Namecheap vs Pagely: guide for 2024

Namecheap vs Pagely: Final verdict

Looking over Namecheap vs. Pagely, it’s clear why both hosts are so popular. They have both hosted millions of
websites that run on WordPress for decades, building up a loyal customer base.

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  Pagely (Overall grade: 8.1)
  
  
  delivers exceptional uptime and response times, thanks to its advanced AWS infrastructure and high-performance caching strategies. It’s particularly suitable for high-traffic websites and agencies needing managed DevOps and custom solutions. Pagely’s comprehensive security measures, including AWS Shield and PressARMOR™, and its detailed compliance certifications make it a robust choice for businesses with stringent security requirements. Although the higher price point might be a constraint for some, the specialized support and premium features justify the cost for those seeking a high-end hosting solution.
  
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  Namecheap (Overall grade: 7.2)
  
  
  offers a wide array of affordable hosting plans, including shared, VPS, and dedicated hosting. It excels in providing value for money, with features like free SSL for the first year, a website builder, and a 30-day money-back guarantee. However, the performance can sometimes fall short of industry averages, particularly regarding response times. Namecheap’s user-friendly cPanel access and free website migration services make it an appealing choice for budget-conscious users and small to medium businesses. Despite occasional downtimes, its variety of hosting options and competitive pricing continue to make it a popular option among users.
  

Hosting types offered

Both platforms provide a variety of hosting types, each designed to meet the different needs of users.

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

🏆 Winner
Pagely: Delivering high availability and extremely low response times for seamless user experience.

Namecheap offers a highly competitive uptime guarantee with 100% for shared, business, and dedicated server accounts. The actual performance statistics, however, indicate that there can be slight downtimes, bringing the average uptime to 99.96%. The response times are acceptable but tend to be slower than the industry average, falling short when compared to some other providers.

Pagely stands out with its 99.99% guaranteed uptime and an average response time of just 211ms, ensuring swifter access to hosted content. The high availability architecture, built-in disaster recovery, and global data centers further enhance its reliability. With load balancing and 24/7 monitoring, Pagely is equipped to handle high traffic and minimize downtime effectively.

🏆 Winner
Pagely: A premium hosting solution with extensive features and support.

When it comes to hosting performance, Namecheap and Pagely cater to different segments of the market. Namecheap offers a variety of SSD-based shared, WordPress, VPS, and reseller plans with unmetered bandwidth and multiple global data centers (US, UK, EU) which makes it a versatile choice for various needs. Namecheap’s shared and WordPress hosting offer built-in CDN and free SSL, contributing to faster load times. Pagely, on the other hand, offers more specialized, high-performance hosting plans that are fully managed and come with advanced network security. Pagely is powered by AWS with superior caching and CDN technology included, and its data centers leverage AWS infrastructure offering high reliability and global reach.

Website speed

Namecheap’s WordPress hosting shines with a fully loaded time of 0.7 seconds and a Time to First Byte of 192 milliseconds, making it an excellent option for quick website performance. The free included CDN adds an extra layer of speed enhancement. Pagely also guarantees top-tier performance using Amazon AWS’s infrastructure with advanced caching strategies, promising 99.99% uptime. The key differentiator is Pagely’s no cap on PHP workers and decoupled database resources, which are ideal for websites that experience high traffic and need fast, consistent performance.

Scalability

Namecheap provides various upgrade paths for growing websites, including VPS and reseller plans. Users need to manually upgrade to higher-tier plans to get additional resources, and there are no automatic scaling options. Pagely excels in scalability, offering flexible configurations and custom plans that adjust to your needs. The high availability configurations and enterprise-class hosting options starting from $2,500/mo ensure that businesses can scale efficiently. Managed DevOps and support included in Pagely’s plans also add value by providing expert assistance for scaling complex environments.

🏆 Winner Pagely: Pagely offers a solid suite of advanced security features and compliance measures that cater to the security needs of WordPress sites.

Technical security measures:

Namecheap and Pagely offer robust security measures to protect user data. Namecheap supports various types of SSL certificates including Domain Validation, Organization Validation, and Extended Validation, as well as Single Domain, Wildcard, and Multi-domain SSL. Pagely supports Let’s Encrypt and custom SSL certificates. Both options provide a good level of encryption, but Pagely’s use of AWS Shield Standard provides enhanced DDoS protection. Namecheap supports PHP versions from 5.X to 8.X while Pagely offers long-term support for PHP versions 7.4 or newer with the Zend add-on.

Operational security measures:

Pagely excels with operational security, which includes 24/7 uptime monitoring, malware scanning, and DDoS protection through AWS. It also offers an advanced web application firewall and customizable two-factor authentication. Namecheap offers features like two-factor authentication, IP Deny Manager, and CodeGuard Backup. Both provide robust options but Pagely’s PressARMOR™ and built-in emergency backup solutions stand out.

Compliance and certifications:

Both Namecheap and Pagely are GDPR compliant; however, Pagely hosts its data in local European jurisdictions. Pagely also holds SOC 2 Type I & Type II certification and a PCI-DSS Attestation of Compliance. Namecheap offers various security features to help users meet PCI compliance requirements but does not specify SOC 2 or other certifications. Pagely’s additional focus on compliance gives it an edge for businesses requiring stringent regulatory adherence.

🏆 Winner
**Namecheap**: Offers a comprehensive range of affordable hosting plans and features tailored to various user needs.

Both Namecheap and Pagely present a robust suite of hosting options, each catering to different market segments. Namecheap’s advantage lies in its diverse hosting plans, ranging from shared hosting to specialized WordPress hosting, all at affordable rates. Their shared hosting plans come equipped with a website builder, making it easy for non-developers to design and launch their websites quickly. Additionally, Namecheap offers free SSL certificates for the first year and a 30-day money-back guarantee, adding value for beginners and budget-conscious users. On the other hand, Pagely, designed with enterprise-level users in mind, emphasizes high availability and robust security. Built on AWS, Pagely ensures 99.99% uptime and incorporates advanced security measures. However, its higher pricing tier and focus on managed WordPress hosting might cater more to businesses requiring high-performance hosting and advanced customization capabilities.

User-friendliness and additional features further differentiate these providers. Namecheap’s services include cPanel access and the Softaculous app installer for ease of use, making it a suitable option for those who prefer an intuitive control panel and one-click installations. The free website migration and Supersonic CDN also add practical value. Pagely shines with its developer-friendly tools such as SSH, GIT, and WP-CLI, catering to users who need a more customizable and powerful hosting environment. The inclusion of automated WordPress updates and daily backups stored on Amazon S3 demonstrates Pagely’s commitment to maintaining website performance and security. For users with complex, resource-intensive websites that demand high uptime and extensive support, Pagely might be the more appealing option, albeit at a premium price.

Email services:

Namecheap excels in offering comprehensive email hosting services, including unlimited email accounts for certain plans and advanced spam protection tools like Jellyfish and SpamAssassin. This allows users to manage their email campaigns directly through their hosting plan. Pagely does not offer built-in email hosting but focuses on high-performance hosting and developer tools. For businesses that require dedicated email services, they would need to look elsewhere or integrate with third-party services like Google Workspace.

🏆 Winner
Namecheap: Versatile and affordable hosting plans with a range of options tailored for different user needs.

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.

Namecheap offers a variety of hosting plans, including shared hosting, managed WordPress hosting, and reseller hosting, starting from as low as $1.98 per month. Their plans come with a range of features, such as free domain names for the first year, free SSL, free CDN, and a website builder. Pagely, on the other hand, focuses on high-performance managed WordPress hosting with prices starting at $199 per month. Pagely’s plans include advanced features like no cap on PHP workers, managed DevOps and support, and flexible configurations, making them suitable for developers and enterprises. Namecheap’s plans are more budget-friendly and cater to a wider audience, whereas Pagely targets high-traffic websites and enterprise-level needs.

Enterprise plans

Namecheap offers advanced dedicated server plans that support high-traffic websites, content streaming, and machine learning, with customizable configurations and 24/7 support. Pagely provides enterprise-class WordPress hosting starting from $2500 per month, featuring multi-region redundancy, enhanced SLAs, personalized technical account management, and bespoke deployments. Namecheap’s enterprise offerings are more cost-effective, but Pagely provides more specialized services for business-critical applications.

🏆 Winner Namecheap: Provides a user-friendly experience with instant setup, 24/7 support, and a customized dashboard.

Namecheap offers an EasyWP dashboard specifically designed for managing WordPress sites, which simplifies the user experience by avoiding the complexity of cPanel. This dashboard integrates various tools needed for website management, making it accessible and straightforward for both novice and experienced users. Softaculous is also available for one-click installations of popular scripts, adding to its ease-of-use. Pagely, on the other hand, provides a more traditional approach with its setup, taking around one day. It incorporates support channels through tickets and chat but does not offer a specialized dashboard like Namecheap’s EasyWP. The setup process may appeal to more technically inclined users who appreciate a structured onboarding process.

