BigCommerce vs GoDaddy are both eCommerce website builders that operate on the SaaS model. This means you pay them a recurring licensing fee to run an eCommerce website, add products, manage customers, etc.
That being said, BigCommerce and GoDaddy are as different as chalk and cheese. BigCommerce is famous for its enterprise-grade eCommerce features and scalability. Meanwhile, GoDaddy is known as a quick solution to launch an online store.
Don’t know which one to choose yet? No worries! After reading our in-depth comparison between them, you will. Let’s explore how the two platforms stack up against one another in 7 key aspects:
- Pricing
- Ease of use
- Templates
- eCommerce features
- SEO
- Security
- Customer support
BigCommerce vs GoDaddy Quick Comparison
BigCommerce | GoDaddy | Which one wins? | |
Pricing |
|
| GoDaddy |
Ease of use | BigCommerce is intuitive, but its diverse features come with a learning curve. | GoDaddy allows users to quickly build a website with its basic feature suite. | GoDaddy |
Templates | BigCommerce has over 200 eCommerce themes. You can preview and switch themes as easily as you want. | GoDaddy has around 100 themes as well. But the platform auto-assign a template based on the category you select at onboarding. | BigCommerce |
eCommerce features | You have advanced eCommerce features, multi-channel integration, and B2B capabilities. | GoDaddy only offers merchants basic eCommerce features. | BigCommerce |
SEO | BigCommerce offers various SEO tools to optimize your products for rich snippets, customizable URLs, etc. | GoDaddy only offers alt text editing and keyword suggestions. | BigCommerce |
Security | BigCommerce’s compliant with PCI and proactively protects merchants’ stores from potential threats. | GoDaddy is secure but doesn’t do much help in fraud prevention. | BigCommerce |
Customer support | BigCommerce offers round-the-clock live chat and phone support for all plan users. | GoDaddy’s phone call is only available on selected hours. | BigCommerce |
#1. BigCommerce vs GoDaddy: Pricing (GoDaddy Wins)
| 💡 The Verdict: GoDaddy is a more affordable solution than GoDaddy
The highest plan of GoDaddy is still lower than the lowest plan of BigCommerce so obviously, GoDaddy is a more suitable choice for those on a tight budget. |
BigCommerce is now offering 4 main pricing packages, which all come with hosting, a free SSL certificate, and built-in sales and marketing features.
- Standard ($50K online revenue): $39/month ($29/month if billed annually)
- Plus ($180K online revenue): $105/month ($79/month if billed annually)
- Pro ($400K online revenue): $399/month ($299/month if billed annually)
- Enterprise: Custom pricing based on your needs.
GoDaddy also offers 4 pricing plans, but at a much lower price range– from $12.99 to $26.99 per month.
- Basic: $12.99/month or $10.99/month (billed annually)
- Standard: $16.99/month or $11.99/month (billed annually)
- Premium: $22.99/month or $14.99/month (billed annually)
- Ecommerce: $26.99/month or $16.99/month (billed annually)
Clearly, between the two platforms, GoDaddy is a much more affordable option. Not only does GoDaddy offer more economical pricing plans, but they also don’t limit the Gross Merchandise Value for each plan like BigCommerce does.
Nevertheless, there are reasons why many merchants still choose BigCommerce over GoDaddy, regardless of the pricing, which we’ll discuss later on.
#2. BigCommerce vs GoDaddy: Ease of Use (GoDaddy Wins)
| 💡 The verdict: GoDaddy is easier to use than BigCommerce.
BigCommerce is easy to use but packed with many features that can take time to learn. Meanwhile, setting up an eCommerce website with GoDaddy is a bit easier. |
BigCommerce provides users with an intuitive admin dashboard where they can manage all aspects of their online store operations. You can easily customize your theme, add products, handle orders, etc., in one place.
However, be well-noted that BigCommerce will come with a learning curve, especially when it comes to customizing your theme or managing advanced eCommerce functionalities. To learn more about this platform, please take a look at our in-depth BigCommerce reviews for more insights.
Ease of use is an aspect where GoDaddy shines. After you sign up for an account, GoDaddy gets you on board with all the steps of the website creation process, from adding content to connecting your domain, etc. Plus, their Artificial Design Intelligence can even automatically create a basic website tailored to your preferences.
#3. BigCommerce vs GoDaddy: Templates
| 💡 The verdict: BigCommerce wins over GoDaddy convincingly.
BigCommerce offers you 200 themes that you can easily preview and select. While GoDaddy gives you 100 themes, they don’t let you freely choose a theme you prefer. Instead, the platform assigns a template based on the category you select at the onboarding step. |
BigCommerce themes give you almost 200 different choices and 12 of them are free. If you want a fancy BigCommerce theme, it usually costs between $150 and $400. The good thing is you can look at a theme before you buy it. Also, you can change to a different theme later if you want, which you can't do with GoDaddy.
GoDaddy has about 100 themes, but unfortunately, you can only pick from the group you chose at the start. We think this is annoying because it means you can't see all the themes and pick the one you like best.
Another thing worth noting is that GoDaddy themes are quite limited compared to BigCommerce’s optimization options. For instance, you can only edit text and make some basic design changes instead of having full control over individual elements of your website, like with BigCommerce.
