Weebly vs. GoDaddy (2024)

Alexandra Anderson

By: Alexandra Anderson

Alexandra Anderson

Alexandra Anderson, Contributing Expert

Alexandra is a web marketer, Agile Product Owner, and die-hard wordsmith who's contributed to HostingAdvice, InMotion Hosting, HostGator, and other prominent hosting and technology blogs, as well as Forbes. She has a master's degree in information technology from Virginia Tech and more than 10 years of experience building websites, advising on web and mobile app design, and crafting content that engages and converts. Her primary subject matter expertise spans WordPress, UX design, Agile project management, and, of course, web hosting.

Lillian Castro

Editor: Lillian Castro

Lillian Castro

Lillian Castro, Senior Editor

Lillian brings more than 30 years of editing and journalism experience to our team. She has written and edited for major news organizations, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the New York Times, and she previously served as an adjunct instructor at the University of Florida. Today, she edits HostingAdvice content for clarity, accuracy, and reader engagement.

Cristian Lopez

Reviewer: Cristian Lopez

Cristian Lopez

Cristian Lopez, Contributing Expert

Cristian Lopez uses his Business Marketing background from the University of Illinois at Chicago to create comfortable environments for customers, clients, and colleagues to share their thoughts and ideas openly. From interviewing tech leaders to conducting UX market research projects, Cristian knows the importance of storytelling — a key variable for innovation and inspiration. His goal at HostingAdvice is to wow readers on the ever-evolving nature of the tech industry and bring his audience the most reliable and exciting content on all things hosting.

Sean Garrity Alexandra Anderson Hosting Expert
“We tested Weebly & GoDaddy — The winner is Weebly!”

You can hire a general contractor to fix just about anything in your house. Whether you have trouble with basic plumbing or want new kitchen cabinets installed, a general contractor has you covered. But if you have a more complex issue, such as a leaky roof, you would need to hire a roofing company. GoDaddy and Weebly have a similar relationship to each other. GoDaddy is similar to a general contractor — they do everything, including shared, VPS, dedicated hosting, and website building. At the same time, Weebly’s specialty is its drag-and-drop website builder. Read our host comparison to see the pros and cons of each provider.

Overall Rating
4.9/5.0 ★★★★★
Visit Weebly »
Overall Rating
4.9/5.0 ★★★★★
Visit GoDaddy »

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Overall Hosting Comparison

Best Overall Rating

★★★★★ 4.9/5.0

If you're new to the world of web design and site creation, Weebly is just the thing to ease you into establishing your personal or professional web presence.

Best-known for the browser-based, drag-and-drop website editor available for free online, the Weebly software is now available as a value-add on some of the web's leading hosting plans.

Whether you sign up for fully hosted Weebly.com directly or opt for a Weebly-friendly plan with a third-party host, this interface is ideal for first-time site owners.

Website builders all begin with a theme, and the Weebly website carries hundreds of beautiful, creative website templates that can be customized to meet your intended aesthetic. 

You can select text, images, buttons, product displays, and other site elements from the interface sidebar. Simply drag the item into place and adjust as needed.

Although sites hosted on the free Weebly.com plan will display Weebly ads and come with a Weebly.com subdomain, all paid plans are ad-free with a complimentary domain name.

Free plan users get 500MB of storage while all other plan holders feel the freedom of unlimited bandwidth and storage. If you're an aspiring online store owner, know that ecommerce features advance with each plan upgrade.

While the option to display up to 10 products with a 3% transaction fee comes standard, you can get up to unlimited products, zero transaction fees, and advanced shipping and inventory options with higher-tier packages. Weebly is wonderful for beginners.

Once you outgrow the basic plans, it would behoove you to consider migrating to a host that includes Weebly in its packages. It'll be more cost-effective as your site traffic and revenue increase. 

  • Online web builder lets you design with ease
  • Hundreds of FREE professional-grade themes
  • Sell unlimited products for your online store
  • FREE tools for SEO, stats, and capturing leads
  • Support via phone, chat, and email
  • Get started on Weebly now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
500 MB - Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (w/ paid plans)

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 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.

Pre-built templates come with the hosting company's basic WordPress offering, or upgrade to managed WordPress services for top support or help with your online store.

The company makes the migration 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. Each email account comes with 256-bit encryption and enhanced privacy protection.

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 phone calls and messages 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Luxury services like WordPress Premium Support and Website Security also add support ticketing functionality. While GoDaddy is on hand to talk you through any issues, the team is also keeping an eye on your server (as well as other clients sharing your server).

The hosting provider'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 registration when you sign up for a year-long plan.

It's a great hosting deal, particularly for first-timers and small business owners, at a really great price point.

  • 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
25 GB - 100 GB
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

Cheap Hosting Comparison

Cheap Rating

★★★★★ 4.6/5.0

Weebly is a well-known name in the cheap shared hosting space — not necessarily due to competitive pricing but because several of the web's leading low-cost hosting providers have opted to include Weebly software for free, adding value to their existing offerings.

It's worth noting Weebly does offer a free plan, but websites are found on a Weebly subdomain and display Weebly advertising. By simply upgrading to the basic Starter plan, website owners get access to unlimited storage, the popular WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) builder, a free domain name, and no ads.

The free perks add up as you migrate up the tiers of Weebly packages. Highest-tier plan subscribers enjoy community membership benefits, the option to use a video as your site background, password-protected pages, and advanced ecommerce features.

While Weebly online store plans are not economically on par with the top-recommended hosting plans for online store owners, they make everything you could possibly need to launch an online marketplace accessible and user-friendly.

If you're looking for a feature-rich site-building solution for less than $15 a month, you've stumbled onto a fantastic choice. We recommend the Weebly platform to first-time site owners and anyone in a hurry to get a site online quickly.

  • All-in-one hosting and drag-and-drop builder
  • Start designing for FREE, upgrade whenever
  • Easily build a blog, personal site, or online store
  • 100s of FREE templates for websites
  • $100 credit toward Google advertising
  • Get started on Weebly now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
500 MB - Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (w/ paid plans)

Cheap Rating

★★★★★ 4.5/5.0

A major pull factor for GoDaddy's hosting services is certainly the cost. It's hard to beat web hosting for just a few dollars per month, especially when the company includes a free domain name, control panel, impressively fast load times, and unlimited websites with most plans.

The company makes it not only affordable but super easy to get started on a shared hosting plan — 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 disk space, 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 — but with most plans coming with unlimited storage and unmetered bandwidth, you should have plenty of room.

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.

We do wish the web hosting provider would include a free SSL certificate with each shared plan, however. All in all, the web hosting service comes with incredible power and peace of mind, at such a low price point, making GoDaddy quite a value deal.

  • Manage your domain and hosting under one roof
  • Choice of cPanel or Plesk control panels
  • Up to unlimited bandwidth and storage
  • Microsoft 365 inboxes included FREE for first year
  • Get 62% OFF by signing up today
  • Get started on GoDaddy now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
25 GB - 100 GB
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

Dedicated Hosting Comparison

Dedicated Rating

N/A

Weebly does not currently offer this type of hosting. We would not recommend choosing this host for this hosting category.

Dedicated Rating

★★★★★ 4.6/5.0

GoDaddy dedicated server hosting plans feature managed support options, on-demand resources, and the intuitive user control of cPanel and Plesk.

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. As a bare-metal solution, GoDaddy dedicated hosting gives customers 100% control over their server in a single-tenant environment.

Unlimited bandwidth is always nice, as is the ability to choose between high-capacity HDDs and high-speed SSDs for storage. Site owners can also choose to host their server in datacenters in U.S. or Europe.

With the optional fully managed services, 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. Each server comes with a free year of SSL certificate protection, and GoDaddy fully managed hosting customers benefit from the assurance that the experts will facilitate security patches and bug fixes regularly and on time.

Each dedicated hosting plan comes with Panopta monitoring for your server, application, and network services. Users can easily view uptime and system-level metrics like CPU, RAM, storage, or set up alerts and notifications.

With resource configurations customized to meet your needs, GoDaddy offers dedicated server hosting that you can grow your business with.

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 phone lines or chat portal.

With on-demand resources and industry-leading page load speeds, GoDaddy is a dedicated host worthy of your consideration.

