Traditionally, Namecheap has been known as a domain name registrar, managing over 10 million domains worldwide. Launched at the start of the new millennium, this ICANN-accredited service is regarded as one of the most affordable domain registration solutions on the market — the company’s name is a dead giveaway in that sense! But did you know that (since 2007) Namecheap also provides website hosting?
Starting with shared hosting (where multiple websites share a single server), Namecheap now offers a range of hosting options, including VPS hosting (in which virtualised server resources are made available to users via the cloud) and, crucially, WordPress hosting, which we’re going to focus on here. Being the most popular content management system (CMS) on the web, hosting solutions for WordPress are inevitably in high demand.
Now, Namecheap might be the right hosting option for your WordPress site (it is one of the most affordable WordPress hosting solutions, after all) but before settling on a hosting provider you should do plenty of research into the alternative WordPress hosting options available — of which there are many. Prices can vary dramatically between providers, of course, but so too can the reliability and functionality of each.
If you’ve already considered Namecheap (or you’re already using it) but you’re keen to explore alternative options, we’ve compiled a list of the 10 best WordPress hosting alternatives.
These alternatives to Namecheap WordPress hosting offer a range of features and pricing options to suit different needs, from budget-friendly solutions to premium managed services.
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Pricing: Standard plans start at $10/month, depending on the cloud provider you choose
The beauty of a managed WordPress hosting solution is that you benefit from essential features like super-fast speeds and server-side caching without having to get involved in the day-to-day complexities of hosting. And that’s one reason Cloudways is such a great choice for WordPress. By prioritising performance while offering 24/7 tech support, Cloudways simplifies hosting for small and medium-sized businesses, digital agencies, high-traffic blogs, and companies that require enterprise WordPress hosting.
With Cloudways, you have a choice of cloud infrastructure providers: you can choose to host your site on servers provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP) or Vultr, for instance, while all server management is performed through Cloudways’ intuitive interface.
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Pricing: Managed WordPress plans start from $19/month
Now, WP Engine is also a managed WordPress hosting provider, but what differentiates it from many others is it’s built specifically with WordPress in mind. And while it might not be as flexible or as powerful as some other solutions, that does make it a sound choice for WordPress users looking for a tailored hosting platform. As WP Engine is designed explicitly around WordPress installations, themes and plug-ins, you won't even need to install WordPress — the content management system comes pre-installed on the platform.
That’s not the sole benefit, however: WP Engine offers a free Content Delivery Network (CDN) service on all plans, a Page Performance tool that helps to optimise speed and uptime, and a free SSL certificate for your WordPress site.
Key features:
Pricing: the ‘Tiny’ plan (for sites with 5,000 monthly visits or less) starts at $13/month
A more boutique WordPress hosting provider, Flywheel is a perfect solution for small sites, startup agencies and total novices due to its simplicity. As such, it won’t offer quite the same ‘oomph’ as some other WordPress hosting solutions when it comes to speed and performance, but it can still be a top-class hosting option for sites with modest traffic.
Flywheel’s MO is simplicity, which is why it’s ideally suited for beginners: its intuitive, cPanel-free dashboard is a piece of cake to navigate, and while many other providers can offer more in the way of bandwidth, speed and website performance, its partnership with MaxCDN means that Flywheel is still able to deliver some pretty speedy loading times.
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Pricing: Startup plans start at $2.99/month ($5.99 after the purchased term)
An affordable but dependable hosting solution, SiteGround offers its startup plans from just $2.99 per month. Of course, that affordability inevitably means sacrificing at least some power and performance elements, but SiteGround is still a surprisingly agile solution considering the cost. What’s more, they promise 24/7 “unmatched” support via multiple channels, making it an ideal solution for web hosting rookies.
Officially recommended by WordPress.org, SiteGround is a great entry-level, budget-friendly hosting option for individuals, SMBs or small agencies. What’s more, its SuperCacher tool (a SiteGround-specific feature that caches your WordPress site on three different levels) helps to achieve super-fast loading speeds.
Key features:
Pricing: Basic plans start as low as $2.75/month, but auto-renew at $9.99 after the first year
We’re in similar territory to SiteGround with Bluehost, with plans starting from as little as $2.75 on the Basic package! But while those prices don’t last forever (most plans increase in cost by at least 50% after the first year), it’s still a solid choice for cost-conscious website owners, offering a feature-rich WordPress hosting solution that will keep budgets in check.
