GoDaddy Web Hosting Plans: UK Prices and Trade-offs
GoDaddy's main web hosting plans are shared Economy, Deluxe and Ultimate, plus separate WordPress, VPS and dedicated options. Intro rates in the UK often sit between £1 and £5 a month; the same plans typically renew at £10 to £25 a month once the offer ends. I set out what each plan includes, which extras inflate the bill, and when that stack still makes sense for a small business site.
What GoDaddy sells as web hosting
GoDaddy groups hosting into four buckets. Shared web hosting is the cheap entry: Economy, Deluxe and Ultimate, with a higher Plus tier on some pages. WordPress hosting is a separate product with a one-click install and a few WordPress-specific tools. VPS and dedicated servers sit above that, for sites that have outgrown shared limits. Most small UK businesses who pick GoDaddy are on shared or WordPress plans.
Plan names and storage figures change. Treat the marketing page as a snapshot. Open the full spec and the renewal price before you pay.
Shared plans at a glance
These figures are typical UK advertised ranges, not a live quote. Offers rotate, and a 36-month term looks far cheaper per month than a 12-month term.
| Plan | Intro per month | Renewal per month | Sites | Sensible use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Economy | £1 to £3 | £10 to £12 | 1 | Single brochure site, low traffic |
| Deluxe | £3 to £5 | £13 to £16 | Several | More than one small site on one account |
| Ultimate / Plus | £5 to £8 | £18 to £25 | Several | Heavier WordPress or a small shop |
Add 20% VAT if the price you see is exclusive. A three-year Economy deal at £1.99 a month is about £72 paid up front, before extras. The same plan at an £11.99 renewal is about £144 a year after that. Budget the renewal, not the headline.
Intro price versus renewal
GoDaddy shared hosting is sold on a discounted first term. The discount is real. The catch is term length and auto-renewal.
- The lowest monthly rate is almost always tied to 24 or 36 months paid up front.
- A 12-month term costs more per month, but you are not locked as long.
- When the term ends, the account renews at list price unless you cancel or change plan in time.
- Reminders exist, but they are easy to miss. Auto-renew is on by default on most accounts.
If you only compare intro rates, GoDaddy often undercuts UK specialists. If you compare year-two cost for one site with SSL, email and a backup, it frequently sits in the same band as 20i, Krystal, SiteGround or Fasthosts, and sometimes above them. I write the renewal figure on the quote, not the offer figure.
What you get, and what you still pay for
A typical shared plan includes disk space, a control panel, a free basic SSL certificate, and the right to install WordPress. Economy is usually capped at one website. Higher tiers allow more sites and more CPU and RAM, which matters once you add plugins, a gallery or a shop.
Common items not fully covered on the cheap plan:
- Email. A few forwarding addresses may be included. A proper mailbox, especially Microsoft 365, is extra. Budget £4 to £8 per mailbox per month if you want business email that is not tied to the hosting account.
- Backups. Do not assume daily restores are included on Economy. Paid backup add-ons in the UK commonly run £2 to £6 a month.
- Malware scanning and a firewall. Often sold as a security bundle at £5 to £12 a month.
- A domain. First year is frequently £0.99 to £1.99. .co.uk and .com renewals typically land between £12 and £20 a year.
- A website builder. Optional, and it makes a later move to WordPress or a custom site harder.
Stack a Deluxe plan at renewal (£15), one Microsoft 365 mailbox (£6), backups (£4) and a domain (£15 a year, about £1.25 a month) and you are near £26 a month before VAT. That is a fair comparison point against a managed WordPress host or a designer who bundles hosting.
WordPress on GoDaddy versus ordinary shared hosting
You can install WordPress on a standard shared plan. GoDaddy also sells a WordPress-branded hosting product. The branded version usually adds automatic core updates, a staging site on higher tiers, and support staff who expect WordPress questions. It costs more at renewal, often £12 to £20 a month after the intro period.
