GoDaddy vs Google Domains

I have always been a big fan of Google, so when I heard that they had a new domain name service; I had to try them out.  So I decided to run a test on one of my website’s gamenify.com currently using the domain registrar GoDaddy.  I also decided to run 4 DNS lookup tests to measure the speed.  I then transferred from GoDaddy to Google Domains.  Then I waited 24 hours and ran 4 more DNS lookup speed tests.  I wanted to see if there was any benefit and I have done a quick study to see what the benefits are.

Benefits of Google Domains over GoDaddy

• Part of Google Domains selling point is it uses the same infrastructure as Google itself.  This means your website can be accessed faster.
• Private registration at no additional cost
• Domain renewal price for Google is $12.  Renewal price for GoDaddy is $15.  Google is 20% cheaper.

Speed Testing

There is an online website speed test called GTmetrix.com.  GTmetrix will provide you with a waterfall of server calls.  The very first call is to receive the host.  I have used this response time to determine which is faster GoDaddy or Google Domains.

 

The results of the DNS Lookup speed test:

	DNS Lookup Time	Average
GoDaddy		477ms
	426ms
	502ms
	651ms
	329ms
Google		369.75ms
	335ms
	357ms
	424ms
	363ms

 

I ran GTmetrix 4 times against each domain registrar.  The results are clear: Google Domains on average is 107.25 milliseconds faster than GoDaddy.  This means every time someone accesses your website the website will load 1/10^th of a second faster.  That doesn’t seem like much, but if you are trying to make your website as fast as possible this might be something to consider.

Conclusion

I know that GoDaddy has promo codes and if you do things in bulk the price of domain renewals can be reduced.  But overall I see no advantage of using GoDaddy over Google Domains.  Google is faster, gives free private registration, and is faster.  What else do you need, I will most likely start transferring all of my GoDaddy domains to Google very soon.