When looking for the best web host for a WordPress site, it is normal to review multiple popular and not-so-popular choices. You will have to analyze the best of what Bluehost, SiteGround, HostGator, DreamHost, GoDaddy, and several others, including Namecheap, can offer.
It gets even better when you know the go-to factors an excellent WordPress host ought to have. Such things as the ability to deliver blazing-fast speed and “load time,” keep a consistent uptime of at least 99.98%, and provide excellent customer support. Naturally, a provider with the most affordable plan, on top of the aforementioned, most definitely gets the nod!
But today, it isn’t about choosing the best host for a WordPress-powered website, but rather if Namecheap is a perfect pick. Ideally, it is a battle between Namecheap versus Bluehost, which is one of the most popular web hosting providers for WordPress.
How Good is Namecheap When It Comes to WordPress Hosting?
Namecheap is one of the few legends in the game, having been around since 2000. And for the over 18 years of its existence, this company has seen the number of its loyal customers grow to the current three million.
Today, many know Namecheap as the domain names registrar it primarily is. Others probably know it as the greatest nemesis of GoDaddy, owing to its 7+ million domain name clients. Indeed it is the real domain names giant.
But, far from selling domain names, Namecheap is also a source of excellent general web hosting services as well as WordPress hosting. It basically provides a fully loaded hosting value plan, which also includes email and SSL certificate, a web builder, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
On WordPress hosting, Namecheap is the real deal. You can get started with the EasyWP Starter, which charges a mere $0.01 during the first month. The plan is just one of the three whose main characteristics are affordable prices and lots of SSD storage space, among other perks.
Before we look at Namecheap WordPress Hosting in detail, there are some things you ought to know:
First, the world of affordable web hosting is huge and diverse, with several names that perfectly serve as an alternative to Namecheap. But when it comes to WordPress hosting, Namecheap, unfortunately, doesn’t do quite as stellar service as traditional WordPress hosting solutions.
See, Namecheap doesn’t offer a full specter of WordPress-optimized tools at a competitive price. With it, you can’t get all the full benefits of WP hosting, similar to those of established hosts at an affordable cost.
Furthermore, this domain names registrar does not include such necessities as the freedom to install free or cheaper non-WordPress stats and analytics tools. So, you will host your WordPress and fully manage it, without the typical experience of other established WP hosts.
If you choose Namecheap for your WordPress, rest assured your site may never be fully secure or even function at the same speed as other WordPress-powered websites. Namecheap rarely attends any WordCamp, nor remains updated when it comes to the latest WordPress updates. And that simply means that the likelihood of missing vital optimization opportunities, which could otherwise strengthen WordPress’ efficiency is high.
Namecheap’s Web Hosting Plans
On a side-by-side comparison, Namecheap EasyWP is way cheaper than SiteGround, Bluehost, and Wix.com. It also installs way faster, at just 30 seconds, and provides the second-largest SSD storage space after Bluehost.
With Namecheap EasyWP for WordPress hosting services, a website can easily be installed with several plugins, including Yoast SEO and WooCommerce. It also gets hosted in the real cloud – unlike SiteGround and Bluehost – and could seamlessly be auto-scaled.
Looking at the two other Namecheap WordPress hosting plans, namely EasyWP Turbo and EasyWP Supersonic, the number of features increases. EasyWP Turbo is the median plan and only costs $7.88 with just $0.02 for the first month.
While EasyWP accepts up to 50k monthly visitors, EasyWP Turbo extends the quota to 200k. Further, the former’s 10GB SSD storage space increases up to 50GB, while the core features of peak performance – RAM & CPU, increase by 1.5 times.
It is interesting to note that, while EasyWP doesn’t come with the free SSL certificate and free CDN that typical Namecheap substitutes offer, EasyWP Turbo has it. Remember, industry leaders, especially Bluehost, DreamHost, and HostGator include free domain names on every WordPress hosting plan.
Namecheap’s WordPress Hosting Features Compared
All the highly rated WordPress hosts have several things in common. Besides the 99.98% uptime, super-fast “load times,” and excellent customer support, they don’t waver on offering freebies. Automatic 1-click WordPress installation plus the location of the data center is also among their main selling points.
Freebies
Bluehost, SiteGround, HostGator, DreamHost, and GreenGeeks, for example, guarantee free SSL and free 1-click WordPress installation. The five, except SiteGround, offer free domain names as well. Besides free CDN and free SSL on the two other packages, Namecheap doesn’t offer much for free.
Performance
Based on performance, the Bluehost-powered WP website only needs less than two seconds to load in Dallas, Tx, while SiteGround did the same in just 649ms. The rest register impressive results, often ranging at below a second. Namecheap is almost twice as slow as the five, although the load time is still better compared to the industry standard.
Customer support
Being one of the most important features of a good WP web hosting services provider, excellent customer support is also a key trait among the leading names. And most of them offer 24/7 phone support, email tickets that are responded to quickly, and Live chat feature right within the provider’s website.
The quality of support is what matters the most. The team tasked with answering client queries must be fluent in English. Unfortunately, Namecheap, being a Ukrainian company seemingly doesn’t have fluent English speakers who can satisfactorily resolve an issue.
Money-back guarantee
InMotion Hosting is the industry leader as it offers a whopping 90-day money-back guarantee. GreenGeeks offers a standard 30-day money-back guarantee, similar to Bluehost. HostGator’s generous 45-day money-back guarantee is way better, but it is impressive that Namecheap sticks to the standard 30 days.
Conclusion
Namecheap is popular as a domain names powerhouse – not a web hosting company. And for it to gain a name among the greats of WordPress web hosting, it certainly has to prove that it is worth the name.
If you choose Namecheap instead of its alternatives, the first benefit is a decent amount of SSD storage space and a quota of thousands of monthly visitors. You also get to install WP in a single click, enjoy blazing-fast load times, as well as the convenience of a free CDN. Of course, the prices of each of the three plans are among the most affordable in the industry.
However, the only downsides of choosing Namecheap for WordPress hosting are the generally poor customer support services and plans that lack the many freebies offered by industry-leading WP hosts. Unlimited SSD storage, plus the capped bandwidth and the usually slow speed weighs it down.
And so, when it comes to the best WordPress hosting service providers, Namecheap can’t be regarded among them. It isn’t among the few companies that are officially recommended by the WordPress.org community.
The long and short of this, therefore, means that Namecheap is a good web host, but not like Bluehost, HostGator, DreamHost or any of the other web hosting providers listed in this article.
