Arvixe or Namecheap Hosting? Help in Choosing Please...

[ellimac]

Hello,

I am a total newbie, first time to get hosting and thanks to your site and posts in WF I have narrowed down my choices to Namecheap and Arvixe Shared hosting. Since I am new to all this I don't have much idea if I have narrowed down my options right based on my needs. And of course, which is better between the 2. Here are my plans:

-all Wordpress-based websites
-2 websites for offline businesses to start with (animal clinic). No idea how much traffic they're going to have once established and SEO'd. But I think it won't be that much.
-planning to create Adsense and affiliate sites in the future..
-I don't know if this matters: I am located in the Philippines. I'm not sure I think I've read stuff about server locations better for those in Asia...
-whichever hosting has better support and is hassle free as I am not a technical expert and am a total noob

Namecheap appeals to me more as of now and I am about to proceed but I've read about downtimes, slowness, limits, so just wanna be as sure as possible.

Namecheap or Arvixe? Thank you!

Oh and also, are the prices at their respective sites going to be the same prices for renewal as well? Thanks.

[kpmedia]

Those are both excellent choices.

Tip: Namecheap's web-hosting.com site is about $1 cheaper. So use that, not namecheap.com. It's the same company, same hosting. No idea why the hosting-only site is lower priced than the all-in-one site (domains, SSL certs, hosting, etc), but not really something I worry about.

I've not experienced or read about any Namecheap downtimes, slowness or limits. In fact, Namecheap is very generous with resources when it comes to their shared servers. I've use them for a year now, with zero issues. In fact, Namecheap is only one of two hosts trusted to run this very site. We have servers at EuroVPS and Namecheap.

Namecheap plans work well for many shared needs, including CMS like WordPress.

Arvixe is an excellent shared host -- especially for WordPress and Windows. This is a host I've used for 2+ years now. The only issue that I've noticed is that the datacenter (and thus the server) sometimes doesn't connect well over the ocean. We've logged many micro-downtimes to Europe over the past year. So Arvixe isn't the best option to host sites that are popular in Europe. Also worth noting: their idea of "WordPress hosting" is just standard shared hosting.

As far as which host has faster/better techs, Arvixe usually wins that contest, but not always. Last month Namecheap won that round. Both hosts have excellent ownership, and an excellent presence online. We currently rank Arvixe better, and that's because it's a slightly better host.

Yes, unlike shady EIG hosts, Arvixe and Namecheap renew at the same price. If you use Arvixe, use the exclusive coupon code digitalfaq to get 10% off monthly plans, and 20% off annual plans.

What appeals to you more about Namecheap?

[ellimac]

Wow thank you for your prompt reply and for your tip. Namecheap appealed to me more because of:

1. the Site. I like the site design, so that instantly had a first impression which still lasts. Compared to Arvixe, etc., Namecheap's site for me is nice to the eye and easier to read due to its font. Basically I am more at ease and enjoying more while browsing through it so far, compared to the other hosting company sites. And just to add, the site is colorful and cute for me

2. the Price. This is really the major factor while I was sifting through the hosts as I am just starting out and all. Namecheap is the cheapest I found in relation to the disk space provided. Some are almost equal to or cheaper than $3.98 but have less disk space than 25 GB so I think Namecheap will give the most value for my money. Also there are discount coupons as big as 50% off so I'd be able to save even more.

3. the Info. The Namecheap Knowledgebase looks packed with potentially helpful info. It even has videos which could be useful for a noob like me. I just think that it will be easier for me to find something once needed than in Arvixe.

So in all those above Namecheap wins for me. I'm just having second thoughts since as you mentioned, Arvixe is slightly better. Of course what will matter really is how the hosting service will go in terms of quality and support.

[kpmedia]

1. Some of the worst hosts have nice sites. So beware! That's not really a factor in determining the quality of hosting companies. (Although the inverse is NOT true -- good hosts never have terrible sites. Avoid any business that has "under construction" pages, major broken links, it looks like it was designed in 1995 with Netscape Gold, etc.)

FYI: Namecheap re-designed their site not 2 weeks ago! (I actually like old one better.)

2. You should never pick a host based on price. Whether it's $1/monthly or $10/monthly, it's not expensive. Your phone bill probably costs $50+ monthly, and utilities $50+ each. It's hard to even buy a decent lunch for $5! So anything under $25 monthly is honestly "cheap". Many, many hosts achieve those low prices by cutting corners, so beware!

Arvixe and Namecheap are two of the hosts that don't just pocket profits, but reinvest it into the infrastructure (servers, etc), and don't cut corners. High quality datacenters, higher-grade servers, etc.

3. Yes, Namecheap does have a good KB! Arvixe does too, to be honest. Stablehost deserves mention here also. Too few hosts, sadly, have excellent support knowledge bases like these companies do.

###

It sounds like Namecheap will be a good home for you. Go for it!

But I'd opt for using Namecheap's web-hosting.com brand instead. It's still Namecheap, but you save a buck.

If you ever have any problems, come back and post about it. Matt from Namecheap (among others) has a great online presence at several forums, including this one. Just remember to always be courteous and patience when dealing with tech support desks.

No need to second-guess yourself.

[ellimac]

1. I know and agree that how nice the site is or its design is not really a factor in determining the quality of hosting companies. Namecheap just appealed to me more because I was just already choosing between it and Arvixe, so already bearing in mind that they are both quality hosts (thanks to your advice) it just so happened that I liked Namecheap's design more = more appealing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kpmedia

It's hard to even buy a decent lunch for $5!

2. Just wanna mention that here in the Philippines it actually is not hard to buy a decent lunch/dinner for $5 provided you're not picky eater and you don't eat too much. Our currency is cheaper/weaker, so anything in dollars are more expensive for us to purchase. This results to price playing an important role for us individuals just new to all this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kpmedia

But I'd opt for using Namecheap's web-hosting.com brand instead. It's still Namecheap, but you save a buck.

I checked out web-hosting.com and its pricing seems almost the same with Namecheap.

Value Plan
In web-hosting.com:
$3.95/mo. for 12 months
$3.45/mo. for 24 months
$2.95/mo. for 36 months

In Namecheap:
$3.98/mo. for 1 year
$3.48/mo. for 2 years
$2.95/mo. for 3 years

So it's just 3 cents difference except for the 3 year plan which are both equally $2.95.

I bought from Namecheap through your link. I'll be back in case I face any concerns. Thank you and keep up the unbiased hosting recommendations!