GoDaddy and Wix are software solutions that help businesses create websites. These website-building platforms are similar in some ways and are used by various organizational personnel, such as website designers, social media managers, content managers, and administrative staff.
The company size, technical skill level of staff, and website complexity are considerations a business will use to determine which product to purchase. The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive listing of the similarities and differences to help organizations make the best decision. Each product has its unique features or tool set to accomplish website-building, and this is what we will explore.
Wix vs. GoDaddy comparison table
Decision-makers and developers will use the table to compare categories and the features in each category to help them understand the nuances of each software solution.
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Wix vs. GoDaddy: Pricing
The differences between Wix and GoDaddy start with pricing. Wix offers four business plans. GoDaddy’s starter package is Basic, and the other two are Premium and Commerce.
Wix pricing
- Free plan
- Light: $17/month (limited to 2GB of storage).
- Core: $29/month (provides 50GB of storage space).
- Business: $36/month (comes with a 100GB storage limitation).
- Business Elite: $159/month (including unlimited storage space).
Wix hosting prices have a decent range, which means it’s relatively easy to scale should you decide to upgrade or expand your website and services. They also have a free plan, though keep in mind that free plans are significantly limited in functionality.
GoDaddy pricing
- Basic: $9.99/month (limited to sending 100 marketing emails a month).
- Premium: $14.99/month (including basic features, capable of sending 25,000 marketing emails a month).
- Commerce: $20.99/month (includes all Premium resources, including sending 100,000 marketing emails a month).
On the other hand, GoDaddy hosting prices tend to vary based on which services you’re looking to get. The above prices are specifically their rates for the website builder, though there are other options for VPS hosting, WordPress hosting, professional emails, and eCommerce functionalities.
Wix website builder and GoDaddy plans offer free domain services for one year. The other options in the pricing category are similar in pricing, discounts, and renewal rates. Wix advertises its free plan and domain services for one year, and GoDaddy offers the same, but it’s not apparent in their advertisement.
Wix vs GoDaddy: Performance
The performance of both website builder platforms in terms of uptime, speed, and load time are similar.
Wix performance
Wix’s traffic handling is rated as fair, meaning the level of support or service for this feature may not be as robust as GoDaddy’s. Wix may use only one or two traffic handling methods to address high-volume periods. Wix may also contract with a cloud provider like Amazon Web Services or Google Cloud Platform to manage traffic handling services.
Wix store platform limitations
- 50,000 products can be uploaded manually or by CSV import
- Product options per product: Products can have up to 6 options
- Choices per product option is 100
- Product features: Each product can have up to 1,000 different features
An error message will be generated if any of these limits are exceeded.
GoDaddy performance
GoDaddy’s levels of service and support are equal to Wix’s, except for traffic handling. GoDaddy’s traffic handling is considered good. Traffic handling becomes essential when the website is saturated with visitors concurrently. High traffic can impact the website by causing it to slow down or crash. Load balancing, Content Delivery Networks (CDNs), and database optimization are methods used to address traffic handling.
GoDaddy website limitations:
- Websites: Can have up to 50 pages, each holding up to 20 sections.
- File limits: Shared hosting accounts do not allow more than 500,000 files and folders. For Linux, the number is 250,000 inodes (data structures).
- Professional email limitation is 30MB, including attachments, but the recommendation is to keep attachments to less than 20 MB.
- Shared hosting recommendations are limited to ten websites, and more than ten impact server performance.
GoDaddy’s performance edges out Wix’s performance in this category.
Wix vs GoDaddy: General features
General features are necessary resources to host a website. Bandwidth, storage, domains, and scalability are required features to host a website successfully.
Wix general features
Is Wix a good website creator? Wix does not focus on large-scale applications; therefore, it does not require as much bandwidth, scalability, or email hosting as GoDaddy needs. Domain management tools allow users to register, manage, and update a domain name and perform Domain Name System (DNS) record management and subdomain creation. The developer tools provide more custom coding and integration options.
Wix has the same tools and options, but not to the degree that GoDaddy has. This means Wix is a lot more user-friendly, though that could mean reduced options and personalization should you eventually want to scale up.
GoDaddy general features
So, is GoDaddy good? GoDaddy excels in bandwidth, scalability, domain management tools, developer tools, and email hosting. Each of these features was rated as excellent or good. These general features are better than Wix because GoDaddy often supports complex or high-traffic websites, which focus on hosting services and complex server options.
Businesses needing to manage a large-scale application must consider GoDaddy due to its general features.
Wix vs GoDaddy: Integration and compatibility
GoDaddy’s integration and compatibility features are weaker than Wix’s, but both GoDaddy and Wix excel in analytics integration.
Wix integration and compatibility
Wix features excel at API support and integration, pre-built integration, CRM and business tools, SEO tools and plugins, content marketing tools, and industry-specific tools. E-commerce was evaluated as good.
Wix’s application marketplace allows users to integrate functionalities into marketing tools and social media feeds easily.
GoDaddy integration and compatibility
GoDaddy’s features in this category were fair, giving users access to decent integrations that would help businesses in various industries and niches (i.e., CRMs, various payment gateway options, etc.), except for analytics and e-commerce compatibility. GoDaddy focuses on website building, but Wix focuses on seamless integration with its application marketplace and various third-party applications.
Integration and compatibility features are decisions that should align with a business’ mission statement. A company wanting to integrate functionalities into other software solutions should consider Wix.
Wix vs GoDaddy: Ease of Use and Support
User-friendliness and technical support can be deciding factors when selecting a website platform. Wix is touted as the more straightforward website-building application to learn, but ease of use must be weighed against other important categories that are more impactful.
