When it comes to web hosting, both GoDaddy and AWS (Amazon Web Services) are big names in the industry. But how do they compare with each other? In my opinion, there is absolutely no comparison to what AWS brings to the table. Keep reading to catch this surprising win and what goes into it!

Overall Comparison: GoDaddy vs. AWS

Winner: AWS

Because of its top-tier performance and general integration options, AWS is the standard when it comes to web hosting, and tough to beat. That being said, GoDaddy does stand out regarding its security features.

If you want to learn more about each web host, the fight is not over! Let’s see how the two fare when I compare them head-to-head in terms of features, pricing, performance, support, ease of use, security features, and server locations!

About GoDaddy and AWS

	When registering domain names, GoDaddy stands out worldwide. It is the biggest domain registrar in the world and carries out a host of other services such as website hosting, email marketing, web security, and creating SSL certificates. The company started in the United States in 1997 in Phoenix, Arizona. Currently, GoDaddy has over 20 million customers.
	Amazon Web services, or AWS, is a subsidiary company of Amazon focused on cloud hosting for entrepreneurs and businesses. One of the core ideologies for AWS is the ability to scale up the company as needed and pay for services you need. AWS was launched in 2006 and is currently headquartered in Washington in the United States.

Round 1: Hosting features – Key Hosting Features and Services

Key GoDaddy Features

GoDaddy has some excellent features that can allow you to create and maintain websites easily. For example, a cPanel-powered custom dashboard, a free domain with some plans, and the ability to create databases for your websites.

GoDaddy also comes with both SSD and HDD storage options and free SSL certificates when purchasing one of their WordPress plans.

Along with this, you get access to security features such as malware protection with all plans, along with a website builder and SEO tools. Overall, different features are offered for different plans on the GoDaddy hosting front, so you can choose a plan based on the features you are looking for.

Key AWS Features

Amazon Web Services targets enterprises and developers, and it is clear why. While the plans are hardly all-inclusive, developers can incorporate the features they need and pay as they scale up the website.

One of the biggest wins AWS brings to the table is a huge network that lends it a strong structure. This, along with its uptime guarantees, helps ensure that your websites will be up and running and accessible at all times.

In the AWS marketplace, you can access tools of all kinds for all kinds of scalable changes your website needs. For example, there are SSL certificates available, spam protection, and manual configurations.

And the winner is… AWS!

Despite the fact that AWS is not built for the weak, it is the superior network system. The availability of plans on a pay-as-you-go system allows developers to create websites with careful consideration.

Round 2:  Prices & Plans

Here are the plans with their pricings offered by each host.

GoDaddy Pricing Plans

GoDaddy has a range of plans available depending on the kind of features you need.

• Basic: This plan includes a website builder, a custom domain, SSL, an analytics dashboard, online payments, one-time appointments, marketing tools, 100 email sends, a professional email account, and 24/7 support.
• Premium: This plan has all of the benefits of the previous tier but also comes with recurring appointment settings and 25,000 email sends.
• Commerce: This plan has the benefits from the previous plan, in addition to an online marketplace with 5,000 items, 50 orders a month, discounts, and cart recovery.
• Commerce Plus: With this plan, you get access to all features from the Commerce plan, along with unlimited products, up to 1,000 orders a month, and the ability to send out 100,000 emails.

AWS Pricing Plans

Unlike most web hosts, AWS does not offer plans in the same way. Instead, the company relies on a scalable payment system. Instead of signing up for a plan, you can start on a free tier and eventually add the features you need, paying for each one as you add them. Here are the costs of some of the most prominent features available in the AWS system:

• Amazon Kinesis (used for video streaming analytics): $0.04 per stream, per hour.
• Amazon QuickSite (for business analytics): $24 per month for authors.
• Amazon Location Service: $0.04 per 1,000 map tiles that are retrieved.

And the winner is… GoDaddy!

Despite the benefits of developing on a scalable basis, the GoDaddy payment system is effortless, easy to use, and understandable. The payment system is clear from the get-go and is adequate for the most simple websites.

Round 3: Website performance (Uptime & Speed)

Uptime is a unit of measurement allowing you to understand how much a website guarantees that it will be available and accessible. The more the servers are up and running, the better the uptime. On the other hand, speed is a measure of how fast a page loads. This chart will show you how the two compare in terms of these performance measures.

GoDaddy Uptime & Speed

GoDaddy has an excellent uptime guarantee, which keeps it at around 99.97% uptime. The loading speeds are excellent, racking in just under a second on GT Metrix.

Across different plans, you may get a variance in the website’s speed, as it can change the kind of hosting you choose. This is because of the SSD and HDD storage availability for GoDaddy’s hosting plans.

AWS Uptime & Speed

Amazon cannot afford even a second of being down, as the losses would be in the billions. And this is clear through their performance. The host can offer lightning-fast speeds, often in milliseconds, and boasts an uptime guarantee of 100%.

The availability of data centers across the globe makes it a host that can help you keep up loading times worldwide, regardless of the continent. Therefore if you want to have your website accessible at all times, AWS has the structural power to make it happen.

And the winner is… AWS!

