Why I Switched From GoDaddy to SiteGround (and you should too)
Note: I switched to SiteGround hosting (includes free SSL Certificates) May 2020 and so far everything is going well. While everything written here is 100% truthful, you should know that if you use a link in this article and become their customer, I earn a small commission.
2 Main Reasons I Switched: Prices + SSL Certificates
I’ve been a GoDaddy customer since 2003. Hosting, domain registration, etc.
After 17 years of very nice & helpful customer service people, I was fed-up with the horrific price increases and new charges for things that used to be included free in the thing for which they just raised prices.
I understand and agree that private companies need to be profitable. In fact, it’s healthy for companies to make money for taking risks and providing products and services that customers value.
My problem with GoDaddy is how much profit they tried to squeeze out of me, once being acquired by a private equity firm. Switching to a competitor takes time & energy — I feel GoDaddy has been exploiting this, in the form of excessive price increases.
I’m happy if people who sell me products and services do well enough to be able to buy a boat or vacation house, but I don’t want to personally pay for it in a single transaction.
Example 1: GoDaddy used to provide free email with every domain or hosting account. I was disappointed to learn this was being cancelled and they are selling email as a separate service.
It was included for all these years, but now they’re charging $6 per month per user email (four emails = $288 per year!)
Example 2: In 2017, the SSL Certificate I purchased from GoDaddy was coming up for renewal. I was shocked to see that the price I’d been paying GoDaddy for a few years had increased by 50%.
I spoke with a customer service rep and they agreed there was no extra value being provided and there’s nothing on GoDaddy’s cost side that made these more expensive.
I think they just decided “We’ve got him now and we’re going to suck more money out of him.”
Well, I had enough. So instead of renewing, I switched to using Let’s Encrypt’s free SSL certificates. It took about 5 hours a year and a bit of technical knowledge, but I didn’t mind learning and I was glad to deny GoDaddy the money.
That worked fine for a few years, but the time & effort of renewing SSL certificates every 90 days wore thin, plus an online service provider that made Let’s Encrypt much easier suddenly became pretty expensive, with no warning.
Between GoDaddy’s constantly increasing prices and the SSL renewal difficulties, I desperately needed a change.
I finally accepted that my hosting, email & SSL certificate problems weren’t going to get any better unless I made a complete change, I poured through reviews, terms of service and pricing.
I was very happy to settle on SiteGround hosting, which includes free email and free SSL certificates (with automated SSL certificate renewals, so I didn’t need to waste time every 90 days doing this myself).
Prices are very competitive and the features & service are terrific, BUT renewal pricing is much higher. MUCH higher.
Customer service told me they offer discounts at renewal, especially if you renew for more than a one year term.
That’s fine, but it’s not a guarantee. I’ve been burned over and over again by Godaddy, so…
This was the only negative I struggled with in switching to SiteGround. I want a long term relationship where prices make sense for everyone the whole way through.
MY STRATEGY:
You’re probably way ahead of me on this already, but what I decided to do (and it may not be right for you) is to pay for three full years right when I signed up, to take advantage of the very inexpensive pricing the whole way through.
- I don’t expect this will be a problem, but if I don’t like the service, I can cancel in the first 30 days and get a refund.
- In three years, when it’s time to renew, hopefully they’ll have a good promotion.
- If no promotions are available, I’ll call customer service and ask for a healthy discount in exchange for a 2 or 3 year commitment.
- If this doesn’t work, I can always move somewhere else.
Who knows what the world will look like in three years?
I’m not exactly sure, but until then, I do know exactly what hosting, email & SSL certificate service I’m using:
Thanks for reading. I hope this was helpful.
If you’re interested in trying out SiteGround, I’d really appreciate it if you’d use this link → (it won’t cost you a penny, but they pay me a small ‘thank you’ commission).
Best of luck!
