Final verdict
Evaluating Liquid Web versus Name.com reveals distinct strengths tailored to different user needs and preferences.
-
Liquid Web (Overall grade: 8.7)
offers comprehensive hosting solutions with high performance and strong scalability features. With various managed hosting options, Liquid Web is ideal for businesses needing advanced WordPress and WooCommerce hosting or requiring robust compliance measures like HIPAA and PCI. Its extensive support system, complete with dedicated customer success teams, adds to its reliability. Liquid Web’s higher cost is offset by value-added features like AMD EPYC processors, high bandwidth, and extensive security implementations, making it a superior choice for high-traffic and resource-intensive websites.
Name.com (Overall grade: 7.3)
focuses on affordability and user accessibility, making it a good option for individuals, bloggers, and small businesses. Its hosting solutions come with important features such as automated backups, cPanel management, and a straightforward interface, catering well to users seeking ease-of-use and reliability at lower costs. While it doesn’t offer the same breadth of high-end features as Liquid Web, Name.com delivers dependable performance and a user-friendly experience, especially with its competitive pricing for shared and cloud hosting plans. However, its limitations in advanced features and scalability options may not cater effectively to larger entities or those needing intensive management and compliance features.
 Overall grade:8.7 |
 Overall grade:7.3 |
|
|---|---|---|
| Uptime and Availability | 9.4 | 9.5 |
| Hosting Performance | 8.5 | 8.3 |
| Hosting Security | 9.0 | 8.2 |
| Price | 8.4 | 8.8 |
| Hosting Features | 7.9 | 7.4 |
| Ease Of Setup | 9.3 | 8.2 |
| User Management | 7.8 | 0.0 |
| Customer Support | 9.6 | 8.2 |
| User feedback | 4.3/5 | 2.7/5 |
Hosting Types Offered
Both platforms provide a variety of hosting types, each designed to meet the different needs of users.
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Shared hosting | ||
| Cloud hosting | ||
| WordPress hosting | ||
| Ecommerce hosting | ||
| VPS hosting | ||
| Dedicated hosting |
Although both offer a variety of hosting plans tailored to different needs, in
certain cases, one platform may prove to be more suitable.
Detailed comparison
Uptime and availability
Evaluates the average uptime statistics, uptime guarantee and overall availability of the hosting
provider
Score Components:
- Uptime percentage (30%): evaluates the uptime statistics in given period of time
- Uptime guarantee (20%): Assesses if the platform offers an uptime guarantee and
whether the actual uptime matches the promised guarantee. - General performance (25%): Evaluates how fast is the average response time and overall
it’s stability. - Responsiveness (10%): Adaptability to different devices and screen sizes.
- Availability (25%): Reflects the total downtime and number of outages.
9.4
9.5
🏆 Winner Name.com: Provides a reliable uptime guarantee and consistent performance.
Name.com offers an impressive 99.99% uptime guarantee, ensuring minimal disruptions. With an average response time of 220ms, it delivers quick site load speeds, a crucial factor for maintaining user satisfaction. The hosting provider’s data centers span multiple global locations, enhancing availability and performance.
Liquid Web boasts a 100% network and power uptime SLA, backed by proactive 24/7 monitoring through its Sonar™ service and rapid hardware replacement guarantees. The hosting offers managed high availability with multi-server environments, ensuring minimal downtime and excellent reliability. Customer reviews highlight its commendable uptime performance, supported by robust customer service.
Hosting performance
Score Components:
- Hosting speed (30%): This includes SSD quality, Load times, PageSpeed score ranges,
additional information on website speed, built-in plugins for performance enhancement, available caching
methods, and CPU/RAM options - CDN (20%): Considers whether CDN is available or not, whether it’s free or paid, and
the quality of the CDN service - Available data centers (30%): Evaluates the number of data centers and their locations
globally. - Scalibility (20%): Looks at whether elastic scaling is available, the process required
to scale (manual upgrade vs. automatic scaling), the presence of dedicated servers, and the costs
associated with scaling.
8.5
8.3
🏆 Winner
Liquid Web: For users who prioritize speed and advanced technological infrastructure, Sitrground is more suitable for high-demand websites that require reliable and fast global access.
Liquid Web and Name.com both offer SSD storage and free CDN integration to enhance hosting performance and speed. Liquid Web, however, showcases faster load times with a heavyweight theme clocked at 1.69 seconds, compared to Name.com’s 4.85 seconds. Liquid Web operates 11 global data centers, which surpasses Name.com’s six, potentially offering better local loading speeds and content delivery. Moreover, Liquid Web’s technology is more up-to-date, which may contribute to its superior performance.
Website Speed
Liquid Web excels in website speed with an LCP time of 872ms, significantly outperforming Name.com’s 1.8 seconds. Although both fall within the acceptable range of LCP (up to 2.5 seconds is considered good), Liquid Web’s website speed is notably better, indicating a more efficient user experience.
Scalability
Both hosting providers offer scalability options tailored to varying needs; however, Liquid Web provides a more customized approach with its custom cloud plans where resources can be configured to user requirements. Name.com also offers a variety of hosting types, including shared and dedicated servers, with tiered pricing to accommodate different user levels.
Hosting security
and regulatory requirements
Score Components:
- Technical security measures (40%): This includes encryption, firewalls, DDoS
protection, secure configurations, server monitoring, access control and availability of security addons
(e.g Sitelock security). - Operational security measures (30%): Encompasses data privacy, backups and data
redundancy. - Compliance and certifications (20%): Adherence to legal and regulatory requirements
(e.g., GDPR, HIPAA) and possession of certifications (e.g., ISO 27001, SOC 2). - Business and reliability (10%): Factors in the provider’s reputation, uptime
guarantees, and customer support.
9.0
8.2
🏆 Winner
Liquid Web: Offers robust security features and comprehensive compliance measures.
Both Liquid Web and Name.com, have notable differences in their approaches to technical and operational
security, as well as in their compliance with regulations.
Technical security measures:
Liquid Web provides extensive technical security features, including SSL certificates, firewalls, DDoS attack protection, server protection, web application protection, and an F5 AIP Intrusion Detection System. Name.com offers a range of SSL certificates (DV, OV, EV) and additional measures such as automated backups, regular monitoring, and secure access protocols (SSH, SFTP/FTP, Git). Liquid Web also includes network protection tools and broader application and server security, making it a more robust option for technical security.
Operational security measures:
Liquid Web is designed to handle various compliance needs such as PCI, GDPR, and HIPAA, backed by features like a 24/7/365 manned facility, access card system, and CCTV security cameras. Name.com also includes GDPR compliance and automated monitoring, as well as secure email and web-based file management. However, it lacks specific HIPAA-compliant measures and PCI-certified scanning services, which Liquid Web provides extensively. Operationally, Liquid Web offers more comprehensive measures to ensure security and continuity of service.
Compliance and certifications:
Liquid Web stands out by covering multiple compliance requirements comprehensively, including GDPR, PCI, and HIPAA. Name.com complies with GDPR and likely adheres to PCI standards through secure data handling practices, but it does not specifically mention HIPAA compliance. For businesses requiring stringent regulatory adherence, Liquid Web provides a wider range of certified solutions and detailed reporting for various compliance needs.
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
SSL certificate |
Yes |
Yes |
Additional security features |
Yes |
Yes |
PHP versions |
Multiple versions supported |
PHP 7.0 to PHP 8.0+ |
GDPR compliance |
Yes |
Yes |
HIPAA compliance |
Yes |
Not specified |
PCI compliance |
Yes |
Not specified |
Hosting features
Score Components:
- Domains (20%): Assesses the availability of a free domain, domain purchase options, and
pricing - Email (15%): Considers if the provider offers full email hosting, or is reselling
third-party service, and if the email is only transactional or not - Website builder (15%): Checks if website builder is available, and it’s user
friendliness and overall the level of customization allowed. - Staging environment (20%): Determines if a staging environment is available, allowing
for testing changes before going live. - FTP & SFTP accounts (10%): Evaluates if and how easily users can access FTP and
SFTP accounts - Git and SSH access (20%): Assess whether Git is integrated into the hosting service and
if SSH access is provided
7.9
7.4
🏆 Winner
Liquid Web: Fully Managed Hosting with extensive support and compliance options.
Liquid Web and Name.com both offer robust hosting solutions, but they cater to different user needs and preferences. Liquid Web stands out with its fully managed hosting services that include proactive management, extensive support, and compliance solutions, which are ideal for businesses with complex hosting requirements and those needing HIPAA or PCI compliance. Additionally, Liquid Web’s VMware Private Cloud and customizable Windows hosting enhance its appeal to enterprise-level users. While Liquid Web’s service comes with higher cost, the value-added features like DDoS protection, managed VPS hosting, and managed WooCommerce hosting make it a superior choice for high-traffic and resource-intensive websites.
Name.com focuses on user-friendliness and affordability, making it a solid choice for personal websites, bloggers, and small businesses. Their hosting solutions come with a range of free services, such as automated backups, unlimited FTP accounts, and a one-click setup for popular CMS platforms like WordPress. These features, combined with a reliable uptime guarantee and cPanel management, provide ease-of-use and reliability without breaking the bank. Moreover, Name.com’s integration with DigitalOcean for cloud hosting offers flexibility for tech-savvy users who want full server control. However, the absence of more advanced managed hosting features like those offered by Liquid Web might limit its appeal to larger enterprises.
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
Free domain |
No |
Yes |
Free SSL |
Yes |
Yes |
Email hosting |
Yes |
Yes |
Website builder |
No |
Yes |
Staging environment |
Yes |
No |
FTP & SFTP accounts |
Yes |
Yes |
Git and SSH access |
Yes |
Yes |
Free backup |
No |
Yes |
Money back guarantee |
No |
Yes, for the first 30 days |
a location.
As a result in rare cases the features mentioned here can differ from the ones you see on their websites.
Both providers support a range of users from beginners to experts with user-friendly website builders and WordPress staging areas. However, in terms of developer tools, both Liquid Web and Name.com offer robust options including SSH access, support for multiple programming languages, and Git for version control, thus appealing to developers looking for advanced capabilities.
Email services:
Email services at Liquid Web and Name.com both offer email hosting. Liquid Web provides unlimited email accounts with their managed hosting plans, suitable for larger teams or businesses needing robust communication solutions. Name.com offers 100+ email accounts, secure email encryption, an enterprise webmail interface, and spam protection, making it great for small to medium-sized businesses. Neither provider explicitly mentions reselling third-party services like Google Workspace or Outlook, focusing instead on their proprietary email hosting solutions.
Price
Score Components:
- Plan value (40%): What each pricing tier offers.
- Transparency and clarity (30%): Clearness of pricing structures.
- Flexibility of plans (20%): Range of options to suit different budgets.
- Hidden costs (10%): Additional expenses not included in the plan.
8.4
8.8
🏆 Winner
Name.com: A variety of affordable hosting solutions with flexibility and scalability.
Evaluating the pricing of plans among various hosting providers can be complex due to their differing pricing and renewal strategies. Additionally, certain plans require annual commitments, which adds to the difficulty of making comparisons. The prices listed are based on monthly commitments; plans requiring annual commitments are indicated. Additionally, although some providers offer identical plans for WordPress and shared hosting, we have created separate tables for each to enhance clarity.
Comparing the pricing plans of Liquid Web and Name.com reveals notable differences in offerings and costs. Liquid Web presents a wide array of managed WooCommerce, WordPress, VPS, and dedicated server hosting plans with robust features and support. However, their pricing can be steep, especially for higher-tier plans. On the other hand, Name.com provides more budget-friendly options with an emphasis on cloud hosting and web hosting plans, including flexible backup options at an additional cost. While Liquid Web caters to more resource-intensive needs with high storage and bandwidth capacities, Name.com offers solid value for smaller-scale websites and businesses.
|
|
|
|---|---|
|
SPARK $21/month
1 site, 15 GB storage, 2TB bandwidth, 24/7 support, SSL included. Value for price:8.0
|
WordPress Hosting $2.50/month
Unlimited sites, unlimited storage, unlimited bandwidth, daily backups, theme & plugin support, SSL included. Value for price:9.4
|
|
|
|
|---|---|
|
N/A
|
Personal Plan $7/month
1 site, 10 GB storage, SSL included, 100 email accounts, 24/7 support. Value for price:8.5
|
|
N/A
|
Premium Plan $11/month
25 sites, 100 GB storage, SSL included, unlimited email accounts, 50 MySQL DBs, 24/7 support. Value for price:9.2
|
|
N/A
|
Business Plan $18/month
Unlimited sites, unlimited storage, SSL included, unlimited email accounts, unlimited MySQL DBs, 24/7 support. Value for price:9.6
|
|
|
|
|---|---|
|
N/A
|
Digital Ocean 25GB Droplet $6/month
1 site, 25GB SSD, 1000GB transfer, backups optional. Value for price:8.8
|
|
ESSENTIAL $20/month
1 site, 40GB SSD storage, 10TB bandwidth, 24/7 support, AlmaLinux. Value for price:8.4
|
Digital Ocean 50GB Droplet $12/month
1 site, 50GB SSD, 2TB transfer, backups optional. Value for price:9.1
|
|
ADVANCED $30/month
1 site, 100GB SSD storage, 10TB bandwidth, 24/7 support, AlmaLinux. Value for price:8.6
|
Digital Ocean 60GB Droplet $18/month
1 site, 60GB SSD, 3TB transfer, backups optional. Value for price:9.0
|
|
PROFESSIONAL $40/month
1 site, 150GB SSD storage, 10TB bandwidth, 24/7 support, AlmaLinux. Value for price:8.7
|
Digital Ocean 80GB Droplet $24/month
1 site, 80GB SSD, 4TB transfer, backups optional. Value for price:9.4
|
|
ELITE $50/month
1 site, 200GB SSD storage, 10TB bandwidth, 24/7 support, AlmaLinux. Value for price:8.8
|
Digital Ocean 160GB Droplet $48/month
1 site, 160GB SSD, 5TB transfer, backups optional. Value for price:9.5
|
|
N/A
|
Digital Ocean 320GB Droplet $96/month
1 site, 320GB SSD, 6TB transfer, backups optional. Value for price:9.7
|
As a result in rare cases the prices displayed here can differ from the ones you see on their websites.
Enterprise plans
Liquid Web’s enterprise solutions offer a range of services including managed security, databases, load balancers, and disaster recovery, designed to cater to large-scale operations. Name.com, meanwhile, doesn’t explicitly feature enterprise-level plans but provides scalable cloud hosting through DigitalOcean, suitable for enterprises seeking scalable options at reasonable rates. This makes both options viable depending on the scale and specific needs of the enterprise.
Ease of setup
platform.
Score Components:
- Site migration (25%): Assesses whether the provider offers tools for site migration,
either automated or manual, and whether these services are free or require a fee. - Admin panel usability (35%): Evaluates the type of admin panel provided, such as the
standard cPanel or a custom solution, focusing on its accessibility and user-friendliness for both
technical and non-technical users. - Setup features (20%): Examines the availability and ease of use of various setup
features, including FTP accounts, file managers, email account setup, PHPMyAdmin, and easy CDN
configuration. - Help center quality (20%): Measures the quality and accessibility of the provider’s
help center resources, including articles and tutorials.
9.3
8.2
🏆 Winner
Liquid Web: Offers a highly managed hosting service with extensive support.
Liquid Web provides a variety of control panel options including InterWorx, Plesk, and WHM/cPanel, allowing users to choose the interface that best fits their needs. These control panels are intuitive and enable both tech-savvy and non-technical users to manage their servers and websites with ease. The Managed WordPress Hosting provided by Liquid Web simplifies site management through features like automatic plugin updates and proactive monitoring, catering to users who prefer a hassle-free experience. The ability to customize the control panel interface adds an additional layer of flexibility.
