# Namecheap

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

Namecheap is best known as a domain registrar and also sells cPanel shared hosting in three Stellar plans, alongside managed WordPress, reseller, VPS and dedicated hosting. Shared plans can be paid monthly, yearly or every two years, and include a free SSL for each domain's first year, malware scanning and AI site-building tools.

- **Category:** Web Hosting
- **Made by:** Namecheap, Inc. (since 2001)
- **Website:** https://www.namecheap.com
- **Runs on:** Web
- **Facts last checked:** Oct 17, 2026

## Pricing

Namecheap is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $5.88 per month (Stellar), or $102.88 every 2 years, at renewal rates.

- **Pricing model:** Free trial
- **Free plan:** None.
- **Free trial:** 30-day trial of yearly Stellar packages, after which the first year is charged at the after-trial price.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 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. |

Read from https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/10780/22/shared-hosting-pricing-changes-may-2026/ on Oct 17, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Namecheap before buying.

## Key features

- **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.

## Good for

- 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

- 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.

## ToolGPA grades

**GPA: 2.2 out of 4**, graded Oct 17, 2026. Namecheap's Stellar hosting is cheap even at full price: we could only read the renewal rates, and two years still come to $102.88. It's cPanel with Softaculous, so it'll feel familiar to plenty of people. The catches are on the entry plan: 3 websites, 20 GB, and backups you make yourself.

- **Value for money: A.** Only 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: D.** A 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: C.** cPanel 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: C.** No 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: C.** A web dashboard only. The named integrations are installers and builders, WordPress, Softaculous, Sitejet and Extendify, with no API on record.

These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Namecheap's own pages on 17 October 2026. Only its renewal rates were readable. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews.

## Where it stands among web hosts

- Namecheap's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 15 of the 21 other web hosts we grade, and level with 6.
- It stands best on value for money (A, above 16 of 21) and worst on free plan and trial (D, above 19).
- Its paid plans start at $4.29 a month, against a middle price of $10.99 for the category: 7 of the 16 others that charge start lower.
- On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.0 out of 4. 5 tools score higher and cost less.

The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/web-hosting

## Keep it, or make your own?

**Keep it.** To replace Namecheap you would be making an engine that recognises new malware as it appears. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 2.2 is higher than 15 of the 21 other web hosts we grade. It costs $51.44 a year.

- You could not: An engine that recognises new malware as it appears.
- You could not: Servers kept running, patched and backed up for you.
- You could not: AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.

A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it.

## Works with

WordPress, Softaculous, Sitejet, Extendify

**Tags:** AI features, Malware protection, Managed WordPress

## Alternatives

- [Hostinger](https://toolgpa.com/tools/hostinger): Shared, WordPress and cloud hosting run from its own hPanel dashboard. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/hostinger-vs-namecheap)
- [Bluehost](https://toolgpa.com/tools/bluehost): WordPress-focused shared hosting sold on multi-year terms. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/bluehost-vs-namecheap)
- [HostGator](https://toolgpa.com/tools/hostgator): Shared and WordPress hosting with malware scanning and a free domain. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/hostgator-vs-namecheap)
- [DreamHost](https://toolgpa.com/tools/dreamhost): Independent shared and WordPress host with monthly or multi-year terms. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/dreamhost-vs-namecheap)
- [IONOS](https://toolgpa.com/tools/ionos): Shared and WordPress hosting with a domain, wildcard SSL and email. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/ionos-vs-namecheap)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 17, 2026:

- https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/10780/22/shared-hosting-pricing-changes-may-2026/
- https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/10112/22/shared-hosting-plans-comparison/
- https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/9347/22/benefits-of-stellar-business-hosting-packages/
- https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/519/22/do-you-offer-a-free-trial-period-for-hosting/
- https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/134/22/what-is-your-moneyback-policy/
- https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/177/27/shared-hosting-getting-started/
- https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/9927/2218/1year-free-cpanel-standard-ssl-certificate-offer/
- https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/132/22/do-you-offer-any-sitebuilding-software/
- https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/10714/2182/what-is-sitejet-builder-and-how-to-use-it/
- https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/10649/2187/extendify-overview/

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/namecheap
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).