GoDaddy vs. FatCow (2020)

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Ryan Frankel Ryan Frankel Hosting Expert
“We tested GoDaddy & FatCow — The winner is GoDaddy!”

Here we have two iconic brands in hosting. If you’ve been in the web or tech industries for longer than five or 10 years, you’ve quite possibly been a customer of one, if not both, of these providers. As the #1 domain name registrar, GoDaddy is a driving force behind millions of websites out there, and FatCow has been making potential customers smile with their whimsical website touting feel-good services since the early 2000s.

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GoDaddy review
Overall Rating
4.7/5.0 ★★★★★
Visit GoDaddy »
FatCow review
Overall Rating
4.6/5.0 ★★★★★
Visit FatCow »
Compare: Overall | Cheap Hosting | Dedicated | VPS | WordPress | Site Builder | Conclusion

Overall Hosting Comparison

GoDaddy review

Best Overall Rating

★★★★★ 4.7/5.0

GoDaddy is exceptionally well-known in the hosting space, typically serving as site owners' introduction to the world of web hosting. The company makes it incredibly easy and affordable for folks to choose... read more +

GoDaddy is exceptionally well-known in the hosting space, typically serving as site owners' introduction to the world of web hosting. The company makes it incredibly easy and affordable for folks to choose a domain name, sign up for hosting, and start building their online business or personal web property. While known for its domain, email, and shared hosting services, GoDaddy offers options for virtual and dedicated servers as well. The company makes the upgrade process as seamless as possible, so you shouldn't shy away from scaling your site as your business needs grow; GoDaddy is a hosting home that will grow alongside you.

The user control options are pretty popular in the hosting space: your choice between the easy-to-use cPanel or Plesk control panels, plus root (administrative) access for more tech-savvy customers. If you're particularly interested in webmail, GoDaddy offers an intuitive interface for keeping up with the unlimited email accounts you have available to you as a customer. All of this can be easily accessed and secured with your GoDaddy login info that you receive upon sign-up.

Customer support has been a focus of the GoDaddy team of late. Today, the team has an award-winning collection of experts on staff, readily available to handle customer support tickets and emails 24 hours a day, seven days a week. While they're on hand to talk you through any issues, they're also keeping an eye on your server (as well as other clients sharing your server). The company's around-the-clock security monitoring enables GoDaddy to guarantee uptime rates of 99.9% or better. This uptime rate is by no means outstanding in the industry, but for most end users, it's all that's required.

The bottom line is this: GoDaddy is a go-to domain web host for millions of users worldwide for a reason. The company maintains an ever-expanding network of users by offering blazing-fast load times, award-winning security and support, and a free domain name when you sign up for a year-long plan. It's a great hosting deal, particularly for first-timers and small businesses owners, at a really great price point.

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  • Industry-leading load times
  • Award-winning support and security
  • World's #1 Domain Name Registrar
  • Choice of cPanel or Plesk included
  • 99.9% uptime guaranteed
  • Get started on GoDaddy now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
100 GB - Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)
FatCow review

Best Overall Rating

★★★★★ 4.6/5.0

Having some of the most affordable shared hosting out there, plus plenty of extras, warrants FatCow be on our list of top web hosts overall. Their customer service, performance, and focus on environmental... read more +

Having some of the most affordable shared hosting out there, plus plenty of extras, warrants FatCow be on our list of top web hosts overall. Their customer service, performance, and focus on environmental responsibility leave you feeling good about yourself and your website.

Though their hardware isn’t super modern like some of the other hosts, speeds are decent and very reliable. 24/7 phone and email support is there for you every step of the way, should you run into any issues.

Don’t be fooled by their lower price, their feature-rich offerings are adequate for many users, particularly first-timers. Website builders with eCommerce and a free domain get you started quickly and easily; unlimited disk space, bandwidth, and emails give you room to grow.

If you are looking for a low-priced web host with a good feature set and you love cow puns, look no further than FatCow.

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  • FREE domain name
  • Included point-and-click website builders
  • 24/7 support
  • Unlimited disk space, bandwidth, emails, and databases
  • GREEN: Powered 100% by wind energy
  • Get started on FatCow now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

Cheap Hosting Comparison

GoDaddy review

Cheap Rating

★★★★★ 4.8/5.0

A major pull factor for GoDaddy's hosting services is certainly the cost. It's hard to beat web hosting for a dollar per month, especially when the company includes a free domain name, control panel, and... read more +

A major pull factor for GoDaddy's hosting services is certainly the cost. It's hard to beat web hosting for a dollar per month, especially when the company includes a free domain name, control panel, and impressively fast load times. The company makes it not only affordable but super easy to get started — for first-timers, bloggers, business owners, and others.

You can choose a GoDaddy hosting plan based on your exact needs, with a range of options for storage, email, processing power, and other resources. If your site grows to need scalable and/or dedicated resources, the company's team makes that transition easy. Virtual and dedicated servers can be provisioned in minutes, with root and cPanel access, and no re-provisioning is required for upgrades. All GoDaddy plans are equipped with the user control of cPanel (or Plesk, if you prefer). From cPanel, you can easily install and set up popular web applications for blogging and/or ecommerce.

A big name in the budget web hosting space, GoDaddy is consistently improving the performance of its servers, website, and services to offer a great customer experience. With cPanel control and 1-click installations for standard web apps, you can get your website up and running quickly. The company's 24/7 security monitoring and DDoS protection allow you the comfort in knowing the professionals are making sure your site is online, loading quickly, and hacker-free. That power and peace of mind — at such a low price point — is quite a value deal.

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  • World's top registrar offers a FREE domain with hosting
  • Industry-leading page load times for your site
  • Unlimited bandwidth with up to unlimited storage space
  • Choose between cPanel or Plesk control panels
  • Award-winning support on hand 24/7
  • Get started on GoDaddy now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
100 GB - Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)
FatCow review

Cheap Rating

★★★★★ 4.5/5.0

#8 out of 10 in Cheap Hosting reviews

FatCow is one of the better budget hosts out there. They offer great hosting features and server performance for a low price. They are also the feel-good host of the list, with a cute, pun-filled site... read more +

FatCow is one of the better budget hosts out there. They offer great hosting features and server performance for a low price. They are also the feel-good host of the list, with a cute, pun-filled site running 100% on eco-friendly wind power; however, don’t for a second think they aren’t serious about great hosting.

New users will love the inclusion of a domain name, unlimited email addresses, and a website builder with eCommerce support. Included integration with popular merchant accounts get you one step closer to selling online. All of it is wrapped up nicely in a simple-to-use control panel, cPanel.

All users will love what they call the "Script Barn," which allows for 1-click installation of popular open-source apps and scripts like WordPress, Joomla, phpBB, and more.

FatCow is a fantastic budget host, with high-budget features and flexibility with which you can easily grow your site.

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  • Included domain name
  • CGI, PHP, Python, Perl, Ruby, and MySQL support
  • 1-click script installs
  • Access to website builders with eCommerce cart
  • 60% off for joining today
  • Get started on FatCow now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

Dedicated Hosting Comparison

GoDaddy review

Dedicated Rating

★★★★★ 4.1/5.0

GoDaddy dedicated server hosting plans feature managed support options, on-demand resources, and the intuitive user control of cPanel. The company offers plans for Linux and Windows users, with a variety... read more +

GoDaddy dedicated server hosting plans feature managed support options, on-demand resources, and the intuitive user control of cPanel. The company offers plans for Linux and Windows users, with a variety of options for operating systems, RAM, processing power, disk space, and hardware choices.

With award-winning security monitoring, GoDaddy support is not only available around the clock to help you troubleshoot issues with your server but the team is keeping an eye on your server status. The company offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee and premier DDoS protection, anti-hacking services, and other security add-ons. GoDaddy managed hosting customers benefit from the assurance that the experts will facilitate security patches, bug fixes, and site backups.

