- 3-Day Trial Without Credit Card
- Dedicated cloud resources with automated SSL, firewalls, real-time monitoring, and daily backups with one-click restore — no shared hosting slowdowns.
- Support available 24/7/365 via Phone, Chat, Knowledge Base and Blog
- 1-click domain name setup. 1-click to over 150 free apps
- Free SSL, Daily Backups
- Support available 24/7/365 via Chat, Phone and Knowledge Base
Quick Summary
GoDaddy comes out as the overall winner. It delivered a perfect 100% GTmetrix performance score, proactive live support, and a beginner-friendly experience that Cloudways simply cannot match for ease.
Cloudways is the better pick for developers and agencies who need flexible cloud infrastructure, 150+ data centre locations, and granular server control. For everyone else, GoDaddy’s managed WordPress setup, daily automated backups, and polished dashboard make it the more practical choice.
1. Prices and Plans Comparison
GoDaddy Undercuts Cloudways on WordPress Hosting with a Lower Entry Price and a Money-Back Guarantee
GoDaddy’s Managed WordPress Hosting starts at $7.83/month on an annual term, which is meaningfully cheaper than Cloudways’ $14/month entry point on DigitalOcean. That gap matters at the beginning, especially if you are just launching a site and not yet sure what resources you need.
GoDaddy: what is included by default:
- Free domain for the first year on annual plans
- Daily automated backups with 30-day retention
- Free SSL on Deluxe and above
- WordPress pre-installed with CDN enabled
- Airo AI tools included at no extra cost
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Cloudways works differently from the start. Rather than a fixed tiered plan, you choose a cloud provider (DigitalOcean, AWS, Google Cloud, Vultr, or Linode) and pay for the server resources you use. This gives you real flexibility, but it also means the starting cost is higher and there is no money-back guarantee, just a 3-day free trial.
Cloudways: what is included by default:
- Unlimited apps per server
- Free Let’s Encrypt SSL
- Automated backups
- Free site migration (1 included)
- Imunify360 firewall and malware scanning
2. Customer Support Comparison
GoDaddy Wins on Support Quality with Proactive Agents Who Go Beyond the Original Question
Cloudways Customer Support
I tested Cloudways support through live chat from inside the dashboard. I clicked “Need a Hand?” and selected Technical Help, then SSH/SFTP from the issue list.
My question was about sudo access restrictions after getting a “user not in sudoers file” error. The chatbot responded immediately with a solid explanation: Cloudways restricts root and sudo access by design on managed hosting, and most server-level settings can be adjusted through the dashboard instead.
I clicked “Get more help” and reached a real agent named Faraz in under 30 seconds. He confirmed the sudo restriction, explained the security reasoning behind it, and sent a relevant Knowledge Base article. The answer was accurate and clear, even if the policy itself limits what advanced users can do.
GoDaddy Customer Support
I tested GoDaddy via live chat from the dashboard’s “Contact Us” button. I asked a technical question about CPU throttling behaviour during traffic spikes and the actual PHP memory limits on my current plan. The AI chatbot answered within seconds, confirming that GoDaddy generally allows CPU burst usage during spikes rather than immediate throttling. It was transparent about not being able to access my specific account configuration and offered to walk me through checking settings myself.
I requested a human agent, and the handoff was instant with no friction. Two minutes later, an agent named Milos joined the chat. He initially misread my question and assumed I wanted to increase memory limits rather than confirm the existing settings, which required two rounds of clarification. Once aligned, he went well beyond the original question.
Without being asked, he offered to increase my PHP memory limit from the default 512 MB to the maximum 1,024 MB available on my plan, applied the change live, and confirmed the updated settings.
The full interaction took about 25 minutes from the first message to resolve.
3. Hosting Features Comparison
GoDaddy Leads on Managed WordPress Features, But Cloudways Wins for Developers Who Need Server-Level Control
Cloudways Features
Cloudways gives you genuine server-level flexibility that shared hosting cannot match. The ability to run unlimited apps on a single server makes it cost-effective for agencies managing multiple client sites.
Key inclusions:
- Imunify360 firewall, malware scanning, and Patchstack vulnerability monitoring
- Vertical scaling (increase RAM and CPU instantly from the dashboard)
- SSH/SFTP access and Git integration
- Staging environments on select configurations
- 1-click Let’s Encrypt SSL
What is missing or costs extra:
- No email hosting by default (Rackspace is a paid add-on)
- No free domain
- Advanced support and Malware Protection are paid add-ons
- No website builder
GoDaddy Features
GoDaddy’s managed WordPress feature set is strong for the price. The Deluxe plan at $10.99/month includes CDN enabled out of the box, a one-click staging environment, Object Cache Pro on Ultimate, and Airo AI tools across all tiers.
Key inclusions:
- Daily automated backups with 30-day retention and one-click restore
- CDN enabled by default (up to 2x faster performance claimed)
- PHP version control, SSH/SFTP access, and phpMyAdmin from the hosting settings panel
- WordPress pre-installed and ready on first login
- Professional email trial included
What is missing or costs extra:
- SSL on Economy plan is free for year one only, then $119.99/year
- Storage capped at 10 GB on Starter, 20 GB on Deluxe, 50 GB on Ultimate
- No unlimited monthly visitors on any WordPress plan
4. Website Performance Comparison
GoDaddy Wins Performance Decisively with a Perfect 100% GTmetrix Score and 113ms TTFB on a Real-World Site
Both tests were run on fully built sites with real content, images, and plugins installed. Neither test used a blank WordPress install.
Cloudways Performance Results
- GTmetrix Grade A, 99% performance score: An excellent result that puts Cloudways among the top tier of managed hosts.
- LCP 925ms: The largest visible element loaded in under a second, well inside Google’s “Good” threshold of 2.5 seconds.
- TTFB 119ms: Server response was near-instant. Under 200ms is considered excellent, and 119ms demonstrates strong backend optimisation.
- TBT 1ms: The page was effectively non-blocking. Visitors could interact immediately without waiting for scripts to clear.
- CLS 0: Zero layout shift. Nothing moved or jumped during load, giving a stable reading and clicking experience.
- Fully loaded time 5.5s: Higher than ideal, but understandable given the media and plugins on the test site. Optimisation could bring this down further.
GoDaddy Performance Results
- GTmetrix Grade A, 100% performance score: A perfect score is rare in any benchmark and exceptional for managed hosting at this price.
- LCP 412ms: The largest element loaded in under half a second. For context, many premium managed hosts target sub-second LCP but rarely hit 412ms consistently.
- TTFB 113ms: The server responded in 113ms, with just 64ms of backend processing time. This reflects server-side caching that is working exactly as it should.
- TBT 0ms: The browser was never blocked at any point during page load.
- CLS 0: Perfect visual stability with no shifting elements throughout the load sequence.
- Fully loaded time 526ms: The entire page, including all images and resources, finished loading in just over half a second. This is an outstanding result for a real-world site.
5. Ease of Use Comparison
GoDaddy Wins Ease of Use with a Cleaner Dashboard, Pre-Installed WordPress, and a More Beginner-Friendly Signup
Registration Process
Signing up for Cloudways starts with a free trial button that requires no credit card. The process is longer than expected: after entering name, email, and password, I had to complete several dropdowns about my hosting experience, monthly spend, and use case.
Cloudways then asked for additional verification details, including a LinkedIn profile, website URL, and phone number. It felt designed for developers and agencies rather than first-time users. Once verified, dashboard access was instant.
GoDaddy’s signup felt much closer to buying any other piece of software. I selected a WordPress Hosting plan, clicked “Buy,” and landed on a clean checkout page with a term-length dropdown showing all options from 1 to 48 months, each with the discount percentage and total upfront cost displayed clearly.
A free Professional Email Pro Light trial was automatically added to the cart. GoDaddy accepts credit/debit cards, PayPal, Klarna, and direct checking account payments.
The full process from homepage to confirmed purchase took under 10 minutes.
Dashboard and Interface
Cloudways opens on a developer-focused dashboard with tabs for Servers, Applications, Team, and Projects. Clicking into a server reveals detailed controls for monitoring, vertical scaling, security, and backups. The depth is genuinely useful for technical users, but the interface assumes familiarity with infrastructure concepts. Someone new to hosting would likely feel overwhelmed before finding where to launch their site.
GoDaddy’s dashboard opens with a personalised greeting and site cards for each WordPress install. Sections for Domains, Managed WordPress, Email, and Additional Products are laid out in collapsible panels, each with a “Manage All” link.
The “Contact Us” button stays visible in the bottom-right corner on every page. Nothing is buried. The dashboard prioritises managing existing services rather than cross-selling, which makes it easier to actually find what you need.
WordPress Installation
Cloudways WordPress installation:
- Go to the Applications tab in the dashboard
- Click “Add Application”
- Select your existing server
- Choose WordPress from the app list
- Confirm and wait a few minutes for deployment
Cloudways handles the rest automatically. The process is fast, but you need to already understand which server you are deploying to, which adds a layer of complexity for beginners.
GoDaddy WordPress installation: WordPress is pre-installed the moment you log in on a Managed WordPress plan. There is no installation step. The dashboard immediately shows your site with a “Manage Hosting” button and a WordPress Admin link.
The only task required before building is connecting a custom domain.
Server Management
Cloudways gives you real server-level controls. From the server panel, I could manage Nginx, Apache, and MySQL services, monitor CPU and RAM usage in real time, add SSH keys, launch a browser-based SSH terminal, and scale server resources vertically without touching the application.
This is powerful for technical users but requires knowing what these tools are and when to use them.
GoDaddy’s Hosting Settings page covers PHP version control, CDN toggle, database access via phpMyAdmin, SSH/SFTP credentials, staging environment creation, file browser, cache flushing, and site logs, all in a single clean interface.
There is no separate “server” panel because everything is managed through the WordPress-specific dashboard. For non-technical users, this is a significant advantage.
6. Privacy and Security Comparison
GoDaddy Wins Security for WordPress Users with WAF, Automated Daily Backups, and CDN-Backed DDoS Protection Included by Default
Cloudways Privacy and Security
Every Cloudways server includes the Imunify360 security stack by default, covering a dedicated firewall, brute-force blocking, and bot mitigation without any extra configuration.
I found the security setup genuinely hands-off.
Included by default:
- Imunify360 firewall and malware scanning on all servers
- Patchstack vulnerability monitoring for WordPress plugins and themes
- Fail2ban for IP-level intrusion blocking
- 1-click Let’s Encrypt SSL
- IP whitelisting from the dashboard
- Automated backups
Optional paid add-ons:
- Malware Protection (advanced removal service)
- Cloudflare Enterprise CDN integration
- Priority and Advanced support tiers
Cloudways does not store data centrally on its own infrastructure since it operates as a management layer over cloud providers (DigitalOcean, AWS, Google Cloud, Vultr, Linode). Your data lives within the cloud provider’s environment, which adds a layer of enterprise-grade physical security by default.
GoDaddy Privacy and Security
GoDaddy’s managed WordPress security covers the main threat vectors without requiring any setup on your end.
Included by default:
- WAF on all managed WordPress plans
- DDoS protection with 24/7 network monitoring
- Automated daily backups with 30-day retention and one-click restore
- Free SSL on Deluxe and Ultimate plans
- CDN enabled by default (also helps absorb traffic spikes)
- Automated malware scanning
Costs extra or limited:
- SSL on Economy plan is free for year one only, then $119.99/year
- Advanced security features like Web Security Standard (WAF plus SSL plus malware scanning bundle) are available as a paid add-on
- No Cloudflare integration by default
The daily backups with 30-day retention are a meaningful security layer that some competitors charge separately for.
One-click restore from the Hosting Settings panel means recovery from a malware infection or bad plugin update is fast.
7. Server Locations Comparison
Cloudways Wins Server Locations by a Wide Margin with 150+ Locations Across 50+ Countries Versus GoDaddy’s 9 Data Centres
Cloudways Server Locations
Cloudways expanded its global infrastructure in early 2026, adding more than 17 new data centre locations across AWS, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean, and Linode, bringing the total to 150+ locations across 50+ countries.
Cloudways does not own any of these facilities. It operates as a managed layer on top of five cloud providers: DigitalOcean, AWS, Google Cloud, Vultr, and Linode. Each provider contributes its own data centre network, and you choose both the provider and the specific city at signup. If you want to change server locations later, you can clone your existing server to a different data centre through the dashboard, with no support ticket required.
GoDaddy Server Locations
GoDaddy’s infrastructure includes a company-owned and operated data centre in Phoenix, Arizona, covering 320,000 square feet of IT space, plus international data centres in France, Germany, and the UK where it leases the facility shell and operates the internal infrastructure itself. Additional colocation sites are located in Los Angeles, Chicago, Ashburn Virginia, Amsterdam, and Singapore, bringing the total confirmed footprint to 9 facilities. Location selection at signup is available at the continent level rather than by specific city. Moving to a different data centre after signup requires contacting GoDaddy support. GoDaddy also uses AWS for a portion of its workloads as part of an ongoing cloud migration.
The Bottom Line
GoDaddy is the overall winner. It delivered a perfect 100% GTmetrix performance score with a 412ms LCP and 113ms TTFB on a real-world content-heavy site, things that even many premium managed hosts struggle to match. Add in daily automated backups with 30-day retention, a WAF included in the base WordPress price, proactive live support that makes actual server changes on your behalf, and a signup-to-live-site experience that takes under 10 minutes, and GoDaddy is a genuinely strong all-around platform. The main drawbacks are renewal prices that can nearly double and SSL limitations on the Economy plan. Cloudways is the right choice for developers, agencies, and anyone who needs flexible cloud infrastructure.
Category | Winner | Why |
Pricing and Plans | GoDaddy | Starts at $7.83/mo with 30-day guarantee |
Customer Support | GoDaddy | Agent made live PHP config changes unprompted |
Hosting Features | Cloudways | Unlimited apps and vertical scaling included |
Website Performance | GoDaddy | Perfect 100% GTmetrix, 526ms fully loaded |
Ease of Use | GoDaddy | WordPress pre-installed, ready on first login |
Privacy and Security | GoDaddy | WAF and daily backups at base WordPress price |
Server Locations | Cloudways | 150+ cities across 50+ countries |