Name.com, on the other hand, offers a standard cPanel interface which is known for its user-friendly nature. They provide features like one-click setup and installation for CMS platforms such as WordPress, making it straightforward for users to manage their websites. The interface is designed to accommodate both beginners and experienced users, ensuring that essential tasks like backups and plugin management are easily accessible. Despite its simplicity, Name.com’s control panel offers sufficient functionality to meet the needs of most users.
Liquid Web offers complimentary migration services for new server orders covering most hosting control panels including InterWorx, Plesk, and cPanel. This means users can transition to Liquid Web hosting without incurring additional costs, making it an attractive option for those considering a switch. Name.com also offers migration tools but does not provide explicit information regarding whether these services are free or come at a cost, which may introduce some uncertainty for potential users.
The platforms provide extensive knowledge bases filled with guides, how-to articles, and instructional content. Liquid Web’s knowledge base is industry-leading and provides a comprehensive range of articles, tutorials, and resources organized into user-friendly categories. Their 24/7/365 human support with quick response guarantees further enhances the accessibility of their help resources.
Name.com also has a detailed knowledge base with step-by-step guides and various support articles categorized for ease of use. They offer live support through chat from 12am to 5pm MST, complemented by a virtual bot during off-hours, and support tickets for personalized help. Both providers offer robust help centers to support their users efficiently.
User management
accessibility.
Score Components:
- Role customization (40%): Flexibility in creating and defining user roles and
permissions. - Ease of management (30%): User interface and tools for managing users.
- Access control (20%): Effectiveness of access control measures for different user
levels. - Scalability (10%): Ability to manage a growing number of users efficiently.
7.8
0.0
🏆 Winner
Liquid Web: A hosting provider with comprehensive user management features in Plesk.
Liquid Web and Name.com offer distinct approaches to user management. Liquid Web, utilizing Plesk, excels with detailed user role definition by providing four default roles: Administrator, Webmaster, Application User, and Accountant. Each role has specific permissions, ensuring clear segregation of duties and efficient management. On the other hand, Name.com lacks detailed information on their user role management, which indicates potential limitations in flexibility and specificity when compared to Liquid Web’s comprehensive role setup.
Liquid Web’s Plesk interface facilitates user management through a clear and accessible layout. The Service Provider and Power User views offer tailored navigation paths to manage users, streamlining user creation, role assignment, and removal processes. The ability to create new user roles and assign them effectively is straightforward, with well-defined steps. On the contrary, the absence of user management information for Name.com makes it hard to evaluate their interface, leaving Liquid Web’s Plesk as a preferable choice for user management tasks.
Effective access control is crucial for managing growing user bases. Liquid Web’s Plesk excels with mechanisms to add, remove, and modify user roles efficiently. Additional administrator accounts can be added to distribute managerial tasks, reflecting robust access control measures. Without comparable information from Name.com, it’s evident that Liquid Web’s structured approach is better suited for scaling and maintaining user management without compromising security or operational efficiency.
Liquid Web user roles table:
| Role | Description | Access highlights |
|---|---|---|
| Administrator | Full access to the Plesk control panel and server management. | Can manage all aspects of the server and Plesk, including user and role management. |
| Webmaster | Manage most aspects of subscriptions. | Can create new sites, configure services (DNS, mail, FTP), but cannot manage roles. |
| Application User | Limited access. | Restricted access focused on specific applications and operations. |
| Accountant | View-only access to subscription details. | Can view subscription data without the ability to make changes. |
Customer support
hosting provider.
Score Components:
- Support communication channels (30%): Measures the variety of customer support types
provided (live chat, chatbot, email, phone, etc.) - Availability (20%): Assesses the availability hours for each channel, including 24/7
support options. - Technical support quality (30%): Assesses whether the provider offers comprehensive
technical support, including hardware upgrades (e.g., HDD to SSD), software installations, and web
server configuration changes. - Enterprise support (20%): Checks if there are dedicated or priority support services
for enterprise-level customers.
9.6
8.2
🏆 Winner Liquid Web: Exceptional support options available around the clock and dedicated service teams.
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
Phone support |
||
Live chat support |
||
Chatbot |
||
Email/ticket support |
||
Enterprise support (dedicated agent, priority support) |
Liquid Web offers an extensive and highly responsive customer support system with 24/7 availability via phone, chat, and helpdesk. They guarantee initial response times in under a minute for phone and chat, and under an hour for helpdesk tickets. Their support staff is highly trained and specialized, with dedicated teams for Windows and Linux users. Liquid Web stands out with dedicated Customer Success Managers and Strategic Account Executives to assist in growth and performance goals, emphasizing their commitment to customer experience.
Name.com provides reliable customer support with live chat available from 12am to 5pm MST and a virtual bot for after-hours support. Phone support is available during specified hours, and a ticket system is in place for email inquiries. They offer a comprehensive knowledge base and social media channels for additional support. Although not as comprehensive as Liquid Web, Name.com’s support is noted for its ease of use and reliability, making it a solid option for those looking for dependable assistance.
User feedback
Customer feedback for this hosting provider is mixed, with significant polarization in user experiences. While some have praised the company for its reliable uptime, exceptional support, and proactive monitoring, others have experienced severe dissatisfaction due to frequent downtimes, unresponsive customer service, and unethical billing practices. Long-term customers, in particular, have noted a sharp decline in service quality and support efficiency, attributing it to recent management changes. Despite positive reviews highlighting excellent technical support and overall reliability, a growing number of users advise against using this provider due to these negative aspects.
User feedback for the hosting provider reveals a mixed bag of experiences. While many users appreciate the straightforward domain registration process, easy-to-use interface, and competitive pricing, there are significant concerns regarding customer service. Negative reviews often highlight slow response times, unhelpful support, and issues with account management. Users also express dissatisfaction with hosting services, citing technical difficulties and a lack of advanced features. However, some long-term users remain loyal, finding the platform reliable for domain-related solutions despite its shortcomings in customer support.
FAQ
Which platform is better suited for hosting WordPress websites?
Both Liquid Web and Name.com offer tailored WordPress hosting solutions with one-click installations and optimization features. Liquid Web’s Managed WordPress hosting includes advanced caching methods and built-in Cloudflare CDN, making it suitable for high-traffic sites. Name.com also provides easy setup and daily backups, catering to bloggers and small businesses.
Which hosting service offers better security features?
Liquid Web provides extensive security features including SSL certificates, firewalls, DDoS protection, and an F5 AIP Intrusion Detection System. In comparison, Name.com offers SSL certificates and automated backups but lacks the comprehensive compliance measures like PCI and HIPAA which Liquid Web provides extensively. Thus, Liquid Web stands out in terms of security features.
Which platform offers better customer support?
Liquid Web offers extensive and highly responsive 24/7 customer support via phone, chat, and helpdesk, with specialized teams and dedicated Customer Success Managers. Name.com provides reliable support with live chat, phone, and a virtual bot for after-hours, but lacks the specialized and dedicated support teams that Liquid Web offers.
Which hosting service offers more scalability options for growing websites?
Liquid Web allows for easy scalability with VPS hosting and cloud dedicated servers, featuring up to 16 cores and 128 GB RAM, ensuring adaptability to growing needs. Name.com offers good scalability for smaller websites but lacks dedicated server options, making Liquid Web more robust and elastic for expanding websites.
What are the major differences in pricing and value between liquidweb and namecom?
Liquid Web offers a wide array of managed WooCommerce, WordPress, VPS, and dedicated server hosting with robust features and higher costs. Name.com provides budget-friendly options with an emphasis on cloud and shared hosting, making it suitable for smaller websites. Liquid Web caters to resource-intensive needs, while Name.com offers solid value for smaller-scale operations.
The making of this blog
We followed a clear, step-by-step process to write and research this article.
