Web Design

The Shame of Go Daddy

Well-known blogger @jkottke (100k+ followers on Twitter) recently said some disparaging things about Go Daddy.  This is confirmation of what I've been saying for years.

Unlike Kottke, I've actually had the displeasure of using Go Daddy.  He's right that they have sexist ads and their owner shoots elephants, but that's not why I hate them.  (Honestly, sex has been used in advertising since long before the internet, I don't really hate them for that.)  Here's why I hate Go Daddy:

  • Their sites are slow.  Yes, people are buying small slots on shared servers.  But I've purchased similar low-end hosting accounts from half a dozen other service providers and they never run as poorly.  Yes, I'm using Drupal, which is a very demanding piece of web software.  Still, Drupal runs better pretty much everywhere else.
  • They're always on the upsell.  It's not enough that you give them money every month.  They want MORE.  Constantly.  Every time you log in, you have to wade through screen after screen of them trying to take more of your money.  Some of it is borderline dishonest, where you can click "ok" just to make the screen go away, and you're really just purchased another (more expensive) product or service from them--most of which are completely useless.  Even when you do want to buy an additional service (like a new domain), it takes twice as long as it should because of all the times you have to say "no, I don't want this extra shit too."  Yes, it's a corporation and corporations need to make money, but I've blogged before about how there are two kinds of companies: those who focus on making a superior product, and those who focus on squeezing their customers out of every penny.  Go Daddy is the latter.
  • Their interface is TERRIBLE.  I'm quite a talented web designer, certainly know my way around a computer interface, and I've got several years' experience managing various clients' sites on Go Daddy.  But I still get lost in their morass of an interface.  Want to do something simple like add an email account?  Good luck.  I find myself bookmarking pages within their system because I won't know how to get back there again.
  • They don't have any "perks" like free SSH access.  It's true, that's a small thing, but if you're an advanced Drupal designer and you want to use Drush, it makes a difference.  Other hosts provide this for free, even on low-end accounts.
  • They're not actually cheaper. There are lots of other hosts that provide low-end accounts for the same price, or less, and offer equivalent features.  Everyone now offers unlimited storage, bandwidth, MySQL databases, and email accounts (or at least enough that you'll never run out).  And everyone has a plan for under $10/month (very often under $5).  So you can't even say "at least Go Daddy's crappy service comes with a smaller price tag" - because it doesn't.

There are some hosts where I'll tell a client "you're not getting the best service, but it's not terrible, and it's not worth the hassle of migrating your entire site elsewhere.  You're fine where you are."  I don't say that about Go Daddy.  Instead, I tell all my clients--and prospective clients--that they need to get away from Go Daddy.  Right now.  Even amateur do-it-yourselfers are going to suffer with Go Daddy.  They're the Walmart of the internet, and not in a good way.

So, thank you Jason Kottke for raising the issue.  It needed to be said.