Namecheap web hosting review

Budget hosting that lacks advanced features

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(Image: © Namecheap)

Tom's Guide Verdict

Namecheap has a great selection of affordable shared, VPS, and dedicated hosting options, but don’t expect too many built-in advanced security or management features.

Pros

  • +

    Cheap shared hosting

  • +

    Great range of included freebies

Cons

  • -

    Average security features

  • -

    Advanced tools are seriously lacking

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If you’re looking for the best web hosting services for your next project, Namecheap could be an option worth considering. On the surface, it offers competitive prices, a suite of features, and generous shared hosting plans.

However, web hosting isn’t always as good as it appears, which is why it’s important to dig a little deeper. That’s exactly what we’ve done to bring you this Namecheap review. 

By analyzing this provider’s plans and pricing, features, support, and security, we aim to provide the information that you need in order to decide whether it’s the right option for you.

Namecheap: Plans and pricing

Screenshot of Namecheap's pricing plans

Namecheap’s shared hosting is competitively priced (Image credit: Namecheap)

Along with its competitively priced shared hosting, Namecheap offers a selection of more specialized options for larger websites. Expect to pay more than the advertised prices upon renewal, but even the full-priced plans are still incredibly cheap. 

When it comes to shared hosting, prices start from just $1.58 a month for a Stellar subscription if you purchase two years at a time. This renews at $4.48 a month after the first term. You will be able to connect three websites and have 20GB storage, unmetered bandwidth, one free domain name, and access to a free website builder.

Upgrading to the Stellar Plus plan (from $2.28 a month) adds unmetered storage and bandwidth, while the Stellar Business plan (from $4.48 a month) comes with 50GB cloud storage. All shared hosting plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. 

WordPress hosting starts at just $2.91 a month for the EasyWP Starter plan, which gets you 10GB storage and support for up to 50,000 visitors a month. The EasyWP Turbo ($4.91 a month) and EasyWP Supersonic ($5.74 a month) plans add more storage, better performance, and support for more visitors. 

VPS hosting starts at $6.88 a month for a generous subscription, and dedicated servers start at $48.88 a month. There are also various reseller and email hosting options available.

Namecheap: Features

Namecheap's webpage discussing its benefits/features

Namecheap’s hosting is backed by a range of standout features (Image credit: Namecheap)

Although Namecheap doesn’t have the most advanced feature list that we’ve seen, there are a few standouts worth mentioning. 

Namecheap offers entirely free website migrations across the board. If you already have an account with another provider, simply follow the steps to transfer your site to your new account. 

There’s also a domain registration portal that you can take advantage of when registering a new domain. The main benefit of this is that it enables you to manage everything through one central Namecheap account, simplifying workflows and resulting in greater efficiency.

Namecheap has an app market that you can use to add extra functionality to your hosting account. Here, you’ll find everything from a simple website builder to additional security and tools. There are also free and paid integrations with numerous third-party platforms.

Namecheap: Interface and in use

A demonstration of Namecheap's cPanel control panel

Namecheap uses a standard cPanel control panel with its shared hosting (Image credit: Namecheap)

To sign up with Namecheap, you will have to select a new domain name or import one that you already own. The checkout page is streamlined and tidy, and you aren’t presented with unwanted upsells or extra tools pre-added to your cart.

When it comes to ongoing management, Namecheap uses a cPanel control panel. For those who are familiar with this interface, you should be able to jump straight into configuring your hosting without having to learn how to use a new platform.

For those who haven’t used cPanel before, don’t worry. It’s the world’s most popular control panel interface, comes with a suite of great tools, and is user-friendly.

Namecheap: Support

Namecheap's help center webpage

Namecheap offers various self-help resources (Image credit: Namecheap)

On the live support front, Namecheap offers both live chat and email support. The Help Center contains a decent selection of self-help resources, and there are even numerous tutorial videos for you to take advantage of.

Namecheap: Security

Namecheap's webpage listing its security features

Namecheap has a decent selection of security features (Image credit: Namecheap)

Namecheap provides several security features, although there are a few concerns. All accounts come with two-factor authentication, free domain privacy, and free SSL certificates for authenticating your website. You will also benefit from full DDoS protection to reduce the risk of hackers impacting your site. 

However, there is no information about malware scanning or removal. Namecheap doesn’t appear to offer proactive server monitoring, which means that you will have to take care of this yourself.

Alternatives to Namecheap

Web hosts, compared

• Bluehost vs HostGator

• HostGator vs IONOS vs GoDaddy

• Bluehost vs GoDaddy

• GoDaddy vs Wix

Namecheap is a leading budget-friendly hosting option, but there are plenty of other cheap providers out there. 

One of our favorites is Hostinger, which offers excellent shared hosting from just $0.99 a month. This is backed by leading security features and great customer service, although server resources are a bit limited.

iPage is another decent choice for those searching for a budget host. Its prices start at just $1.99 a month, and its shared hosting includes “unlimited everything,” enabling you to connect as many domains as you want.

Namecheap: Verdict

Namecheap is a solid hosting provider that doesn’t quite stand out as exceptional. But if you can look past the lack of advanced features and somewhat cloudy security practices, its shared hosting is extremely affordable, it comes with a user-friendly cPanel management dashboard, and its support is excellent. 

Ultimately, Namecheap is an ideal option for those on a tight budget.

More from Tom's Guide

Take a look at the best website builders should you be wanting to create a site. If you're looking for specific hosting, make sure to read our guides outlining the best VPS hosting, the best Linux web hosting, the best WordPress hosting, the best unlimited hosting, and the best cloud hosting services.

Daniel Blechynden
Daniel Blechynden

Daniel is a freelance copywriter with over six years experience writing for publications such as TechRadar, Tom’s Guide, and Hosting Review. He specializes in tech and finance, with a particular focus on website building, web hosting, and related fields. 

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1 Comment Comment from the forums
  • Fernando100
    Stay away from their hosting! Scammers
    I've been working with them for years and so far I haven't had any problems. Recently (about 10 days ago) I renewed the hosting I had with them ($68, when I could have cancelled and created a new one for half the price, do this if you're thinking of working with them, although I don't recommend it) and foolishly I paid $68 instead of cancelling and creating another one that would cost me half the price.

    Well, it turns out that it's impossible to work on their hosting. They tell me that the CPU is always at 100% even if I'm not working on any website.

    Several people tell me that they find it difficult to access the website and that in the backend it takes more than 10 minutes to upload a simple product to the online store.

    When I contacted them they told me that it was because of my websites that had a lot of traffic (100 visits a day, if that's a lot of traffic, we're in trouble) which is not true, since as I say in previous years that I worked with them I got thousands of visits a day and without any problem. Coincidentally, after taking a look at the Namecheap stuff, the CPU usage that used to be around 96%-100% always drops to 20%. Things seem to be going back to normal. But no, the next day the CPU is back to 100% and it doesn't even let me access the website.

    I contacted them again to cancel the service and return the money I recently paid for their service, since it doesn't work properly and it's impossible to work like this.

    Today, when I read their reply email, I see that they have indeed cancelled my hosting, but they won't give me a cent of refund.

    Excuse me? I renewed this hosting less than a week ago for double what it would have cost me with the method of cancelling and creating a new one, you cancelled it and you're not going to give me anything back?

    A serious company would return the amount in accordance with the time remaining on the service (which I expected), what do I say? A truly serious company would refund the full amount (only a few days used, if you can say used given the way the hosting was going) and apologize for the inconvenience to their client, hoping that they will return in the future. But this is not a serious company.

    This company is a bunch of scoundrels. They cancel your hosting (which doesn't work well) and don't give you a cent. They shouldn't have cancelled the hosting, which still had more than 350 days available. I still can't believe what these scammers have done. This is the first time this has happened to me with a company of this type.

    Stay away from this company's hosting.
    Reply