Namehero vs Siteground, Which one is a better choice for beginners?
Namehero and Siteground are both companies that offer shared hosting services for small and medium-sized businesses and individuals. They are direct competitors in the hosting market.
If you search for these two hosting providers on Google, you will find that Siteground is more well-known than Namehero. However, this does not necessarily mean that Siteground hosting is better than Namehero. It simply means that Siteground’s affiliate program gives higher commissions to its promoters.
Summary
So, back to the topic of Namehero vs. Siteground, what should we as a startup choose?
Namehero and Siteground have similar products and customers but use different technologies. Namehero uses LiteSpeed server and classic cPanel interface, while Siteground uses NginX server and exclusive built-in panel.
Overall, Siteground has been established for many years and offers mature products. WordPress recommends it as the best hosting service. However, it can be expensive to renew and is slightly slower. You can check out Why is Siteground so Expensive for more information about SiteGround hosting.
For startups looking to host their websites, I suggest using NameHero hosting instead.
Comparison: Cons and Pros
Comparison: Plans and Pricing
Namehero Offers More Value at Lower Long-Term Prices.
Both Namehero and SiteGround offer shared hosting, WordPress hosting, and WooCommerce hosting. However, SiteGround provides cloud hosting with higher performance limits, which Namehero does not have. In this article, we will focus on comparing budget-shared hosting between the two providers.
SiteGround’s shared hosting offers billing cycles of 1 month, 1 year, or 2 years. The entry-level plan has a monthly cost of $2.99 when paid annually, mainly due to SiteGround’s first-year discount. In contrast, Namehero’s shared hosting can only be purchased with annual billing, and its entry-level plan costs $4.48/month for the first year. Although SiteGround’s prices are initially cheaper than Namehero’s, this is only for the first year.
Plan | Starting Price | Renewal Price | Storage | Bandwidth | Number of Sites | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
StartUp | $2.99/mo | $17.99/mo | 10 GB | Unmetered | 1 | More Details |
GrowBig | $4.99/mo | $29.99/mo | 20 GB | Unmetered | Unlimited | More Details |
GoGeek | $7.99/mo | $44.99/mo | 40 GB | Unmetered | Unlimited | More Details |
After the first year, your SiteGround shared hosting plan will renew at the regular price, which is significantly higher than the discounted price for the first year. While Namehero’s plan also renews at a regular price, its renewal price is much lower relative to SiteGround. This means that, in the long run, Namehero’s pricing is more competitive than SiteGround’s.
Plan | Starting Price | Renewal Price | Storage | Bandwidth | Number of Sites | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Starter | $4.48/mo | $8.95/mo | Unlimited | Unmetered | 1 | More Details |
Plus | $7.12/mo | $12.95/mo | Unlimited | Unmetered | 7 | More Details |
Turbo | $10.97/mo | $19.95/mo | Unlimited | Unmetered | Unlimited | More Details |
Business | $16.47/mo | $29.95/mo | Unlimited | Unmetered | Unlimited | More Details |
Let’s talk about the plans themselves. Basically, SiteGround and Namehero’s entry-level plans can only host one website and allow around 10,000 visits per month. However, SiteGround only offers 10GB of website space, while Namehero offers unlimited NVMe Storage. Also, Namehero’s Turbo and Business plans come with a free domain, but SiteGround doesn’t include a free domain in any of its plans. So, it’s obvious that Namehero’s plans are a better deal for users than SiteGround’s plans.
In the long term, Namehero has offered more valuable services at a lower price, making it the clear winner in this round.
Comparison: Features
SiteGround is a fast and easier-to-use platform for shared hosting
The most significant difference between SiteGround and Namehero is the type of server they use. SiteGround uses the more flexible NginX server, while Namehero uses the LiteSpeed server, which is known for its super-fast performance. However, for beginners or small businesses, the difference between the two is not significant, as both can ensure good page load speed and over 99.99% uptime.
In addition, SiteGround has a wider distribution of server locations, with server sites not only in Europe and the United States but also in Asia, which Namehero lacks. This may be impactful for websites conducting global business.
In terms of ease of use, SiteGround provides an operating panel called “Site Tools” that allows users to perform tasks such as DNS resolution, backup, and WordPress installation. Developed in-house by SiteGround, Site Tools is known for its clarity, simplicity, and aesthetics, making it ideal for website novices. On the other hand, Namehero uses the classic cPanel interface, which is very comprehensive in terms of features and is popular among website veterans. However, it may not be suitable for novices.
Namehero | SiteGround | |
---|---|---|
Hosting Types | Shared, WordPress, WooCommerce, VPS Hosting | Shared, WordPress, WooCommerce, Cloud, Reseller Hosting |
Number of Websites | 1 ~ Unlimited | 1 ~ Unlimited |
Storage | Unlimited | 10 GB ~ 40 GB |
Bandwidth | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Control Panel | cPanel | Built-in Site Tools |
Data Centers | US, EU | US, EU, Asia |
Free Domain Name | ✅ Turbo/Business Plan | ❌ |
Free SSL | ✅ | ✅ |
Free CDN | ✅ | ✅ |
Dynamic Caching | ✅ | ✅ |
Email Account | ✅ | ✅ |
Money-back Guarantee | ✅ | ✅ |
Free Backups | ✅ | ✅ |
Free Security Tool | ✅ | ❌ |
What about additional features? SiteGround and Namehero are equally competitive, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. SiteGround excels in backup services by providing 30-day automatic cloud backups, while Namehero only offers 7-day automatic local backups. However, SiteGround does not offer a free domain for any of its plans, whereas Namehero’s Turbo and higher-level plans not only offer free domains but also include free AI security antivirus tools.
