Namecheap Web Hosting Honest Review (Pros
and Cons)
Apart from a wide selection of popular and professional
domain names, Namecheap also offers affordable hosting packages, SSL
certificates, built-in SEO tools, Supersonic CDN, VPN, G Suite, Weebly site
builder, and personalized email service to name a few. Namecheap offers help
via its extensive knowledge base and its 24/7 customer support service promptly
addresses any issues faced by users. The company’s team of experts is
professionally trained to handle any issues regarding domain registration or
web hosting promptly and efficiently. Namecheap believes in transparency and
insists that its customers can rely on the company to protect their private
information at all costs.
PROS:
- Guaranteed
100% uptime
- Free
migration of domains, websites, and WordPress blogs
- Very
affordable pricing
- Supersonic
Content Delivery Network (CDN)
CONS:
- Web
application interface could be modernized
- Customer
support can improve
Websites or blogs can be built via either a Content
Management System (CMS) like WordPress or a drag-and-drop website builder such
as the free one that Namecheap offers. Now, before you start building a
website, you must be aware of the purpose and type of your website so that you
can choose the right domain name, appropriate hosting plan, and use the best
site building tool.
- Step 1
First, you must register a domain name for your website. On
the Namecheap website, navigate to “Domains>Domain Name Search” and enter
your domain name in the search box provided. The “Beast Mode” allows you to
check various alternate names and apply filters. A suitable domain must not be
too long, should be memorable, and not contain numbers or symbols.
Once you have a domain name you like, register it by
completing the payment process. Though the registration process is lengthy, it
is simple. For further help, go to
“Support>Knowledgebase>Domains>Registrations”. If you already have a
domain name then you can transfer it to Namecheap for a small fee.
- Step 2
Now that you have a domain name, it is time to choose a
Shared hosting plan. Namecheap’s annual Shared hosting plans cost half that of
the monthly plans. Go for the Stellar Plus plan for the best deal. Those with
large businesses or online stores can opt for VPS hosting or dedicated servers.
Refer to the guides in the knowledge base if you need help to complete the
payment process.
- Step 3
After the transaction is complete, you will receive a welcome
email from the company containing the hosting plan details and cPanel details.
- Step 4
Access the cPanel using the link provided in the email and
log in using your cPanel username and password given in the same email.
- Step 5
Once you log in to the cPanel, you will notice the dashboard
with various options. Navigate to “Exclusive for Namecheap Customers ->
Softaculous App Installer”. Then click on WordPress in the Scripts section to
install WordPress.
This will open the install tab where you will have to click
the “Install Now” button.
On the next page, you will have to complete the software
setup and edit the site settings. You can leave the “In Directory” field blank.
In the “Admin Account” section, enter your admin username,
email, and a strong admin password. Scroll down and click “Install”.
- Step 6
Now that WordPress has been installed, you can log in to the
dashboard and start creating your website.
- To
start, you can either click on “Customize Your Site” or navigate to
“Appearance -> Theme” to choose a design layout for your site from an
extensive library of templates.
- On
the Themes page, click on “Add New” to view new themes.
- Select
a theme from the wide selection. You can use the filter or the search box
to quickly find suitable themes for your site. Click a theme that you like
and click “Upload Theme”.
- Go
back to the Themes page and you will see recently installed themes. Click
“Activate” to use the template as the basic layout for your site. Once the
basic layout has been set, you can start to customize your site as per
your preference.
- Use
the options on the left panel to edit your site. You can add pages, posts,
media, and plug-ins. Once you think your site is ready, click “Publish” to
make your site go live.
- Step 7
The drag-and-drop website builder is a simple cPanel tool to
help those with no prior knowledge of coding to build a website in minutes.
- You
can find the Website Builder under the “Exclusive for Namecheap Customers”
section in the cPanel. On the next page, click on any domain or sub-domain
of your new website and you will be redirected to the site builder page to
choose a template.
- The
template section has a comprehensive collection of themes categorized into
various topics on the left side.
- Simply
hover over a theme you like and you will see three options, namely
“Select”, “Preview”, and “Guide”. The “Guide” shows you a video of helpful
tips on creating a website. The “Preview” option lets you see how the
theme will look before you apply it. To use a theme as your site’s layout,
click “Select”.
- Now
that you have a basic layout for your site, it is time to customize. Now
all the editing tools are self-explanatory and it is easy to understand
the function of each tool.
- At
the top of the dashboard, you will find different options to help you edit
your site. Use the “Preview” to view your site before publishing which can
be done with the “Publish” button. Switch between desktop, mobile, and
tablet devices using the respective icons. Backups are taken every ten
minutes but only the two most recent backups are stored for restore.
- Click
on the gear icon on the top right corner and a menu drops down. You can
control various aspects of your site from the drop-down menu such as
background, styles, settings, landing, grid, and layout to name a few. SEO
tools can also be found here which you can use to efficiently market your
site. Click “Publish” once you are satisfied with the result.
Namecheap
Features1
Uptime
Namecheap guarantees 100% uptime which is quite impressive
considering the company is primarily a domain registrar
and DreamHost is the only web hosting company I have come across,
till now, that guarantees 100% uptime. While I got 100% uptime fairly consistently,
on several occasions the uptime dropped to 99.9% which is not a big deal unless
you are hosting a large business website on the platform.2
Load time
The load times from several Pingdom tests were
highly appreciable and the average load time from the tests was 597 ms, which
is faster than the load times that top-tier hosting companies
like GoDaddy (824 ms) and Bluehost (649 ms) provide.
Bandwidth
All Namecheap plans offer unmetered bandwidth which is the
standard for any decent hosting service provider.
Disk storage
While the Stellar and Stellar Business plans offer 20 GB and
50 GB SSD storage, the Stellar Plus plan offers unlimited SSD storage. This is
a bit odd since one can’t be blamed for expecting unlimited storage with the
Business plan, which is Namecheap’s highest Shared hosting plan.5
WordPress
Namecheap is optimized for WordPress and even offers Managed
WordPress hosting via its EasyWP plans starting at $3.88/month. WordPress sites
are hosted on Namecheap Cloud and the company claims to offer one of the
fastest WordPress hosting solutions.6
One-click installer
The Softaculous lets you install more than 200 scripts and
over 100 free apps including WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal among others with
just one click.7
Online store
Creating an online store and taking your business online is
as easy as it gets with Namecheap. With the website builder, you can build an
online store complete with a shopping cart, secured payment gateway, and
booking facility.8
Website builder
The Namecheap drag-and-drop website builder comes free with
all Shared hosting plans and lets you create as well edit websites with ease.
With over 200 design templates, support for more than 45 languages, and
advanced editing tools, it is one of the best site builders around. It even
lets you import and customize your existing website with just a few clicks.9
Free domain
Annual Shared hosting plans come with a free domain name
registration offer for the first year after which it renews at standard rates
provided on the company’s website. However, premium domains are ineligible for
the promotion, and ICANN charges a compulsory annual fee of $0.18 for each
domain name registration, renewal, or transfer. Namecheap offers hundreds of
domain extensions at competitive prices and includes WhoisGuard protection for
free.10
SSL certificates
The latest version of the cPanel makes it mandatory for new
domains to install SSL certificates and Namecheap automatically installs 50
free PositiveSSL certificates for one year on the primary domain, sub-domains,
and parked domains for all Shared hosting clients. The company further offers a
50% discount on the second year renewal. Visit the Namecheap website to find
out who is eligible for the offer and the restrictions of the offer.11
SEO services
While there was no mention of SEO services, free or paid, on
the company’s website, the website builder comes with built-in SEO tools that
not only help your website to rank higher on Google searches but also enable
you to market your site better.12
Email accounts
You get 30 email accounts and 10 mailing lists with the basic
Stellar plan and unlimited accounts as well as mailing lists with the Plus and
Business plans. SpamAssassin is a spam protection tool installed on all Namecheap
servers and can be enabled or configured via the cPanel.13
Backup and restore
A backup manager, provided with all Shared hosting plans,
takes internal backups of all site data twice a week. Stellar Plus and Business
customers get automatic daily, weekly, or monthly backups via the free
AutoBackup tool in the cPanel. The AutoBackup tool, unavailable with the
Stellar plan, allows access to backup history and supports automatic
restores.14
Money-back guarantee
Namecheap offers a 30-days money-back guarantee with its
Shared hosting plans but the refund policy applies only to first-time
customers. Users with a second Namecheap account or those who have signed up
again after canceling a previous account are not eligible for the refund.15
DDoS protection
Namecheap takes security and privacy very seriously. As a
result, not only do you get robust DDoS protection but also spam protection via
SpamAssassin, ClamAV virus scanner, an IP deny manager, and directory privacy
among other advanced security features.16
Customer support
Customer support services are provided via 24/7 live chat and
help desk to all Shared hosting customers. Transfer assistance and instant
setup are also offered to all customers. Stellar Business clients receive
priority support and faster request processing. You can submit tickets at the
24/7 help desk and browse the extensive knowledge base for assistance.17
Prices
There are monthly and annual Shared hosting plans divided
into categories, namely Stellar, Stellar Plus, and Stellar Business. The
monthly plans cost $2.88/month for Stellar, $4.88/month for Stellar Plus, and
$8.88/month for Stellar Business. The annual plans cost $1.44/month for
Stellar, $2.44/month for Stellar Plus, and $4.44/month for Stellar Business.
While US datacenter locations are free, European customers can opt for
datacenter location in the UK for an extra $1/month.
June Deal! 80% Off
Namecheap Shared Hosting80% Off Namecheap Shared Hosting (all hosting plans
include FREE website builder, FREE automatic SSL installation and FREE
Supersonic CDN)$0.57 $2.88
Use Coupon19
Namecheap: Google Trends
Google Trends is an engine that studies the popularity of
Google search terms and plots a graph showing interest in specific search terms
over a specified period in a specific region. I used Google Trends to study
interest in such terms as “Namecheap” and “Namecheap review” over the last 12
months in the USA.
Interest in the
company “Namecheap” was fairly consistent and mostly higher than average over
the last 12 months. The graph shows a decline in interest a few times but the
only considerable decline was during the last few weeks of 2019 when the
coronavirus pandemic started getting global attention. However, the interest
rose again since 5th January
2020 and even peaked exactly one month back on 26th April 2020. Though interest has fallen a bit
recently, it is still higher than the average value and seems to be on the
rise.
The graph depicting the interest in “Namecheap review” looks
like a jagged mountain range throughout 2019 but has a more consistent slope
since the start of 2020. This year, interest is predominantly average but does
not display the random fluctuations that it did last year. While interest has
recently declined, it is picking up again and is likely to further rise in the
coming months.
I wanted to see how Namecheap fared against two of its
nearest competitors. So I compared “Namecheap” with “DreamHost” and “HostGator”.
The average interest in “Namecheap” was greater than both the other companies
and it looks like to be rising in comparison with competitors. While
“Namecheap” beat “DreamHost” by a comfortable margin, the competition between
“Namecheap” and “HostGator” was neck and neck with a little broke away from the
pursuer.
20
Namecheap: Users’ Reviews, Feedback and Ratings
Namecheap has
social media profiles social media where it posts useful tips, new
developments, and software updates. While the company has a considerable
following on social media with 122k followers on Twitter, there was almost no
user feedback on its social profile. Thus, I had to check consumer review sites
such as TrustRadius, Trustpilot, and SiteJabber for feedback from genuine
users.
Namecheap got a TrustScore of 2.4 out of 5 from 739 reviews
(October 2020) on Trustpilot. While some users rated the company highly
for its affordable pricing and overall service, other users complained of slow
customer support and unreliable service. In short, the reviews on the site were
mixed with praises and criticisms in almost equal quantity.
The scenario on SiteJabber was much better with the
company earning an impressive 4.7 stars out of 5 from as many
as 1,758,438 reviews. The positive highlights from the user reviews
on SiteJabber were a secure shopping experience, transparency about features,
affordable domain registration, and ease of use. Many users claimed to have
turned to Namecheap because they found the prices on other popular hosting
platforms to be twice as much. While the positive reviews far outnumbered the
negative ones, there were a few pressing issues raised by some users. The most
highlighted issues among these reviews were the poor customer service, long
response times, and its knowledge base that is difficult to navigate or
understand.
There were only 20+ reviews on TrustRadius and
Namecheap got a score of 8.8 out of 10 on this site. The positive points
include affordability, convenience, friendly UI, cheap renewal costs, and Whois
privacy. While negative points were very hard to come by, a few cons listed by
users include costly premium domains, average hosting service, and a dated
dashboard.
For news on the latest developments and significant
information about the company, I visited several news sites and found a few
reports worth mentioning.
A couple of months back, Facebook filed a lawsuit in Arizona
against Namecheap charging the domain registrar for domain name fraud. The
social media giant claimed that several domains hosted on Namecheap’s platform
infringed trademarks by using such domain names as “instagrambusinesshelp.com,
facebo0k-login.com, and whatsappdownload.site” to impersonate Facebook or other
services it owns.21
Conclusion
In a nutshell,
Namecheap is one of the most affordable domain registrars I have used to date.
It further offers cheap Shared hosting plans with a 30-days money-back
guarantee and 100% uptime. When it comes to privacy and security, it is hard to
top Namecheap which provides one of the most reliable security solutions. While
the interface may look a bit dated and could do with some modernization, it is
easy to navigate and use.
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