Name.com vs Rocket.net: guide for 2024

Name.com vs Rocket.net: Final verdict

Looking over Name.com vs. Rocket.net, 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.

• 
  Rocket.net (Overall grade: 8.3)
  
  shines with unparalleled website performance, featuring cutting-edge speed optimizations, an integrated Enterprise CDN, and robust security features like enhanced WAF and malware protection. Rocket.net is notably superior for WordPress hosting, high-traffic sites, and multimedia websites due to its advanced CDN and WAF, ensuring fast load times and secure environments. Although its uptime guarantee is slightly lower (99%) compared to Name.com, its comprehensive user management, round-the-clock support, and seamless migrations make it an excellent choice for technical users and agencies.
• 
  Name.com (Overall grade: 7.3)
  
  stands out with its high uptime guarantee of 99.99%, reliable performance, and user-friendly tools, including a traditional cPanel interface. Ideal for users seeking simplicity and security, Name.com offers extensive email hosting, automated backups, and secure access options. Though it lacks the same advanced speed optimizations and migration simplicity as Rocket.net, its competitive pricing plans and array of features tailored for straightforward management make it a strong contender for those prioritizing ease of use and cost-effectiveness.

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 Name.com: Offering a 99.99% uptime guarantee and strong support, Name.com proves to be a reliable hosting provider.

Name.com boasts a high uptime guarantee of 99.99%, demonstrating its commitment to reliability. With an average response time of 220ms and only 1 minute of downtime over a monitored period, it shows consistent performance. The hosting service includes free automated backups, robust security measures, and excellent support available 24/7 via tickets, plus additional phone and live chat options during specific hours.

Rocket.net provides fast response times, with Time to First Byte at 73ms and full page load time of 300ms. However, the uptime guarantee is set at 99%, which is slightly lower than Name.com’s. Rocket.net excels in offering additional features like Enterprise CDN, WAF, and free migrations. Support is accessible around the clock, covering all communication channels including live chat, email, phone, and contact forms. Despite these strong features, Name.com edges out with its higher uptime guarantee and overall consistent reliability.

🏆 Winner
Rocket.net: Excels in website performance with cutting-edge speed optimizations.

Comparing general performance, Rocket.net demonstrates clear superiority in hosting speed and CDN capabilities. Sites hosted on Rocket.net enjoy extremely low Time to First Byte (TTFB) of around 83ms, thanks to 275+ worldwide edge locations and a free enterprise-grade CDN. Name.com, leveraging robust infrastructure like DigitalOcean’s Intel Xeon Scalable processors, offers competitive load times and scalability but falls short regarding caching capabilities and available edge locations. Rocket.net also provides automatic full-page caching and cookie cache bypassing, while Name.com focuses more on traditional caching methods.

Website Speed

Rocket.net leads in website speed metrics, with an astonishingly low average TTFB of 83ms, outperforming competitors like Flywheel, Kinsta, WPEngine, and Cloudways by significant margins. Name.com, though efficient and reliable with its Intel Xeon processors, does not match the lightning-fast response times that Rocket.net provides. Rocket.net’s focus on delivering swift performance right out of the box, optimized specifically for WordPress, sets a high benchmark for web hosting speed.

Scalability

Rocket.net and Name.com both offer scalable hosting solutions, but they approach growth differently. Rocket.net provides seamless scaling with smart full-page caching and enterprise NVMe servers, optimized for high performance without manual interventions. Unfortunately, the exact cost details or structure for scaling are somewhat unclear for Rocket.net. Name.com offers excellent scalability with flexible bandwidth and hosting plans, allowing easy upgrades for memory and disk space on demand. Again, specific cost details for scaling with Name.com are not provided.

🏆 Winner
Rocket.net: Provides comprehensive security features and proactive measures to ensure website protection.

Both Name.com and Rocket.net, have notable differences in their approaches to technical and operational
security, as well as in their compliance with regulations.

Technical security measures:

Name.com offers various SSL certificates, including DV, OV, and EV, along with other critical features such as secure PHP versions, and automated backups. Rocket.net, on the other hand, provides unlimited free SSL certificates and a sophisticated Website Application Firewall (WAF) that scans all incoming traffic. Rocket.net also has industry-leading malware protection through Imunify360 and ensures automatic updates for WordPress core, plugins, and themes. Both platforms support multiple PHP versions, but Rocket.net covers up to PHP 8.3, compared to Name.com’s support up to PHP 8.0+.