Although GoDaddy’s systems are not bad by any means, they are no match for the performance power of AWS. The company boasts extremely fast speeds and an uptime guarantee to match.

Round 4: Customer Support – Who Has the Best Support System?

GoDaddy Customer Support

GoDaddy’s customer support team uses a variety of methods to offer support, including a live chat, phone support, video guides, and even forum support. However, they do not offer email support to their customers.

This may be frustrating for some customers, but on the whole, people seem to be happy with their customer support team. There are some issues with items such as refunds, which has caused some strife between the customer support team and some unhappy users.

AWS Customer Support

According to AWS users, the system comes with a great team that is quick and knowledgeable about the products.

While the customer support team is hardly there to hold your hands through the process of using this system, they can provide the information you need to create and develop sites.

Some users may struggle to get the hang of AWS as it is clearly designed for professionals, and the customer support team is understanding of this fact and is aiming to facilitate.

And the winner is… AWS!

There’s no getting around it – AWS is not the easiest system, so having a knowledgeable support team on hand is always a plus. GoDaddy’s support team loses too many points for making it extremely hard to change plans and get refunds.

Round 5: Ease of use – Which Platform Is Easier to Use?

GoDaddy Ease Of Use

In general, GoDaddy is an easy to use platform. The system makes it generally accessible for anyone to use to create and build websites, and plenty of add-ons can make using this host a piece of cake.

The only really difficult task associated with GoDaddy is the process of transferring an existing website. This can become quite complicated, and many users have complained about wanting to leave just because of how confusing this process can get.

AWS Ease of use

Let’s get this straight – AWS is not easy to use. The system is built for developers, and anyone with basic knowledge can struggle to get the most out of it. However, what it doesn’t bring to the table with the ease of use, it does with the documentation.

Using AWS, you can create huge enterprise-level solutions, and that is not a task for the faint-hearted. The company does not shy away from this and accepts it openly. The fact of the matter is you need technical knowledge if you are to use this host.

And the winner is… GoDaddy!

The charm of AWS is that the system is documented and created for advanced developers, but that doesn’t win it any points in the ease-of-use department. This was a clear win for GoDaddy.

Round 6: Security – Which Platform is More Secure?

GoDaddy Security

When you get a package plan with GoDaddy, there are some features in your plan that will help make your site more secure. However, not all of these are available for free and depending on whether or not you sign up for shared hosting, you may not get the security features you need.

Instead of SiteLock, GoDaddy has a natively integrated security system that helps keep your system safe from viruses and spam and keeps an eye on fraudulent activity.

AWS Security

AWS has all the security features you need, although they are not built into a plan. Instead, the web host allows you to add features as needed to your plan, so you can keep track of the security benefits you need.

However, as a basic offering, AWS allows all websites to get a free SSL certificate, along with basic protection against DDoS attacks. You can also integrate CloudFare, and get daily backups as an added feature.

And the winner is… AWS

Although GoDaddy integrates more features into the plans, AWS is the place to be if you want proper security interventions. You can pick and choose the exact services you need and even get an SSL certificate and DDoS protection as a bonus.

Round 7: Server Locations

Servers are what make a web host what they are, and having servers across the world enables a company to provide better speeds and performance. If there are more data centers spread well across the world, the global offerings of the host will witness a proportional increase.

Let’s see how server locations work in the battle of GoDaddy vs. AWS!

GoDaddy Server Location

GoDaddy has 9 data centers worldwide, spread out across North America, Asia, and Europe. One of the centers is owned by GoDaddy, while the others are leased or rented.

In all, the data centers can be found in the United States within Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa, Los Angeles, Chicago, Ashburn, and Virginia. Additionally, there is a data center in Amsterdam within Europe, and finally, one in Asia located in Singapore.

AWS Server Location

AWS, on the other hand, has over 400 data centers, allowing them to provide services across 90 available zones, spanning 28 regions within North America, Europe, Oceania, Asia, and South America.

The company hopes to expand its available zones to 21 more to incorporate regions within Australia, Spain, Canada, Thailand, India, and New Zealand.

And the winner is… AWS!

With its expansive data center network and zones of operation, there is absolutely no competition for the power of AWS – and it wins this round with almost no competition.

GoDaddy vs. AWS: Final Recommendations

When to Choose GoDaddy:

GoDaddy is the right web host for you if you:

• Are looking for an intuitive and easy interface to create and manage websites.
• Will benefit from the availability of a free domain for a year.
• Want a clear-cut pricing system from the beginning and does not need to change to incorporate your changing company structure.
• Run a small business and are on a budget, looking for a simplistic solution.
• Don’t mind a few lacking features but prioritize comfort while creating websites.

Go for AWS If You:

On the other hand, AWS could not be a more different web host. This site will be the perfect choice for you if you:

• Are looking for a complete web hosting system with excellent documentation.
• Are a developer or want to hire a developer with the right technical knowledge to use and operate the AWS system.
• Need innovative and custom solutions to create websites.
• Are looking for a scalable web host where you can pay as you get access to new services instead of a set plan.
• Need a robust web host with the resources to promise amazing speeds and no downtime and are expecting a lot of traffic on your site.