Products · Product
GoDaddy
Raised as a usability problem by 233 people on Hacker News over 19 years (2008–2026), in 137 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
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- 7Control panels are hard to navigateUnreviewed
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Every issue, all time, most people first
Pushed into extra upsell offers when registering domainsUnreviewed
20082026- Finding invoices takes many clicks through upsell screens and nested menus2023-07-30
- Hard to buy a domain without agreeing to unwanted add-on services2022-12-27
- Forces users through several pages of upsell offers to decline before renewing2022-07-14
Dark patterns push users into purchases they did not chooseUnreviewed
20082026- Uses dark patterns that push users into purchases they did not choose2025-02-07
- Dark patterns in purchase flow led to unexpected charges2024-11-16
- Renewal flow uses dark patterns that slip in unwanted add-ons at checkout2023-06-14
DNS settings are hard to configure in the interfaceUnreviewed
20082026- Configuring NS records to host DNS elsewhere is a terrible user experience2023-03-09
- UI slower, DNS management needs more clicks, upsell dark patterns push unwanted services2023-01-07
- Nameserver and DNS settings are hidden behind confusing navigation2019-02-01
Transferring domains away takes months of complicated stepsUnreviewed
20082026- Leaving GoDaddy involves dark patterns meant to discourage transferring domains away2022-08-15
- Transferring domains away from the service was very annoying2021-11-24
- Domain transfers out are nearly impossible, and support blames the receiving registrar2021-11-22
Must opt out of an add-on to cancel the subscriptionUnreviewed
20082026- Must also opt out of an add-on to cancel the subscription2026-10-11
- Cancelling a mistakenly signed-up service took multiple clicks, so the user gave up2021-12-01
- Privacy add-on is free first year but impossible to cancel2013-09-27
Domain renewal pushes additional servicesUnreviewed
20082026- Domain renewal interface uses dark patterns pushing additional services2026-04-26
- Domain registration flow uses dark patterns and tacky, confusing UX2021-11-24
- Must carefully navigate dark patterns with upselling when renewing domains2018-12-11
Unclear whether deleting a card cancels auto-renew or domainsUnreviewed
20082026- Turning off domain renewal takes about eight cancel clicks and the option is hard to find2026-10-19
- Cancellation silently reverted, domain kept renewing and being charged2020-09-17
- Cancelling domains doesn't cancel linked services, so they keep charging for them2020-03-06
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 50 complaints
- Turning off domain renewal takes about eight cancel clicks and the option is hard to find2026-10-19
- Must also opt out of an add-on to cancel the subscription2026-10-11
- Domain renewal interface uses dark patterns pushing additional services2026-04-26
- Each domain must be typed and checked separately, waiting and repeating for every name2025-09-07
- Setting up about 100 domain redirects took enormous effort and broke under HTTPS2025-08-14
- Got charged around $400 through dark patterns they didn't choose2025-02-07
- Uses dark patterns that push users into purchases they did not choose2025-02-07
- Confusing interface with custom terminology, odd grouping, and dark patterns2025-01-29
- Hard to leave; flow designed to trap users and they keep moving things2025-01-28
- Dark patterns in purchase flow led to unexpected charges2024-11-16
- Frontend hid the backend error, so the user had to inspect HTTP requests to learn it2024-02-01
- Tech support is no longer useful when you need help2023-12-28
- Finding invoices takes many clicks through upsell screens and nested menus2023-07-30
- Renewal flow uses dark patterns that slip in unwanted add-ons at checkout2023-06-14
- Configuring NS records to host DNS elsewhere is a terrible user experience2023-03-09
- Dark patterns pushing users into unwanted purchases and poor support2023-02-24
- Tech settings hidden behind many layers, frustrating to reach2023-02-17
- Domain registration platform is user-hostile and hard to work with2023-02-17
- Add-on hosting and email options silently included by default, hidden by small fonts2023-02-09
- UI feels spammy and the overall user experience is poor2023-02-09
- UI is full of traps that push people into buying extra services2023-01-31
- UI slower, DNS management needs more clicks, upsell dark patterns push unwanted services2023-01-07
- Hard to buy a domain without agreeing to unwanted add-on services2022-12-27
- Outdated interface that is hard to figure out and use2022-12-03
- Abuse emails are ignored and bounced to a web form, adding work for reporters2022-11-05
- Domain registrar interface is unintuitive and frustrating to use2022-08-15
- Leaving GoDaddy involves dark patterns meant to discourage transferring domains away2022-08-15
- Security key repeatedly fails for settings changes despite working at login, forcing phone support2022-07-14
- Forces users through several pages of upsell offers to decline before renewing2022-07-14
- GoDaddy's API is very slow to get results from2022-06-08
- Domain search squats recent searches, pushing people into unwanted registrations2022-04-05
- Forced custom sign-in breaks apps and makes users sign in constantly2022-01-20
- Renewal charge explanation buried under six clicks, so the user couldn't see what they were paying for2021-12-01
- Cancelling a mistakenly signed-up service took multiple clicks, so the user gave up2021-12-01
- Transferring domains away from the service was very annoying2021-11-24
- Chat support automatically closes and staff stall, so problems never get resolved2021-11-24
- Domain registration flow uses dark patterns and tacky, confusing UX2021-11-24
- Email silently moved to Microsoft servers, breaking clients; urgent upsell pushes paid plan2021-11-23
- Figuring out how collected contact info is used is near-impossible2021-11-22
- Domain transfers out are nearly impossible, and support blames the receiving registrar2021-11-22
- Add-ons pre-selected to opt out of, and settings buried in deep menus2021-11-22
- Five upsell screens with small skip links and big continue buttons; extra items sneak into cart2021-11-22
- Checkout and cancellation flows use dark patterns that push users into choices2021-11-22
- Cancelling requires staying on the phone a long time while agents push retention offers2021-11-17
- Portal interface changes often and makes managing existing products hard while pushing purchases2021-09-04
- Can't log into old account; 2-factor needs email and phone the user no longer has2020-11-21
- Commenter calls GoDaddy's user interfaces absolutely terrible2020-09-18
- Domain list table broken in browsers; filtering conflicts with showing more than 25 domains2020-09-18
- Interface feels bloated with unnecessary clutter2020-09-18
- Checkout took about seven steps, each pushing unrelated upsell purchases2020-09-17