In this side-by-side comparison, I’m comparing Namecheap vs GoDaddy.

Both web hosting companies offer many differences, which you’ll need to know about when choosing the right one for you.

In this article, you’ll learn:

• The main features of both
• Pricing
• Pros and cons
• And more

As a web developer with over 15 years of experience, when choosing between Namecheap vs GoDaddy, my personal favorite is Namecheap because it’s cheaper and has a clean user interface.

So, if you’re in a rush, you can sign up to Namecheap here.

What are Namecheap and GoDaddy?

Namecheap and GoDaddy are web hosting and domain name providers for every type of website and business.

They both offer a range of hosting services, from shared, WordPress, VPS, and reseller hosting.

Additionally, they provide professional email accounts you can use with your domain, as well as marketing services.

When you need to create a website for your business, Namecheap and GoDaddy are two popular options.

Namecheap vs GoDaddy: What’s the Difference?

There are some contrasting differences between Namecheap vs GoDaddy, mostly related to pricing, features, and user experience.

Here’s a brief overview that sets these web hosting companies apart:

1. User experience: I find Namecheap’s interface to be cleaner and easier to navigate, while GoDaddy’s interface is more complicated.
2. Plans: GoDaddy has more plans on offer, which can be helpful if you have specific requirements. Whereas Namecheap focuses on minimalism, I find it easier to choose between plans because there are less overwhelming options.
3. Features: Namecheap has more services that offer unlimited features, such as unlimited sites and mailboxes, whereas GoDaddy bundles some services with 3rd-party services, such as Microsoft 365 with email.
4. Pricing: GoDaddy is significantly more expensive than Namecheap for all available services.
5. Security: Namecheap has a better record for security since the GoDaddy breach in 2022.
6. Customer support: Both providers offer 24/7 support, but Namecheap’s support is primarily through ticketing and live chat, while GoDaddy offers phone support as well.

Namecheap Services and Features

Namecheap has grown to be one of the most trusted and reliable web hosting and domain name providers globally.

Here’s a deeper dive into the services and features on offer.

Namecheap Web Hosting Options

Namecheap has a bunch of hosting options for every need. So, whether you need a website for a small scale business or something to support millions of users, Namecheap has you covered.

Here are the main options and who they’re for:

Shared hosting: Namecheap offers month-to-month web hosting service from three data centers, US, UK, and EU. The ease of choice in data centers is quite rare. This gives you better performance and will help with compliance and data regulations for your country.

Namecheap also gives you a free domain name for the first year when you pay annually or for 2 years. You’ll also get a discount on the hosting plan you choose:

The shared hosting plans are ideal for small business websites with little traffic. There are three plans to choose from, each with its own disk space and available number of sites.

EasyWP: This hosting option lets you install WordPress in less than 2 minutes. It’s different from shared hosting, as it’s designed for one site but offers higher quality servers, providing faster website speeds.

EasyWP also has three plans to choose from, which are perfect for a single WordPress site and prioritize ease of use.

VPS hosting: Another hosting option Namecheap offers is VPS which stands for Virtual Private Server. This offers greater control over your server and similar performance to dedicated services but at a lower cost.

Each Namecheap VPS plan lets you choose the number of CPUs and memory you need for your site or applications.

Other available Namecheap hosting include:

• Reseller hosting: Lets you sell web hosting to your customer. Great if you’re a web designer or developer.
• Dedicated server: This is for businesses that demand the most server resources and sites that generate tons of traffic.

Namecheap Domains

As the name implies, Namecheap domains are cheap. That’s one of the reasons it’s a preferred domain registrar for many business owners.

But that’s not all. Choosing a domain name with Namecheap is a smooth and easy process.

Here’s what it’s like using Namecheap.

When you go to the Namecheap website, you’re presented with a box to search for the domain you want:

Searching for a domain name is super fast and clearly shows if the domain is available or not:

You also get a huge list of domain extensions to choose from, which are categorized. This makes it easy to find a TLD like .biz or .co if the one you typed in wasn’t available:

Currently, there are more than 500 TLDs to choose from.

Another thing I like is the transparency in pricing, as it clearly shows how much you’ll pay for the first year and the renewal price:

But what about domain management?

Inside your domain dashboard, you can clearly see the domain registration date and expiry, switch on auto-renew, and add more years.

You can also access advanced DNS settings to add hosting records manually.

Even though domain name management can seem complex, Namecheap’s user interface makes it less daunting for novice users.

Namecheap Email

Setting up an email address for your domain name is great for your business, and Namecheap makes it easy.

There are a couple of options:

• cPanel email through shared hosting plans
• Professional email through their PrivateEmail service

If you’re using a shared hosting plan or plans with cPanel, you often get free email accounts with your plan. You simply add an email address and use the webmail platform to manage your inbox:

PrivateEmail is Namecheap’s own email hosting service that provides a professional webmail client. The benefit is that it’s separate from your hosting account, so you can still access your emails if your website isn’t accessible.

It’s also possible to use PrivateEmail if you’re using a different web host that doesn’t support email. For example, I’ve used Cloudways for hosting and Namecheap’s PrivateEmail for years.

There are three PrivateEmail plans available:

You choose a plan with the number of mailboxes you need and storage. There’s also a 2-month free trial if you want to test it out first.

Namecheap Pricing

Namecheap pricing is affordable and competitive. You can get a .com domain name for $8.98 in the first year and renew for $13.98. Plus, you get a free domain with any yearly hosting plan.

In contrast to GoDaddy’s $11.99 for the first year and a whopping $21.99 to renew, it’s clear you save a lot with Namecheap.

For shared hosting with Namecheap, you can start with the lowest plan for just $17.76 for the first year, then $44.88 per year after.

Again, this is a massive difference to GoDaddy’s $83.88 for their cheapest shared hosting plan. You’ll then pay $119.88 per year after that.

What I also like about Namecheap is how clearly they state how much you pay. There’s no guessing or surprises of high fees because they make it clear before you buy.

Namecheap Pros and Cons