The Starter Linux hosting with cPanel is the lowest level shared hosting plan offered by GoDaddy. The web hosting plan is suitable for basic websites that receive low traffic, and you can host only one website under it. Today GoDaddy sells Starter only in India, at ₹89/month for the first 3-year term, and after that it renews at ₹299/month. It comes with 10 GB NVMe storage and unmetered bandwidth, but there is no free domain name and no email with this plan. SSL is not listed either, but GoDaddy’s support assistant told me it is free for as long as the plan stays active.
If you ever find yourself in a situation looking for a new hosting for your website, you might have come across GoDaddy’s web hosting plans. On GoDaddy India you might have seen a plan named Starter, to the left of Economy. But what does the Starter Linux Hosting with cPanel exactly mean, and is it worth buying?
Starter is GoDaddy’s cheapest cPanel hosting plan, for one website. It is sold only on GoDaddy India: ₹89 a month for 36 months (₹3,204 before GST), renewing at ₹299 a month. It is the plan behind the “GoDaddy $1 hosting” offer. Visitors from the US and other countries don’t see it, and their cheapest plan is Economy at $5.99 a month.
What is GoDaddy Starter Linux Hosting with cPanel?
GoDaddy has been one of the biggest web hosts for around two decades now. GoDaddy offers their shared hosting plans on Linux with cPanel, and the Starter plan is the first and most basic of them. I hosted this website on GoDaddy for close to ten years, so I know their cPanel hosting from the inside.
A few years ago Starter was sold in many countries at around $2.49 a month. Today GoDaddy shows it only when the store is set to India and the currency is INR. In the US the list of plans starts with Economy. So if you are reading this from outside India, the Starter plan is not available to you, and my GoDaddy Economy page is the one you need.
In India, Starter is also the plan behind the “GoDaddy $1 hosting” searches, because ₹89 is about one US dollar. I have explained how to buy it at that price, step by step, on my GoDaddy $1 hosting page.
Features of GoDaddy Starter Linux Hosting with cPanel
This Starter plan comes with cPanel, which is one of the best hosting control panels to manage your hosting. With this plan, you get the basic features required for starting a website. Below is the list of what the Starter plan includes today:
- cPanel, which is the industry standard when it comes to Linux hosting and gives you all the essential tools to manage your hosting.
- Under this plan, you get hosting for 1 website.
- You get 10 GB of NVMe storage to store your website data.
- Unmetered bandwidth.
- Automatic daily backups, which GoDaddy India lists for all its hosting plans.
- Node.js support.
- 30-day money-back guarantee.
Now the things Starter doesn’t include, because these are the ones that change your real cost:
| Feature | Starter | Economy |
|---|---|---|
| Free domain | No | First year |
| Not in the plan list | Free email | |
| SSL certificate | Free while the plan is active (support confirmed) | Free for the first year |
| Storage | 10 GB NVMe | 25 GB NVMe |
| Price for 36 months (India) | ₹89/mo | ₹219/mo |
| Renewal (India) | ₹299/mo | ₹599/mo |
From GoDaddy India’s web hosting page and cart, checked October 2026. Prices before 18% GST.
If you read older articles about this plan, including the old version of this page, you will see 30 GB storage, a MySQL database limit and a free domain with a yearly plan. GoDaddy has changed all of these. The storage is now 10 GB, but it is NVMe, which is much faster than the old drives. For one small website 10 GB is enough.
The SSL point surprised me. Every website needs SSL today, otherwise browsers show it as “Not secure”. GoDaddy doesn’t list SSL on Starter, so I asked GoDaddy’s support assistant in October 2026, and it said the free SSL is included for as long as the Starter plan stays active, not for a fixed number of years. That is actually better than Economy, where the free SSL is listed for the first year only.
GoDaddy Starter Hosting Price and Renewal
The ₹89 price you get when subscribing to Starter is valid for the first 36 months only, and you pay all 36 months at checkout. When the term ends, the renewal is done at the regular price of ₹299 a month, which is more than three times the first price.
| GoDaddy Starter, India | Amount |
|---|---|
| 36 months at ₹89 | ₹3,204 |
| Next 36 months at ₹299The real price | ₹10,764 |
| 6 years in total, hosting only | ₹13,968 |
Before 18% GST. The renewal amount is from GoDaddy India’s cart, which showed “renews October 2029 for ₹10,764” when I checked in October 2026.
So in six years you pay about ₹14,000 before GST, and you still have to add a domain every year, because Starter doesn’t give you one. Keep this in mind when you compare Starter with a plan that looks a little more expensive but includes more.
How Good is GoDaddy Starter Linux Hosting with cPanel?
The Starter plan offered by GoDaddy mostly focuses on customers who are starting a new website or just want to test things out. For that purpose it is a cheap entry, and you still get the same cPanel, daily backups and the same company as the bigger plans.
But I don’t recommend it to everyone. The first price is very low only because you pay three years at once, and the renewal is more than three times higher. You also don’t get a domain or email in the plan, and you may end up paying for these separately. When I was on GoDaddy, small extra charges like SSL and old PHP support added up every year, and that is one of the reasons I moved my own site to Hostinger in 2026.
One more thing. In my speed test, three of the four GoDaddy sites I tested were on a Singapore server and answered in under 200 ms from India. So for visitors in India, GoDaddy’s speed is good, as long as your account is on that server.
Who All Can Use This Plan?
This plan gives you the basic features needed to start a website or run a low traffic website. People who are new to making websites and want to try their hands on it can use this plan, because it is cheap and has cPanel. People who already have a domain and email somewhere else, and only need hosting for one small site, can also use it.
| Good fit | Not a good fit |
|---|---|
| Your first website, from India, on a small budget | You live outside India (Starter isn’t sold there) |
| You already have a domain and email | You want domain and email on your domain in one plan |
| A test site or a small portfolio | You plan to keep the site for many years at a low price |
If you need a domain and email with the hosting, look at Economy. On a 36-month term, Economy costs ₹7,884 and Starter costs ₹3,204, so the difference is ₹4,680. If a domain for the years you need costs less than that, Starter plus your own domain is cheaper. You may also check my Economy Linux Hosting with cPanel page.
Alternatives to GoDaddy Starter
If you are in India and want a cheap plan for one website, compare these two before you buy Starter:
Also one website, 10 GB storage and free SSL, and the first price and renewal are both a little lower than Starter. The low price needs a 48-month term.
For cPanel with a low renewal price. It starts at $2.50 a month and renews at $8 (or $7 on their DirectAdmin plan), and InterServer says the price doesn’t go up after that.
Hostinger India prices before GST, checked October 2026.
If you have decided on GoDaddy Starter, follow the steps on my GoDaddy $1 hosting page, or go to their plans from here: see GoDaddy India hosting.
GoDaddy Starter Hosting FAQ
What is Starter Linux Hosting with cPanel?
It is GoDaddy’s cheapest shared hosting plan, for one website, running on Linux with cPanel. It includes 10 GB NVMe storage, unmetered bandwidth and daily backups, and today it is sold only on GoDaddy India.
How much does GoDaddy Starter cost?
₹89 a month for the first 36 months, which is ₹3,204 before GST at checkout. After that it renews at ₹299 a month, or ₹10,764 for the next 36 months.
Does GoDaddy Starter come with a free domain?
No. The free domain on GoDaddy’s cPanel plans starts from Economy. With Starter you buy the domain separately.
Can I buy GoDaddy Starter in the US?
No. GoDaddy shows Starter only on its India store with INR prices. In the US the cheapest cPanel plan is Economy at $5.99 a month for 36 months.
Should I buy GoDaddy Starter or Economy?
Starter if you already have a domain and email and want the lowest price for one small site. Economy if you want a free domain for the first year and email in the plan. The difference is ₹4,680 on a 36-month term.
