

Uptime: |4.9|⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

GoDaddy offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee, ensuring minimal downtime for most users. This makes it a stable choice for small to medium websites seeking reliable availability. While generally dependable, some users report occasional downtime on shared hosting plans during high-traffic periods, which may affect consistency. For business-critical sites, higher-tier plans may provide more stability.

Customer Service: |4.8|⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

GoDaddy’s customer service offers 24/7 support via phone and chat, aiming to assist users quickly. While beginner-friendly, some users experience mixed results with response times and issue resolution. Support quality can vary, and upselling practices during support interactions are common. GoDaddy suits basic support needs, though more complex inquiries may benefit from dedicated hosting or premium support plans.

InMotion Hosting

Performance: |4.8| ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

InMotion Hosting delivers strong performance with a 99.99% uptime guarantee, NVMe SSDs, and advanced caching technologies, ensuring fast load times and reliability. With Brotli and GZIP compression, InMotion is optimized for high-speed data delivery, making it ideal for resource-intensive websites. This robust setup supports smooth, consistent performance, especially for users needing efficient content delivery and low latency.

Uptime: |4.9|⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

InMotion Hosting provides a dependable 99.99% uptime guarantee, ensuring minimal downtime and high availability for websites. This stability is reinforced by their use of NVMe SSDs and proactive monitoring, which enhances reliability. Ideal for businesses and sites with high traffic, InMotion’s uptime commitment helps ensure that visitors experience consistent access, making it suitable for performance-focused users.

Customer Service: |4.7|⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

InMotion Hosting’s customer service is highly rated, with 24/7 support available through phone, live chat, and email. Their U.S.-based team is knowledgeable and responsive, often resolving issues efficiently. InMotion also offers a comprehensive online support center with tutorials and guides. With a 90-day money-back guarantee, their customer service is reliable, making it ideal for users seeking robust support options.

Overall Comparison GoDaddy vs. InMotion Hosting

FeatureGoDaddyInMotion
Company Focus Big, reputable domain registration
and hosting company
Dependable hosting with excellent
speed and customer service
Hosting Plans Shared, VPS, dedicated, and managed WordPress Shared, VPS, dedicated, managed WordPress
PerformanceGood uptime (99.9%), but can have
slower speeds on lower-tier plans
Strong performance with SSD storage
and consistent speeds
Uptime Guarantee 99.9% uptime guarantee 99.9% uptime guarantee
Customer Support24/7 support via phone, chat, and
email; mixed reviews on quality
24/7 support via phone, chat, and
email; praised for knowledge
Features Email for the first year, website
builder, and domain registration
Free backups, free SSL, SSD storage,
free website migration
PricingGenerally higher, especially on renewalsCompetitive pricing, good value for money

1. Plans and Pricing

InMotion Hosting Offers Superior Value

GoDaddy and InMotion Hosting both provide shared, WordPress-specific, VPS, and dedicated server hosting, but both are primarily known for their affordable shared hosting plans. They offer significant discounts for new customers, but these promotions typically disappear after the initial term, resulting in higher renewal rates.

To get the best deal with GoDaddy, you’d need to commit to a three-year plan. In contrast, InMotion Hosting offers its most competitive pricing with a two-year plan, making it a more flexible option. With these discounts, the monthly costs of their entry-level plans are comparable, but InMotion Hosting requires a shorter commitment for the same price.

Plan TypeGoDaddyInMotion
Shared HostingStarting at $2.99/monthStarting at $2.29/month
VPS HostingStarting at $4.99/month Starting at $19.99/month
Dedicated HostingStarting at $89.99/month Starting at $139.99/month
Managed WordPress HostingStarting at $6.99/month Starting at $3.99/month

While the pricing is similar, InMotion Hosting provides better value overall. The basic Launch plan includes a free SSL certificate, whereas GoDaddy charges extra for it—requiring you to either purchase a higher-tier plan or add the Website Security feature for an additional monthly fee.

While GoDaddy only gives a 30-day money-back promise for annual or longer contracts and just 48 hours for shorter plans, InMotion Hosting additionally offers a hefty 90-day money-back guarantee. Overall, InMotion Hosting gives you more for your money, but be cautious, as some premium add-ons may be pre-selected during the checkout process.

Hosting Management

FeatureGoDaddyInMotion
Control Panel cPanel for most hosting plans cPanel and Softaculous for app installs
Website BuilderGoDaddy Website Builder (paid) Drag-and-drop website builder (free with some plans)
Server Management Managed services with higher-tier plans Fully managed hosting on higher-tier plans
Backups Paid backups available Free daily backups included
SecurityFree SSL for the first year, DDoS
protection on higher plans
DDoS defense, free SSL, and improved
security features
Email Management Email services available (paid) Free email with higher-tier plans
Migration Paid migration services availableFree website migration included
Performance Tools Performance monitoring availableSSD storage and performance monitoring tools included

2. Features

GoDaddy Restricts Basics, While InMotion Hosting Provides Them for Free

GoDaddy often locks basic features behind premium add-ons, and this extends beyond security. For example, you won’t get permanent email accounts unless you pay extra—though you do get a one-year trial of Microsoft 365, which automatically renews at full price.

