Namecheap Review 2021 – Great Registrar, OK Host

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Throughout the past 12 13 14 years I have registered hundreds of domains on Namecheap, and I have also used them as a host (paying for a dedicated server) for well over a year. I have had dozens of interactions with their support staff and spent thousands of dollars with them over the years. Here’s a screenshot showing my account age with them:

The following is my comprehensive Namecheap review for 2021 based on my extensive experience using them over the years. Namecheap was the first domain registrar I ever used, and I’ve continued to use them for good reason: in my view, Namecheap is the best domain registrar online. In fact, they blow many other registrars like GoDaddy out of the water. There are a few reasons for that: first, their prices are excellent, with .com registrations being as good as you’ll find anywhere, and many of their registrations for lesser-used domain extensions like .xyz, .info, .mobi etc. being absolute bargains. If you search for a domain on Namecheap, they’ll tell you many of their prices are way below retail, and they’re not lying – if you go to other registrars the prices will usually be way above Namecheap. Here’s an example of how cheap their prices are compared to what you’d pay elsewhere (yes, it’s from Namecheap, but it’s correct):

Those low prices add up if you’re registering a lot of domains, and even if you have one domain to register, the great prices at Namecheap make it worthwhile.

In addition to price, another great thing about registering at Namecheap is that it has free whoisguard included. This protects your personal information when people lookup who owns your domain, and offering it for free is not standard – the other registrars I’ve used, such as GoDaddy or Network Solutions, all charge for this, usually around $10/year – as much as a .com costs to register! That is a ripoff in my view.

Once you’ve registered a domain at Namecheap, it’s super-easy to manage it, change the nameservers, transfer it or do whatever you want with it – I have never had any issue with their interface. If you do run into any problems, their support (live chat) is also available, and they are competent when it comes to anything regarding domain registration and domain management.

If you’re on the fence about registering a domain at Namecheap, I’d recommend you just go ahead and do it – I would not be recommending them for domain registration if I hadn’t been using them for years and wasn’t sure they’re the best out there.

So Namecheap is great for registering domains – but what about as a host?

I’ve used a dedicated server from Namecheap for a while now. Here’s the welcome email (this one started in October 2019, but I had also used another server from them before starting in mid-2019):

My verdict on Namecheap as a hosting company is slightly less positive. First, their prices for hosting are great – much better than many other hosting companies whether you’re getting a VPS, dedicated server, shared hosting or any other plan. And if you get a dedicated server from them, for example, as I did, you’ll get the exact service they describe – a working server with everything you pay for, that has great uptime and no issues.

The one gripe I have with Namecheap hosting is that if you need experienced support to look into server issues that are non-trivial, they are clueless in my experience. Earlier, I had an issue with my WordPress sites running very slowly due to a certain process that was running (this was not Namecheap’s fault, to be clear, rather it was an issue with what I was running on it). The issue required someone with expertise with Linux and WordPress. For someone experienced it should have taken a day or so to solve. But when I paid for Namecheap support (my dedicated server is “User-Responsible”, meaning any support you want you have to pay for), they were completely and utterly useless – their technicians had absolutely no idea. They said my website may have been under a DDOS attack, which was complete nonsense (the site was getting next to no traffic), and they failed to discover the root cause of the issue. After hiring someone who actually knew what they were doing, as well as investigating more myself, I was able to resolve the issue. Namecheap support, in this case, was worse than useless, suggesting doing something that was a complete waste of time.

Given their low prices and transparency (you get exactly what is advertised with Namecheap hosting), I can recommend them for hosting, but if you require expert support that can fix relatively difficult website issues, you should avoid them, or at least don’t use their support. I will continue to host with Namecheap, but if I have further non-trivial issues I will not be contacting their support as they are simply not knowledgeable enough for anything beyond the basics.

EDITORS NOTE (2021): I should mention that while Namecheap support is not good if you’re having issues that require significant technical expertise with things like Linux or WordPress to solve (i.e. an actual expert in a specific domain), their support is fantastic if you’re asking about something relatively simple (what I imagine the vast majority of tech support requests would fall under). In the many years I’ve been using Namecheap I’ve contacted their support many times via their live chat feature, and whenever I had some relatively easy problem I had to ask about, their support was extremely competent. Just recently I had an issue with the DNS records not showing for a certain domain (my fault) and the support representative on live chat was fantastic.

Final verdict

Overall, 4 stars seems fair for Namecheap as a whole (and definitely 5 stars for them as a domain registrar).

User reviews for Namecheap

While I’ve used Namecheap extensively and feel like I know it inside-out, that’s still just one experience, and I always want to add user reviews along with our own. Therefore, we put out the following request:

Looking to hear from webmasters who have used Namecheap, either for hosting or domain registration or both – do you like them and would you recommend them? Any any all comments welcome.

Here are the responses I got to that. Many of them echo what I’ve written about here, that Namecheap is great for domains and good overall for hosting. If you’ve also used Namecheap, please submit your review or comment.

Namecheap is my go-to domain registrar for affordable domains. The dashboard is easy to use even for novices -- you can keep an eye on your expiring domains, manage features such as WhoisGuard, and automate tasks like domain renewal. They also offer regular promo codes that you can easily discover with a Google search, making domain registration even cheaper.

--Chloe Brittain, Opal Transcription Services

PERMALINK: https://outwittrade.com/namecheap-review-2020-great-registrar-ok-host/#chloe

I personally love Namecheap and they are my go-to when buying domain names because of their easy to use interface and good prices. I have also used them for hosting and love that they have 24/7 live chat available that is very knowledgable, responsive and helpful. I've never had a problem they couldn't walk me through solving in a handful of minutes via chat, and I've had some pretty serious SSL issues and other website down issues they've coached me through fixing in a matter of minutes.

--Stacy Caprio, Growth Marketing

PERMALINK: https://outwittrade.com/namecheap-review-2020-great-registrar-ok-host/#stacy

I primarily use Namecheap for domain registration and appreciate that they include free whoisguard protection, which many other companies charge for. Their online dashboard is pretty simple and user-friendly, which allows you to easily manage your domains without wasting any time trying to figure things out.

Namecheap has a comprehensive knowledge base that includes detailed step-by-step answers to many technical questions that customers might have such as how to connect your domain to a hosting server. An extensive knowledge section means you rarely would need to contact their support to get the technical assistance required which saves you time.

One thing I truly love about Namecheap is their helpful and very friendly customer service that's available 24/7. You can easily reach their support through email and get a response within a few hours or through chat where there is typically no waiting time to get connected with someone.

--Hassan Alnassir, Size Graf

PERMALINK: https://outwittrade.com/namecheap-review-2020-great-registrar-ok-host/#hassan

I'm a Namecheap customer and have been for 5 or 6 years. I use them for all of my domains, as well as my author clients' domains when I build websites. Ninety-nine percent of the time, I love Namecheap. The only times I've ever had any frustration with them was when I had a technical issue and needed help. It took a while to get the agent on the same page. We did end up solving it, but it took longer than expected.

--Holly Ostara, Books & Alchemy

PERMALINK: https://outwittrade.com/namecheap-review-2020-great-registrar-ok-host/#holly

I have been using Namecheap for a long time (7 years or so) and having nothing but positive feedback for them. Hosting about four sites with them - their support has always been amazing using the chat option. Just recently I upgraded my account since my maximum number of files was getting high. The upgrade process was easy and they asked when I wanted it done in the middle of the night to limit downtime.

Using Namecheap for both hosting and registration of domains in the process. When needing to get a domain the tool for selecting names is easy and offers some great options from $2 options to many other ones to choose from during the process.

Going to use them for a long time to grow my business developing digital marketing and SEO for automotive dealers! Nothing but an A+for Namecheap!

--Shawn Ryder, shawnryder.com

PERMALINK: https://outwittrade.com/namecheap-review-2020-great-registrar-ok-host/#shawn

We used to use Hostgator when we first started out, mainly because it was a budget-friendly option. But over the years we found that our sites kept having speed issues, so we migrated over to Namecheap. They are our favorite choice when it comes to purchasing and registering domains because of how dirt-cheap their pricing is. I couldn't believe how big of a difference it was compared to places like GoDaddy. We've been using them for domain purchasing, registration, and hosting for the last 3 years, and we've had absolutely no problems. In comparison to my experience HostGator, I'm really happy with them.

--Matt Jones, The Net Lender

PERMALINK: https://outwittrade.com/namecheap-review-2020-great-registrar-ok-host/#matt

I have been a Namecheap customer for long and have used several of their products including Web Hosting, Domain Names, SSL as well as Email Hosting.

Namecheap is one of the best when it comes to Domain Registration. Though their pricing is a bit on the higher side, their awesome customer support is what makes me stick with them. I currently hold 15+ domains with them including my primary domain BloggingOcean.com

However, being a Web Hosting expert, I don’t really recommend Namecheap for Web Hosting. Of all the webhosting companies I’ve tested thus far, Namecheap recorded the slowest page load times which is a critical factor to consider when choosing a web hosting.

So, apart from Web Hosting, I highly recommend Namecheap for other products including Domain Names, SSL and Email Hosting.

--Aquif Shaikh, BloggingOcean.com

PERMALINK: https://outwittrade.com/namecheap-review-2020-great-registrar-ok-host/#aquif

I love Namecheap and use it for all my domain name registrations because they are no hassle. Their prices are cheap and better yet they don't try to constantly up-sell you for additional services unlike some other registrars. Plus once you've registered your domain it's super easy to manage it in your account. Finally, if you do want additional services they do offer them. Would highly recommend them to anyone looking to buy a domain name,

I've also tried their hosting plan, which was fine, but not exactly what I was looking for. Speed was only so-so, but the main drawback was you could only host one site at a time (not sure it that's changed.)

--Ian Wright, British Business Energy

PERMALINK: https://outwittrade.com/namecheap-review-2020-great-registrar-ok-host/#ian

I love Namecheap. So much so in fact, that I went through the hassle of transferring out multiple domains from other registrars to Namecheap. Many reasons for this. The first is that, as the name suggests, they're cheap! They also offer free WHOIS cover, they don't add on random admin fees (as I've experienced with other registrars). They offer a powerful admin dashboard, 2FA login, a decent app, and they're an ethical company. They're often the first to petition against movements that hurt the consumer. For example, their petition to prevent ICANN price hikes, their support for internet freedom, privacy laws, and more.

--Sandip Sekhon, Pathways Pain Relief

PERMALINK: https://outwittrade.com/namecheap-review-2020-great-registrar-ok-host/#sandip

Name cheap is great for new businesses or local/small businesses as they offer shared hosting for a reasonable price, and their customer service is very good.

However, once you start becoming a bigger brand and having more website traffic, Namecheap servers aren't capable of withstanding high website traffic and its load speed is a lot slower than most other hosting companies.

If you are upgrading your company then it is sensible to upgrade your hosting software too.

I used it for a few of my sites but switched some of them to Kinsta and others to WP Engine once they started receiving decent website traffic

--Ethan Taub, Goalry

PERMALINK: https://outwittrade.com/namecheap-review-2020-great-registrar-ok-host/#ethan

Namecheap has made a stellar name for themselves in an industry that is often full of sketchy tactics. Their prices are extremely competitive and they don't jack up prices on renewals like a lot of domain registrars do. In addition, Namecheap also makes it very simply to transfer domain names to other users, which is extremely useful if you ever want to sell your website to an interested buyer. To put it into perspective, transferring a domain generally take 3 to 7 days among most registrars - Namecheap makes it possible to transfer in under 5 minutes.

--Mason Roberts

PERMALINK: https://outwittrade.com/namecheap-review-2020-great-registrar-ok-host/#mason

Namecheap has made a stellar name for themselves in an industry that is often full of sketchy tactics. Their prices are extremely competitive and they don't jack up prices on renewals like a lot of domain registrars do. In addition, Namecheap also makes it very simply to transfer domain names to other users, which is extremely useful if you ever want to sell your website to an interested buyer. To put it into perspective, transferring a domain generally take 3 to 7 days among most registrars - Namecheap makes it possible to transfer in under 5 minutes.

--Robert Jenkins, sellmyhouseeugene.com

PERMALINK: https://outwittrade.com/namecheap-review-2020-great-registrar-ok-host/#robert

My name is Caleb Liu, owner of HouseSimplySold.com. We flip homes in Southern California.

I've been a customer of Namecheap since 2006 on the domain registration side. I use different companies for hosting.

Note: I am strictly a loyal customer. I am not being paid for this review. They're simply an awesome company.

* Namecheap is one of the Top 5 domain name registrars on the Internet.

* If you filter out the paid reviews and fake accounts on Reddit, you'll find that IT professionals, webmasters, programmers, and business owners all recommend Namecheap over the other companies. They consistently provide the lowest prices for domains and they don't have any hidden fees or gimmicks.

* Namecheap is on the domain registration activist frontline. One of their core values is having a truly free Internet, and they mean it. Every couple of months I receive an email notification from them requesting help in fighting against shady backdoor business dealings or unfair policies enacted by the supposedly non-profit ICAAN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers).

* About a year or two ago, Namecheap felt that all websites should have their privacy protected by default. They sent an email out to all their customers to announce that their WhoisGuard privacy shield service, which used to cost $1.99 per domain per year, was now free forever. Namecheap puts their money where their mouth is.

* If you do some digging around, you'll discover that many of the companies previously highly recommended for their stellar performance and customer loyalty were quietly acquired by Endurance International. After the acquisition, there was a notable decrease in customer service as well as significant price hikes which turned off a lot of long time customers. (See what happened to Hostgator as a prime example.)

--Caleb Liu, House Simply Sold

PERMALINK: https://outwittrade.com/namecheap-review-2020-great-registrar-ok-host/#caleb

A few years ago now I started registering new domain names with Namecheap. At the time, the main reason was that they gave you free whois privacy with every domain you buy. My usual go to registrar GoDaddy charged for this same service.

More recently, I have transferred every domain coming up for renewal from GoDaddy to Namecheap. The reasons behind this are what I already explained with the free whois privacy and the fact that Namecheap don't constantly try and force upsells down your neck and completely ruin the whole sales experience.

In saying that, the most important reason for me moving all my domains to Namecheap is because they offer great online chat support 24/7. In contrast to GoDaddy's online chat support, which is without question the absolute worst I've ever encountered.

--Jamie Anderson, jamie-anderson.com

PERMALINK: https://outwittrade.com/namecheap-review-2020-great-registrar-ok-host/#jamie

Our experience with Namecheap has been mostly positive, however we often wish we bought our domain through another provider like GoDaddy. This is because we have colleagues in our industry who pay slightly less per year for their domain renewal, and less for their emails/hosting too. The savings wouldn't be huge, and of course the price that you pay would vary depending on your domain, but in our case we probably would have been better going with GoDaddy and we should have checked prices there before buying through NameCheap.

--Sam Williamson, CBDiablo UK

PERMALINK: https://outwittrade.com/namecheap-review-2020-great-registrar-ok-host/#sam


Update June 2021: My Namecheap dedicated server has been working fine. Some downtime for a few minutes once in a blue moon.

Update December 2020: Still zero issues with my Namecheap server, or with domain registration at Namecheap. Everything working like a charm.

Update August 2020: Zero issues with my Namecheap server.

Update July 16 2020: I still have my dedicated server with Namecheap and have had 0 issues over the past few months, and have not had to contact their support over the past few months either.

Update March 5 2020: Namecheap is still going great for me. I continue to pay for a dedicated server with them and register new domains with them, and have had no issues lately.

Update February 13 2020: I’ve had zero issues with Namecheap over the past two months, and continue to use them to host my dedicated server. Here’s the last receipt I have from them, on February 8 2020:

It’s worth mentioning that the price of my dedicated server actually went down, and when it does, Namecheap does not lock you into your old price – you’ll get the discount applied automatically. Now my dedicated server costs only $85.76/month (that includes cpanel with 100 domains), whereas before it cost $107.76.

Also, in the last 2 months, I’ve continued to register domains at Namecheap and had 0 issues. Still strongly recommended for registering domains, and recommended for hosting if you don’t require support with deep knowledge.

Summary
Review Date
Reviewed Item
Namecheap
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41star1star1star1stargray
Software Name
Namecheap
Software Name
NA
Software Category
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