NameCheap vs Cloudways -Which Web Host Reigns Supreme?

This Namecheap vs. Cloudways comparison comes from someone with firsthand experience with both web hosts. 

I started using Namecheap in 2015, then on a shared hosting server. In 2020, during COVID-19, I migrated to EasyWP, Namecheap’s cloud-managed WordPress hosting. 

After three years with EasyWP, I migrated to the Cloudways DigitalOcean server in April 2023.

Why did I move to Cloudways? And left EasyWP? 

You’ll find all the answers in this comparison review of Namecheap versus Cloudways. 

What you will learn in this guide

Here are a couple of takeaways from reading this post.

• The main reason I moved to Cloudways and why you should care. 
• How easy is it to deploy WordPress on both hosts?
• Who should use Namecheap or Cloudways?
• Performance test and hosting features.
• Which web host helps with Google Core Web Vitals? 
• Price model and hosting plan. 
• How responsive and supportive is customer care? 

Cloudways and NameCheap – Overview

Co-founded in 2012 by Pere Hospital and Aaqib Gadit, Cloudways is a renowned cloud hosting provider that has redefined how businesses and individuals build an online presence through high-quality hosting services. 

Through five carefully selected cloud service providers (more on that later), Cloudways provides a user-friendly platform geared towards simplicity. It delivers optimal server performance, scalable hosting plans, and competitive hosting prices.

Cloudway’s target customers are agencies, small businesses, companies, web developers, and individuals seeking hosting solutions that adapt to their unique needs and offer flexible scalability, allowing you to focus on business growth without worrying about server-side management.  

While it focuses on WooCommerce and WordPress hosting, Cloudways lets you deploy other web applications like Magento, PHP, and Laravel. All hosting types run in a managed hosting environment, so you can focus more on growing your business. 

Namecheap is known for being an accredited ICANN domain name registrar first and web hosting second. The company is the second-largest domain name registrar worldwide, with over 16 million domains and counting.  

Only GoDaddy, with over 76 million registered domains, has more active registered customers’ domain names than Namecheap. 

Namecheap was founded in 2000 by Richard Kirkendall with one mission: to make high-quality web hosting services affordable for individuals and small business owners. True to its mission, most Namecheap hosting packages are inexpensive yet offer high-quality features and services.  

Through the years, Namecheap has developed several cost-effective, innovative hosting and marketing solutions that help businesses and individuals start, grow, and manage their businesses without breaking the bank.

Like Cloudways, Namecheap allows businesses, individuals, and developers to install web applications in the cPanel.

As part of the company’s hosting affordability mission, Namecheap launched EasyWP in May 2017 to provide affordable managed WordPress hosting solutions. 

Now that you have a brief overview of both companies, let’s dive in. 

Ease of Use

User experience plays a significant role in quickly deploying web applications, locating essential hosting features and tools, navigating the interface, and completing important tasks. 

Both Cloudways and Namecheap have simple, intuitive user interfaces that help you avoid getting lost the first time. 

In July 2023, Cloudways launched a redesigned user dashboard that is more intuitive and smoother, delivering a better user experience. The new dashboard lets users find and manage hosting features more effectively, showcase necessary account settings, and simplify navigation. 

Here is the new Cloudways user dashboard

Hovering your computer mouse anywhere on the side menu reveals a slideout panel. This slideout panel contains additional hosting features, account and project settings, and management. 

Here, you can access features like Cloudways add-ons, team management, project management, and affiliate programs, add funds to your account, and access servers and applications. 

If you have been following the image, you will notice that the Cloudways new user dashboard is trying to be as clean and decluttered as possible. 

There are no unnecessary elements or features on the main screen area. Access to most features is only revealed through the slideout panel when needed.

Still, you can access your server and application settings from the main screen area without sliding out the panel. 

Namecheap’s EasyWP uses a somewhat more simplified approach to its user dashboard. 

Simplicity is at its best. The user dashboard or control panel is customized to make server and website management as painless as possible. 

After completing the sign-up process, you will be greeted with a dashboard like this. 

To manage hosting features like SFTP and database access, CPU and RAM usage report, initiate backups, and access to add-ons, click the “manage” button. Use the other button/link, “WP Admin,” to log in to your WordPress admin backend. 

Clicking the manage button/link opens the control panel for more options. 

Via its navigation menu, you can access other important hosting features. On the overview page, you can access account settings, upgrade your hosting account, and view the next repayment date. 

The overview page also displays your application’s WordPress version, CPU and RAM usage, and access to change the domain name connected to your hosting account. 

An important point to note is that EasyWP assigns a temporary domain name when you open an account. You should later change this to your custom domain name before making your blog go live.  

This process is more straightforward if your domain name is registered with Namecheap. However, if your domain name is registered with a third party, you must follow your domain name registrar’s instructions for connecting to a hosting account. 

You can also follow these instructions to connect your domain name to the EasyWP hosting account. The links also work if you use Cloudflare CDN or if your domain name is registered with Cloudflare.

Domain Management 

Pointing your hosting account to a custom domain name on both platforms requires some explanation, especially if you’re new to this. 

Since Cloudways does not offer domain name registration services, and EasyWP is more of a standalone product from Namecheap, you will need to configure your domain name to point to your server’s IP addresses in both web hosts. 

When you create a hosting account in Cloudways and EasyWP, your site automatically deploys under a subdomain. Something like this: 

https://wordpress-987683-3472022.cloudwaysapps.com (in Cloudways)

https://yourdomainname-139cd0.ingress-bonde.ewp.live (in EasyWP)

You must change this to your custom-registered domain name. 

In Cloudways, click the application whose web address you want to change and select “Domain Management” from the list. Click “Add Domain,” enter your domain name, and make it the primary. 

Note that you must have configured the DNS records in your domain name registrar to the Cloudways server IP for it to work. How you do this will depend on where your domain is registered, though most processes follow the same. 

Configuring domain names in EasyWP is similar to Cloudways.

Click the change button next to the default EasyWP subdomain name on the control panel overview page. 

On the next page, select the option that best suits your situation.

If it’s with a third-party provider, select the option and follow the subsequent instructions to configure the DNS and create new ALIAS records. 

The processes are very similar, and everything is straightforward to understand. However, Cloudways and Namecheap offer real-time responsive support if you get stuck and need assistance.

I will discuss the quality of their customer service in detail later in this post. 

When I compare how easy it is to complete the process on both platforms, I think it is a tie, and nothing out of the ordinary.  

Performance and Server Speed

This is where things get a bit complex and need a thorough analysis. 

Remember, I told you earlier in this post that I moved to Cloudways for a reason, but I didn’t explain why. 

This section explains why I migrated to Cloudways and discusses the issues I experienced while hosting with EasyWP. 

To be precise, I completed the migration to EasyWP on April 20, 2020, and speed and performance improved as expected. I was getting value for my money until traffic gradually increased, and I started experiencing connection timeout issues and frequently 429 error warnings. 

Though the performance was great when tested with page speed tools like Gtmetrix, Pingdom, and the rest, the connection timeout became more frequent and worrisome as traffic gradually increased. 

The regular connection timeout or downtime does not relate to extreme server resource usage or anything like that. Given the volume of traffic I get at the time, I hardly use 50% of the server’s allocated resources. 

This was one of the GTmetrix tests done at the time for the blog homepage. (Note the date in the test result)

Since EasyWP has its built-in three-layer cache mechanism, I don’t have to worry about optimization much. The built-in cache mechanism works great.

But as my blog traffic increased, I realized I needed to move to a higher plan. So, I upgraded to the EasyWP Turbo plan, which offers 1.5X more CPU and RAM. 50 GB storage and 200k monthly visits.

After moving to the Turbo plan, downtime was significantly reduced, and performance improved. However, one particular issue remains unresolved: Google Core Web Vitals, especially Time to First Byte and the Largest Contentful Paint.

While hundreds of other factors may affect Core Web Vitals, a poor hosting environment will not help, regardless of how optimized the other factors are.  

Another issue I had with EasyWP is the built-in cache. Since it is built into the core software, I can’t customize its settings. 

Moreover, WP Rocket is on EasyWP’s list of restricted plugins. At the time, WP Rocket was one of the plugins I wanted to test to improve speed and performance. So, this is a no-bargain. 

After trying many options to improve speed, performance, and CWV, I migrated to Cloudways in April 2023. 

After migrating to the Cloudways DigitalOcean server, I noticed improved server response time and CWV. 

This was unsurprising, considering the Turbo plan and the Cloudways DigitalOcean CPU and RAM size. You will always get what you pay for.

The slight difference in CPU and RAM sizes makes all the difference in the speed and performance of the website pages. 

Another significant advantage I had with Cloudways is the option to remove its Breeze cache plugin. Unlike EasyWP, Cloudways makes it easy to use cache plugins.

You’re not forced to use the recommended plugin, Breeze. 

So, suppose Breeze is insufficient for your needs. In that case, you can safely uninstall it and use something more powerful like WP Rocket, Perfmatters, or any combination of cache and file/code optimization plugins you deem fit for your website.  

Based on my experience, Cloudways outperforms EasyWP in website performance, speed, and server response time. 

Cloudway’s partnership with Cloudflare Enterprise adds another layer of speed and performance to its core server infrastructure. With its global CDN, it pushes the hosting performance beyond good and makes faster website pages available to users regardless of location. 

EasyWP also has a free CDN for its Turbo and SuperSonic hosting plans, but it does not provide the same features, speed, and performance as Cloudflare Enterprise’s solution. 