Operational security measures:

Name.com provides automated backups, secure access options (SSH, SFTP/FTP), spam protection, and regular server monitoring. Rocket.net enhances operational security with always-on protection, bruteforce and bot protections, and weak password prevention. It also offers real-time security reporting and daily backups with longer retention periods. Rocket.net’s more comprehensive range of proactive defenses and detailed reporting places it ahead in operational security.

Compliance and certifications:

Both Name.com and Rocket.net adhere to GDPR regulations. Rocket.net explicitly mentions PCI compliance, important for sites handling payment transactions, while Name.com implies but doesn’t specify this compliance. Rocket.net’s clear commitment to PCI standards adds an extra level of trust for its users.

🏆 Winner Name.com: Reliable and user-friendly hosting with extensive features tailored for simplicity and security.

Name.com and Rocket.net offer impressive hosting services, each catering to distinct needs. Name.com provides a simple, one-click setup for popular CMS platforms like WordPress, free automated backups, and a reliable uptime guarantee of 99.9%. It caters to users seeking a straightforward, secure hosting solution with automated backups, unlimited subdomains, and advanced email encryption. Rocket.net, on the other hand, emphasizes security and speed, featuring an enterprise edge CDN for improved performance, free test migrations, and detailed real-time CDN and WAF analytics. Although both offer SSH and FTP/SFTP access, Rocket.net provides additional perks like free WooCommerce migrations and unlimited PHP workers, making it suitable for more technical users who need enhanced speed and security.

One key difference is the availability of a website builder. Name.com does not explicitly mention an integrated website builder, but offers easy one-click setups and extensive support for WordPress, simplifying the website creation process. Conversely, Rocket.net doesn’t highlight a specific website builder either, relying instead on its staging environments and secure file management to facilitate website development. Both providers include robust security features, but Rocket.net stands out with two-factor authentication, brute-force protection, and a global CDN. For those prioritizing ease of use and simplicity, Name.com excels with user-friendly features like a cPanel interface and multiple email benefits, making it an attractive option for a broad range of users.

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 Name.com and Rocket.net 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:

Name.com offers comprehensive email hosting with over 100 email accounts, secure email encryption, and an enterprise webmail interface, allowing users to effectively manage email communications. Rocket.net does not provide native email hosting but focuses on secure transaction email capabilities, ensuring safe delivery for website-related actions. Name.com is better suited for users who need extensive email hosting for their domain, while Rocket.net appeals to those emphasizing secure transactions over standard email services.

🏆 Winner Name.com: Offering a wide range of hosting solutions with competitive pricing and diverse features.

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. Although some providers offer identical plans for WordPress and shared hosting, we have created separate tables for each to enhance clarity.

When comparing the pricing plans from Name.com and Rocket.net, it is evident that both providers offer a variety of options tailored for different needs. Name.com’s cloud hosting plans powered by DigitalOcean are budget-friendly, starting at $6 per month and scaling up based on storage and transfer needs. Their web hosting plans are equally flexible, with personal, premium, and business tiers addressing varied requirements. Meanwhile, Rocket.net focuses heavily on WordPress hosting, with its starter plan beginning at $30 per month and offering enterprise-level security features, automated backups, and free migrations. Rocket.net’s higher tiers increase in price but ensure substantial visitor capacity and storage. Overall, the choice depends on the specific requirements and budget constraints of the user.

Enterprise plans

Name.com offers a range of scalable cloud hosting plans by DigitalOcean, which can be tailored to suit enterprise requirements. These plans provide significant storage and transfer capabilities, making them ideal for growing businesses. Rocket.net’s enterprise plans, starting at $649 per month, come with advanced features like Object Cache Pro and private Slack channels, making them suitable for high-traffic WordPress installations requiring enhanced performance and support. Each provider’s enterprise hosting is robust, equipped to handle demanding business needs.

🏆 Winner Rocket.net: Comprehensive site setup and migration with high-speed performance and security.

Rocket.net offers a streamlined, custom WordPress control panel designed for ease of use while still delivering advanced functionalities. The admin interface integrates enterprise-level support and pre-configured security measures, making it accessible for both technical and non-technical users. Features such as integrated CDN, WAF, and real-time analytics are all managed through this intuitive panel. On the other hand, Name.com provides a more traditional cPanel, which is user-friendly and familiar to many but doesn’t offer the same level of advanced integration seen with Rocket.net. This makes Rocket.net’s admin panel slightly more sophisticated, especially for users seeking extensive control and features directly integrated into their hosting environment.