Wix ease of use and support
Wix’s ease of use and support category is rated higher because Wix dedicates more resources to technical support, and the interface and design features are better. Speed and responsiveness were rated better than GoDaddy. If GoDaddy’s rating is good, then Wix is slightly better with a Good+ rating.
This category can be one of the deciding factors but must be weighed against other categories with significant differences.
GoDaddy ease of use and support
GoDaddy’s ease of use and support are considered good. Technical support is rated as fair compared to the other features, which are rated higher than fair. The knowledge base and one-click installation are excellent and have the same rating as Wix.
When it comes to GoDaddy vs Wix in ease of use, they’re fairly similar, but Wix edges out GoDaddy because it dedicates more resources to technical support.
Wix vs GoDaddy: Security features
Security features are essential and cannot be overlooked, and businesses must understand how their data is protected. Security is a critical category that can influence which product a company will select.
Wix security features
Wix does not support two-factor authentication, and its security plugins are rated lower than GoDaddy. All the other security features for Wix are rated as excellent or good, like GoDaddy’s security features. Backups, data privacy, threat protection, and DDoS protection are rated as good or better.
GoDaddy security features
All the GoDaddy’s implemented security features are rated as good or excellent. GoDaddy stands apart from Wix in security features, with two-factor authentication and better security plugins.
The two-factor authentication that GoDaddy has implemented favors GoDaddy for security protection.
Wix pros and cons
Wix pros
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tools
- Easy to use
- Application Marketplace
- Scalable pricing
Wix cons
- Not recommended for large projects
- Limited design options
- Hidden Fees
- Migration issues
- Free plan contains Wix branding
GoDaddy pros and cons
GoDaddy pros
- Customer Service
- Affordable
- Provides the full range of services, including domain registration, web hosting, website building, online marketing tools, and email accounts
- Scalability
- Easy to use
GoDaddy cons
- Limited customization options
- Upselling Tactics
- Hidden costs
- Ethical concerns damage GoDaddy’s reputation
- Customer service is inconsistent
Should your organization use Wix or GoDaddy?
Both website-building applications can be used by individuals, small and large companies, freelancers, consultants, and new startup companies. If you value performance and security, while not overly concerned with ease of use and support, GoDaddy might be for you. Wix might be the best choice if the priority is to integrate with existing applications and use the drag-and-drop interface features — which can be huge for non-technical users.
Companies must prioritize the most important features they want in a website-building application and note the cons they can accept. If customer service is inconsistent, selecting Wix may be the tipping factor. GoDaddy should be the chosen product if a business is building a large website and is not concerned about integration or the application marketplace. Each company must prioritize what is essential, including accepting any cons associated with the selected product
Alternatives to Wix and GoDaddy
If neither Wix nor GoDaddy feels like the right fit, here are a few other website builders and hosting providers to consider:
Squarespace
Best for creatives and businesses that prioritize sleek, professional designs. Squarespace offers a robust blogging platform, built-in marketing tools, and strong eCommerce capabilities.
Key features:
- Mobile-responsive templates
- Built-in SEO and email marketing tools
- Integrated eCommerce with no transaction fees (on higher plans)
- Drag-and-drop editor
Bluehost
Ideal for those looking for a hosting-focused solution with WordPress integration. Bluehost is a top choice for WordPress users, offering easy setup, scalability, and competitive hosting prices.
Key features:
- WordPress integration with one-click installation
- Free domain for the first year
- 24/7 customer support
IONOS
A budget-friendly option for small businesses needing reliable hosting and website building tools. IONOS offers affordable plans, strong security features, and solid customer support.
Key features:
- Affordable hosting and website builder packages
- AI-powered website creation tools
- 24/7 support
DreamHost
A great option for WordPress users who need reliable hosting with strong security and unlimited bandwidth. DreamHost is known for its commitment to privacy, affordability, and user-friendly website building tools.
Key features:
- WordPress-optimized hosting
- Free automated migrations
- Free SSL certificate and domain privacy protection
- Unlimited bandwidth on most plans
- 24/7 support
Review methodology
Our review methodology compared pricing, performance, general features, security, integration, and compatibility category by category. All features or functions were measured using a point system or a binary response in each category. Some categories had a slight point difference, meaning no notable difference. If a feature in that category was significant in point differential, then the deciding factor was the feature for either GoDaddy or Wix.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Which is better for beginners, Wix or GoDaddy?
For absolute beginners, we recommend Wix. The drag-and-drop editor is simple, easy, and offers creative flexibility. However, GoDaddy also has an AI-driven setup and simple interface, which is a huge plus. That said, both have extensive knowledge bases and 24/7 customer support, should you need it.
Can I transfer my domain from GoDaddy to Wix and vice-versa?
Yes, you can transfer a domain from GoDaddy to Wix or from Wix to GoDaddy. The GoDaddy domain transfer price depends on the domain extension, while Wix allows for seamless domain connection and migration. We advise that you check both platforms’ support pages for step-by-step transfer instructions.
Do Wix and GoDaddy offer free plans?
Wix offers a free plan with Wix-branded domain hosting. However, you’ll need a paid plan to remove ads and unlock premium features. GoDaddy does not have a forever free plan, but you can always avail yourself of the free trial to see if it’s the right website builder for you.
Which platform provides better SEO tools, Wix or GoDaddy?
Wix has more advanced SEO tools, including customizable meta tags, structured data, and integrations with Google Search Console. GoDaddy does have some SEO features, some of which you can add from their product page. In a matchup between GoDaddy vs Wix, Wix wins out just from the accessibility of their SEO tools.