Hosting Features

EasyWP offers basic or essential hosting features compared to today’s cloud hosting features. There are no out-of-the-ordinary or fantastic, jaw-dropping hosting features. 

Here is what you get for hosting with EasyWP:

• Free SSL certificate
• Free Supersonic CDN.
• Built-in 3-layer cache mechanism. (Varnish, Opcache, and Redis Object Cache)
• 100GB for its SuperSonic hosting plan, 50GB for Turbo, and 10GB for the Starter plan.
• Automatic updates – Plugins, themes, and WordPress Core software. 
• On-demand and regular backup. 
• Unlimited bandwidth.
• Free Migration
• 30-day free trial 
• Secured access to the database and STPF server.
• Real-time resource usage analytics report.
• Access to add-ons (logo maker, Business email, CDN, and Premium DNS)
• 24/7 support – Online chats, email, and ticket support. 

While these hosting features look impressive, they fall short of what you have in Cloudways. 

Cloudways offers hosting features that make running an online presence fun and painless, allowing you to put more energy, resources, and time into growing your business. 

Hosting with Cloudways gives you access to the following features: 

• Auto healing
• Dedicated firewall 
• Regular automated and on-demand backup.
• Team management
• Staging sites
• Free ObjectCache Pro.
• Install unlimited applications.
• SSH and SFTP access.
• Security patching.
• Free 1-year Astra Pro add-on
• SSD-based server.
• Cloudflare Enterprise add-ons – (CDN + Image optimization + cache, file minification, mobile optimization, early pre-hint, scrape shield, and page edge caching). Also, include Cloudflare under the attack mode feature. 
• The Breeze plugin (Cloudways’s dedicated cache plugin) was preinstalled.
• Bot protection
• Cron job management. 
• Powerful analytics – server and resource usage monitoring and error logs. 
• Deploy codes via GIT 

Now, let’s check some of what separates these two hosting features.

First, staging is missing from EasyWP at the time of this writing. You cannot clone your website into a staging environment. 

In comparison, staging is an essential hosting feature in Cloudways, and it’s available to all users, regardless of the hosting package or plan.

EasyWP does not offer automatic website backup. You can create an entire site backup at any time, but it is not handled automatically. You have to initiate the backup process manually.  

In contrast, Cloudways keeps regular daily automatic backups of your entire site in case of a sudden or unexpected website crash. 

The above screenshot shows my site’s daily automatic backup in the Cloudways account. The best part is that restoring any backup is just one click away. 

With this feature, you don’t have to worry about accidentally making unexpected changes to your website; you can restore it to an earlier state with one click. 

You cannot set up cron jobs in EasyWP to automate tasks. Only in Namecheap’s shared hosting can you do this. 

Also, because EasyWP is created this way, you cannot choose a PHP version for your site or configure limits to suit your unique needs. 

While both platforms offer analytics features, the information you access with Cloudways is incomparable to that available with EasyWP. 

EasyWP shows only CPU and RAM usage data. 

Cloudways offers comprehensive insights into server performance, error logs, disk usage, MySQL databases, running cron jobs, etc. It provides deep insight into traffic statistics, allowing you to view real-time traffic by IP address, bot traffic, requested URLs, and URL status codes. 

These data can help you offer a better user experience and improve SEO. 

Another significant advantage of Cloudways hosting is its bot protection, which automatically stops hackers and bad bots from reaching your site. 

With this feature, you can rest assured that your site is protected from hackers, cybercriminals, and bad bots. Cloudways preinstalls the bot protection plugin, so you don’t need to install it yourself.

Furthermore, Cloudways offers application settings that give more control over site security and website performance. 

For example, you can enable/disable access to your application in one click. You can also block access to your PHP files to prevent hackers from uploading files through backdoors. 

In addition, you can disable WordPress XMLRPC to prevent possible brute-force or DDoS attacks. Enables HTTPS 301 redirection for all mapped domains to your application. This can improve SEO and enhance crawling and indexing. 

As you might have guessed, covering all the Cloudways features in this Namecheap vs Cloudways comparison will be exhausting. 

One thing to note is that Cloudways offers superior hosting features to Namecheap EasyWP. There is no contest here; it is a win for Cloudways. 

Pricing and Plans

EasyWP’s pricing and plans are more straightforward than Cloudways’, making it essential to compare Namecheap’s EasyWP and Cloudways’ pricing models. 

You can choose from three standard prices in EasyWP: Starter, Turbo, and Supersonic. Each plan gives you access to a set limit of resources and features. 

The starter plan costs $6.88/month. It includes 10GB SSD-based storage, a 50k monthly traffic limit, and a free SSL certificate. 