For a simple five to ten page site, ordinary shared hosting is enough if you keep plugins lean and apply updates yourself. For a shop, membership, or a site that takes bookings, the Economy plan runs out of PHP workers and memory. That shows up as slow pages, failed form sends, or errors at peak. Moving up a tier, or off shared hosting, is the fix, not another cache plugin.
How to read a GoDaddy quote before you pay
- Note the term: 12, 24 or 36 months, and the total taken today, not only the monthly equivalent.
- Find the renewal price in the small print or the cart. If it is missing, stop until you have it.
- Check whether the price includes VAT.
- Count mailboxes you need and price them separately.
- Confirm backup frequency and how you restore a single file, not only a full account.
- Check CPU, RAM, inodes, and whether unmetered bandwidth still has a fair-use cap.
- Turn auto-renew off if you want a forced reminder, or set a calendar alert 30 days before the term ends.
- Keep a copy of the site and email so you can leave without a scramble.
Who these plans suit
GoDaddy shared hosting is a reasonable buy if you are happy to log in, update WordPress, and treat hosting as a commodity. A holding page or a low-traffic brochure site will run. The intro rate is useful if you need a live URL this week and you will rebuild later.
It is a poor fit if you do not want to manage updates, if email has to work every Monday morning, or if the site is the main way you take enquiries. Support is largely chat-based and quality varies. Data centres are not always in the UK, which can add a little latency for visitors here and matters if you care where the data sits.
If you want the site looked after, not only hosted
Hosting is one line on the bill. Updates, broken plugins, form failures and content changes are the rest. I build sites for small businesses as a one-off project, and I also offer a pay-monthly route: a setup fee, then a monthly amount that includes hosting, updates and ongoing management so you do not have to touch the admin. The monthly route suits firms that cannot put a full build fee on the table at once. Figures are on arlowebstudio.com. Compare those against a GoDaddy renewal plus your own time, not against the £2 intro rate.
A one-off build on hosting you already own is the other option if you want to keep GoDaddy and only pay for design. Add up year-two hosting, email, backups and the hours you will spend on updates, then decide.
Frequently asked questions
How much do GoDaddy hosting plans cost after the first term?
In the UK, shared plans that start at £1 to £5 a month commonly renew at £10 to £25 a month, depending on tier and term. Add email, backups and a domain and many small business accounts sit around £20 to £30 a month before VAT. Always read the renewal price in the cart, not the intro rate.
Is the Economy plan enough for a small business website?
Yes, if the site is a handful of pages, traffic is low, and you will apply WordPress updates yourself. Economy is usually limited to one website and modest CPU and RAM. A shop, booking system or a plugin-heavy WordPress build will need Deluxe, Ultimate, WordPress hosting, or a different host.
Do I need to buy SSL and email from GoDaddy as well?
Basic SSL is included on current shared plans, so you should not pay extra for a standard certificate. Email is the one to watch. Forwarding may be included; a real mailbox is often an add-on. Microsoft 365 from GoDaddy typically costs £4 to £8 per mailbox per month. You can point the domain to Google Workspace or another email host instead.
Can I move a site off GoDaddy later?
Yes. Export WordPress with a plugin or a full backup, copy the files and database, and transfer the domain with an authorisation code. Domains can be locked and privacy settings can slow a transfer, so start 30 days before you need to be off. Do not let the hosting expire before the copy is running elsewhere.
Is GoDaddy cheaper than a UK specialist host?
On the first term, often yes, especially on 36-month shared hosting. From year two, prices sit in the same range as 20i, Krystal, SiteGround and Fasthosts, and extras can push GoDaddy higher. Specialists tend to include backups or UK support more often. Compare renewal plus add-ons, not the advertised monthly teaser.
Should I use GoDaddy WordPress hosting or a normal shared plan?
Use ordinary shared hosting if you are comfortable installing WordPress and the site is simple. Choose GoDaddy WordPress hosting if you want automatic core updates and WordPress-aware support, and you accept a higher renewal, often £12 to £20 a month. Neither removes the need to update plugins and take backups.