Top Inspirational: Internet Marketing Special Tips & Tricks: NameCheap Review

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Starting a site and need a cheap domain name? Namecheap is the best option out there as far as affordable domain names go.

They start as low as $8.88 a domain for your first year with plenty of helpful add-ons.

It goes beyond just domain names and provides reliable hosting for more than 1.5 million websites of all shapes and sizes. This includes big clients like Buffer, Figma, and Imgur.

In short, Namecheap is one of the top domain name registrars out there as an affordable and reliable domain and hosting option.

Namecheap Compared to the Best Domain Registrars

With millions of domain names at very low prices, Namecheap is a no-nonsense domain registrar that offers a slew of additional site hosting and management services.

Every domain registration comes with free privacy protection, domain name security, around the clock support, full DNS access, and a detailed knowledge base in case there’s something you need further clarification on.

I’ve also put together a list of the best name registrars, which you can look through to find one that works best for your needs.

I looked at a list of key criteria spanning from registration renewal rates, number of domains, domain management, transfers, and extension options to put it together. You can see my top picks here. Namecheap did make the list!

For now, here’s a closer look at Namecheap and all it has to offer.

Who is Namecheap Best For?

Namecheap is best for you if you’re looking to get a hold of a number of domain names affordably or if you’re simply trying to find the best deal on your domain registration, keeping in mind that it’s something you’ll have to renew yearly (though Namecheap lets you buy extended plans you can pay for upfront).

If you want to buy a domain name and hosting all in one place at an affordable rate, Namecheap is excellent for that. It has plenty of hosting options to choose from.

Namecheap: The Pros and Cons

Like any other name registrar on the market, there are pros and cons to Namecheap’s offers, and how important they highly depend on what you’re specifically looking for.

Pros

Easy to use: Namecheap has an easy user interface where you can purchase what you’re looking for relatively fast without confusing hoops to jump through. If tech isn’t your area of expertise, this is a great plus.

Free domain privacy: One of the best features of Namecheap is its forever free domain privacy. Other options like GoDaddy offer domain privacy for an extra fee and an add-on you have to continue to renew every so often if you want to keep it.

Free migration: Namecheap helps you move your WordPress website to its hosting services for free within 24 hours. All you have to do is fill in and submit a request with a few of your site’s details.

Affordable all around: Namecheap differentiates itself in price, which is great for beginner sites that want to get their start without burning through too much of their budget.

Updates to TLDs: Namecheap continually updates its list of top-level extensions so you can be sure you can always take your pick from extensions you might be interested in other than the popular .com.

Free apps: Namecheap offers site-building apps that are both free and paid you can use for the success of your site, including logo building apps, site speed optimization, and even apps that help you with forming a proper LLC.

Great support: Namecheap offers live chat or a support ticket option if you run into site trouble and need someone to walk you through any troubleshooting you might need.

Guides and videos: If you’re stuck and are a DIYer, Namecheap offers plenty of how-to guides and videos, along with an extensive and detailed knowledge base.

Easy domain transfer: Want to transfer your domain to Namecheap? You can easily do it by submitting a ticket with all the necessary details. It can take anywhere from 30 minutes to six business days.

Cons

Downtime issues: Namecheap provides site uptime monitoring that checks for problems every five minutes and then logs your site’s performance on your personal dashboard. However, some users have had problems with cases of downtime, despite other periods in the 99% uptime range.

Higher renewal rates: If you have experience with domain registrars, you’re probably familiar with the fact that most of them include higher renewal rates after your initial domain registration period is over. In this area, Namecheap is no different.

Domain transfer fees: While it’s easy to transfer your domain registration over to Namecheap, it does charge a fee that can vary depending on if you have a coupon code for a discount.

Namecheap Pricing

It’s easy to see Namecheap differentiates itself in pricing. It is constantly one of the most affordable ways to meet your web hosting and domain needs.

Here’s a look at the initial domain prices for different extensions:

Some of their most popular extensions go for:

.Com – $8.88 with a $12.98 renewal rate
.Net – $10.98 with a $14.98 renewal rate
.Org – $9.18 with a $14.98 renewal rate
.Io – $32.98 with a $34.98 renewal rate
.Co – $7.98 with a $25.98 renewal rate
.Ai – $58.98 with a $68.88 renewal rate
.Ca – $11.98 with a $13.98 renewal rate

If you take the time to compare these to other prominent domain registrars, like Bluehost or GoDaddy, you’ll see just how much cheaper Namecheap can be. After all, the word “cheap” is in its name for a reason.

It’s worth taking a look at its web hosting prices, too.

Shared Hosting

Stellar – $1.58 a month
Stellar Plus – $2.68 a month
Stellar Business – $4.80 a month

All shared hosting plans come with unmetered bandwidth, free website builder, domain name and privacy protection, free automatic SSL certification, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Reseller Hosting

Nebula – $19.88 a month
Galaxy Expert – $36.88 a month
Universe Pro – $54.88 a month

All Reseller Hosting plans come with unmetered bandwidth, Free cPanel/WHM, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

WordPress Hosting

EasyWP Starter – $3.88
EasyWP Turbo – $7.88
EasyWP Supersonic – $11.88

All WordPress Hosting plans also come with handy features like 99.9 percent uptime, faster site load times, easy backups and restores, SFTP and database access, and easy WordPress installation.

