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Updated: Sep 9, 2021, 6:25am
Most notably a juggernaut domain name registrar, Namecheap also offers inexpensive web hosting services. Plans come with a free SSL certificate for the first year and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
While small businesses may love the budget-friendly pricing, it comes at the cost of low storage for its basic tiers and limited customer support. However, those who aren’t looking for complex setups may find Namecheap sufficient.
Namecheap offers three pricing tiers for its shared hosting plans, with all tiers offering unlimited bandwidth and free email accounts. Customers will also get one free SSL certificate installation.
Annual pricing plans include:
Small businesses can choose to sign up for a plethora of dedicated, reseller, WordPress or VPS plans, too. If you’re unsure whether the plan you chose is sufficient, Namecheap offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
For those who already have a website with another hosting company, Namecheap will help you migrate it to theirs for free. The company guarantees it’ll complete a full cPanel migration within 24 hours and no more than 15 minutes of downtime. Otherwise, it’ll credit your account with an amount equivalent to your first year of a shared hosting plan.
Site Maker, Namecheap’s drag and drop website builder, doesn’t require any coding skills. You can sign up with your email address for free to test it out. You can either start from scratch or choose from a variety of templates. If you like what you see, you can continue to sign up for a paid plan.
Namecheap’s Content Delivery Network (CDN) offers fast delivery speeds and high bandwidth so that it takes seconds for your website content to update and load. This results in faster load times, helpful for small businesses who want to ensure their website runs smoothly. Though all shared hosting tiers offer this for free with their plans, customers can upgrade to faster servers for an extra fee.
The 30-day money-back guarantee is only available for first-time shared hosting customers. That means if you had been a previous customer and signed up again, you won’t be eligible. Plus, the free domain name can’t be considered “premium” and is only available to customers who purchase an annual or biennial shared hosting plan.
Namecheap offers some decent options for small businesses, but it’s not a good fit for everyone. Shopping around will help you see what is on offer out there, like with Cloudways and HostPapa.
At first glance, Namecheap stands out because of its much lower pricing. However, if you want more than what’s offered at the basic tier, HostPapa is a better choice. That’s because its basic tier—though slightly higher in price—offers more storage. Plus, customers can choose from more robust hosting options (especially those who are looking to host an e-commerce website). HostPapa also offers 24/7 phone support and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
While Cloudway offers what the other two doesn’t—cloud hosting—the pricing plans are significantly more expensive. The basic tier offers much less storage than both Namecheap and HostPapa, making it a less desirable option.
1
Price
Starting at $9.50 per month
Uptime
99.99%
Customer Support
24/7 Support Team
1
On Nexcess.net’s Secure Website
Starts at $2.88 per month or $12.96 per year on an annual plan
100%
Free
Starts at $2.88 per month or $12.96 per year on an annual plan
100%
Free
As low as $3.95 per month
30 days
100 GB SSD
As low as $3.95 per month
30 days
100 GB SSD
Namecheap offers competitive pricing for its basic shared hosting plans, and those plans include enough to get your small website up and running—with twice-weekly automatic backups, a free SSL certificate and a 100% uptime guarantee. These starter plans are where Namecheap shines.
In terms of its other add-ons and advanced VPS and dedicated server plans diminish its core differentiator: affordability.
Activation periods will differ depending on the web hosting company. Typically, once you’ve registered your domain name and hosting plan, it can take a few minutes to complete. However, more complex setups like VPS plans may take a few hours. Before signing up, it’s best to check with the hosting company to see how long it’ll take.
Virtual Private Servers, or VPS, uses a type of technology that uses one server and splits them up into multiple servers. It acts like a dedicated server, where it’s reserved for one user only.
An SSL, or Secure Sockets Layer, certificate ensures that a website is authenticated and all information sent between the user and the website is encrypted and secure.
