As someone who’s spent years analysing hosting platforms and testing website builders, I’ve encountered plenty of user-friendly tools that, unfortunately, don’t live up to their marketing promises. One such platform is GoDaddy. It’s a household name, but what are the disadvantages of GoDaddy?
In truth, GoDaddy may seem appealing to beginners due to its low initial prices and one-stop-shop approach. But once you dig deeper, significant issues begin to emerge from aggressive upselling and underwhelming performance to poor support and costly renewals.
Key drawbacks include:
- High renewal prices with hidden long-term costs
- Basic functionality and limited customisation in the website builder
- Poor customer support with long response times
- Security and performance concerns
- Weak e-commerce features and limited scalability
Let’s explore each of these issues in more detail.
Why Is GoDaddy’s Pricing Structure Considered Misleading?
While GoDaddy’s introductory pricing often looks too good to be true, it is, as highlighted in our updated GoDaddy review, users are lured in by £0.01 domains or basic hosting for a few pounds per month. However, upon renewal, prices can double or even triple, and many features considered “standard” elsewhere come as costly extras.
GoDaddy Pricing Discrepancies (2026 Verified)
| Feature | Introductory Price | Renewal Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| .com Domain Name | ~£0.01 – £9.99/year | ~£17.99–£21.99+/year | Privacy protection is now included for free. |
| Basic Hosting Plan | ~£3.99/month | ~£8.99–£12.99/month | Renews at a much higher rate. Often requires 1–3 year commitment. |
| SSL Certificate (Basic) | Free" for 1st year | ~£69.99–£99.99+/year | Free for 1 year only, then renews at full price. |
These increases are not clearly stated during checkout, leading many users to feel misled or scammed after their first billing cycle. It’s not just about the price hike; essential features like SSL certificates, professional emails, backups, and even DNS management tools are often locked behind upsells.
How Does GoDaddy’s Customer Support Fall Short?
Customer support is a crucial pillar of any web hosting provider, especially for beginners or businesses that require urgent assistance. Unfortunately, GoDaddy consistently underperforms in this area.
The reviews are telling:
My website is down and the associate that answered the phone named (EL) said that there is nothing she can do but submit a ticket. I am running a business based on receiving emails. I asked for her supervisor and received many excuses why she can’t tell me who the supervisor is. I told her how upset I was and begged her to help me and she simply refused. I spend thousands of dollars each year with them and this type of customer service is disgraceful. GoDaddy should be ashamed!
– Victoria Snyder, Trustpilot“David was not very good at explaining things to me and I did not want to continue speaking to him. He may understand computers but not all people do. He needs to be more patient and slow down and explain what he is saying h if he wants to be successful at customer support
– Alicia, Trustpilot“It’s sad that we pay for a service where we have to talk to someone to write down what we are requesting only for them to write down another request then send it to the design team which never gets it right and we go back and forth for weeks trying to get a hold of someone just to make simple quick changes that should not have to be drawn out. This process needs to be reviewed and possibly changed to avoid delay and upset customers“
– Armando Seda, Trustpilot
Common support complaints include:
- Delays in ticket response and resolution
- Untrained support staff lacking technical knowledge
- Limited live chat access during off-peak hours
- Inflexible phone support often leads to frustration
- No proactive monitoring or automatic alerts for downtime
For UK-based users, the lack of localised or timezone-aligned support can be particularly problematic, leading to delays during critical website outages.
What Are the Performance and Uptime Issues with GoDaddy Hosting?
Performance is one of the key technical aspects where GoDaddy fails to compete with more modern or specialised hosting providers.
Key issues reported:
- Slow load times, especially on shared hosting plans
- Inconsistent uptime, despite marketing claims of 99.9%
- Server throttling during traffic spikes
- Limited RAM and CPU for basic plans
- Poor WordPress integration, even with their “WordPress Hosting” option
“This is an update from a previous review. I was promised everything would be fixed. Yet, same issues I previously reported still exist. Unable to update products from Catalog. Still must use web builder, however, products do not load on website builder if I loaded them on the catalog. I wish I could be moved to the old version where my other 2 websites reside. They were not ready to launch this “new” improved version as it is broken and has now cost me lost revenue for the last 2 months..”
– Enrique Lopez, Trustpilot
Such performance bottlenecks can result in lower SEO rankings, higher bounce rates, and lost sales opportunities, particularly critical for business users.
Why Do Many Users Criticise GoDaddy’s User Interface and Features?
GoDaddy tries to offer everything from domains and hosting to marketing tools. But this bundling often sacrifices usability and clarity.
Complaints about the interface include:
- A cluttered dashboard that mixes upsells with settings
- Overwhelming navigation for beginners
- Important features buried within submenus
- No proper cPanel in many hosting plans
- Confusing WordPress management interface
Reddit users frequently describe the interface as “overengineered yet underfunctional,” while Quora contributors point out how even experienced users get lost performing simple DNS changes or email setups.
Is GoDaddy Guilty of Aggressive Upselling and Add-on Charges?
Yes, and this is one of the most common pain points among its customers.
During the sign-up process, GoDaddy pushes users to add services that should be included in base plans, such as:
- SSL Certificates
- Website Backups
- Email Hosting
- Malware Scanning
- SEO Tools
- Basic Site Analytics
Most Common Upselling Tactics:
- Automatically ticked boxes for premium features
- Bundling unnecessary tools as “recommended”
- Charging for standard services like email
- Showing alarming warnings to sell security features
Even after checkout, the dashboard constantly promotes add-ons. This upselling is so persistent that many users report mistaken purchases or hidden charges, adding to the overall dissatisfaction.
What Security and Privacy Concerns Exist with GoDaddy?
Security is where GoDaddy has faced serious reputational damage in recent years.
Major security concerns:
- Multiple data breaches affecting millions of users (e.g., 2021 & 2023)
- Lack of default malware scanning in most hosting plans
- No real-time monitoring without paid upgrades
- Basic plans don’t include daily backups or restore options
- History of phishing vulnerabilities and compromised accounts
While GoDaddy has made some improvements, such as offering free domain privacy, most of their hosting security features are still behind a paywall.
For businesses or professionals handling sensitive data, this is not acceptable. Competitors like SiteGround or Krystal Hosting offer these features out of the box.
Is GoDaddy the Right Choice for UK Users?
GoDaddy promises convenience and affordability but delivers an experience riddled with limitations. From inflated renewal costs and relentless upselling to performance instability and poor customer support, the disadvantages outweigh the perceived value for most users, especially professionals or businesses in the UK.
While it might suit hobbyists or those building a temporary site, anyone seeking long-term performance, transparency, and control should consider more reliable UK-based hosting providers.
Final Verdict
After reviewing everything, from pricing and performance to user reviews and personal testing, I can confidently say GoDaddy is not the right fit for serious users or businesses in the UK. The hidden costs, restrictive builder, weak support, and lacklustre performance create far more problems than solutions.
If you value your website’s stability, speed, and growth potential, I strongly recommend looking at Krystal Hosting, SiteGround UK, or other providers that offer transparent pricing and real support.
FAQs
Is GoDaddy reliable for hosting professional websites?
Not entirely. While it offers basic uptime, performance issues and limited scalability make it unsuitable for high-traffic or business-critical sites.
Does GoDaddy include email hosting for free?
No. GoDaddy often requires users to purchase email services separately, even with domain and hosting plans.
Is GoDaddy’s website builder good for complex websites?
No. It lacks flexibility, supports minimal customisation, and doesn’t allow coding or advanced integrations.
Are GoDaddy’s security features sufficient for ecommerce?
Not really. Most security features are paid add-ons, and past data breaches have raised concerns.
Why are GoDaddy’s renewal prices so high?
Introductory pricing is used to attract customers, but renewals can be 2–3 times higher. Essential features are often unbundled.
Does GoDaddy support WordPress well?
GoDaddy offers WordPress hosting but with poor optimisation, slow speeds, and limited customisation, especially on shared plans.
What’s a better alternative to GoDaddy for UK users?
Providers like Krystal Hosting, SiteGround UK, and 123 Reg offer better support, performance, and features for UK websites.
