Namecheap vs A2 Hosting Comparison

After 3 years of testing, let’s compare Namecheap vs A2 Hosting and find out how they’ve performed so far…

Namecheap vs A2 Hosting – Testing Method

  • Prior to testing, I have setup identical content on all 8 Live Test Sites
  • Each week over 80,000 speed & uptime tests are run using independent tools, GTmetrix & Pingdom
  • GTmetrix Logo 50Pingdom Logo 50

  • Test results below are from 04 Apr 2016 to 22 Dec 2018

Test #1: Speed

The GTmetrix Speed Test checks how long it takes for a website to fully load using a desktop internet browser. This test is then repeated every hour throughout the week (1,340 times).

  • From the time they were added in Jan 2017, Namecheap’s speed has consistently been in the bottom half of our hosts. 
  • A2 Hosting’s speed was impressive in 2016, and they typically found themselves in the top 2 of our 8 hosts. Unfortunately, their extremely poor uptime performance led to their removal on 28th Jan 2017. Read below for more details.
  • Namecheap is currently sitting in 8th place, with A2 in 9th in our Speed Rankings.
Namecheap vs A2 Hosting Speed Table - Apr 2016 to Dec 2018

H2 2018 Results

Namecheap vs A2 Hosting Speed Chart - Jul 2018 to Dec 2018
Namecheap vs A2 Hosting Speed Table - Jul 2018 to Dec 2018

H1 2018 Results

Namecheap vs A2 Hosting Speed Chart - Jan 2018 to Jul 2018
Namecheap vs A2 Hosting Speed Table - Jan 2018 to Jul 2018

H2 2017 Results

Namecheap vs A2 Hosting Speed Chart - Aug 2017 to Dec 2017
Namecheap vs A2 Hosting Speed Table - Aug 2017 to Dec 2017

H1 2017 Results

Namecheap vs A2 Hosting Speed Chart - Jan 2017 to Aug 2017
Namecheap vs A2 Hosting Speed Table - Jan 2017 to Aug 2017

Test #2: Uptime

The Pingdom Uptime Test confirms that the website is actually accessible to visitors. This test is then repeated every minute throughout the week (80,640 times).

  • While Namecheap tend to experience downtime each week, the duration was usually short in 2017. This resulted in a 4th place ranking at the end of 2017. Unfortunately, the results have dropped away in H1 & H2 2018, with Namecheap recording 614 minutes of downtime.
  • A2 Hosting performed extremely poorly when it came to Uptime. This was especially evident in Q4 2016, where downtime was a whopping 575 minutes, which is almost 10 hours. This continued into 2017, with a further 939 minutes downtime in just 3 weeks. This unbelievably bad performance resulted in A2 Hosting being replaced by Namecheap for future testing.
  • Namecheap is currently ranked 7th, while A2 is 10th in our Uptime Rankings.
Namecheap vs A2 Hosting Uptime Table - Apr 2016 to Dec 2018

Namecheap vs A2 Hosting – Overall Test Results

The Overall Ranking accumulates the results from the speed & uptime tests to determine the #1 Host.

  • The early signs for Namecheap indicated they were below average when it came to speed and above average with uptime. But 2018 has not been kind to Namecheap, with the the below average speed continuing, and the  uptime results falling into the bottom 2 active hosts. 
  • Even though A2 Hosting were able to perform impressively when it came to loading times in 2016, their weakness was always poor uptime. This became a serious problem in Q4 2016 and continued into 2017. Unfortunately, this led to A2 being unable to compete with our other hosts, and ultimately requiring them to be replaced.
  • Namecheap is currently 8th and A2 is in 10th in our Overall Rankings.
Namecheap vs A2 Hosting Overall Table - Apr 2016 to Dec 2018

How do Namecheap & A2 Hosting compare to our 8 other Hosts?