After 3 years of testing, let’s compare Namecheap vs Bluehost and find out how they’ve performed so far…
Namecheap vs Bluehost – 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
- 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.
- Bluehost’s average speed was poor across 2016 & 2017, consistently finishing in the bottom 2 hosts. However, in 2018, there has been a massive turnaround, as they have been our 4th fastest host in both H1 & H2 2018.
- Bluehost is currently sitting in 4th place, with Namecheap in 8th in our Speed Rankings.
H2 2018 Results
H1 2018 Results
H2 2017 Results
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.
- Bluehost performed poorly when it came to Uptime across 2016 & 2017. But once again 2018 is a different story, recording just 6 minutes of downtime in H1 2018 and 8 minutes in H2 2018. It is a remarkable result when you consider the past performance, but amazingly Bluehost is the best performing host for uptime in 2018.
- Bluehost is currently ranked 4th, while Namecheap is 7th in our Uptime Rankings.
View the Weekly Uptime Tests
Namecheap vs Bluehost – 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.
- Bluehost was consistently the slowest of our active hosts across 2016 & 2017. Combined with a less than stellar uptime resulted in it being 8th Overall at the end of 2017. But the big news of 2018 is the miraculous turnaround of Bluehost’s speed and especially it’s uptime performance. This has led to a massive jump in the overall rankings.
- Bluehost is currently 4th and Namecheap is in 8th in our Overall Rankings.
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