ScalaHosting as a Godaddy alternative: Service comparison
| Web Hosting |
 $5.95 /mo
Start
|
 $5.99 /mo
Economy
|
|---|---|---|
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Feature Name
|
||
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Renewal Price
|
$14.95/mo
|
$11.99/mo
|
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Number of Websites
|
Unlimited
|
1 website
|
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Storage Space
|
50 GB
|
25GB
|
|
Storage Type
|
NVMe SSD
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NVMe SSD
|
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Automatic Offsite Backups
|
yes (7 days)
|
yes (Basic daily backup)
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Free SSLs
|
yes (Unlimited for all sites)
|
no Free first year, then $119.99/year
|
|
Free Website Migration
|
yes (Unlimited for all sites)
|
no Free auto-migration tool (success not guaranteed)
|
|
Free Email Migration
|
yes
|
no
|
|
Free Global CDN
|
yes (Cloudflare)
|
no Trial only (30 days)
|
|
Malware Protection
|
yes (SShield AI)
|
no Paid addon (Site Security)
|
|
Uncapped Inodes
|
yes
|
no 250,000 hard limit
|
|
Database Size
|
yes (Unlimited)
|
no 1GB per DB, 5GB total
|
|
Softaculous
|
yes Full library
|
no Limited
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|
Money-back Guarantee
|
yes Anytime (prorated)
|
yes 30 days
|
|
Backup Restore Fee
|
yes
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no $25 per restore
|
Understanding the true cost of GoDaddy hosting requires looking beyond the advertised price. While the base VPS rate might seem competitive, GoDaddy adds $19.99 monthly just to have a control panel like cPanel or Plesk—something ScalaHosting provides free with SPanel. The expenses continue mounting with a $25 fee every time you restore a backup, compared to ScalaHosting's included unlimited restores. Moving your websites to GoDaddy costs between $149 and $199 per site, while ScalaHosting handles unlimited migrations at no charge. After your first year, GoDaddy hits you with a $119.99 annual SSL renewal fee for each certificate, whereas ScalaHosting maintains free SSL protection indefinitely. Making matters worse, GoDaddy VPS plans come with rigid resource limitations and no flexibility to scale individual resources without jumping to an entirely new plan.
| Cloud/VPS Hosting |
$29.95 /mo
(Build #1)
|
$19.99 /mo
(VPS 2GB)
|
|---|---|---|
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Feature Name
|
||
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Renewal Price
|
$54.95/mo
|
$29.99/mo
|
|
Cloud Infrastructure
|
yes
|
no No, simple VPS
|
|
CPU Cores
|
2 cores
|
2 cores
|
|
RAM
|
50GB NVMe
|
100GB
|
|
Automatic Offsite Backups
|
yes Daily (offsite)
|
no Snapshots only (same server)
|
|
External Backup Support
|
yes Yes (S3, Hetzner)
|
no No default options
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|
Includes Control Panel
|
yes Yes (SPanel - free)
|
no No ($19.99/mo for cPanel)
|
|
Free Website Migration
|
yes Yes (unlimited)
|
no No, $199 per website
|
|
Free Email Migration
|
yes
|
no No, $199 per website
|
|
Free CDN Integration
|
yes
|
no
|
|
Malware Protection
|
yes Yes (SShield AI)
|
no No, $12.99/mo
|
|
Firewall included
|
yes
|
no
|
|
OpenLiteSpeed Acceleration
|
yes
|
no Not available
|
|
Scalable Resources
|
yes Yes (granular scaling)
|
no No (full plan upgrades only)
|
|
Dedicated IP
|
yes
|
yes
|
|
IP Blacklist Monitoring
|
yes
|
no
|
|
Free SSLs
|
yes
|
no No, paid extra
|
|
Money-back Guarantee
|
yes Anytime
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yes 30 days
|
|
Root Access available
|
yes
|
yes
|
|
Bandwidth
|
Unmetered
|
Generally unlimited
|
Understanding the true cost of GoDaddy hosting requires looking beyond the advertised price. While the base VPS rate might seem competitive, GoDaddy adds $19.99 monthly just to have a control panel like cPanel or Plesk—something ScalaHosting provides free with SPanel. The expenses continue mounting with a $25 fee every time you restore a backup, compared to ScalaHosting's included unlimited restores. Moving your websites to GoDaddy costs between $149 and $199 per site, while ScalaHosting handles unlimited migrations at no charge. After your first year, GoDaddy hits you with a $119.99 annual SSL renewal fee for each certificate, whereas ScalaHosting maintains free SSL protection indefinitely. Making matters worse, GoDaddy VPS plans come with rigid resource limitations and no flexibility to scale individual resources without jumping to an entirely new plan.
Support Comparison
Real Experts. Real Answers. No Templates.
ScalaHosting: Our experienced technicians provide genuine human support 24/7 via live chat, ticketing, and email. When you contact us with a technical issue, you speak with someone who can actually solve it - not just reset passwords or send you to documentation.
Instant Access:
- No AI chatbots or automated loops
- Direct connection to technical experts
- First-contact resolution for most issues
GoDaddy: GoDaddy offers 24/7 support, but the experience differs significantly:
- Initial contact often through an AI chatbot
- Chat support frequently uses templated responses
- Technical help via chat is limited
- Complex issues require escalation
| Support Response Time |
|
|
|---|---|---|
|
Chat Response Time
|
15 Sec
|
5 min - 1 hour
|
|
Ticket Response Time
|
15 Min
|
6-24 hours
|
|
Email Response Time
|
15 Min
|
24-48 hours
|
|
Technical Resolution
|
First contact
|
Often requires escalation
|
Every online project has its specifics and you want your issues addressed with the utmost attention and care.
The fear of dealing with templated support responses and long wait times is a major reason for businesses to leave GoDaddy. ScalaHosting keeps things 100% human - real people who treat your website like it's their own.
Performance Comparison
| Performance Comparison |
|
|
|---|---|---|
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Feature Name
|
||
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Storage read speed
|
2457 MB/s
|
752 MB/s
|
|
Storage random read & write IOPS
|
162,000 read IOPS,
53,900 write IOPS |
50,200 read IOPS,
16,700 write IOPS |
|
CPU power
|
5028 events per second
|
1,553 events per second
|
|
Storage type
|
NVMe powered on all plans
|
NVMe powered on all plans
|
|
Litespeed web server
|
Openlitespeed option included on all cloud plans
|
No option included
|
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Redis cache
|
Redis manager for all SPanel users on cloud plans
|
No option included
|
|
Network speed
|
200+ Mbps
|
100Mbps max
|
The performance difference between ScalaHosting and GoDaddy is substantial and measurable. With storage read speeds that are 3.2 times faster, your visitors experience dramatically quicker page loads. Database-driven features respond 3.2 times faster thanks to superior read IOPS, keeping your applications smooth and responsive. When you update content or process user submissions, our 3.2 times better write IOPS ensure changes happen instantly without lag. Dynamic elements like personalized content, real-time features, and interactive components perform 3.2 times faster with our more powerful CPU processing capabilities.
