Bluehost vs Namecheap
Bluehost and Namecheap compared on measured uptime, response time, pricing and features from our own tests. Bluehost scores higher overall.
By Jennifer T. · Updated
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Verdict
BluehostWins overall
Newfold's WordPress-recommended host: three shared tiers on 36-month terms, weekly backups, a 5 percent SLA coupon
The Phoenix registrar's cPanel hosting: three sites for $5.88 at renewal, a 30-day free trial and four data centers
Bluehost wins 5 of the six sub-scores and comes out ahead overall (7.6 vs 6.9).
How do the scores compare?
Bluehost leads on 5 sub-scores, Namecheap on 1. Higher is better.
Which one is faster and more reliable?
Which one costs less?
On renewal, Namecheap is cheaper ($5.88/mo vs $9.99/mo). Intro prices need the listed term.
What does each include?
| Bluehost | Namecheap | |
|---|---|---|
| Free domain | First year, with a 12-month or 36-month term | No |
| Free SSL | Let's Encrypt | 50 standard certificates for one year on every plan, installed automatically |
| Backups | Weekly website backups on every shared plan | Twice a week on Stellar (restored by ticket); Stellar Plus and Business add AutoBackup with 6 daily, 3 weekly and 5 monthly copies |
| Staging | WordPress staging site on every plan | No |
| Free migration | Site migration tool | cPanel-to-cPanel transfers free; manual migration case by case |
| CDN | Yes | Not stated |
| Caching | Advanced static content caching and object caching | No |
| SSH and WP-CLI | Yes | Not stated |
| Security | Malware scanning on Starter; AI malware removal, web application firewall and DDoS protection from Business | Imunify360 (malware scanning, intrusion prevention, machine-learning firewall), KernelCare patching, account isolation, cPanel two-factor login |
| Phone support | Business and above; Starter has chat only | No |
| Uptime guarantee | 99.99% SLA; at most one coupon per month for 5% of the monthly hosting fee | 100% monthly on shared plans; one day of service added per hour of unscheduled downtime, up to one month, claimed by ticket within 10 days |
| Choice of data center | Region selected at checkout (North America, South America, Europe, Asia) | Not stated |
| Windows hosting | No | No |
| Free CDN | Not stated | Supersonic CDN with DDoS protection, for domains on Namecheap's hosting nameservers |
| SSH and languages | Not stated | Jailshell SSH, PHP, Perl, Python, Node.js and Ruby scripts |
| Data center choice | Not stated | Phoenix, Amsterdam, Singapore or Farnborough at checkout; moving an account later is a billing request |
| Website builder | Not stated | Sitejet AI website builder and an AI assistant for WordPress on every plan |
| Dedicated IP | Not stated | $4.00 a month add-on |