Name.com’s use of cPanel makes its management accessible, allowing users to navigate without steep learning curves. Simple installations and automated backups are highlights. For WordPress users, Name.com includes features like one-click installations and daily backups, ensuring a smooth experience. Even though its interface does not reach the integration level of Rocket.net, cPanel’s popularity and ease of use can be a comforting factor for many, particularly those with past exposure to it.

When it comes to migration tools, Rocket.net leads with its offer of unlimited free migrations for all customers. Their team handles the entire process, ensuring there is no downtime or service interruption, which makes it highly convenient for users of any technical expertise. Conversely, Name.com does not advertise automated or free migration services in the same capacity. This adds an extra advantage for Rocket.net, as the ease and cost-free migration directly translate to less hassle and effort for customers looking to switch hosting services.

Both hosting providers offer extensive help centers, making it easier for users to find solutions to common problems and get setup guidance. Name.com’s Knowledge Base is well-organized into detailed categories, offering articles, step-by-step guides, and live support options during specified hours. Rocket.net’s customer support is available 24/7 with promises of fast response times through various channels, such as live chat, email, and phone. This around-the-clock support adds an extra layer of reliability for Rocket.net users.

🏆 Winner: Rocket.net: Offers a comprehensive user management system with a range of user roles and access control options.

Name.com lacks detailed information regarding user management, roles, and permissions, making it challenging to assess its capabilities. On the other hand, Rocket.net provides a thorough system for managing user roles and permissions, launched on February 01, 2023. Rocket.net allows customers to create sub-users with selective access to specific WordPress sites, enhancing flexibility and control. The platform supports adding unlimited users, setting individual access levels, and enabling two-factor authentication for secure login management. Rocket.net’s focus on user roles and permissions makes it a clear leader in this domain.

Rocket.net offers a user-friendly control panel for managing users. The process to add a site user is straightforward: log in to your account, navigate to the Users section under the Overview tab, and click “Add Site User” to invite a new user. Invites are sent via a white-label domain, and users can access the control panel through an unbranded URL. This streamlined invite process, combined with a comprehensive user interface, makes managing users intuitive. The future ability to upload custom logos will enable further personalization of the control panel.

Access control measures in Rocket.net are robust and effective. The platform’s ability to add unlimited users and reset passwords ensures scalability as your user base grows. Features like two-factor authentication bolster security, protecting accounts from unauthorized access. Rocket.net also offers roaming profiles, which are ideal for agencies that need to provide controlled access to multiple sites. These features ensure that even as the number of users grows, access management remains efficient and secure.

rocketnet user roles table:

🏆 Winner Rocket.net: Offering round-the-clock support and fast resolution times.

Name.com provides reliable customer service with options like live chat, a virtual bot, a ticket system, limited phone support, and a comprehensive knowledge base. Their live chat agents are available for an extensive part of the day, while the virtual bot covers other hours. Name.com also offers social media support, a detailed help center, and a thorough refund policy spelled out in their knowledge base.

Rocket.net distinguishes itself with 24/7/365 availability and extremely fast response times for both live chat and email support. They provide specific services for WordPress and WooCommerce users, ensuring quick problem resolution and seamless migrations. Their enterprise customers benefit from a private Slack channel and dedicated phone support. Rocket.net’s array of options and excellent customer feedback make it the standout choice.

Name.com vs Rocket.net: User feedback

Users have varied experiences with this hosting provider. Positive reviews highlight its straightforward domain registration process, competitive pricing, and user-friendly interface. However, numerous complaints focus on poor customer service, with long response times and inadequate support. Problems with hosting reliability, difficulties in applying discounts, and concerns about business practices were also frequently mentioned, leaving some customers frustrated and cautioning others against using the service.

Users highly praise Rocket.net for its superior support, user-friendly interface, and top-notch security features. The integration with Cloudflare Enterprise and the inclusion of an Enterprise CDN are standout benefits, saving users money and reducing the need for additional plugins. Customers appreciate the platform’s powerful features, including staging areas, manual backups, and integrated file management. While feedback is overwhelmingly positive, a minor suggestion includes the addition of more analytic tools.

Name.com vs Rocket.net: FAQ