With resource configurations customized to meet your needs, GoDaddy offers dedicated server hosting that you can grow your business with — starting with scalable resources you won't need to re-provision your server for. The GoDaddy tech support team is available 24/7, guarding your site against malware, hackers, unexpected downtime, and DDoS threats; meanwhile, the company's support agents are handling any requests that come through the chat portal or email system. With on-demand resources and industry-leading page load speeds, GoDaddy is a dedicated host worthy of your consideration.

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  • Dedicated resources provisioned in minutes, not hours
  • Maximum performance and data protection with RAID 1 disk mirroring
  • Total administrative control with root access, plus cPanel control panel
  • Three levels of server management plans available
  • No resource restrictions or re-provisioning as you upgrade
  • Get started on GoDaddy now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
1 TB - 2 TB
Domain Name
FREE (w/ annual plans)
FatCow review

Dedicated Rating

★★★★★ 4.2/5.0

#10 out of 10 in Dedicated Hosting reviews

If you want maximum performance and security for your site, and a host with a customer- and environmentally friendly company, FatCow should be at the top of your list of prospective web hosts. ... read more +

If you want maximum performance and security for your site, and a host with a customer- and environmentally friendly company, FatCow should be at the top of your list of prospective web hosts.

When it comes to dedicated hosting features, FatCow has what you should be looking for: two to four CPU cores, 4GB to 16GB RAM, tons of bandwidth, and tons of mirrored storage. They also offer all these things at a very fair rate.

What really impresses us is the many customer-first policies they have. The first that comes to mind is the "predictable pricing model," meaning they don’t financially penalize you for usage overages, nor simply shut you down. Their servers are built on cloud-based architecture, so there is always room to grow and scale with FatCow as your demands increase. Finally, their monthly billing rates are very reasonable when compared to their yearly, which is great for those who are not ready to make a long-term commitment just to save a few dollars.

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  • Fully managed servers
  • RAID 1 mirrored storage for data protection
  • Cloud-based flexibility and scalability
  • Predictable monthly costs with no overage charges
  • 3 dedicated IP addresses per plan
  • Get started on FatCow now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
500 GB - 1 TB
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

VPS Hosting Comparison

GoDaddy review

VPS Rating

★★★★★ 3.8/5.0

If you're looking to grow and scale your website — you currently need, expect to need, or want the option to require scalable resources on-demand, GoDaddy has you covered. The company has strong options... read more +

If you're looking to grow and scale your website — you currently need, expect to need, or want the option to require scalable resources on-demand, GoDaddy has you covered. The company has strong options for virtual private servers alongside its well-known shared server offerings. Upgrading to any of these options is a relatively seamless process, which extends all the way to dedicated servers.

Dev folks will be pleased to hear that GoDaddy offers root access, so you can install PHP, modules, and proxy servers via the command line with ease. Plans also include cPanel, so you can easily manage your hosting service with a graphical interface. Meanwhile, the GoDaddy team will monitor your server 24/7, including handling patches and backups should you select one of the company's managed plan options.

The GoDaddy name may not immediately bring VPS hosting to mind. Nonetheless, GoDaddy's cloud and virtual server offerings include the security, support, and value combination that together embodies the GoDaddy reputation in the hosting space. The company gives you everything you need to scale your web presence.

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  • Designed to handle traffic with Linux or Windows operating systems
  • Provision your server in minutes, with root access and cPanel included
  • Easy upgrades, with tons of SiteLock security add-ons
  • Unlimited bandwidth and lots of processing power
  • FREE managed services for patching, monitoring, and backups
  • Get started on GoDaddy now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
40 GB - 240 GB
Domain Name
FREE (w/ annual plans)
FatCow review

VPS Rating

★★★★★ 4.3/5.0

#9 out of 9 in VPS Hosting reviews

FatCow offers very customer-friendly VPS plans with a lot of storage for the price. If you are looking for a reliable host, with great support and a lot of disk space, give FatCow a serious look. ... read more +

FatCow offers very customer-friendly VPS plans with a lot of storage for the price. If you are looking for a reliable host, with great support and a lot of disk space, give FatCow a serious look.

FatCow’s VPS plans are all fully managed and come with cPanel for ease of use. They take the hassle out of installing software like Apache and MySQL and handle the hardware monitoring for you. We also appreciate the plethora of pre-installed scripts.

Arguably the most feel-good host on our list, FatCow’s datacenters and offices are 100% powered by eco-friendly wind power. They also want the best for their clients' sites and do not penalize with overage charges, should your site exceed its limits.

Founded in 1998, FatCow has been in the hosting industry for a long time. Don’t let their cheeky image throw you though; they are committed to providing excellent service and value in their hosting packages. If you are looking for a nice VPS hosting solution with a lot of storage, check FatCow Out.

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  • Instantly deploy and scale
  • Predictable monthly costs with no overage fees
  • Guaranteed RAM and resources
  • Fully managed, monitoring site load and any issues
  • Anytime money-back guarantee
  • Get started on FatCow now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
40 GB - 120 GB
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

WordPress Hosting Comparison

GoDaddy review

WordPress Rating

★★★★★ 4.7/5.0

Upon first getting started with GoDaddy, customers who sign up for an annual plan receive a free domain name and the power to control their hosting via cPanel or Plesk control panels. From either of these... read more +

Upon first getting started with GoDaddy, customers who sign up for an annual plan receive a free domain name and the power to control their hosting via cPanel or Plesk control panels. From either of these interfaces, you can quickly install and set up the WordPress environment in one click at no additional cost.

GoDaddy plans with WordPress feature managed services, which means you don't have to worry about tedious details of maintaining the server on which your site is hosted. While you're busy adding content, photos, or products to your WordPress site, GoDaddy ensures that your web pages are loading quickly and attackers are staying away. GoDaddy offers award-winning security practices, including DDoS protection, 24/7 server monitoring, and peace of mind.

Folks seeking a WordPress website are in need of the WordPress install itself, the domain at which to host the site, and as many easy-to-use features for managing the WordPress site as possible. GoDaddy offers all of the above: the 1-click install, domain, email, security monitoring, and hosting management power via cPanel. Especially for the low cost, GoDaddy is a strong choice for WordPress hosting.

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  • 1-click WordPress installs via cPanel or Plesk control panels
  • Enjoy a FREE domain from the world's #1 registrar
  • Experience 24/7 expert support
  • Award-winning security monitoring
  • FREE year of Office 365 business email services
  • Get started on GoDaddy now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
100 GB - Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)
FatCow review

WordPress Rating

★★★★★ 4.5/5.0

#10 out of 10 in WordPress Hosting reviews

FatCow is a good, budget-minded option for those looking to host their WordPress site. With two choices (WP Starter or WP Essential), you can choose the hosting package that best fits your budget. With... read more +

FatCow is a good, budget-minded option for those looking to host their WordPress site. With two choices (WP Starter or WP Essential), you can choose the hosting package that best fits your budget. With either plan, you are offered a free domain, plus unlimited transfers and disk space, which is nice.

Their WP Essential plan, the more expensive of the two plans, benefits from an all-SSD infrastructure, which provides greater speeds than their WP Starter package. Enhanced security from SiteLock is also added, which virtually eliminates malware. 24/7 phone support is included on this plan, so if you find yourself needing a little help now and then, I would consider this package over WP Starter.

For the brave or the capable minds on a budget, the WP Starter plan may work for you. Though lacking some of the extras and support of the bigger package, their WP Starter plan is one of the least expensive WordPress hosts you can find. Both plans come with pre-installed plugins and curated themes to get your site up and running sooner.

FatCow is a great budget WordPress web hosting solution. They offer great hosting features and decent server performance for a low price.

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  • Curated themes and pre-installed plugins
  • Unlimited disk Space, bandwidth, and email accounts
  • Choice of two value-based hosting packages
  • Premium plan formore speed, security, and support
  • FREE domain with registration
  • Get started on FatCow now.
Money Back Guarantee
Anytime
Disk Space
Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

Site Builder Hosting Comparison

GoDaddy review

Website Builder Rating

★★★★★ 4.5/5.0

GoDaddy uses a custom website builder and easy access to dozens of content management systems to offer a user-friendly site-building solution to customers. Most of GoDaddy's hosting plans include these... read more +

GoDaddy uses a custom website builder and easy access to dozens of content management systems to offer a user-friendly site-building solution to customers. Most of GoDaddy's hosting plans include these options at no additional cost. Plus, if you sign up for an annual hosting plan, this world-leading domain name registrar will include your website's new domain for free.

The company's site-builder and CMS options are easy to use, including a lot of options for customization and one-click installations. While you worry about making your website beautiful and professional-looking, the GoDaddy team is working around the clock to ensure your site will remain online and performing speedily. The company's award-winning security team monitors the server supporting your website — keeping an eye out for downtime, hackers, and other security threats. The end result is their uptime guarantee of 99.9%, which isn't much in the hosting world, but it does the job for most users.

The bottom line is that for a mere dollar per month you can get started with GoDaddy's website builder plan and choose from hundreds of theme options to start designing the site of your dreams.

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  • FREE site builder included with most hosting plans
  • Easy-to-use interface with tons of customization options available
  • 24/7 expert support via phone, email, and ticketing system
  • 99.9% uptime with an award-winning team monitoring your site and server
  • Step-by-step walkthroughs
  • Get started on GoDaddy now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
100 GB - Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)
FatCow review

Website Builder Rating

★★★★★ 4.7/5.0

#8 out of 9 in Website Builder Hosting reviews

Aimed at the low-budget customer, FatCow gets you online in only a few minutes for only a few dollars. While pretty limited at their lowest price, if you need a very simple website with only a few web... read more +

Aimed at the low-budget customer, FatCow gets you online in only a few minutes for only a few dollars. While pretty limited at their lowest price, if you need a very simple website with only a few web pages, it’s hard to argue with FatCow's value.

Using the CM4All drag-and-drop website builder, you can get a site online pretty quickly. Though their base plan is limited to only six pages, their other plans, with more support, are still very reasonable. Each plan comes with a free domain name, which saves you the trouble of purchasing one separately and waiting for name servers to propagate.

For those looking for a little more, FatCow offers support for popular blog and CMS software such as WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and others. Integrated galleries and forums are also available. Finally, FatCow give you advertising credits towards sites like Google, Bing, and Facebook to get the ball rolling on your site’s exposure.

If you are on a budget and in need of a small, simple webpage today, with options to grow in the future, check out FatCow’s site builder offerings.

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  • Easily build a 6-page site
  • CM4All drag-and-drop website builder
  • FREE domain name
  • Compatible with WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and others
  • $250 in advertising credits
  • Get started on FatCow now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
2 GB
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

GoDaddy vs. FatCow - Our Conclusion

Ryan Frankel Ryan Frankel Hosting Expert
“We tested GoDaddy & FatCow — The winner is GoDaddy!”

Here, the call is clear: If you want domains, or you’re interested in long-term scale or growth, GoDaddy is probably your best fit. If a low-cost, no-frills hosting solution is what you’re aiming for, go the FatCow route. The good news with either contender is you’ll be getting a host with a longstanding reputation in the industry. We wish you luck!

GoDaddy review
Overall Rating
4.7/5.0 ★★★★★
Visit GoDaddy »
FatCow review
Overall Rating
4.6/5.0 ★★★★★
Visit FatCow »

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