I secretly test hosts every month for speed, reliability, and support. Here’s a comparison between DreamHost and Namecheap with real proof of their performance.
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DreamHost Hosting Plan
Dreamhost is known for their unlimited resources at a great value. They have been around since 1998 and hosts over 10 million sites. Data centers are located in California and Virginia.
I have purchased a hosting plan on DreamHost and set up a typical web site. I use that example website to run these tests. Learn more about how I test.
Here is the plan information I chose:
| Plan Name | Happy Hosting |
|---|---|
| Cost | $10.95/month |
| Disk Space | Unlimited |
| Bandwidth | Unlimited |
| Uptime Guarantee | 100% |
| Money Back Guarantee | 45 days |
| Notes | Site was ready within minutes after I purchased. |
Namecheap Hosting Plan
Namecheap started as a domain registrar in 2001, but expanded into hosting in 2008. Their data centers are located in Phoenix, Arizona and Atlanta, Georgia.
I have purchased a hosting plan on Namecheap and set up a typical web site. I use that example website to run these tests. Learn more about how I test.
Here is the plan information I chose:
| Plan Name | Professional |
|---|---|
| Cost | $7.48/month |
| Disk Space | 100GB |
| Bandwidth | Unlimited |
| Uptime Guarantee | 99.9% |
| Money Back Guarantee | 14 days |
| Notes | Site was ready within minutes after I purchased. |
Page Speed Test Results
This test measures the total time it takes to load a standard web page. Lower is better. Learn more about the Page Speed Test.
DreamHost performs impressively in the Speed Test, with an average result of 2.65 seconds. It's best result was 0.00 s but it has been as bad as 21.25 s. DreamHost most recent result on Jan 4 was 0.00 s. I expected Dreamhost to have poor performance, but they're not that bad. There are faster hosts out there, but you're not going to be disappointed with them.
Namecheap performs great in the Speed Test, with an average result of 3.04 seconds. It's best result was 2.00 s but it has been as bad as 72.71 s. Namecheap most recent result on Jan 4 was 2.00 s. Namecheap proves that they have consistent, low page load times. While I bet it could be improved if they enabled compression and caching headers, their stats are something other hosts strive for.
Let’s see how DreamHost and Namecheap compare in detail for their page speed stats:
Uptime Test Results
This test is performed by measuring the % uptime of a host. Higher is better. Learn more about the Uptime Test.
DreamHost performs pretty poorly in the Uptime Test, with an average result of 70.93 percent. It's best result was 100.000 % but it has been as bad as 0.000 %. DreamHost most recent result on Mar 16 was 0.000 %. Dreamhost has had a few significant outages, but I've seen worse. Their ping response time is pretty impressive, faster than most hosts, showing they have a decent network.
Namecheap performs alright in the Uptime Test, with an average result of 99.93 percent. It's best result was 100.000 % but it has been as bad as 92.000 %. Namecheap most recent result on Mar 16 was 100.000 %. Namecheap has had a few significant outages (more than a few minutes) since I started testing them. It's nothing horrendous, but other hosts have better reliability.
Let’s see how DreamHost and Namecheap compare in detail for their uptime stats:
Support Response Test Results
This test measures how quickly the host’s support team responds to your request. Lower is better. Learn more about the Support Response Test.
DreamHost performs okay in the Support Response Time Test, with an average result of 2.79 hours. It's best result was 0.20 h but it has been as bad as 11.00 h. DreamHost most recent result on Mar 22 was 1.30 h. Dreamhost will usually get back to you within an hour, although that's not always the case. Regardless their support is average.
Namecheap performs okay in the Support Response Time Test, with an average result of 2.2 hours. It's best result was 0.10 h but it has been as bad as 6.00 h. Namecheap most recent result on Mar 22 was 2.20 h. Something I like about Namecheap is their honesty. While most hosts hide the fact that they oversell (put more customers onto one server than it can handle), Namecheap admits they do it. They explain that not only is it the only way for a host to survive (profitably), but usually it's fine because 99% of websites don't get that much traffic (and aren't using all the resources they're allocated). Thanks for telling the truth, Namecheap.
Let’s see how DreamHost and Namecheap compare in detail for their uptime stats: