Namecheap Hosting Review 2023 - Is it Affordable Web Host?

Namecheap Hosting Review: Finding the right web host for your website is a headache as there are so many hosting providers available on the internet that we get confused about which one is better.

If you have come across this article, it means that you are looking for the right hosting service to run your website.

As you know there are many hosting providers on the internet, but Namecheap is one such platform that has everything you need.

Namecheap is a US-based private company that started in the year 2000 as a domain registrar.

When the company started getting success, then gradually they started providing many more services, of which web hosting is also a part of their service.

Namecheap is such a popular name in the industry that today they have a huge user base of over 11 million customers and hosts over 18 million domain names.

Namecheap is known to be a trusted name in the industry as well as providing hosting at affordable prices.

In this article, we will do an in-depth review of Namecheap hosting below and go into detail about its pros and cons, features, plans, speed, uptime, ratings, prices, and more.

NameCheap Web Hosting Review: Complete Guide

Namecheap Hosting Review
Namecheap Hosting Review - Is it Affordable Web Host?

What features does Namecheap offer with its hosting?

Here we will discuss what kind of amazing features Namecheap provides with its hosting plans. Let's see below:
  • Free Domain Name Registration
  • Free Website Builder
  • Unmetered Bandwidth
  • Free SSL Certificates
  • 24/7 Customer Support
  • SSD Storage
  • 100% Uptime Guarantee
  • Automatic Data Backups
  • Access to cPanel
  • Softaculous Script Installer
  • 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
  • Free Email Service
  • Free Content Delivery Network (CDN)
  • Free Privacy Protection
  • Free Website Migration

So as you can see above, Namecheap offers a lot of useful hosting features. So are you ready to give Namecheap a try?


What are the Pros and Cons of Namecheap Web Hosting?

Does Namecheap have everything you'd expect from it? The best way to find out is to look at its pros and cons.

Pros of Namecheap Web Hosting (Advantages)

1) Most Reliable Brand

Starting out as a domain registrar in the year 2000, Namecheap has completed over 22 years in the industry.

Namecheap currently has over 3 million hosting customers and the number continues to grow.

Apart from this, more than 18 million domain names have been registered on this platform so far and thousands of domains are registered here every day.

Ever since Namecheap launched the web hosting service, the company has improved upon every minor flaw, which has greatly increased users' trust in Namecheap's services.

This is something that makes Namecheap one of the most trusted brands in the industry.

2) Cheapest Shared Hosting Plan in the Market

Are you looking for a web hosting provider that offers the cheapest hosting plans in the entire hosting sector but is also trustworthy?

Well, if you are looking for something similar then Namecheap is the best hosting platform for you.

In fact, the shared hosting plans here start at only $1.58 per month.

Not only this but you are also offered a free domain name and privacy protection with the basic plan.

There is no other provider in the industry that offers such affordable hosting as well as a free domain name, that too with the basic plan.

Another best thing is that here on the Basic plan you are allowed to host up to 3 websites.

Other providers allow only a single website to be hosted on the Basic plan.

3) No Upsell Tactic

We have come across many web host providers who use upsell tactics while selling hosting plans, due to which customers see a huge difference in prices at the time of checkout.

However, additional add-ons provided to you by the company may be important for your website. But this type of strategy is not liked by many users.

The good thing is that Namecheap does not use upsell tactics to sell its hosting plans, for which we would like to commend it.

4) Free Website Migration

If you are fed up with the services of your existing hosting and planning to migrate your website to Namecheap then there is good news for you.

Namecheap provides website migration absolutely free of charge. No matter what type of site migration you want, Namecheap provides all types of site migration services for free, such as:
  • Any cPanel Site Migration
  • Any Non-cPanel Site Migration
  • Email Transfers

To avail of the free website migration facility on Namecheap, all you need to do is submit a ticket, after which their well-trained migration team will migrate your site from the existing hosting to their hosting servers.

5) 100% Uptime Guarantee

Whenever we research and test a hosting service, one of the things we look at the most is its uptime.

Uptime is such an essential factor on which the overall performance of your website depends.

A hosting provider wins the trust of its users if they have the highest uptime percentage.

A higher uptime percentage means that there is less chance of website downtime.

Any website user would never want his website to be down even for a moment, because in such a situation you may lose your valuable visitors.

Here, we would like to praise Namecheap for their 100% uptime service level agreement over Shared hosting.

If you face any downtime issues on Namecheap, you can claim a refund as per their uptime guarantee.

As per their services you will be eligible for a service cycle extension for the period the service was not available.

Overall, you can get a maximum of 1-month of free hosting from Namecheap.

Namecheap offers this option because they are very confident about their services and 100% uptime.

However, during our testing, we found that Namecheap has an average uptime of 99.974% for the last 30 days, which is very close to 100%. See the results below:
Namecheap Uptime Results
This is something that does not affect your website at all. We found Namecheap's uptime to be much better than other hosting providers.


6) Fast Loading Speed

If you are a visitor, would you like to access a website that takes more than 2-3 seconds to load? certainly not.

In today's era, people prefer such things more, for which they do not have to wait at all.

Similarly, if your website also takes more than 3 seconds to load, then visitors will go to another website instead of accessing your website.

And if it does then it is not good for you at all. As important as uptime is for a website, loading speed is equally important.

Although Google itself does not give much importance to such websites, which take more than 3 seconds to load.

Now if you want your website to have a fast loading speed that loads in less than 3 seconds, then you can totally trust Namecheap.

During our testing, we found Namecheap Hosting to have an average response time of 965 ms (0.965 seconds), which is pretty fast.

See the results below:
Namecheap Average Response Time and Loading Speed
Though you can see in the screenshot that the website is loading fast only on USA servers.

7) Easy To Use cPanel

The cPanel control panel is a place where users can manage and maintain everything related to their hosting account.

Most of the hosting providers provide a cPanel interface as it is very easy to use. In fact, even beginners can use cPanel without any proper guidance.

Namecheap also gives users access to cPanel, through which users can easily manage their email accounts, domains, SSL certificates, databases, backups, file manager, etc.

You can see the cPanel interface of Namecheap in the screenshot below:
Namecheap cPanel Control Panel

8) Impressive Security Features

Thousands of websites get hacked every day due to a lack of strong security features. When this happens, you lose all your revenue and valuable customers.

If you do not want this to happen to your website, then you should go with a hosting provider that is capable of handling all security breaches.

In short, choose a hosting provider that offers strong security features to keep your website safe from any untoward incident.

This is where Namecheap comes in handy which offers tons of security features with each of its hosting plans at no extra cost to you. Some of those security features are as follows:
  • AutoBackups: The biggest concern is data loss if anything goes wrong with the website. But here Namecheap offers automatic data backup feature on each plan, which you can restore or download when needed. Thus, it protects all your website data.
  • SSL Certificates: It is used to enhance the security of your website and domain. A free SSL certificate is provided on all Namecheap hosting plans. The good thing is that it installs automatically on your domain. Namecheap offers 50 free SSL certificates per cPanel account. This is very useful for users who collect the personal information of customers through their websites, as it protects the customer's identities from being stolen.
  • Domain Privacy Protection (WhoisGuard): Whois is a website through which people can find out the name, address, phone number, and email address of any domain owner. But WhoisGuard keeps each domain owner's contact information secure and out of the public database of Whois.

9) 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee

Do you want to test the overall performance of Namecheap without the risk of losing your money? Namecheap gives users 30 days to try out their hosting plans.

If you are not satisfied with Namecheap's services, or if you are not getting the results you expected, you can ask for a refund from Namecheap.

However, you have to keep in mind that for this you are given only 30 days duration from Namecheap.

If you request a refund after 30 days from the date of purchase of the Services, you will not get the money.

Also, if you want to upgrade your plan, or switch to another plan, during this 30-day period, you can do so easily.


Cons of Namecheap Web Hosting (Disadvantages)

1) Additional Charges for UK and EU Datacenter Locations

Namecheap currently has three data centers, one in the United States (US), one in the United Kingdom (UK), and one in Europe (EU).

The closer the data center is to your target audience, the better it is for your website's performance. The website has a fast loading speed due to its proximity to the data center.

If you choose a USA server while choosing a hosting service from Namecheap, they do not charge you any extra amount for this.

Although all of Namecheap's hosting plans are affordable, but if you choose a UK or EU server, you will have to pay Namecheap an extra $1 per month for that.

However, you will have to pay this extra cost only on the shared hosting plan and reseller hosting plan.

Users should be kept in mind that if their target audience is from UK or EU, then select the data center accordingly.

2) Unsatisfactory Customer Service

We mentioned several times above in this article that Namecheap has all the features you need to get a website up and running, but somewhere we find Namecheap's customer service a little weak.

While browsing the Namecheap website, you will find a section called "Help Center", clicking on which you will get options like knowledgebase, how-to videos, blogs, guru guides, etc.

These are all the options that guide the customers and solve their problems or queries.

But if you can't find what you're looking for, it might be a bit difficult for you.

If you expect phone support from Namecheap, you will only be disappointed, as there is no phone support option available.

However, Namecheap does offer ticket support and the option of live chat support.

You get a quick response with live chat support, but you may have to wait for your problem to be resolved with ticket support.

One more thing which I would definitely like to mention is that through live chat you will get quick responses from the support team but the answers are not satisfactory as compared to other providers.

Namecheap's Customer Ratings

Let's find out what ratings real customers give to Namecheap.
Namecheap Customer Rating
As you can see over 13,000 real users on Trustpilot have rated Namecheap.

Real users rated Namecheap 4.3 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot, and 72% of users rated it 5 stars, which is superb.


What are the Hosting Prices and Plans of Namecheap?

As we have shown time and again in this article, Namecheap has everything you are looking for.

If you are a beginner, experienced, run a business, you are a blogger, or you run an e-commerce website, you can rely on Namecheap.

So now the time has come to discuss Namecheap's hosting plans, features, and prices.

Namecheap Shared Hosting Plan, Features, and Pricing

The Shared hosting plan is considered to be the basic plan, which is used by beginners or users running small websites.

Namecheap's shared hosting plans are cheaper than many other providers. But at the same time, it also offers more features on its shared hosting plan than other providers.

Namecheap offers three levels in shared hosting plans – Stellar, Stellar Plus, and Stellar business.
Namecheap Shared Hosting Plan, Features, and Pricing

1. Steller Plan: This is the cheapest plan of Namecheap. Plans start at $1.88 per month with an annual billing cycle. Whereas it starts at $1.58 per month on a 2-year billing cycle.

With the Steller Plan, you get: (Features)
  • 1 Free Domain Name (for the first year)
  • 20 GB SSD Storage
  • Unmetered Bandwidth
  • You can host up to 3 Websites
  • 30 Subdomains
  • Backups: Twice a Week
  • 30 Email Accounts
  • And more

2. Steller Plus Plan: This is the most popular shared hosting plan from Namecheap. It is the best-selling plan too.

Plans start at $2.98 per month with an annual billing cycle. Whereas it starts at $2.28 per month on a 2-year billing cycle.

With the Steller Plus Plan, you get: (Features)
  • 1 Free Domain Name (for the first year)
  • Unmetered SSD Storage
  • Unmetered Bandwidth
  • You can host Unlimited Websites
  • Unlimited Subdomains
  • Autobackup: Twice a Week
  • Unlimited Email Accounts
  • IP Deny Manager
  • And more

3. Steller Business: If you are looking to start a website for your business, then this plan is ideal for you.

You can upgrade the plan as the website grows. This plan is a good option to start with.

Plans start at $4.98 per month with an annual billing cycle. Whereas it starts at $4.48 per month on a 2-year billing cycle.

With the Steller Business Plan, you get: (Features)
  • Similar features to the Stellar Plus plan
  • 50 GB SSD Storage
  • Personal Nameservers
  • eAccelerator
  • xCache
  • And more


Namecheap Managed WordPress Hosting Plan, Features, and Pricing

If you are looking to start your blogging journey, build a website on WordPress, or already use WordPress, Namecheap's Managed WordPress hosting plans welcome you.

Namecheap offers three levels in its Managed WordPress hosting – EasyWP Starter, EasyWP Turbo, and EasyWP Supersonic.
Namecheap Managed WordPress Hosting Plan, Features, and Pricing
1. EasyWP Starter Plan: If you don't have experience building a website on WordPress, then this plan is ideal for you.

Here with this plan, you will get 10 GB SSD Storage and it has the ability to handle up to 50K visitors per month.

If you choose the annual billing cycle on the EasyWP Starter plan, you'll pay a total of $34.88 (for a year).

While opting for the monthly billing cycle will cost you $6.88 per month, and you will be offered the first month for free.

2. EasyWP Turbo Plan: If your WordPress website is growing rapidly or is getting up to 200K visitors per month, then this plan is ideal for you.

The EasyWP Turbo plan is a preferred choice among users as it offers features like 50 GB SSD storage, 1.5X more CPU, 1.5X more RAM, a free SSL certificate, and free CDN.

Also, it has the capacity to handle up to 200K visitors per month.

If you choose the annual billing cycle on the EasyWP Turbo plan, you'll pay a total of $58.88 (for a year).

It will cost you $12.88 per month when choosing a monthly billing cycle, with the first month's hosting free.

3. EasyWP Supersonic Plan: Does your WordPress website get more than 200K visitors per month? If yes, then you need a plan that will take your website to its maximum level.

In this situation, the EasyWP Supersonic plan is ideal for you. Here you will get features like 100 GB SSD Storage, 2 times more CPU, 2 times more RAM, 99.99% Uptime Guarantee, Free CDN, Free SSL Certificate, and more.

Plus, it has the ability to handle up to 500K visitors per month.

If you choose the annual billing cycle on the EasyWP Supersonic plan, you'll pay a total of $68.88 (for a year).

It will cost you $19.88 per month when choosing a monthly billing cycle, with the first month's hosting free.


Namecheap Reseller Hosting Plan, Features, and Pricing

Reseller hosting is a great option for you if you expect to generate passive income.

It is ideal for those who are web developers, web designers, or run a digital marketing agency.

If you buy a Reseller hosting from Namecheap, then you can generate passive income by selling it to your customers.

Namecheap offers three levels in its Reseller hosting – Nebula, Galaxy Expert, and Universe Pro.
Namecheap Reseller Hosting Plan, Features, and Pricing
1. Nebula Plan: This is the cheapest reseller hosting plan from Namecheap.

In this, 3 payment options are offered to the users – Monthly, Quarterly, and Yearly, whose prices are as follows:
  • Monthly Billing Cycle: $19.88 per month
  • Quarterly Billing Cycle: $18.88 per month
  • Yearly Billing Cycle: $17.88 per month

With the Nebula Plan, you get: (Features)
  • 30 GB SSD Storage
  • 25 cPanel Accounts (which you can sell to your customer)
  • Unmetered Bandwidth
  • 99.9% Uptime
  • Unlimited Hosted Domains
  • Unlimited Subdomains
  • 30 Email Accounts
  • Unlimited MySQL Databases
  • WMH Control Panel
  • CodeGuard Backup
  • And more

2. Galaxy Expert Plan: This is the most popular reseller hosting plan from Namecheap.

Most users choose the Galaxy Expert plan, due to which this level is also considered Namecheap's best-selling reseller hosting plan.

Prices are as follows:
  • Monthly Billing Cycle: $39.88 per month
  • Quarterly Billing Cycle: $37.88 per month
  • Yearly Billing Cycle: $36.88 per month

With the Galaxy Expert Plan, you get: (Features)
  • Similar features to the Nebula plan
  • 90 GB SSD Storage
  • 100 cPanel Accounts (which you can sell your customer)
  • Unlimited Email Accounts
  • And more

3. Universe Pro Plan: This plan is ideal for those whose reseller business is doing very well or if you expect your business to grow further.

Prices are as follows:
  • Monthly Billing Cycle: $58.88 per month
  • Quarterly Billing Cycle: $57.88 per month
  • Yearly Billing Cycle: $55.88 per month

With the Universe Pro Plan, you get: (Features)
  • Similar features to the Galaxy Expert plan
  • 150 GB SSD Storage
  • 150 cPanel Accounts (which you can sell your customer)
  • WHMCS Starter License
  • And more


Namecheap VPS Hosting Plan, Features, and Pricing

If you are looking for web hosting that gives you more control and flexibility than shared hosting, then Namecheap's VPS hosting is a great option for you.

Namecheap offers three levels in its VPS hosting - Pulsar, Quasar, and Magnetar.
Namecheap VPS Hosting Plan, Features, and Pricing
1. Pulsar Plan: This is a popular VPS hosting plan from Namecheap, in which you get three options to make payments - Monthly, Quarterly, and Yearly.

Prices are as follows:
  • Monthly Billing Cycle: $9.88 per month
  • Quarterly Billing Cycle: $8.88 per month
  • Yearly Billing Cycle: $6.88 per month

With the Pulsar Plan, you get: (Features)
  • 2 CPU Cores
  • 2 GB RAM
  • 40 GB SSD Raid 10
  • 1 TB Bandwidth
  • Full Root Access 
  • 99.9% Uptime Guarantee
  • Backup
  • 1 IPv4 Dedicated IP
  • And more

2. Quasar Plan: If the Pulsar plan is not sufficient to meet your requirement, then you can definitely try the Quasar plan.

Prices are as follows:
  • Monthly Billing Cycle: $15.88 per month
  • Quarterly Billing Cycle: $14.88 per month
  • Yearly Billing Cycle: $12.88 per month

With the Quasar Plan, you get: (Features)
  • Similar features to the Pulsar plan
  • 4 CPU Cores
  • 6 GB RAM
  • 120 GB SSD Raid 10
  • 3 TB Bandwidth
  • Up to 2 IPv4 Dedicated IP
  • Offsite Backup Storage (100 GB)
  • And more

3. Magnetar Plan: Namecheap has recently introduced another package in its VPS hosting called "Magnetor Plan".

This plan is ideal for larger-sized websites where you are offered more resources so that your website will perform much better than the first two plans.

Prices are as follows:
  • Monthly Billing Cycle: $28.88 per month
  • Quarterly Billing Cycle: $26.88 per month
  • Yearly Billing Cycle: $24.88 per month

With the Magnetar Plan, you get: (Features)
  • Similar features to the Quasar plan
  • 8 CPU Cores
  • 12 GB RAM
  • 240 GB SSD Raid 10
  • 6 TB Bandwidth
  • 99.9% Uptime
  • Offsite Backup Storage (200 GB)
  • And more


Namecheap Dedicated Hosting Plan, Features, and Pricing

If you are looking for hosting where you have complete control, you can do whatever you want with your server and you don't have to worry about sharing the server or resources with others, then you should definitely consider a dedicated hosting server.

Dedicated server hosting is ideal for users who run large businesses, or run large-sized websites (enterprise-level websites) that get a massive number of visitors per month.

However, before opting for dedicated server hosting, users should be aware of the resources they require. In short, users are required to have technical knowledge.

If you are a developer or system administrator, you can manage a dedicated server very well.

If you have any problems choosing a dedicated hosting plan from Namecheap, or you don't know the resources you need, or you don't have the technical knowledge, you can contact Namecheap's support team to find the best plan for you.
Namecheap Dedicated Hosting Plan, Features, and Pricing
Namecheap offers 6 different pricing packages on their dedicated server hosting.

If you go with the cheapest plan, you will have to pay $41.88 per month. While most advanced plans start from $238.88 per month.

Namecheap's dedicated server plans are much cheaper than other hosting providers, which you must take advantage of.


Final Verdict on Namecheap Hosting Review

Are you still wondering whether Namecheap is the right choice for your website?

Well, Namecheap gives you a lot of features on its basic plan at affordable prices as compared to other hosting providers.

Furthermore, Namecheap is also one of the oldest companies in the industry, which is why you can trust it completely.

Namecheap is providing its users with great uptime, a free domain, free website migration, and fast loading speed. These are all the features you need to get your website up and running.

If your budget is not very high then you must try Namecheap's web hosting.

So what are your thoughts about this in-depth review of Namecheap hosting mentioned above, do let us know your opinion in the comment box below.

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