Godaddy Review: Why I Recommend That You Don’t Use GoDaddy

Why so many people end up doing business with GoDaddy, I have no idea.

They do target beginners. They have a large budget and have even engaged in TV advertising in the past. The name recognition and branding has done a lot to give them a high level of inertia in the marketplace.

I know how it goes, too. I used to use GoDaddy for my domains back in the day. But, I moved all of my domains out of Godaddy many years ago and never looked back. I don’t personally use Godaddy for any services at all. I moved all of my domains to Namecheap.

Today, the only time deal with Godaddy is on behalf of a client. I have an account for my business and I use that account to jump into different client accounts who have delegated access to me. And, I cringe a little every time I need to log in. 😩

I originally wrote this article many years ago… way back in 2012. But, as I circle back and update it today in 2025, my opinion has not changed. I still don’t recommend anybody use Godaddy.

Here’s why…

Upsells & Hidden Costs

Godaddy is known by many for their aggressive upsells. It is quite excessive. Buying a domain will send you through a laundry list of upsells for mostly stupid stuff you don’t even need and you have to keep clicking “No” just to finish the process.

Some of those upsells are for things like:

• Domain Privacy Protection. This is the kind of thing many other registrars do automatically. I get it for free with Namecheap.
• Domain Protection. Some made-up service to, I guess, prevent people from stealing your domain.
• Web Hosting. This one kind of makes sense, however their hosting isn’t good at all. More on that in a minute…
• SSL Certificates. Almost any decent web host will offer this for free today. Most people have no need at all for their own, personal SSL cert yet Godaddy will make it appear critical.

And then there’s the hidden costs. You have to pay attention because the intro price they advertise on most products is very rarely what it will renew for. Always pay attention to the little asterisk on those prices and the fine print! Because the real cost is usually much higher.

Back in 2012, the nail in the coffin for me with Godaddy was when began getting billed for “CashParking”. They enabled “Premium CashParking” on my account and started billing me $9.99/month without my permission. When I called support about it, they said it was included in their “domain club” (which I used to be in), but when I canceled that, I started getting billed for CashParking. Well, gee, thanks for making that clear at the time. 🥴

Poor Web Hosting

Godaddy offers web hosting. But, it just isn’t that good.

Godaddy does bulk, commodity hosting. They’re well known for overpacking their servers with too many websites. There are quite a few resources out there specifically aimed at how to speed up Godaddy sites. That tells you something. 😉

To be clear, I’ve talked to people who were using Godaddy hosting and they were happy with it. But, in my experience, it is usually because they don’t know much about hosting anyway and the alternatives.

In the end, just realize that Godaddy is bulk, commodity hosting. They aren’t good at it. They just do enough to charge for it. If you have anything beyond light needs for a small site, I would never use Godaddy.

Domain Management Problems

Managing domains with Godaddy is a real lesson in patience. The interface is bad. It takes a lot of clicks to get simple things done.

For instance, I’ve had multiple instances where changing simple DNS entries on a client’s domain requires two-factor authentication for every…. single… change. It takes forever. This is optional and the client can turn it off, but most don’t because they’re told it helps secure their domain. I usually just end up moving DNS over to Cloudflare where I can manage it way more easily and with significantly more power and capability.

There have also been numerous issues with domain locks, updating domain information, or even putting your domain on auction if you accidently let it expire and forcing you to buy it at auction prices.

Godaddy Is The Walmart of Website Services

A lot of people shop at Walmart. Hell, I go in there sometimes, too. It is convenient because you can walk into that store and buy almost anything all in one spot.

But, you don’t go to WalMart for stellar customer service. You don’t go to Walmart for the best quality stuff, but instead you know you’re mainly buying Chinese crap.

You can look at Godaddy in a similar fashion.

They do all kinds of stuff all under one umbrella. Domains, hosting, marketing services, email. hosting, ecommerce, etc. But, they’re not GOOD at any of it. They are just good enough to get the job done.

Their interface is annoying about the same way as every time you walk into a Walmart, the shopping carts are in crappy shape with wobbly wheels. But, you just deal with it because… things are cheap and the store is convenient.

That’s how I look at Godaddy.

Because the company is so big and tends to target newbies who just don’t know any better, they’ve become one of the “big guys”. And since I am in and out of so many client websites all the time, I find myself having to log into Godaddy periodically.

But, no, I don’t recommend you use Godaddy. There are far better companies.

I use Namecheap for my domains, personally. I usually run DNS through Cloudflare. And I use Rocket Hosting for my web hosting. Yeah, Rocket hosting costs more, but it is an entirely different planet from Godaddy. It isn’t even comparable.

I wrote this as a bit of a rant – but also something that I can refer people to when people ask for my opinion.

And, so it is.