Namecheap and DreamHost are two well-known web hosting providers, and in this article, we compare both hosts to help you make the best hosting decision.

Namecheap vs DreamHost – Discover the Best Choice

Trying to choose between Namecheap or DreamHost for your hosting needs? Both are reputable hosting providers so it may be hard to pick a side. We compared both hosts across different areas – features, ease of use, customer support and care, pricing, performance, and website migration.

Namecheap came out on top!  However, DreamHost is still a strong Namecheap competitor, and depending on what you need may be better for you. Read on to see what makes each host stand out so you can decide.

Overall Comparison – Namecheap vs DreamHost

Winner: Namecheap

This is a close tie, but Namecheap edges it when it comes to features and performance. DreamHost may not be as feature-rich as Namecheap, but it’s certainly better in terms of WordPress plans and is a fierce Namecheap competitor. Read on to learn more about the two services.

About Namecheap and DreamHost

	Founded in 2000, Namecheap was created to provide the best domains at affordable prices, but it has since evolved into a full-fledged hosting service, now dealing with hosting, security, WordPress management, and so many other services. Not to mention it remains the registrar with one of the most affordable domains.
	DreamHost was founded in 1996, making it one of the oldest web hosting platforms on the internet. It’s still immensely popular though, powering over 1.5 million websites from over 100 countries. The greatest selling point of DreamHost is its mature support for WordPress, offering a huge array of WordPress plans, and an easy one-click installation feature.

Round 1: Hosting features – Key Hosting Features and Services

Key Namecheap Features

For shared hosting accounts, Namecheap offers unlimited bandwidth and disk space ranging between 20GB and 50GB. It also limits the number of monthly visitors for its three managed WordPress plans to 50k, 200k, and 500k respectively while providing disk space of 10GB, 50GB, and 100GB.

Furthermore, you get high-performance SSD and HDD storage, free and automatic daily backups, 1-click WordPress installation, and free site migration in case you want to move to another hosting provider.

Namecheap also uses SiteMaker as its website builder, and it is accessible in all plans, allowing you to build your website from scratch without needing to know how to code. Finally, you get free SSL protection on all plans.

Key DreamHost Features

DreamHost’s shared hosting plans all allow for unlimited traffic, but when it comes to disk space, the “Shared Starter” plan allows for just one website whereas the “Shared Unlimited” plan allows for an unlimited number of websites. Both its VPS hosting plans and managed WordPress plans provide unlimited bandwidth and traffic, but they provide varying amounts of disk space ranging from 30GB to 120 GB.

Furthermore, you’re provided with free and automatic backups, free SSL protection, 1-click WordPress installation, and free website migration, to mention a few. DreamHost also provides a WordPress website builder that lets you build your website from scratch.

And the winner is… Namecheap

In the first Namecheap vs DreamHost round, Namecheap takes the edge with more bandwidth and disk space, free SSL protection on all plans, and an overall superior feature list.

Round 2:  Prices & Plans

Namecheap Pricing Plans

Namecheap provides different plans, each of them tailored for specific users and use-cases:

• Shared hosting plans – tailored for small websites such as portfolio websites, personal service websites and so on
• VPS hosting plans – tailored for small business websites such as Ecommerce websites, big blogs, news websites and so on
• WordPress hosting plans – tailored for WordPress websites
• Dedicated hosting plans – created for companies that deal with huge traffic and large volumes of data, as well as companies that need top-notch security, IT companies, and hosting resellers.

DreamHost Pricing Plans

DreamHost offers great WordPress plans as well as a cloud computing plan (DreamCompute), but there are also a host of other plans for different use cases:

• Shared hosting plans – tailored for small websites such as portfolio websites, personal service websites and so on
• VPS hosting plans – tailored for small business websites such as Ecommerce websites, big blogs, news websites and so on
• WordPress hosting plans – tailored for WordPress websites
• Dedicated hosting plans – created for companies that deal with huge traffic and large volumes of data.

And the Winner Is… Namecheap

Namecheap offers very affordable plans with wider coverage. Most of DreamHost’s plans are more expensive compared to their Namecheap equivalents.

Round 3: Website performance (Uptime & Speed)

A host’s uptime tells you how long their servers are active in a given period, while the server’s speed shows how long it takes for the server to send the first byte of data. A higher uptime represents better server activity, and higher server speeds result in your page loading more quicker. Now, Namecheap vs DreamHost.

Namecheap Uptime & Speed

We used GTMetrix and Google PageSpeed Insights to test Namecheap’s server speeds, and on GTMetrix, Namecheap got an average server speed (TTFB) of 719 ms and had an overall performance 98%:

After running the same test using PageSpeed Insights, Namecheap’s server responded in 1.1s and had an excellent 97% performance:

Keep in mind that the overall page load speeds vary depending on the physical distance between the user and server location.

DreamHost Uptime & Speed

DreamHost’s results were slightly below that of Namecheap. On GTMetrix, DreamHost’s average server speed (TTFB) was 815ms and had an overall performance of 94%:

On PageSpeed Insights, DreamHost’s Time to First Byte was 0.8s (300ms faster than Namecheap) and had a 70% overall performance:

Both hosting providers have had an impressive 99.9% uptime making them very reliable.

And the Winner Is… Namecheap

Another close call, but Namecheap edges DreamHost in terms of speed and achieved a better performance overall.

Round 4: Customer Support – Who Has the Best Support System?

Namecheap customer Support

Namecheap provides several support portals to customers, including phone, live chat, email, knowledgebase, video tutorials, and blog.

Even better, you don’t have to be a customer in order to chat with a live agent. Anyone can send a message and have an agent instantly reply to them. I did so and got the following result.

If you love figuring things out on your own, Namecheap offers several self-learning options:

Together these channels provide a wealth of information on how to use Namecheap and also give solutions to problems you might encounter.

DreamHost Customer Support

With DreamHost, support is mainly provided to customers via email and live chat. It does not have phone or ticket support.

DreamHost provides a knowledgebase and blog, YouTube guides, discussion forums, tutorials, and other learning channels for customers.

To have a live chat with an agent, you need to have a DreamHost account and must be signed in.

If you’re not a customer, the only way to access customer support is via the contact form. When emailing DreamHost’s support team, you’re required to always include your domain name (website name).

And the Winner Is… Namecheap

Namecheap’s customer support is much more accessible to customers and their agents are quick to respond, unlike DreamHost where you have to be a customer to have a live chat with an agent.

Round 5: Ease of use – Which Platform Is Easier to Use?

Namecheap Ease of use

Namecheap is widely known for being very easy to use. The process of hosting and registering a domain is seamless, not to mention its intuitive and simple user interface.

Its modern cPanel is also so simple and straight-forward to navigate.

The cPanel is where you manage your hosting backend from. You can access file upload, databases, emails, backup and restore, security, and other advanced settings there.

DreamHost Ease of use

DreamHost is one of the easiest hosts to use, and part of the reason for that is that it doesn’t overload you with features but provides the tools you need to get started. DreamHost’s homepage is intuitive, giving you a run-down of hosting plans to select.

DreamHost doesn’t use cPanel. Instead, it offers a custom-built panel from where you can manage your websites, databases, email, and billing. You can perform most of the tasks you do on cPanel using the DreamHost panel.

I’d also like to add that they did an awesome job with the design. It’s clear and simple to navigate.

And the Winner Is DreamHost

Both Namecheap and DreamHost are very easy to use, so this is down to personal preference. I just love the simplicity of DreamHost’s panel.

Round 6: Security – Which Platform is More Secure?

Namecheap Security

Namecheap provides a free SSL, as well as a domain name and privacy protection on all of its plans. If you’re willing to pay $2.98 per month, you can get daily auto backup, and with the higher plans, you’ll get advanced security features like SiteLock Security, Web Application Firewall, and Database scanning.

DreamHost Security

DreamHost is very much like Namecheap – it provides basic security features like SSL, auto backup, and DDoS protection by default, but in order to access advanced features you’ll need to go with the higher plans.

And the Winner Is… Namecheap

This one was close, but Namecheap edges it because you get more security features with the basic plan which is cheaper than that of DreamHost.

Round 7: Server locations

Server location influences your website loading speed – the closer the servers are to your site users, the faster your website will load.

Namecheap Server location

Namecheap’s data centers are located in the USA, UK, and Europe, with the European data center being in Amsterdam.

DreamHost Server location

Dreamhost has its data center in the United States. The current Dreamhost data centers are in Ashburn, Virginia (US-East); and Portland, Oregon (US-West). All your data will be housed in one of these two data centers.

And the Winner Is… Namecheap

Namecheap has physical servers in more locations around the world, making it a better choice for your website if the minor speed difference is important to you.

Namecheap vs DreamHost: Final Recommendations

When to Choose Namecheap?

Our winner is Namecheap, thanks to its affordable hosting plans and tons of amazing features. And while both hosts are closely matched, you should choose Namecheap if:

• You want the most affordable hosting plans
• Your target audience is not necessarily based in the US
• You want a fast average load speed for your site
• You are a hosting provider looking for a reseller service
• You want a host with the most reliable support
• Unmetered bandwidth and up to 1TB of storage
• You are familiar with and prefer the good old cPanel design.

When to Choose DreamHost?

• You are a small to mid-sized business
• You want affordable hosting plans
• Your audience is mostly US-based
• Your website is built on WordPress
• You want an easy-to-use control dashboard and are not big on cPanel
• 97-day money-back guarantee for WordPress plans