SiteGround is not GoDaddy: it is an independent company, privately owned since 2004, and GoDaddy is a separate public company. SiteGround is cheaper on day one ($2.99/mo for StartUp) but renews at $17.99/mo. GoDaddy’s Economy starts at $5.99/mo for a full three-year term, with a regular price of $11.99/mo. Pick SiteGround for WordPress tooling, GoDaddy for phone support and a low long-term bill.
Disclosure: some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through them, WhatsTheHost may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It does not change our verdicts.
Key takeaways
- Year one: SiteGround wins on price. $2.99 vs $5.99 a month on the entry plans.
- Year two onward: GoDaddy is usually cheaper. SiteGround StartUp renews at $17.99/mo. GoDaddy Economy keeps $5.99/mo for its first three-year term, and its regular price is $11.99/mo.
- Ownership: SiteGround is private and Bulgarian. GoDaddy is a US public company with $4.95 billion in 2025 revenue.
- Testing: we have not run our own speed or uptime tests for this comparison. Nothing below claims otherwise.
SiteGround and GoDaddy at a glance
SiteGround is pretty amazing overall. Its first-year pricing is cheap, the company is super WordPress-friendly, and hosting is the core of what it sells. With strong customer support, great features, and low intro pricing there’s a lot to like about this international hosting company. The catch is the renewal, which we get to below.
GoDaddy needs no introduction: it’s probably the most-recognized host and domain name provider in the world. That being said, it’s kind of like the McDonald’s of hosting: cheap, mass-market, but not exceptionally good. That being said, if you are a loyal GoDaddy domainer, it can be worth sticking with them for small projects and its 24/7 phone support.
Winner by use case
| If you need… | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The cheapest first year | SiteGround | StartUp is $2.99/mo intro vs $5.99 for GoDaddy Economy |
| The cheapest third year | GoDaddy | Economy stays at $5.99/mo on a 3-year prepay vs $17.99 for StartUp after year one |
| Several WordPress sites on one plan | SiteGround | GrowBig allows unlimited sites with staging |
| Phone support at 3 a.m. | GoDaddy | 24/7 phone line; SiteGround phone is English-only |
| A free domain in year one | GoDaddy | Included on the first term of Economy |
| Git and staging for client work | SiteGround | GoGeek adds Git and priority support |
How do SiteGround and GoDaddy prices compare?
Intro prices get the headlines. Renewal prices are what you actually pay for most of a site’s life.
SiteGround’s pricing starts ridiculously low for the features you get. The one complaint from most users is the fact that pricing jumps up to full price after the first year, and on StartUp that is six times the intro rate. Yes, there have been complaints in the blogosphere about SiteGround raising their prices for years. To be honest, their prices were once ridiculously low and they’ve earned the right to raise them. They’re not a cheap shared host; they are a middle-tier host that charges middle-tier money once the promo ends. Just budget for it.
GoDaddy’s pricing is very low and great for beginners. One thing to watch out for, however, is renewal rates. After your first period is up, economy hosting jumps up to its $11.99 a month regular price, so beware of the lock-in and pick your term length on purpose.
| Plan | Intro price | Regular (renewal) price | Sites | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SiteGround StartUp | $2.99/mo | $17.99/mo | 1 | 10 GB |
| SiteGround GrowBig | $4.99/mo | $29.99/mo | Unlimited | 50 GB |
| SiteGround GoGeek | $7.99/mo | $44.99/mo | Unlimited | 100 GB |
| GoDaddy Economy | $5.99/mo (3-yr term) | $11.99/mo | 1 | 25 GB NVMe |
| GoDaddy Deluxe | $7.99/mo (3-yr term) | $16.99/mo | 10 | 50 GB NVMe |
| GoDaddy Ultimate | $12.99/mo (3-yr term) | $21.99/mo | 25 | 75 GB NVMe |
SiteGround prices come from Tooltester and Website Planet, which agree with each other. SiteGround’s own rate list sets regular prices that vary with the prepaid period. The GrowBig and GoGeek storage figures reflect a February 2026 upgrade reported by WP Host Price. GoDaddy figures come from GoDaddy’s hosting page, which shows each intro price for the first three-year term next to the regular price, and WhTop lists the same Economy numbers.
Run the numbers over three years on the entry plans. SiteGround StartUp costs $35.88 in year one, then $215.88 a year, so $467.64 in total if the $2.99 rate covers only the first year, as Website Planet describes it. GoDaddy Economy on its three-year prepay costs $215.64 for the same period. GoDaddy comes out about $250 ahead by year three. Do the maths for your own term at checkout.
If you go SiteGround, we highly recommend upgrading to the GrowBig plan: you get unlimited websites, five times the storage of StartUp, and WordPress staging (trust us, you want that). It’s going to cost you a few more dollars a month, but it is the plan that makes SiteGround worth it. Our only complaint with StartUp value is the limited disk space, which can fill up quickly.
GoDaddy’s value is pretty good for what you get. You’re paying discounted pricing for a mass-market host. For example, what you get with the Economy plan is 1 website, 25 GB of NVMe storage, and a free domain for the first term. Even when the price jumps up to a full price of $11.99/mo, it’s still a decent value for one simple site.
Show me GoDaddy’s current Economy price · Show me SiteGround’s current StartUp price
What about performance?
We have not tested either host for this page. No load tests, no uptime monitoring, no Core Web Vitals runs. When we do, results will go on the SiteGround and GoDaddy hubs with dates and methods.
What we can say from the spec sheets: SiteGround’s platform runs on Google Cloud (SiteGround). GoDaddy’s Economy plan uses NVMe storage and cPanel (GoDaddy). Neither fact tells you how fast your site will be. Your theme, plugins and caching matter more on a shared plan.
SiteGround offers multiple levels of speed optimization: a CDN, dynamic caching, and Memcached, built around its own Speed Optimizer plugin for WordPress. There may be faster hosts out there, but in my opinion this is one of the best for the value. GoDaddy, in my experience, falls in the middle of the pack, and the push to upgrade for more processing power rubs me the wrong way. Economy plans need speed too!
One tip on uptime for either host: read the guarantee, not the marketing. A 99.9% uptime guarantee still means your hosting can be down for about 43 minutes a month, and the host considers that normal. Imagine your website down during a crucial shopping period for almost an hour. Check what credit you actually get back if it happens.
Which has better features for WordPress?
SiteGround, for most WordPress owners. GrowBig and GoGeek allow unlimited sites, include a staging copy for testing changes, and add on-demand backups. GoGeek adds Git (Website Planet). All three SiteGround plans include free SSL, a CDN and email.
GoDaddy Economy is simpler. One site, 25 GB of NVMe storage, cPanel, a free domain and a free SSL certificate for one year (GoDaddy). Deluxe and Ultimate include free SSL for all your sites. Watch that SSL line. Check what the certificate costs after year one before you commit.
My favorite SiteGround features are WordPress staging, Memcached speed technology, and the whole array of upgrade options SiteGround provides. Not only do they offer their own custom tools (Site Tools) to make your life easier, they also include their own CDN on every plan. The one downside of SiteGround that they don’t tell you up front is that you may have plenty of GB storage space, but if you have a large count of files (aka inodes) you may be more limited on space than you think. This is mostly a concern if you host many websites and use the staging features with WordPress.
SiteGround also offers proactive monitoring with their custom software stack, and AI to help fend off aggressive bot attacks. That matters on shared hosting, where one bad neighbour or one bot swarm can slow everyone down.
Not a huge fan of GoDaddy’s features on basic plans. Most people are starting their sites on WordPress these days, and the WordPress extras live higher up the price list. While GoDaddy does have some custom tools they’ve built, for a company this large I’d expect them to offer more features than a smaller, scrappier host like SiteGround, but they’ve gotta make their profits. Overall, the features are ok, not great.
Support
Both run 24/7 support. Listen, these days customer support is a difference-maker, not just an outsourced function.
SiteGround customer support has been seriously good in my experience. You get 24/7/365 support via phone, ticket and chat. Support agents are friendly, helpful, and truly go above and beyond to solve your problems. If you’re a beginner, support should be your #1 priority.
GoDaddy prides itself on its 24/7 phone support, which totally makes sense for their mass-market customer base. One of the weak spots used to be that phone was the only way to get ahold of them. They’ve since changed that and now offer chat support, which many internet nerds prefer. Phone support is usually higher quality as they cut to the chase and can answer your questions faster. I’ve found chat support connects quickly, but you have to jump through some hoops including entering your PIN and waiting for their response. Overall, good support, but not perfect.
