NameCheap.com is a popular place for inexpensive domain name registrar, on top of that the company is also offering web hosting service as well. Price begins at $1.44 a month for a shared starter hosting, that makes it a steal.
Shared host get you a 20GB storage space which is sufficient for hosting multiple websites, besides the extras features they provide are unmetered bandwidth, a free domain name, privacy protection, a website builder, wordpress and other platforms, industry-standard Cpanel control panel, 27/7 live support and a 30-day-money back guarantee.
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What makes NameCheap a better choice than the rest is, most web hosting companies restrict you to host only 1 website on their cheapest shared hosting plan but NameCheap allows 3 websites for the starter plan.
What is the catch? Why is NameCheap offering their web hosting for so cheap and giving full features and tools? The catch is you will get a free PositiveSSL certification when you sign up for the first term, but a 50% off for the renewal price. Now it’s $8.88 for a year. You will need this if SSL encryption is important for your website.
The free domain name that you will get when signing up with a web hosting is the extension of .website TLD (.com / .net / .org). The special price for the web hosting for the first-year is $1.44 a month, the renewal fee in the 2nd year is $2.88 per month and onward.
Please note that there is a small print with written warning ‘isn’t guaranteed’ even though NameCheap claims to backup your website twice weekly.
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NameCheap has two data centers located in the United States and United Kingdom. However, you need to pay $1 extra if you want your website to host in the UK.
NameCheap’s Shared Hosting
NameCheap.com price plans look worthwhile and have more value compared to one of the top web hosting companies like HostGator featuring unmetered bandwidth and unlimited database, for which you pay $5.95 for an annual plan at a discount rate then $8.95 for renewal fee the next year.
NameCheap’s second cheapest plan is ‘Stellar Plus Plan’ where you get to pay $2.44 a month for the first term, $4.88 from year two, for a full package of unlimited storage space and email accounts, unlimited websites and automatic daily backup system. If you are concerned with the restriction in the starter plan. This is the best deal ever.
NameCheap pricing plans are transparency. It tells you exactly how much you have to pay for your choice of plan and the sign-up period. Other web hosting companies hide the sign-up term without telling you that in order to get the cheapest price you have to sign up for 36 months. NameCheap.com clearly shows its monthly, yearly and renewal prices for each plan. It can be a better world if other companies can be more transparent.
NameCheap’s WordPress Hosting
Managed WordPress is NameCheap’s additional hosting option that offers to host wordpress on their server with wordpress optimization features. It comes in 3 different price plans, EasyWP, Starter and Turbo.
EasyWP is the cheapest option to host your wordpress. However, it comes with short features and tools. Surely, the wordpress is pre-installed but lacks a smart update, no staging environment, no advanced plugins and no advanced features you can use. The best part is wordpress is hosted on a cloud platform rather than on a shared host and NameCheap claims it has a 3x fasting speed rate.
EasyWP Starter is a little better than the above. The price goes from $1 for the first month, then $3.88 for renewal monthly fee. If you sign up for an annual plan, the price per month is $1.86 and $2.49 on renewal fee. It comes with a 10GB storage space and supports up to 50,000 visitors per month. This is more than sufficient.
EasyWP Turbo features 50GB storage space and supports up to 200,000 visitors per month. The price is $7.88 monthly or $5.74 annually.
EasyWP Supersonic is the most advanced plan. It holds 100GB of storage space and supports up to 500,000 visitors a month. Monthly fee is $11.88 while annual fee is $8.24.
VPS
NameCheap’s Virtual Private Server gives users peace of mind without having to share resources with neighbors such as speed and storage space. VPS guarantees its fast speed with CPU time and RAM. There are two option plans available: Pulsar and Quasar Packages.
Pulsar Package begins at $11.74 monthly on annual plan. The user will get 2 core, 2GB RAM, 40GB storage and 1TB bandwidth.
Quasar Package starts at only $19.66 which makes it 50% less and became the cheapest VPS on the market for what it is offering at this package. (Resource: 4 cores, 6GB RAM, 120GB storage and 3TB bandwidth)
These VPS packages are applied for users who have skill in Linux and able to operate the control panel, unlike shared hosting this doesn’t come with a proper manageable tool and it doesn’t support window-based hosting option.
If you are non-Linux user, then I suggest you to get the extra option a full ‘VPS management’ control panel for $25 per month.
It is highly recommended if you have the technical knowledge to deal with VPS and Linux, otherwise you should consider only shared hosting options. Please check the exact and various fee breakdown you need to pay for using VPS on NameCheap website.
Dedicated Server
Same as VPS, except you get to host on the entire server. For $77.32 a month on an annual plan, you will get 4 core 3.6GHz CPU, 8GB RAM, 1TB storage and 100TB bandwidth. By adding extras add-on such as Cpanel and basic server management raise the monthly fee $122.32. Be sure to read the small print carefully before you sign up for a dedicated hosting plan.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Cheapest Domain name registrar
- Cheapest price compare to other web hosting firms
- 3 website allowed on the cheapest plan
- Decent speed rate and server uptime
- Free Website Builder
- Easy to use interface
Cons
- No phone support (Live chat and ticket system are available)
- VPS without full management control panel (Have to pay to use one)
- No window-based hosting
Summary
NameCheap is mainly focused on the domain registrar business, web hosting is a sub-product of the company. Ideal for general web hosting with value pricing and if you can handle the technical issues yourself you will have no problem with it.
Shared, WordPress and Dedicated hosting are great products of NameCheap except VPS has missing elements such as the full manage control panel. Furthermore, it runs on Linux platform and doesn’t support window hosts.
Speed rate and uptime are decent, we have no issue with them. Support is good via the ticketing system, you will get an answer within an hour time.
If you are searching for a generous web hosting with economic prices, then NameCheap is for you. There are some alternatives to check out if you are looking for specific hosting: DreamHost, SiteGround and Interserver and A2 Hosting.
