Godaddy vs Netfirms: guide for 2024

Final verdict

Looking over GoDaddy vs. Netfirms, both provide various hosting types but excel in different areas based on user needs.

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  GoDaddy (Overall grade: 7.8)
  
  
  offers a comprehensive suite of features, making it suitable for diverse hosting needs, particularly excelling in WordPress and ecommerce hosting. Its performance is marked by superior uptime, quick server response times, and a global network of data centers that ensure fast load times. GoDaddy’s advanced security measures, including AutoSSL, daily backups, and DDoS protection, provide a secure hosting environment. The user-friendly cPanel, free migration tool, and extensive support resources add to its appeal. However, the service’s frequent upselling and higher renewal costs might be drawbacks for some users.
  
• 
  Netfirms (Overall grade: 7.3)
  
  
  presents an affordable and straightforward hosting option with a focus on shared and dedicated hosting. It stands out for its unlimited storage, scalable bandwidth, and effective user management system for WordPress sites. The service is also commendable for its 24/7 customer support and minimal wait times in live chat. Although it lacks the same advanced performance features and detailed security options as GoDaddy, Netfirms remains a viable choice for small businesses and users seeking budget-friendly plans with reliable uptime and basic hosting needs. The main downsides include less emphasis on speed optimization and a slightly clunky system for managing more complex websites.
  

Hosting types offered

Both platforms provide a variety of hosting types, each designed to meet the different needs of users.

Although both offer a variety of hosting plans tailored to different needs, in
certain cases, one platform may prove to be more suitable.

Detailed comparison

🏆 Winner GoDaddy

Section 1: Winner GoDaddy: GoDaddy demonstrated superior uptime and response times.

Section 2

GoDaddy promises a 99.9% uptime guarantee and has consistently performed above this benchmark. During two months of testing, GoDaddy achieved a 99.98% uptime rate, experiencing only three brief outages totaling 16 minutes. The average server response time was 341ms, faster than the industry standard of 600ms. This performance underscores GoDaddy’s reliability, with efficient load times globally, including an impressive 481ms load time in the US.

Section 3

Netfirms also provides competitive uptime with a 99.9% guarantee and demonstrated a flawless 100% uptime over a two-week testing period. However, unlike GoDaddy, this promise is not explicitly detailed on their official site. Netfirms operates data centers in New York and Toronto and offers 24/7 customer support. Despite its stable performance, the lack of a clearly defined uptime guarantee on the official site may be a concern for potential users.

🏆 Winner GoDaddy: Fast server response times and high reliability.

When it comes to general performance, GoDaddy edges out Netfirms. GoDaddy offers optimized servers with up to 40% faster response times, supported by a global network of data centers in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. This ensures quick load times and enhanced site speeds. GoDaddy’s unmetered bandwidth and NVMe SSDs further bolster speed and efficiency. On the other hand, Netfirms, while providing efficient resource usage and scalable bandwidth, lacks the same level of detail regarding speed optimizations and additional performance-boosting plugins. Netfirms also doesn’t match the worldwide spread of data centers that GoDaddy boasts, impacting global site load times.

Website Speed

GoDaddy excels in website speed with its up to 40% faster server response time and the availability of NVMe SSDs, which significantly minimizes latency. The global data centers also contribute to quicker page loads for international visitors. The inclusion of features like an easy-to-use cPanel and automatic SSL certificates further enhance website performance. Netfirms, while offering scalable bandwidth and customizable solutions, doesn’t have as much emphasis on advanced speed features and global server reach, which could result in longer load times for some users.

Scalability

GoDaddy offers more straightforward scalability options through its range of hosting plans, be it shared, VPS, or dedicated resources, all of which can be upgraded manually as needed. It provides dedicated servers on their higher-tier Web Hosting Plus plans, but you need to upgrade plans yourself. The costs for these upgrades are clearly outlined, making it easier to plan for scaling your website. Netfirms offers scalable options in their shared and dedicated hosting plans, but specific details about how their scaling process works are not provided. There’s also no information on whether this scaling happens automatically or if users need to upgrade plans manually.

🏆 Winner
GoDaddy: Provides a comprehensive suite of security features, ensuring a secure and reliable hosting environment for its users.
Both GoDaddy and Netfirms have notable differences in their approaches to technical and operational
security, as well as in their compliance with regulations.

