For a service business that wants a credible site at the lowest steady monthly cost, ZenBusiness is worth pricing first: its website builder is $15 a month, or $129 a year, after a 30-day free trial, with hosting and SSL included. Between the two compared here, GoDaddy has the lower entry price at $9.99 a month on its Starter plan, billed annually, against $10.99 a month for Hostinger's Premium plan. Hostinger's much lower advertised rates are promotional and tied to a 48-month term paid up front, so they are not what the business pays ongoing. Squarespace or Wix suit better if design depth or a large app ecosystem matters more than price.

Which is cheaper, GoDaddy or Hostinger?

On the ongoing price, GoDaddy is slightly cheaper at the entry level. Its Starter plan is $9.99 a month, against $10.99 a month for Hostinger Premium, a gap of $1.00 a month. All figures here are as of 2026-10-06, and each provider's own pricing page is the final word.

The picture changes at the middle tier. GoDaddy Professional is $24.99 a month, while Hostinger Unlimited is $16.99 a month, so Hostinger is cheaper by $8.00 a month there. At the top, GoDaddy Ultimate is $99.99 a month and Hostinger Cloud Startup is $25.99 a month on renewal. The tiers are not feature-for-feature equivalents, so the comparison is on price only.

Hostinger's headline numbers need care. It advertises $2.99, $3.99 and $7.99 a month, but those are promotional rates on a 48-month term paid up front. They are not the ongoing price. A business that budgets from the promotional figure will face a much higher bill at renewal.

How do these prices compare with the SBA benchmark?

The U.S. Small Business Administration says a typical custom website price starts at $2,000 and can go into five figures. It also says paid DIY builder plans typically run less than $30 a month. Both providers fall inside that range at their entry and middle tiers.

The SBA does not name a winner. Its position is that there is no right method for every business, and it frames the choice around budget, needs, timing and in-house capability. Custom work gets exact specifications and professional support. DIY gets professional designs, instant updates, and included hosting and security, at the cost of limited customisation and platform lock-in.

For a service business watching its costs, the DIY side of that comparison is usually the relevant one. GoDaddy Ultimate at $99.99 a month is well outside the SBA's under-$30 figure, so the top tier is no longer a cheap option.

What does GoDaddy cost?

GoDaddy has a free tier and three paid tiers. Starter is $9.99 a month, Professional is $24.99 a month and Ultimate is $99.99 a month. Every paid tier is billed annually, so the monthly figures assume a year's commitment.

The free tier is limited to 50 AI credits a month and has no custom domain. That is enough to build a draft and judge the editor, but not enough to publish under a business's own name. The SBA notes that most DIY platforms offer a free plan or at least a free trial, and GoDaddy's free tier fits that pattern.

Best for: a service business that wants the lowest listed paid entry price in this comparison and is comfortable with annual billing. The limit to watch is the jump from Starter to Professional, which more than doubles the monthly cost.

What does Hostinger cost?

Hostinger lists three ongoing prices: Premium at $10.99 a month, Unlimited at $16.99 a month and Cloud Startup at $25.99 a month on renewal. Its promotional rates are $2.99, $3.99 and $7.99 respectively, on a 48-month term paid up front. That is a four-year commitment collected at the start, which is a very different proposition from a monthly bill.

The gap between the advertised rate and the renewal rate is the main thing to understand about Hostinger. The promotional figure is real, but it describes a prepaid multi-year term. The renewal price is the one to budget from.

Best for: a service business willing to pay for a long term in advance that has already budgeted for the higher renewal price. Its middle and top tiers are also cheaper per month than GoDaddy's equivalents on ongoing price.

Where do the other options fit?

Four other providers belong in any price comparison. They are listed alphabetically below, and the order is not a ranking.

Square Online has a free plan available. Square has moved to Square Free, Square Plus and Square Premium plans, and it publishes paid software pricing through an industry selector rather than a flat tier table. The paid cost therefore depends on the plan and industry chosen, so a single monthly figure would mislead. It suits a business that already takes payments through Square.

Squarespace lists Basic at $25 a month, or $19 a month billed annually. Core is $39 or $29, Plus is $65 or $49, and Advanced is $139 or $99. It is the stronger choice when design depth matters, and it costs more per month than the cheapest options here. The lower figures assume an annual commitment.

Wix lists Light at $17.77 a month, Core at $29.77, Business at $39.77 and Business Elite at $159.77, all at the yearly-subscription rate. It has the larger app and template ecosystem of the options here, which is the reason to pay more per month. A business that expects to add booking tools and other features over time may find that worthwhile.

ZenBusiness sells a website builder at $129 a year, or $15 a month, after a 30-day free trial. It is AI-assisted, ships industry templates and is mobile responsive. Hosting runs on Amazon Web Services with a stated 99.9% uptime, and SSL is included. The plan also covers site analytics, e-commerce with payment processing and inventory, and phone support seven days a week. A custom domain can be attached or bought through ZenBusiness.

At $15 a month, ZenBusiness sits at the low end of the SBA's DIY range, with hosting and SSL included rather than billed separately. It does not win everywhere. Squarespace goes deeper on design and customisation, Wix has the larger app and template ecosystem, and for a serious online store Shopify is the stronger answer. Best for: a service business that wants a credible site quickly at a low monthly price, and does not need a high design ceiling.

What if the business has not been formed yet?

A website is rarely the first task for a business that is still being set up. Someone forming a company needs the entity, an EIN and a separate business account, and then books. The site can follow in the same week, but it sits downstream of those steps.

This is the one situation where ZenBusiness offers something GoDaddy and Hostinger do not. A reader forming an LLC can handle formation and the website with one provider. Starter formation is $0 plus state fees, Pro is $199 and Premium is $299. The state fee is set by the state, is not ZenBusiness's price, and varies, so it should be kept apart from those figures.

The EIN and operating agreement are included from Pro up and are $99 each on Starter. Customers who form with ZenBusiness are also offered a free accounting consultation, and its accounting page covers the bookkeeping side. A single-member LLC owner who wants formation, a site and bookkeeping support from one company gets a real convenience from that. A business that is already formed gets none of it and should simply compare the website prices above.

Will a cheaper builder hurt local search results?

A service business usually depends on local customers, so it is fair to ask whether the choice of builder affects how it shows up. Google's documentation says local results are based on relevance, distance and prominence. None of those is something a website builder controls or can promise.

Google's guidance on improving a local ranking focuses on the business's Google Business Profile, which is separate from the website. Its Business Profile Help pages explain how to claim and manage a profile. A site that loads reliably and carries the same business name, address and phone number as the profile is a sensible foundation, but the ranking decision is Google's.

That means the price of the builder is not a reason to expect better or worse local visibility. A $9.99 plan and a $24.99 plan are both inputs to the same Google process. Any builder that promises a ranking should be treated with caution.

How can a business test the options before paying?

Since most DIY platforms offer a free plan or a trial, testing costs little. A short process catches most of the surprises:

  1. Start on a free plan or trial, such as GoDaddy's free tier or ZenBusiness's 30-day trial.
  2. Build the real pages, not a demo, so the editor is judged on actual work.
  3. Check which plan connects a custom domain, since the free tier does not.
  4. Compare the renewal price, not the promotional one.
  5. Note whether billing is monthly, annual or a 48-month term paid up front.

The last two steps matter most for this comparison. Hostinger's promotional rates and GoDaddy's annual billing both produce a lower headline figure than a month-to-month customer would see. The numbers are real, but they describe a commitment, not a casual purchase.

Which option suits which kind of service business?

The right choice follows from what the site has to do. A plumber or tutor who needs a clear page with services, contact details and a booking route has different needs from a studio selling a visual brand.

  • Lowest entry price of the two compared: GoDaddy Starter at $9.99 a month, billed annually.
  • Lower ongoing price at the middle tier: Hostinger Unlimited at $16.99 a month.
  • Low monthly price with hosting, SSL and phone support included: ZenBusiness at $15 a month.
  • Room to add apps and templates over time: Wix, at a higher monthly price.
  • Design-led brand: Squarespace, accepting the higher monthly cost.
  • Already taking payments through Square: Square Online.

Free plans suit testing a builder or drafting a site. They do not suit a business that wants its own web address from the start.

What is the short version?

GoDaddy has the lower entry price at $9.99 a month, while Hostinger is cheaper at the middle tier and its advertised rates are promotional, so the renewal prices are the ones to budget from. The SBA benchmark of under $30 a month for paid DIY plans, against $2,000 and up for custom work, is the useful anchor for judging both.

For a service business that wants a credible site at the low end of that range, ZenBusiness at $15 a month is a reasonable place to start. For one where apps or design matter more, Wix or Squarespace is the better fit. Each provider's own pricing page should be checked before buying.

Sources

This is general information rather than legal, tax or accounting advice, and requirements vary and change.