Wix vs. GoDaddy: Two Big Names, Only One Choice

Tech, as tech goes, is continuously improving and constantly growing. One piece of tech that is on the up is cloud computing.

Not only cloud computing, but shared hosting and dedicated hosting are expected to grow also. Shared hosting will likely grow at 10.3 percent per year, while dedicated hosting will likely grow by 5.6 percent per year. Those are some big numbers if you ask me.

But, which provider should you choose? Web hosting is excellent and all, but the choice can sometimes be overwhelming. For instance, should you choose Wix or maybe GoDaddy? Well, this article will help you decide just that. Namely, I will compare both providers in many aspects, which will help you decide which one is the better option for you. Also, at the end of the article, I will declare a winner.

I did not start this vendor vs. vendor series for nothing. I know that many people are all too familiar with the difficult task of choosing a web hosting provider. So, I am here to help.

Sometimes (more often than not), most people go with the cheapest provider they can find. Hey, there is nothing wrong with that, but you have to think longer. Namely, it is more likely that a more expensive provider will suit you better in the long run. But, worry not. This article will help you avoid that mistake and explore your options in detail.

So, let’s discover which provider is faster, more user-friendly, has better features, and of course, the pricing situation. Also, if you are wondering whether Wix or GoDaddy is faster or whether one outperforms the other, you have come to the right place.

A Little About the Providers

Let’s start with the basics. GoDaddy is the grandpa of web hosting providers since it has been around since 1997. It has its headquarters in Tempe, Arizona, United States. So, when we do the math, GoDaddy has been around for 24 years now. And, during those 24 years, it has amassed over 20 million customers from all over the world.

It is one of the biggest and most popular web hosting providers out there. Most people know GoDaddy from its advertising on TV and in newspapers. And, since the provider has been around the block quite a few times, it has its fair share of experience.

Wix is a newer provider that has been around since 2006. Its headquarters are in Tel Aviv – Yafo, Israel. However, being a more recent entity has not stopped Wix from reaching many people worldwide. The provider has amassed over 200 million users, and this number increases every day. It has reached people in 190 different countries worldwide. Now those are quite some stats.

GoDaddy has a few different plans for WordPress hosting. It starts with the Basic plan, which provides the essentials for WordPress. Next is the Deluxe plan, which comes with an SEO optimizer and a one-click testing site. The Ultimate plan comes with unlimited malware removal and hack repair in addition to the other features mentioned. Finally, the eCommerce plan has unlimited products, appointment scheduling, real-time shipping rates, and free access to top premium WooCommerce extensions.

In addition to all of those, GoDaddy provides a website builder, an online store builder, domains, website security, email, and Microsoft 365.

Wix, on the other hand, has slightly different features. It is famous for website building, but it offers web hosting too. Also, Wix provides over 800 designs, made website templates, an Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) product, advanced web development, a logo maker, editing tools, and domains. In addition to those, it has an SEO toolset, website security, an online store builder, dropshipping, and numerous business tools.

When it comes to features, both providers offer a broad range. However, Wix’s range is slightly more comprehensive. Nonetheless, let’s dive in deeper and compare the most important factors that will help you choose the right provider!

GoDaddy Aces This Speed Test

The first factor I am going to cover is the server network. A provider’s server network determines the uptime and speed that your website will have. In turn, uptime and speed are two of the most critical factors for any website. Thus, before you do anything, you need to know about a provider’s server network.

GoDaddy has 37,000 servers across nine data center facilities. It has its own data center in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, while the other eight are in the U.S.A., Europe, and Asia. However, GoDaddy is not very transparent when it comes to its data center facilities.

However, GoDaddy allows you to choose where you want to store your data. More specifically, it allows you to select the continent but not the exact location. So, the country or city is undisclosed.

When uptime is concerned, GoDaddy has a 99.99 percent uptime guarantee. The 99.99 percent of uptime guarantee that you might experience a downtime of only four minutes monthly. What is best, GoDaddy offers a 5 percent credit of the monthly payment if your website experienced downtime of more than four minutes. The only thing you need to do is to request credit from the provider. On average, GoDaddy has an average uptime of 99.97 percent, which is not bad at all.

GoDaddy also supports Cloudflare–a Content Delivery Network (CDN). It ensures a high level of performance. Also, the Cloudflare CDN minimizes latency and increases engagement.

GoDaddy has an average load time of 171.1 ms, which is considered super fast. Its speed makes it an A+ ranked hosting provider.