  • Dedicated resources provisioned in minutes
  • Maximum performance and data protection with RAID-1 disk mirroring
  • Admin control via root access, cPanel, or Plesk
  • Choose from semi- or fully-managed services
  • Get 11% off of your first term
  • Get started on GoDaddy now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
500 GB SSD - 1 TB HDD (RAID-1)
Domain Name
New or Transfer

VPS Hosting Comparison

VPS Rating

N/A

Weebly does not currently offer this type of hosting. We would not recommend choosing this host for this hosting category.

VPS Rating

★★★★ 4.2/5.0

If you're looking to grow and scale your website, GoDaddy has you covered. Developers and web enthusiasts will be pleased to hear that GoDaddy offers root access, making it easy to install PHP modules, applications, stacks, and various customizations to fine-tune your virtual server for peak performance via the command line or remote desktop.

Plans also include a variety of control panels, led by cPanel and Plesk, so you can easily manage your hosting service with an intuitive graphical interface.

The surprisingly powerful virtual servers can have up to 32GB RAM and 400GB of SSD storage that boasts three times faster page loads. In addition to unlimited bandwidth and KVM virtualization, GoDaddy boasts global datacenters on four continents and tons of modern operating systems.

Choose from platforms like CentOS, Ubuntu, and Windows Server. Meanwhile, the GoDaddy team will monitor your server 24/7 to alert and ward off traffic with malicious intent. Customers will have to patch their operating system as needed, but GoDaddy provides around-the-clock hardware monitoring with failover solutions and snapshots to minimize downtime.

Panopta monitoring is also included with all semi- or fully managed VPS accounts, giving you a window into network and application services via easily configurable alerts and notifications.

The GoDaddy name may not immediately bring VPS hosting to mind. Nonetheless, GoDaddy's virtual server offerings include the security, support, worry-free fully managed services, and value combination that embodies the GoDaddy reputation in the hosting space.

For those who may not quite be ready to make the jump to a VPS plan, the hosting company's Business Hosting packages combine the best of both worlds: the amped-up power of a virtual private server with the ease and simplicity of shared hosting.

  • Designed to handle traffic with Linux or Windows
  • Admin access via root access, cPanel, and Plesk
  • High-speed SSDs and 99.9% uptime guarantee
  • Unlimited bandwidth and lots of processing power
  • Fully or semi-managed servers with optional control panel
  • Get started on GoDaddy now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
40 GB SSD - 200 GB SSD
Domain Name
New or Transfer

WordPress Hosting Comparison

WordPress Rating

N/A

Weebly does not currently offer this type of hosting. We would not recommend choosing this host for this hosting category.

WordPress Rating

★★★★ 4.4/5.0

#9 out of 9 in WordPress Hosting reviews

As champions of low-cost, high-impact hosting, GoDaddy understandably offers a slew of services geared for all levels of WordPress users.

Starting with the company's basic shared hosting services, which start at $6.99 per month, each GoDaddy customer who signs up for an annual plan receive a free domain name and the power to control their site via the 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's improved cPanel is configured with CageFS to protect your content and uses CloudLinux to keep your site's resources truly balanced.

While you're busy adding content, photos, or products to your WordPress site, GoDaddy ensures that your web pages are loading quickly.

More serious WordPress users may prefer to step up to the web host's suite of optimized WordPress hosting plans, which feature an automatically installed SSL certificate, backups, and daily malware scans.

Users can create and launch unlimited websites with most of these packages, and you can choose to automatically upgrade your plan as you need extra resources.

Even higher up, GoDaddy Pro Managed WordPress Hosting starts site owners with a delightful onboarding experience and one-click migration tool to make it easier than ever to get started.

Once you configure your free CDN and built-in caching, you can take advantage of daily backups, automatic core updates, pre-built sites, and a staging environment to ensure your WordPress website is picture perfect.

  • 1-click WordPress installs via cPanel or Plesk
  • 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
10 GB SSD - 30 GB SSD
Domain Name
FREE (1 year)

Site Builder Hosting Comparison

Website Builder Rating

★★★★★ 4.8/5.0

Weebly is in the elite clique of drag-and-drop website builders that includes WordPress and Wix.com. The platform is known for its feature-rich functionality that can be easily controlled by novices and seasoned site owners.