#4. GoDaddy vs BigCommerce: eCommerce Features (BigCommerce Wins)
| 💡 The verdict: BigCommerce leaves GoDaddy in the dust.
With advanced inventory management, multi-channel integration and stuff, BigCommerce has much superior eCommerce functionalities than GoDaddy ever could. |
Regarding eCommerce features, BigCommerce clearly offers more comprehensive and advanced functionalities than GoDaddy. This shouldn’t come as a surprise tho. At the end of the day, BigCommerce positions itself as a scalable eCommerce platform, while GoDaddy is just a domain registrar & general website builder.
Let’s have a look at BigCommerce vs GoDaddy’s eCommerce features side by side:
eCommerce features | BigCommerce | GoDaddy |
Inventory management |
|
|
Payment gateways |
|
|
Headless commerce |
|
|
Cross-channel eCommerce |
|
|
B2B Capabilities |
|
|
#5. BigCommerce vs GoDaddy: SEO (BigCommerce Wins)
| 💡 The verdict: BigCommerce provides more advanced SEO tools than GoDaddy.
BigCommerce enables you to fully optimize your eCommerce web store for search engines with various advanced SEO features. With GoDaddy, you can only edit alt text and get some keyword suggestions to manually insert into your product listings. |
Here are some of the top BigCommerce SEO features that can help your website rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs):
- SEO-friendly URL structure: Customize URL structures for products, web pages, and categories.
- Mobile-friendliness: All templates are responsive and support AMP format.
- Microdata/Rich snippets: Enhance search results with ratings, pricing, brand, and stock information.
- On-page SEO: Easily adjust page titles, metadata, and headings.
GoDaddy, meanwhile, gives you very little things to do with search engine optimization. As of the time being, here’s what GoDaddy offers in terms of SEO:
- Keyword suggestion: The GoDaddy SEO tool gives you a list of keyword suggestions while you’re on-boarding.
- Alt text edit: You can add alt text to optimize your images for search engines.
- Report: The tool has an analytics dashboard so you can track your SEO performance.
#6. GoDaddy vs BigCommerce: Security (BigCommerce Wins)
| 💡 The verdict: BigCommerce beats GoDaddy when it comes to security.
Both platforms are quite secure. However, BigCommerce goes the extra mile to proactively deal with emerging threats and fraud. With GoDaddy, you’ll have to be responsible for fraud prevention measures. |
BigCommerce is secure out of the box. To be more specific, BigCommerce's servers have level 1 PCI DSS certification, offering robust protection against credit card data breaches.
The platform employs a comprehensive security suite, including intrusion detection software, file integrity scanners, multi-layered firewalls, round-the-clock human monitoring, and advanced fraud protection mechanisms.
GoDaddy is secure, too with PCI compliance and stuff. But when it comes to fraud protection, GoDaddy leaves the hard work to website owners. GoDaddy offers fraud prevention as well, but as paid service. Hence, it doesn’t even come close to BigCommerce’s security.
#7. GoDaddy vs BigCommerce: Customer Support (BigCommerce Wins)
| 💡 The verdict: BigCommerce slightly wins regarding customer support.
BigCommerce offers round-the-clock live chat and phone support for all plan users, while GoDaddy's dedicated phone support is limited to specific hours. |
BigCommerce provides free customer support for all plan users, including 24/7 live chat and phone support. And if you’re a self-taught expert, you can also find helpful documents and tutorials in the BigCommerce Help Center.
If you're on BigCommerce's Enterprise plan, you’ll get priority support, which includes a BigCommerce onboarding consultant and quick access to phone support.
GoDaddy also does well in this area. They offer chat support all day and night, and dedicated phone support from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day of the week.
In some countries, GoDaddy offers local support. For example, French customers can get help from French-speaking staff, which makes the support experience better.
GoDaddy also offers a comprehensive knowledge base that guides users through common issues and tasks. This allows customers to attempt solving problems independently before reaching out to support staff.
BigCommerce vs GoDaddy: Who Wins?
Now that we have walked you through all the key aspects of BigCommerce vs GoDaddy, have you figured out which platform will best suit your needs?
To sum up:
- Choose GoDaddy over BigCommerce if you plan to build an affordable, non-eCommerce website with an intuitive website builder.
- Choose BigCommerce over GoDaddy if you want to launch an online store and are serious about scaling it in the long run. BigCommerce’s advanced eCommerce features and scalability won’t let you down. That’s why many have used our BigCommerce migration services to switch from their current platform to BigCommerce.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is BigCommerce a good website builder?
BigCommerce is a solid e-commerce platform rather than a general website builder. It's well-suited for online stores with features like customizable themes, robust inventory management, and multi-channel selling capabilities.
Can I use GoDaddy for eCommerce?
Yes, GoDaddy offers eCommerce functionality. Their plans include features like product listings, payment processing, and basic inventory management. However, it's more limited compared to specialized eCommerce platforms like BigCommerce.
Is BigCommerce SEO-friendly?
Yes, BigCommerce is SEO-friendly. It provides built-in SEO features such as customizable URLs, automatic sitemaps, 301 redirects, and optimized product pages.