Wix has data servers all over the world. In addition to servers in the U.S., the provider also has servers in Europe. Also, Wix has multiple backup servers. The provider has an uptime of 99.9 percent. Just like GoDaddy, Wix does not disclose where its data center facilities are, unfortunately. Also, Wix hosts websites on a global content delivery network (CDN).

Wix states that its priorities are maintaining its servers and ensuring all the data can be retrieved and restored if need be. However, the provider claims that events where backup and restoration might be needed, are unlikely.

If you have visitors mainly from Europe or the U.S., your website will load a little faster compared to visitors from other continents or countries. Also, an important thing to know about Wix is that you cannot choose a server location.

All in all, when it comes to uptime and speed, GoDaddy is superior to Wix.

Which Is the Safer Option?

The second factor that you need to take into consideration is a provider’s security features. It is just as much, if not more important than the speed, and uptime of your website. That is because every website, online store, blog, etc… works with information like financial information, visitor data, and other private information. Thus, most online entities are often the victims of cyber attacks or threats. Therefore, you must know as much as you can about a provider’s security.

First up, GoDaddy. GoDaddy offers many security features. Namely, it provides SSL Certificates, Website Security, Website Backup, and Managed SSL Service services. However, security comes at a price. On the upside, GoDaddy gives a 30-day money-back guarantee for SSL protection. Also, it provides automatic WordPress updates, backups for your website, removal and malware checks, and one-click restore from backups.

Wix also has a wide array of protection tools available. It offers tools like an SSL Certificate, Level 1 PCI Compliant, ISO 27001 and 27018 Certificates, TLS 1.2, DDoS Protection, Website Security Monitoring, Two-step Verification, Centralized Website Security, and GDPR and CCPA. All of those tools are built into every Wix website.

Also, Wix prevents hacking in an interesting way. Namely, after internal testing, they commission freelance security experts to hack their system to see what improvements could be made. In other words, they prevent hacking by getting others to try and hack them and see what their weak spots are—an innovative approach, to say the least.

Now let’s see how both providers are doing in the backup sector.

First and foremost, if you want a backup for your website with GoDaddy (which you should, no matter the provider), you need to pay extra. GoDaddy’s backup plans include daily backups, on-demand (scheduled) backups, and fast one-click restores. Also, it offers daily virus scanning, ongoing security monitoring, and secure cloud storage in its Website Backup plans. If you buy Website Backup, you will also get file, folder, or whole database backups, downloads to local storage, and 24/7 customer support.

With Wix, if you want to save your data, you need to do it yourself. However, you can duplicate your site whenever you want. The duplicated site will serve as a manual backup which will not be updated when you update your original site. Also, if you want to use Wix Site Backup, you need to have a Premium Plan. However, that applies to website building.

When it comes to web hosting, Wix offers continuous automatic backups. And the best part, it is free of charge.

Overall, Wix is the winner in this one, both in the security and backups sections.

Other Features – Web Hosting Servers

Now that I covered the essential factors you need to consider when choosing a provider let’s compare services. Namely, now I will compare the providers’ web hosting services. I will not be comparing services such as dedicated hosting and VPS, as Wix only offers web hosting.

Web Hosting Plans

In regards to web hosting plans, Wix has better features than GoDaddy. However, if you need more than shared web hosting, like VPS or dedicated hosting then GoDaddy is for you. If not, Wix is the better choice.

The Simplicity of Use

Ease of use is a feature that most providers tend to have. However, some are easier to use than others. Being user-friendly is vital for every provider because not everyone is a coder or software developer. So, the easier a provider is to use, the more clients it will attract.

GoDaddy provides its users with a very straightforward control panel. Also, it has an in-house drag-and-drop website builder. So, if you are a beginner, the builder will simplify the process for you. The setting up process is pretty simple, and everything you need is in one place.

Wix might prove a bit more complicated for beginners. That is because Wix offers a broader array of features and options than GoDaddy. However, Wix has an AI-powered design engine–Wix  Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI). The ADI can generate a whole website for you based on the answers you give to some questions. Also, like GoDaddy, Wix has a drag-and-drop feature that will let you customize everything and move whatever you want around.

So, when it comes to ease of use, both providers are great. However, if you need a more simple website that you can build faster, go with GoDaddy. But if you need a more customized website with many features, then Wix is definitely for you.

Who Offers Better Help?

