The Hidden Fees
WHOIS Privacy: $9.99/year
Free at Cloudflare, Porkbun, Namecheap, Spaceship, and most others. GoDaddy charges nearly $10/year to hide your personal info.
Renewal Price Jump: $0.01 → $21.99
That penny domain becomes $22/year at renewal. A 219,900% increase.
Email Forwarding: $1.99/month
Basic email forwarding that's free elsewhere costs $24/year at GoDaddy.
SSL Certificate: $79.99/year
Free via Let's Encrypt or Cloudflare. GoDaddy charges premium prices for basic SSL.
Auto-Renewal Charges
Auto-renewal is ON by default. Cards get charged without prominent warnings.
Transfer-Out Fee Pressure
Multiple warnings, delay tactics, and "are you sure?" prompts when trying to leave.
True Cost Comparison
10-Year Cost: GoDaddy vs Cloudflare
GoDaddy
- Domain: $0.01 + (9 × $21.99) = $197.92
- Privacy: 10 × $9.99 = $99.90
- Total: $297.82
Cloudflare
- Domain: 10 × $10.44 = $104.40
- Privacy: Free
- Total: $104.40
Savings: $193.42 per domain over 10 years
The Upsell Gauntlet
Buying a domain at GoDaddy means navigating through:
- ✗ "Protect your domain" (privacy upsell)
- ✗ "Get a professional email" (email upsell)
- ✗ "Add website security" (SSL upsell)
- ✗ "Build your website" (website builder upsell)
- ✗ "Add hosting" (hosting upsell)
- ✗ "Extend your registration" (multi-year upsell)
Each click requires finding the "No thanks" link, often in small gray text.
What Other Registrars Include Free
| Feature | GoDaddy | Cloudflare | Porkbun |
|---|---|---|---|
| WHOIS Privacy | $9.99/yr | Free | Free |
| Email Forwarding | $24/yr | Free | Free |
| SSL Certificate | $79.99/yr | Free | Free |
| DNS Hosting | Free | Free | Free |
| CDN | Extra | Free | N/A |
Time to Switch
GoDaddy's business model relies on hidden fees and customer inertia. Don't be a profit center—transfer to a registrar that respects your wallet.
Find a Better Registrar →