User Review #43 by Haroldo Oliveira on January 27th, 2010 at 7:35 AM CST

Name

I've been working with godaddy for quite a while, but only really really small sites with few mysql tables. Long ago, godaddy used to be slow and my websites used to be offline too much, but I think they worked these problems and today I'd say they have a fair speed and the sites are up most of the time. That's the only thing good I have to say about godaddy... Once I decided to go further and move heavier websites to it, my problems started... They do not mention, but they database limit is only 200mb, they limit everything, execution time is only 30 seconds and there is no way to change that... if you do, you will get INTERNAL SERVER ERRORS 500. Their SMTP server is a crap... and it's blacklisted everywhere... so if your application sends email out, there is 75% of chance of these emails never reach their recipients. Specially if your users are from other country then US. I tried to go around this problem using an expensive SMTP service from a 3rd part company... but guess what... Godaddy nos is blocking phpmailer to connect to any SMTP relay server (does not matter the port)... they are filtering the protocol itself. I will try to move my pages out of there... I head terrible things about people who tried to do that. Maybe I lost my websites... but I will never use godaddy in my life again. Lesson learned.

I've been working with godaddy for quite a while, but only really really small sites with few mysql tables. Long ago, godaddy used to be slow and my websites used to be offline too much, but I think they worked these problems and today I'd say they have a fair speed and the sites are up most of the time.

That's the only thing good I have to say about godaddy... Once I decided to go further and move heavier websites to it, my problems started... They do not mention, but they database limit is only 200mb, they limit everything, execution time is only 30 seconds and there is no way to change that... if you do, you will get INTERNAL SERVER ERRORS 500.

Their SMTP server is a crap... and it's blacklisted everywhere... so if your application sends email out, there is 75% of chance of these emails never reach their recipients. Specially if your users are from other country then US.

I tried to go around this problem using an expensive SMTP service from a 3rd part company... but guess what... Godaddy nos is blocking phpmailer to connect to any SMTP relay server (does not matter the port)... they are filtering the protocol itself.

I will try to move my pages out of there... I head terrible things about people who tried to do that. Maybe I lost my websites... but I will never use godaddy in my life again. Lesson learned.

User Review #42 by Jim on January 17th, 2010 at 9:44 PM CST

Name

Bummer! I was just about to go with go daddy with two websites. I don't want the billing BS or the "customer is always WRONG" defense. Seems like hostgator has positive feedback here. I will do some research on them. Any update on hostgator? Many thanks for Idaho!!!

Bummer! I was just about to go with go daddy with two websites. I don't want the billing BS or the "customer is always WRONG" defense. Seems like hostgator has positive feedback here. I will do some research on them. Any update on hostgator? Many thanks for Idaho!!!

User Review #41 by Stephanie on January 17th, 2010 at 8:52 PM CST

Name

I had an AWFUL experience with Godaddy. However, I will do my best to write a fair review. If you are a beginning webmaster of a small website without many images or much need for speed, the shared hosting plan may work for you in the short run. It's certainly cheap. But proceed with extreme caution should you have any plan to grow your website as a real business in the future or any need to securely backup the contents of your domain, especially if you plan to move to another host in the future. I did not have any trouble with my shared hosting account on Godaddy, other than slow service at times...until I decided to migrate to a new host. Then, all hell broke loose. First, I called them to get a full backup of my domain. Since the only way to guarantee a seemless transfer is to have a tar zip file of the entire contents, that is what I requested. Godaddy does not offer this service with shared hosting accounts. In fact, I found out this is impossible because they stored my database and files on separate servers. (This is practice may cause performance issues, by the way.) The customer service rep proceeded to walk me through the process of backing up the database and downloading my files through their hosting control manager. However, I couldn't even create a zip archive of all my files, since the maximum size was 20 mb. I proceeded to transfer my database and files to the new server. It turned out that the database was corrupted due to the way Godaddy stores it on their server. When it was restored, the data was there but it was not accessible. I ended up rebuilding my entire website (with over 80 articles and multiple custom applications) from scratch. All of this could have been prevented if Godaddy had provided me with a tar zip file containing the contents of my domain. This is a normal request for experienced webmasters, but customer service treated me like I was nuts for requesting it. "No one has ever asked for that before," one rep told me. Yes, it is true that you receive 24 hour support. But my experience with their support was that they had only entry level experience and were trained to repeat what they were told. They are instructed to focus on the upsell and cross sell, to help you renew any expiring domains, and to get as much money out of you as possible. I went through 3 levels of management and still could not find satisfaction. They refused to acknowledge that their way of storing my domain was a problem; if any issues arose, they insisted it could only be caused by different directory structure on the new server. The last rep I spoke to "made an exception" for me and had the server support "do him a favor" by zipping up all my files together. He told me that I could call and ask for him by name (even though I would be told they could not connect me and even managers do not have extensions, Godaddy's policy) but that I could leave him a message. Of course, this made no difference since the database itself was corrupt and unable to be restored. I believe that Godaddy deliberately stores data on their servers in such a way that it makes transfer to a new domain disastrous for its contents. If you move from their shared hosting to another server you WILL have problems. This is an intentional act that pressures people to stay with them or risk losing their entire domain. For many, it's simply easier to stay. Godaddy is deceptive and misleading, despite their perky entry level support staff. Just try to navigate their purchasing menus and you'll see how easy it is to accidentally buy one of their "recommended" upsells. The confusing setup is designed to make money by offering suggested options at every level with the "No Thanks" button all but faded out. The verdict? I strongly suggest that you DO NOT host with Godaddy. The price may be cheap, but the price I paid in sleepless nights and stress-filled days made it way too expensive. If your website is used for a business or if you wish to protect its contents and preserve them into the future, seek hosting elsewhere with a provider who provides full cpanel backup of your domain. It may be a bit more expensive, but it will save you much pain in the long run.

I had an AWFUL experience with Godaddy. However, I will do my best to write a fair review.

If you are a beginning webmaster of a small website without many images or much need for speed, the shared hosting plan may work for you in the short run. It's certainly cheap.

But proceed with extreme caution should you have any plan to grow your website as a real business in the future or any need to securely backup the contents of your domain, especially if you plan to move to another host in the future.

I did not have any trouble with my shared hosting account on Godaddy, other than slow service at times...until I decided to migrate to a new host. Then, all hell broke loose.

First, I called them to get a full backup of my domain. Since the only way to guarantee a seemless transfer is to have a tar zip file of the entire contents, that is what I requested.

Godaddy does not offer this service with shared hosting accounts. In fact, I found out this is impossible because they stored my database and files on separate servers. (This is practice may cause performance issues, by the way.)

The customer service rep proceeded to walk me through the process of backing up the database and downloading my files through their hosting control manager. However, I couldn't even create a zip archive of all my files, since the maximum size was 20 mb.

I proceeded to transfer my database and files to the new server. It turned out that the database was corrupted due to the way Godaddy stores it on their server. When it was restored, the data was there but it was not accessible. I ended up rebuilding my entire website (with over 80 articles and multiple custom applications) from scratch.

All of this could have been prevented if Godaddy had provided me with a tar zip file containing the contents of my domain. This is a normal request for experienced webmasters, but customer service treated me like I was nuts for requesting it. "No one has ever asked for that before," one rep told me.

Yes, it is true that you receive 24 hour support. But my experience with their support was that they had only entry level experience and were trained to repeat what they were told. They are instructed to focus on the upsell and cross sell, to help you renew any expiring domains, and to get as much money out of you as possible.

I went through 3 levels of management and still could not find satisfaction. They refused to acknowledge that their way of storing my domain was a problem; if any issues arose, they insisted it could only be caused by different directory structure on the new server.

The last rep I spoke to "made an exception" for me and had the server support "do him a favor" by zipping up all my files together. He told me that I could call and ask for him by name (even though I would be told they could not connect me and even managers do not have extensions, Godaddy's policy) but that I could leave him a message. Of course, this made no difference since the database itself was corrupt and unable to be restored.

I believe that Godaddy deliberately stores data on their servers in such a way that it makes transfer to a new domain disastrous for its contents. If you move from their shared hosting to another server you WILL have problems. This is an intentional act that pressures people to stay with them or risk losing their entire domain. For many, it's simply easier to stay.

Godaddy is deceptive and misleading, despite their perky entry level support staff. Just try to navigate their purchasing menus and you'll see how easy it is to accidentally buy one of their "recommended" upsells. The confusing setup is designed to make money by offering suggested options at every level with the "No Thanks" button all but faded out.

The verdict? I strongly suggest that you DO NOT host with Godaddy. The price may be cheap, but the price I paid in sleepless nights and stress-filled days made it way too expensive.

If your website is used for a business or if you wish to protect its contents and preserve them into the future, seek hosting elsewhere with a provider who provides full cpanel backup of your domain. It may be a bit more expensive, but it will save you much pain in the long run.