I secretly test hosts every month for speed, reliability, and support. Here’s a comparison between DreamHost and GoDaddy with real proof of their performance.
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DreamHost Hosting Plan
Dreamhost is known for their unlimited resources at a great value. They have been around since 1998 and hosts over 10 million sites. Data centers are located in California and Virginia.
I have purchased a hosting plan on DreamHost and set up a typical web site. I use that example website to run these tests. Learn more about how I test.
Here is the plan information I chose:
| Plan Name | Happy Hosting |
|---|---|
| Cost | $10.95/month |
| Disk Space | Unlimited |
| Bandwidth | Unlimited |
| Uptime Guarantee | 100% |
| Money Back Guarantee | 45 days |
| Notes | Site was ready within minutes after I purchased. |
GoDaddy Hosting Plan
GoDaddy claims to have fast, secure, and reliable hosting. They were created in 1999 and now host over a million websites. They have data centers throughout the US, primarily in Arizona.
I have purchased a hosting plan on GoDaddy and set up a typical web site. I use that example website to run these tests. Learn more about how I test.
Here is the plan information I chose:
| Plan Name | Deluxe Linux Hosting with cPanel |
|---|---|
| Cost | $8.99/month |
| Disk Space | Unlimited |
| Bandwidth | Unlimited |
| Uptime Guarantee | 99.9% |
| Money Back Guarantee | 45 days |
| Notes | Site was ready within minutes after I purchased. |
Page Speed Test Results
This test measures the total time it takes to load a standard web page. Lower is better. Learn more about the Page Speed Test.
DreamHost performs above average in the Speed Test, with an average result of 2.65 seconds. It's best result was 0.00 s but it has been as bad as 21.25 s. DreamHost most recent result on Dec 13 was 0.00 s. I expected Dreamhost to have poor performance, but they're not that bad. There are faster hosts out there, but you're not going to be disappointed with them.
GoDaddy performs above average in the Speed Test, with an average result of 2.8 seconds. It's best result was 0.31 s but it has been as bad as 37.97 s. GoDaddy most recent result on Dec 13 was 2.00 s. GoDaddy consistently has very fast page load speeds. I'm attributing this to the fact that they have a stellar Hosting Optimization team, headed by Dave Koopman. He actually reached out to me after seeing this site to not only give me kudos for doing this, but offer additional testing resources (which at the moment I am not using). Regardless, he's pretty passionate about their hosting performance and their stats prove it.
Let’s see how DreamHost and GoDaddy compare in detail for their page speed stats:
Uptime Test Results
This test is performed by measuring the % uptime of a host. Higher is better. Learn more about the Uptime Test.
DreamHost performs miserably in the Uptime Test, with an average result of 70.93 percent. It's best result was 100.000 % but it has been as bad as 0.000 %. DreamHost most recent result on Dec 12 was 0.000 %. Dreamhost has had a few significant outages, but I've seen worse. Their ping response time is pretty impressive, faster than most hosts, showing they have a decent network.
GoDaddy performs great in the Uptime Test, with an average result of 99.96 percent. It's best result was 100.000 % but it has been as bad as 94.722 %. GoDaddy most recent result on Dec 12 was 100.000 %. GoDaddy has shown rocky uptimes when you first start hosting with them, however after a month things become pretty stable. Their tech team reached out to me to explain that they think it only happens when new customers get added to the server and apache needs to restart - and after the server is full it does not need to reload as often. The stats I've collected seem to support this theory, and they claim they're working on a solution.
Let’s see how DreamHost and GoDaddy compare in detail for their uptime stats:
Support Response Test Results
This test measures how quickly the host’s support team responds to your request. Lower is better. Learn more about the Support Response Test.
DreamHost performs alright in the Support Response Time Test, with an average result of 2.79 hours. It's best result was 0.20 h but it has been as bad as 11.00 h. DreamHost most recent result on Mar 22 was 1.30 h. Dreamhost will usually get back to you within an hour, although that's not always the case. Regardless their support is average.
GoDaddy performs above average in the Support Response Time Test, with an average result of 0.12 hours. It's best result was 0.10 h but it has been as bad as 0.30 h. GoDaddy most recent result on Mar 22 was 0.10 h. GoDaddy is the only host that doesn't offer email support. At first I thought this horrendous - I waiting on hold on the phone. But from the times I've called, they're usually pretty quick to get to me. I'm okay with their customer service.
Let’s see how DreamHost and GoDaddy compare in detail for their uptime stats: