I’ll evaluate whether DreamHost or GoDaddy is the superior hosting provider in this GoDaddy vs DreamHost comparison. We’ll talk about cost, usability, performance, security, and customer service.
GoDaddy is one of the most well-known brands in the web hosting sector. Despite some negative criticism, this host’s performance and interface are now recognised as trustworthy and dependable.
DreamHost is going up against such a well-known brand. One of the market’s titans for contemporary hosting services is DreamHost. The services appear to operate effectively while being an economical alternative, and reviews are excellent.
Starting with the pricing and concluding with customer assistance, we’ll compare everything that counts most. Let’s begin with a brief summary of these two services.
GoDaddy vs DreamHost: A Quick Comparison
| DreamHost | DreamHost | GoDaddy |
|---|---|---|
| ⭐️ Rating | 4.4★★★★☆ | 4.0★★★★☆ |
| ? Price from | From $2.59/month | From $1.99/month |
| ? Free domain | Yes | Yes |
| ? Payment types | Credit/Debit Card, Electronic Check / ACH, PayPal, Check or Money Order | Credit/Debit Card, PayPal, GoDaddy in store credit, GoDaddy gift card, wire transfer |
| ? Hosting types | Shared, WordPress, VPS, cloud, dedicated | Shared, WordPress, Business, VPS, Dedicated |
| ? Control panel | Custom control panel | Modern native dashboard with the classic cPanel integration |
| ?Average speed | 231ms | 341ms |
| ▶️Monitored uptime | >99.99% | 99.98% |
| ?Uptime guarantee | 100% | 99.9% |
| ? Server locations | The US | The US, The Netherlands, Singapore |
| ?️ Security | SSL certificates, Web Application Firewall, daily backups | 24/7 network security, DDoS protection |
| ?? Support | Live chat (5:30 AM – 9:30 PM PT), paid phone support, 24/7 ticketing system, knowledge base | 24/7 live chat and phone support, knowledge base |
| ➡️ Website migration | Free website migration plugin, paid options for website migration | Around $99 for website migration |
| ➕ Extras | Domain privacy | Office 365 email |
| ? Money-back guarantee | 97 days | 30 days |
GoDaddy vs DreamHost: pricing comparison
GoDaddy has a starting price of $1.99/month, making it a little more expensive than the other options. It does, however, offer more economical scaling possibilities. The entry-level plan for DreamHost shared hosting is less expensive and costs $2.59 per month.
Both businesses provide additional hosting packages so that customers have options for scalability:
| Hosting type | GoDaddy | DreamHost |
| Shared hosting | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| WordPress hosting | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| WooCommerce hosting | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Cloud hosting | ❌ | ✔️ |
| VPS hosting | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Business hosting | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Windows hosting | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Dedicated hosting | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Shared hosting is the most common choice, though there is a plan to suit every person’s interests and financial situation. The entry-level packages that each provider has to offer are as follows:
- GoDaddy Economy ($1.99/month): 1 website with 100GB SSD storage, unmetered bandwidth, and a free domain. For the first year, a single Microsoft 365 email account is also free.
- DreamHost Shared Starter ($2.59/month) includes privacy and one website with one free domain name. 50GB of storage, a free SSL certificate, daily backups, and unlimited bandwidth are also included.
- In terms of entry offers, DreamHost is a little more liberal. But which one should you choose given that each supplier has a range of options for diverse needs?
- If you wish to display your portfolio online or operate a blog, the Economy plan is ideal. An SSL certificate is a necessity if you’re planning to run a commercial website, but it’s only included in the most expensive plan, Ultimate.
- Moving on, DreamHost offers 2 plans, the least expensive of which costs $2.59 per month and the most costly of which costs $3.95 per month.
If you’re considering hosting a blog or a website similar to a landing page, the Shared Starter plan is the best choice. Even if 50GB of SSD storage is limited to one website, it will be more than adequate. The Limitless plan, however, costs just over a $1 more than the Shared Starter plan and offers unlimited hosting and storage. Therefore, the Unlimited plan is the ideal choice if you want something more sophisticated than the Shared Starter plan.
Best Value
DreamHost’s cheapest price is available if you pay 3 years upfront. You would be spending $93.24 right away with the Shared Starter plan, but that would translate to nearly $84 worth of savings. That’s the best value option for a simple website hosting with great security fear
Their money-back policies are another area where GoDaddy and DreamHost appear to adopt different philosophies. Unlike GoDaddy, which only gives a normal 30-day money-back promise, DreamHost offers a 97-day money-back guarantee.
The winner in the pricing division is DreamHost. It is not only less expensive, but it also has a few more features that make it a more desirable choice. GoDaddy’s most basic plan is deficient in security features, such as daily backups and a free SSL certificate, which are essential.
Hosting management: ease of use
GoDaddy and DreamHost choose distinct user interfaces when it comes to simplicity, yet they both maintain a clear and simple design. GoDaddy use the industry-recognized cPanel interface, but DreamHost offers a control panel that was entirely created by the service provider.
With the aid of a native interface and cPanel, GoDaddy first assists you in setting up your website.
Every feature in the cPanel’s icon layout is accessible with a single click. include email, domain control, and a file organizer
Additionally, GoDaddy will make sure that you install WordPress and have a functional domain the first time you enter into your account. After installing WordPress, you may choose one of its premium templates from the GoDaddy Starter plugin and alter it with a straightforward WordPress-based editor.
However, DreamHost’s control interface was made just for them.
You’ll find your administrative tools for domains, WordPress, email, and FTP inside the dashboard. Although DreamHost’s panel/dashboard is rather different from most of its rivals in terms of navigation, once you get used to it, it is really simple to use.
My opinion is that DreamHost’s one-click WordPress installation is its best feature. While several providers tout the ability to install WordPress with just one click, only DreamHost actually delivers on this promise.
Additionally, you’ll be pleased to hear that both providers are included in our list of the best hosting for WordPress if you’re considering hosting a WordPress website.
Both suppliers do a decent job of combining form and function in terms of user-friendliness. Each necessary element is easily accessible and both panels appear neat and ordered. The control panel is the only significant distinction between the two. GoDaddy has the simplest function-focused icon cPanel you can find, whereas DreamHost chooses an entirely unique layout that may take some getting used to.
GoDaddy vs DreamHost: performance
Both services performed admirably in the performance category in terms of uptime, response time, and page speed, with barely any differences between them. GoDaddy produced positive outcomes, but DreamHost went above and above with >99.99% uptime, excellent loading and response times.
Uptime and response time
In terms of uptime monitoring, GoDaddy did well. The total downtime in 3 outages over the 2-month testing period was 16 minutes. That equals an uptime of 99.98%, much exceeding the 99.9% uptime guarantee.
GoDaddy also gave excellent response times. In general, responses took 341 ms to arrive. Given that the market standard for shared hosting is 600ms, GoDaddy is a very good choice in terms of performance.
If the GoDaddy results were promising, DreamHost blew them away in the same time period.
In terms of uptime during the 2-month testing period, DreamHost pretty much nailed it. The uptime rate was >99.99% after only one outage, which accounted for one minute of downtime.
The average response time was a lightning-quick 231ms, which was excellent. passing the benchmark of 600 milliseconds with ease.
In a nutshell, DreamHost triumphs because it is the more dependable and quick alternative between GoDaddy and DreamHost due to its uptime rate and average response time.
Website speed
One of the most crucial considerations when selecting a hosting service is website speed. When evaluating website speed, you should focus on the following two aspects:
The largest contentful paint (LCP), whether it be an image or text, is loaded at this moment. Anything under 2.5s is considered to be good, according to Google’s standard.
The amount of time it takes for the website to fully load and become interactive. For the greatest user experience, it should be under 3 seconds.
GoDaddy performed admirably in both of these tests. The LCP was only 1.5 seconds, which is far faster than the 2.5 reference standard, and this speed boosts the website’s ranking in search engine results.
DreamHost, meanwhile, produced comparable outcomes. The fully loaded time was barely over the previous GoDaddy benchmark, reaching 1.6s, and the LCP was just below it at 1.4s. Both numbers fall far short of the LCP and fully loaded time goals.
Website speed tests conducted by GoDaddy and DreamHost yield similar findings. The two are tied since there aren’t any notable differences between them.
But always remember that your server and audience’s location will affect these findings. For optimum performance, use a server that is close to your audience. DreamHost is not the ideal choice for the European or Asian markets because it only has US-based servers. In contrast, GoDaddy offers a selection of servers in the US, The Netherlands (Europe), and Singapore (Asia).
GoDaddy and DreamHost both performed well in terms of performance. Although GoDaddy demonstrated both good dependability and speed, DreamHost wins the performance category due to its superior uptime and response time.
GoDaddy vs DreamHost: website security
GoDaddy offers only a few minimal tools for website security while omitting the most crucial ones. On the other hand, DreamHost is a leader in the industry and offers top-notch security features in even its most affordable package.
GoDaddy is well known for upselling, and its most basic plans don’t include free SSL certificates. You must select either the Ultimate or Maximum plan if you want that feature. Network security, email privacy, and email encryption are the only features that GoDaddy provides without charging extra.
Each additional function requires a separate fee. Do you need SSL certificates? You must pay $4.75 every month. The price of only that exceeds the cost of the hosting package. Scripted backups? It will cost $2.99 a month.
The free SSL certificates offered by DreamHost, on the other hand, are necessary for a secure connection to be established between browsers and servers. In addition, DreamHost offers free domain privacy protection, regular backups, and firewalls.
There is only one feature that DreamHost is missing, and it costs money. The supplier will include a malware protection technology in its package for just $29.99 per year. A malware protection programme costs an additional $3 per month, but having one can be a game-changer because spyware can either steal your data or encrypt it so you can’t access it.
DreamHost is the most reliable option for website security. In their basic plan, GoDaddy appears to completely disregard most security features. It doesn’t make sense to charge more for security than the Economy plan as a whole. Contrarily, DreamHost is a leader in the hosting industry for security, providing many of the services some other providers fee for for free.
GoDaddy vs DreamHost: customer support
GoDaddy’s customer service is available by phone and live chat around-the-clock. There are three live channels available on DreamHost. a live chat operating from 5:30 AM to 9:30 PM PT, paid phone support, and ticketing available around-the-clock.
Fair is the ideal adjective to characterise GoDaddy’s customer support. Although there may be some wait times, you may always get in touch with the agents. However, some agents struggle with their English, which occasionally results in misunderstandings. At the same time, if talking to a live person is not your preferred method of getting assistance, you may check out the extensive knowledge base that is available.
While it may be unfortunate that DreamHost does not provide live chat around-the-clock, the ticketing system is flawless. Tickets submitted through the system were resolved in an hour or less. You can always look at the tutorials on the website, which may be quite helpful for simple problems.
In both instances, our interactions with customer service were positive overall. While not flawless, GoDaddy and DreamHost both have a distinctive approach to helping customers.
Alternatives to GoDaddy and DreamHost
You might conclude after reading this essay in its whole that these are not for me. So you might consider alternatives if neither GoDaddy nor DreamHost are able to provide what you actually require. You can read about the 2 alternatives that I believe most closely compare with these providers or look at our list of the finest web hosting companies.
SiteGround
SiteGround is among the most well-liked services available, and for good reason. It is more expensive than DreamHost and GoDaddy with an entry point pricing of $2.99/month. But with this web hosting service, you can expect lightning-quick page loads and a few amazing features that will improve both performance and the user’s experience as a whole. You will receive a staging environment, robust security, and expert-level customer support because it is solely focused on WordPress.
Hostinger
Because of its affordability, hostinger continues to be a solid rival in the market for hosting services. It starts at $2.59 per month, which is the lowest price you’ll find anywhere. Hostinger also demonstrates that it is a very dependable and quick host. All of its contemporary technology-equipped infrastructure is geared toward speed. This includes quick LightSpeed webserver technology, built-in caching, and the option to select from 7 different global server locations.
GoDaddy vs DreamHost: final recommendations
The performance and simplicity of the service were two of GoDaddy’s strongest points. The weakness in website security was its downfall. In terms of affordability, efficiency, and security, DreamHost excelled. The cPanel it gives may take some getting used to, but after a few usage, you’ll find that it works wonderfully. This is its primary shortcoming.
| Feature | GoDaddy | DreamHost | Verdict |
| Price | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★☆ | In this category, the better option is DreamHost. Not only is it cheaper, but it offers more features than GoDaddy. |
| Ease of use | ★★★★★ | ★★★★☆ | For ease of use, GoDaddy and DreamHost opt for different styles of control panels (cPanel vs custom control panel), but both are simple and intuitive. |
| Performance | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | DreamHost edges out GoDaddy. The uptime was off the charts, response time was super quick, and website speed was well faster than recommended. |
| Security | ★★☆☆☆ | ★★★★★ | DreamHost gives a masterclass in security. It offers free features that you will find other providers charging for, while GoDaddy fails to provide even the most basic ones for free on its most basic plans. |
| Customer support | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★☆ | GoDaddy offers 24/7 live chat while DreamHost fails to do so. Some of GoDaddy’s agents aren’t fluent in English which can cause some miscommunications. |
When everything is considered, DreamHost comes out on top. It provides shared hosting solutions that are substantially cheaper and have robust security measures. This makes it a suitable alternative for both personal blogs and small commercial websites, together with a user-friendly management panel.