In contrast, InMotion Hosting’s basic shared hosting plan includes 10 email accounts and offers free website migration, while GoDaddy charges for this service. If you want to migrate your site with GoDaddy, you’ll need to do it manually.

GoDaddy provides more storage across all its plans, including twice the storage on its Economy plan compared to InMotion’s Launch plan. Its Deluxe plan even offers unlimited storage, which InMotion does not provide.

However, InMotion Hosting includes $150 in advertising credits with every plan, helping boost site visibility—something GoDaddy doesn’t offer. While InMotion offers less storage, it surpasses GoDaddy in other important areas.

FeatureGoDaddyInMotion Hosting
Hosting typesNumerous hosting options
(dedicated, VPS, and shared)
Shared, VPS, dedicated, and managed
WordPress hosting
Free domain
Free SSL certificate
Disk space100GB – Unlimited50GB – 200GB
BandwidthUnmeteredUnlimited
Automatic backups
Control PanelcPanelcPanel
Email Accounts1 (one-year free trial)10 – unlimited
Free CDN
Free Site Migration
Money-Back Guarantee30 days with an annual plan or longer;
48 hours for shorter plans
90 days
uptime guaranteeHigh uptime guarantee (99.9%) High uptime guarantee (99.9%)

3. Performance

GoDaddy’s WordPress Plans Outpace InMotion Hosting in Speed

When comparing speed and reliability, GoDaddy provides more data center coverage than InMotion Hosting, though the exact number of GoDaddy’s centers is unclear—only that they are located across America, Europe, and Asia. InMotion Hosting, by contrast, only offers two data centers on either U.S. coast.

GoDaddy’s shared hosting plans don’t advertise specific speed optimizations. The plan you choose impacts the CPU and RAM allocated to your site, and upgrading can boost performance. For better speed, I recommend GoDaddy’s WordPress plans, which are slightly pricier but feature optimized WordPress installations and a free CDN.

InMotion Hosting’s shared plans use UltraStack, a proprietary system with an NGINX proxy that caches content for faster delivery. It also includes advanced compression to speed up load times for first-time visitors. While there’s no CDN support on shared plans, upgrading to WordPress hosting provides this feature.

GoDaddy offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee, with service credits for lower uptime. InMotion Hosting guarantees 99.99% uptime only on its Pro plans.

In performance tests, GoDaddy’s shared hosting plans had slow speeds, but its WordPress plans were much faster. InMotion Hosting performed better than GoDaddy’s shared plans but still lagged behind GoDaddy’s WordPress plans. Overall, InMotion Hosting offers better performance for budget plans.

GoDaddy vs InMotion: Website Speed

While GoDaddy has made strides in recent years, InMotion Hosting remains the leader in website speed. Thanks to its Max Speed Zone Technology and UltraStack Servers, InMotion consistently delivers faster website load times. From my experience as a customer of both hosts, I’ve also noticed that InMotion provides superior website speed compared to GoDaddy.

Check out the sample speed test results from GTmetrix below:

GoDaddy Page Performance

GoDaddy Page Performance ​

InMotion Page Performance

Inmotion Page Performance

4. Ease of Use

GoDaddy:

User-Friendly Interface: GoDaddy’s dashboard is straightforward and easy to navigate, making it simple for beginners to manage their websites.

Website Builder: The drag-and-drop website builder is intuitive, allowing users to create a site without any coding knowledge.

One-Stop Shop: Offers hosting, domain registration, and other services in one place, simplifying the management process.

Support Resources: Provides helpful guides and tutorials, although advanced users may find them limited for more technical tasks.

InMotion Hosting:

cPanel Access: Offers a well-organized cPanel interface for easy management of websites, emails, and other hosting features.

User-Friendly Dashboard: InMotion’s dashboard is designed for both beginners and advanced users, with a clean layout and easy-to-understand controls.

Website Builder: Offers a free drag-and-drop website builder, making it easy to design a website without technical knowledge.

Performance Tools: Provides built-in performance monitoring tools that are easy to access and use, enhancing ease of site management.

Hosting Provided

What Our Customers Have to Say?

GoDaddy:

Customer Service: Users have reported mixed experiences with GoDaddy’s customer support. While some commend the availability of 24/7 assistance, others have noted inconsistent service quality and longer response times. 