Both hosting providers offer different kinds of admin panels that cater to their user base. Namecheap’s EasyWP dashboard is tailored to ease the management of WordPress sites through a simplified, single-interface system, making it suitable for less technical users. In contrast, Namecheap also includes cPanel for its other hosting plans, offering a more traditional interface for website management. Pagely provides a comprehensive support and knowledge base to assist users with various tools and processes, but does not highlight any unique, simplified dashboard for general use. Instead, it offers a robust onboarding process and command-line tools for more advanced management.

Both Namecheap and Pagely offer migration services, but Namecheap distinguishes itself with free migration services via the All-in-One WP Migration plugin. This service allows users to move their sites from various hosts without incurring additional costs. Pagely also supports site migration, but the details about whether this service is automated or free are not specified. Therefore, Namecheap’s migration offering is both transparent and cost-effective, making it more attractive for users looking to switch hosts without hassle or additional costs.

The platforms provide extensive knowledge bases filled with guides, how-to articles, and instructional content. Namecheap’s help center includes 24/7 live chat support, a comprehensive knowledge base, and a support ticket system secured by SSL encryption. These resources make it easy to find solutions to common issues or get help from support staff at any time. Pagely also offers extensive help center resources, including detailed guides on a wide range of topics and command-line tools. Both providers make their support accessible, but Namecheap’s 24/7 live chat gives it an edge in terms of immediate support availability.

🏆 Winner Pagely: The user management system of Pagely allows for detailed roles and permissions customization, providing greater flexibility and control tailored for administrators.

Namecheap and Pagely offer different capabilities when it comes to managing user roles, permissions, and accessibility. Namecheap lacks detailed information about user roles and permissions, making it challenging to evaluate its flexibility in this area. In contrast, Pagely provides an extensive list of user roles with clear permission sets, ranging from full account control to more specialized roles like Billing and App-Only users. This granular level of control allows administrators to assign specific roles to users based on their needs, enhancing both security and operational efficiency.

Pagely boasts an intuitive user interface, providing comprehensive tools for managing users and their roles. Its dashboard is designed to streamline user management, allowing easy creation and modification of user roles. The clear layout ensures administrators can quickly find and adjust settings, which is vital for organizations with many users. On the other hand, without information about Namecheap’s user interface, it’s difficult to make a direct comparison, but Pagely sets a high standard in this regard.

Access control measures on Pagely are robust, supporting two-factor authentication and role-based permissions, which help in managing a growing number of users efficiently. The ability to enforce two-factor authentication and manage it at the account level provides additional security layers. As user needs grow, particularly in larger organizations, this capability ensures that access remains secure and manageable. Without details on Namecheap’s approach, Pagely’s effective and scalable user management system appears superior.

Pagely User Roles Table:

🏆 Winner
Pagely: Pagely offers an exceptional customer experience with swift issue resolution and highly trained support staff.

Both Namecheap and Pagely provide 24/7 live chat and ticket system support, ensuring customers receive assistance whenever needed. Namecheap’s additional resources such as extensive Knowledge Base articles, Guru Guides, and How-To videos make it easier for users to find answers independently. Pagely, on the other hand, excels with its tierless support system, where every support team member can resolve issues without escalation, leading to a high satisfaction rate and quick response times.

Pagely stands out with its specialized support for enterprise customers via dedicated Slack channels and the option for phone support on select plans. While Namecheap’s focus is on friendly and helpful service through various online channels, it lacks phone support, which can be a drawback for some users. Pagely’s consistent high satisfaction from customer testimonials and quicker resolution times demonstrate its commitment to superior hosting support services.

Namecheap vs Pagely: User feedback

Namecheap is widely appreciated for its affordability, reliability, and high-quality customer support. Users commend the availability of free SSL certificates, user-friendly cPanel, and outstanding hosting speed. However, shared hosting speed and the occasional slow response from support are noted concerns. Despite these minor drawbacks, Namecheap remains a popular choice for beginners and small to medium businesses due to its competitive pricing and satisfactory service quality.

Overall, Pagely receives high praise from its users for its reliable and efficient WordPress hosting services. Reviewers particularly commend the exceptional and responsive customer support, likening it to having an on-call DevOps team. While the service is considered expensive compared to other hosting providers, users generally agree that the quality and peace of mind it offers are well worth the cost. Minor criticisms include the premium pricing and occasional interface bugs, but these are overshadowed by the consistently positive experiences with uptime, security, and problem resolution.

Namecheap vs Pagely: FAQ