Our favorite part is that many of the top-recommended site builder hosts have actually opted to offer the Weebly software as their "free website builder included" offering. Nevertheless, you can sign up for a Weebly account and have your site hosted directly through Weebly.com.

If you're just getting started or simply dabbling with the idea of creating your own website from scratch, Weebly does offer a free plan; however, this is not conducive to professional site building as it includes ads and a Weebly.com subdomain.

Alternatively, premium plan subscribers get a free custom domain and an ad-free website that they can customize with themes and an intuitive drag-and-drop editor. If you're looking to display and sell products, you have the option to showcase 10, 25, or an unlimited number of items, depending on your chosen plan.

Weebly does charge a 3% transaction fee for those with lower-tier plans, but that requirement goes away when you upgrade to the Pro or Business plans.

We highly recommend the Weebly software. It's easy to get started and the drag-and-drop editor is about as beginner-friendly as it gets. Those who are on a time crunch and budget-minded, however, might consider using a Weebly-enabled hosting provider instead.

Either way, Weebly is an excellent choice for getting a beautiful web presence up and running.

  • Design your site with the popular drag-and-drop site builder
  • Fully hosted, drag-and-drop site-building and marketing
  • Choose from 100s of customizable, professional themes
  • Add contact forms and take RSVPs via apps
  • eCommerce-ready and SEO-friendly with built-in tools
  • Get started on Weebly now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
500 MB - Unlimited
Domain Name
FREE (w/ paid plans)

Website Builder Rating

★★★★★ 4.8/5.0

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 options at no additional cost. Plus, if you sign up for an annual hosting plan, this world-leading domain name registrar will include a GoDaddy domain for free.

The company's Websites + Marketing plans combine the GoDaddy website builder with built-in marketing tools to seamlessly integrate your website, social media, and online reviews to attract the most visitors.

Even better, you can get started for free! To unlock the full publishing power, though, plans start around $10 per month.

You can save money by signing up for a shared hosting account, which will point you toward easy-to-use content management systems like WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. You'll still get a lot of options for customizations and one-click installations but not quite the same drag-and-drop simplicity you'll find on most site builders.

Regardless of which you choose, the GoDaddy team is working around the clock to ensure your site will remain online and performing speedily while you worry about making your website beautiful and professional-looking.

The company's award-winning security team keeps an eye out for downtime, hackers, and other security threats.

The end result is their uptime guarantee of 99.9%, which does the job for most users.

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

  • Get started for FREE, no credit-card required
  • Easy-to-use interface with tons of customization
  • GoDaddy InSight™ provides tailored action plans
  • 99.9% uptime with an award-winning support team
  • Built-in marketing tools and expertise
  • Get started on GoDaddy now.
Money Back Guarantee
30 days
Disk Space
Unlimited
Domain Name
New or Transfer
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Weebly vs. GoDaddy - Our Conclusion

Sean Garrity Alexandra Anderson Hosting Expert
“We tested Weebly & GoDaddy — The winner is Weebly!”

Before selecting a host, you’ll need to decide what you want from your experience. If you prefer a host that does it all, GoDaddy is an excellent choice. You can’t go wrong with this host’s breadth of quality service. On the other hand, if you just want a straightforward site builder with built-in eCommerce and SEO tools, Weebly is a fantastic option. Whichever you choose, both hosts will be by your side throughout your site’s construction.

Overall Rating
4.9/5.0 ★★★★★
Visit Weebly »
Overall Rating
4.7/5.0 ★★★★★
Visit GoDaddy »

About The Author

Alexandra Anderson’s interest in website administration was sparked in her teens, priming her for a fast-paced career in managing, building, and contributing to online brands, including HostingAdvice, Forbes, and the blogs of prominent hosting providers. She brings firsthand experience reviewing web hosts, perfecting website design, optimizing content, and walking site owners through the steps that add up to a successful online presence. With a master's degree in information technology from Virginia Tech, she combines her extensive writing experience and technical understanding to unpack some of the most complex topics that daunt novice website owners, as well as the subjects that excite veteran technologists within the HostingAdvice readership.
Sean Garrity