Companies that offer web hosting are widely available in the current market, which is good and bad. It’s good because you have a large number of choices and options. It’s bad because it’s extremely difficult to compare all those options without losing your sanity. We’re ready to help you by comparing Namecheap and GoDaddy.
Namecheap lives up to its name by offering plenty of affordable pricing plans. As an additional benefit that we greatly appreciate, Namecheap doesn’t bombard you with upselling options like some of its competitors do. It just works hard to give you a lot of desirable features at a good price. You can try out Namecheap during a free trial period.
GoDaddy is among the most well-known web hosting services, giving it a level of name recognition that many of its competitors wish they had. GoDaddy’s prices are reasonable, and its features are easy to use, so it’s a good option for beginners. You can start the process of using GoDaddy and begin searching domain names for free.
Namecheap and GoDaddy Compared to the Best Web Hosting Services
Although GoDaddy and Namecheap have advantages in the web hosting market, neither brand made our list of the best web hosting services. As mentioned, web hosting services are extremely plentiful. Through our in-depth research, we found several other services that we like better than Namecheap and GoDaddy.
Hostinger was the real standout as the best web hosting service for most businesses because it offers outstanding value for quality hosting and a huge amount of storage, while remaining extremely easy to use. Plus it offers additional excellent additional features that other hosts just don’t have. Get started for just $1.99 today.
We chose Bluehost for all the new users that are getting started with WordPress for the first time. As an officially recommended hosting provider by WordPress themselves, you can’t go wrong. Start building your site with Bluehost and enjoy peace of mind of its 30-day money-back guarantee.
If you’re a beginner but have plans to grow steadily, HostGator has the best cloud hosting solutions—perfect for scaling when you need it. When you sign up with HostGator, you can receive a free domain for a year.
Web.com offers an intuitive drag-and-drop website builder and free domain for a year with all of its hosting plans, which is ideal for small business websites that want to keep it simple and get everything they need under one roof. Get up to 70% off when you sign up for Web.com.
Namecheap Compared to GoDaddy
Certainly, you want your web hosting service to perform the basics well. Ultimately, though, the features it offers beyond the basics may be the key to perfectly fitting your needs. When your service provider can solve problems unique to your business and website, it becomes even more valuable. Namecheap and GoDaddy each can help you in a few different ways.
Namecheap Highlights
When you are running a business, your customers rely on having constant access to your website. Reliability problems simply can’t happen. With Namecheap, you receive a 99.9% uptime guarantee. If Namecheap has some downtime during the month, its guarantee means you receive a refund for any time your site was unavailable.
If you already have a website, you may be leery about the hassle of trying to transfer the site to Namecheap. However, Namecheap provides help with migrating your current site to Namecheap.
- Starts at $1.98 per month
- Free site migrations
- 24/7 live chat support
- Free domain for one year
- WordPress and cPanel
For businesses that have tight budgets for their websites, Namecheap offers a reasonable price for its basic plan without skimping on the services it offers. Plus, you can take advantage of Namecheap’s 30-day money-back guarantee, so there’s no financial risk to giving it a try.
GoDaddy Highlights
Simply having a well-known brand name is not enough to guarantee a high-quality experience for you. Fortunately, GoDaddy offers quite a few key features that solve problems and deliver results for customers, starting with an easy-to-use interface. Novices will have very few issues creating a sharp-looking website in a short amount of time.
Should you run into problems while building your site with GoDaddy, you can access its customer service team relatively easily versus its competitors. GoDaddy gives you a live phone support option 24 hours per day and seven days per week.
- Starts at $6.99 per month
- Daily backups
- One-click WordPress installation
- Built-in payment acceptance platform
- 99.9% uptime guarantee
Once your site is up and running, you want a high level of performance and responsiveness for your visitors. GoDaddy offers data centers spread across the globe, which delivers excellent load times for your visitors. GoDaddy’s site loading speed from various locations consistently ranks among the best in the website hosting market.
Namecheap vs. GoDaddy: Pros and Cons
We have a keen understanding of the web hosting service marketplace. We study these companies constantly, looking for the advantages and disadvantages they provide. Through our research, we found several areas where GoDaddy and Namecheap provide excellent results and where they struggle.
Where Namecheap Shines
Pricing: With so much competition among web hosting companies, pricing across the board is beneficial for you as the end user. However, Namecheap has an especially favorable pricing level, as its cheapest plan delivers a surprising set of features, giving it an edge over competitors.
Additionally, while its prices increase at the end of the introductory period, they don’t increase as much as competitors’ prices. This is one area where Namecheap especially outshines GoDaddy. For a more in-depth dive into these rates, check out our full Namecheap review.
Add-ons: Namecheap outperforms GoDaddy for the pricing on its add-on and extra features, too. With Namecheap, you will receive a WHOIS privacy package and one email account tied to your website for free. GoDaddy charges you for both of these items on a monthly or annual basis.
This is just more evidence that Namecheap delivers a pricing structure that will save you quite a bit of money versus what GoDaddy will charge you for similar features and services.
Versatile hosting options: Namecheap’s least expensive plans revolve around shared hosting. However, if you want some other options for hosting, Namecheap has you covered here as well. You can select WordPress hosting, reseller hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated hosting as a Namecheap customer.
Versatility is an important factor to consider when you’re evaluating a web hosting provider because it’s likely that your needs will change over time. Shared hosting is fine when you’re just getting started, but you may eventually want to upgrade to a VPS plan as your traffic scales.
Easy to use: Whether you are trying to start a website from scratch or you need to transfer a site from an existing host, Namecheap makes the process easy. Migrating your site from a different host to Namecheap is free to boot.
When you want to start a new site, you can access numerous help documents and tutorials that will walk you through the steps required to build that first website. Namecheap gives you multiple templates as well. You’ll have a professional-looking website in almost no time that you can tweak later as your needs change.
Long history: In a market where website hosting providers seem to sprout up everywhere, subscribing to a company that has a significant history of success isn’t always easy. Namecheap carries one of the longest histories in this market, as it formed more than two decades ago as a domain registrar. It added other features and services along the way.
Namecheap has more than 11 million domain names registered, giving you peace of mind about its trustworthiness and stability as a web hosting company.
Cheap managed WordPress hosting: If you’re using WordPress to power your site, then you’ll definitely want to consider a managed WordPress hosting plan. With Namecheap, you can install WordPress in under 90 seconds and accommodate up to 50,000 visitors per month with the EasyWP Starter plan. You’ll benefit from simple backups and optimized performance for page loading speeds that are three times faster than traditional shared hosting.
Best of all, these plans are really cheap for a fully managed hosting service. Plans start at just $34.88 for your first year and $48.88 for every year thereafter. GoDaddy’s managed WordPress plans cost more than double—with introductory rates starting at $143.88 for the first year and renewals start at $155.88.
Fast and free site migrations: If you’re currently using another web hosting provider and want to move your website elsewhere, Namecheap is an excellent option to consider. They offer free migrations with one of the best satisfaction guarantees in the industry for this service.
Namecheap promises to migrate your website within 24 hours with less than 15 minutes of total downtime during the transaction. If they fail to meet that promise or you’re unsatisfied with how the process was handled, your entire first year of hosting is free.
Cheap dedicated server hosting: Dedicated servers are the highest possible tier available in the world of web hosting. True to its name, Namecheap’s dedicated hosting packages start at just $54.88 per month. If you refer to our reviews of the best dedicated hosting plans, you’ll quickly see how rare it is to find these servers available for less than $100 per month. You can get one from Namecheap for less than $55.
Compared side-by-side with GoDaddy, the cost isn’t even in the same ballpark. GoDaddy’s dedicated servers start at $159.99 per month—but that’s if you’re planning to manage the server on your own. If you want GoDaddy to manage it for you, the starting price jumps to $269.98 per month.
Where Namecheap Needs Improvement
Customer support help with complex issues: If you run into simple problems while using Namecheap, you should be able to find the solution through help documents or through a chatbot session. However, as the complexity of your issues increases, Namecheap’s customer service responsiveness decreases.
Unlike GoDaddy, which has full-time customer support via phone, Namecheap does not offer a telephone support option. If you need a challenging problem solved quickly, you may be out of luck with Namecheap.
Simplistic site-building tools: While Namecheap excels in delivering basic features for a great price, it struggles to match the needs of customers who require advanced services. This is especially noticeable when building your site, as Namecheap relies on a basic app and templates to help you create your site.
It’s not like you can’t build a website with Namecheap as your host. You’re just not going to get the same robust features as you would from other top web hosting providers on the market. This is one of the reasons why Namecheap’s prices undercut the competition. So if you need a site that goes beyond the basic features, Namecheap is going to be a disappointment.
Security shortfalls: Although Namecheap has some desirable security features, it is lacking in a few areas that are concerning. Namecheap provides free SSL certificates that verify your website for visitors, which is vital. However, it doesn’t monitor your server and website for malware or viruses, so you’ll have to perform these functions on your own, something novices may struggle to do.
Fortunately, you can always beef up your site’s security through third-party plugins and services. But when you’re first getting started, it’s nice to have all of those features offered from a single provider under one roof.
Where GoDaddy Shines
Very easy to use: GoDaddy makes every aspect of starting and running a website an extremely easy process. It’s easy to see why GoDaddy is so popular, as novices will have few issues creating a website that looks great and runs reliably.
Additionally, GoDaddy provides increased functionality through the installation of third-party apps. You can install these apps with a single click, saving time. Both GoDaddy and Namecheap are easy to use, but GoDaddy is just a little better in this area.
Introductory pricing: It’s common for web hosting services to deliver low pricing in the first year or two, as they compete for customers. GoDaddy has excellent introductory pricing, including the ability to receive a free domain for the first year, as long as you subscribe to GoDaddy’s hosting service.
Should you be purchasing a really expensive domain, this could be quite the first-year savings amount. Just understand that you will be charged the full amount for the domain in the second year and beyond.
Customer support options: Another reason why GoDaddy is so appealing to those new to building websites is because of its strong customer service options. Versus Namecheap, GoDaddy is a far better choice in this area.
The fact that GoDaddy offers 24/7 telephone support service options would be impressive enough on its own. But GoDaddy also has plenty of self-help documents, instructional blog posts, tutorials, help videos, and chatbot help options to deliver the answers you need whenever you need them.
Trustworthy brand: You don’t have to worry about GoDaddy suddenly disappearing from the web hosting landscape. It dates back to 1997, and it became the largest domain registrar several years later. It continues to have one of the most popular brand names in the industry, and it has over 84 million domain names registered.
More than 21 million customers worldwide rely on GoDaddy’s versatile range of web solutions. Overall, GoDaddy is one of the most reputable and well-recognized names in the world of domain registration and web hosting.
Multiple hosting options: Like Namecheap, GoDaddy gives you a wide range of options for your hosting needs. You can select among shared hosting, WordPress hosting, ecommerce hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated hosting. As your site’s needs change while you are growing your business, you can move from one hosting service to another under the GoDaddy umbrella.
For high-traffic sites and webmasters with advanced needs, GoDaddy has an excellent selection of both fully-managed and self-managed VPS plans. Within both of these plan types, you’ll have the option to select standard or high-RAM options. For developers and technically-inclined system administrators, GoDaddy’s self-managed VPS plans starting at just $9.99 per month might be its best value hosting option across all categories. We cover all of GoDaddy’s hosting options extensively in our complete GoDaddy review.
Unlimited bandwidth: GoDaddy provides unlimited bandwidth for your hosted website, even when you are using one of the lower pricing tiers. This is a benefit for sites that have quite a bit of traffic. (However, if GoDaddy determines your site is using too much bandwidth, it may try to convince you to move to a higher pricing tier.)
Because of the locations of GoDaddy’s data centers in the United States, Europe, Asia, and India, it delivers fast loading speeds for the majority of your website visitors. This allows you to take full advantage of the unlimited bandwidth.
Integrated payment acceptance: If you’re using GoDaddy to host your website, you instantly unlock access to the GoDaddy Payments plugin. This gives you the ability to accept all major credit and debit cards on WordPress without having to find your own payment gateway and set up a complex installation.
It’s free to install the plugin, and the rates are very transparent. There are no monthly fees, hidden costs, or setup fees. Just pay 2.3% + $0.30 per transaction.
Backups and security: Every GoDaddy plan comes with automated daily backups. This helps keep your website content and its files safe if something goes wrong and you need to recover them. Namecheap doesn’t offer automatic backups on its entry-level plan (although Namecheap’s plan with backups is still cheaper than GoDaddy’s).
All GoDaddy hosting plans also come with a free SSL certificate, fraud protection, spam protection, virus protection, and password-protected directories. You’ll even get 24/7 network security with DDoS protection—all helping to ensure your website stays safe.
Managed WooCommerce hosting: If you’re planning to sell products or services online using WordPress and WooCommerce, GoDaddy is an excellent choice—and it has the edge over Namecheap. Starting with the cost, GoDaddy’s managed WooCommerce packages start at $19.99 per month. Namecheap has managed WordPress plans (not specifically for WooCommerce and selling online) starting at $34.88 per month.
In addition to GoDaddy’s value, you’re also getting the ability to sell physical products, memberships, digital goods, gift certificates, and more. The entry-level plan supports unlimited products, abandoned cart emails, and discounted shipping rates of up to 84%.
Where GoDaddy Needs Improvement
GoDaddy will upsell you: If you dislike receiving constant requests from your service providers to purchase add-ons or to migrate to a higher-priced service tier, GoDaddy may frustrate you. GoDaddy starts the suggestions for upsells from the first time you sign up for your account, and it continues after you become a full-fledged customer.
Sometimes, GoDaddy will even add some extras to your cart, based on your responses to questions, without seeking your permission. It can almost feel like you must stop every few minutes and check your shopping cart for things you didn’t order to avoid unwanted purchases. Namecheap doesn’t participate in upselling tactics like this.
Some basic items have add-on costs: Unfortunately, those upsells may be necessary to match the needs you have for your website, because GoDaddy doesn’t include some basic items as part of your subscription price.
For example, GoDaddy charges you extra for WHOIS privacy, site-related email accounts, and an SSL certificate. Namecheap offers these items as part of your subscription more often than GoDaddy does. When the items aren’t part of the subscription, Namecheap charges far less for them than GoDaddy does.
Big price jumps: After your introductory period ends with GoDaddy, you may receive some sticker shock regarding the regular prices you will be paying. Every web hosting service that offers introductory pricing increases the prices pretty significantly in year two and beyond, but GoDaddy has greater-than-average price increases.
This holds true whether you’re buying a domain, hosting your website, or both.
Marketplace order limits on ecommerce plans: While we love the value of GoDaddy’s managed WooCommerce plans, it’s worth noting that each plan comes with monthly order limits if you’re selling through third-party marketplaces. The entry-level Essentials package supports up to 1,000 marketplace orders per month. If you upgrade to the Flex or Expand packages, you’ll get 2,500 or 5,000 marketplace orders, respectively.
While this won’t impact those of you who are just planning to sell directly through WooCommerce, you could run into some scalability issues or be forced to upgrade to a higher plan if marketplaces will be a primary sales channel for your business.
Expanding Your Knowledge: Namecheap vs. GoDaddy
The Last Word on Namecheap Compared to GoDaddy
GoDaddy and Namecheap find themselves in a highly competitive market with other web hosting providers. Both of them offer reasonable price points versus their competitors, and they both are among the longest-running hosting services providers.
Those who use GoDaddy appreciate its ease of use, as even novices can begin using it quickly. GoDaddy offers reasonable introductory prices, but you will see significant price increases once the intro period ends. Namecheap maintains its highly desirable price points versus competitors both at the time of signup and well into the future. But it sacrifices customer support performance to give you the below-average pricing options.
If you want to research more options in this market, our researchers provide the information you need in our list of the best website hosting services. We like Hostinger as the best hosting service for most people, but there are quite a few strong options that may better fit your particular needs on our list.