Performance Infrastructure
- AMD EPYC 4.1GHz processors (latest generation)
- NVMe SSD across all plans
- Choice of Apache, Nginx, or OpenLiteSpeed
- Redis caching with GUI management
- Cloudflare CDN integration
- Optimized server configurations
- Standard server hardware
-
Default cPanel installation with poor optimization
- PHP runs as CGI (major performance bottleneck)
- Default 128MB PHP memory limit (insufficient for busy sites)
- 2MB upload_max_filesize (too restrictive)
- No control over web server type
- No Redis management interface
Migrations Comparison
See Why ScalaHosting Is the GoDaddy Alternative with Truly Free Migrations
Cost
Free for all new hosting accounts (shared, email, reseller, managed cloud)
Depending on the complexity of the migration, costs vary between $99 and $200+ per website
GoDaddy offers a "free" auto-migration tool, but includes this disclaimer: "Migration success is not guaranteed"
This DIY tool:
Requires technical knowledge to configure
Success depends on your current host's cooperation
No support if migration fails
Conditions
No conditions:
Move from any host, any control panel, any website type
File/database access is all we need
Size, type, and number of sites don't matter
Migration is always free and guaranteed
Migrations are paid per website
They need a QA call before every migration
They mention that most websites are supported
Migration is neither, free , nor guaranteed
Mail Transfer
ScalaHosting offers free professional email migration for all its Business Email hosting plans. This service is included at no extra cost and applies regardless of:
Migrations are paid per website
They need a QA call before every migration
They mention that most websites are supported
Migration is neither, free , nor guaranteed
GoDaddy does not include professional email migration with its email plans. Instead:
GoDaddy provides a self-service email migrator tool for customers to run themselves.
This process requires the customer to configure the source and destination and monitor the transfer.
Technical issues during migration may require multiple support interactions and intermediate troubleshooting.
Migration Requests
Migration Team: Works 24/7, including nights and weekends.
Timeline: Migration initiated immediately after receiving credentials.
Post-Migration: Verification and testing included.
Migration Team: Monday-Friday, 7 AM - 5 PM MST only.
Timeline: 2-4 business days after details verified.
Post-Migration: 14-Day window provided for post migration reviews
Resources and Scalability
| Shared Hosting Limits Comparison |
|
|
|---|---|---|
|
Feature Name
|
||
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CPU Usage Philosophy
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Peaks allowed - no process killing - notification if exceeding 17% for 7 days
|
Not more than 25% of one CPU core
|
|
RAM Usage
|
No limit
|
512 MB total
|
|
Simultaneous Processes
|
No limit
|
From 20 for the smallest plan, up to 50 for the largest one
|
|
I/O limit
|
No limit
|
1 MB/s disk IO
|
|
Inodes Limit
|
No limit
|
250,000 hard cap
|
|
Max Database Size
|
No limit
|
1GB per database
|
|
Max Database Tables
|
No limit
|
1,000 maximum
|
|
Max email accounts
|
No limit
|
100
|
|
Resource Monitoring
|
Focus on % usage - better predictability
|
Strict hard limits - processes killed without warning
|
Cloud / VPS hosting
Guaranteed resources - no overselling
Fully scalable - add individual resources as needed
Granular upgrades - add just 1 CPU core or 10GB storage
No server migration required for upgrades
Quick reboot for CPU/RAM upgrades (NVMe storage upgrades don't need a restart)
Maximum scalability: Up to 24 CPU cores, 128GB RAM, 2000GB storage
Clustering available for unlimited horizontal scaling
Virtualization allows overselling - you may not get what you paid for
Limited scalability - must upgrade entire plan
No individual resource customization
Server migration often required for upgrades
VPS plans place your site within a server shared with other customers, but you will have full control over your server space and the complete configuration of your virtual instance on the server. You will have administrator (root) access and a dedicated IP address
Translation: Even on a VPS, your resources may be oversold and limited.
Security Comparison
ScalaHosting - Security That Comes Standard, Not as an Upsell
| Security |
|
|
|---|---|---|
|
Feature Name
|
||
|
Free SSL Certificates
|
Included (unlimited for all sites)
|
Free first year, then $119.99/year
|
|
Malware Protection
|
SShield AI (always active, all SPanel plans)
|
Paid addon (Site Security extra cost)
|
|
Backups
|
Included + offsite storage option
|
Basic daily backup (restore costs $25)
|
|
WordPress antimalware
|
WP-Lock (all SPanel plans)
|
No specific WordPress protection
|
|
IP Blacklist Monitoring
|
Gmail/Hotmail/Yahoo monitoring
|
Not included
|
|
Firewall
|
SShield AI-powered + CSF
|
No firewall on VPS by default
|
|
Isolation & Multi-site Safety
|
SPanel-level session isolation
|
Shared hosting vulnerable to cross-contamination
|
|
Security Response
|
Proactive + real-time alerts
|
Reactive, addon-based
|
|
Managed Security on VPS
|
Managed security standard
|
Practically non-existent without addons
|
Data protection shouldn’t come as a paid addon - it's a fundamental right. While GoDaddy locks essential security tools behind paywalls, ScalaHosting provides comprehensive protection as a standard. This goes for both the site owners and their users.