Email Hosting

Starter – $0.74 a month
Pro – $2.12 a month
Ultimate – $3.49 a month

All Namecheap email plans include custom domain-based email, anti-spam protection, Safe access with 2FA, Unified Inbox, POP3/IMAP/Webmail access, and HTML signatures.

VPS Hosting

Pulsar – $9.88 a month
Quasar – $15.88 a month

Though Namecheap doesn’t offer a ton of VPS hosting options, its two plans both include full root access and operating system (OS) selection, your choice of server management, top security standards, free transfers of existing websites, and, of course, a 30-day money-back guarantee if you aren’t satisfied with its service.

Dedicated Hosting

Xeon E3-1240 v3 – $40.88 a month
Xeon E-2236 – $78.88 a month
Dual AMD EPYC 7282 – $255.88 a month

These are only a few of the dedicated server options Namecheap offers. They don’t stop there. If you want to take a look at all of its plans, you’ll want to spend some time on this dedicated server page, where you can personalize plans by the amount of CPU you need, your price range, RAM, and more. I love this feature because it means you can get specific with your dedicated hosting plan.

Namecheap’s shared hosting plans are some of the most affordable out there. Especially if you take into account what you get beginning with its starter tier. At $1.58 a month, you can start hosting up to three websites with unmetered bandwidth and privacy protection.

You also get free automatic SSL installation, which can save you installation headaches. If you have experience with hosting providers, the process of successfully installing SSL certificates can sometimes be a real pain because of how clunky and confusing the process can be.

If you’re going for affordable shared hosting, though, I’d recommend its shared cloud Stellar Business plan at $4.48 a month. Once you’re signed up, you’ll have access to:

50 GB SSD
Host unlimited websites
Automatic backups and cloud storage
A discounted .com domain name

Hands down, it’s the shared hosting plan that’ll get you the most bang for your buck, even when you compare it to competing shared hosting providers.

You can check out each shared hosting plan in detail at Namecheap.

Namecheap Offerings

Namecheap offers plenty of solutions for website management— from hosting to affordable domain names to apps and even dedicated security features.

Namecheap Domains

What makes Namecheap such a great option for buying all your domains isn’t only how affordable it is but how easy they are to manage once you’ve registered them, along with the free perks you get through Namecheap like free privacy protection, which I personally love. In the age of the internet, privacy protection is never a bad idea and is always a plus.

Namecheap WordPress Hosting

With Namecheap’s WordPress hosting plan, you can start hosting your WordPress site by paying $1 for your first month.

Namecheap ensures a 99.9% WordPress site uptime as well as an easy-to-use dashboard where you can manage all your WordPress websites. Namecheap is an affordable and convenient option for WordPress optimized hosting because of how low its monthly hosting costs are, beating out competitors like Bluehost and GoDaddy.

Namecheap Apps

What exactly are Namecheap apps? Namecheap apps are a relatively new feature that lets you buy applications to help make your site a success.

Many of the apps they offer are free, and you can start using others for relatively low monthly fees. Some of my favorites include its website builder at only $3.99 a month, its free logo maker, and its website uptime monitoring app, which is also free to use.

Not many other domain registrars offer apps that help you beyond the process of simply registering a domain and purchasing a hosting plan. Here’s a look at the Namecheap apps you can use:

Supersonic CDN – Ensures your website is running as fast as possible
Validation.com – Verify and ID online customers
EasyWP – Easy WordPress site builder that’s great if you aren’t tech-savvy
Namecheap VPN – Protects your privacy online
G Suite – a centralized email solution for all your online communications
Business Card Maker – Need an online business card? You can design one with their business card maker
Logo Maker – You can create professional logos without having to hire a designer
Strikingly – An easy-to-use website builder for all your site design needs
Weebly – Easily build a website with Weebly
Ghost Machine – A blog building app that makes creating a blog a breeze
Namecheap Uptime Monitoring – You can keep track of your site’s uptime and downtime occurrences
Namecheap Legal – With Namecheap Legal, you can easily incorporate your business and form a proper LLC
Canvas -An easy website builder you can start using in minutes

Namecheap Security

Without a doubt, one of Namecheap’s best differentiators is its dedication to privacy and site security. Features like two-factor authentication, the ability to safely unblock content with its VPN service, and personal privacy and browsing protection ensure your safety online.

Other domain registrars don’t put as much care into their safety features and not many offer free privacy protection when you purchase a domain from them.

The Best Domain Registrars

Don’t forget to check out my top picks for the best domain registrars you can use to register all your domain names.

Bluehost – Best for bundling with web hosting
Domain.com – Best for long-term registrations
Namecheap – Cheapest domain registrar
NameSilo – Best for buying domains in bulk
Google Domains – Best for Google integration

Affordable and easy with a side of security and privacy protection is the name of the game for Namecheap. It offers unbeatable domain name prices and even competitive renewal rates once your registration period is over. This is what makes it a favorite in my list of top picks for best domain registrars.

Ready to get everything Namecheap has to offer? Get started here!

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