NameCheap Review 2024 (My Experience + Reddit Reviews)
NameCheap is one of the places I mainly use for domain registration these days, and I’ve been using it for several years now.
This is going to be a quick summary of my experience with NameCheap highlighting the main pros and cons.
Things I Like About NameCheap
Low Prices
NameCheap’s domain registration prices are pretty cheap and renewal rates are reasonable. They also have cheap premium SSL certificates and premium DNS if you need more reliable/faster DNS than the free basic DNS.
Free Whois Privacy
This is a must-have if you want to protect your personal contact information. The main reason I prefer NameCheap over other registrars, e.g. GoDaddy, is the full Whois privacy they give you free of charge.
Cheap Web Hosting
Most of the domains I have at NameCheap are hosted elsewhere, but I do have one low-traffic site using their shared cPanel hosting. It’s been a good value for money so far without any issues.
Cheap Email
If you need custom email addresses for your domain, you can either use the free email forwarding feature (only receives and forwards email), or you can buy one of their cheap email plans to get a full mailbox that can send and receive email.
Easy to Use
The dashboard is quite easy to use and they have a ton of DIY help articles and videos in case you get stuck on something.
Quick Chat Support
I rarely need to contact NameCheap’s support, but when I do, they are usually responsive and quick to answer live chat requests. Some agents are more knowledgeable than others, but in general, it’s 5 starts from me for their tech support.
What I Don’t Like About NameCheap
Increasing Renewal Prices
Just like almost all other companies now, NameCheap keeps increasing renewal prices from time to time. Still, their prices are more competitive than other big players.
Oldish Interface
Despite being user-friendly, I think their dashboard interface could use an overhaul since it hasn’t been updated in a while.
No Free SSL With Hosting
You do get up to 50 free SSL certificates with their shared hosting plans, but it’s only free for the first year, then you pay about $13 per year for SSL renewal. That’s still a good price considering the low cost of their hosting, but it gets costly if you need multiple SSL certificates for multiple domains.
No Free Malware Protection
The security features of NameCheap’s hosting aren’t the best I’ve seen. You don’t get free malware scanning/removal, but there is a paid add-on for that.
What Do Reddit Users Think of NameCheap?
There is plenty of positive feedback about NameCheap on Reddit from developers and regular website owners who use their services.
NameCheap is one of the most recommended domain registrars on Reddit, alongside Cloudflare and Porkbun (don’t ask!)
Some of the critical reviews on Reddit have to do with increasing renewal rates, but like I said above, it’s still more affordable than other providers and I think it’s worthwhile.
Conclusion: Is NameCheap Any Good in 2024?
All in all, I think NameCheap is a great place to get your domains and SSL certificates from at a low price. Their low-cost hosting is also good for a simple website, but I’d probably go with another host for a small business website due to lacking security features of NameCheap’s shared hosting.
Also read: Reddit Picks: Best Domain Registrar to Use in 2024
