SOLVED: Best Way To Host Multiple Websites – GoDaddy vs InMotion

Getting hosting for more than one website can be a complex and expensive project. In 2008 we decided to move all of the websites we hosted from our own small data center, to a hosting service. After an thorough investigation of options, we settled on GoDaddy Reseller “Pro Plan” because it allowed us to host up to 25 sites for 1 fixed reasonable cost.

We were happy GoDaddy resellers for a decade until about 2018:

1. That is when Google mandated the use of SSL certificates on websites. At the time GoDaddy only provided one SSL certificates with their reseller hosting accounts. That meant we had to buy additional certificates for each of website we were hosting. That became prohibitively expensive and unnecessarily complex
2. About the same time GoDaddy shut down their “grid” system which hosted our sites. After that our websites performance was terrible

So in 2018 we started an exhaustive exploration of hosting alternatives which brought us to InMotion Hosting.

As a company with a dozen different websites we found that GoDaddy’s Reseller programs were our best fit, but It didn’t work out that way with InMotion so we just purchased one of their standard hosting packages and migrated all our WordPress sites. (see: Video How To Easily Move Your WordPress Website to a New Server Host For Free)

The problem we have with InMotion today is the renewal cost became excessive after we found out that they were not including backup costs in their hosting bundles. That means that we had to spend an additional $500 (USD) to keep our sites safe using their backup solution and storage. That made our 3 year hosting cost about $1300 USD and that made us sad.

We still have our GoDaddy reseller account but this month is when our reseller agreement expires. We have to decide if we extend it or if we just let it go because we aren’t using the GoDaddy’s hosting anymore.

Here are some of the comparisons that we did to make our decision.

What is GoDaddy Reseller Hosting

We spoke with GoDaddy tech support and know several GoDaddy customers who say those 2018 performance issues have been resolved by changing the reseller hosting plan to one that provides more CPU.

The GoDaddy Reseller Hosting plan is more similar to the Web Hosting Ultimate plan. Both plans offer high-performance features, including 2 CPU cores, NVMe SSD storage, and comprehensive backup options.

This compares to GoDaddy’s Web Hosting Deluxe plan which offers just a single CPU core.

The Reseller Hosting plan also provides additional benefits such as a white-label eCommerce storefront, credit card processing, and 24/7 support, making it a robust solution for resellers who need reliable and scalable hosting services.

GoDaddy Reseller Advertising Credits

GoDaddy Pro reseller account comes with $100 in Google AdSense credits and $100 in Microsoft AdCenter credits, while the Basic reseller account offers $75 in Google AdWords credits and $100 in Microsoft AdCenter credits.

Here is the catch; those credits do NOT come with renewals… just new accounts.

GoDaddy Hosting vs InMotion Hosting for Multiple Websites

Because both of these companies offer a range of products we decided to compare GoDaddy Web Hosting Ultimate plan with the InMotion Hosting Pro plan:

GoDaddy Web Hosting Ultimate Plan

1. Disk Type: NVMe SSD
2. CPU: 2 CPUs
3. Storage Capacity: Unlimited
4. Bandwidth: Unmetered
5. Performance: Enhanced performance with optimized server hardware
6. Additional Features: Free domain, free SSL certificate, daily malware scanning, and continuous monitoring.

InMotion Hosting Pro Plan

1. Disk Type: NVMe SSD
2. CPU: Not explicitly mentioned, but offers 20x UltraStack speed and performance
3. Storage Capacity: Unlimited
4. Bandwidth: Unlimited
5. Performance: 20x UltraStack speed and performance
6. Additional Features: Free domain, free SSL certificate, unlimited email addresses, advanced caching, dedicated IP, and choice of data center location.

Both plans offer high-performance NVMe SSD storage and unlimited storage capacity. The GoDaddy plan provides 2 CPUs, while InMotion focuses on their UltraStack technology for enhanced performance. InMotion also offers additional features like advanced caching and a dedicated IP, which might be beneficial for high-traffic or eCommerce sites.

GoDaddy vs InMotion Performance Caching

GoDaddy has always offered caching on their hosting services likely because that saves a lot of strain on their back end hardware. However InMotion hosting offers more.

GoDaddy Web Hosting Ultimate Cache

1. Caching Options: GoDaddy offers four caching levels through their Web Application Firewall (WAF):
   • Enabled: For static websites with no dynamic content.
   • Minimal Caching: For news portals, blogs, or sites with daily updates.
   • Site Caching: For eCommerce, forums, membership sites, and custom applications.
   • Disabled: For non-public facing websites or those using external CDNs.

InMotion UltraStack Cache

1. NGINX Proxy Caching: Uses NGINX as a reverse caching proxy in front of Apache, improving performance by caching web content into memory.
2. Redis Object Caching: Provides object caching for SQL and other server processes within a database and server RAM.
3. PHP-FPM: Handles PHP scripts more efficiently and securely, using isolated memory pools and processes per user.
4. Brotli Compression: A newer open-source compression algorithm that offers better compression rates compared to gzip.

In summary, while GoDaddy provides basic caching options through their WAF, InMotion’s UltraStack offers a more advanced and comprehensive caching system designed to enhance performance and scalability.

GoDaddy vs InMotion Hosting Backup Options

InMotion charges $90 for a backup software and 10GB storage bundle, which means we needed to pay an additional $400 for backup space (on a 3 year term). This is not trivial for a small company.

On the other hand, GoDaddy’s Web Hosting Ultimate plan includes backup space and software. The plan offers automated, cloud-based backups with daily scheduling, malware detection, and one-click restore. This ensures that your website’s files, folders, and databases are securely backed up and can be quickly restored if needed.

What We Decided

We decided to let our GoDaddy reseller account expire and we will revisit this whole mess in early 2027 when our InMotion hosting contract expires. If things stay the same as they are today, we will likely move back to GoDaddy and simplify our complex backend.

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