- SiteGround: chat, ticket and phone, 24/7. Phone support is English only; other languages go through chat and tickets (SiteGround KB).
- GoDaddy: phone, text and chat, each listed as 24/7 (GoDaddy Help).
If you are the kind of person who wants to call someone when the site is down, GoDaddy’s phone-first setup fits. If you prefer a written ticket trail, SiteGround’s chat and tickets are the main channels.
Ownership and stability
SiteGround has been privately owned since 2004, with its headquarters in Sofia, Bulgaria (SiteGround). No acquisitions of SiteGround itself to report.
GoDaddy is listed on the NYSE as GDDY. It reported $4,951.1 million in 2025 revenue, up 8.3%, and $875.0 million in net income (GoDaddy earnings release). Public filings mean you can read its numbers every quarter, which you cannot do for SiteGround.
Verdict by reader type
- First WordPress blog, tight budget, planning to stay 3+ years: GoDaddy Economy on a long prepay. Renewal hurts less.
- Freelancer or agency running several WordPress sites: SiteGround GrowBig or GoGeek, for staging, unlimited sites and Git. Budget for the renewal.
- Small business owner who wants a phone number: GoDaddy.
- Who should skip both: anyone who wants low renewals and strong WordPress tools at once. Look at our best web hosting list for hosts that renew closer to their intro price.
- Still can’t decide and you run WordPress: just trust us and go with SiteGround GrowBig, then set a calendar reminder before renewal.
My take, as an opinion: when comparing a mass-market budget host with a budget specialty host like SiteGround, I lean SiteGround for WordPress. You get better tools and better customer support. If you take our advice with SiteGround, be sure to go with the GrowBig plan. GoDaddy is good for those who are already on their platform, such as those who have a ton of domain names, and for anyone who will prepay three years to keep the bill low. The constant upselling is a real annoyance, though.
Show me SiteGround’s plans for WordPress · Show me GoDaddy’s hosting plans
FAQ
Is SiteGround better than GoDaddy?
For WordPress features, yes. GoDaddy may tempt you with a low three-year price to get you in the door, but when comparing on a feature-by-feature basis, SiteGround wins for WordPress: staging, unlimited sites on GrowBig and Git on GoGeek. You’ll get strong support, better features, and overall higher quality WordPress hosting. For long-term price and phone support, GoDaddy is stronger.
Is SiteGround the same as GoDaddy?
No. They are separate companies with different owners. SiteGround has been independent and privately owned since 2004, with headquarters in Sofia, Bulgaria. GoDaddy is a US public company listed on the NYSE as GDDY. Neither owns the other.
Why is SiteGround so expensive after the first year?
The $2.99 StartUp price is an intro rate. The regular rate is $17.99/mo, about six times higher. SiteGround publishes its regular rates in its knowledge base.
Does GoDaddy renew at a higher price?
Yes. Economy is $5.99/mo for the first three-year term, and GoDaddy lists $11.99/mo as the regular price. Check the renewal line in your cart, because it depends on the term you pick.
Can I move my site from GoDaddy to SiteGround?
Yes. Both use standard tools, so a WordPress site moves with a migration plugin or a manual backup and restore. Check whether either host is offering free migration when you sign up.
Which is better for a small business website?
GoDaddy is good for those who are already on their platform. If you want one site, a free first-year domain and phone support, GoDaddy. If the site runs on WordPress and you will make frequent changes, SiteGround’s staging is worth the higher renewal.
Sources
- Tooltester: SiteGround pricing
- SiteGround KB: current rates of shared hosting plans
- Website Planet: SiteGround pricing
- About SiteGround
- SiteGround KB: phone support
- WP Host Price: SiteGround storage upgrade
- GoDaddy: web hosting plans
- WhTop: GoDaddy Economy plan
- GoDaddy Help: contact us
- GoDaddy 2025 earnings release (investor relations PDF)
Related
Update log
- : Rewrote and fact-checked the page: the first full update since 2020. Kept Joe’s original writing where it still holds.
- : Prices and facts checked against the cited sources, read September 24, 2026.
