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IONOS vs Namecheap

We give IONOS a 1.8 GPA and Namecheap a 2.2, out of 4.0. Namecheap grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.

Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.

IONOS

Shared and WordPress hosting with a domain, wildcard SSL and email

From $8/mo
Full detailsionos.com

Namecheap

Domain registrar's cPanel shared hosting, billed monthly or yearly

Free trial · from $5.88/mo
Full detailsnamecheap.com

How we grade them

1.8GPAIONOSWeak2.2GPANamecheapFair
Value for money
BEssential is $4 a month for the first year, then $8, so two years cost $144, about $6 a month, inside the cheaper quarter of hosts and just over the A line. Plus looks cheaper at $1, but it renews at $14, so two years come to $180.
AOnly renewal rates could be read, and Stellar on a 2-year term is still $102.88, about $4.29 a month over two years, under the $5.97 an A needs. Any first-term discount would only bring that down. Monthly is $5.88.
Free plan and trial
FNothing free: there's no free plan and no trial on record, so you pay from day one.
DA 30-day trial on yearly Stellar packages, which turns into a paid first year at the after-trial price when it ends. That makes it a trial you sign up to pay for, not a free plan.
Features
CUnlimited websites, NVMe storage, a domain, wildcard SSL, daily backups and malware scanning on every plan. The gaps the listing names: Essential has 1 mailbox, and malware removal waits for Ultimate.
CcPanel with Softaculous for 200+ apps, AI site builders, malware scanning and 2FA. The gaps are on Stellar: manual backups only, 3 websites and 30 mailboxes, and the free SSL lasts a year per domain.
Ease of use
CNo app store rating to go on. There's a personal consultant and 24/7 phone support, but there's still a site and email to set up.
CNo app store rating to go on. cPanel and Softaculous are familiar to many, but there's a fair bit to learn if you're new to them.
Platforms and integrations
CA web dashboard only. Its integrations are the apps it installs, WordPress, Joomla, Drupal and Jetpack, plus SSH and git, with no API on record.
CA web dashboard only. The named integrations are installers and builders, WordPress, Softaculous, Sitejet and Extendify, with no API on record.
Best forseveral small sites on one cheap plancheap cPanel hosting beside your domains

The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: IONOS and Namecheap. How we grade

Price against what you get

IONOS starts at $4 a month and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Namecheap starts at $4.29 a month and scores 2.0.

They score the same, and IONOS starts $0.29 a month lower. Of the other web hosts on the chart, 5 score higher than IONOS for less, and 5 score higher than Namecheap for less.

Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged

C2.0B3.0A4.0$1$2$5$10$20$50More for lessCosts more, scores moreCosts less, scores lessCosts more, scores lessIONOSNamecheap

What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →

  • The best score at each price
  • Has a free plan
  • No free plan
The full chart of web hosts, and the best at every price

Where they differ

  • IONOS starts at $8 per month at renewal (Essential), after a first year at $4 a month. Namecheap starts at $5.88 per month (Stellar), or $102.88 every 2 years, at renewal rates.
In commonWebAI featuresMalware protectionManaged WordPress

At a glance

IONOSNamecheap
PricingPaidFree trial
Starts at$8 per month at renewal (Essential), after a first year at $4 a month$5.88 per month (Stellar), or $102.88 every 2 years, at renewal rates
Free planNoneNone
Free trialNone listed30-day trial of yearly Stellar packages, after which the first year is charged at the after-trial price
Web
Made byIONOS Inc.Namecheap, Inc.
Price read fromionos.comnamecheap.com
CheckedOct 17, 2026Oct 17, 2026

Who each one suits

IONOS

  • Small businesses running several sites on one shared plan
  • WordPress beginners who want AI help building the first site
  • Developers who want SSH, git and WP-CLI on cheap hosting

Namecheap

  • People who already keep their domains at Namecheap
  • Small sites that want to pay month to month at a low rate
  • Owners who prefer cPanel and Softaculous to a custom dashboard

Worth knowing

IONOS

  • Intro prices last the first year of a 1-year term: Plus goes from $1 to $14 a month and Essential from $4 to $8.
  • Mailboxes are few: Essential includes 1 and Ultimate 5, each with 2 GB of storage.
  • Automatic malware removal and unlimited SSL certificates need Ultimate on web hosting, or Boost ($17 a month after a first year at $12) on WordPress.
  • IONOS also offers hosting with no minimum term, billed monthly with one month's notice, but the plan tables do not show its price.

