Review of Namecheap: Is It Really Cheap & Good?

Joanne Thompson

• 10 min read
Review of Namecheap: Is It Really Cheap & Good?

It's true that Namecheap has a reputation for having some of the most competitively priced domain name registration options. Namecheap is, according to Statista, the second largest registrar worldwide, behind GoDaddy; the company is responsible for the registration of approximately 8% of all domain names.

However, domains are only one of the many services they provide. You can host your email with them, as well as your website, content delivery network (CDN), SSL certificates, and even your virtual private network (VPN), as I will explain below.

What Namecheap Has to Offer

To begin, allow me to describe the primary products that customers have the option of purchasing from Namecheap, with the goal of determining which, if any, of these items will satisfy your requirements.

Domain names

If there is one thing that Namecheap does well, it is the registration of domain names. I am completely satisfied with the service they provide, so much so that I have registered all of my domain names with them after transferring them there from Names.co.uk several years ago.

In addition to that, the cost is very reasonable in comparison to other options. You can register a domain name ending in.com for less than ten dollars, and the annual renewal cost is $14.58 dollars.

You also have the option to purchase premium DNS for your website, which costs approximately $5 per year and guarantees that your website will always be accessible and will load as quickly as possible. You are in luck if you require SSL certificates because Namecheap also provides them, with prices beginning at approximately $11 a year for a single domain and increasing to $90 for a wildcard certificate.

Email Hosting

Namecheap also provides email hosting plans, in case you do not require a website but would still like to have a professional-looking email address such as your name@your domain.com. This service is available in the event that you do not need a website.

These email hosting plans begin at around $15 per year (at renewal) for one email account and 5 GB of storage (you will need to purchase the domain name separately); however, there are more advanced plans available with more email inboxes and storage space if you require them.

Check out the Namecheap Ultimate Plan if you are looking for an email service that not only allows you to store your emails and files but also provides you with the ability to create documents (for example, those that are comparable to Microsoft Word), spreadsheets, and presentations.

Web Hosting

Namecheap has a number of products available for customers who require a hosting service for their website, including the following:

  • Shared: This hosting plan from Namecheap enables you to host your websites along with those of other customers (you share the server). It is controlled through cPanel, and it costs approximately $3.74 per month to host a maximum of three websites with 20 GB of storage space. There are more expensive plans available if more space is required.
  • EasyWP: This Namecheap hosting service, which has monthly rates ranging from $4.07 to $9.57, will only permit you to have a single installation of WordPress on your website. Because it is a hosting package that is specific to WordPress, you won't be able to host any other kinds of websites with it (e.g. Joomla or Drupal). To learn more about this service, scroll down a little further and read more about it.
  • VPS: Clients connect to these servers, which have been "virtually" partitioned into multiple sub-servers. When you want your own space and server setup but don't need or can't afford dedicated hosting, Virtual Private Servers (VPS) are the perfect solution. Namecheap's Virtual Private Server (VPS) pricing begins at $6.88 per month, and you have the option of using either cPanel or InterWorx to manage your dashboard.
  • Dedicated: If you have your own dedicated server, no one else will be able to access it but you. As a result, this is an excellent choice for more extensive websites (e.g. tens of thousands of visits per month). Plans for dedicated hosting can be purchased from Namecheap for anywhere between $62 and $260 per month and up.
  • Reseller: This feature is helpful for freelancers and agencies that work with clients who want to resell Namecheap hosting packages to additional customers. It uses the cPanel control panel, and the monthly costs range from about $20 to $59, depending on the amount of storage space and the number of accounts required.
  • CDN: Those who are interested in reducing the amount of time it takes for their websites to load around the world by utilizing a network that delivers content to various locations more quickly. It also has some benefits related to security, such as the prevention of DDoS attacks. This feature is included in some of Namecheap's hosting plans, such as the EasyWP Supersonic package; however, if you require it, you can purchase it for a monthly rate starting at $8.88.

Various goods

However, email hosting, web hosting, and domain registration are not the only services and products that are provided by Namecheap. You can, for instance, buy a Virtual Private Network from them (starting at about $3 per month), a website builder from them, or even a logo maker from them.

Namecheap EasyWP Pricing

  • Starter — $4.07.
  • Turbo — $7.91.
  • Supersonic — $9.57.

As you've seen, Namecheap provides customers with a variety of hosting packages in addition to a plethora of other products.

This Namecheap review will now concentrate on the company's EasyWP hosting plans for WordPress. We chose this plan to evaluate because we are huge fans of WordPress (and actually use it), and we thought that the company's low prices might be of interest to other people who run WordPress websites.

* It does not appear that the exact amount of CPU and RAM allocation that comes with each plan is disclosed anywhere in the marketing materials or legal documents that are provided by Namecheap. Prices are reflective of the monthly cost of one-year contracts; however, payment in full is required before services are rendered.

  • EasyWP Starter: 10 gigabytes of storage for $4.07 per month, with 50,000 visits per month included (for 1 website).
  • EasyWP Turbo: $7.91 per month for 50 gigabytes of storage space, with 200,000 visits per month included (for 1 website). It comes with 1.5 times the RAM and the processing power. Beginning with this plan, both a CDN and an SSL certificate are bundled into the price.
  • EasyWP Supersonic: The price for 100 GB of storage and 500,000 visits per month is $9.57 per month. It comes with twice the amount of RAM and processing power.

How does each EasyWP Namecheap plan work?

As I've mentioned before, EasyWP is a service that is geared specifically toward WordPress. The following is a list of everything that comes standard with every plan:

  • Hosting for one website built with WordPress.
  • Installation of WordPress with a single click, to make the process simpler.
  • Support available around the clock via live chat or an online ticketing system (similar to email).
  • 1 SFTP access.
  • A method for performing your own backups and restoring them in the event that something goes wrong.
  • A caching plugin for WordPress that will speed up your site.

Namecheap Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Affordable. It is an extremely cost-effective alternative for WordPress websites and is among the least expensive web hosting services that are currently available.
  • Performance. When we tested this host, I found both its uptime and its speed to be very impressive.
  • Easy to use. The backend has been thoughtfully designed, so newcomers shouldn't have any trouble navigating the user interface.
  • CDN and caching. The caching plugin will be accessible via all subscription tiers. Users of Turbo and Supersonic will also have access to a CDN when it becomes available.
  • Storage. EasyWP provides a substantial amount of storage space.
  • 24 hour support. I never had to wait an excessive amount of time to get taken care of when I used the live chat or ticket system.

Cons

  • Limited panel. EasyWP is designed for novices, so its user interface might be a little too straightforward for some users (e.g. no option to control your PHP version, databases and limited configuration of your SFTP accounts)
  • Only 1 website. EasyWP will only permit you to have one website for each plan.
  • WordPress-only. Only websites built with WordPress can be hosted on this server.
  • Limited visits. Namecheap places a cap on the number of unique visitors your website can receive each month.
  • No email. You will be required to make a separate purchase for email accounts if you require their use.

Namecheap specifications

  • Ease of use. The dashboard provided by Namecheap has a user-friendly interface and an uncluttered look and feel. On the other hand, it is missing a great deal of functionality, such as PHP version control, a file managing system, and server statistics.
  • Domain names. Although a domain name is not included, Namecheap makes it possible to purchase one from them at prices that are reasonable. Take note that this particular hosting plan can only support a single WordPress website.
  • Email rating. The EasyWP plans offered by Namecheap do not include email service of any kind. If you require email accounts, Namecheap can provide them for you at an additional cost.
  • Databases. Because EasyWP users are prevented from having complete access to the configuration of their databases, the process of setting up additional databases is complicated. It would appear that there is no upper bound on the size of the database that they can support.
  • Applications. N/A. Because this is a WordPress hosting service, the only application that can be downloaded and utilized is WordPress. You can use one of the other hosting packages that come with Namecheap in the event that you need to use a different CMS.
  • Limit on web space. The Starter plan comes with 10 GB of webspace, the Turbo plans come with 50 GB, and the Supersonic plan comes with 100 GB. Namecheap is very generous with the storage it provides.
  • Monthly data transfer limit. Depending on the plan that you choose, the number of monthly users that your EasyWP site can support is capped at either 50,000, 200,000, or 500,000.
  • FTP accounts and secure FTP. You can have secure FTP, but managing it is a little bit limited (for example, you can't decide on the route, username, or password). However, you can decide how long the access will be available for. SSH access cannot be gained, which is a very disappointing limitation.
  • Server location. All of Namecheap's servers are situated within the United States (Phoenix, AZ).
  • Security features.The Starter plan does not come with any free SSL certificates for your website. It is possible to set up two-factor authentication for your Namecheap account, which provides an additional layer of security for your account. This can be done by following the instructions found here. It's unfortunate, but it doesn't appear that any additional users can be added to the account (e.g. a separate login for different people in the same company).
  • Server speed. I was impressed with Namecheap's performance when I tested it, and the caching plugin for WordPress is sure to help in this regard (more information below).
  • Uptime. As you'll see in the following section, Namecheap also has an impressive uptime record.
  • Backups. Your own backups are simple to create and download whenever you need them. Unfortunately, Namecheap does not perform automatic backups of customer data on its own (e.g. daily copies of your site).
  • CDN. The CDN is already integrated into the Turbo and Supersonic plans by default.
  • Server features. It is not possible to manually change the version of PHP that is being used; at the moment, it appears to be using version 7.4 by default. Because it is a hosting service geared toward WordPress, only PHP is permitted (you are unable to use Perl or Ruby). It does not comply with PCI standards (e.g. important for online stores).
  • Refunds and guarantees. The most expensive plan guarantees an uptime of 99.99%, which is an exceptionally generous percentage. There is an option for a free trial that lasts for thirty days.
  • Assistance and support. Namecheap provides support via chat and a ticketing system around the clock. I never had to wait for a free agent for an excessively long period of time.

If you only need to host one WordPress website and don't require a hosting panel with advanced options, Namecheap offers a service that is quite good in this regard.

When is Namecheap hosting appropriate?

Namecheap is a good choice for small and medium-sized projects that use WordPress as their preferred content management system (CMS). Because it restricts the amount of control you have over your hosting account (for example, you are unable to change the version of PHP that you are using), it is an excellent option for people who are searching for a straightforward web host.

You have the option to create your own backups, but Namecheap will not do so on your behalf automatically. This is yet another significant factor that should be taken into consideration. You might want to think about using a plugin for automated backups.

When should you not use Namecheap hosting?

EasyWP from Namecheap is not the right choice for you if you have:

  • You attempt to host a website that is not based on the WordPress content management system.
  • You require hosting that runs on Windows.
  • You require all the bells and whistles that come with the hosting plan, such as staging areas, daily backups, or SSH access.
  • Because there aren't any individual logins, we can only assume that you are a development team or an agency.
  • You intend to serve as a host for more than one website.

Review of Namecheap: Final Words

I am ecstatic that we decided to give Namecheap a shot, that we tested its performance, and that we were able to get a sense of the benefits and drawbacks of using it.

As we have seen, this is a really affordable host that offers a generous amount of storage space and bandwidth, in addition to providing good performance.

The user interface is straightforward and simple to navigate, but it does have a few drawbacks (such as the inability to manually change the PHP version). Even if you have the option to make your own backups manually, I hope they will implement an automatic backup system. If you are only going to be hosting a single WordPress site, Namecheap is not a good choice for you.