The Turbo plan allows up to 200k monthly visits, 50GB SSD storage, a free SSL certificate, and CDN. It also gives you more CPU and RAM power and costs $12.88 monthly. 

Its Supersonic plan includes 100GB of storage, a 99.99% uptime guarantee, 200k monthly visits, a free CDN and SSL certificate, and the highest RAM and CPU power. 

When it comes to RAM and CPU, here is what you get in EasyWP. 

Get a 30-day free trial of EasyWP if you need to test it before committing to a paid plan. 

On its part, Cloudways offers cloud hosting service from three different cloud service providers (it used to be five, but Cloudways has dropped Vultr and Linode):

• Google Cloud
• DigitalOcean
• AWS – Amazon Web Service

These providers offer different access levels and quality cloud hosting services through Cloudways partnerships. DigitalOcean, being the cheapest, offers an entry-level hosting plan for beginners and small business owners.

Regarding flexibility in hosting pricing, Cloudways gives you more control over what you’re paying for and how you’re paying for it. 

Unlike fixed hosting plans that cap resources, Cloudways offers a pay-as-you-go pricing model. You can choose to pay for resources used per hour or monthly.

This allows you to receive invoices only for the resources used during the month or on an hourly basis. You never billed for what you did not use.  

The DigitalOcean starting price is $11 per month, with 25GB SSD-based storage and 1TB of bandwidth. 

This price is the starting point; it increases to $14 per month when you switch to Premium instead of the standard DigitalOcean server. 

Google Cloud’s starting price is $37.45 per month, and it includes 20GB storage and 2GB bandwidth. AWS also offers 2GB of bandwidth and 20GB of storage, and the starting plan costs $38.56 per month. 

Cloudways offers over 15 hosting packages for Google Cloud and AWS, and five for its DigitalOcean servers; you can check them on the pricing page. 

If you need to test Cloudways before investing, the 3-day free trial offer gives you access to the DigitalOcean server. Google Cloud and AWS servers are not available for the free trial offers. 

Customer Support Service

I would argue that both Cloudways and Namecheap offer excellent support services. 

I have engaged with the customer departments several times, and both web hosts have done excellently. 

First, there was no unusual delay in response time, and the on-site support reps were friendly and supportive and always resolved my queries. 

Namecheap offers 24/7/365 live chat and ticket support onsite. You will always receive a reply via your registered email. At the time of writing, there is no phone support. 

While both platforms have done well in support service quality, Cloudways takes things to the next level by offering different support tiers to meet user needs. 

There are Standard, Advanced, and Premium support add-ons.

The standard support is sufficient for most Cloudways users. It offers 24/7/365 responsive support reps. 

You will get Cloudways infrastructure and platform support, access to open tickets, and on-site live chats. 

Advanced support provides additional services for users who need more than the standard support. 

In addition to everything in the Standard support, you can access application and customization support. You can also receive timely alerts for Proactive monitoring to investigate issues quickly. 

The Premium support add-on is for mission-critical sites that need closer collaboration and partnership with Cloidways. It gives you access to everything in the Advanced package, plus 24/7/365 access to a private Slack channel and phone support. 

As you should expect, there is no free lunch. Providing the extra support costs money. Here are the extras you pay for the Advanced and Premium support. 

Who Should Use Namecheap or Cloudways

If you’re starting with little to no digital marketing experience and want to handle hosting yourself, Namecheap is your ideal web host. 

Also, if you have a limited budget for a hosting plan and need something more affordable without sacrificing performance, try Namecheap. You could choose its shared hosting or its managed WordPress product, EasyWP. 

Namecheap is more beginner-friendly, cheap, and suitable for low-traffic sites.

Conversely, Cloudways is better suited for growing websites with moderate traffic and marketers with hosting management experience. 

Sure, most settings are hands-on, and you don’t need to get involved in server management if you don’t want to. However, Cloudways’ hosting features are still more geared towards intermediate and advanced users. 

Cloudways is the ideal option for agencies, web development companies, businesses, and individuals with growing hosting needs who want to focus on the business side rather than server management. 

It is the platform that lets you customize your hosting experience to suit your unique needs and access other industry services and tools. 

Consider Cloudways if you need a hosting platform that guarantees no downtime during sudden traffic spikes or viral launches. Hosting resources are automatically allocated during high-traffic times and downgraded when the honeymoon ends.

Conclusion

As you can guess, I started with Namecheap as a beginner and then moved to Cloudways with more experience and knowledge, so I have sufficient knowledge of both platforms. 

After carefully comparing Namecheap vs Cloudways, including features, infrastructures, pricing, and support, and sharing my experience, it’s clear that Cloudways is the winner. 

Though Namecheap offers some strong competing hosting features, it lacks the advanced features, mechanisms, and flexibility of Cloudways. 

Cloudways hosting is faster, provides more security features, and delivers higher-performance hosting than Namecheap.