Technical security measures:

GoDaddy provides robust technical security with features like AutoSSL, Managed SSL Service, and Self-Managed SSL Certificates, covering a wide range of security needs from automated processes to user-managed configurations. It includes the latest PHP versions, ensuring recent security patches and features are in effect. Netfirms also offers a variety of SSL certificates, including Domain Validated, Organization Validated, E-commerce SSL, and Wildcard SSL, making it versatile but not automated like GoDaddy’s AutoSSL. However, Netfirms does not specify the PHP versions supported, potentially reducing its appeal to developers needing up-to-date tools.

Operational security measures:

Operationally, GoDaddy offers daily backups, DDoS protection, and Web Application Firewall (WAF). It also includes malware scanning and removal, providing a safer online environment. Netfirms features strong self-managed security through its SiteLock Security plans, which include malware scanning, automated malware removal, and DDoS protection. Netfirms also offers domain privacy and blacklist monitoring. Both providers ensure 24/7 customer support, but GoDaddy offers additional monitoring and resources on demand, giving it a slight edge in operational security.

Compliance and certifications:

GoDaddy is fully GDPR compliant and provides detailed data protection measures. It is also PCI compliant, with certified products like WooCommerce Hosting. Netfirms is equally compliant with GDPR since 2018 and supports PCI compliance through its partner, SiteLock. However, neither provider specifies HIPAA compliance in the provided information.

🏆 Winner
GoDaddy: Known for its extensive features and flexibility for various hosting needs.

GoDaddy and Netfirms offer a range of features but excel in different areas that cater to various user requirements. GoDaddy provides a robust user experience with its extensive web hosting plans and unique selling points like a free domain, email, and SSL certificates. Their WordPress migration tool and automatic daily backups add significant convenience for users looking to transition seamlessly. Additionally, GoDaddy equips users with an AI creation tool to simplify website creation, although their WordPress hosting plans offer intricate customization options, including staging sites and enhanced security. The scalability is evident in their services from simple web hosting to high-performance VPS hosting, making it suitable for both novices and advanced users.

Netfirms offers a simplified hosting experience with attractive price points starting from $3.95/month for the Plus Plan, providing unlimited storage and scalable bandwidth. Their emphasis on ecommerce solutions and marketing tools might appeal to small business owners looking to establish an online presence. Like GoDaddy, Netfirms offers free SSL certificates through Let’s Encrypt and a free domain name for the first year. Although Netfirms does not provide SSH access as part of their plans, their easy-to-navigate services and unlimited FTP logins make managing websites straightforward for users who may not require advanced server control. Netfirms’ hosting plans also allow creating unlimited subdomains, which can be beneficial for businesses with multiple offerings.

Both providers support a range of users from beginners to experts with user-friendly website builders and WordPress staging areas. However, in terms of developer tools, both GoDaddy and Netfirms offer robust options including SSH access, support for multiple programming languages, and Git for version control, thus appealing to developers looking for advanced capabilities.

Email services:

GoDaddy offers free email hosting as part of their plans, making it easier for users to manage their communication needs directly from their hosting account. This feature can be particularly useful for businesses that need to set up professional email addresses. Netfirms does not specifically mention email hosting or capabilities like transactional email services or integrations with third-party email services such as Google Workspace or Outlook, which could be a drawback for businesses that rely heavily on email marketing and communications.

🏆 Winner Netfirms: Netfirms offers comprehensive and affordable plans for a wide range of hosting needs.

Evaluating the pricing of plans among various hosting providers can be complex due to their differing pricing and renewal strategies. Additionally, certain plans require annual commitments, which adds to the difficulty of making comparisons. The prices listed are based on monthly commitments; plans requiring annual commitments are indicated. Additionally, although some providers offer identical plans for WordPress and shared hosting, we have created separate tables for each to enhance clarity.

GoDaddy and Netfirms provide various hosting plans with different prices and features. GoDaddy’s web hosting plans range from $5.99 to $17.99 per month, with varying levels of storage, website limits, and additional features like free domains and emails. Netfirms’ shared hosting starts at $3.95 per month and provides options for unlimited storage and scalable bandwidth, making it a more economical choice. GoDaddy also offers specialized WordPress and VPS hosting plans, while Netfirms focuses primarily on shared hosting. Both providers include free SSL certificates with their plans, but Netfirms offers a more straightforward pricing structure that doesn’t require long-term commitments to get the best rates.

Enterprise plans

GoDaddy’s enterprise plans include a range of managed WooCommerce stores and VPS options, offering scalability and advanced features like automated malware removal and Web Application Firewall. Their most comprehensive VPS plan at $44.99 per month provides 4 vCPU cores and 16 GB RAM. Netfirms offers extensive shared hosting plans with unlimited storage and scalable bandwidth, ideal for enterprises requiring robust online capabilities. The Business Plan costs $10.95 per month, featuring unlimited websites and databases, which makes it an economical choice for large-scale operations.

🏆 Winner GoDaddy: GoDaddy makes it easier to set up and migrate websites with its one-click setup and free migration tool.

GoDaddy offers an industry-standard cPanel that is widely recognized for its accessibility and ease of use. It simplifies the process for users, whether they have technical knowledge or not. The cPanel provides an intuitive interface for installing applications, managing backups, and handling security measures. In terms of user-friendliness, the availability of features like automatic daily backups adds an extra layer of convenience, ensuring that users can easily recover their data when needed.

Netfirms operates with a control panel that integrates Google Workspace, aiming to reduce the complexity of domain management and email access. This control panel is also user-friendly, offering onboarding assistance to help new users get their websites up quickly. For those accustomed to using multiple platforms, this integration can simplify tasks, but it might have a steeper learning curve for those who are less technically inclined as compared to the more universally familiar cPanel provided by GoDaddy.

Both GoDaddy and Netfirms offer migration tools, but GoDaddy stands out with its free WordPress migration tool. This tool allows users to transfer their existing WordPress sites at no extra cost. Netfirms provides around-the-clock support for migration, yet it’s not specified if their migration service incurs an additional fee. The free tool from GoDaddy makes it particularly advantageous for users looking to move their WordPress sites without incurring extra costs.

The platforms provide extensive knowledge bases filled with guides, how-to articles, and instructional content. GoDaddy offers a wide range of resources alongside 24/7 chat and phone support. Netfirms also boasts a detailed help center with an intuitive search function and around-the-clock support via live chat, phone, and ticketing, ensuring comprehensive user support.

🏆 Winner Netfirms: Netfirms offers a more detailed user management system for WordPress sites.

Both GoDaddy and Netfirms have tools to manage user roles, permissions, and accessibility, but they differ in the flexibility they offer. GoDaddy does not provide specific information on its user management features, making it difficult to evaluate its capabilities. On the other hand, Netfirms supports multiple user roles, including Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, and Subscriber, with clear definitions and permissions, providing a structured and flexible user management system suitable for various users’ needs.

Managing users is straightforward on both platforms, but the differences become apparent in the provided tools and user interfaces. Netfirms provides a detailed guide on adding and managing users via the WordPress dashboard, including assigning specific roles and setting up user notifications. This clear step-by-step approach helps streamline the user management process. GoDaddy’s lack of detailed information on its user management interface means users might need to seek additional support to understand how to navigate its tools effectively.

Netfirms demonstrates effective access control measures with predefined roles that clearly delineate user permissions. This ensures that the platform can efficiently manage a growing number of users by assigning appropriate access based on role hierarchy. GoDaddy’s user management capabilities remain unclear without further support documentation, suggesting that its effectiveness in handling a large number of users might require extra attention from administrators to ensure proper access controls are in place.

Netfirms User Roles Table:

🏆 Winner Netfirms: Netfirms offers a range of customer support options, including live chat with minimal wait times.

GoDaddy and Netfirms both provide 24/7 customer support through various channels like phone, email, and live chat. GoDaddy supports phone calls through multiple numbers and offers a detailed knowledge base containing blogs, guides, courses, and videos. Additionally, SMS support and a 30-day money-back guarantee are provided, with the convenience of a free WordPress migration tool and automatic daily backups ensuring a secure hosting environment. Live chat, however, is only available on the US subdomain.

Netfirms also ensures 24/7 support through phone, web chat, and email, with the added benefit of minimal wait times for phone and chat services. They offer a 30-day money-back guarantee on hosting plans and prioritize support for the highest-tier hosting package. While Netfirms generally receives positive feedback for their quick and helpful responses, some users have had issues with billing and cancellation processes.

User feedback

GoDaddy generally receives praise for its ease of use, affordability, comprehensive service offerings, and user-friendly interface, making it a popular choice for domain registration and basic web hosting. Many users appreciate the ability to purchase domains, web hosting, email services, and other digital products all in one place, along with frequent discounts for new customers. However, customer service experiences are inconsistent; while some users find it helpful and responsive, others report long wait times and unknowledgeable support staff. Additionally, recurring issues include high renewal costs, persistent upselling, and occasional technical difficulties.

Based on user reviews, the hosting provider appears to offer decent uptime and moderately reliable customer support. However, users frequently report slow server performance and connectivity issues that significantly hamper the experience. While some appreciate the low costs and basic domain registration services, others criticize the clunky system, confusing server setup, and unreliability, especially when working with CMS tools. Overall, the service seems better suited for those with low budgets and high patience.

FAQ