Ease of Use: Customers appreciate GoDaddy’s user-friendly interface, which simplifies website management and domain registration. The platform is often recommended for beginners due to its intuitive design. 

Performance: GoDaddy is recognized for its reliable uptime and robust infrastructure, ensuring websites remain accessible. However, some users have experienced slower speeds during peak traffic periods. 

InMotion Hosting:

Customer Support: InMotion Hosting is praised for its responsive and knowledgeable support team, available 24/7 via phone, chat, and email. Users often highlight the team’s technical expertise and willingness to resolve issues promptly. 

Performance: Customers commend InMotion Hosting for its consistent performance, with SSD storage contributing to faster website load times. The hosting service is noted for its reliability and speed. 

Features: Users appreciate the comprehensive features offered by InMotion Hosting, including free website migration, free SSL certificates, and a user-friendly control panel. The entire hosting experience is improved by these features.

Advantage of GoDaddy and InMotion

GoDaddy InMotion
Large brand with extensive recognitionStrong customer support and technical expertise
Wide variety of hosting and domain services Reliable performance with SSD storage
User-friendly interface for beginners Free daily backups and SSL certificates
Affordable initial pricing Free website migration
24/7 support with multiple channels Focus on performance and speed optimization
Integrated website builder Free email with higher-tier plans
Scalability for growing websites Focused on reliability and uptime

Disadvantage of GoDaddy and InMotion

GoDaddyInMotion Hosting
Higher renewal rates on some plans Higher starting prices for higher-tier plans
Customer support can be inconsistentLimited advanced customization options
Performance can slow during high trafficRenewal rates can be high
Limited advanced features on basic plans No free domain with shared hosting
Upselling of additional services Migration limited to specific plans

5. Support

GoDaddy’s Support Agents Fall Short – InMotion Hosting’s Agents Are Knowledgeable

GoDaddy’s Support Agents Fall Short – InMotion Hosting’s Agents Are Knowledgeable

Both GoDaddy and InMotion Hosting offer 24/7 live chat, phone support, a community forum, and a knowledge base with basic guides and tutorials. InMotion also provides ticket support for those who prefer it.

To evaluate their support, I tested both hosts’ live chat platforms by asking simple questions. My encounter with GoDaddy was not entirely positive. Maintaining a connection with an agent was often problematic—I’d randomly disconnect or get dropped, sometimes mid-conversation. Reconnecting meant having to repeat my questions, as GoDaddy doesn’t save chat history.

Additionally, GoDaddy’s support agents seemed to lack a solid understanding of their own services, making it difficult to get clear answers.

In contrast, InMotion Hosting’s support agents demonstrated a better grasp of their services, offering more knowledgeable and helpful responses.

GoDaddy:

24/7 Availability: GoDaddy offers round-the-clock support through phone, live chat, and email.

Mixed Feedback: While many users find the support team helpful, others report slow response times and inconsistent service quality.

Knowledge Base: GoDaddy provides an extensive knowledge base with guides and tutorials, but some advanced issues may require direct contact.

Support Channels: The availability of support via phone and chat is praised, but email support tends to take longer for resolution.

Tech Support: Customers sometimes express frustration with the lack of technical expertise on basic plans.

InMotion Hosting:

24/7 Expert Support: I Known for its promptness, InMotion offers round-the-clock customer service by email, live chat, and phone.

High Satisfaction: Customers consistently rate InMotion’s support team highly for their technical knowledge and prompt resolutions.

Free Migration Assistance: InMotion’s support team assists with free website migration, which is highly appreciated by new customers.

Knowledge Base & Resources: InMotion offers a detailed knowledge base, video tutorials, and community forums for self-help.

Technical Focus: The support team is known for its technical expertise, making it a preferred choice for users with complex hosting needs.

The GoDaddy agent started by quickly sending copy-paste responses about how to provide my account number and PIN, despite the fact that I didn’t even have an account yet, as this was a pre-sales chat. When I mentioned this, the agent attempted to sell me the basic WordPress plan without understanding my needs.

The most frustrating part was when I asked about the differences between the shared Economy plan and the basic WordPress plan. The agent simply told me to compare the features listed on the website, offering no helpful insights. It felt like a pointless exchange.

I then tested InMotion Hosting’s support, and the experience was vastly better. The agent was upfront and transparent about InMotion Hosting’s performance, providing quick, detailed, and informative responses to my questions.

6. Security

InMotion Hosting offers free SSL on all plans, but GoDaddy does not offer it on its basic plans.

As was already established, GoDaddy only offers a free SSL certificate with their higher-tier Maximum and Ultimate shared hosting plans; its basic Economy and Deluxe plans do not. You must buy the Website Security add-on, which includes a recurring subscription, in order to obtain an SSL certificate at a fair price. Along with an SSL certificate, this add-on offers important security features including malware protection and a firewall.

