Namecheap vs GoDaddy – Which is The Better Domain Registrar?
Many web hosting services offer domain name registration and hosting, and it can be overwhelming to pick the more reliable domain registrar.
In my experience, if you want to cut down on long-term costs, then Namecheap is what you should go with. Namecheap offers an intuitive interface, cheap registration and renewal plans, and free SSL and WHOIS privacy for the first year.
However, GoDaddy is the world’s largest domain registrar in market share. In addition, GoDaddy allows you to purchase and set up multiple domains if you have more than one business to manage. It also has a simple and intuitive user interface that is perfect for beginners.
Should you go with Namecheap for your domain registration and hosting? Or is GoDaddy better?
This post will have a Namecheap vs. GoDaddy battle to find out who stands out among the two.
Let’s get started!
Disclaimer: If you buy something using the links in this article, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Know that I only promote stuff that I use and trust for the sake of my readers and the reputation of this website.
What To Look For In A Domain Registrar
Whether you want to start a business website or get into affiliate marketing with a blog, you will need a domain registrar for your website.
Here are some things you should look for when choosing the best domain registrar for your business:
1. The reputation of the domain registrar company and its history of providing quality services and uptime to users.
2. Competitive pricing for registration and renewal of domain names and hosting.
3. Hidden fees or extra charges for domain transfer.
4. ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) accreditation.
5. Simple domain transfer as well as email forwarding services.
6. Helpful and available customer support to resolve your queries 24/7.
7. Manual and auto-renewal services.
1. History Of Both Web Hosting Services
Before we get into the features and benefits of Namecheap vs. GoDaddy, let’s first take a peek into the histories of these domain registration companies.
Namecheap
Namecheap was started in 2000 by Richard Kirkendall and has its headquarters in Los Angeles, California.
Since then, Namecheap has become one of the most popular domain registrars, with over 13 million domain names under its management.
GoDaddy
GoDaddy is a publicly-traded domain registration service and web host company with its headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona.
GoDaddy began in 1997 by Bob Parsons and was initially named Jomax Technologies. By 2013, GoDaddy grew to become the largest ICANN-accredited registrar in the world.
2. Popularity Of Both Web Hosting Providers
Namecheap
According to Domainstate.com, Namecheap is the second most popular domain registrar after GoDaddy, with 11,237,425 registered domain names as of August 2021.
GoDaddy
GoDaddy, however, is the leading domain registrar in terms of domain registry market share with 63,147,508 registered domain names.
Although you must not base your decision solely on the total market share of the web hosting company, you can be sure that both Namecheap and GoDaddy are reputable domain registrars, with the highest number of registered domain names compared to any other web hosting provider.
3. Top-Level Domains (TLDs)
TLDs, or Top-Level Domains, are the right-most part of your website address. For example, the TLD for “www.marketingamateur.com” is “.com”.
Let’s check out the most common TLDs registered with Namecheap vs GoDaddy:
Namecheap
The most common TLDs registered with Namecheap are .com, .net, .org, .io, .co, .ai, .co.uk, .ca, .dev, .me.
You can check out Namecheap’s complete list of TLDs here.
GoDaddy
The most common TLDs registered with GoDaddy are .com, .net, .org, .co, and .us.
You can check out GoDaddy’s complete list of TLDs here.
4. User Interface & Addons
Namecheap
Namecheap has an intuitive user interface that is fairly simple to use, even for beginners.
Once you buy your domain name registration from Namecheap, the checkout process is seamless and quick. The best part about Namecheap’s domain registration process is that there are not many ads or upsells that distract you from completing your order successfully.
Namecheap’s interface offers a better user experience for its customers.
The whole buying experience is made simple with Namecheap. Namecheap’s search engine offers quick suggestions for domains that you can purchase. They also offer live chat support services in case you get stuck and need immediate assistance.
When you purchase domain names with Namecheap, you can also add the following for an additional cost:
- SSL certificate (HTTPS)
- Free VPN trial
- Web hosting (with a free website builder, cPanel, and WordPress)
- Managed WordPress hosting (easy backups and high security)
- Personalized and secure professional email
- WHOIS Guard Privacy Protection
GoDaddy
GoDaddy’s interface is also pretty smooth to use, without a lot of unwanted redirects or upsells.
GoDaddy offers name and TLD suggestions if the domain name you entered in the search bar is not available. This makes the buying process easier.
GoDaddy also has a live chat option to help you complete your purchase.
You can add web hosting and whois privacy to your cart while purchasing your domain name. GoDaddy also has a domain management panel to help you in managing domains.
Both domain name registrars Namecheap and GoDaddy have pretty simple user interfaces that give you a great user experience.
5. Uptime
Although both Namecheap and GoDaddy promise a 99.9% uptime, GoDaddy is more reliable according to records.
Namecheap’s uptime has fallen as low as 99.81%, whereas GoDaddy has managed to stay up at 99.94%.
6. DNS Management Interface
The DNS Management interface allows you to make changes involving your domain. these changes are generally undertaken by the website owner or a tech manager.
A user-friendly DNS Management Interface will help you reroute your DNS to your web host, configure your subdomains, and set up your domain emails.
Namecheap
Namecheap’s DNS Management Interface is simple, intuitive, and devoid of unnecessary upsells. This will help you make quick and hassle-free changes to your domain.
GoDaddy
GoDaddy’s DNS Management Interface is slightly confusing when compared to Namecheap’s. There are a lot of extra features and upsells on the interface, which makes it a little harder to navigate when you want to make quick changes.
7. Domain Privacy
As mentioned above, both Namecheap and GoDaddy offer a WHOIS privacy feature for their customers.
WHOIS contains the information of every registered domain owner on the internet. By default, all sensitive information you enter while purchasing a domain name (such as your name, address, phone number, and email address) is publicly available.
Let’s see what each of these domain name registration and hosting companies offer in terms of domain privacy:
Namecheap
Namecheap prioritizes domain privacy for its customers by offering it for free when purchasing domains.
The WHOIS privacy feature is called WHOIS GUARD privacy protection and is available free of cost to those who purchase domains from Namecheap.
GoDaddy
GoDaddy charges $9.99 per year for domain privacy for each domain you purchase. GoDaddy also offers an upsell that gives you domain blacklist monitoring and malware scans for an additional $5 per year.
8. Domain Transfers
Both GoDaddy and Namecheap have similar procedures for transferring domains between domain name registrars.
Namecheap
Here is the domain transfer process as mentioned on Namecheap’s site:
- Check whether your domain name meets the requirements for domain transfer.
- Keep your authorization code ready.
- Add your domain to your cart and make the payment. The domain will be transferred automatically.
GoDaddy
The process for domain transfer is similar to Namecheap’s:
- Unlock the domain from your previous registrar.
- Search for the domain name on GoDaddy.
- Enter your authorization code.
- Your domain name will be transferred automatically.
9. Pricing
Let’s take a look at Namecheap vs GoDaddy when it comes to pricing and renewals.
Namecheap
To begin with, let us see the price for registering domains.
If you look at Namecheap’s pricing for a .com domain, it starts at $8.88 per year, and the renewal price starts at $12.98 per year.
Namecheap has lower long-term domain registration costs compared to GoDaddy.
With Namecheap, you get free privacy protection as part of the plan. However, you will need to renew your WHOIS privacy at $2.88 per year, which is still much lower when compared to GoDaddy.
GoDaddy
GoDaddy charges $11.99 per year to register a new .com domain. You can renew for $18.99 per year, which is higher than Namecheap’s rates.
You will need to pay for privacy protection with GoDaddy as a premium addon. It costs $9.99 per year for your first year and renewal after your first year.
GoDaddy prices may be lower for some domain extensions for the first year. Still, its renewal prices, along with additional costs such as those for privacy protection and email forwarding, end up being more expensive.
10. Web Hosting
In addition to being domain registrars, Namecheap and GoDaddy also provide shared hosting, reseller hosting, and WordPress hosting solutions. Here is Namecheap vs GoDaddy in terms of web hosting:
Namecheap
You can purchase shared web hosting plans from Namecheap at the following rates:
- Stellar at $1.58 per month for the first year, including a domain name, 3 websites, 20 GB SSD, and free CDN
- Stellar Plus at $2.68 per month for the first year, including everything in Stellar, along with unlimited websites, unmetered SSD, and auto backup
- Stellar Business at $4.80 per month for the first year, including everything in Stellar Plus (but with 50 GB SSD), along with cloud storage
All the plans come with a free SSL certificate, unmetered bandwidth, privacy protection, free website builder, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
GoDaddy
GoDaddy offers the following hosting plans:
- Economy at $5.99 per month for the first year, including a free domain and email, standard performance, 1 website, 100 GB storage, unmetered bandwidth, 10 databases, and free 1-click WordPress install
- Deluxe at $7.99 per month for the first year, including everything in Economy plus unlimited websites, unlimited storage, and 25 databases
- Ultimate at $12.99 per month for the first year, including everything in Deluxe plus increased processing power, unlimited databases, and a free SSL certificate for 1 year
- Maximum at $19.99 per month for the first year, including everything in Ultimate plus free unlimited SSL certificates for all your websites
Unlike Namecheap, which offers a free SSL certificate, unmetered bandwidth, and privacy protection with all its hosting plans, GoDaddy only offers it on its more expensive hosting plan.
In addition, Namecheap also offers complementary services like a free website builder on all its plans.
11. Customer Support
Customer support is one of the most crucial aspects of a domain registrar as you would need 24/7 assistance to ensure your site is up and running without any problems.
Here is Namecheap vs GoDaddy in terms of the quality and type of customer support they offer:
Namecheap
Namecheap offers 24/7 customer support services in the form of live chat support and a ticket-based helpdesk. It does not, however, offer phone support.
Namecheap has a help center with many useful guides and video tutorials.
GoDaddy
GoDaddy also offers 24/7 customer support in the form of live chat or phone support.
The customer support staff members are knowledgeable and helpful. The only drawback is the long wait times for customer support before you can reach them and resolve your queries.
GoDaddy has a handy help center that houses written and video tutorials and a support forum where you can resolve your queries.
Namecheap vs GoDaddy: Pros And Cons
Namecheap Pros:
- Cheapest domain names available for the first year.
- Lower renewal prices when compared to GoDaddy, meaning lower long-term costs.
- Free WHOIS package valid for one year.
- Cheap SSL package at $1.99 for the first year.
- Cheap hosting plans starting at $1.58 per month for the first year.
- Easy to use interface and tons of tutorial videos make it perfect for beginners.
Namecheap Cons
- Stringent IP checks and restricted access make it sometimes tough to sign up if you live outside the US.
- Does not offer some of the country code TLDs.
- Does not offer phone support for customers.
GoDaddy Pros
- The biggest domain registrar on the market in terms of total number of registered domains.
- User-friendly interface makes it easy to use for beginners.
- Offers good site-building and WordPress tools.
- Offers many different country code TLDs.
- Offers the best uptimes compared to competitors.
- Offers both Linux and Windows hosting.
- Has one of the best customer service teams in the industry.
GoDaddy Cons
- Renewal prices are much higher when compared to Namecheap.
- Too many upsells during the checkout process, which are selected by default.
- Domain transfer process can be tough.
Conclusion: Which is The Best Domain Registrar?
And now the all-important question – which domain registry company is the best for your own website?
When choosing a domain registrar, you need to take a step back and look at what the companies offer in terms of user experience, domain name registration pricing, WordPress hosting, and customer support.
Namecheap stands out in terms of its intuitive user interface, affordable pricing plans, and free SSL with all its plans.
Namecheap is an excellent choice for registering domain names, reliable DNS, and even a hosting service. Whether you plan to purchase all your domains in one place or set up a personal blog, Namecheap is one of the best hosting providers you can use.
Click here to get started with Namecheap.
That being said, GoDaddy claims to be the largest domain registrar globally and does well as a hosting provider. You can choose to purchase multiple domains from GoDaddy if you want to set up a business with multiple websites.
GoDaddy’s user interface is also pretty simple to use and allows you to change DNS settings and unlock domains for domain transfers with ease. However, GoDaddy’s domain manager opens in a separate window, slightly disrupting the user experience.
Click here to get started with GoDaddy.
Ultimately, it is up to you to look at the features of both Namecheap and GoDaddy and decide which one is the best for your business.
Which one do you think is better? Namecheap or GoDaddy? Leave a comment below and let me know! 🙂
