I secretly test hosts every month for speed, reliability, and support. Here’s a comparison between GoDaddy and MDDHosting 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. |
MDDHosting Hosting Plan
MDDHosting is small but prides themselves in providing high quality services and support. They've been around since 2007 and currently host over 12,000 domains. Their data center is located in Denver, Colorado.
I have purchased a hosting plan on MDDHosting 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 | Basic |
|---|---|
| Cost | $7.50/month |
| Disk Space | 5GB |
| Bandwidth | 250GB |
| Uptime Guarantee | 99.9% |
| Money Back Guarantee | 30 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.
GoDaddy performs stellar 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.
MDDHosting performs stellar in the Speed Test, with an average result of 2.93 seconds. It's best result was 2.00 s but it has been as bad as 74.96 s. MDDHosting most recent result on Jan 4 was 2.00 s. I had heard great things about MDDHosting, and I thought their speed would be on par, but it has proven to have some hiccups. Lately they've been alright, but back in October I was seeing load times of 10+ seconds - wow that's poor! Yet, they are one of the few hosts that has all their server settings optimized.
Let’s see how GoDaddy and MDDHosting 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 impressively 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.
MDDHosting performs pretty poorly in the Uptime Test, with an average result of 99.88 percent. It's best result was 100.000 % but it has been as bad as 64.583 %. MDDHosting most recent result on Mar 16 was 100.000 %. MDD has pretty average uptime reliability. Some hosts are more stable. Some are way worse. MDDHosting falls in the middle.MDDHosting does knock my socks off when it comes to their tech support. The longest I've ever had to wait for a response was 11 minutes. That's incredible. They must have a full staff working round the clock! Nice job, MDD.
Let’s see how GoDaddy and MDDHosting 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 great 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.
MDDHosting performs great in the Support Response Time Test, with an average result of 0.11 hours. It's best result was 0.10 h but it has been as bad as 0.20 h. MDDHosting most recent result on Mar 22 was 0.10 h.
Let’s see how GoDaddy and MDDHosting compare in detail for their uptime stats: