GoDaddy website builder review: Pros and cons in 2024

Best for all-in-one web services

GoDaddy

Blueprint Rating

Starting monthly cost

$22.99

Online transaction fee

2.7% plus $0.30 cents

Free design templates

Yes

Pros

• Integrates with in-person POS.
• Easy-to-use website builder.
• Integrated with and supported by other reputable services.

Cons

• No long-term free option.
• Full utilization requires hidden fees in added services.
• Heavily geared toward e-commerce.

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Web.com

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Only when paying annually

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Squarespace

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Though perhaps best known for domain hosting, GoDaddy also offers a website builder that is easy to use and easy to customize, pairing designer-created templates with WordPress’ premade content blocks. GoDaddy’s websites can be designed and managed both online and from its mobile app. 

We researched GoDaddy’s templates and design, pros and cons, pricing and value, e-commerce, blogging and how it stacks up against popular competitors. Find out if GoDaddy is the website builder for you.

GoDaddy overview

GoDaddy’s website builder is built to pair with the company’s other services, including web hosting, in-person sales with POS and boutique marketing services. It offers a number of website templates, all of which are available to you regardless of subscription level. These templates are customizable and can be further edited with HTML or WordPress drag-and-drop content blocks.

GoDaddy’s website builder supports blogs, e-commerce and contact forms. Its commerce options work for a variety of goods and services, including physical inventory, digital content, classes, one-time and recurring appointments and sales across marketplaces like eBay and Etsy. 

GoDaddy pros and cons

GoDaddy has a lot to offer, but the website building and hosting service is not for everyone. Casual users will find the design tools easy to use, but website functionality is limited at most tiers without additional add-ons. Read on to explore an overview of GoDaddy’s pros and cons.

Pros

GoDaddy supports commerce, both digital and in-person, with integrated inventory across marketplaces and accepting most forms of payment. The hosting site has an easy-to-use website builder with hundreds of designer-created templates that are easily customizable. Paired with the WordPress drag-and-drop content blocks, even those new to website creation will be able to easily navigate the building process. 

For those still intimidated, GoDaddy offers AI-supported design that helps you get your website up and running even faster. There are also several integrations and supported features that combine GoDaddy’s strengths with other services like WordPress and WooCommerce.

Cons

While GoDaddy does offer a free trial, it only lasts for 30 days, while many competitors have permanently free plan options. In order to qualify for a free domain name, you must first purchase an annual web plan. 

The plan pricing available on the website shows you the lowest possible option, incorporating discounts for paying annually and for first-time users, but the fine print warns that after your first year the cost of your website goes up. GoDaddy offers some features in its website builder pricing, but for the full extent of its services, the company will push you to purchase additional packages and features.

The website builder and its associated features are heavily geared towards e-commerce sites. This is great for those hoping to build an online store, but for users looking to build a blog-based website or something purely informational, GoDaddy doesn’t have as much value for its cost. 

GoDaddy pricing and value

	MONTHLY COST (PAID MONTHLY)	E-COMMERCE FUNCTIONALITY	SOCIAL MEDIA INTEGRATION	BUILT-IN SEO TOOLS	MONTHLY EMAIL MARKETING LIMIT
Basic	$12.99	No	Yes	Yes	100
Premium	$22.99	No	Yes	Yes	25,000
Commerce	$26.99	Yes, but with limits	Yes	Yes	100,000

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The largest gap in available functionality is between the Basic and Premium levels and the Commerce level. This gap is most evident when reviewing e-commerce functionality and marketing support like monthly email marketing and SEO integration, which will require the Commerce plan. This plan comes at about double the cost of the Basic plan, so you will want to carefully determine whether the offered features are a fit with your budget. 

Web editor

GoDaddy features the popular and easy-to-use drag-and-drop builder style. Its catalog of existing design templates number a couple hundred, organized by popular markets like fashion and beauty, health and fitness and personal blogs. All of the templates are customizable, a feature that is limited by some competitors. Every one of GoDaddy’s website builder plans includes:

• A mobile-friendly site.
• Access to all GoDaddy templates.
• Real-time marketing dashboard.
• Payment processing.
• Free email that matches your domain.
• 24/7 support.

Heavily featured on the web builder page is GoDaddy’s latest AI solution. Upon answering a few questions, you can have AI design your website for you. GoDaddy’s web builder is designed to be a one-stop shop, so jumpstarting your design choices with AI can get your website up and running even faster. 

GoDaddy also provides email marketing at every tier but limits the feature to sending 100 emails per month for Basic, 25,000 emails per month for Premium and 100,000 emails per month for Commerce. If you plan on hosting an online store or undertaking large-scale marketing efforts, Commerce is the only truly viable option. 

E-commerce functionality

Much of GoDaddy’s e-commerce support is limited to the highest subscription tier. At the Commerce level, users can list unlimited items in their online store. Online stores can also be extended to social platforms like Instagram, Etsy or Facebook, but sales on other platforms are limited to 50 per month.

GoDaddy allows you to sell products, subscriptions, gift cards, classes and services, syncing your inventory across all marketplaces. This feature is especially helpful when paired with GoDaddy’s in-person POS offerings. It also has a relatively low transaction fee, charging 2.7% plus $0.30 cents for online transactions and 2.5% plus $0.00 cents for in-person transactions.

Mobile store management, automatic sales tax calculation, shipping calculations and a wide variety of accepted payment methods allow users to launch a dynamic online store quickly and easily without worrying about missing details. 

Blogging

The most competitive of GoDaddy’s blog features is its organizational system. Create categories and tags to help visitors find exactly what they’re looking for when they visit your blog. Otherwise, content is organized chronologically, with your most recent post appearing first. GoDaddy’s blog feature uses the WordPress builder, which features pre-formatted content blocks and featured images.

GoDaddy has a dedicated section of Blog-specific templates, but beyond that, it does not heavily feature the function on its site. All of its blog-related content is listed on the GoDaddy help and resources site, suggesting that its primary audience does not use the platform for blogging. 

Marketing and SEO

The marketing support included with GoDaddy’s website builder tiers has features such as:

• Create and manage business listings.
• Schedule and post to social media.
• Email subscriptions and email marketing.
• Email automations.
• Paid Google search.
• Shoppable social posts.

Email marketing options are heavily limited by tier, allowing only 100 monthly email sends at the Basic level. The limit jumps to 25,000 monthly emails for the Premium level and 100,000 monthly emails for Commerce.

Additionally, GoDaddy offers add-on digital marketing services. The full-service support includes creating your branding with a logo and brand guide, custom photography, SEO and website optimization, social media ad campaigns and email marketing campaigns. The availability of a digital marketing outfit is helpful for users who need and can afford a marketing team but don’t have one. Otherwise, the additional services lead to limited marketing features made available as part of the website builder plans. 

GoDaddy also has an SEO team that offers online and offline search engine optimization services. The team utilizes keywords, google ads, content creations and link building to manage your website’s search engine ranking. 

Performance and security

Every website builder plan includes an SSL certificate. Additional security is available for an added monthly fee. The Standard tier costs $6.99 per month when purchased for a two-year term. It includes a firewall, annual website clean-up, daily malware scanning and an SSL certificate.

The Advanced tier runs $11.99 per month when purchased for a two-year term. In addition to everything provided in the previous level, the Advanced tier offers daily site backup, DDoS protection, unlimited website cleanups and 25 GB of daily website backup. 

The Premium tier, priced at $16.99 a month for a two-year term, includes priority support with unlimited website cleanings and 200 GB of daily backup.

Mobile app

GoDaddy’s mobile application is largely dedicated to its POS system and inventory management. You can connect a mobile card reader, create QR codes and manage sales, all from your personal device. You can receive notifications for every sale or booked appointment and quickly review website metrics. 

GoDaddy promises that you can easily design and edit your website from their app as well. The application has 4.7 stars on the App Store but only 3.8 stars on Google Play.

GoDaddy vs. top competitors

	FREE PLAN	SEO TOOLS	TRANSACTION FEE	POS INTEGRATION	FREE DOMAIN	CUSTOMIZABLE DESIGN
GoDaddy	For 30 days	Yes, limited	2.5% to 2.7% plus $0.00 to $0.30 cents	Yes	No	Yes
Square	Yes	Yes	2.9% plus $0.30 cents to 2.6% plus $0.30 cents.	Yes	For one year, at mid-tier price and up	Yes
Squarespace	For 14 days	Yes	From 3% to 0%	Yes	For one year	Yes
WordPress	Yes	Only with highest subscription	From 10% to 0%	Yes, through WooCommerce	For one year, not including free plan	Yes

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All four website builders come with pre-made templates and e-commerce functionality, but it can be hard to determine which is the right one for you. WordPress has the highest transaction fee to start, but the most comprehensive and secure web builder overall. 

Squarespace is the most user-friendly but has a higher price point than Square or GoDaddy. Explore the comparisons below to see which web builder best supports you. 

GoDaddy vs Square

GoDaddy and Square both offer linked commerce systems that allow you to manage inventory online and in person. GoDaddy’s commerce features don’t become available until its Commerce tier, at $34.00 per month, but with Square, you can start selling products on your free website right away. While Square has a higher transaction fee, ranging from 2.9% plus $0.30 cents to 2.6% plus $0.30 cents, depending on which tier you select, its associated POS tools have no monthly fee.

Square has fewer templates and customizations available in its web builder, but a more robust e-commerce set-up that integrates with its well known and very accessible POS system. If you’re looking to sell products or services both in-person and online, Square is a better option.

GoDaddy vs Squarespace

GoDaddy’s lowest subscription is $12.99 per month and Squarespace’s is $25. The cost differential may be worth it when you compare their website builders. While GoDaddy is known for hosting, Squarespace is known for its beautiful and easy-to-use templates. But both platforms offer hundreds of templates as well as HTML customization. Squarespace offers a free custom domain for one year, while GoDaddy charges upfront for a custom domain. 

GoDaddy supports e-commerce starting at its $26.99 Commerce tier, while Squarespace’s Business tier is $36 a month. Squarespace’s transaction fees start at 3% but drop to 0% at higher tiers. Squarespace’s hosting is also included with its website builder, so your overall cost may be lower with them depending on the plan you choose.

Ultimately, GoDaddy is a better buy for a small business that knows exactly what they need. Squarespace is the right option for you if you need e-commerce that can scale with you.

GoDaddy vs WordPress

WordPress has a free option, but it comes with a hefty 10% commission fee on transactions, which makes its free level a good choice for businesses that don’t have the upfront cash to invest in their website. 

While GoDaddy’s best e-commerce tools sit at their most expensive Commerce tier, WordPress has premium commerce tools at a $45 monthly tier. Though more expensive, WordPress’ capabilities surpass GoDaddy’s, with more design themes, loyalty programs, back-in-stock automation emails, international sales support, shipping carrier integrations and a 0% commission fee. 

Although GoDaddy is well suited to supporting smaller businesses, with most of the features limited to add-ons and additional services, WordPress is best for web developers and large businesses. 

Featured website builder offers

Wix

Learn More

Via Wix’s website

Monthly fee

$17

Free domain

For one year

Drag-and-drop builder

Yes

Web.com

Learn More

Via Web.com’s website

Monthly fee

$19.99

Free domain

Only when paying annually

Drag-and-drop builder

Yes

Squarespace

Learn More

Via Squarespace’s website

Monthly fee

$23

Free domain

For one year

Drag-and-drop builder

Yes

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)