Even without the add-on, GoDaddy does provide a certain amount of security. All plans come with 24/7 server monitoring by GoDaddy’s security team to help address malicious activity, along with free DDoS protection.

In contrast, InMotion Hosting includes an SSL certificate with every plan, as well as free hack and malware protection with regular vulnerability scans. It also provides basic DDoS protection.

While both hosts offer similar security features, InMotion Hosting gives you more at no extra cost, making it the superior choice in this comparison.

Security FeatureGoDaddyInMotion
SSL CertificatesFree for the first year with most plans Free SSL on higher-tier plans
DDoS Protection Available on higher-tier plans Included with all plans
Site Backups Paid backups available Free daily backups included
FirewallsBasic security featuresAdvanced firewall protection
Malware ProtectionOptional paid service Free malware protection on higher-tier plans
Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)Available for account access Available for account access
Data EncryptionProvided with SSL Provided with SSL and additional encryption tools
Security Monitoring Basic security monitoring Continuous security monitoring on higher plans

InMotion Hosting Is My Winner

InMotion Hosting is clearly the superior supplier overall, even though GoDaddy has greater performance potential.  With GoDaddy, many essential features, such as site migration, come with extra costs. In contrast, InMotion Hosting provides everything you need to get started without hidden fees or upsells.

While GoDaddy may occasionally offer faster loading speeds, its performance is inconsistent. For budget-friendly hosting with great performance, I’d recommend Hostinger, which outperforms both InMotion Hosting and GoDaddy and is significantly more affordable.

Before making your final decision, I suggest checking out our list of the best web hosting services. You may discover an alternative that better aligns with your specific needs.

Final Recommendation

Aspect GoDaddyInMotion
Best For Beginners or users looking for a one-stop
shop for hosting and domain registration
Users who prioritize reliability, performance,
and strong customer support
Performance Good uptime, but can experience
slower speeds on lower-tier plans
Consistent performance with faster
speeds and SSD storage
Customer Support 24/7 support, but mixed feedback on quality Highly rated 24/7 support with a focus
on technical expertise
Ease of Use User-friendly interface and website builder Intuitive dashboard and free website builder
Features Wide range of services, including
domain registration and website builder
Free backups, free SSL, SSD storage,
and free website migration
Pricing Competitive initial pricing, higher renewal rates Competitive pricing with good value for
money, especially for higher-tier plans
Security Basic security features, DDoS protection
on higher plans
Advanced security features, free backups,
and continuous monitoring
Final Ideal for users seeking convenience and ease of use Best for users who prioritize performance,
support, and security

Frequently Asked Questions

  • GoDaddy is a well-known provider offering a wide range of hosting services, including domain registration, with a focus on ease of use for beginners. InMotion Hosting focuses on reliable performance, customer support, and value for money, offering features like SSD storage and free backups.
  • GoDaddy is generally considered more beginner-friendly due to its user-friendly interface, simple setup, and one-stop-shop services like domain registration and hosting.
  • Both GoDaddy and InMotion Hosting offer shared hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated hosting, and managed WordPress hosting. InMotion also provides managed WooCommerce hosting.
  • InMotion Hosting is widely praised for its customer support, with quick responses and knowledgeable support agents. GoDaddy offers 24/7 support, but its service can be inconsistent at times.

GoDaddy offers free SSL certificates for the first year with most plans. InMotion Hosting provides free SSL certificates with higher-tier plans and includes SSL on all hosting plans for security.

Better security is often offered by InMotion Hosting, which includes improved firewall capabilities, virus protection, DDoS protection, and free daily backups. GoDaddy offers security tools, but many features come at an additional cost.

  • Both GoDaddy and InMotion Hosting offer an uptime guarantee of 99.9%, ensuring reliability and minimal downtime.
  • GoDaddy offers paid migration services, while InMotion Hosting provides free website migration with all hosting plans, making it easier for users to switch.
  • InMotion Hosting is known for faster speeds and solid performance, especially with SSD storage on most plans. GoDaddy can be slower on lower-tier shared hosting plans but offers better performance on VPS and dedicated hosting options.
  • GoDaddy provides a website builder included with its hosting plans, offering drag-and-drop simplicity. InMotion Hosting also offers a free website builder with some plans, though its focus is on more traditional website management tools.
  • GoDaddy often has lower initial pricing, but its renewal rates can be higher. InMotion Hosting offers competitive pricing, with good value, especially on higher-tier plans, but may be slightly more expensive initially.

GoDaddy offers domain registration, email services, and a website builder. InMotion Hosting offers free backups, SSD storage, free website migration, and a higher focus on performance optimization tools.

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