Skip to main content
Krystal

Krystal vs GoDaddy

Forget rewarding a faceless corporation that puts profit before performance. See why an increasing number of clients are choosing Krystal over GoDaddy.

4.8 out of 5 based on 1,748 reviews

How do we stand up against GoDaddy?

Compare our main features at a glance

Krystal
HeadquartersLondon, UK
Infrastructure ProviderKatapult by Krystal
OwnershipFamily Owned
Number of hosting brands
  1. Krystal
  2. Katapult
Environmental Credentials
  1. 100% renewably powered
  2. B Corp Certified
  3. 1% for the Planet
Introductory Pricing StructureNo
Trustpilot Rating4.8

Switch to Krystal today without losing any of the money you've already paid GoDaddy

With our free Switch Credits, we will credit the remaining value of your existing plan and term, so you’re no longer locked in. Not with GoDaddy? Switch Credits are also available to clients of 35 other large hosting companies.

GoDaddy - a quick history

GoDaddy have been around a long time and built a reputation for themselves by fielding scantily clad women on Superbowl adverts.

In 2007 public sentiment against GoDaddy was so strong that a concerned Internet citizen created a dedicated website to showcase its inadequacies: NoDaddy.com. Unsurprisingly, it was shut down.

In 2011 their Founder & CEO, Bob Parsons, killed an elephant! The board moved him out of the business and have subsequently tried to clear up their image but over the years they've continued to make headlines for less than positive reasons. Whether that's investor-led mass redundancies in the name of profit maximisation, security issues, mass client data exposures or failing to notice they'd been hacked for years GoDaddy have a less than perfect past.

Why choose Krystal over GoDaddy?

Ethics

We have many issues with the way GoDaddy operates but our top pick would be what psychologists call “dark patterns”. These are "Tricks used in websites and apps that make you do things that you didn't mean to” or potentially wouldn't if you had all the facts to hand. We believe this behaviour isn't fair to consumers and we'd like to see GoDaddy stop the practice. Learn more about dark patterns and then try using GoDaddy's website to see how many you can spot!

From my experience with GoDaddy, the amount of dark patterns using the service was astonishing. It made me move to better hosting providers. They always try to up-sell you stuff, and tack on all these additional features that you have to opt out of when buying something. You have to be real careful on there in-case you buy something you didn't want.

“Visual Interference” is one dark pattern employed by GoDaddy through the use of disclaimers. There are 6 symbols which reference disclaimers on the web hosting page alone ("1, 3, ♦, **, ^, 2"). Conversely, you won't find a single disclaimer on the Krystal site, we put our information up front and easy to read.

Renewal shock

Their 3-year introductory price is similar to our annual price but balloons by as much as 250% on renewal! That's £100 this time turning into £250 next time! We believe this makes them incredibly POOR value for money over time. The lowest prices are available on the longest terms and many people will have forgotten about the price increase come renewal. People are often too busy to move their hosting on a short deadline when their renewal comes up and have trouble getting a refund on an automatic card transaction. We don't offer introductory pricing.

Transparency over trickery

We’ll never use low introductory pricing that might go up as much as 256% on renewal (here’s looking at you GoDaddy). Avoid a painful renewal with our Switch Credits initiative.

Technology

At Krystal we never compromise on our technology (or ethics!). We've built our own platform and operate our own servers, network and security. This means we control the quality of our service from top to bottom. In contrast, GoDaddy outsourced its hosting infrastructure to a 3rd party in 2018 - a decision that we believe makes it a hosting company that doesn’t actually trust itself to do your hosting (aka a marketing company - which could explain the sky-high renewal prices as somebody has to pay for all that advertising!)

Features

We understand what features a hosting plan needs and think these should be included in the price you see on the website. GoDaddy likes to offer many of what we would deem essential features as 'extras' or 'addons', presumably to maximise profit. It doesn't offer free SSL certificates on all plans and where it does they're often only for the 1st year of a 3-year term. So you end up paying for years 2 and 3. Sneaky!

Environment

Does GoDaddy actually have any environmental commitments? We can't seem to find any! We're very confident though that as the world wakes up to just how damaging web hosting can be and how “fashionable” the topic is that GoDaddy will suddenly start to talk more about how important the issue is and, sincerely hope, they improve these commitments.

Brands

GoDaddy has gotten to its position by spending investors' money on expensive marketing campaigns and acquiring all of the competition. GoDaddy has been VERY slow to bring brands under the GoDaddy umbrella, often keeping the acquired companies trading under the same name and legal entity. We believe this information is deliberately kept from potential clients.

For example, UK darling TSOHost was acquired by HostEuropeGroup (HEG) which was subsequently acquired by GoDaddy in 2016. 7 years on, and still no mention of GoDaddy on TSO's “About us” page though! How are clients meant to know where their money is going?

Investors will always seek a return and in GoDaddy's case that's being provided by clients. Krystal has no investors, is family run and has never paid a dividend, so we can reinvest profits into the service.

Krystal Brands

GoDaddy Brands

+ more than 22 others

Taken from the List of Mergers and Acquisitions by GoDaddy

Information correct as of

02 Oct 2023

Looking for more reasons to pick Krystal?

Check out 3 Good Reasons or our Reviews page, and if you're currently with GoDaddy and would like to leave our Switch Credits will compensate you for any unused time so you're not out of pocket. We'll even help you move over.

