I secretly test hosts every month for speed, reliability, and support. Here’s a comparison between Namecheap and Site5 with real proof of their performance.
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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. |
Site5 Hosting Plan
Site5 claims to be the "pros" when it comes to web hosting. They pride themselves on a custom control panel, 24/7 support, and data center locations all over the world. They've been around since 1999.
I have purchased a hosting plan on Site5 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 | HostPro |
|---|---|
| Cost | $10.95/month |
| Disk Space | Unlimited |
| Bandwidth | Unlimited |
| Uptime Guarantee | 99.9% |
| Money Back Guarantee | 45 days |
| Notes | Site was ready within minutes after I purchased, although DNS didn't work for about 30 minutes (even after it had propagated). |
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.
Namecheap performs above average in the Speed Test, with an average result of 3.1 seconds. It's best result was 2.00 s but it has been as bad as 72.71 s. Namecheap most recent result on Feb 19 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.
Site5 performs above average in the Speed Test, with an average result of 3.17 seconds. It's best result was 0.25 s but it has been as bad as 46.29 s. Site5 most recent result on Feb 19 was 2.00 s. For the most part, Site5 has decent response times. They could make things load faster if they compressed resources and set caching headers, but at least connections are efficient.
Let’s see how Namecheap and Site5 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.
Namecheap performs okay 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 Feb 18 was 99.000 %. 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.
Site5 performs miserably in the Uptime Test, with an average result of 99.82 percent. It's best result was 100.000 % but it has been as bad as 50.694 %. Site5 most recent result on Feb 18 was 100.000 %. Honestly, I expected Site5 to have better reliability. They've had a couple instances where my site was down for multiple hours, and that has ruined their overall average. But day-to-day they still have minor outages that annoy me.
Let’s see how Namecheap and Site5 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.
Namecheap performs alright 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.
Site5 performs incredibly in the Support Response Time Test, with an average result of 0.28 hours. It's best result was 0.10 h but it has been as bad as 0.80 h. Site5 most recent result on Mar 22 was 0.30 h. Site5 has always responded to my support tickets in under an hour. That's pretty awesome. They're also one of the only hosts that emails you ahead of time about planned outages, and I appreciate being informed.
Let’s see how Namecheap and Site5 compare in detail for their uptime stats: