If you are looking for a suitable host for your website, there are several providers you may consider and you may just decide that Namecheap suits you more.
Namecheap started as a domain registrar in 2000. Being vastly successful at this, Namecheap proceeded to another set of services to the one they already offer. Among this new set of services is website hosting. Presently, the company has over 11 million customers and hosts 3 million domain names.
It is quite common in this business for companies to make their money off upsells. However, Namecheap prides itself on the affordable pricing plans they offer to its customers. This is the exact root of the name, Namecheap.
Namecheap: The Pros And The Cons
Every company has its strong points and weak points. It will be foolhardy to expect any company to be perfect. However, in making choices, we must weigh the pros and the cons of the companies to see which side tips the scale. The result of this analysis is what informs your decision. Let’s take a look at the strengths and weaknesses of Namecheap.
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The Pros.
- Namecheap is a trusted brand: Namecheap is not a newbie on the block. The company has been around for 20 years and has built quite a reputation in the world of web hosting. With over 3 million domain names, it is not even debatable that the company is doing something right. The fact that they have lasted over the years should inspire your trust in their ability to work out kinks and provide solutions to your needs seamlessly.
- Quality Uptime: One of the major factors influencing the choice of hosting providers has to be the uptime. Reliable uptime is an absolute necessity in the world of online businesses. High uptime translates into less downtime for your website and this also implies more customers and more sales.
In Namecheap’s service agreement; there is the clause that says if uptime is not 100%, you get a refund. The reason behind this offer is that Namecheap has a history of good uptime and is confident that you can get nothing less than quality Uptime from them. There have been minor fluctuations in the past but nothing so major and earth-shattering. Presently, the average uptime on Namecheap is 99.97%… a very high score, if I must point that out.
- Free Domain And Migration: If your website is hosted by another provider and you are not pleased with the services. Moving to Namecheap is easy. And that’s because Namecheap has made it so. Moving over is so cheap that they might charge you nothing. They offer free migration for your site from another provider. They also provide a domain for free with the purchase of a plan.
- They guarantee refunds: If you decide that your experience with Namecheap is not satisfactory within 30 days of starting their services, they will refund you. This implies that you have a month to decide if Namecheap is suitable for you or if you need another plan. If you decide this within that timeframe, you will either get your money back or an option to switch plans.
- Basic plans are great: Most hosting providers offer the barest minimum to people using their basic plans. They may look like a great deal to beginners but most of the time, the offers don’t cut it. This is not the case on Namecheap. Even while their plans are cheaper than those of their competitors, they offer better services for their basic packages.
With the lowest package on Namecheap, you get unmetered bandwidth. This rarity is something that you will start to enjoy even as your website grows. Additionally, you also get a free SSL certificate for the first year. Usually, with most free SSL certificate offerings, the first year is free, and every year after that, you have to pay.
Namecheap does the same. You also get free backups twice a week. Other providers only offer free backup once a week. Backups are very important because something may go wrong during an update and you could end up losing vital information.
The mind-blowing part is you also get three websites with the basic plan. This is a huge difference from the single website hosting that comes with basic plans in most providers. As an icing on the cake, you get 50 email addresses. Most providers only give one. Some don’t even give any with their basic plans. You also get 50 MySQL databases, whereas most providers offer far less than that.
- Quick load time: No one wants to visit a website that takes a lot of time to load. If a website takes more than 4 seconds to load, the odds are the visitor will abort and click on another link. An ideal website should load in 3 seconds or lesser. Namecheap makes it easy to actually load a website faster. With their average page speed is 458 ms, they are very fast in loading pages. The best part is that they are getting even faster as technology continues to improve.
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The Cons
- Customer support on Namecheap is not reliable: Namecheap has a resource called Knowledgebase. This is where customers or users are expected to go if they have a problem that they think is common. The topics there include everything ranging from SSL certificates to email service. There are also videos that show you how to complete certain actions and processes.
However, if you can’t find what you need in these two places, then it becomes a lot harder to get help. Namecheap has live chats that may be responded to at first. However, the response becomes slower as the questions begin to increase. The time taken to respond is lengthy and this is a weakness of Namecheap. Phone support doesn’t exist on Namecheap, so don’t even bother looking for it.
Namecheap Packages
Namecheap has a variety of packages to choose from. Whether you are just starting a website or a company looking to build a high traffic website, Namecheap has got you covered. Some of the packages are as follows;
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Namecheap Shared Hosting
Namecheap Shared Hosting is very cheap and they offer a better deal than the shared hosting packages of other providers.
- Stellar: this is the lowest plan available on Namecheap. Stellar comes with 20GB SSD, three websites, a free domain name (only for the first year), and a free CDN. This package is valued at $1.58/month and is billed annually.
- Stellar plus: This package offers unlimited SSD, unlimited websites, automatic backup, free domain name, free CDN, and more. The package is priced at $2.68/month and it is billed annually.
- Stellar business: This package is suitable for those who looking for ways to build a small business website. It offers 50GB SSD, unlimited websites, automatic backup, cloud storage, free domain name, free CDN, and other appealing offers. This package is priced at $4.80/month when billed annually.
In addition to this, all shared hosting plans get a free website builder, domain name, privacy protection, free SSL certificate, free SSL installation, cPanel, email service, and 24/7 support.
2.Namecheap Reseller Hosting Plans
This package is an excellent way of earning income passively. You can make money by purchasing a reseller plan from Namecheap and then selling it to other people you know.
- Nebula: The cheapest reseller hosting plan, it comes with 30 GB SSD and 25 cPanel accounts that you can sell to others. This plan is priced at $17.88/month and it is billed annually.
- Galaxy Expert: This is the next level of reseller hosting which will offer you 90 GB SSD and 100 cPanel accounts to sell. This package is priced at $33.88/month and it is billed annually.
- Universe Pro. This package is for people that are looking to do serious reselling. If you plan on being a serious reseller, this plan may be the right one for you. It offers you 150 GB SSD and 150 cPanel accounts. The package is priced at $51.88/month and it is billed annually.
In addition to all these, the reseller plans still offer the following;
- Ability to manage from cPanel
- Unmetered bandwidth
- Unlimited domains/subdomains
- WMH control
- Account management tools
- High-powered reseller servers
3.Namecheap. WordPress Hosting
If you plan on using WordPress, the suitable plans for you are as follows;
- EasyWp Starter: This is excellent if you are starting your first WordPress website. This plan gives you 10 GB SSD and 50,000 visitors per month for $22.88/month which is billed annually.
- EasyWP Turbo: This package is best suited for you if you want to grow your WordPress site. The plan offers you 50 GB SSD, 1.5 times more CPU, 1.5 times more RAM, free SSL, free CDN, and 200,00 monthly visitors for $34.44/month which is billed annually.
- EasyWP Supersonic: This package is best suited for you if you want to maximally scale your WordPress site. With this plan, you get 100 GB SSD, two times more CPU, twice the RAM, a 99.99% uptime guarantee, free SSL, free CDN, and 500,000 monthly visitors for $49.88/month when billed annually.
4.VPS Hosting
VPS plans allow more flexibility and control of your website. The packages are as follows;
- Pulsar. This is a popular VPS hosting plan that offers you two CPU cores, 2 GB RAM, 40 GGB SSD RAID 10, and 1000 GB bandwidth. The plan is priced at $7.88/month which is billed annually.
Quasar. This plan offers great value and provides you with four CPU cores, 6 GB RAM, 120 GB SSD RAID 10, and 3000 GB bandwidth. The plan is priced at $13.88/month which is billed annually.
5.Dedicated Hosting
This option is available for people who want the freedom to control their servers. The various plans within the dedicated server plan provide some great options which are dependent on your specific needs. At this level of hosting, it is important to connect with a Namecheap agent to get more information before making such a big purchase. The prices of the plans range from over $600/month to over $1,100/month.
A dedicated server has a lot of benefits and may just be what your company needs. However, it is most suited for big companies.
Namecheap is a good provider and it is worth a trial. They offer great value even down to the low-level plans that offer a great deal more benefits than many of their competitors. They have many strengths and so few weaknesses. A trial could convince you… So, visit https://www.namecheap.com/ to find a suitable package for your brand.
