1&1 IONOS vs GoDaddy: Which One Will You Go For?

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Two evenly matched titans of hosting enter the ring…but only one will be right for you. Both providers have their strengths and weaknesses, but IONOS just pulls ahead and is the better hoster overall. Its quality performance and cheap pricing mean it edges out GoDaddy, and we recommend it to users who want a fast, well-performing site at a low cost.

Just because it lost this bout doesn’t mean GoDaddy is useless, however. In a lot of ways, GoDaddy is a much more reliable option, offering an easier-to-use service and a better range of hosting options. We recommend GoDaddy Hosting for users who have a smaller-sized site and are slightly less experienced.

If you’re still undecided, then now’s the time for us to flex our research muscles and step up to give you the answers you need. We carried out hours of research into the best providers on the market, meaning we can help find the best choice for you. The internet waits for no one, so we’re not going to keep you waiting.

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IONOS

GoDaddy

Overall rating
4.0
Overall rating
4.0
Starting from

$0.50

Starting from

$6.99

Uptime

99.99%

Uptime

99.97%

Money-back guarantee

30 days

Money-back guarantee

48 hours to 30 days

Free backups
Free backups
Free domain
Free domain
Storage space

25GB – Unlimited

Storage space

25GB – 100GB

Bandwidth

Unlimited

Bandwidth

Unmetered

RAM

512MB – 12GB

RAM

512MB – 32GB

Visit IONOS Visit GoDaddy

IONOS is better if you want a site that loads fast and doesn't break the bank...

Being the fastest and one of the cheapest hosting providers in our research is a hard combination to beat. What’s better is IONOS also offers great security and free domains on its plans. It’s got power, too, coming in second in our dedicated hosting ranking with an overall score of 4.4 out of 5. We recommend IONOS for those that want to give their visitors a silky smooth experience for half the cost of a normal provider.

Try IONOS For Yourself Today!

GoDaddy Hosting is better if you're a beginner who may need help and support...

There’s nothing wrong in admitting you might need a little help, which is where GoDaddy comes in. If you’re wanting to start a small business site and are not as computer savvy, then GoDaddy offers some of the best help and support across its hosting types. Even in shared hosting, where it came second from the bottom overall, GoDaddy still achieved the third-highest help and support score with a 4 out of 5.

Try GoDaddy Hosting For Yourself Today!

IONOS vs GoDaddy: Pros and Cons

IONOS Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Best performance and site-speed in our testing
One of the cheapest providers on the market
Dated and unintuitive control panel
Not very beginner friendly

GoDaddy Pros and Cons

Pros Cons
Best provider for extra features
Free Office 365 with shared hosting
Scores consistently well for its help and support in testing
Higher pricing than competitors, and low value for money
GoDaddy’s unlimited offerings require a close reading of the fine print

Further Information

Performance and Security

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The Winner

IONOS has the better security and performance

It’s a tough one, but IONOS has to take the victory lap for this round. They’re both speedy providers, but IONOS breaks away when it comes to security. GoDaddy’s expensive renewal of SSL certificates on its plans really lets it down in this section.
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Performance

The first provider to draw its sword when it comes to performance is IONOS. First and foremost, it has 99.98% uptime, which is pretty impressive. Uptime is the percentage of time a server is up and running, meaning your website is live and available to visitors online.

IONOS has also the quickest site speed of our providers, with a server response time of only 286.11. For comparison, GoDaddy has a server response time of 529.335. This means your visitors will have no issue having to wait around for anything to load.

If you plan to use WordPress with IONOS, rejoice, as it has the highest performance we’ve tested in our WordPress hosting research with a whopping 4.9 out of 5 compared to GoDaddy’s 3.7 out of 5. 

