Godaddy vs Namecheap

Namecheap and Godaddy are both top notch web hosting providers who are not only into web hosting business but also has a wide array of other services such as domain name registration, cloud hosting, VPS, and many other services that are required to run a successful website online. Both of these are old companies and they do know their business pretty well. Both of these provide a special web hosting plans for WordPress which not all other hosts give. Choosing among these two hosts can to be a tough choice since both of them are equally good and affordable.

Plans and Features Comparison

Someone can not decide which is a good web hosting provider by just looking at its name, a solid proof is always required. Comparing their plans are a good way to judge the affordability and feature list of a hosting provider. Both Godaddy and Namecheap have different plans in their shared hosting section, that users can choose according to their needs and budget. To get a best insight of all the plans and features provided by Godaddy and Namecheap, let's compare their plans and features side by side.

Godaddy Web Hosting Plans

Godaddy Web Hosting Plans
Namecheap Web Hosting Plans Comparison

Namecheap Web Hosting Plans

Starting with Godaddy, it has its most basic and cheapest plan named as Economy. Going by its name, its price is also minimal and only $3.49/month. This plan provides hosting for one website along with 100GB of storage space and unlimited bandwidth. It also provides free business email for the first year. If you choose to buy the annual subscription you will also get a free domain. Namecheap’s most basic plan is named Value and it costs $9.88/year. It gives you 20GB of SSD space and unlimited bandwidth and can host up to three websites. These both plans are for the most basic websites which have minimum traffic and load. If you are a beginner these plans are best for you.

Second plan of Godaddy is named Deluxe and costs around $4.99/month and provides hosting for unlimited websites with unlimited bandwidth and unlimited storage. You also get free business email for the first year free domain if you buy the annual plan. Namecheap provides its professional plan for $19.88 /year which provides 50GB SSD along with unlimited bandwidth and hosting for up to 10 websites. These both plans are most suitable for small websites with less amount of daily traffic.

Last plan of Godaddy is named Ultimate and is truly the ultimate plan. It costs just $7.99/month and gives unlimited websites, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited storage, free SSL certificates for the first year and a free domain also if you buy the annual subscription. Namecheap has its Ultimate plan priced at $29.88/year which provides unlimited SSD storage along with unlimited Bandwidth and can host upto 50 websites. People owning websites with moderate to heavy traffic acquiring websites can use this plans.

Comparing all the plans of Godaddy and Namecheap, we can see that both of them are equally good when compared to other hosting providers but considering the price, Godaddy has better value for money than Namecheap.

Godaddy vs Namecheap : Performance Comparison

Cheap plans and more features are not enough, the real deal is the performance of the host. The better the host performs in real life conditions the the better traffic your website will get. While browsing any website the speed and response time of the website is of utmost important as you would not like your website visitor to wait a lot just to browse a webpage. Here we will do a performance test of two websites hosted on each of, Godaddy and Namecheap servers. We will compare the data of both the websites and analyse the outcomes of the performance test.

Godaddy -

Godaddy Web Hosting Performance

Namecheap -

namecheap web hosting performance

From the given stats we can clearly say that Godaddy has a slight advantage in terms of web hosting performance.  Godaddy got a C+ grade, while Namecheap got a C grade, which is also a good grade for a shared hosting provider. The response time in milliseconds from servers from different locations show up numbers which are pretty close. So from the data above we can conclude that both Godaddy and Namecheap are equally good hosts and won’t let down the performance of your website for sure.

Website Speed Comparison

Website speed or simply the time required by the host to load up your website on the client's device, is such an important aspect of any website online that it can drastically improve or degrade the ranking of the website in online search engines. Fast loading websites are loved by everyone. Low waiting time makes the pages load faster while putting minimum strain on the browser to parse codes and display the webpage. So while choosing an online host for your website always compare the speeds of websites hosted on those hosts. Here we will compare the speeds of two websites hosted on Godaddy and Namecheap.

Namecheap -

Namecheap Website Speed Comparison

Godaddy -

godaddy website speed performance grade

Statistical data shows that website hosted with Namecheap were tested from the same server located in Melbourne, While the website hosted on a Godaddy server was tested from San Jose, USA location. Both of them yielded almost similar results. Namecheap scored 62 while Godaddy managed to get a 86, which is slightly better than the Namecheap. So we can say that both the hosts are good in terms of providing good speed to your website. So you can choose any of both the hosts if going solely by the speed tests.

Time to First Byte Comparison

Time to first byte is the minimum time required by the server or host to fetch the first byte of data and deliver it to the client. The minimum is the time taken, the maximum will be the response time of the website. Having a low time ratio for first byte is very much necessary as it shows how fast the servers can transfer and process data requested by the client. Here we will be comparing the time taken by Godaddy as well as Namecheap to fetch the first byte of data -

Namecheap:

namecheap time to first byte performance

Godaddy:

Godaddy Time to first byte performance

The test results show that website hosted on Godaddy scored a C grade while the one hosted on Namecheap got a A grade. This test shows that Namecheap is a little better in receiving and sending data when compared to Godaddy. But since TTFB is not an actual or only method to compare speeds and capabilities of hosts we can say that Godaddy is a good host too.

Godaddy vs Namecheap : Uptime Comparison

Uptime refers to the time for which the website or the host in online and can process and transfer data without any troubles. While selecting a host for your website this factor should be kept in mind that the uptime should always be more than 98% and if possible 99% or 100%. Hosts with bad uptime affects the websites hosted on them adversely since if a website is down due to the host, it loses its visitors on a hourly basis. If you own a website with moderate to high number of daily visitors, bad uptimes can shatter down your visitor base as people don’t like websites which are there but are not usable. Here are the uptime stats of both Namecheap and Godaddy for the past couple of months -

Godaddy -

Godaddy Average Uptime
Godaddy uptime history
Godaddy Shared Web Hosting Recent Uptime Report

Namecheap:

Namecheap Web Hosting Uptime
Namecheap Uptime History
Namecheap Recent Uptime Report

These uptime statistics show that Godaddy has been at 100% uptime in the whole past month and before that while Namecheap had a slight downtime at 98.861% on 24th september 2017. Though it is not that much, but still if we consider it, we can conclude that Godaddy has better uptime than Namecheap.

Customer Support Comparison

Customer support might be the last feature you might look for while buying a host but it is equally important other parameters. A good customer support can always come in handy whenever you are having troubles with your hosting account or website. Therefore before buying a host always remember to take a quick look at the customer support options.

Namecheap provides various ways for the customer to contact support. You can initiate a Live chat session or submit a ticket and get quick replies as soon as possible or you can use their vast FAQ section to search and solve the troubles on your own.

Godaddy also provides a huge variety of options for customer support. This includes 24/7 telephonic help along with live chat and submitting a ticket. You can also get help from Godaddy in your regional language which no other host provides.

Godaddy also provides payments options in regional currency so that you need not always pay in dollars.

Godaddy or Namecheap : Who is Better?

Considering all the points discussed above we can conclude that both Namecheap and Godaddy are equally good with minimum differences in them. If you are looking for cheap, affordable and reliable hosts for your website you can choose among Namecheap or godaddy since both are equally good, and you won’t be disappointed.