Overall, SiteGround and Namehero both offer reliable shared hosting services, making it hard to say which one is better. However, SiteGround may be more user-friendly and easier for beginners to use, giving it a slight advantage in this regard.
Comparison: Performance
Website performance is influenced by several factors, with the most important ones being uptime, response time, global TTFB (Time to First Byte), and Core Web Vitals. Google uses these factors to evaluate website performance, and if any of them fail to meet the standards, it can have a significant impact on the website’s ranking in Google search results. Now, let’s examine the performance of SiteGround and Namehero, respectively.
Both Hosting Providers Can Guarantee 99.9% Uptime
Uptime is a crucial indicator for measuring the reliability of a web host. No webmaster wants their website to become occasionally inaccessible and lose visitors as a result.
In this regard, I am pleased to inform everyone that both SiteGround and Namehero guarantee their customers an uptime of over 99.9%, and they release annual uptime reports.
Learn about Namehero’s Uptime Guarantee
Learn about SiteGround’s Uptime Guarantee
Apart from their own verbal assurances, there are also numerous third-party reports that confirm their 99.99% Uptime. Here is the experimental data from Hostingstep:
Comparison: Security
Namehero Has Faster Response Time
When comparing the response times of the same website hosted on Namehero and SiteGround, there is a clear difference. According to the Pingdom testing tool:
- Namehero has an average response time of 382 milliseconds, with a maximum response time of 429 milliseconds.
- SiteGround, despite having built-in WordPress optimization and caching tools, has an average response time of 421 milliseconds, reaching a maximum response time of 865 milliseconds.
These numbers show that even at its worst, Namehero can match SiteGround’s response time, proving that Namehero is faster than SiteGround.
So, which host is better? Both have a high uptime of over 99.9%, which is great. However, Namehero has a much faster server response time compared to SiteGround. This is good for browsing websites and improving search engine rankings. Therefore, I will say Namehero is a better choice in terms of performance.
Comparison: Security
Namehero Offers More Free Security Tools
SiteGround offers a Web Application Firewall (WAF) that stops outside threats from getting into your website. SiteGround also has an AI-powered anti-bot traffic system that stops a lot of spam traffic from going to your site. These security tools are free with SiteGround, but the advanced SG Site Scanner tool costs extra.
Compared to SiteGround, Namehero offers more free security tools, including:
- Imunify360 for Malware Scanning & Automated Removal
- Firewall Protection
- AI Anti-Intrusion System
While SiteGround gives you basic firewalls and anti-bot systems for free, Namehero gives you all of these for free, making it the winner in this competition.
Comparison: Support
SiteGround provides 24/7 customer support through live chat, ticket, and phone. They also have a helpful knowledge base. These services are available for all plans and they treat all customers equally, regardless of the level of your plan. I have personally used SiteGround’s live chat and found that their support agents usually respond within 3 minutes and are very professional in addressing issues. If you submit a ticket, the response time may be slightly longer, but you can typically expect a reply within 20 minutes. It’s impressive that SiteGround can maintain such fast and professional customer service, especially considering its large user base.
In contrast, NameHero provides 24/7 live chat and ticket support, although their phone support is limited to 9 a.m.-5 p.m. CST, which is slightly less extensive than SiteGround. However, based on reviews from many NameHero users, their customer service is highly regarded and a key factor in their long-term use of NameHero’s services. This indicates that the level of customer service at NameHero is equally excellent.
However, I would like to point out that directly comparing the customer service level of Namehero and SiteGround may be a bit unfair to SiteGround, considering that Namehero has a much smaller user base. Therefore, in terms of support, I believe SiteGround has a slight advantage.
Final: Namehero Wins the Competition
In this comparison, Namehero is the better hosting provider because it has faster website speed and lower renewal prices compared to SiteGround. Namehero uses LiteSpeed servers, which are the fastest in the world, and provide more reliable security tools. By choosing Namehero, you can save money and effort in maintaining your website in the long term. Moreover, Namehero’s classic cPanel makes it easier to migrate your website in the future.
SiteGround has Data Centers spread across the globe, covering the United States, Europe, and Asia, making it a great option for websites operating globally. In addition, its responsive Site Tools, designed for customers, are easier to use compared to cPanel. However, its high renewal costs significantly reduce its value for money, so I would not recommend SiteGround to budget-conscious beginners.
To make it easier to compare two hosts, please refer to the table below:
Lower Price
More Security Tools
No Monthly Payment Option
Easy-to-use Panel
Professional Support Teams
Additional Features at an Extra Cost
If you want to learn more about hosting provider rankings, check out Top Web Hosting Recommendations.