That isn’t to say GoDaddy’s hosting performance isn’t good. In fact, it scores the third highest performance in dedicated hosting with a 4.1 out of 5. But it has a slightly lower uptime than IONOS with 99.97%, which is still good but not quite as impressive as 99.98%!

blue globe showing the worldwide IONOS date centres
IONOS has 10 data centers around the world, to boost your site’s performance and give visitors the best experience when browsing your website.

Additionally for IONOS, if you’re on cloud hosting, you can choose your data center. Why is this so handy? Well, if you have a large UK audience, for example, you can give them faster load speeds by choosing a data center based in the UK, rather than the US.

IONOS also optimizes your site for speed, whatever plan you choose. On shared hosting, for example, IONOS maximizes your performance by having the web servers and storage on the same platform. This might sound small, but it’ll really speed things up for your visitors!

Security

All IONOS plans come with a free Wildcard SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate, which encrypts any information, like payment details, being passed through your website. When a site has SSL, the URL address turns from “HTTP” to “HTTPS,” accompanied by a padlock symbol.

Visitors to your site will be warned that your site is not secure if there’s no SSL certificate in place, so it really is an essential feature to have. Wildcard SSL is even better because it protects all your subdomains under a single certificate.

DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) protection is also included, and keeps your website safe from malicious attempts to disrupt traffic to your website.

GoDaddy wades right in with 24/7 security monitoring, combined with its own DDoS protection. You also get fraud, virus, and spam protection to keep your sites safe from attacks.

The best part? GoDaddy has dedicated website security plans which you can purchase for extra protection.

trio of prices and summaries of security plans for GoDaddy
GoDaddy has separate security plans which you can subscribe to for extra protection and expert support. These show the 24-month prices.

The three plans range from $7.99 to $19.99 per month, and include features such as unlimited malware removal and brand reputation monitoring.

GoDaddy has got your back when it comes to security and protecting your site from any unwanted attention. However, its SSL security can be quite expensive. While it does provide its users with free SSL certificates for a year, it renews at its regular rate once that first year is over – adding $99.99 per year onto your hosting plan.

checkout page of ssl certificates from GoDaddy
GoDaddy offers a range of SSL certificates for how many websites you want and for how long.

Our top tip would be to always double check what you’re getting with your plan before you sign up – don’t assume you’ll get the full package with every plan!

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Do You Feel Safer With IONOS?

IONOS has great performance and security, meaning you don’t need to worry about hackers getting into your server.

Further Information

Types of Hosting

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The Winner

IONOS has a better variety of hosting

Both offer a broad range of hosting types, but IONOS provides cloud hosting whereas GoDaddy does not, giving it another win over its rival. While this won’t affect those who don’t need cloud hosting, it does put IONOS in a more dominant position than GoDaddy.
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Type of Hosting What is it? IONOS GoDaddy Hosting
Shared Hosting where the server is shared between multiple websites. The most basic type of hosting, it’s like having a room in a shared house. Best for very small and static sites, like blog pages. ✔️ ✔️
Managed WordPress Specific hosting tailored for WordPress sites, usually including automatic updates and specialist support. Best for WordPress sites. ✔️ ✔️
VPS (Virtual Private Server) Sites still share a server but have more generous resources. More secure and sustainable than shared hosting, it’s like living in an apartment block rather than a house share. Best for most websites! Small business sites, regular websites, and sites which are scaling up their growth. ✔️ ✔️
Cloud Flexible hosting, where you can change your resources as and when you need. Best for sites which have sudden hikes and dips in traffic, like an online store running deals and sales. ✔️
Dedicated Hosting where your site has a server all to itself. Usually the most expensive type of hosting. Very large websites. ✔️ ✔️

Chances are, you might be after a specific type of hosting. While both providers offer the important ones, IONOS’s extra offer of cloud hosting definitely puts it ahead. In our research, we gave GoDaddy a respectable 4 out of 5 for types of hosting, but it can’t compare to the 4.3 out of 5 we gave to IONOS, making it our top choice.

