Weebly vs GoDaddy Test 2023: Who Makes it Easier to Build a Website?

Do you want to skip the read and get right to my winner? Weebly is the Winner within this Weebly vs GoDaddy Website Builder comparison platform test.

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Introduction to our Weebly vs GoDaddy Website Builder Comparison

We get asked quite frequently what we think of the various site builders cropping up. So we have to admit that anyone who wants to create a snazzy-looking website is spoilt for choice.  There are several options they can consider. In this review, we’re looking at two key contenders in the basic and eCommerce site building categories: GoDaddy Weebly.

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Overview: Battle of the easy website builders.

So, at first sight, how do GoDaddy Weebly stack up?

Weebly:

As a basic builder, Weebly has been around for nearly two decades, getting its start in 2006. Around ten years later, it was bought by ecommerce solutions company Square Inc., paving the way for Weebly eCommerce.

The way things have gone over the past year or so, Weebly has certainly cemented its foothold in the ecommerce sector, with many of the 50 million sites built and hosted with it part of the rapidly growing online marketplace.

GoDaddy:

GoDaddy is – quite literally – a granddaddy of the site-building industry. The platform has been around since 1997, the earliest days of the personal site-building boom, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that 1 out of every 20 websites currently online is built with and hosted on it.

In fact, as of the end of 2020, GoDaddy hosts over 80 million domains worldwide.

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Ease of Use:

Weebly:

Weebly and Weebly eCommerce both run true to form when it comes to usability. With its drag-and-drop user interface (UI), site building is a breeze. For instance, users can just choose the elements they need from a sidebar and arrange them in a way in keeping with their corporate/brand aesthetic or customer engagement strategy.

GoDaddy:

As a legacy programme, GoDaddy is always in a state of flux. Indeed, its developers are constantly rethinking and reconfiguring how it works to make site building so much easier. In recent years, it rolled out an AI-driven site builder that is more intuitive than any of the UI’s previous iterations.

Winner: Given the overall usability of both platforms, we are calling this stage of the Weebly vs GoDaddy match a draw.

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Features and Flexibility:

Out-of-the-box:

Weebly:

From the get-go, Weebly comes out punching with a builder that has practically everything in it from an intuitive creation platform to tools that run the gamut from SEO to ecommerce-specific solutions.

GoDaddy:

We’ll be blunt and give a caveat at the very beginning: the features you get from GoDaddy are all dependent on what subscription package you sign up for. At its most basic, you will get an AI-driven creation platform with an extensive control panel (cPanel) with which to manage and update your site.

GoDaddy Weebly Themes and Templates:

Weebly:

Weebly’s themes gallery may seem too modest for some people with only 50 available templates, but look again. While some templates are standard for the platform, its developers are constantly swapping out old (non-performing/unpopular) templates for fresh takes on design.

GoDaddy:

You want diversity? GoDaddy gives you diversity with themes organised among 1,500 industries. Some of the templates offered come in dark and light editions, enabling users to select a version that they find appropriate to their brand and product line. Not really into online commerce or doing something more philanthropic? GoDaddy has templates specific to the non-profit sector.

Customisation Tools:

Weebly:

Customisation is a doddle where Weebly is concerned as options for enhancing the look and functionality of your site are pre-built into the system. This ensures that users are able to swap or modify their storefront templates to reflect their branding / corporate identity standards on a visual level.

GoDaddy:

The thing about GoDaddy is that it was developed in such a way that it easily interfaces with numerous apps and programmes. Therefore, it’s quite easy to pick and mix customisation tools to help enhance the appearance and functionality of your site. Among the options available are Adobe products XD and Color, Canva, and InVision.

Weebly vs GoDaddy 3rd Party Integrations:

Weebly:

Square Inc’s acquisition of Weebly in 2016 opened the doors to serious integration with a full roster of apps and programmes to do everything from aesthetic customisation, to improved productivity, and even store management. The in-platform App Store offers a plethora of such apps, both from some of the world’s leading tech companies as well as from community-driven development initiatives.

GoDaddy:

GoDaddy boasts of being able to interface with nearly 130 apps and software programmes, including WordPress and Joomla for CMS editing and blogging, as well as Python and MySQL for more elaborate code management and editing.

Hosting:

Weebly:

Scalable and data centre-redundant hosting is something Weebly has long offered its customers through its cloud-based hosting service which ensures that sites load without broken images or widgets that fail to work. Loading time is also significantly faster than most and doesn’t lag even if neighbouring sites get more traffic.

GoDaddy:

Hosting is what GoDaddy is best known for, being the world’s leading website domain registry and one of the leading hosting services. Like Weebly, it also hosts its sites on a cloud server, assuring users of constant uptime and rapid loading. We have noted, however, that GoDaddy’s loading time has been slowing down of late, but this is something we will delve deeper into in the page speed section.

Backups:

Weebly:

Unfortunately, scheduled backups are an Achilles’ heel for this platform. Even in its most recent iterations, you will still need to source for a third-party backup tool; fortunately, there is a number to choose from in its App Store.

GoDaddy:

Unless you’re gunning for a premium tier subscription, there is no way by which you can backup your GoDaddy site unless you have a third-party backup app at your disposal.

Migration:

Weebly:

Site migration is not a problem where Weebly is concerned as a tool for doing so is already built into the UI. Whether you are simply importing vital information like customer and order lists or inventory from your old site or moving your whole online establishment onto the platform from another builder, it’s relatively easy.

GoDaddy:

The good news: GoDaddy does have a facility for site migration. However, the bad news: it isn’t cheap, you can’t do it yourself, and it may take forever to facilitate. Also, there is no tool built into the UI that will allow you to transfer a site or information from a different platform.

Instead, you have to pay $99.99 per site to get their tech folk to move it for you – and, as if that wasn’t bad enough, it will take seven to ten days for them to move everything.

Winner – Weebly! in this ‘Features and Flexibility' category of this GoDaddy Weebly showdown.

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SEO and Mobility:

SEO:

Weebly:

For both its standard and ecommerce site builders, Weebly already has SEO tools built into the UI, so users can encode high-impact metadata, titles, and site tags.

GoDaddy:

For SEO, GoDaddy uses Google MyBusiness to optimise websites. However, it isn’t bundled into package. Instead, you will need to pay a monthly fee of up to $10 (or higher) to be able to make your site more SEO-savvy.

Mobile:

Weebly:

Online store owners rejoice: Weebly’s ecommerce management app is available to download on both Google Play and the Apple App Store, enabling you to manage and run your store wherever you may be.

GoDaddy:

GoDaddy also allows mobile users to get creative with a mobile app that is available for both Android and iOS. However, when we tried the app for ourselves, we noted that its efficiency is highly dependent on the connection that you use.

Pagespeed:

Weebly:

Weebly clocks in at a decent 2.11 seconds.

GoDaddy:

Comparing GoDaddy Weebly, GoDaddy sites, unfortunately, clock in at a slightly slower 3.32 seconds.

Winner – Weebly! in terms of ‘SEO and Mobility' features between GoDaddy Weebly.

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Weebly vs GoDaddy eCommerce Tools:

Which platform between GoDaddy Weebly gives you more tools to put up an online store?

Weebly:

Weebly’s range of ecommerce tools includes a dedicated shopping cart and various payment facilities, along with different support systems for international transactions, shipping and delivery, and inventory management. The fact that it is under the Square Inc umbrella means that users also get first-crack at tools and solutions from the ecommerce developer.

GoDaddy:

GoDaddy Estore is the platform’s online store building solution. Depending on the subscription you go in for, you can have between 100 to 40,000 products in your inventory. Social media connectivity, payment gateways, and international currency support are also built-in.

Winner – Draw! We are calling this GoDaddy Weebly ‘eCommerce Tools' match a draw.

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Support and Resources:

Weebly:

While Weebly’s knowledge base is constantly being updated and expertly curated by tech whizzes, we admit it isn’t a great choice when it comes to technical support. Like its parent company Square, live technical support via phone or online chat is limited to business hours – not something to look forward to if your site suddenly crashes in the middle of the night.

GoDaddy:

Our issue with GoDaddy’s technical support? Sporadic. While the service is available 24/7 via live chat, phone, and WhatsApp, it takes between 45 minutes to two hours before a customer service representative got back to us on a very simple inquiry. Also, we have to question the competence of GoDaddy’s tech support people: aren’t they supposed to make issues simpler for beleaguered users and not harder?

Winner – Weebly! Not by much, but we are giving this to Weebly in this Weebly vs GoDaddy ‘Support and Resources' comparison.

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GoDaddy Weebly Pricing:

Weebly:

Average cost for a Weebly subscription is low. But there's caveat: full functionality is only available for the top two pricing tiers. Still, their terms of service page states a 30-day money back guarantee applies to all subscription and the stipulations for it are explained clearly in your service agreement. Incidentally, every subscriber – regardless of plan – gets an intuitive builder, SEO tools, ecommerce suite, and an SSL certificate.

GoDaddy:

The GoDaddy website builder price plans are shown below and all include one month for free. Do always read through their terms of service before you commit.

Winner – Weebly! in this ‘Pricing' section of the Weebly vs GoDaddy comparison.

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Comparison Winner: Weebly vs GoDaddy?

All things considered, we feel that Weebly gives users more bang for their buck as an ecommerce site builder.

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Conclusion and Recommendation to our Weebly vs GoDaddy Comparison:

Wrapping this GoDaddy Weebly comparison;

Why Weebly? Tools that are necessities for today’s site developers like SEO, ecommerce, and SSL are already built-in. Over time, GoDaddy’s pay-as-you-need model is bound to cut deep into budgets. This may be impetus enough for site owners to switch.

What is Weebly best for?

Weebly works well as both a basic and eCommerce builder due to its extensive range of features.

What is GoDaddy best for?

GoDaddy would best be considered as a hosting service as opposed to a serious site builder.

Weebly vs GoDaddy Alternatives

Here's a list of the best GoDaddy vs Weebly alternatives to create a an online presence;

Weebly vs GoDaddy Final Word:

We have tried as much as we could to deliver a review featuring an unbiased look at the two platforms presented in this article. However, if you have specific needs for your website, you would do well to do trial and to see which platform will work best for you.

>> Try Weebly for Free <<

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That’s all for now:

If you've read our Weebly vs GoDaddy comparison up to here, we are grateful. Remember always to keep abreast of the latest developments on website builders, eCommerce, and other Weebly GoDaddy alternative comparison articles, such as the ones below;

• Best website builder programs
• Best website builders for authors
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• Best website builder in UK

Please share any comments below!