Choose the right plan for you

They all include award-winning UK support, flexibility to upgrade or downgrade, and our 60-day, no-quibble money-back guarantee.

  • Amethyst

    $9 /month

    Perfect for personal and hobby sites without breaking the bank.

    Buy Amethyst

    Standard performance

    • 1 site hosted

    • 10GB NVMe storage

    • Unlimited mailboxes

    • Unlimited bandwidth

    • Daily backups

    • Free SSL certificates

    • Standard phone support

  • Ruby

    $14 /month

    Suitable for freelancers and professionals with larger resources.

    Buy Ruby

    Enhanced performance

    • 5 sites hosted

    • 25GB NVMe storage

    • Unlimited mailboxes

    • Unlimited bandwidth

    • Daily backups

    • Free SSL certificates

    • Free domain

    • Standard phone support

  • Emerald

    $24 /month

    The perfect starting point for small businesses and startups.

    Buy Emerald

    High performance

    • Unlimited sites hosted

    • Unlimited NVMe storage

    • Unlimited mailboxes

    • Unlimited bandwidth

    • Free SSL certificates

    • Free domain

    • Standard phone support

    Premium features

    • 4-hourly backups

    • PCI DSS scan compliant

    • Super low contention

    • Resource boost

  • Sapphire

    $46 /month

    Ideal for more complex websites with higher resource needs.

    Buy Sapphire

    Very High performance

    • Unlimited sites hosted

    • Unlimited NVMe storage

    • Unlimited mailboxes

    • Unlimited bandwidth

    • Free SSL certificates

    • Free domain

    Premium features

    • Emergency phone support

    • 4-hourly backups

    • PCI DSS scan compliant

    • Super low contention

    • Resource boost

  • Diamond

    $84 /month

    Excellent for demanding and popular websites that have a lot traffic.

    Buy Diamond

    Ultra performance

    • Unlimited sites hosted

    • Unlimited NVMe storage

    • Unlimited mailboxes

    • Unlimited bandwidth

    • Free SSL certificates

    • Free domain

    Premium features

    • Emergency phone support

    • 4-hourly backups

    • PCI DSS scan compliant

    • Super low contention

    • Resource boost

  • Tanzanite

    $121 /month

    The best choice for mission-critical websites with ultra-high traffic.

    Buy Tanzanite

    Extreme performance

    • Unlimited sites hosted

    • Unlimited NVMe storage

    • Unlimited mailboxes

    • Unlimited bandwidth

    • Free SSL certificates

    • Free domain

    Premium features

    • Emergency phone support

    • 4-hourly backups

    • PCI-DSS scan compliant

    • Super low contention

    • Resource boost

Not sure which plan is right for you?

We’re happy to help you find the perfect hosting plan. Compare our plans or get in touch for honest advice without sales tactics or upsells.

Compare all features

100% green web hosting

Yes, we obsess over our tech. But we also protect our planet.

Green energy

We use Ecotricity for our power, the first company in the UK to offer true 100% renewable energy.

Green data centres

All power consumed at our data centres comes from 100% renewable sources. All centres have achieved a PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) rating of at least 1.2.

Green purpose

We work with key partners including Ecologi, veritree and 1t.org to create a path to a cleaner future. We balance profit with purpose and are a Certified B Corp.

Green leadership

We work as a beacon for positive change, so we help our staff go green by offsetting their lifetime carbon footprint, and encourage our industry to adopt a planet-first approach.

Join 36,066 happy clients running on our premium, planet-first B Corp web hosting

  • Nike
  • NHS
  • Cadbury
  • Financial Times
  • Cath Kidston
  • Iceland
  • Independent
  • Daikin

Our clients say we're Excellent

4.8 out of 5 based on 1,748 reviews

View all reviews

  • Best hosting company out there

    A massive support network and outstanding service. Anyone who is complaining about Krystal has never used any of the other ‘giants’. Second to none - will be here for the long run

    Dan Burgess

    2023-07-20

    Read review
  • By far the best hosting service provider

    Krystal is the best hosting service provider I have come across. My website is always up and running smoothly, and I have received nothing but positive feedback about the speed and performance of my website, which I attribute to Krystal’s top-of-the-line hosting services.

    Patrick O’Neill

    2023-06-09

    Read review
  • Excellent provider

    As someone who isn’t web tech savvy, the team here helped me navigate designing my own website, even with all the technical glitches that happened along the way. By far, the most supportive and knowledgeable team I have worked with.

    Lottie King

    2023-04-28

    Read review
  • One of the best companies I have ever used

    Their customer service is phenomenal. They are always so incredibly helpful and so prompt in their replies.

    Selina Westerman

    2023-05-25

    Read review
  • Well worth the money!

    I’ve been with Krystal since 2015, and have always been very impressed by the quality of their technical support. I’ve just had a problem with my email system, which they tracked down in a few hours, and at no extra charge, to an obscure fault in my Thunderbird email software.

    Kevin King

    2023-08-30

    Read review

Exceptional support

Our award-winning support team are gifted problem solvers. Get in touch for fast, effective and honest responses that genuinely help.

1,207

Tickets

(last 7 days)

  • 7 hours average resolution time
  • 63% solved in first response

245

Calls

(last 7 days)

  • 6 minutes average call duration time
  • < 30 seconds hold time target

378

Live Chats

(last 7 days)

  • 5 minutes average wait time
  • 44 minutes average resolution time

Last updated: Today at 08:00

View all stats