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IONOS Is The Don Of Hosting

We’re going to make you an offer you can’t refuse: amazing deals on hosting with IONOS!

Further Information

Hosting Features

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The Winner

IONOS has better hosting features

IONOS triumphs with more quality features than its competitor. Yes, GoDaddy offers a competitive array of features such as free backups and cPanel, but it can’t keep up with IONOS’s extensive offerings. And it’s no wonder – in our research, IONOS scores 4.5 out of 5 overall for its hosting features!
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Shared Hosting

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IONOS

GoDaddy

Overall rating
3.8
Overall rating
3.5
Uptime

99.99%

Uptime

99.97%

cPanel
cPanel
Number of sites

1 – 50

Number of sites

1 – Unlimited

Free backups
Free backups
Free domain
Free domain
Storage space

25GB – Unlimited

Storage space

25GB – 100GB

Free SSL certificate
Free SSL certificate
Visit IONOS Visit GoDaddy

GoDaddy’s $99 renewal fee for an SSL certificate definitely sours the palate, but on the plus side, you get a free domain unlike VPS and dedicated hosting. IONOS’s full coverage plus greater storage offering puts it firmly at the top in this round, with a 4.6 out of 5 for shared hosting features compared to GoDaddy’s 4.3.

VPS Hosting

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IONOS

GoDaddy

Overall rating
4.1
Overall rating
4.0
Free backups
Free backups
Free domain
Free domain
Storage

10GB – 240GB

Storage

20GB – 400GB

Max storage space

240GB

Max storage space

400GB

Max bandwidth

Unlimited

Max bandwidth

Unmetered

Max RAM

12GB

Max RAM

16GB

Root access
Root access
Visit IONOS Visit GoDaddy

While still lacking a free domain, GoDaddy steals the win over IONOS in this round with a 3 out of 5 to IONOS’s 2.5 for VPS features. GoDaddy’s VPS hosting plans have a wider range of disk space and RAM, which are important if you want to have a lot of content on your site, and with root access, you can access your server and customize it to suit your needs.

Dedicated Hosting

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IONOS

GoDaddy

Overall rating
4.7
Overall rating
3.8
Free backups
Free backups
Free domain
Free domain
Storage

240GB – 2000GB

Storage

1000GB – 1TB

Free SSL certificate
Free SSL certificate
Max Bandwidth

Unlimited

Max Bandwidth

Unlimited

Max RAM

64GB

Max RAM

256GB

Server locations

London, Frankfurt, Berlin, Spain, Nevada, New Jersey

Server locations

Arizona, California, Illinois, Virginia, Amsterdam, Singapore

Visit IONOS Visit GoDaddy

IONOS is miles better than GoDaddy with a dedicated hosting feature score of 4.3 compared to GoDaddy’s 2.7! With its more generous storage allowance and better uptime, IONOS comfortably takes the win and the title this round.

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This Ain't No Creature Feature

No need to be scared. IONOS offers it’s users some of the best hosting features at low, affordable costs.

Ease of Use

GoDaddy logo black swirl
The Winner

GoDaddy is easier to use

GoDaddy is the clear winner for ease of use. IONOS isn’t exactly difficult to use, but it can’t compete with GoDaddy’s choice of cPanel or beginner-friendly focus. IONOS gives you a custom, tailored control panel, but GoDaddy gives you uncluttered and seamless service.
Try GoDaddy Today!

Hosting can be pretty daunting for anyone who’s new to the world of servers, control panels, and domain names. But it doesn’t have to be a difficult task – hosting providers should make running your site as easy as possible.

One of the main things that affects ease of use is the provider’s control panel. The control panel is a central dashboard, where you log in to run your site. You manage everything there, including domains, security, and email accounts.

Most providers use cPanel, because it’s a user-friendly control panel with a clean and easy to use interface. However, IONOS does not use cPanel – instead, it has its own custom control panel. Compared to cPanel, it’s frankly a bit dated and cluttered.

In contrast, GoDaddy has followed the crowd by using cPanel, and it’s paid off. GoDaddy’s branding revolves around being beginner friendly, so it makes sense its control panel would keep things simple and straightforward.

cPanel for Linux plan summary from GoDaddy
GoDaddy uses cPanel for its control panel, meaning you are guaranteed a reliable, easy to navigate interface to manage your account and website.

GoDaddy also has one-click app install, making it effortless to download software like WordPress or Drupal. With cPanel you get over 125 apps to choose from – and it only takes a click to get started!

Further Information

GoDaddy logo black swirl

Papa's Got A Brand-New Bag - And It's GoDaddy!

GoDaddy makes things simple and easy – perfect if you’re a beginner and aren’t totally clued up on all things hosting.

Domain Registration

The Winner

IONOS and GoDaddy offer equal domain services

It’s a draw! Yes, GoDaddy may be the biggest domain registrar worldwide, and has a ton of helpful services, but IONOS includes a free domain in more of its hosting plans, making your life much easier.

Both IONOS and GoDaddy provide domain name registration services, making it easy to kill two birds with one stone when you sign up. Get hosting for your website and register your own custom domain at the same time. Simple!

IONOS Domains

IONOS actually throws in a free domain name with most of its hosting plans, meaning you don’t have to pay for the first year. This is an easy, headache-free way of getting a domain that won’t cost you the earth – or anything, for that matter.

If you do need to buy a domain, you can do it through IONOS directly.

Landing page for IONOS domains with a domain search bar
It’s easy, secure, and hassle free to buy your domain through IONOS.

You can check to see if your domain is available, and see how much it will cost before you purchase it. You even get a free email, private registration, and an SSL Wildcard certificate thrown in too.

GoDaddy Domains

GoDaddy has already established itself as the world’s largest domain registrar, and it definitely knows how to flex those muscles. Say hello to a host of domain services, including various domain name searches, domain privacy, and even domain auctions!

GoDaddy domain registration with domain search bar
GoDaddy offers a massive range of domain name services, from searching and registering domains to securing and auctioning them.

Unlike IONOS, however, GoDaddy doesn’t include a free domain on all of its hosting plans – you’ll need to sign up for shared or WordPress hosting to get the free domain.

GoDaddy can have lots of details in its renewal terms, so always make sure you read the fine print so you know exactly what you’re getting, and for how long.

Further Information

Help and Support

What would you do if your php.ini/user.ini changes aren’t taking effect? If you know the answer, you can probably skip straight past this section! For most people, that question will have you scratching your head and looking around for clues.

Enter the game-changing help and support.

IONOS Support

IONOS has a range of support options for you to use if you ever need a helping hand with your hosting. These include:

  • IONOS Help Center
  • 24/7 phone support
  • Contact Support
  • IONOS Community

The phone support is the most personalized – you can ring any time, seven days a week, or request an immediate callback by leaving your number.

Contact Support works by tailoring suggestions for you based on the options you select, and the Help Center has plenty of useful articles to help you out.

The best thing about IONOS is you get your very own personal consultant when you sign up. This is a fantastic way of getting personalized answers to questions, and lets you experience a whole new level of customer support. Plus, it’s free!

1&1 ionos personal consultant
IONOS gives you a free, personal consultant to support you when you sign up.

The main downside of IONOS is there’s no 24/7 live chat feature, so it can feel a little slow finding answers, depending on how busy the phone support is at the time you need help.

GoDaddy Support

GoDaddy has consistently high scores for help and support across all hosting types in our research – it never dips below a 4 out of 5 which is really impressive! In the shared hosting category, IONOS only gets a 2.8 out of 5 for help and support but GoDaddy scores 4 out of 5. Let’s have a look at the range of options GoDaddy supports then:

  • GoDaddy Help Center
  • 24/7 phone support
  • Live chat
  • Community
  • Videos

GoDaddy doesn’t have a 24/7 live chat feature, but its Monday to Friday chat is very easy to find and tells you when it’s busy or available.

GoDaddy help center page showing a search bar and the different support categories
GoDaddy has a range of support options, including the Help Center where you can find articles and guides.

You can also contact the support team by phone, or go to the GoDaddy Help Center for articles and resources.

GoDaddy also has a ton of videos to help get started with domains, find your way around cPanel, and more.

GoDaddy logo black swirl

Like A Good Neighbour, GoDaddy Is There

GoDaddy’s help and support gets high scores across all our categories and is a major stand-out for the provider.

Pricing and Value for Money

1 and 1 ionos logo
The Winner

IONOS has the best value for money

You guessed it – IONOS wins! GoDaddy is definitely not one of the most expensive providers on the market, but it didn’t stand a chance against IONOS and its killer promotions. GoDaddy’s lack of a money-back guarantee put the last nail in its virtual coffin.
Try IONOS Today!

Let’s be honest – in the war to be your hosting provider, the battle of pricing is often the deal-breaker. We don’t just look at how much these providers charge, though – we also look at how much value you get for your money.

In our research, IONOS has an overall value score of 4.8 out of 5 – our best value for money score of any provider we tested! This is due to its amazingly cheap hosting plans still giving you a lot of bang for your buck. If you’re on a budget, IONOS should be your go-to.

GoDaddy sadly can’t compete and its prices can often fall on the slightly pricey side, especially for dedicated hosting. It scores a more middle-of-the-road 3.5 out of 5 overall for value for money.

Pricing varies depending which type of hosting you choose, so we’ll have a quick comparison of the three main hosting types, and then have some final thoughts below.

Most hosting providers tend to offer and show the prices of 3-year contracts with their plans. When spread out over 36 months, the monthly price looks a lot cheaper than it actually is.

For example, the prices on GoDaddy show $5.99 per month for 3 years for the cheapest shared hosting plan.

If you take the 12-month contract, the price then becomes $6.99 per month, and for the 1-month option, it’s $10.99 per month.

At Website Builder Expert we think the 12-month option is the most accurate for our users (that’s you!) for assessing the value of a plan, as you’re not attached to a hosting provider for too long a period of time.

Shared Hosting Pricing

IONOS GoDaddy Hosting
Cheapest Plan $1 per month $6.99
Renews at $10 per month $8.99
Most Expensive Plan $8 per month $21.99
Renews at $16 per month $24.99
Number of plans 3 4
Money-back Gurantee? Yes, 30 days Yes, 30 days

As you can see, IONOS offers considerably lower sale and regular prices than GoDaddy. In our research, IONOS scores 3.9 out of 5 for value for money in shared hosting, higher than GoDaddy’s 3.1 out of 5. When you throw in that IONOS includes free SSL certificates on all its shared hosting plans, it’s clear which offers the better value!

VPS Hosting Pricing

IONOS GoDaddy Hosting
Cheapest Plan $2 per month $5.99
Renews at $2 per month $7.99
Most Expensive Plan $18 per month $119.99
Renews at $35 per month $119.99
Number of plans 13 8
Money-back Gurantee? Yes, 30 days Yes, 30 days

IONOS earned it a value score of 3.9 out of 5, with GoDaddy not far behind however with a 3.8 out of 5. However, while similar in value, their actual prices are very different. IONOS’s second most expensive plan the IONOS VPS XL, which is usually $30 per month, is on sale for just $2 per month. In contrast, GoDaddy’s second most expensive plan is on sale for $49.99 per month.

Dedicated Pricing

IONOS GoDaddy Hosting
Cheapest Plan $45 per month $149.99
Renews at $65 per month $149.99
Most Expensive Plan $140 per month $469.99
Renews at $160 per month $469.99
Number of plans 8 8
Money-back Gurantee? Yes, 30 days Yes, 30 days

Dedicated hosting plans are always on the pricey side because you get much more advanced features thrown in. That explains why you don’t see the $1 deal from IONOS this time – but don’t be too down-hearted, because it still offers cheaper dedicated prices than GoDaddy! Be warned though – IONOS charges a $50 set-up fee for some of its more expensive plans.