First up, Bluehost offers something many other hosting providers don’t: a free domain name (at least for the first year), which means you won’t have to search around for a separate domain name registrar. Furthermore, Bluehost’s customer service is among the fastest and most reliable around, with 24/7 support across email, live chat, phone and ticket.
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Pricing: The basic Hatchling plan is priced at $5.95/month
In the realm of WordPress hosting, Hostgator can be seen as a bit of an all-rounder. It’s very affordable (its cutely-named ‘Hatchling’ plan is just $5.95 a month) while also offering a varied suite of hosting features and capabilities. It’s also really easy to use, so it’s a reliable middle-ground solution for (mostly) small-to-medium sized businesses — its business-specific plans aren’t too pricey, while there’s even a generous 45-day money back guarantee.
Speed and performance won’t be an issue using Hostgator (you get unmetered bandwidth, a smart caching solution and a CDN), plus there’s one-click WordPress installation, free site migration, an SSL certificate, automatic malware removal and unlimited storage to boot.
Key features:
Pricing: Basic plans start at $1.99, but rise to $5.99 at the end of the purchased term
When it comes to hosting a WordPress site on a budget, hosting solutions don’t come much more affordable than DreamHost. That said, while their basic WordPress hosting plans start at an incredibly economical $1.99 (ideal if you’re at the very beginning of your WordPress journey) a managed WordPress hosting solution (which is highly recommended for businesses) comes in at a still-not-unreasonable $16.95.
The basic WordPress package comes with automated WordPress migrations, a free domain and a recently-introduced WP website builder tool, while DreamPress (its managed WordPress hosting plan) offers additional features such as 30GB SSD storage, unmetered bandwidth, daily backups, and access to 24/7 WordPress-specific hosting support.
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Pricing: The WP Core plan starts at a very affordable $3.99/month
If it’s flexibility and choice you’re after in your WordPress hosting provider, then InMotion might be the option for you. There are four plans (Core, Launch, Power and Pro) that offer varying features and functions depending on your website needs, with even the least expensive packages offering unlimited bandwidth, robust security features and a drag-and-drop website builder.
If you have slightly more complex hosting needs, there are VPS (virtual private server) hosting packages available, starting from $19.99 a month. With more resources, more flexibility and more control, a VPS plan is recommended for ecommerce websites and larger WordPress installations.
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Pricing: Managed WordPress hosting starts from $11.99/month
When choosing a plan from A2 Hosting, you can opt for a shared hosting package (these come at a much cheaper price and might be suitable for individuals and startups), but a managed WordPress hosting solution is better if you’re already thinking about growth. The biggest advantage of a managed plan is 24/7/365 access to their so-called “Guru Crew Support”, offering some of the most in-depth technical support for WordPress around.
A2 isn’t the cheapest managed hosting solution around, but there’s plenty of flexibility to suit any type of business or website owner. The Sell package, for example, is perfect for ecommerce sites, and comes with the popular ecommerce plugin WooCommerce pre-installed and optimised.
Key features:
Pricing: Managed WordPress hosting plans start at $35/month
Now, Kinsta is the most expensive WordPress hosting provider on this list, but for those who can afford it, it’s also one of the best boutique hosting solutions for WordPress sites. It’s built on top of the Google Cloud Platform, so you can be sure of super-fast server performance with redundancy built in. What’s more, Kinsta performs website uptime checks every 2 minutes (a feature of all plans) and scales servers automatically in response to demand. They really take the managed part of managed WordPress hosting seriously.
Additionally, while many hosts charge you extra to integrate with a third-party CDN (i.e. Cloudflare) to cache your website(s) and speed up content delivery, Kinsta uses its very own content delivery network, included in the price of every plan.
Optimised for WordPress and eCommerce specifically, provides a free SSL, LiteSpeed web server technology, and superior security features. Flexible pricing with plans starting from $6.99/month.
Key features:
Pricing: Plans start from $6.99/month.
Hosted.com is another all-rounder, offering affordable WordPress Hosting plans that have been specifically optimised to enhance the performance, stability, and security for WordPress and WooCommerce. Hosted.com offers customers all the best WordPress-specific features and self-service tools like the Toolkit, automatic updates, 1-Click Security and Install together with various free tools to simplify the hosting experience. Their own custom-developed, easy-to-use control panel makes management of your domain and web hosting simple.
This type of hosting is suitable for SMEs of all sizes, with WordPress Pioneer perfectly tailored for start-ups (25 GB SSD Storage), and WordPress Trailblazer suited to businesses that require more space (100 GB SSD Storage).
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