Namecheap

  • Only the renewal rates could be read: the shared hosting page, which shows first-term discounts and trial terms, answered our readers with a bot check.
  • The free SSL lasts one year per domain; keeping it after that is a paid renewal.
  • Stellar stops at 3 websites, 30 mailboxes and 20 GB; unlimited sites and automatic backups need Stellar Plus or Business.
  • The 30-day money-back guarantee covers first-time hosting accounts only, and cPanel or Softaculous licenses are not refunded.

Key features

IONOS

Unlimited websites and NVMe storage
Web hosting plans host any number of sites with unlimited traffic, on 100 GB to 500 GB of NVMe storage with more CPU priority on each tier.
Domain, wildcard SSL and email
Every plan includes a domain free for the first year, a wildcard DV certificate and 2 GB email accounts, from 1 on Essential to 5 on Ultimate.
Backups and malware scanning
Plans run daily backups, malware scanning and DDoS protection on geo-redundant servers. Ultimate adds advanced scanning with automatic removal.
Developer access
SSH, SFTP, WP-CLI, git version control, cron jobs and a choice of PHP 8.2 to 8.4 are included, with one-click installs for WordPress, Joomla and Drupal.
AI tools for WordPress
Every WordPress plan includes an AI Website Builder, and Grow and Boost add an AI assistant that writes text, images, pages and blog posts.
Personal consultant
Customers get a personal consultant to guide them, alongside 24/7 support by phone, chat and email.

Namecheap

cPanel with Softaculous
Plans are run from cPanel, with the Softaculous installer for WordPress and more than 200 other scripts, plus email, file, database and DNS tools.
AI site builders
Sitejet in cPanel can generate a one-page site from a few business details, and Extendify adds AI site setup and writing help to new WordPress installs.
Free SSL for the first year
Each domain or subdomain on a shared account gets a single-domain SSL certificate free for a year, issued and installed automatically, up to 50 per account.
Malware scanning and 2FA
cPanel includes ImunifyAV or Imunify360 malware scanning, ModSecurity and two-factor authentication.
AutoBackup
Stellar Plus and Stellar Business restore from automatic backups, with unlimited backup storage on Business. Stellar has manual backups only.

Plans

IONOS

  • Essential$8

    per month at renewal, after a first year at $4 a month

    Web hosting with unlimited websites, 100 GB NVMe and 1 mailbox. $4 a month for the first year of a 1-year term, shown against a crossed-out $10.

  • Starter$10

    per month at renewal, after a first year at $6 a month

    200 GB NVMe, 3x server resources, 2 mailboxes and a CDN. $6 a month for the first year, against a crossed-out $12.

  • Plus$14

    per month at renewal, after a first year at $1 a month

    350 GB NVMe, 5x server resources and 4 mailboxes. $1 a month for the first year, against a crossed-out $16.

  • Ultimate$18

    per month at renewal, after a first year at $10 a month

    500 GB NVMe, 10x resources, 5 mailboxes, unlimited wildcard SSL and automatic malware removal. $10 a month for the first year.

  • WordPress Start$8

    per month at renewal, after a first year at $5 a month

    One managed WordPress site, 25 GB, automatic backups and the AI Website Builder. $5 a month for the first year, against a crossed-out $9.

  • WordPress Grow$12

    per month at renewal, after a first year at $1 a month

    50 GB, 5 mailboxes, a year of Jetpack Vault and the AI Assistant for text, images and posts. $1 a month for the first year.

Namecheap

  • Stellar, 1 month$5.88

    per month, the renewal rate

    3 websites, 20 GB SSD and 30 mailboxes. The renewal rate since May 19, 2026; first-term discounts were not readable.

  • Stellar, 1 year$55.88

    per year, the renewal rate

    The same Stellar plan billed yearly. A 30-day trial is offered on yearly packages.

  • Stellar, 2 years$102.88

    every 2 years, the renewal rate

    The same Stellar plan billed every two years, the lowest rate for it.

  • Stellar Plus, 2 years$146.44

    every 2 years, the renewal rate

    Unlimited websites and mailboxes, unmetered SSD storage and AutoBackup. Also $7.88 a month or $85.44 a year.

  • Stellar Business, 2 years$251.88

    every 2 years, the renewal rate

    50 GB SSD, fewer users per server, a choice of US, UK, EU or Singapore servers. Also $11.88 a month or $128.88 a year.

Ways to pay less

IONOS

  • Other savings

    First year of web hosting Plus at $1 a month

    On a 1-year term the first year costs $1 a month for Plus, $4 for Essential, $6 for Starter and $10 for Ultimate, before $14, $8, $10 and $18 a month.

  • Other savings

    First year of WordPress Grow at $1 a month

    On a 1-year term the first year costs $1 a month for Grow, $5 for Start and $12 for Boost, before $12, $8 and $17 a month.

Namecheap

No public discounts listed.

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