I secretly test hosts every month for speed, reliability, and support. Here’s a comparison between GoDaddy and InMotion Hosting with real proof of their performance.
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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. |
InMotion Hosting Hosting Plan
I have purchased a hosting plan on InMotion Hosting 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 | Business Launch |
|---|---|
| Cost | $6.99/month |
| Disk Space | Unlimited |
| Bandwidth | Unlimited |
| Uptime Guarantee | 99.9% |
| Money Back Guarantee | 90 days |
| Notes | They had to call me to verify before setting up my account. They normally only do this during business hours, but you can call them if it's at night. After verification my site was ready within 30 minutes. |
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.
GoDaddy performs impressively 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 Jan 4 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.
InMotion Hosting performs incredibly in the Speed Test, with an average result of 2.93 seconds. It's best result was 0.00 s but it has been as bad as 14.12 s. InMotion Hosting most recent result on Jan 4 was 7.00 s. InMotion proves to be stable in its page speed results, usually showing no spikes or erratic performance. While they do optimize connections, they could be making things faster by compressing images and setting the cache headers properly.
Let’s see how GoDaddy and InMotion Hosting 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.
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 Mar 16 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.
InMotion Hosting performs miserably in the Uptime Test, with an average result of 98.86 percent. It's best result was 100.000 % but it has been as bad as 0.000 %. InMotion Hosting most recent result on Mar 16 was 100.000 %. When InMotion goes down, they typically are unavailable for only a minute or two. That's alright in my book. They're one of the only hosts that lets you know ahead of time of upcoming maintenance, and how long you can expect your server to be unreachable. I appreciate the communication.
Let’s see how GoDaddy and InMotion Hosting 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.
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.
InMotion Hosting performs impressively in the Support Response Time Test, with an average result of 0.94 hours. It's best result was 0.20 h but it has been as bad as 2.30 h. InMotion Hosting most recent result on Mar 22 was 0.20 h. Typically InMotion's tech support will get back to you within 3 hours, regardless of the time of day. That's key when you need assistance with your site.
Let’s see how GoDaddy and InMotion Hosting compare in detail for their uptime stats: