Free privacy, first-year SSL and three Stellar tiers
Namecheap is a registrar first. Its free Domain Privacy covers every eligible registration, renewal, transfer and reactivation, though registry rules block it on a few extensions. Transfers carry a year as well: for most extensions you pay the regular transfer fee, and that fee includes a renewal.
Shared hosting comes in three Stellar tiers, per Namecheap's plan comparison updated 17 August 2026:
- Stellar: 20 GB SSD, 3 hosted domains, 30 email accounts
- Stellar Plus: unmetered SSD, unlimited domains and email accounts
- Stellar Business: 50 GB SSD, unlimited domains and email accounts
Bandwidth is unmetered on all three. Every shared hosting account also gets one free single-domain SSL certificate, valid for a year, for each domain or subdomain on it, up to 50. After that year, you buy the renewal SSL through the cart.
Private Email has a one-month free trial, and Namecheap says it won't ask for card details or force auto-renewal.
Namecheap's renewal rates, as published
Renewal prices as listed in Namecheap's shared hosting pricing notice on 4 October 2026, in force since 19 May 2026, in US dollars. First-term hosting prices couldn't be confirmed that day, so they're left out. Domains start at $0.99 for the first year on selected extensions, as listed on Namecheap's homepage on 16 September 2026, then renew at each extension's regular rate.
Plan around the renewal column. Namecheap's billing guide says hosting packages are "renewed at the regular price" and that no promotion code can be applied to a renewal, so a first-term saving doesn't repeat.
Renew ahead of registry increases, and pay hosting two years at a time
Namecheap warns before registry prices move, and those notices are worth acting on. In September it flagged a 6 October 2026 rise on 226 Identity Digital extensions, with .studio renewals going from $52.98 to $68.48, and advised registering, transferring or renewing before the change. Check its help centre notices before any big renewal; our guide to saving on domain name renewals has more.
On hosting, longer terms win at renewal rates. Stellar costs $102.88 for two years, or $51.44 a year, against $55.88 billed yearly and $70.56 across twelve monthly payments of $5.88.
If your domain sits at another registrar, moving it in can cost less than a Namecheap renewal. On the .live list from 6 October 2026, a transfer is $41.48 against $47.48 to renew, and the transfer adds a year for most generic extensions. The domain has to be at least 60 days old.
Testing email? Private Email's free month needs no card.
Keep your domains here; size the Stellar plan honestly
Namecheap is easiest to recommend as the place your domains live. Privacy costs nothing, transfers carry a year, and the two 2026 price notices quoted here went up in the help centre before the new rates applied.
Hosting needs more thought. Stellar suits up to three small sites inside 20 GB. Outgrow that and Stellar Plus, with unmetered SSD and unlimited domains, renews at $85.44 a year. Stellar Business, which Namecheap says runs on servers with fewer users per server, only makes sense if that headroom matters to you at $128.88 a year. At renewal rates, the monthly cycle costs more over twelve months than one annual bill on every tier.
Skip Namecheap hosting if you're relying on the refund as a safety net and you've had a Namecheap hosting account before: the 30-day money-back guarantee covers first-time hosting accounts only.
For a new project, register on the $0.99 offer if your extension qualifies, then let the renewal line, not the Namecheap coupon, decide whether you stay past year one.