Global Infrastructure & Reliability Comparison
99.9% uptime guarantee (monthly calculation)
- Maximum 43 minutes of downtime per month allowed
- Clear credit compensation scheme if breached
- Proactive monitoring and alerting
- Written SLA with tiered penalties
99.9% uptime advertised, but:
- No formal SLA with financial penalties
- No service credits for extended downtime
GoDaddy's TOS states:
The Service Uptime Guarantee does not apply to service interruptions caused by causes beyond our control or that are not reasonably foreseeable;
Translation: They claim 99.9% uptime but might not compensate you when they fail to deliver it.
Shared Hosting: 3 US locations + 1 EU location
Cloud VPS: 15 global locations across 4 continents
Hardware:
- Latest AMD EPYC processors (4.1GHz burst speeds)
- NVMe SSD storage standard
- Redundant power, cooling, and networking
- Choice of web server (Apache/Nginx/OpenLiteSpeed)
Infrastructure Benefits:
- Optimal global connectivity
- Customer choice of location
- Top-tier data center facilities
- Clustered infrastructure (even for shared hosting)
All Services: US data centers only, 1 European and 1 Asian location mentioned, but unavailable for selection when creating an account.
- Utah
- Texas
No Choice:
- GoDaddy automatically assigns your data center
- Cannot select a location during signup
- Same limitation for shared, VPS, and dedicated hosting
Global Reach:
- Must use Cloudflare CDN for other locations (extra cost)
- No native global infrastructure
Clustered Architecture:
Shared Hosting:
- Clustered infrastructure standard
- Site data replicated across multiple separate servers
- Automatic failover if hardware fails
- Transition happens within 1 minute
- No manual intervention required
Cloud VPS:
- Multi-server redundancy
- Automatic failover to working nodes
- Data replicated in real-time
- Next to zero downtime during hardware failures
Single Point of Failure:
Shared Hosting:
- No hardware redundancy
- Servers may undergo maintenance, causing downtime
- No automatic migration during outages
- GoDaddy cites "DNS propagation risks" for not migrating during failures
- Server Status page to check if your machine is up
VPS Hosting:
- Tier-3 data center infrastructure
- RAID storage, multiple bandwidth providers
- No automatic failover at the VM level
- Hardware failure requires manual intervention
- Multi-hour or full-day downtime possible during hardware failures
Control Panel Comparison
| Control panels |
|
|
|---|---|---|
|
Feature / Tool
|
||
|
Control Panel Type
|
SPanel (cPanel-compatible)
|
cPanel (shared) / None (VPS)
|
|
License Fee
|
FREE with all plans
|
$19.99/mo extra on VPS for cPanel/Plesk
|
|
Account Management
|
Full admin/reseller/client separation
|
Yes (if you pay for control panel)
|
|
Email Management
|
Webmail, filters, autoresponders, blacklist check
|
Standard email tools
|
|
DNS Editor
|
Built-in
|
Built-in
|
|
File Manager
|
Root and user-level access
|
Standard (if control panel purchased)
|
|
1-Click App Installer
|
WordPress Manager + Softaculous (400+ apps)
|
Softaculous (70-80 apps on shared), none on VPS
|
|
WordPress Manager
|
Auto updates, security, staging
|
Via Softaculous (limited)
|
|
Node.js Manager
|
Native support + N8N integration
|
Not available
|
|
Redis Manager
|
GUI for enabling and monitoring
|
Manual server config only
|
|
Server Monitoring
|
Real-time (RAM, CPU, Redis usage)
|
Basic via cPanel (if purchased)
|
|
Security Suite
|
SShield AI, malware scanning, firewall
|
No native protection
|
|
Automatic Backups
|
Daily + remote options (S3, Hetzner)
|
Extra cost or limited
|
|
Changelog/Updates
|
Built-in system
|
No built-in log viewer
|
|
Uptime Monitoring
|
With SLA and alerting
|
Not included
|
|
Cloud Clustering
|
Available even for shared
|
Not available
|
|
White-label
|
Available for resellers
|
Limited without WHM setup
|
ScalaHosting includes SPanel for free with all hosting plans, offering a next-generation control panel developed entirely in-house. It delivers full cPanel-level functionality without additional licensing costs and introduces unique tools such as SShield security, WordPress and Joomla managers, a Redis manager, and a Node.js manager. SPanel is actively developed based on customer feedback, allowing users to propose and vote on new features. While cPanel is available as an optional add-on for an extra fee, it is rarely chosen due to the strength of SPanel’s native capabilities.
In contrast, GoDaddy includes cPanel only with its shared hosting plans, while VPS hosting does not come with a control panel by default. Customers must pay additional monthly fees to use cPanel or Plesk, with pricing ranging from $19.99 to $29.99 per month depending on the edition. Even when cPanel is installed, GoDaddy provides a basic and often poorly optimized configuration, with PHP running as CGI, low default memory limits, and restrictive file upload sizes that can negatively impact performance and usability.
Refunds and Hidden Fees Comparison
30-day full refund (no questions asked)
Anytime prorated refund after 30 days
No refunds on extra services (industry standard)
Full transparency - all terms clearly stated
No backup fees - creation and restore both free
No restore fees - backup restores are free
No migration fees - unlimited sites, unlimited complexity
No preselected upsells on order form
No SSL renewal fees - free forever
No control panel fees - SPanel included
- Clearly disclosed
- Not mandatory
- Skipping them doesn't hurt the user experience
30-day money-back guarantee on annual plans
ONLY 2 DAYS for monthly plans (fine print)
Many customers report difficulty getting refunds
No refunds on addons or extra services
- SSL Certificate: First year free, then $119.99/year
- Hosting: Renewal rates 50-250% higher
- Professional migration: $99-$200+ per site
- Email migration: $99 per mailbox
- Success not guaranteed with the free tool
- Backup restore: $25 per restore
- Premium backups : Extra monthly fee
- cPanel / Plesk: $19.99/mo+ ($240+/year)
- Web Security Standard: Extra monthly fee
- SSL Setup Service: $111.99 (purpose unclear)
- GoDaddy's order form has preselected premium extras
- Easy to miss during checkout
- Inflates the final price significantly
| Real-World Cost Example (1 website) |
Start
|
Economy
|
|---|---|---|
|
Price Breakdown
|
||
|
Year 1 (Initial promo period) - hosting, SSL & 1 website migration
|
$5.95/mo
|
$5.99/mo + $99 migration fee = $170.88
|
|
Year 2 (Renewal)
|
$14.95/mo
|
$11.99/mo + $119.99 SSL = $263.87
|
|
Year 3 (Renewal)
|
$14.95/mo
|
$11.99/mo + $119.99 SSL = $263.87
|
|
3-Year Total:
|
$430.20
You Save: $268.42
|
$698.62
|
What Our Customers Say About ScalaHosting Email
I came from Godaddy after 10 years since service was declining and was looking for price, speed, and support. My litmus test was if someone would fix a corrupted htaccess file for me because it's technically outside of 'server support' and requires a desire to help poor fools such as myself. I went with Scala.
I've been with them for a year now and I've only encountered one person who wouldn't help me with something I couldn't do (it was server-side), but then I asked for someone else and someone from a higher tier responded. I've ultimately never been disappointed and am actually.. thankful.. for them—which is not a sentiment I feel a lot in the business world.
Summary: Super super A++
I use ScalaHosting for hosting my websites and purchasing domains, and I am very impressed by its reliability, speed, and cost-effectiveness. However, what stands out the most for me, and the main reason I have remained a loyal customer and would recommend ScalaHosting to others, is their outstanding customer service support. It is truly exceptional, as they promptly respond and are always eager to help resolve any issues. I've experienced a 100% success rate in problem resolution with their support team. The chat and ticket features work flawlessly, negating the need for phone support. These factors make ScalaHosting far superior to my previous provider, GoDaddy, prompting me to transfer all my services to ScalaHosting. Additionally, the initial setup was straightforward, and their team provided excellent assistance with the migration process.
I recently migrated a website from GoDaddy to a ScalaHosting VPS, and the performance jump has been immediately noticeable. I was looking for raw speed, and so far, the loading times are excellent.
I originally considered installing aaPanel to keep things lightweight, but I decided to give Scala's SPanel a try since it came free with the VPS. I’m glad I did - it strikes a perfect balance. It’s light on resources like aaPanel, but it comes pre-configured with everything I actually need (backups, security, and a WordPress manager) without me having to tinker with the server via command line.
The migration process was smooth, and having a managed panel that doesn't cost extra (like cPanel does now) saved me both money and setup time. If you are stuck on a slow shared host like GoDaddy, this is a solid upgrade.
Make the Smarter Move - Choose the #1 GoDaddy Alternative
We're so confident in our infrastructure that we're prepared to back it up with an exclusive offer:
How It Works:
- We migrate your GoDaddy website to a ScalaHosting Managed Cloud plan with similar resources
- We measure performance using industry-standard testing tools
- We guarantee it runs faster - page load times, TTFB, Core Web Vitals
- If we fail to deliver better performance - you get $100 for your troubles
Experience enterprise-grade performance, total transparency, and real value — all in one powerful hosting solution.
Start Your Free Migration Today
Frequently Asked Questions
-
Can I migrate from GoDaddy to ScalaHosting without downtime?
Yes! Our professional migration team specializes in GoDaddy-to-ScalaHosting transfers. We migrate all your websites, databases, emails, and files with zero downtime. Your site stays online throughout the entire process. Unlike GoDaddy's "free tool" (which doesn't guarantee success), we ensure 100% successful migration before switching your DNS.
-
What about GoDaddy's "free migration tool"?
GoDaddy offers a DIY auto-migration tool, but they explicitly state that "migration success is not guaranteed." This tool requires technical knowledge, and if it fails, you're on your own. ScalaHosting provides professional migrations performed by experts who verify everything works perfectly before going live.
-
How much will the migration cost?
Absolutely free. We migrate:
Unlimited websites (GoDaddy charges $149-$199 per site)
Unlimited email accounts (GoDaddy charges $99 per mailbox)
All databases, files, and configurations
From any control panel, any website type
There are no conditions - if you've been a GoDaddy customer for 10 years or 10 days, migration is always free.
-
Will my site actually run faster on ScalaHosting?
We guarantee it. Our infrastructure delivers:
3.2x faster storage I/O (162,000 vs 50,200 read IOPS)
3.2x faster CPU processing (5,028 vs 1,553 events/second)
Optimized configurations (GoDaddy uses poor default settings)
OpenLiteSpeed web server option (not available on GoDaddy)
Put us to the test: If your site doesn't run faster on our servers, we'll pay you $100.
-
What about the control panel?
ScalaHosting: SPanel is included for free on all plans - full cPanel functionality with bonus features like SShield, WordPress Manager, Redis Manager, and more.
GoDaddy VPS: No control panel by default. cPanel or Plesk costs an extra.