Good customer support can be found in most places. However, excellent customer support is what we are looking for here. Or at least should. What makes customer support ideal is being able to reach your provider at all times via multiple channels. Also, your provider should be patient with you and answer all your questions in a friendly way.

Both Wix and GoDaddy offer expertise to their clients and are available 24/7, which is excellent. Also, both can be reached via email, phone, and forum.

Wix also has a Help Center where you can find guides and tutorials. It resembles a search engine. All you need to do is search for what you need, and multiple resources will pop up. However, there is a downside or two. Namely, Wix does not have live chat support.

Also, you might wait quite a long time for someone to answer the phone or reply to an email. On the upside, though, the agents are friendly, kind, and knowledgeable when they respond.

GoDaddy, on the other hand, has it all. From support via email to phone calls, forums, and live chat. It also has a Help Center filled with many self-help resources that can help you. And if that was not enough, there are many online tutorials out there for GoDaddy-related inquiries.

But, the race is not over yet. Wix has one more trick up its sleeve. Namely, it has in-editor support. So, if you experience a bump while you are editing, you can click on the question mark bubble on your screen, and you will find a solution. Thus, you will not even need to leave the editor and search for resources somewhere else.

Both providers have excellent customer support. Therefore, I can not declare a clear winner. So, I say – it is a tie!

About the Financials

Now it is time to see how much money you would potentially spend on both of the providers.

Before I begin, I have to mention something that might come as music to your ears. Namely, with Wix, you can create your own site and host it–for free. Now, you might wonder why you would pay for anything if you could do that for free. Well, there might come a time when you need more storage, connect your own domain, remove Wix ads, or sell online. And when the time comes, you can get all of that with Wix Premium.

Wix offers four different Premium plans. Without having a Premium plan, in addition to creating and hosting your site for free, you will get hundreds of templates and unlimited pages.

Wix offers prices on an annual basis, and you need to pay them in full at the time of your purchase. Also, you should know that the prices do not include taxes. Taxes are determined according to your billing address, and you can see how much you will pay on the purchase page before you complete the payment.

However, none of these plans include online sales. If you want to accept online payments, you have to choose one of the three Business & E-commerce plans Wix offers.

GoDaddy also offers a free plan. With the free plan, you can create one website and keep it forever. Usually, most people start with the free plan and see if they need to upgrade later. If you need more features along the way, you will have to switch to a paid plan.

GoDaddy is a lot cheaper than Wix. It also offers four different paid plans, which you can get on three-month, annual, two-year, and three-year terms. The yearly plans are as follows:

• Economy at $6.99/month
• Deluxe at $9.99/month
• Ultimate at $14.99/month
• Maximum at $22.99/month

The prices at GoDaddy increase after one year when you need to renew the plan. So, the first-time prices are lower, and then you have new prices, which you will pay after your subscription ends.

The new prices are as follows:

• Economy at $8.99/month
• Deluxe at $11.99/month
• Ultimate at $16.99/month
• Maximum at $24.99/month

So, the prices increase by 2 dollars after your first-time annual subscription ends.

When refunds are in question, Wix has a 14-day money-back guarantee. So, if you end up being unsatisfied or realize that the free plan is enough for you, you can get your money back in full.

GoDaddy offers a 30-day money-back guarantee if you purchase an annual plan. However, if you buy a monthly plan, the money-back guarantee lasts 48 hours.

Now let’s see how you can earn from these providers.

With GoDaddy’s affiliate program, you can make as much as 15 percent as an affiliate. As an affiliate, you can choose from 100 links to promote and sell.

You can sell products that include domains, websites, Web Hosting, SSL Security, WordPress, Microsoft 365, and Professional Email.

Wix also offers a great affiliate program. Namely, you can earn $100+ per sale! I must say, that is quite the offer. At Wix, you see their Premium Plans, and the more you sell, the more you earn. To become a Wix affiliate, you need to apply for an affiliate account, sell, and earn.

Also, Wix offers creative resources which you can use in your sales pitches. Not only that, but you can also create a dashboard where you can manage your campaigns, view statistics, customize reports, check payments, and more.

Both providers sure did put up a good fight. However, in the end, Wix takes the win. It simply has more to offer. From more features to better value, Wix is the absolute winner in my book.

Wix is more powerful than GoDaddy, and you can customize your website until your eyes pop out. However, GoDaddy is not an unworthy opponent. It makes up for a lot of its shortcomings with its exceptional speed.

So, if you are not in a rush and want a beautiful website that you can upgrade at any time, there is no doubt that Wix is for you.