In our research, IONOS scores a very respectable 4.3 out of 5 for dedicated hosting in the pricing department, whereas GoDaddy performs quite poorly with a value score of just 1.9 out of 5, making GoDaddy the worst value dedicated host we tested!

Further Information

1 and 1 ionos logo

No IOUs Needed With IONOS!

For $1 a month on some plans, can you say fairer than that? Follow the link to IONOS and see for yourself.

IONOS vs GoDaddy: Conclusion

This article has seen IONOS and GoDaddy battle it out to be your hosting champion. We’ve seen each blow in performance, every swing in features, and didn’t miss a scratch in pricing.

By the end of it, there’s one provider whose banner is still flying strong – our winner is IONOS! It dominated in the pricing round, took the winning title for performance and security, and tipped the scales with its free SSL and domains.

Still, that doesn’t mean it’s right for everyone…

Why Should You Choose GoDaddy Over IONOS?

Just because IONOS is our winner, doesn’t mean it’ll be the perfect provider for you. You’re better off with GoDaddy if you:

  • Want an easy to use control panel
  • Need better help and support
  • Will use most of GoDaddy’s domain services
GoDaddy logo black swirl

GoDaddy Is Better For Beginners Who May Need Support

GoDaddy may be more expensive but it offers reliable hosting with good features and great help and support if you ever find yourself stuck.

Why Should You Choose IONOS Over GoDaddy?

Are you still torn between GoDaddy and IONOS? Here are the three main reasons to choose IONOS:

  • You need cloud hosting
  • You want a free Wildcard SSL certificate
  • You need a cheap hosting provider with promotional prices starting at only $1/month
1 and 1 ionos logo

IONOS Is Better If Your On A Budget

With cheaper plans and faster performance, IONOS is great for users who want something silky smooth that won’t break the bank.

IONOS vs GoDaddy: FAQs

Yes! SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encrypts information passing through your site to keep visitors’ information safe, whether it’s payment details or passwords. Even if you don’t think this is important, Google doesyour site will struggle to rank in search results without SSL.  
Usually, it’s for your first term – so if you choose a yearly contract, then the sales price will last for the first year. However, it’s always worth checking. The $1 shared hosting promotions with 1&1 IONOS, for example, last between six and 12 months depending on which plan you choose. Our top tip: always read the small print!
Yes, of course! Both IONOS and GoDaddy offer managed WordPress hosting to keep your site running smoothly and securely. Out of the two, we would recommend choosing IONOS to host your WordPress site, since it performed better in our WordPress-specific research. If you want truly stellar WordPress hosting though, take a look at Bluehost instead.
Written by:
I’m the Content Manager here at Website Builder Expert, which means I read and edit nearly all the content we publish, and work with our wonderful writers and researchers to bring you the best possible advice for achieving your online goals. Over the past five years I’ve built demo websites using all the website builders we review, so I have the experience and expertise to help you out. You’ve got the experts on your side – I’m here to help you reach your online goals, and enjoy the process too!
Researched by:
natasha_willett
I love to understand human behavior and the cognitive biases that drive us to do what we do. For over nine years I have worked as a mixed method researcher – research using a mix of numerical data and personal experiences – across a range of sectors, from insurance and policy development to finally arriving at Website Builder Expert five years ago. Fascinated by consumer decision-making, I meticulously built our leading ranking methodology to explore where providers like Wix sit within a competitive industry and what value they truly bring to our audience.
As a member of the Market Research Society, I’m an advocate for high ethical, commercial, and methodological best practices. All of this combines to give you the most ethical recommendations based on real data.

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